-- ReginaldGusto - 08 Nov 2015

What is a Kaiju?

When most people hear the word Kaiju, they think first (and rightly) of the old Toho era films, such as Gojira and Gamera. Others might rightly think of Cloverfield, or Pacific Rim. A few might include King Kong, or, lately, Attack On Titan.
But what about some you might not have considered?
What about Marvel’s the Incredible Hulk?
The Transformers’ Optimus Prime?
Elsa, from Disney’s Frozen, or Carrie from Stephen King’s book of the same name?
Frankenstein’s Monster?
Smaug the Dragon, or Elliott, from Disney’s Pete’s Dragon?
The Nuckelavee, from Scottish Lore?
Or the Babadook, or the Slender Man?
Or even Sheb Wooley’s One Eyed One Horned Flying Purple People Eater?
Or how about a real stretch? If we’re including the Purple People Eater, why not another of his same subgenre, Elvis Presley? Or Ronnie James Dio? Or Banksy?

In this setting, a Kaiju is a creature with an emotional block so powerful that it causes an energy buildup, leading to an eventual explosive release of that energy, called an eruption. Eruptions are usually devastating in power, and highly destructive, but they need not be if the Kaiju is skilled enough to re-direct the energy, or direct it carefully during the eruption. The blockage in question is usually fueled by an un-met emotional need.
Have you ever felt so pressured by circumstances that you felt you might explode? Or perhaps you’ve desperately needed to be yourself, to shine for all the world to see? Or to pick a fight to prove your worth? Have you ever felt so enraged by someone else’s pain that you wanted to protect them, even with your own life? To take charge of your life no matter who was upset by it? Have you ever been driven by a hunger or a need so intense that it altered your thinking? Have you ever demanded to know a truth that no one would tell you, about who you are, or felt that you had to rise above yourself, and be better than yourself? Have you ever been so broken that you felt like you had to put yourself together completely from scratch?
Have you ever needed to change the world so desperately that you would sacrifice everything else to do it?

Kaiju: the Eruption is a roleplaying game of larger-than-life emotions in a purely life-sized world. In Herman Melville’s classic novel Moby Dick, Captain Ahab was described as hating the white whale so much that “if his chest had been a cannon, he would have shot his heart at the beast.” The Kaiju of this world can do so much more with their hearts than merely turn them into cannon ammunition. Shape-shifting, giant size, tentacles, dragon breath, venom, wings, manipulation of the elements, of time and space, of other people’s emotions, travel through shadows, control of weather, supernatural senses, telekinesis, tapping into electronic networks, command of animals, and much much more are the primal powers possessed by some Kaiju, arising from the warping power of their unmet need.
But that is not all that is in play. The unmet need and the emotional block it creates are only one of the structural elements of a Kaiju. Is he/she burdened down by the needling pressures of a demanding boss and an unfulfilling home life? Does he/she need money for surgery, for himself or a loved one? Has he/she just been dumped from a romantic relationship, or humiliated for an infatuation? Does he/she need to break away from constricting expectations? Is he/she going through puberty like General Sherman through Atlanta? Does he/she need to track down the dirty mangy dog that christened him with a girl’s name? Does he/she need to become the best at something? Does he/she need to rid the world of despotic corrupt tinpot dictators, or destroy major corporations, or clean up the oceans? Has he/she been broken so badly that he/she fears they may never be whole again? Does he/she suffer from schizophrenia, dementia, depression, anxiety, PTSD, or any other mind altering maladies? Does he/she really really really really need a cup of goddamn coffee, right now, or for his or her idiot neighbor to please stop playing that god-awful Barry Manilow song at full volume all day every day? Come on, you know the one, sing it with me—

BANG!

…Anyway, moving on. The answer to those questions, and all deeper implications you feel the need to explore about them, will determine everything else about the character, from Human to Kaiju. These drives, needs, fears, and hopes will drive what skills he or she pursued, what life he or she is in, and what he or she has done so far to help himself or herself. It will also play a major role in his or her eruption, and what Kaiju form he or she takes.
Or, to look at it another way: