Film: Rodan (1956), Ghidorah, the 3-Headed Monster (1964), Invasion of the Astro-Monster (1965), Destroy All Monsters (1968), Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973)

Alias: Radon

Type: Ancient

Location: Underground/Mountains/Civilized area

Height/Weight: 50 meters and 15,000 metric tons.

Affiliation: Neutral, then Good

Summary: If Godzilla rules the land and sea with an iron fist, then who has the skies? That position belongs to Rodan, and he will make sure that no one takes his place. Indeed, if there is something that can out-maneuver this kaiju, then we haven't found it yet.

History: Somewhere near a mine in the fictional village of Kitamatsu, mysterious and brutal murders have been piling up on top of one another. The reason for this is no man, but an ancient species of giant insect called Meganulon. However, cue a mass earthquake, and something far worse has risen. As it turns out, the Meganulon are little more than fun-size snack food for an ancient species of giant pterosaur known as Rodan. After this one hatches (eating all the Meganulon along the way), it proceeds to speed across the world, destroying all who dare stand or fly under his mighty wing. And then a second one is revealed. The first one's mate, that is. However, it didn't end well for both of them (see Final Fate). Several years later, though, and the male resurfaces. Unfortunately, he woke up in the wrong place at the wrong time, as Godzilla proved when they briefly scuffled. But alas, Mothra intervened, one thing led to another, and Rodan became a valuable ally for the monster king.

Notable Kills: That was a rather intense dogfight with those jets during his debut.

Final Fate: Rodan and his mate were shot by firework-like missiles until the female accidentally fell into boiling lava. Heartbroken and unable to cope, the male one did the same. It didn't stick with the male, who, like many more of Earth's monsters, now enjoys living on Monster Island, occasionally fishing for the odd dolphin or two.

Powers/Abilities: The best way to describe Rodan is a flying hurricane. Indeed, whatever happens to be under him as he flies is swept away in a flurry of shockwaves and sheer force of the wind. Simply flapping his wings can flatten an entire portion of a city. He's also ridiculously strong, being able to carry things more than twice his size, like Godzilla.

Weakness: Kaiju of equal or greater power, and fire works.

Scariness Factor: 4.5-Hurricanes kill about 10,000 people each year. Now how about a hurricane that's both sapient and has a taste for meat. Rodan may be on our side, but damn, is he a deadly powerhouse in the wrong hands. It doesn't help that his roar is extremely off-putting.

Trivia: -The largest pterosaur, and the largest animal to fly altogether, was Quetzalcoatlus Northropi, which was about the size of a giraffe. It would barely amount to the size of Rodan's foot.

-Rodan's Japanese name, Radon, was changed to Rodan in America to avoid confusion with a noble gas discovered in 1898.