Project Monarch (Godzilla)

Project Monarch is a group that features in the Godzilla universe.

History

Project Monarch (Japanese: 君主, Hepburn: Kunshu) was an agency formed in the mid-20th century following the discovery of the entity known as Godzilla. This creature was determined to be one of many superspecies that once populated prehistoric Earth in a time when where radioactivity was high. Such beasts were referred to as Titans which were said to had lived on the planet for countless years until radiation began to dampen in the environment with many being killed. Others survived by burying deep underground in order to draw energy from nuclear energy from the planet's core. Monarch was first created and funded by U.S. President Harry Truman in the year 1946. Godzilla proved to be an alpha predator that managed to awaken by 1954 where attempts were made to destroy the beast. This was the reason for the nuclear tests by various nation's that followed that period with those island detonation's being used as a cover up as they attempted to slay Godzilla. However, this plan failed though Project Monarch was formed in order to test the giant reptile. By 1973, the organization was threatened with being shut down. However, William Randa managed to convince a senior official in Washington to fund an expedition to Skull Island. The expedition ended up encountering a gigantic ape known as Kong that guarded the island from a number of predators that were asleep beneath the Earth's surface. These survivors were later inducted into Monarch and informed of further encounters with other such gigantic creatures around the world.

Over the years, many came to believe the activities of Godzilla were the result of another nation with the Soviet's suspecting the Americans and vice versa. Project Monarch's activities heightened in 1999 when they detected a radiation surge in the Phillipines following a dig where a massive cavern collapse occurred. Their investigation found the dead skeleton of one of the Prehistoric animals with one fossilized egg and another that had hatched. The hatched specimen managed to travel to Japan's Janjira region where it attacked a radioactive power plant in order to feed on its energy whereupon it enveloped itself in a cocoon. As a result of the incident, the entire area was made as part of a Quarantine Zone with a cover story stating that the destroying of the nuclear power plant had flooded the area with lethal radiation. In reality, Project Monarch had established a containment facility to study the cocoon for the next decade as they sought to learn from the cocooned beast that they referred to as an Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organisms. In 2009, mythographic studies led to them uncovering a Chinese temple in the Yunnan province where they discovered a gigantic egg with an active heartbeat inside.

The original site holding the eggs was also studied by Monarch where the fossilized egg was seemingly killed and disposed of a nuclear waste facility in America. Meanwhile, the M.O.T.U. in Japan was examined as well but the scientists detected a nuclear charge and were worried that the creatures death might lead to a massive burst of radioactivity. In 2014, the cocoon began to pulse further with energy which was effecting the power grid as it was generating an electromagnetic charge that knocked out electrical sources in the area. This activity was discovered by Joseph Brody who was one of the people responsible for he Janjira nuclear plant where he lost his wife. He braved the Quarantine Zone in order to find the thing responsible for the death of his wife Sandra. This saw him and his son Ford Brody being taken to the Monarch base studying the cocoon where Joseph's records determined that the creature was increasing the frequency of its pulses as well as had data that indicated it was communicating with something else. At that point, the M.O.T.U. was draining power from the region that indicated that it was about to hatch whereupon the move was made to terminate it. This at first looked successful but it was too late as the M.O.T.U. hatched and flew away from the area after its awakening killed hundreds of people. Afterwards, the United States military moved in to recruit the surviving Ichiro Serizawa as they took over Project Monarch's operation in stopping the M.O.T.U.s and Godzilla.

In the aftermath, Monarch came to reveal its existence to the world and took a role in responding to the threat posed by the Titans. Over time, they came to catalogue the presence of 17 additional Titans that resided across the world. They came to assess the difference between those that were predators and those that were more benevolent. In 2016, Monarch came to discover a new Titan superspecies that was frozen beneath the Antarctic ice sheet. A covert containment and research facility was built to study the specimen that was classified as Monster Zero. By 2019, the U.S. government conducted a senate hearing over the continued operations of Monarch with the suggestion that it become part of the military. During this time, an eco-terrorist named Alan Jonah believed that the discovery of the Titans indicated that mankind was a plague on the world and human civilisation needed to be wiped out in order for the Earth to recover from the damage caused to it. Secretly, he was in contact with Monarch scientist Emma Russell where together they worked to bring about this plan which involved the recently developed ORCA bio-acoustics device.

