Yellowback
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Yellowback is a coral snake kaiju who appears in the Scott Ciencin novels Godzilla: Journey to Monster Island and Godzilla vs. the Space Monster.
Name
Yellowback's name likely comes from the bright yellow coloration throughout his body.
Design
In Godzilla: Journey to Monster Island, Yellowback is described as a "huge coral snake with bright yellow markings on its black and red body".
Personality
In Godzilla: Journey to Monster Island, Yellowback views Godzilla as a leader and a familial member, respecting him to a high degree and cheering in excitement after seeing him reciprocate a friendly headbutt from Varan. He became excited again over the idea of Monster Island after receiving a vision of it. Yellowback was also susceptible to giving into his original predatory instincts. This led him to attack a city with Rattler in search of human prey after becoming annoyed by the loud noises and bright lights, even convincing Varan to join them, before being thwarted by Godzilla, Kamacuras, and Kumonga. Yellowback was the first of the trio to try attacking Godzilla during this brief period of hostility, before being put in his place by Godzilla and dragged off by Kumonga. He also maintained a close bond with his fellow giant serpent monster Rattler, both of them targeting humans after reverting to their natural instincts. Yellowback was extremely protective of the juvenile kaiju, flying into a rage when they were loaded onto a ship, assuming it was a giant silver beast swallowing them. Yellowback attempted to destroy it with the other kaiju before being pacified by Amy O'Neil when she projected the fear of the younger kaiju into his mind. When emerging onto Monster Island, Yellowback struggled with his own mind after terrorists attempted to put him under mind control, alongside Godzilla and his allies. Unlike his fellow snake Rattler, Yellowback's will was not strong enough to combat the mind control and he promptly fell under it. While all the other mind-controlled monsters battled Godzilla and Rattler, Yellowback went off on his own to track down Amy and Roy, along with the juvenile monsters. Upon locating them, Yellowback slowly approached and hissed at them, although made no further moves against them as they were suddenly consumed by a fissure. After the mind control was broken and his allies were brought back to their senses, Yellowback joined them all in confronting the humans who attempted to control them, glaring angrily at them all.
In Godzilla vs. the Space Monster, Rattler's companionship with Yellowback was retained, both of them living in a swamp together on Monster Island.
Origins
In Godzilla Invades America, Yellowback was originally an ordinary rattlesnake waiting to hatch in the Nevada desert. He was among the monsters created by a Cryo Chem lab accident which exposed local wildlife to nanomachines that caused them to gradually grow to gigantic proportions. Kamacuras and Kumonga, among the first of the monsters to reach their full size, traveled to Las Vegas to prepare a larger nest for their comrades, but retreated after confronting Godzilla, Sasori, and a U.S. superweapon called Deep Freeze which could reverse their growth. In Godzilla: Journey to Monster Island, weeks later after the Las Vegas incident, a fully-grown Yellowback met up with Godzilla in Southern Washington along with the rest of the Nevada mutants, saving him from a sneak attack by the United States military.
History
- Godzilla Invades America (1997) [allusion]
- Godzilla: Journey to Monster Island (1998)
- Godzilla vs. the Space Monster (1998)
Godzilla Invades America
Yellowback was implied to be among the numerous creatures transformed into giants by the accident at the Cryo Chem laboratory. Unlike his fellow monsters Kamacuras and Kumonga, Yellowback did not set out to create a nest elsewhere, and stayed behind with his smaller comrades, alongside Varan and Rattler.
Godzilla: Journey to Monster Island
Yellowback was part of a group of monsters who traveled across multiple U.S. states in order to track down Godzilla. After Godzilla was ambushed by the U.S. military, Yellowback and the rest of the group arrived just in time to rescue him. Yellowback slithered down a mountainside alongside Rattler and coiled around multiple tanks, holding them in place for Kumonga to destroy. The military retreated in the face of the onslaught, leaving the new arrivals to gather around Godzilla. Yellowback began to cheer in excitement after witnessing a friendly display of recognition between Varan and Godzilla. As the moment set in, Godzilla realized that Yellowback and the others wanted food and shelter from him. He attempted to communicate with Yellowback and the other monsters, trying to get them to follow him to Monster Island, although they were all confused at what he was doing, not understanding his way of physical communication. After Yellowback and the other kaiju received a vision of the island from psychic Amy O'Neil, they resolved to journey there, all wanting Godzilla to lead them.
