Godziwolf wrote:
DerGolem wrote:
Kaijubait wrote:
Humanity isn't really something I require in my monsters, but I think Godzilla does fill the role of a totem quite easily.
I don't know about "humanity" per say, but I like my monsters to have "character." One of the things that helps separate Japanese kaiju from their American counterparts is that they each have a name and a personality; Godzilla, Rodan, Mothra, Gamera, Gomora, Red King, etc... as oppose to just 'giant spider' 'giant ant' 'graboid' etc.... 
You mean Japanese monsters don't have names like Pteradon, Giant Moth (Moth-ra), Giant Turtle (K/Game-Ra), Giant Shrimp (Ebi-rah), Giant Spider (Kumo(n)-Ga), or Giant Spew (Hedo-rah)?

Good to know.
Hachigatsu wrote:
The suffix "ra" at the end of Japanese monsters names doesn't mean anything, really — it's just a rip from "Gojira". Every proper name has a root meaning, Godziwolf; there is a big difference between "Big, Carnivorous, Bipedal Dinosaur" and "Tyrannosaurus Rex" or "T-Rex".
I see August already has my back on this, but there is definitely more to the names of Japanese kaiju then simply their etymological point of origin. Gojira comes from the Japanese words for gorilla "Gorira" and "Kujira" for whale. And yet Godzilla is neither a gorilla or a whale. So the word is more than just a description of what the creature is, its a name. Furthermore its how its used. When Godzilla, Mothra, Gamera or whoever comes to town the people refer to them by name, they acknowledge that these creatures are individuals with separate identities. In contrast American giant monsters get no much treatment. Many of them aren't named at all but are rather simply referred to as "IT" "THEM" or "The Creature..." and those that are are usually given scientific names for classification purposes like "Graboid."

Timothy K. Beal in his book "Religion and its Monsters" has a very interesting chapter where he talks about naming monsters. He uses the UK movie "The Giant Behemoth" as an example pointing out how early on the monster is named Behemoth by the local fishermen, after the monster in the biblical Book of Job. Later however the scientists strip the creature of its mythical name describing it instead with the scientific moniker of a "paleosaur." This happens to occur in the same scene where the scientists also figure out how to kill the monster. Beal makes the point that in a metaphorical sense the act of un-naming the monster was essential to its destruction. As a mythical/biblical beast Behemoth was invincible, but as a mere "paleosaur" it became a simple animal and therefore could be destroyed.