Erika Shiragami
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How long have we been living in such an age? Perhaps it began when man first stepped out of the Garden of Eden. Try to think about that one more time.
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— Erika's closing narration (Godzilla vs. Biollante) |
Erika Shiragami (白神 英理加 Shiragami Erika) is a character who appeared in the 1989 Godzilla film, Godzilla vs. Biollante.
The daughter of renowned geneticist Genichiro Shiragami, Erika followed her father to the Republic of Saradia to assist him in his research at the Institute of Biotechnology. She used her passion for botany to help him genetically engineer new plant species that could thrive in the desert, only to be killed in a terrorist bombing at the laboratory engineered by Bio-Major. Her grieving father used his skills to splice her cells into a rosebush in order to keep her alive, then later in a fit of desperation spliced in a Godzilla cell in order to prevent the last rose from dying. This resulted in the creation of the hybrid monster Biollante, which retained Erika's consciousness.
History
- Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989)
Heisei era
Godzilla vs. Biollante
Erika was the daughter of the brilliant geneticist Genichiro Shiragami. She had a passion for botany and particularly loved roses, often telling her university classmate and best friend Asuka Okouchi that one day roses would bloom across the desert. When her father's groundbreaking genetic research couldn't get approved in Japan's conservative academic community, Erika followed her father to the desert nation of Saradia, where he was recruited to work at the nation's advanced Biotechnology Institute in order to research ways to genetically engineer plants resistant to drought. Erika worked as her father's research assistant, and successfully spliced cactus genes into a strain of wheat. The institute's director, Abdul Zalman, sent an an agent of the Saradia Secret Service to appropriate Godzilla cells left behind by the monster's recent attack, with the intention of allowing Dr. Shiragami to utilize their incredible regenerative capabilities in his research. While Erika was working at the institute following the cells' arrival, the American corporation Bio-Major bombed the laboratory to sabotage the research, killing her in the process. Her grief-stricken father gave up his research and returned to his native Japan to live in solitude near Lake Ashi. Five years later, in an attempt to keep Erika alive in some form, Shiragami had used his scientific prowess to splice some of her cells into a rosebush, as his daughter had loved roses. Shiragami called in a favor from Asuka, now working at the Japan Psyonics Center, to have her young psychic prodigy Miki Saegusa try and communicate with the roses. Miki reported nothing except for faintly hearing a girl call Asuka's name.
When Mount Mihara began to erupt, the resulting earthquake destroyed the terrarium containing the rosebush, causing most of the roses to die. Believing his beloved daughter would be gone forever if he did not act, Shiragami volunteered to join the Okouchi Foundation and the Special Disaster Research Council's team to engineer an anti-Godzilla bioweapon from the monster's own cells for the JSDF, on the condition that he could keep a sample of the cells in his laboratory. Shiragami successfully spliced Godzilla's cells into the surviving rose, hoping their regenerative abilities would keep the rose containing his daughter's spirit alive forever. The rose survived and began growing rapidly, with the G-cells becoming an overwhelming influence on its cell division. After two Bio-Major agents and the Saradian assassin SSS9 raided Shiragami's lab to steal his notes on the Anti-Nuclear Energy Bacteria, the rose began to move and attacked them before fleeing the laboratory. The bizarre hybrid creature took root in Lake Ashi and grew to 85 meters in height. Shiragami named his creation Biollante, after a plant spirit from Norse mythology. Miki noted that she could sense a voice coming from Biollante calling out to Asuka for help, which Asuka realized must be Erika's spirit. Biollante began crying out from the lake, drawing the attention of Godzilla, freshly released from Mt. Mihara. When Godzilla arrived, Erika's consciousness lost control of Biollante, which became a violent cross between Godzilla and a plant. Biollante attacked Godzilla, but Godzilla overpowered her and set her ablaze. However, the G-cells granted Biollante true immortality, as she broke apart into a cloud of energy spores and floated away. Biollante later returned in her more Godzilla-like final form and attacked again Godzilla at Wakasa Bay, raising his body temperature to the point that the ANEB he had been infected with took effect and caused him to pass out. Badly wounded in the battle, Biollante broke apart into spores of energy once again and floated up into outer space, with Erika's face becoming visible among the spores. As Biollante departed, Miki, Asuka, and Shiragami looked on, with Miki reporting that she heard Erika's spirit within Biollante telling them "thank you." Shiragami stepped forward and called out his daughter's name, but was shot and killed by SSS9.
Gallery
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Erika, minutes before her death in the lab explosion. -
Erika's face is visible as Biollante's energy spores ascend to space.
Trivia
Comments
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