QUEEN MUTO // Monsterverse

Appearance

Their bodies are predominately grayish-black. Their head is shaped long and triangular with the tops of their heads flat. In the novelization, bioluminescent sensors on the female's snout pulsed as she sought the nearby humans on the train track at night, inferably vestigial to nostrils. They possess triangular jaws with seemingly-degenerated rows of sharp teeth. The MUTOs have a sort of mandibles in their lower jaws capable of separating slightly. The female MUTO has two pairs of forelimbs and a smaller pair on her chest. Both MUTOs have a pair of hind legs and glowing red eyes; this glow fades upon the creatures' death. In the novelization, their skin is described as a "chitinous exoskeleton". The Queen MUTO in Godzilla: King of the Monsters has a "crown" of dorsal ridges on her back meant to express her age, in contrast to the single ridge of the female MUTO in Godzilla. Her body is also covered in scars "from past battles...or mating rituals".

Personality

The Queen MUTO from Godzilla: King of the Monsters submitted to Godzilla alongside the other Titans, apparently acknowledging the unlikelihood she could defeat him in battle.

Origins

The MUTOs are ancient parasitic organisms originating from the same era and ecosystem as Godzilla. Like him, the MUTOs feed off of radiation. However, in contrast to Godzilla, who came to live at the bottom of the ocean and feed off the planet's natural radiation, the MUTOs are actively drawn to sources of man-made radiation such as nuclear warheads and energy plants. As revealed in Godzilla: Aftershock, the official graphic novel prequel to Godzilla: King of the Monsters, the MUTOs are the offspring of a metamorphosed female MUTO[29] dubbed MUTO Prime. MUTO Prime infected a Godzilla-like Titan known to the ancients as Dagon and designated Species 5146_Adam by Monarch. It implanted its reproductive spores into Dagon’s lower torso. The spores broke down the hemoglobin in his blood to leech the nuclear radiation. After Dagon perished due to the inability to replenish his nuclear energy, the spores continued to grow within his carcass, which was eventually buried deep within an underground cavern in the Philippines. When a mining company unwittingly unearthed the skeleton in 1999, the male's spore hatched and it burrowed to Janjira in its larval state in search of nuclear energy, while the female's spore remained dormant until the male matured. This means the two MUTOs are both mates and siblings. The Queen MUTO's origins go unexplained. However, according to Godzilla: King of the Monsters director Michael Dougherty, she was never discovered or classified by Monarch, having been dormant "deep beneath" a strip mall in Hoboken, New Jersey. She was roused when King Ghidorah summoned her and other superspecies with his call.

History

Following the Battle of San Francisco, Monarch transported the female MUTO's severed head to its underwater base in Bermuda, Castle Bravo. King Ghidorah's call awakened the Queen MUTO, who began to rampage along with the other Titans he had summoned. After Godzilla killed Ghidorah, she assembled in Boston with Scylla, Behemoth, Methuselah, a flock of Leafwings, and Rodan. Each of the Titans progressively submitted to Godzilla, who roared triumphantly

Abilities

Echolocation The MUTOs utilize echolocation to communicate, find a source of radiation, and locate one another. They are able to communicate from over 5,000 miles away, making contact with the male in Janjira, Japan, and the female in the U.S. state of Nevada. Electromagnetic pulse The male MUTO's EMP affecting his containment facility The male MUTO is able to unleash electromagnetic pulses from his claws, which can disable electronics in a five-mile-wide radius. The female is surrounded by an EMP field, labeled the "Sphere of Influence" by the news, which has the same effect. Unlike in real life, where electrical objects hit by an EMP which are not sufficiently shielded can sustain enough damage to their components to be rendered unusable, the EMPs generated by the MUTOs appear to be temporary, as some time after the EMP hits an area, electrical devices within the region of the pulse will spontaneously reactivate. In Godzilla: The Official Movie Novelization, it is explained that the MUTOs' EMP ability evolved as a defense mechanism, used to prevent Godzilla's species from using their atomic breath. The film doesn't allude to this, but in an earlier screenplay, it is explicitly mentioned that Godzilla cannot use his atomic breath when near the female MUTO. This idea was later abandoned in both the film and the novelization, with Godzilla being able to fire his atomic breath at her despite close vicinity. In the novelization, the male claps his wings together to create a luminous electromagnetic pulse which "snuffed the bioelectric spark in Godzilla's throat"; whatever effects, if any, the female's EMP field has on Godzilla's breath were not mentioned. Intelligence The MUTOs served as an effective tag team against Godzilla, coordinating their attacks against him and preventing him from concentrating on either one of them. This strategy faltered after Ford Bordy destroyed the MUTOs' nest, with the female rushing to investigate and chasing after a ground of soldiers

