Rodan Could've Been The MonsterVerse's Alpha Before Godzilla (& Ghidorah)
Rodan could have been the MonsterVerse’s alpha Titan long before the crown was taken by Ghidorah and Godzilla in Godzilla: King of the Monsters. Rodan was one of three Toho kaiju to be added to the MonsterVerse in the latest Godzilla movie, along with Mothra and Ghidorah.
In Toho’s classic Godzilla films, one of the King of the Monsters’ closest allies is Rodan, a giant Pteranodon who fought alongside him in Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster, Invasion of Astro Monster, Destroy All Monsters, and Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II. Rodan didn’t get to team up with Godzilla in 2019’s King of the Monsters, but he did get to fight both Ghidorah and Mothra. For most of the movie, Rodan was a minion of Ghidorah's, who temporarily acted as the alpha of the Earth - even though he was a false king. Following the dragon’s defeat at the hands of Godzilla, Rodan and the movie’s original Titans all bowed down to Godzilla in a showing of respect to their new alpha.
The position of alpha is at the risk of changing again in Godzilla vs. Kong, which raises question about how often the title of King of the Monsters has changed hands over the centuries. Who was the alpha before Ghidorah and Godzilla? Godzilla may have been the alpha once before since he apparently defeated Ghidorah a long time ago, but during the times that he was in hibernation, other creatures may have held the title. One such Titan is Rodan.
In King of the Monsters, Ghidorah became the alpha without considerable effort. Rodan bowed down to him because he knew from their fight that Ghidorah was superior, but the reason why Behemoth, Methuselah, Scylla, the third M.U.T.O., and the unseen Titans elected to follow him was never clearly articulated. It’s possible that Ghidorah’s ability to beat Rodan was enough to convince them of his power. If it’s true that beating Rodan is what caused Ghidorah to command the respect of so many Titans in the MonsterVerse, this speaks volumes about Rodan’s own strength and how he’s viewed by his fellow Titans.
If Rodan was just any other Titan, his defeat shouldn’t have mattered enough to make them respect Ghidorah so much that they’d regard him as the alpha. It could be that at some point in the past, the King of the Skies was also the King of the Monsters. If that was the case, that would make Ghidorah’s victory over Rodan an incredibly impressive feat in the eyes of the Titans. Though Rodan lost his only two monster fights in the movie, he could be stronger than some give him credit for. After all, King of the Monsters director Mike Dougherty has said that “in a lot of ways he’s more powerful than Godzilla.” The movie didn’t get a chance to properly demonstrate this fact about Rodan’s power, but with this mind, it does seem plausible that Rodan could have lorded over the other Titans during a distant era in the MonsterVerse’s history.