Chinese mythology merely fantastic types of the bestiary sort. Sometimes the dragon is considered part of this category, related to it, or the ruler of all the swimming and crawling folk. This may include the giant marine turtle or tortoise Ao, the Bashe snake reputed to swallow elephants, a nine-headed snake monster reminiscent of the hydra known as Xiangliu, and the White Serpent from the novel "Legend of the White Snake". Various birds are found in Chinese mythology, some of them obviously based on real birds, other ones obviously not, and some in-between. The Crane is an example of a real type
Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster Yoshio Tsuchiya was originally attached to play Malmess but scheduling conflicts prevented him from participating. After the success of previous films where monsters were partnered up such as "King Kong vs. Godzilla" and "Mothra vs. Godzilla", producer Tomoyuki Tanaka decided to develop a film which would feature Godzilla, Rodan and Mothra. The film also includes a new monster, King Ghidorah. Ghidorah's design owes much to Japanese mythology. In 1959, producer Tanaka developed a film that retold the legendary stories of Japan. These included the tale of "Yamata no Orochi", an eight-headed dragon. King Ghidorah is based on Tsuburaya's design for