Godzilla

Description

Godzilla was once a dinosaur known as a Godzillasaurus, who somehow survived the extinction of the dinosaurs and dwelt on Lagos Island, where he once saved a Japanese platoon in WWII in 1944. Ten years later after the death of the creature, H-Bomb testing started to increase, and when the H-Bomb hit Lagos Island, the dinosaur mutated into the creature known as Godzilla. It became far larger, stronger, and more powerful, and gained a radioactive atomic ray; the monster was unstoppable–or so it was thought. When a device called the oxygen destroyer killed the original Godzilla, a new Godzilla was born, who was even bigger and stronger, with a more powerful atomic ray, minor regeneration abilities, and thicker skin.

Powers and Abilities

Atomic Breath: His trademark attack is his “Atomic Breath”, which is a highly destructive ray that shoots out from his mouth, capable of devastating roughly one-quarter of Tokyo in a single blast.

Nuclear Pulse: A not-so-well-known ability is to project a field of nuclear energy from his body, which is called a nuclear pulse. He uses the nuclear pulse ability in the movies Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989), Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991), Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992), Godzilla vs. Mecha-Godzilla II (1993), Godzilla 2000: Millennium (1999), and Godzilla: Final Wars (2004).

Radiation Absorption: Godzilla’s body not only generates radiation but absorbs radiation as well. Increased amounts of radiation are capable of boosting Godzilla’s already overwhelming power.

Magnify: In Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974), Godzilla even turned himself into a giant electromagnet and attracted Mecha-Godzilla to his body, after which Godzilla was able to eventually tear Mecha-Godzilla’s head off.

Spiral Ray: When charged with extra radiation, Godzilla’s ray will become red and, occasionally, have a spiral around it; this spiral ray is much more powerful than the normal ray. In Godzilla vs. Mecha-Godzilla II (1993), Godzilla absorbed Rodan’s life energy and gains this ability. According to the Official handbook, his red spiral ray is twice more powerful compared to a normal ray. In Godzilla: Final Wars (2004), Godzilla shoots another version of spiral ray without changing color, this move requires several seconds to concentrate massive energies to his mouth, but is so powerful that even hits a meteoroid in space.

Regeneration: Godzilla’s regenerative abilities are only matched by that of the alien monster Orga, who was unable to regenerate after Godzilla used his nuclear pulse in Orga’s mouth. Godzilla is immune to most of all conventional weaponry due to his thick and durable hide, though M.A.S.E.R. weapons consistently are able to hurt him.

Burning Godzilla: When overloaded with radiation all of Godzilla’s abilities increase a hundred-fold. Then Godzilla’s skin turns red and becomes Burning Godzilla. However, when his temperature reaches 1200 degrees Celsius, he will start to meltdown, causing the atmosphere of the planet to heat up, and then explode, vaporizing everything we know. The effects can be lessened by freezing him but they will still do unbelievable amounts of damage to his surroundings.

Kangaroo Kick: He can defy the laws of physics by sliding on his tail without gaining the slightest bit of momentum and kicking enemies with his powerful legs. This move is named “Kangaroo Kick” according to official handbooks.

Super Strength: He has enough strength to send the 35,000-ton spider Kumonga sailing into outer space with ease.

Energy Absorption: Godzilla is proved to be able to absorb several kinds of energies. When hit with electricity Godzilla becomes stronger, in most cases. There is no limit to how much stronger he can get through this, as he has used this only once in the battle against King Ghidorah, in the film GMK (2001). He has also used this ability to absorb lightning to bring himself back to life in the film The Return of Godzilla (1984). Godzilla also absorbs space energy stored in Spacegodzilla’s crystals during the battle against Spacegodzilla, and he utilizes this energy to reinforce his atomic breath. In all cases of Godzilla utilizing any form of energy, his spines will flicker or glow.

Friends and Foes

Godzilla’s foes include his arch-nemesis, King Ghidorah, Mechagodzilla, King Kong, Mothra, Gigan, SpaceGodzilla, Zilla, the Avengers, Orga, Titanosaurus, Kumonga, Kamakuras, Baragon, Battra, Destroyah and Monster X who transforms into the mighty and powerful Keizer Ghidorah.