As the caravan of creatures made their way to Monster Island, Rattler got into a brief skirmish with Yellowback as they swam in the ocean, each attempting to bite the other. Later, the caravan approached a nearby city, and while the others waited for orders from Godzilla, Rattler set off to attack a bridge with Yellowback after hearing lots of loud noises from the cars on it, giving into his primal instincts and waning hunger as he sensed prey. Varan soon followed after them, leading all the younger kaiju to get scared and run off. Even after Godzilla blasted the water with his atomic breath trying to get the three of them to return, Yellowback ignored him and continued towards the bridge. Yellowback was stopped again as Godzilla, Kamacuras, and Kumonga stood in front of the bridge, blocking him. Yellowback was the first to make a move, lifting up out of the water and hissing at Godzilla, before diving under after the reptilian unleashed his atomic breath. Rattler would take advantage of the reptilian being distracted by Yellowback, slithering past his leg before being noticed by the King of the Monsters. Rattler was then trapped underneath Godzilla's foot after he stomped on the rattlesnake, pinning him. However, while Rattler was stuck, Yellowback came out from the water again and began constricting Godzilla tightly, before opening his mouth and revealing his fangs, biting down and injecting venom into his neck. Still constricting around Godzilla, Yellowback held him still, allowing Varan the opportunity to barrel into him, toppling Godzilla and giving Rattler a chance to escape from under his foot. Yellowback then advanced towards the bridge, where he picked up a truck and thrashed it around, before tossing it into the ocean. He proceeded to coil around the bridge, heavily damaging it before being covered in silk. The culprit was revealed to be Kumonga, carried by a flying Kamacuras, who continued covering Yellowback in webbing before prying him off the bridge and flying him away. Yellowback finally relented and submitted to Godzilla after this incident.
After regaining control over Rattler, Yellowback, and Varan, Godzilla noticed that all the younger kaiju were missing. The humans traveling alongside the kaiju eventually rounded them all up and placed them on a ship. However, Yellowback and the rest of the kaiju perceived the ship as a silver creature attempting to swallow them all whole. They sped towards the ship in a rage, with the intent of destroying it. Before this could happen, Amy O'Neil projected the fear of the young monsters into the minds of them all, pacifying them. The monster caravan finally arrived at Monster Island after two weeks, only to find their would-be paradise in chaos: Rodan and Anguirus, the island's existing residents, were rampaging across it. As the commotion continued to get worse, Rattler washed ashore with Yellowback, both writhing in pain while trying to fight against dark clouds in their minds. Unlike his fellow snake, Yellowback's will was not strong enough, and he gave in. He proceeded to track down Roy, Amy, and all the juvenile kaiju who were investigating the island's volcano, slithering around multiple boulders before hissing at them. He was not able to pursue them, however, as the ground beneath them gave in, leading the group to find the terrorists' base of operations. It was then revealed that terrorists had taken over Monster Island, and had placed the kaiju under mind control, with only Godzilla and Rattler being able to withstand it. Yellowback later appeared at the rim of the volcano with the other kaiju after the mind control was broken, peering down angrily at the humans who tried to command them. After the arrests of those involved, Yellowback lived in peace alongside the other Monster Island inhabitants.
Godzilla vs. the Space Monster
Yellowback, along with Rattler, lived in a swamp on Monster Island until King Ghidorah destroyed the swamp and dried it out with his gravity beams.
Yellowback played a pivotal role in the final battle against King Ghidorah, biting his wing in order to ground the three-headed dragon.
Abilities
Physical abilities
In Godzilla: Journey to Monster Island, Yellowback constricted several tanks ambushing Godzilla, restraining them for Kumonga to destroy. During a brief fight with Godzilla, Yellowback constricted Godzilla in order to use his venom on the reptilian. Yellowback continued to constrict Godzilla in order to allow Varan to barrel into him, only letting go after Godzilla was toppled over. After leaving Godzilla weakened, Yellowback picked up a truck with his mouth, shook it around, and tossed it into the ocean. He then constricted around a bridge, heavily damaging it, before being dragged off by Kumonga's webbing.
In Godzilla vs. the Space Monster, Yellowback bit into one of King Ghidorah's wings, grounding the dragon with the help of Rattler.
Amphibiousness
In Godzilla: Journey to Monster Island, Yellowback swam across the Pacific Ocean for two weeks alongside the other monsters in order to reach Monster Island. While in a brief spat with Rattler, Yellowback ducked beneath the water several times to avoid bites from the rattlesnake. When challenging Godzilla's dominance, Yellowback dodged his atomic breath by diving underwater. He was similarly able to swerve around Kumonga when the arachnid attempted to stop him from attacking Godzilla. When under the assumption the juvenile monsters were being eaten, Yellowback sped towards the ship carrying them, moving faster than Godzilla and Varan in the water.
Venom
In Godzilla: Journey to Monster Island, Yellowback unhinged his jaws to reveal dripping venom, before clamping down on Godzilla. The venom left Godzilla weakened and feeling faint, allowing Varan to barrel into him.
Durability
In Godzilla: Journey to Monster Island, Yellowback was irritated by Kumonga's webbing and momentarily struggled against it before being pulled off the bridge he was constricting. He was also unharmed by Kumonga's legs when the giant spider restrained him further.
Gallery
Trivia
- Manda's trademark icon appears on the back covers of both Godzilla: Journey to Monster Island and Godzilla vs. the Space Monster despite the character never appearing in either story. It is possible this was either an error or that Toho felt Yellowback and Rattler were similar enough to Manda to require use of the license.
Notes
- ↑ While an exact size was not given for Yellowback, he was described as being as long as a freight train.
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