| MUTO | |
|---|---|
| MonsterVerse character | |
 The MUTOs as depicted in Godzilla (2014) | |
| First appearance | Godzilla (2014) |
| Last appearance | Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019) |
| Created by | David Callaham[1] Gareth Edwards |
| Designed by | Matt Allsopp[2] |
| In-universe information | |
| Alias | Winged MUTO (male)[3]
Eight-legged MUTO (female)[3] Titanus Jinshin-Mushi (MUTO Prime)[4] |
The MUTOs (acronym for Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organism) are fictional monsters, or kaiju, in Legendary Pictures' MonsterVerse media franchise. The characters first appeared as the antagonists in Godzilla (2014), directed by Gareth Edwards. While the term "MUTO" is mainly used to label the two parasitic monsters, it is intended to flag unidentified creatures. Edwards likened the term to UFO for monsters. Edwards noted that it took over a year to create a design intended to be new and different and credited a majority of the design to Matt Allsopp; inspiration was drawn from past American monster films.
The MUTOs have been positively received by critics and journalists; however, their designs had drawn comparisons with the Cloverfield monster. The characters and their variants had appeared in other media outside of Godzilla (2014).
- ^ "Screenwriter Profile: Dave Callaham". Fresh Voices. Archived from the original on September 23, 2020. Retrieved August 14, 2015.
- ^ Cotta Vaz 2014, p. 82.
- ^ a b "Godzilla (2014) Licensed Product Guide". SciFi Japan. April 15, 2014. Archived from the original on November 15, 2020. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
- ^ Nelson 2019, p. 110.