His allies are his sons Minilla (Showa series) and Godzilla Junior (Heisei series), Mothra, Rodan, Anguirus, King Caesar, Gorosaurus, Baragon, Varan, Manda, Kumonga, human psychic Miki Saegusa and Captain Gordon of the Gotengo. Godzilla has also “fought” Charles Barkley once, in the form of a basketball game, though the two have not since battled.

Marvel

Godzilla had his own comic book series in the 1970’s.

Godzilla battled three superhero teams like The Champions (Hercules, Black Widow, Iceman, and Angel), Fantastic Four, and the Avengers (Thor, Vision, Iron Man, Yellowjacket and the Wasp).

When he fought the Avengers, he flicked Thor away like a mere insect, exhibiting an amazing degree of invulnerability.

Godzilla teamed up with Devil Dinosaur, Moon Boy, and Red Ronin. Godzilla’s main enemy was apparently mad scientist Doctor Demonicus.

Other Godzilla Comics

Other Godzilla comics were also made. After Marvel’s series had long finished, Dark Horse Comics decided to start a Godzilla comic book series, based on the Heisei Godzilla. In 1987, Dark Horse Comics published Godzilla: King Of Monsters! One Shot Special, which was based on Godzilla (1984) rather than the American version. Dark Horse continued to publish Godzilla Comics for the next 12 years, from one shots, to miniseries, etc. Each comic had Godzilla square off against another monster. Dark Horse Comics also published a one shot black and white Godzilla comic (1994). Toy maker Trendmasters published a mini-comic also titled Godzilla: King Of Monsters, based on story elements in their toy series. In 2010 IDW obtained the rights to produce Godzilla comics, and they started with the ongoing Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters and the miniseries Godzilla: Gangsters and Goliaths. They are also currently publishing the series Godzilla Legends, which focuses on the various monsters he battles.

Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters

For further information: Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters.

Godzilla awakened one day from underneath a beach near Japan. The military attempted to kill Godzilla with an atomic bomb, but only made him more powerful and granted him the ability to fire atomic breath. Elsewhere around the world, the monsters Rodan, Anguirus, Kumonga, and Battra appeared and began to wreak havoc. Eventually, all of the monsters converged on the United States and battled, causing untold destruction. The U.S. government built a giant robot, Mechagodzilla in order to battle the monsters, while in Asia a monk awakened King Ghidorah to battle them. Godzilla arrived in Washington D.C., where he was attacked by King Ghidorah. Mechagodzilla, piloted by Steven Woods, arrived and defeated both monsters, earning Woods a hero’s recognition. Meanwhile, the evil psychic twins Minette and Mallory took control of Rodan and Battra and came to the U.S. to try and control Godzilla. Godzilla managed to overcome and defeat both monsters, and later returned to the sea, leaving human civilization devastated and rushing to prepare for future monster attacks.

Godzilla: Ongoing

For further information: Godzilla: Ongoing.

In sequel of Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters, Godzilla appeared in Washington D.C. once again, where the ex-British special forces agent known as Boxer, whose daughter was killed by Godzilla, was hired to protect a wealthy Japanese businesswoman’s daughter. Boxer’s client was killed during their attempted escape, so Boxer decided to join with his former acquaintances to form the “Kaiju Kill Crew,” a group of mercenaries hired to bring down attacking kaiju. After several successful missions, Boxer’s crew was sent to California, where a billionaire industrialist had just unleashed his new Mechagodzilla to battle Godzilla. After Godzilla defeated Kiryu, Boxer and his team tried to bring Godzilla down as he headed north along the Pacific coast to Seattle. But when the space monsters Hedorah, Gigan, SpaceGodzilla, and Monster X arrived on Earth, Boxer was forced to temporary vendetta against Godzilla to defeat the space monsters. While Kiryu freed the monsters held on Monster Island, Godzilla battled and defeated Hedorah in California then traveled to New York to take on SpaceGodzilla and Monster X. There, he was joined by Kiryu and Kumonga, who were both promptly defeated. But when the immobilized Kiryu froze SpaceGodzilla with the Absolute Zero cannon, Godzilla took the opportunity to defeat his extraterrestrial clone with a blast of atomic breath. With only him and Godzilla still standing, Monster X transformed into Keizer Ghidorah, and quickly overwhelmed Godzilla. Thankfully, Rodan arrived and decapitated one of Keizer Ghidorah’s heads with a sonic boom from his wings. With Rodan’s help, Godzilla severed another one of Keizer Ghidorah’s heads, then killed him by crushing his remaining head with his foot. As Godzilla started walking back to the ocean, Boxer jumped into Godzilla’s mouth in a last-ditch attempt to hurt him using a miniature version of his “headache gun.” This action only slightly irritated Godzilla, at the cost of Boxer’s life.

