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SPOILER WARNING: This section may contain major plot and/or ending details. Proceed at your own discretion. |
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Hiroshi "Hiro" Randa is a character created by Legendary Pictures who made his first appearance within the 2023 MonsterVerse series, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters.
History[]
Monarch: Legacy of Monsters[]
Hiroshi was born to Keiko Randa and a unnamed Japanese man who died when he was just a baby. He lived with and was raised by his grandmother while his mother studied at Berkeley before moving to the United States in 1955. He eventually became the stepson of William Randa after he married Keiko. He also views Lee Shaw as an honorary uncle and a second father-figure.
In 1962, Hiroshi said his goodbyes to William and Lee as they prepared for an expedition to the Hollow Earth called "Operation Hourglass" in Kansas. Hiroshi also received Lee's lucky pocketknife for safekeeping before departing with his grandmother. Not long after, Hiroshi learned from William that Lee had supposedly died during the catastrophic descent to the Hollow Earth.
In 1982, Hiroshi had joined Monarch and was dating a woman named Caroline when he was informed that Lee Shaw had returned 20 years since his disappearance. When an overwhelmed Lee held a nurse named Emiko hostage, Hiroshi calmed the former down after confirming his identity with his lucky pocketknife. After comforting and giving flowers to Emiko, Hiroshi remained somewhat uncertain about Lee's experiences in the Hollow Earth and became reluctant in finishing what Keiko and William started after everything that happened, believing that the Titans should be left disturbed. He then informed his honorary uncle about his relocation to the assisted living community of Futaba Resting Home Social Corporation near Mount Fuji under Monarch supervision.
Hiroshi married Caroline in San Francisco, who gave him a daughter named Cate. However, he also married Emiko in Tokyo, who gave him a son named Kentaro. His family would become familiar of his habits leaving pencil shavings behind, singing the lyrics of his favorite commercials, and do something silly after making his serious "time-to-listen-to-me" face. He helped building a playhouse at Cate's backyard when she was five years old. When he went camping in the Redwoods with Caroline and Cate, he gained red blotches all over his arm after touching a poison oak. He and Caroline also went on a sunset cruise that Cate bought for them to celebrate their 30th anniversary.
Hiroshi became acquainted with Tim during his time in Monarch. Upon realizing that his parents' sacrifice must not be in vain, he decided to search for potential entrances to the Hollow Earth. He would sometimes got into trouble with his superiors for accessing classified satelite data that point out radiation spikes around the world. During Kentaro's 18th birthday, he did a software update on the Geosynchronous Titan Anomaly Sensing System. By 2013, he managed to recover William's files that have been sent adrift from Skull Island.
In 2014, Hiroshi reunited with Cate following Godzilla's departure. However, he was forced to leave for Alaska and left his family behind to prevent another Titan emergence from happening. Even though he managed to land his bush plane and set up camp, his group was attacked by a Frost Vark. Hiroshi was believed to be dead shortly after the incident that resulted in his mysterious disappearance. However, both of his children manage to discover signs that he is still alive, and Kentaro has a hallucination of Hiro encouraging him to stay alive while trekking through a blizzard.
In 2015, Hiroshi is in the Algerian Desert and attempts to lure a Titan with a Gamma Radiation Simulator to stabilize a potential Hollow Earth portal. It is at this moment that he sees both of his children and Lee Shaw waving at him from a nearby ridge. Lee tells them to leave due to the grave danger in the area and is forced to drive away on his truck as Godzilla awakens from his slumber. Hiroshi eventually returns to his office in Tokyo to finish his work where he has a bittersweet reunion with Kentaro. He tries to explain to Kentaro about his past actions and keeping Cate's existence a secret, but Kentaro berates him for being so secretive for the past three decades. Hiroshi then breaks down into tears when he learns that Cate supposedly died after she fell into the Hollow Earth portal in Kazakhstan. As Hiroshi tries to recruit Kentaro to help him finish what William and Keiko started, Kentaro refuses.
Hiroshi and Emiko decide to file for a divorce and he plans to go to San Francisco to explain his actions to Caroline. Emiko returns her wedding ring to Hiroshi as she wants him to inform Kentaro where he will be staying so that they can slowly mend their family bond. Hiroshi then returns to his office to watch the footage William made on Skull Island when Kentaro and Tim come to visit. As Hiroshi decides to end his ties with Monarch after what it did to his family, Kentaro and Tim convince him to finish his work after they reveal that Cate might still be alive and that Apex Cybernetics possesses the resources to help them.
By 2017, Hiroshi, Kentaro, Tim, and Brenda Holland work together on Skull Island to bring Keiko, Cate, and May Olowe-Hewitt back to the surface. Hiroshi embraces Cate before he share a long-awaited tearful hug with Keiko. He and the rest of the group eventually take shelter in the Apex research center as Kong approaches the facility.
List of appearances[]
Television[]
- Monarch: Legacy of Monsters
- 1. "Aftermath" (First appearance)
- 2. "Departure" (Photograph)
- 3. "Secrets and Lies" (Mentioned)
- 4. "Parallels and Interiors" (Illusion)
- 5. "The Way Out" (Flashback)
- 6. "Terrifying Miracles"
- 7. "Will the Real May Please Stand Up?" (Mentioned)
- 8. "Birthright"
- 9. "Axis Mundi"
- 10. "Beyond Logic"