BETAN race

Classification: Semi-humanoid extraterrestrial race 

Location/Base of Operations: Planet Beta, third from the sun in the Mirpet system, Milky Way galaxy;
    a base was established on Earth's moon

Known Members: None identified;
    unidentified commander of the base on Earth's moon, and that commander's successor;
    unidentified Mourners member;
    population estimated at 65,900

Affiliations: Beta-Beast, Godzilla, various war-monsters;
    indirectly Red Ronin, Rob Takaguchi, SHIELD, "Dum Dum" Dugan, Gabe Jones

Enemies: Mega-Monsters (Krollar, Rhiahn, Triax), Megans

First Appearance: (Strictly behind-the scenes) Godzilla#10 (May, 1978))
    (seen and identified) Godzilla#12 (July, 1978)

 

 

 

 

Powers/Abilities: Betans possess vestigial wings that enable them to fly in low-gravity environments. Some of the images made it appear as if there might also be wing-like structures on the Betans' ankles, but it is never clear, and may just be exaggerated laces or other boot deals...

    Their level of technology is superior to Earth's, with faster-than-light travel starships equipped with laser or similar assault weapons, targeting and tracking systems, etc. They can scan for and review communications on all wavelengths over a significant distance to learn who is in a spacecraft and what they are talking about and doing.

    They can generate, presumably via technology, an artificial atmosphere, or "oxygen sheathe," that could cover a living being and allow him or her to both breathe and to survive in the frigid vacuum on Earth's moon. They were were able to create a sheath that was sufficient to sustain Godzilla, at his full, greater than 100' tall, size/mass. Whether a result of the sheathe or otherwise, Godzilla was able to generate a sustained powerful burst of his radioactive fiery-breathe on the moon.

    They could apparently open warp portals across at least sub-planetary distances, or possibly their tractor beam-type device was sufficiently fast to make it appear to have warped space (see comments). Their tractor beam was sufficient to transport Godzilla (who -- assuming he was 100' tall, and would have weighed 400 lbs. at 6' tall -- weighed something on the order of 920 tons) from Earth to the moon, and then back again in short order.

    Presumably via technology, they could apparently project their voices and show images/videos to beings in proximity to one of their bases, but within the moon's airless void.

    Another technology demonstrated by the Betans was the ID ray, which could instantly immobilize even the mighty Godzilla.

    They did not, however, have the means to repair or permanently contain damage to the glass-like dome surrounding their moon base.

 

 

Traits: The original reasons for their war with the Betans is/was unrevealed, but they warred with the Megans for centuries, depleting their own planetary resources and suffering heavy losses and then moved on to depleting roughly a dozen worlds of their gargantuan "dinosaur"-counterparts. At that point, the Betans sought to end the war. Their efforts to aid Earth were largely guided by their desire to prevent the Megans from conquering Earth and using its resources and strategic location to stage a final assault on Beta.

    Despite the above, they appeared to be rational, self-sacrificing, and relatively noble.

Type:  Bilaterally symmetric semi-humanoid bipeds
Eyes: Two (on head; solid pink (no visible sclera) with black pupil)
Fingers: Two (or three, plus opposing thumb; the images were inconsistent, so this either indicates that some Betans had two fingers (three digits) and some had three fingers (four digits), or that the variation was erroneous, and that each Betan had the same number of fingers, two or three depending on which is correct; the OHotMU image shows them with two fingers (three digits), and notes them as having "two fingers (with opposable thumbs); given the inconsistency, the OHotMU Deluxe Edition entry should be the clear "tie-breaker.")
Toes: Two
Skin color: Light purple
Average height: 7'1"

History:
(Godzilla#12 (fb) - BTS) - For "centuries" (whether that means a few hundred years or much longer is unrevealed), the Betans warred with their rival planet, Mega.

(Godzilla#12 (fb)) - After centuries of heavy losses and critical depletion of precious planetary resources on both sides, both sides conscripted the services of gargantuan "war-monsters" captured from planets still in the dawn of life.

(Godzilla#12 (fb) - BTS) - By exhausting the supplies of early life-forms, or "alien dinosaurs," the warring races eliminated the potential for further life on a dozen different worlds (see comments).

(Godzilla#12 (fb) - BTS) - Unsatisfied with what they were doing, the Betans hoped to end the warfare, but the Megans apparently did not agree.

