RODAN

In the mining village of Kitamatsu, near the foothills of Mount Aso on Kyushu, miners Goro and Yoshi enter a mine to start their shift, before the shaft floods. Shigeru Kawamura, a tunneling and safety engineer there, later enters the mine and discovers Yoshi's lacerated corpse.

Above ground, a doctor examines Yoshi, who died from deep gashes caused by a sharp object. Two miners and a policeman are later slain in the flooded shaft. That night, Shigeru and his fiancée Kiyo are attacked by a giant larval insect at Kiyo's home.

The police start hunting the creature, which kills two officers before escaping into the mine. The police and Shigeru notice that the officers' wounds match the ones of the murdered. Shigeru, accompanied by police and soldiers, heads into the mine, and discovers Goro's butchered body and is chased by the insect monster. Shigeru crushes the creature with runaway mine carts. However, after another monster appears, the tunnel collapses in on itself trapping Shigeru in the mine.

The next day, Dr. Kashiwagi identifies the giant insect as the Meganulon, an ancient species of dragonfly nymph that was awoken by the mining operation. An earthquake strikes the area, and rumors begin to circulate that Mount Aso might be on the verge of an eruption. Heading to the volcano to investigate the damage caused by the earthquake, the police discover that the only road to the mines has collapsed. They then also find Shigeru wandering around the epicenter, injured and suffering from amnesia.

Miles away, an air base receives an alert from a JASDF fighter pilot. The pilot reports an unidentified flying object moving at supersonic speeds near Mount Aso. The pilot is ordered to pursue the jet, but the UFO changes course abruptly and overflies the aircraft, destroying it. The base later learns that a British airliner was downed by an aerial object resembling the supersonic UFO. More incidents are reported from China, Okinawa, and the Philippines of aerial supersonic objects.

Amid constant news reports of these attacks, a newly married couple disappears around Mount Aso, along with several cattle. When the authorities develop the film from the newlyweds' camera, they discover a photograph of what appears to be a gigantic wing. Ruling out the possibility of aircraft, authorities match the photo with a drawing of a prehistoric Pteranodon and surmise that the UFO is a living being.

Meanwhile, Shigeru's treatment progresses slowly. One day, in Shigeru's hospital room, Kiyo shows him the eggs that her pet birds have lain. As one of the eggs hatches, Shigeru, disturbed by the sight, regains his memory. He recalls that he woke up deep within the mine after the cave-in, and found himself surrounded by Meganulon. In the cave was a gigantic egg, from which Shigeru watched a massive bird creature emerge.

After descending into the cave with police and scientists, Shigeru finds a piece of the egg, which is taken to the surface for analysis. Dr. Kashiwagi examines the fragment in his lab and calls a meeting with townspeople and members of the Japanese Self-Defence Force. Kashiwagi says that the object flying at supersonic speeds is a pterosaur he has dubbed Rodan. Kashiwagi theorizes that nuclear bomb testing may have been the cause of Rodan's awakening.

Rodan emerges from the ground near Mount Aso, takes flight, and heads for Kyushu, with a squadron of the JSDF

pursuing it. After one of its wings is injured, Rodan flies to Fukuoka, where the sonic waves and windstorms from its wings lay waste to the city. The JSDF later reports that a second Rodan was spotted heading towards the city. After leveling the city and leaving the remaining buildings in flames, the two Rodans fly to Mount Aso. The JSDF formulate a plan to have the military fire at the base of Mount Aso, burying the Rodans alive. Shigeru retreats with Kiyo to safety, and the military begins its attack, triggering a volcanic eruption. The first Rodan's wing is damaged by the eruption; it falls towards a lava flow and begins to burn alive. Unwilling to live without its mate, the second Rodan dives into the eruption and burns to death.