Zone Fighter:Design Philosophy
Two monsters of Zone Fight really bug me, their failure stemming from a mixture satisfying the bloodlust of small children mixed with budget issues. Several monsters had appendages or spikes are just there for Zone Fighter to brutally tear off. The worst of these was Wargilar, who deserved better and in a perfect world would be part of a trio with Gigan and Megalon , had two antennae/mantis limbs just for Zone Fighter to tear off, when with how articulated they are you expect them to be used in grappling.
(Seriously, I love this guy. He’s got a flamethrower and a shotgun cybernetics inserted into his mouth which he summons like a scene out of Inspector Gadget. Just give a jetpack to keep up with Gigan and Megalon and he’d be a great part of the team. Seeing him in action he’s every creepy crawly B-movie monster distilled into suitmation form . He makes happy cricket noises ! The only slight issue that the design coloration appears to be designed to be menacing at night but is only somewhat goofy in the day. If we can make it terrifying at night and entirely goofy in the day we would have a winner. With his long neck, the aformentioned extra limbs which were expertly pupeteered even if useless in battle, you have a very expressive monster. Make his eyes capable of moving on their stalks when analyzing a situation and you could have an extremely expressive monster. )
Other monsters had tails or back spikes to be torn off, but with Waigular the wasted design element seemed like a crime. (It should be noted know the villains eventually got wise and made a monster, Jellar where for every tentacle torn off a tag-team buddy would be created.)
The other monster I wish to discuss is And in the case of Destro-King, the design was simply too busy while contributing nothing to the fight. If monster covered in metal bulbs, I expect that to be related to its powers, but we just get normal beams attacks from its two heads. I expected this monster to have lightning powers from all the spikes, but no. The spikes are just there and actually help Zone fighter steady himself and give additional grappling points. (I will say though the actor was surprisingly nimble in the suit, and pulled off at least one fancy dodge from a leap attack.)
Destro-King, who also has vestigial fins.( I get the feeling he’s the cousin Ghidrah doesn’t talk about and who thinks Gigan is the coolest dude ever.)
Simply put,these monsters lacked synergy; and yet that wasted potential makes me want to see them come back in a Godzilla series, with the possible addition of Dolora, the patchwork rose-lizard-crab, who is a beautiful mess with evil perfume powers.
Dolora, you are so wrong yet so right.
