Pacific Rim Uprising's Kaiju-Jaeger Hybrid, Explained

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Pacific Rim Uprising: What the Heck Is a Kaiju-Jaeger Hybrid?

By Jordan Commandeur

Published Mar 23, 2018

You may be wondering what those monstrosities are in Pacific Rim Uprising that look like a mash-up of Kaiju and Jaegers. Well, we're here to explain.

WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for director Steven S. DeKnight's Pacific Rim Uprising, in theaters now.

The enormous monster-fighting robots are back in theaters in Pacific Rim Uprising. In director Steven S. DeKnight's action-packed sequel, the world has been safe from the invading Kaiju since Stacker Pentecost and Chuck Hansen sacrificed their lives to close the dimensional Breach in 2013's Pacific Rim. However, the Pan Pacific Defense Corps hasn't rested on its laurel, but instead is training young pilots and building new Jaegers in preparation for the next threat.

If you’ve seen any of the trailers or TV spots, you're likely wondering about those behemoths that look like Kaiju wearing armor. The simple answer is, they're Kaiju-Jaeger hybrids. However, the explanation of what they are, and how they came to be, is a little more involved.

In the decade since the events of the first film, technologist Liwen Shao (Jing Tian) and her company Shao Industries, along with Dr. Newt Geiszler (Charlie Day), have developed a series of Jaeger drones that can be piloted remotely. Shao gets the green light to bring her invention online when a PPDC ceremony is attacked by a rogue Jaeger. Their top Jaeger, Gypsy Avenger, receives a savage beatdown, and when reinforcements arrive, the enemy mech flees. Upon investigating a Siberian facility where the powerful Jaeger originated, protagonists Jake Pentecost (John Boyega) and Nate Lambert (Scott Eastwood) get a rematch with Obsidian Fury. When they defeat the towering robot and remove its face plate, they discover it's being controlled by a Kaiju brain.

Earlier in Uprising we see that Newt has kept the Kaiju brain he and Dr. Gottlieb (Burn Gorman) "drifted" with in the first film, and it's apparent Newt is being influenced by it. So, when we get the big Obsidian Fury reveal, it doesn’t take much to put two and two together, and figure out Newt is actually behind the rogue Jaeger.

Now, even though Shao explains how her operating system makes it possible for a single pilot to operate the colossal Jaegers, it seems too easy to be true. That’s because it is. Newt has secretly endowed the drones with Kaiju brains, flesh and blood. When they finally roll off the assembly line, he activates them, and they grow Kaiju spikes, claws and mandibles. These are the Kaiju-Jaeger hybrids.

At that point, Newt admits he is not himself anymore, and we realize the alien species from beyond the Breach, the Precursors, have continued with their malicious machinations through him.

In theaters now, director Steven S. DeKnight's Pacific Rim: Uprising stars John Boyega as Jake Pentecost, Scott Eastwood as Nate Lambert, Cailee Spaeny as Amara Namani, Jing Tian as Liwen Shao, Rinko Kikuchi as Mako Mori, Charlie Day as Dr. Newton Geiszler and Burn Gorman as Dr. Hermann Gottlieb.