Godzilla: Rulers of Earth

For further information: Godzilla: Rulers of Earth

On the Sequel of Godzilla: Ongoing, Godzilla has return once again.

Godzilla: Awakening

For further information: Godzilla: Awakening.

Godzilla Awakening focuses on the Godzilla we have seen in the most recent Gareth Edwards incarnation, otherwise known as Legendary Godzilla. It serves as a prequel to “Godzilla” [2014].

Attacks

Though, he tends to only attack if attacked first, (excluding the film GMK in which he is destroying the country unprovoked) Godzilla has attacked Tokyo, Osaka, Sydney, New Guinea, Tokai, New York City, Moscow, Paris, London, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and many other cities. However, when he attacked Tokai and Osaka, it was often for a power plant to “feed” his body’s radioactive energy generator. Godzilla’s earliest attacks were in a rage against Japan due to their activities in World War 2.

Media

Movies

Godzilla has appeared in over 28 “Toho” movies since 1954. The first Godzilla film was a deep, metaphorical piece showing the horrors of nuclear war, but in most Godzilla films Godzilla usually fights other monsters such as Rodan, Mothra, and even King Kong. There was even an American Godzilla movie, which the fans despised (and still do to this day). A new American Godzilla reboot is set to be released for 2012 from Legendary pictures, with its director admitting to being a huge fan of the original 1954 film.

Lest anyone forget, the original English speaking version of the 1950’s classic starred American actor Raymond Burr of Perry Mason fame. The title of the film was “Godzilla King of the Monsters“.

Video Games

Godzilla has appeared in 23 video games, many of which are old. The most popular ones are “Godzilla Save the Earth” (2004) and “Godzilla Unleashed” (2007). “Godzilla Unleashed” features most of Godzilla’s friends and foes, and also features new monsters that were made for the game. These two games are the most successful Godzilla games, though most reviews tend not to be kind depending on the system. As of recently, most of Godzilla’s appearances in video games have came from mobile gaming. Games such as “Godzilla Strike Zone” (2014) and “Godzilla Smash 3” (2014) have been released exclusively on mobile.

Incarnations and Personality

Showa Godzilla (1954-1975)

The Showa Godzilla was originally seen as a destructive, unstoppable, evil creature who destroyed and killed innocent people. When Godzilla took a much lighter and warmer tone after this and the second film, he was later seen as a light-hearted, child-friendly monster. The Showa Series ended with “Terror of Mechagodzilla” in 1975, and Godzilla was not seen for another 9 years.

Heisei Godzilla (1985-1995)

When Heisei Godzilla appeared in 1984, he stood at a towering 80 metres, and was later increased to 100 metres. Godzilla (1984), or The Return of Godzilla, was a direct sequel to the original 1954 film and ignored all previous events. The Heisei Godzilla had a mixed personality, as he rarely spared people, though he did kill them. He did protect Japan against other monsters, but still fought them. The Heisei Godzilla died in “Godzilla vs Destroyah” (1995), where he absorbed too much radiation and nearly went into a meltdown.

