DECzilla & UNIX Quotes Page

With a purposeful grimace and a Mongo-like flair
He throws the spinning disk drives in the air!
And he picks up a Vax and he throws it back down
As he wades through the lab making terrible sounds!
Helpless users with projects due
Scream "My God!" as he stomps on the tape drives, too!

Oh, no! He says Unix runs too slow! Go, go, DECzilla!
Oh, yes! He's gonna bring up VMS! Go, go, DECzilla!"

* VMS is a trademark of Digital Equipment Corporation.
* DECzilla is a trademark of Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of Death, Inc.


"What's a DECzilla?" I get this question a lot. It's not what, but whom is DECzilla? On BSD/UNIX-based computer systems, there is a program called fortune that spits out a random fortune, saying, or factoid. The above fortune on DECzilla is one such example. I felt that DECzilla, for his years of relentless service destroying antiquated computer hardware, deserved some greater honor than being forgotten with the passing of text terminals and VAXes. (VAX? Is that like a fax?) This web page serves to offer DECzilla his proper accolade and place in computing history.

DECzilla, the loveable dragon-like destroyer of VAX stations, disk drives, and expensive network hardware, holds a special place in the hearts of many a UNIX user. For years, DECzilla has resided in the archives of the program fortune, to appear every once in a while on the screen of a lucky user.

NCSSM seniors who frequented the NCSSM UNIX Lab may remember DECzilla as a cultured character, thanks to Jordan's rendition of the DECzilla song, now available as an mp3!. UNIX administrator Jessica Phipps described him as a song-and-dance man. Many will remember first being introduced to DECzilla in the MOTD. Either way, DECzilla remains a staple of UNIX and fortune history.

Sadly, DECzilla (from the same family as the browser beast Mozilla) lacks a formal home on the Internet. So this we aim to provide, a shrine to honor the noble champion of the Digital Equipment Corporation. If you have any pictures, stories, or other media applicable to DECzilla, or questions or comments, please send them to the site webmaster.

Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of Death was actually contacted regarding DECzilla's copyright status, and it seems they have relinquished their intellectual (??!) property rights regarding him, so this site has, by secession, become the official DECzilla web site.

Conceived in the days of DEC terminals, DECzilla has remained a purely textual character. Now in the age of the internet and 32-bit displays, the creature deserves a more distinguished image. We have created 800x600 JPEG images of DECzilla, at work and at play; you can download the image of him crushing PCs, VAX boxes, monitors, and tape drives and breathing fire, or you can download a blank drawing of DECzilla and insert your own elements for him to destroy. We are not responsible for losses or damages incurred by the mecha-beast.

DECzilla destroying computers
DECzilla by himself