definition for: #kaiju

(from Japanese "strange beast") is a film genre that features monsters, usually attacking a major Japanese city or engaging other monsters in battle. It is a subgenre of tokusatsu (special effects-based) entertainment. Related terms include kaijū eiga (怪獣映画 kaijū eiga?, monster movie), a film featuring giant monsters or a single monster; kaijin (怪人?, referring to roughly humanoid monsters); and daikaiju (大怪獣 daikaijū?, giant kaiju), specifically meaning the larger variety of monsters. Godzilla is an example of a daikaiju; others include Gamera, Mothra, Rodan, King Ghidorah, Mechagodzilla and Daimajin. The term ultra-kaiju is longhand for kaiju in the Ultra Series. Toho has produced a variety of Kaiju films over the years (many that featured Godzilla and Mothra) but other Japanese studios contributed to expanding the genre in Japan by producing Kaiju films and shows of their own, studios including Daiei Film Co., Ltd., Kadokawa Pictures, Tsuburaya Productions, Shochiku, and Nikkatsu studios.

Concept Kaiju are typically modeled after conventional animals, insects or mythological creatures; however, there are more exotic examples. Chōjin Sentai Jetman features monsters based on traffic lights, faucets and tomatoes; Kamen Rider Super-1 includes a whole army of monsters based on household objects such as umbrellas and utility ladders. Monsters famous in English stories, such as vampires, werewolves, mummies and zombies, fall into this category. Frankenstein's monster was a starring kaiju in the Toho films Frankenstein Conquers the World, and The War of the Gargantuas. Kaiju are sometimes depicted as cannon fodder serving a greater evil. Some kaiju are elite warriors which serve as the right-hand man to the greater villain and are destroyed by the heroic forces. Others have a neutral alignment, only seeking to destroy buildings and other structures. During the early eras of tokusatsu, "heroic" monsters were rarely seen in daikaiju eiga films, and it was not until later when television tokusatsu productions began using kaiju which aided the hero, saved civilians, or demonstrated some kind of complex personality. These kaiju adopted many classic monster traits, appearing as the "Misunderstood Creature". Some kaiju hung out with the heroes and provided comedy relief, in contrast to the darker approach to these characters from more mature franchises, like Kamen Rider. Godzilla, arguably the most well known of the daikaiju, has played the roles of hero, villain, and force of nature in the course of his existence, one of the few kaiju of any type to be depicted in multiple roles and having those around him react in different ways, depending on how the creature itself was being presented in the films