American Godzilla (1998-2000)

This incarnation of Godzilla was the very first fully American version of the monster, being featured in his debut (remake) film Godzilla from TriStar Pictures (Sony) and Centropolis Entertainment in 1998 and later returning for the animated television-series Godzilla: The Series which aired between 1998 and 2000. Although the animated version was much more praised than the movie-version. A trilogy was planned for this very different version of Godzilla, a script-treatment even being written by Tab Murphy for Godzilla 2, but the project went into development hell. By the time the rights to the Godzilla-character had expired from Sony and returned to Toho Company Ltd. (the original owners of the character) any plans of continuations on the new franchise were cancelled. However, Toho did not intend to completely abandon this new version of Godzilla but instead created a new character based upon him, titled “Zilla”, and introduced him into Toho’s franchise and the Japanese Godzilla-storylines to be used in future works.

Millennium Godzilla (2000-2004)

There have been several different incarnations of the Millennium Godzilla, and most of them were direct sequels to the original Godzilla movie. The Millennium Godzilla was much meaner and did not spare people, making him closer to the original version. The only exception was in 2004’s “Godzilla: Final Wars“, who spared humans; it was also suggested that this version of Godzilla was bigger and stronger than any other Godzilla.

Legendary Godzilla (2014 – )

Many people refer to the Godzilla, shown in the Gareth Edwards film, that was titled “Godzilla” as Legendary Godzilla, or Legendary Goji. Legendary Godzilla is shown to be his biggest carnation yet, at 150 meters tall. He is also shown to be a lot more bulkier than previous incarnations. Gareth Edwards has went onto to say that he wanted to Legendary Godzilla to be what the original creators saw, and then tried to recreate, which is a fairly accurate statement. Although, he does carry all the King of Monster’s classic feats, such as amazing power, beyond amazing durability, and of course his classic atomic breath. Legendary Goji’s alliance was definitely on the heroic side, after helping save the world from, once again, attacking monsters under the name of MUTOs.

Shin Godzilla

It is the 31st installment in Godzilla franchise. This film is directed by Hideaki Anno & Shinji Higuchi, and was released on July 26th, 2016.

Shin Godzilla is the tallest live action version of Godzilla, standing at 118.5 meters tall. Its personality is similar to Showa Godzilla, most of the movies plot was based directly from the first Godzilla movie. Throughout the film Godzilla evolves and adapts through multiple forms like its first form (a large tadpole like Godzilla), second form ( a large pale Godzilla that drags its body against the floor and looks a lot like a frilled shark), it’s third form (looks a lot like the second form except it is bigger, looks more red, and can stand), fourth form (this one looks the most like Godzilla which is mostly black with red markings around it and can do a series and cool tricks like separating its bottom jaw, Shooting highly concentrated lasers out of mouth, dorsal plates, tail, and can breath fire.), and its fifth and final form are Human-Godzilla hybrids that grew out of its tail as a last move in order to survive.) In general the movie did pretty well and with most people you either love it or hate it.

