Ayan
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Ayan is a character who serves as one of the protagonists of the 2025 IDW Publishing ongoing comic series Starship Godzilla. As first mate aboard the spacefaring S.S. Mechagodzilla, Ayan plays an integral role in maintaining the ship and carrying out daring missions alongside her crew.
Personality
Unlike much of the crew she works with, Ayan is a kind, innocent, and spirited individual. She went to great lengths to protect Bug from Rohan and Lif as they sought to kill her, believing the creature was merely scared and deserved to be given a chance. She can be surprisingly cordial even in the most unlikely of circumstances, going as far as apologizing as she pushed through a crowd after stealing kaiju eggs. She is also not quite as unscrupulous or bold as others in her crew, balking at Gen's suggestion that they steal parts from other ships in broad daylight and quickly became resolute in her desire to oppose the Xilien Empire even at the risk of losing everything, guided by a strong moral compass. She can, however, prove impulsive in certain scenarios, defying Rohan and Gen's orders to stay on their ship when visiting a dangerous Xilien mining planet and commandeering the S.S. Mechagodzilla when Frey was in trouble.
Despite her generally sweet and innocent nature, she is a formidable fighter and gives no quarter to those she picks a fight with.
History
- Starship Godzilla #1–6 (2025–2026)
Starship Godzilla
"Chapter One: Comet Salt"
Ayan and her captain, Rohan, carried out a daring heist to acquire an unknown package for an enigmatic client. As Rohan was cornered by alien adversaries, Ayan arrived to help him subdue their foes before locating the package, which they discovered to be rare kaiju eggs in an incubator. After an alarm was triggered, Ayan strapped the incubator to her back, interrupting an auction in progress as she and Rohan fled to their rendezvous point. Though they found themselves surrounded, their vessel, the S.S. Mechagodzilla, arrived shortly thereafter, saving their lives.
Sometime later, as the ship flew through space, Ayan sheepishly informed Rohan that she had accidentally left the incubator door open to allow the ship's cat, Ralphy, to get closer to the warmth, during which time one of the eggs hatched and escaped the incubator. Rohan subsequently placed the vessel on lockdown as he, Ayan, and the Simian Lif attempted to locate the kaiju hatchling. As Ayan and Lif argued over what to do with the creature if they found it, with Ayan steadfastly objecting to Lif's suggestion that they should kill it, the baby kaiju dropped down before them and sprayed a stream of acid from its tail that Rohan barely avoided, only for the acid to pierce the hull of the ship. Fortunately, Ilsa remotely sealed the breach from the flight deck, narrowly preventing Ayan and the others from being sucked into space. Lif cornered the creature and prepared to execute it with his gun, only for Ayan to knock him off his feet, allowing the creature to escape deeper into the vessel.
Despite Ayan's insistence that the creature was merely scared, Rohan and Lif resolved to kill it due to the risk it posed to the ship as they descended an elevator to the ship's lower levels. After Ilsa informed them that the creature had breached the flight deck, Ayan stopped the elevator and raced through the bowels of the ship to beat Rohan and Lif to it. As she made it to the ship's cockpit, she calmly greeted the baby kaiju and managed to pacify it. By the time Rohan and Lif arrived, she had already started to feed it snacks before smugly telling them she had been right about its true benevolent nature.
Starship Godzilla #2
After crash-landing on a gambling planet, Ayan reconvened with her grandmother, Gen, and introduced her to the baby kaiju, which she had since taken ownership of and named "Bug"; she also revealed that some of the crew still didn't like the monster, who was partially responsible for the damage that caused the ship to crash, though she emphasized that Bug was gentle. Ayan accompanied Gen to locate the parts they needed to repair the ship, though she was shocked to learn Gen's plan involved stealing the parts from other ships in broad daylight with crowds all around them. As Gen attempted to teach her granddaughter how to disconnect parts, telling her that she would one day be in charge of the S.S. Mechagodzilla, the two were caught and forced to flee before they could acquire the parts. Shortly thereafter, Ayan witnessed the arrival of King Ghidorah, lured to the planet as part of a high-stakes gambling game.
