Mothra

Mothra (モスラ, Mosura) is a fictional monster, or kaiju, that first appeared in the 1961 film Mothra, produced and distributed by Toho Studios. Mothra has appeared in several Toho tokusatsu films, most often as a recurring character in the Godzilla franchise. She is typically portrayed as a colossal sentient larva (caterpillar) or imago, accompanied by two miniature female humanoids speaking on her behalf. Unlike other Toho monsters, Mothra is a largely heroic character, having been variously portrayed as a protector of her own island culture, the Earth and Japan. Mothra’s design is influenced by silk worms, their imagos, and those of giant silk moths in the family saturniidae. The character is often depicted hatching offspring (in some cases, twins) when approaching death, a nod to the Saṃsāra doctrine of numerous Indian religions.

Mothra is one of Toho's most popular monsters and second only to Godzilla in her total number of film appearances. Polls taken during the early 1990s indicated that Mothra was particularly popular among women who were, at the time, the largest demographic among Japan's movie-going audience, a fact that prompted the filming of 1992's Godzilla vs. Mothra, which was the best-attended Toho film since King Kong vs. Godzilla. IGN listed Mothra as #3 on their "Top 10 Japanese Movie Monsters" list, while Complex listed the character as #7 on its "The 15 Most Badass Kaiju Monsters of All Time" list.

Though Mothra is generally portrayed as female, male individuals of her species have also been featured in the franchise as well, including Mothra Leo in the Rebirth of Mothra trilogy, and a male Mothra larva who appears alongside his non-identical twin in Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.

Mothra's Fairies
Mothra is usually accompanied by tiny twin female fairies, which Shinichi Sekizawa termed Shobijin (小美人), meaning "little beauties". The original draft for Mothra called for four fairies, though Sekizawa reduced the number to two, as twins were comparatively rare in Japan, thus adding to the characters' mystique. Toho also sought to reinforce its links with Columbia Pictures, by featuring the singing duo the Peanuts, who had been popularized in America by Columbia Records. Yūji Koseki composed the song Mosura no uta ("Song of Mothra") for the fairies to sing when summoning Mothra. The song was originally sung in Malay language or Indonesian language, but there is also a later version, set to the same tune, sung in Japanese:

35Baragon's ideas

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Iago PUC's ideas

 * Mothra appears in Comic Con Incorporated. A roomer in the fictional titular hotel along with her fairies, she and the featured Kaiju are given the ability to shift size (which they duplicate from Kamala Khan / Ms. Marvel) so that they can fit in the hotel without causing any damage.

Moon Silvight's ideas

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Joint ideas

 * Mothra is a main character in Monster Kings.

PlushyPlays’ ideas

 * Mothra appears as a Cave Painting in the Post Credits Scene of Shin Godzilla 2: Rebirth.

Fictional Mothra Analogues

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