(Godzilla#12 (fb) - BTS) - The most recent battle all but destroyed the Betans and their war-monsters, and they knew that one more all-out attack would end them. However, the Betans managed to keep their critical weakness secret.

(Godzilla#12 (fb) - BTS) - To replenish the raw materials for the armaments they believed necessary to conquer the Betans, the Megans decided to conquer Earth, which would also be a strategic location from which to launch a final assault on Beta.

(Godzilla#12 (fb) - BTS) - Knowing the Megans would send their three most powerful war-monsters -- Krollar, Rhiahn, and Triax -- to prepare the way for conquest, and knowing that their own last and most powerful war-monster, the Beta-Beast, was not powerful enough to challenge the powerful trio of Mega-Monsters, the Betans set up a base on Earth's moon, to study Earth and search for any native creatures powerful enough to defend Earth; they found Godzilla.

(Godzilla#10 - BTS) - The Betans observed Godzilla in battle against Yetrigar.

(Godzilla#12 (fb) - BTS) - The Betans decided to have Godzilla oppose the Beta-Beast, to better evaluate his power.

(Godzilla#12 - BTS) - The Betans opened a warp that pulled Godzilla to Earth's moon in the vicinity of the Beta-Beast. They coated Godzilla with a field that provided a protective "oxygen sheath" that allowed Godzilla to function in the moon's airless void and frigid cold. After a fierce battle, Godzilla overpowered and destroyed the Beta-Beast with his radioactive fire-breath.

(Godzilla#12) - The Betans on Earth's moon caused their base to emerge from beneath the satellite's surface, leading Godzilla to investigate. As he approached, the Betans stationed there noted his victory and curiosity-instigated approach,. When Godzilla interpreted the moving base to be another enemy and prepared to attack, the Betan commander ordered he be immobilized with the ID-ray to force him to stop and listen.

    After reviewing their history, the Betan explained to Godzilla that, by defeating the Beta-Beast, he, at least, had a fighting chance against the Mega-Monsters. Another Betan then rushed in, noting that the Mega-Monsters had arrived sooner than anticipated and had just passed through the Betan tracking field. Further, their computer showed that the Mega-Monsters were targeting the most powerful entities on Earth. Unsure where the Mega-Monsters would arrive with Godzilla off Earth, the Betan commander ordered Godzilla to be returned to Earth immediately, and to be sent to the same location selected by the Mega-Monsters; the Betan commander further noted that they could only hope Godzilla understood and that he would take up the fight for two worlds.

(Godzilla#12 - BTS) - The Mega-Monsters identified Red Ronin as one of Earth's most powerful entities. Seconds after Triax ambushed Red Ronin, Godzilla materialized by their side.

(Godzilla#13) - After the Mega-Monsters Rhiahn and Krollar joined the struggle, the Betan commander noted that if Godzilla failed that the Mega-Monsters would conquer Earth. He further predicted that with Earth's raw resources and strategic location, the Megan would be able to mount a final offensive against them, and that their home planet, Beta, would surely fall.
    Another Betan then noted that their scan-trackers had just identified an approaching craft heading for Earth that might be Megan (and indeed it was!). The Betan commander ordered the monitoring of all channels to intercept all transmissions, from which they learned that the Megans were preparing to unleash their Energex-Ray. The Betans knew that the Energex-Ray would ultimately lethally overload the Mega-Monsters, but that it would first increase the creatures' strength and ferocity tenfold, enabling them to kill Godzilla and crush Earth's defenses.
    The Betan commander ordered their base to be raised above the crater containing it and to prepare their craft -- which he would personally pilot -- for immediate takeoff. Though his crewmen noted that the Megans would thusly learn of their secret base there, the commander noted that if they didn't stop the Megans that their secret base would be useless because Godzilla wouldn't have a chance.
    The Betan spacecraft lifted off the moon (see comments), gained on the Megan craft, targeted the ship on their range-scope, and struck the craft with a twin blast. Recognizing their attackers as Betan, the Megan ship fired back, crippling the Betan ship's controls, leaving it on its auto-pilot directed flight back to their base, with which it would crash without controls. As they crashed into the Betan moonbase, the commander (presumably) noted that if they had damaged the Megan ship sufficiently to stop it, it would be a worthy sacrifice as their base would no longer be needed.
    Within the Betan base, the crew panicked as the life-sustaining atmosphere seeped out through breached dome.