Film History

1. Gojira (AKA Godzilla King of the Monsters)-1954 Monsters: Godzilla.
2. Godzilla Raids Again (AKA Gigantis the Fire Monster)-1955 Monsters: Godzilla and Anguirus.
3. Godzilla vs. King Kong-1962 Monsters: Godzilla and King Kong.
4. Mothra vs. Godzilla (AKA Godzilla vs. the Thing)-1964 Monsters: Godzilla and Mothra.
5. Ghidorah, the Three Headed Monster-1964 Monsters: Godzilla, Ghidorah and Rodan.
6. Invasion of the Astro Monster (AKA Godzilla vs Monster Zero)-1965 Monsters: Godzilla, Ghidorah, Rodan and Mothra.
7. Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster (AKA Ebirah Terror of the Deep)-1966 Monsters: Godzilla, Mothra, Ebirah and Giant condor.
8. Son of Godzilla-1967 Monsters: Godzilla, Minilla, Kumonga and Kamcuras.
9. Destroy All Monsters-1968 Monsters: Godzilla, Ghidorah, Rodan, Anguirus, Minilla, Rodan, Gorosauraus, Varan, Kumonga, Kamcuras and Mothra.
10. All Monsters Attack (AKA Godzilla’s Revenge)-1969 Monsters: Godzilla, Minilla, Gabara, Kumonga, Kamcuras and Manda.
11. Godzilla vs. Hedorah (AKA Godzilla vs the Smog Monster)-1971 Monsters: Godzilla and Hedorah.
12. Godzilla vs. Gigan (AKA Godzilla on Monster Island)-1972 Monsters: Godzilla, Anguirus, Gigan and Ghidorah.
13. Godzilla vs Megalon-1973 Monsters: Godzilla, Megalon, Jet Jaguar and Gigan.
14. Godzilla vs MechaGodzilla (AKA Godzilla vs the Cosmic Monster-1974 Monsters: Godzilla, MechaGodzilla, Anguirus and King Ceasar.
15. Terror of MechaGodzilla-1975 Monsters: Godzilla, MechaGodzilla and Titanosauraus.
16. Return of Godzilla-1984 Monsters: Godzilla.
17. Godzilla vs Biollante-1989 Monsters: Godzilla and Biollante.
18. Godzilla vs King Ghidorah-1991 Monsters: Godzilla, Ghidorah, mecha-ghidorah.
19. Godzilla vs Mothra (AKA Godzilla & Mothra Battle for Earth)-1992 Monsters: Godzilla, Mothra and Battra.
20. Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla II-1993 Monsters: Godzilla, MechaGodzilla, Baby Godzilla and Rodan.
21. Godzilla vs. Space Godzilla-1994 Monsters: Godzilla,Space Godzilla, Godzilla Jr and MOGERA.
22. Godzilla vs. Destroyah-1995 Monsters: Godzilla, Destroyah and Godzilla Jr.
23. Godzilla–1998 Monsters: Godzilla.
24. Godzilla 2000: Millennium-1999 Monsters: Godzilla and Orga.
25. Godzilla vs. Megaguirus-2000 Monsters: Godzilla and Megaguirus.
26. Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All Out Attack-2001 Monsters: Godzilla, Mothra, Ghidorah and Baragon.
27. Godzilla against MechaGodzilla-2002 Monsters: Godzilla, Kiryu and giant turtle monster.
28. Godzilla Tokyo S.O.S.-2003 Monsters: Godzilla, Kiryu, Mothra and Kameba (giant turtle found dead).
29. Godzilla Final Wars-2004 Monsters: Godzilla, Rodan, Minilla, Monster X, Hedorah, Ebirah, Ghidorah, Kumonga, Manda, Mothra, Gigan, Kamacuras, King Ceasar, Anguirus, Zilla, Varan (stock footage), Giara (stock footage), Baragon (stock footage), Gezora (stock footage), Titananosaurus (stock footage), Mechagodzilla (stock footage) and Megaguirus (stock footage).

Animated
Godzilla (1978-1981)

Godzilla’s first animated appearance was in 1978, in a series was co-produced by both a Japanese company and America’s Hanna-Barbera studios. Godzilla’s atomic ray was replaced by regular fire breath, and was given heat vision. Godzilla took a light-hearted, gentle tone, as the series follows a group of scientists studying Godzilla. Godzilla, as usual, was seen as the hero of the day. Godzilla also had a son named Godzooki, who had the ability to fly. Godzilla’s roars and grunts were done by actor Ted Cassidy (best known as Lurch on The Addams Family).

Godzilla: The Animated Series (1998-2000)

This Godzilla series was a sequel to Godzilla (1998), and it follows the son from the American remake, as he battles monsters in New York City. The series followed a group of scientists, led by Matthew Broderick’s character of Niko Tatopoulus (voiced by Ian Ziering). This Godzilla had his trademark atomic breath (in green) and had feats similar to the Japanese Godzilla. Many fans who hated the American remake praised this series for being faithful to the original Japanese Godzilla.

Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters

It is the 32nd film in Godzilla franchise and the first animated Godzilla movie. This movie is directed by Kōbun Shizuno & Hiroyuki Seshita and was released on Netflix on January 17th, 2018.

This movie is set on futuristic era where monsters take over the planet, forcing humanity to leave earth. This version of Godzilla is by far the largest movie Godzilla ever made, standing at 300 meters tall.