Article 27: Kaiju
Kaiju are in some ways a fairly unique phenomenon within the galaxy, while at the same time linked closely with a number of other races due to the circumstances of their creation and how belief seems to tie into that. This odd dichotomy will make more sense if you understand more about what, exactly, a Kaiju is and their role on a given planet.
At their most basic, a Kaiju, at least in the context of the Mahou Galaxy subrace, is simply a gigantic, sentient being with both offensive powers and weaknesses tied to the source of their creation. Their tremendous scale alone is often considered enough of a reason to respect them, but when combined with their ability to breathe out a beam of pure elemental damage and their tendency to have a power scale higher than your average galactic citizen, a Kaiju can be a great destructive force. They are often characterized as mindless killing machines, but this is a misconception borne from lack of understanding of the creatures.
Kaiju can exist on any planet with the potential to sustain life, and are created through direct trauma to a planet's ecosystem. Initially, scholars theorized that Kaiju were essentially a variation on non-conceptual Elementals, and would form when enough of a particular magical element was gathered in a single spot, but it was only during the Legion War that the truth was discovered. After the loss of his son on Vraxis IV, Maximillian Marcus III used his materiel plants to develop and produce a series of terrible environmental weapons which he then had used to despoil Legion planets. While many were powerful enough to wipe out all life on a planet, some merely did extensive ecological damage, and when the Legion Queens on those planets were able to physically feel the planet reactively creating Kaiju in response, they harnessed that creation to instead turn their most powerful warriors into even more deadly Kaiju-Legion. After the war ended and the Queens regained their sense of self, they described to non-Legion scientists the exact processes by which Kaiju are created. With new environmental rules enforced on a number of planets, the number of Kaiju that form spontaneously has dramatically decreased, though on Watcher Protected planets, GAN worlds or other ones where for one reason or another the rules are not enforced, their emergence is still a possibility. Essentially, each planet has a sort of Gaea-esque "soul" that has its own distinct personality and preferences. When a planet takes considerable ecological damage or the balance of a climate shifts in a way the planet does not desire, it will reflexively spawn a Kaiju in the damaged area. In most instances, the Kaiju is created from nothing, but some circumstances have seen a person whose aura is highly compatible with the planet instead transformed into such a creature, their size scaled up and their form altered to suit the planet's unknowable whims. In some cases, it can be difficult to know what will set a planet off, and more temperamental planets can be capable of producing dozens of the giant beings in a myriad of forms, each with different and sometimes conflicting desires.
The majority of Kaiju are born with no memories but incredible instincts, while those morphed from others are flooded with these instincts to the point where it can be incredibly difficult to retain their sense of self or memories. Like massive white blood cells, their primary instinct is to use their elemental breath to repair afflicted geography, but like Elementals and some other magical creatures, they are susceptible to the beliefs of those around them, and to a much greater degree than your average elemental. It's for this reason that the absolute worst thing for a planet's population to do is attempt to fight the Kaiju, as it reflects the aggression and fear of the sentients around it and this makes it more likely to go on a total rampage, and for some reason the planet itself seems to strengthen such a rampage through magical means. Stories of these rampages only worsen the perception of Kaiju in general, and even with what we know today it's still not unheard of for a planet in the primary galactic factions to spawn a Kaiju which starts tearing through cities.
Because of the potentially fickle nature of planets and the tendency for rampaging Kaiju to simply be difficult to kill, it's now considered standard procedure in the galaxy to find newly-emerged Kaiju and help them in whatever their task is. While a few are known to return to their source of origin to slumber once their duty is done, being around independent-minded beings for long enough lends to Kaiju developing personalities of their own beyond the desire to smash everything around them. This can be the source of an incredible boon for the planet's population. A Kaiju on their home planet requires no food and can perform incredible feats of strength, able to combat natural disasters in a way that even an army of trained and equipped servicemen cannot. Once befriended in this manner, Kaiju are often given celebrity status, and it's not unheard of for one to ascend into an Elemental. While this isn't universally the case, it's plain to see that the life of a Kaiju has improved considerably since pre-spaceflight times.
Since Kaiju are so naturally doggedly loyal and devoted to the protection of their home, it's not uncommon that a Kaiju living on a planet facing an ecological disaster which is a bit too much to handle ends up at MSF High. While the city itself has difficulty accommodating them at full size, magical devices which can shrink them down are plentiful, and they use their time in the city as a chance to learn more about their own individuality as well as connect with other sentients on a level that would have been practically impossible back home. Of course, if they need to, they can usually quickly turn off the spells that keep them scaled down, and help to handle any big threats that target the city. Even with the potential damage they can deal, a well-socialized Kaiju is a welcome addition to Mahou City.