(Godzilla#13 - BTS) - However, the Megan ship made it sufficiently close to Earth that it could release the Energex-Ray just before the ship imploded. As a result, the Mega-Monsters gained increased strength, ferocity, size and power; with Red Ronin having been decapitated by Rhiahn just seconds before.

(Godzilla#14) - With all Betans beyond the inner airlocks of the moonbase dead, the few surviving Betans left in the base monitored the four remaining monsters' lifesigns, noting that Godzilla's were weaker than the Mega-Monsters'. As they discussed how the Megans would wipe out the Betans on their home planet if Godzilla fell, two other Betans collapsed from the loss of atmosphere. The commander (presumably another commander, as the other one had been piloting the ship that crashed into the dome), with the only apparent other surviving Betan at the base, had the base lowered so that the little remaining atmosphere would collect and be contained at the bottom of the crater so that they might observe the battle's resolution.

(Godzilla#14 - BTS) - With the help of distractions provided by SHIELD crafts piloted by Gabe Jones and "Dum Dum" Dugan, Godzilla slew Krollar, Triax, and Rhiahn in series.
    The other Betan also perished at some point, leaving only the commander left.

(Godzilla#14) - Observing the last of the Mega-Monsters' life signs blinking off while Godzilla remained alive, the Betan commander was content to die in peace, knowing his homeworld was safe.

(Godzilla#14 - BTS) - On the Megan homeworld, the Megans also noted the death of the Mega-Monsters and the failure of their plot to conquer Earth to use its location and materials to destroy the Betans. One of them postulated that perhaps they should also terminate their war with the Betans at long last, querying whether there were any there among them who were not tired.

(Quasar#26 (fb) - BTS) - At some point in time (it is unrevealed whether this was before or after the Godzilla encounter), at least one Betan (though not one of those stationed on Earth's moon) joined the Mourners.

(Quasar#26) - The Betan Mourner was present at the funeral for Eon, which was interrupted by Thanos.

Comments: Created by Doug Moench, Herb Trimpe, and Fred Kida.

    Mirpet is an anagram of Trimpe, the penciler who co-created the Betans.

    Thanks to Donald Campbell for supplying a cleaned-up version of the OHotMU Deluxe Edition entry image.

    A few other comments from Donald Campbell (with my responses in bold):

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
The Betans have no known connections to

commander

 

    Unidentified. He supervised the transport of Godzilla to the moon, the battle between Godzilla and the Beta-Beast, the atraumatic communications with Godzilla, Godzilla's return to Earth to battle the Mega-Monsters, and the assault on the Megan starship in an effort to prevent the use of the Megans' Energex-Ray. Though the Megan ship was indeed crippled and ultimately imploded (though not before releasing the Energex-Ray), it's retaliatory strike against the Betan ship, which the commander was aboard, destroyed the Betan ship's controls, leaving it on a collision course with the Betan moonbase. He presumably perished when the ship crashed into the moonbase, causing the base's atmosphere to drain rapidly through the breach.

 

--Godzilla#12 (13

 

 

 

 

other commander

 

    Assuming the previous commander was slain when his ship crashed into the Betan moonbase, the being referred to as commander was presumably his successor. At any rate, as the atmosphere drained from the base and the rest of the crew began to perish, he ordered the base lowered so that the little remaining atmosphere would collect and be contained at the bottom of the crater so that they (the commander and the last other surviving Betan) might observe the battle's resolution. The sole survivor at the moonbase by the time Godzilla had slain the last of the Mega-Monsters, he was content to die in peace, knowing his homeworld was safe.
    He presumably did die, though that was not shown.

 

--Godzilla#14

 

 

 

moonbase

    The Betans built this base within a crater on the near side of Earth's moon to observe Earth and find native creatures who would be capable of defending Earth from an imminent attack by the Mega-Monsters.

    It was situated on top of a giant elevator which could raise the moonbase up above the rim of the crater or lower it to the bottom as needed.

    The moonbase was entirely dependant on its atmosphere dome to maintain a livable environment. Once the dome was breached, the atmosphere began to leak out, faster and faster, until every occupant suffocated to death. Oddly, the moonbase did not appear to have ANY safety features (like automatic sealing mechanisms or even emergency Betan repair crews on standby) that could have repaired the dome in the event of a rupture and even the "inner airlocks" leaked like a sieve. Clearly, the builders did not do a good job.