Though the city was camouflaged to prevent the three-headed dragon from attacking them, King Ghidorah nevertheless landed near Ayan shortly after she acquired the parts she was looking for. Fortunately, Rohan heeded her distress call and fired a projectile in her direction to distract the monster, allowing Ayan to escape. With the parts gathered successfully, the crew repaired the ship and departed the planet without further incident, with Ayan working alongside her grandmother to install the parts.
"Chapter Three: First Date"
On an Xilien-controlled mining planet, Ayan argued with Rohan as the latter ordered the rest of his crew, including her, not to leave the ship before departing to deliver the kaiju eggs to their client. Despite promising Gen that she would follow orders, Ayan's suspicions got the best of her, resulting in her sneaking out in efforts to follow Rohan into town. After failing to obtain any information from the locals, who refused to even acknowledge the Xiliens patrolling the planet, Ayan discreetly followed several Xiliens and discovered a tunnel system hidden behind a waterfall. There, she discovered the captive kaiju Gamagera, only to be caught by an Xilien patroller. Before she could be captured, a woman named Frey appeared and shot the Xilien dead. Though her blaster fire left Ayan with a cut on her face, Frey promptly rushed past Ayan to assist Gamagera, expressing great concern for the kaiju. Frey quickly set about removing Xilien devices embedded in Gamagera's skin, explaining to the inquisitive Ayan that the devices were used to capture monsters. She detailed that the Xiliens had been using Gamagera to dig tunnels for them for weeks to mine dark ore and likely would have worked the monster to death were it not for Frey's intervention. After freeing Gamagera, Frey contacted the rest of her troops, who initiated a siege on the mines. As Ayan expressed awe at Frey's army, Frey pushed the distracted Ayan out of the path of Gamagera's beam.
As the monster laid waste to the Xilien mines and incinerated numerous Xiliens, Frey led Ayan out of the tunnels while also avoiding Xilien firepower. Commending Ayan for her bravery, Frey offered her a place in their rebellion movement, though Ayan politely declined, explaining that she had to get back to her ship. Frey proceeded to tell Ayan that she would draw the Xilien fire to allow Ayan's escape. As she departed, she told Ayan she was cute and asked her to call her if she made it out alive. Ayan raced through the rapidly collapsing town before witnessing the rampaging kaiju engage Mechagodzilla. She promptly contacted Gen and begged her not to hurt the monster, stressing that it was only lashing out against its abusive captors before confessing that she wasn't on the ship, requesting that Gen wait for her return. Soon after, Ayan managed to leap onto Mechagodzilla's head in the midst of the battle. Once Ayan was safely aboard, Gen promptly flew Mechagodzilla away from the planet while Ayan reflected on Frey's warning that the Xiliens destroyed everything they touched.
"Chapter Four: Return of the King, Part One"
On the mushroom moon of Nitrus 5, Ayan was relaxing and reading comics next to Bug when she suddenly received an urgent distress call from Frey, who informed her that the rebels were in the midst of battle trying to prevent the Xiliens from capturing another kaiju. Ayan promptly commandeered the S.S. Mechagodzilla and flew off into space before being caught and reprimanded by Rohan and Gen. Rohan balked at Ayan's efforts to interfere with the Xilien Empire's operations, though Ayan bluntly informed him it was too late to stay out of it as they exited hyperspace. They found themselves thrust into a great battle between Xilien and rebel forces, with the Xilien's target, SpaceGodzilla, in the middle of the fight attacking all parties. Rohan attempted to wrestle Ayan away from the controls to keep them away from the action, narrowly dodging SpaceGodzilla's beam, only for the blast to strike Frey's ship. Ayan pleaded with Rohan to rescue them, at which point he finally relented, unwilling to allow the crew to perish while he stood idly by, though he urged them to move quickly so they would not be spotted. Ayan donned her spacesuit and directed the rebels to enter Mechagodzilla, reconvening with Frey in the process.
