Hedorah came to earth as a small organism attached to a meteor whose path was close to earth. Once on earth, the primitive creature thrived on the pollution of industrial Japan achieving four stages of development. In addition to the choking sulfuric smog it spews, Hedorah can fire an explosive crimson ray from the corners of its eyes, spit globs of acidic mud, or suffocate its foe in a lavalike flow of liquid muck. Being comprised of sludge, Hedorah seems invulnerable to conventional attack. Punches go right through with no permanent damage, while Godzilla's ray is deflected and diminished by the alien mineral content of the Smog Monster's mass. Hedorah's only susceptibility is to dehydration -- a weakness that allowed human technology to combine with the power of Godzilla to finally bring down the curtain on Hedorah's reign of terror.