Runt
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Isn't it more likely that the King of Monsters is simply a species we don't understand? Is it vanity to believe that it thinks of us at all? Do ants believe man to be their god?
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— Runt (Godzilla: Escape the Deadzone #3) |
Runt is a human mutant who serves as one of the main characters of the 2025 IDW Publishing ongoing comic series Godzilla: Escape the Deadzone. Prophesied to bring humanity’s demise through Godzilla, he and his twin sister Glasseater were raised by the Church of Godzilla before being rescued by the Wanderer. Runt and Glasseater boast the unique ability to control kaiju through touch.
Name
Like his sister, Runt did not originally have a name. However, it is unclear if Runt chose his name himself, or if Glasseater appointed it to him as a fitting moniker.
Personality
In stark contrast to his more volatile sister, Runt is a much more soft-spoken, affable, and inquisitive individual. Though generally cordial, he is shown to be fiercely protective of his sister, demanding the Wanderer to unhand her when he was merely trying to help her. He yearns to learn more about the outside world. Unlike his sister, who believed the only family she needed was her brother, Runt openly entertained the idea of the Wanderer becoming a surrogate father figure. Though dismissive of the church's beliefs regarding his supposed mission, he has some reverence towards Godzilla as a god of destruction.
History
- Godzilla: Escape the Deadzone #2–6 (2025–2026)
Godzilla: Escape the Deadzone
Issue #2
In a desert of the Deadzone, a half-man, half-kaiju mutant known as the Wanderer encountered two dueling kaiju and was shocked to discover a young girl controlling one of them upon its defeat. As the girl called out for her brother, a young boy named Runt emerged from the second kaiju, identifying the girl as Glasseater. As the Wanderer sought answers, all three were tranquilized by the Church of Godzilla, a cult-like group who had been holding the children against their will. Following their recapture, Runt and Glasseater sat despondent in the Church's temple as their leader, Mother A, delivered a sermon. During her speech, the Wanderer, who had been imprisoned in the temple's basement, broke free of his restraints and attacked the churchgoers in a larger, monstrous form. As members of the Church quickly sought to return the children to their cells, the Wanderer heeded their pleas and violently attacked their captors. After killing one of their abductors, the Wanderer grabbed the kids and burst through the church's walls, fleeing deeper into the Deadzone.
Issue #3
While running with the children, the Wanderer eventually dropped the kids and collapsed in exhaustion as he reverted to his normal, smaller form. Glasseater admonished him for doing so in such a dangerous place and emphasized that they needed to keep moving, but the Wanderer demanded answers. Glasseater and Runt explained that they were the "chosen children of the Church of Godzilla", destined to reunite with Godzilla and bring about the end of humanity. Just then, a Kumongaling attacked the trio, prompting the Wanderer to grab the kids to flee. During his subsequent confrontation with the insectoid kaiju, the Wanderer was pinned by the Kumongaling, only for Runt to stop the kaiju by touching it before entering its body through its back, allowing him to assume control over the monster. Though the Wanderer was astonished by the children's abilities, Glasseater merely reiterated that they were special.
Glasseater and the Wanderer rode the Kumongaling to a cave, at which point Runt emerged from the creature, killing it. The children shared more details about themselves, with Glasseater revealing that they did not believe in their mission to bring about the end of humanity while Runt instead expressed an interest in learning more about the outside world. Shortly after the Wanderer claimed that he would help get the children out of the Deadzone, the trio were astonished to witness Godzilla traveling through the Deadzone some distance away. Glasseater and Runt argued over what Godzilla thought of humanity while the Wanderer merely expressed contempt for the monster. Afterwards, Glasseater observed that all three of them had the same eyes, which the Wanderer dismissed as not meaning anything. Glasseater concurred and stated that she and her brother did not need the Wanderer to serve as a father figure for them, stressing that his only objective was to help them escape the Deadzone and nothing further.
The following morning, the trio left the cave and continued onward.
Issue #4
While traversing a desert in the Deadzone, Glasseater and Runt struggled against the heat, though the Wanderer assured them that they were merely dehydrated. Glasseater then noticed a stream of water nearby, though upon following it discovered the source to be a giant, 40-foot young girl bawling. While the Wanderer was immediately irritated by her sobbing and wanted the children to use their powers to get her under control, Glasseater and Runt flatly refused, disgusted by the suggestion. Runt calmly approached her and asked to know more about her, intrigued by her appearance. The giant girl revealed her name to be Sherry Dottsman before detailing her backstory, explaining that she became enamored with Godzilla and infiltrated the Deadzone in pursuit of the monster, where she was mutated by the Deadzone's Kai-Sei energies into a giantess. Though Runt was charmed by her passion for Godzilla, Glasseater described it as "disturbing".
Sherry was stunned to learn that human societies lived in the Deadzone, revealing that nobody in the outside world believed the Deadzone to be anything more than a desolate wasteland populated only by kaiju, devastating the Wanderer. Sherry subsequently invited the trio to her giant tent, with Runt being fascinated by the data she collected on Godzilla. Though the Wanderer prepared to leave soon after, Sherry guilted him and the twins into staying by detailing how lonely she had been by herself. That night, as Sherry and Runt bonded, a flaming arrow was shot into the tent, setting it ablaze. The occupants quickly scrambled out, only for Sherry and Runt to be ensnared in a trap before being pulled away into the darkness of night by an unseen force, theorized by Glasseater to be poachers. Glasseater and the Wanderer resolved to go after them.
Issue #5
Sherry and Runt were transported to a dark facility in a mysterious town, where a cage promptly fell over them upon arrival. The two then met a soft-spoken three-eyed man named Hue, who identified himself as their keeper and revealed additional cages containing kaiju. Hue cryptically informed them that if they wanted freedom, they had to be prepared to fight for it. The duo subsequently discovered that they had been transported to a town that held kaiju fights to entertain the populace as Sherry was forced into a great arena to contend against Baragon and the Wanderer, who was also captured by the townsfolk while seeking Runt and Sherry. As the fight commenced, Runt spoke with Hue outside of the arena, who revealed that he was being forced to conduct these events against his will by the town's Mayor. With Runt's support and encouragement, Hue decided to give Runt a chance and freed the boy to help him oppose the Mayor's forces. When Runt mentioned Godzilla, Hue revealed that he might have a way to lure Godzilla to them as he led Runt to a cage containing a juvenile Godzilla.
Abilities
Kaiju Puppeteer
Upon touching a kaiju, Runt is able to meld with the creature's body and pilot it like a sort of bio-mech. When finished controlling a kaiju, he bursts from its flesh, which typically causes great harm or even death to the kaiju.
Telepathy
Runt and Glasseater appear to be capable of reading the minds of kaiju they take control of.
Gallery
Concept art
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Concept art by Pablo Tunica
Scans
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The Wanderer with Glasseater and Runt
References
This is a list of references for Runt. 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]
Comments
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