Abilities 2

Physical strength and durability Both MUTOs possess immense physical strength and durability, though inferior to Godzilla's. The male MUTO dredged up the Alexander Nevsky from the depths of the ocean and pulled it far inland in O'ahu; this feat, combined with him later plummeting into a ship in San Francisco Bay to obtain a nuclear warhead, implies that he possesses some swimming capabilities. In the film, he managed to drag the 90,000-ton Godzilla from one city block to another. In the novelization, he knocked the larger Titan off his feet with a rolling flight maneuver that sent them rolling down Ann Siang Hill. The parasites fought Godzilla primarily with their long, curved claws, striking him hard enough to draw blood a couple of times. The female was able to claw herself out of Mount Yucca, as well as destroy buildings with ease. She pushed Godzilla around a few times in spite of his size. In the novelization, she made Godzilla roar in pain with a bite to his shoulder. Thanks to his EMP, the male MUTO avoided the U.S. military's heavier weapons, while the female withstood missile fire without receiving any noticeable damage. In the novelization, the male survived a direct blast of Godzilla's atomic breath during their Honolulu battle. The female MUTO's greatest on-screen feat of durability comes in the form of surviving two blasts of Godzilla's atomic breath aimed at her face and throat region. In the novelization, she endured pummeling punches from Godzilla, as well as being buried beneath a skyscraper that toppled onto her. Burrowing Through their clawed limbs, the MUTOs are capable of tunneling underground over great distances and constructing underground nests for their young. The male caused tremors as he reached the Janjira Power Plant and burrowed beneath the reactors, sinking them into the ground below. Years later, the female utilized her clawed forelimbs to turn part of the city-district of Chinatown in San Francisco into an underground nest to house

Abilities 3

Burrowing Through their clawed limbs, the MUTOs are capable of tunneling underground over great distances and constructing underground nests for their young. The male caused tremors as he reached the Janjira Power Plant and burrowed beneath the reactors, sinking them into the ground below. Years later, the female utilized her clawed forelimbs to turn part of the city-district of Chinatown in San Francisco into an underground nest to house her young. In the novelization, she arrived in Chinatown from underground and subsequently created a cavernous burrow as a nest. Radiation absorption MUTOs can sense detect sources of radiation from long distances and consume them for sustenance. Monarch describes them as "bio-atomic", along with Godzilla.[31][32] After emerging in the Philippines, the male MUTO attacked the Janjira Nuclear Power Plant in 1999 and fed on its reactors for 15 years, inadvertently protecting the Japanese public from the radiation they released. His metabolism is highly efficient at processing absorbed radiation, to the point that radiation levels in Janjira were safe for humans by 2014. The male later obtained the Alexander Nevsky in the Pacific Ocean and a nuclear missile in San Francisco Bay. Prior to hatching, the female MUTO fed from the contents of the Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository. She also targeted a nuclear missile convoy while marching west. After meeting the male in San Francisco, the female implanted her mate's acquired missile inside their nest following its completion.

Abilities 4

Reproduction The MUTOs reproduce sexually with a transparent egg sac forming on the female's abdomen, which is fertilized when she and her mate press their snouts together and perform a synchronized progression of clicks. Following this intercourse, the female lays hundreds of eggs near a radioactive substance to nourish the offspring upon hatching. Analysis of her carcass by Monarch determined that her ovaries had contained hundreds of unfertilized eggs, establishing that if she were to reproduce, she would spawn enough MUTOs to overrun the biosphere. Weaknesses The male MUTO ultimately perished when Godzilla tail-whipped him into a massive building, impaling him on the structure and severing one of his arms. Godzilla's atomic breath burnt the female MUTO when fired twice at her hide, and ultimately killed and decapitated her when he shot a sustained blast down her throat. In the novelization, she was pinned down by a collapsing skyscraper, which nearly allowed Godzilla to finish her off with a stomp to the head.