    After its dome was ruptured, every Betan within the secret moonbase died. What happened to it afterwards has not been revealed. However, Nick Fury and SHIELD had become aware that "something" was happening up on the Moon and SHIELD may have later discovered and occupied it...unless the Betans had the foresight to equip their base with something like a self-destruct device that would automatically activate once all the Betans were dead?

(Godzilla#12 (fb) - BTS) - Knowing the Megans would send their three most powerful war-monsters -- the Mega-Monsters Krollar, Rhiahn, and Triax -- to prepare the way for conquest of Earth (to replenish the raw materials for the armaments they believed necessary to conquer the Betans, and which they believed would also be a strategic location from which to launch a final assault on Beta), and knowing that their own last and most powerful war-monster, the Beta-Beast, was not powerful enough to challenge the powerful trio of Mega-Monsters, the Betans set up a base on Earth's moon, to study Earth and search for any native creatures powerful enough to defend Earth; they found Godzilla. They decided to have Godzilla oppose the Beta-Beast, to better evaluate his power.

(Godzilla#12 - BTS) - The Betans opened a warp that pulled Godzilla to Earth's moon in the vicinity of the Beta-Beast. They coated Godzilla with a field that provided a protective "oxygen sheath" that allowed Godzilla to function in the moon's airless void and frigid cold. After a fierce battle, Godzilla overpowered and destroyed the Beta-Beast.

(Godzilla#12) - The Betans on Earth's moon caused their base to raise from beneath the satellite's surface, leading Godzilla to investigate. When Godzilla interpreted the moving base to be another enemy and prepared to attack, the Betan commander ordered he be immobilized with the ID-ray to force him to stop and listen.

    After reviewing their history to Godzilla, the Betans learned of the Mega-Monsters approach to Earth. Further, their computer showed that the Mega-Monsters were targeting the most powerful entities on Earth. The Betan commander ordered Godzilla to be returned to Earth immediately, and to be sent to the same location selected by the Mega-Monsters.

(Godzilla#12 - BTS) - The Mega-Monsters identified Red Ronin as one of Earth's most powerful entities. Seconds after Triax ambushed Red Ronin, Godzilla materialized by their side.

(Godzilla#13) - After the Mega-Monsters Rhiahn and Krollar joined the struggle, another Betan noted that their scan-trackers had just identified an approaching craft heading for Earth that might be Megan (and indeed it was!). The Betan commander ordered the monitoring of all channels to intercept all transmissions, from which they learned that the Megans were preparing to unleash their Energex-Ray. The Betans knew that the Energex-Ray would ultimately lethally overload the Mega-Monsters, but that it would first increase the creatures' strength and ferocity tenfold, enabling them to kill Godzilla and crush Earth's defenses.
    The Betan commander ordered their base to be raised above the crater containing it and to prepare their craft -- which he would personally pilot -- for immediate takeoff. Though his crewmen noted that the Megans would thusly learn of their secret base there, the commander noted that if they didn't stop the Megans that their secret base would be useless because Godzilla wouldn't have a chance.
    The Betan spacecraft struck the Megan ship with a twin blast. The Megan ship fired back, crippling the Betan ship's controls, leaving it on its auto-pilot directed flight back to their base, with which it would crash without controls. As they crashed into the Betan moonbase, the commander (presumably) noted that if they had damaged the Megan ship sufficiently to stop it, it would be a worthy sacrifice as their base would no longer be needed.
    Within the Betan base, the crew panicked as the life-sustaining atmosphere seeped out through breached dome.

(Godzilla#13 - BTS) - The Megan ship made it sufficiently close to Earth that it could release the Energex-Ray just before the ship imploded, shortly after Red Ronin having been decapitated by Rhiahn.

(Godzilla#14) - With all Betans beyond the inner airlocks of the moonbase dead, the few surviving Betans left in the base monitored the four remaining monsters' life signs, noting that Godzilla's were weaker than the Mega-Monsters'. Soon after, two other Betans collapsed from the loss of atmosphere. The commander (presumably another commander, as the other one had been piloting the ship that crashed into the dome), with the only apparent other surviving Betan at the base, had the base lowered so that the little remaining atmosphere would collect and be contained at the bottom of the crater so that they might observe the battle's resolution.