By 2024, Monarch had focused its efforts in keeping King Kong within his containment facility in order to keep him from being discovered by Godzilla. This was because there was fear that Godzilla would sense Kong as being a rival Alpha which would lead to a battle between the two. During this time, Apex Cybernetics CEO Walter Simmons came to convince former Monarch geologist Nathan Lind to launch an expedition into the Hollow Earth. However, the only being capable of guiding them on this journey was King Kong and Lind used his former contacts to meet with Dr. Ilene Andrews where he managed to convince her that the Hollow Earth was the only safe place for the Titan as the containment facility was no longer suitable to contain the giant ape. Ultimately, she agreed to the task with Monarch setting forth to release King Kong and transport him to the former Antarctic outpost that was a gateway into the Hollow Earth. During transport, the fleet was attacked by Godzilla with King Kong having to battle the giant lizard though he ultimately lost the encounter but managed to survive. Arriving at Antarctica, Kong was sent into the Hollow Earth whilst being followed by a join Monarch/Apex Cybernetics expedition who were using the latter's new anti-gravity drop-ships that could make the journey deep underground.

Overview

In appearance, Monarch was described as being a multi-national coalition that was devoted in the study of Godzilla and the other Prehistoric beasts that once lived on Earth's surface. The agency specialised in the hunt for massive unidentified terrestrial organisms. Their mission statement was the discovery and defence in a time of monsters. Many years ago, the motto of the organization was "Beyond logic lies truth".

Monarch produced a number of specialist equipment that included:

• Orca : a device able to replicate the bio-acoustics of a Titan and relay the command of an Alpha allowing it to control the giant beasts.

The organization was responsible for creating a large aircraft called the USS Argo that served as a mobile headquarters and field base.

There were a number facilities operated by the organization which included:

• Outpost 32 : a facility built in Antarctica after the discovery of Monster Zero where it studied the giant frozen kaiju.
• Castle Bravo : also known as Outpost 54 which was an ocean dwelling facility located in Bermuda that was tasked with the study of Godzilla.
• Outpost 236 : located on Skull Island and was the King Kong Containment Facility that was a massive dome that replicated the idyllic environment of the island but in reality was a prison to ensure that the giant ape-like Titan was not discovered by predators.

It also began the construction of numerous bunkers around the world to help protect humans in case the Earth was devastated by the Titans.

Members

• William Randa : a male American who in 1942 survived an encounter with a giant creature with the incident being covered up but as an adult became determined to find proof and charted the expedition to Skull Island where he was killed by a child Skullcrusher.
• Ichiro Serizawa : a Japanese male who was a scientist and came to be the head of the Monarch organisation by 2014.
• Vivienne Graham : a female scientist who was recruited into Monarch and came to see Dr. Serizawa as a mentor figure.
• Mark Russell :
• Emma Russell : a female scientist who was the chief paleobiologist and director of bioacoustic studies.
• Ilene Andrews : a dark haired female scientist who served as an anthropological linguist and was the adoptive mother of Jia who a deaf female Iwi native.
• Ilene Chen :
• Nathan Lind : a male human scientist who served as a geologist though was no longer in the employ of Monarch.
• Sam Coleman :

Notes

• Monarch appeared in the setting of Legendary's MonsterVerse.
• A tie-in website for Godzilla: King of Monsters was created whereby visitors played the role of a civilian operator recruited to declassifying evidence of superspecies evidence around the world.

Appearances

• Godzilla: (2014)
• Kong: Skull Island: (2017)
• Godzilla: King of the Monsters: (2019)
• Godzilla Vs. Kong: (2021)

External Links

• Gojipedia Entry
• Comicvine Entry

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