Once all of the rebels were safely aboard, Mechagodzilla speedily and discreetly retreated to Tama 7's crystal desert, the location of the rebel's base. Once they touched down, Frey pulled Ayan away to show her caverns beneath the base where Magma Worms dwelled. Frey confided her fears of the Xiliens finding the Magma Worms and their base, admitting that their fight against the Xilien Empire was often overwhelming. Frey detailed a recent incident in which kaiju eggs they purchased to keep them out of Xilien hands were stolen from them, with Ayan realizing in horror that she and her crew were responsible for the theft. Frey attempted to share a tender moment with Ayan and kissed her, only for the guilt-ridden Ayan to apologize and depart. Ayan raced back to their ship and located Gen, sharing her disturbing revelation that Rohan was working for the Xiliens, only to realize too late that Rohan had snuck up on her from behind. As Gen warned Rohan that Ayan now knew the truth, Rohan reluctantly drew his blaster and fired.
"Chapter Five: Return of the King, Part Two"
When Ayan later came too, she was greeted by Lif, who assured her everything was okay and tried to get her to relax, as Rohan's shot was only a stun and she had not been harmed. However, Ayan promptly punched the Simian in the nose and fled into the bowels of the ship. Rohan contacted her and apologized for his actions, revealing that he had also previously stunned Ilsa after she similarly discovered the truth about his employers and sent her away in an escape pod with cash in a bid to keep her safe. Ayan subsequently discovered that Mechagodzilla had been intercepted and forcibly boarded by Xilien forces after they left Tama 7. As the Xiliens searched for her, Ayan berated Rohan and Gen for their betrayal and took the controls of the ship, attempting to fly off despite the Xilien restraints around their ship. Rohan pleaded with her not to make things worse than they already were, but Ayan refused to even consider negotiating with the "evil" Xiliens. Rohan and Gen confessed their guilt over working with the Xiliens, well aware it was wrong, but needed the funds that only the Xiliens could pay in order to protect their ship and its crew. Ayan remained unmoved and attempted to flee, only for Mechagodzilla to be ambushed by SpaceGodzilla, now under Xilien control.
Ayan was quickly captured and brought before Admiral Elvira, the leader of the Xilien fleet, on her vessel alongside Rohan, Gen, and Lif. Elvira then offered them enough cash to keep their ship running for years to come as her thanks for their help in allowing her to locate the rebel base, having followed an energy signature SpaceGodzilla left on Mechagodzilla after they rescued Frey and her crewmates. Ayan lunged at Elvria, only to be shot through the arm by an Xilien guard, leaving a gapping hole in her left bicep as she cried out and collapsed in pain. Rohan meekly accepted the payment to prevent further bloodshed, at which point the crew was allowed to return to their ship before the Xilien fleet departed for Tama 7. As Gen cauterized Ayan's wound, Ayan maintained her desire to fight back. Lif surprisingly sided with Ayan, admitting that he did not want the blood of all those rebels on his hands. The reluctant Gen warned her that if they crossed the Xiliens again, they would forever remain enemies of the Xilien Empire and would be on the run for the rest of their lives, but Ayan remained resolute, ultimately convincing Gen and Lif to stand with her. Ayan then pleaded with Rohan to join them, asking if he was willing to stomach letting hundreds if not thousands of rebels die on Tama 7 under his watch.
Gallery
Concept art
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Character sheet by Oliver Ono -
Ayan concept art by Oliver Ono -
Ayan concept art by Oliver Ono -
Ayan space suit concept art by Oliver Ono
Trivia
- Though Ayan appears human, series editor Jake Williams clarified that none of the cast of the series are from Earth, instead describing them as being merely "human-appearing".[1]
References
This is a list of references for Ayan. These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: [1]
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