(Godzilla#14 - BTS) - With the help of distractions provided by SHIELD crafts piloted by Gabe Jones and "Dum Dum" Dugan, Godzilla slew Krollar, Triax, and Rhiahn in series.
    The other Betan also perished at some point, leaving only the commander left.

(Godzilla#14) - Observing the last of the Mega-Monsters' life signs blinking off while Godzilla remained alive, the Betan commander was content to die in peace, knowing his homeworld was safe.

--Godzilla#12 (13-14

Note: The green structure at the base of the lateral image is actually the tip of the Betan ship as it was about to crash into the base.

    Despite the fact that it supposedly contained a "city" within its atmosphere dome, the moonbase appears to have been rather small. Even when raised to its full height, the top of the dome was only level with the top of Godzilla's head and since more than half of that height was taken up by the shaft supporting the moonbase, that means that the dome was less than 50 feet tall. And that in turns means that, in order to contain as many buildings as it seemed to do, those building should have been much smaller than normal-sized buildings on Earth, which in turn suggests that the Betans should have been much smaller than humans.
--Donald Campbell
...or that the buildings were relatively flat and single-floored.--Snood

Betan ship

(Godzilla#13) - After one of the crewmen of the Betan moonbase noted that their scan-trackers had just identified an approaching craft heading for Earth that might be Megan (and indeed it was!). The Betan commander ordered the monitoring of all channels to intercept all transmissions, from which they learned that the Megans were preparing to unleash their Energex-Ray. The Betans knew that the Energex-Ray would ultimately lethally overload the Mega-Monsters, but that it would first increase the creatures' strength and ferocity tenfold, enabling them to kill Godzilla and crush Earth's defenses.
    The Betan commander ordered their base to be raised above the crater containing it and to prepare their craft -- which he would personally pilot -- for immediate takeoff. Though his crewmen noted that the Megans would thusly learn of their secret base there, the commander noted that if they didn't stop the Megans that their secret base would be useless because Godzilla wouldn't have a chance.
    The Betan spacecraft lifted off the moon, gained on the Megan craft, targeted the ship on their range-scope, and struck the craft with a twin blast. Recognizing their attackers as Betan, the Megan ship fired back, crippling the Betan ship's controls, leaving it on its auto-pilot directed flight back to their base, with which it would crash without controls. As they crashed into the Betan moonbase, the commander (presumably) noted that if they had damaged the Megan ship sufficiently to stop it, it would be a worthy sacrifice as their base would no longer be needed.
    Within the Betan base, the crew panicked as the life-sustaining atmosphere seeped out through breached dome.

 

--Godzilla#13

images: (without ads)
Godzilla#12, pg. 13, panel 2 (moonbase crewmen uniforms, full body from rear);
        pg. 14, panel 3 (moonbase commander, showing pattern on uniform);
            panel 4 (war with Megans);
            panel 5 (capturing war-beast);
        pg. 15, panel 1 (battle of Betan and Megan war-beasts);
    #13, pg. 7, panel 5 (moonbase crewmen uniforms, full body from front, distant);
        pg. 8, panel 5 (face close-up);
        pg. 9, panel 1 (moonbase dome detail);
        pg. 15, panel 1 (ship from side, as it is being blasted);
            panel 3 (ship from rear);
            panel 4 (moonbase, from side);
    #14, pg. 16, panel 2 (succeeding moonbase commander dies at peace)
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition#15: Appendix: Alien Races: Betans entry

Appearances:
Godzilla#12-13 (July-August, 1978) - Doug Moench (writer), Herb Trimpe (penciler), Fred Kida (inker), Jim Shooter (editor)
Godzilla#14 (September, 1978) - Doug Moench (writer), Herb Trimpe (penciler), Dan Green (inker), Jim Shooter (editor)
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition#15: Appendix: Alien Races: Betans entry (March, 1987) - Mark Gruenwald (writer/producer), Peter Sanderson (writer/researcher), Kyle Baker (penciler), Josef Rubinstein (inker), Gregory Wright (assistant editor)


 

Last updated: 07/16/14

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

Non-Marvel Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™  and © 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com

Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!

Back to Races