Saurous

Saurous is a monster that appears in Monster Attack and Global Defence Force''. ''

It also appears in Earth Defense Force 2: Invaders From Planet Space, where it uses the creature's original Japanese name, Solas (ソラス Sorasu). It is certainly not a direct copy of any creature owned by, for example, Toho.

Description
Saurous is a 40-metre giant. It is a tough, slow monster which attacks with stomps and a powerful fire breath attack. It normally walks slowly, but can also dash to cover ground faster. It first appears in Monster Attack's mission 10: Behemoth Saurous, and appears again in mission 16.

A "cyborg" version of Saurous appears in mission 22: Machine Beast. This version replaces the flame breath attack with a powerful laser, and has missile launchers on its back and a grenade launcher mounted in the middle of its chest.

The Saurous has a number of protrusions upon it's back and shoulders. A skilled, or suicidal, Pale Wing can utilise these points as a landing spot, wedging themselves in. The standard creature appears to have no counters to such a practice, allowing the Pale Wing time to recharge her pack or utilise close-quaters weapons. It is advised that any personel partaking in this act keep some charge in their packs as sudden jolts can dislodge them from their perch. Explosive weapons are not adviced for obvious reasons.

The normal and cyborg versions reappear in Global Defence Force, with the normal one first appearing in mission 13: Saurous! while the cyborg version appears in mission 63.

Along with these are two new versions: the first is a small Saurous, only 10 metres tall, appearing in mission 67: Overlord. Once these are defeated, another new version referred to as "King Saurous" in Japanese documentation makes an unwelcome appearance. This is a giant variant looking different from the other variants with much greater durability and power than its smaller brethren.

Similar creatures
In later EDF games, less copyright-infringey creatures similar to Saurous appear: Earth Defense Force 2017 has the Vallak Dino Mech which has a "cyborg" form as Saurous in Monster Attack does. Earth Defense Force 2025 has the Greater Wild Dragon, which has the same fire breath and the added ability to fly, while Earth Defense Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair introduces the even more similar monster Erginus which has a giant form like the Saurous in ''Global Defence Force. Earth Defense Force 5 has Archelus, and Earth Defense Force: Iron Rain ''has Beizal

Trivia

 * Saurous and its cyborg form, in addition to clearly being based on Godzilla, have some similar characteristics to other kaiju such as Gomora, Gomess, Yonggary, Mechagodzilla, and Cyber Godzilla.