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. Kaiju are typically modeled after conventional animals, insects or mythological creatures such as vampires, werewolves, mummies and zombies, fall into this category.
Frankenstein's monster 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
Kaijū (怪獣 kaijū?) is a Japanese word that
literally translates to "strange
beast"and is used to refer to a genre of tokusatsu (special effects-
based) entertainment. Kaiju films usually showcase monsters of any form, usually attacking a major Japanese city or engaging another (or multiple) monster(s) in battle.
