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This Article Contains Spoilers -
WARNING: This article contains major spoilers. If you do not wish to know vital information on plot / character elements in a story, you may not wish to read beyond this warning: We hold no responsibility for any negative effects these facts may have on your enjoyment of said media should you continue. That is all. |
| “ | We call him… Gojira. | „ |
| ~ Dr. Ishiro Serizawa in Godzilla (2014). |
| “ | Godzilla is the Son of the Atomic Bomb. He is a nightmare created out of the darkness of the human soul. He is the Sacred Beast of the Apocalypse. | „ |
| ~ Tomoyuki Tanaka on Godzilla. |
| “ | When those fleeting lives destined to die, become arrogant and sing praises of their own narcissistic glory, such will shake the very heavens and split the earth. And they shall come to know the Wrath of the Divine. The Incarnation of Destruction… you've shown yourself at last. For you, it's been twenty thousand years… it's been a while, oh King of the Monsters. | „ |
| ~ Metphies referring to Godzilla's wrath. |
Godzilla, (also known in Japanese as ゴジラ, Gojira) is the titular main kaiju protagonist of the Godzilla franchise, including the movie series, comics, cartoons, and video games, most often serving as an on-and-off villain.
Contents
- 1 Overview
- 2 Appearance
- 3 Personality
- 4 Powers and Abilities
- 4.1 Breath Powers
- 4.2 Tail Beam Attacks
- 4.3 Energy Pulse
- 4.4 Ferrokinesis
- 4.5 Superhuman Durability
- 4.6 Regeneration
- 4.7 Superhuman Strength
- 4.8 Energy Absorption and Manipulation
- 4.9 Amphibious
- 4.10 Flight/Jet Propulsion
- 4.11 Undead Physiology
- 4.12 Extrasensory Perception
- 4.13 Self-Mutation
- 4.14 Dorsal Plate Beams
- 4.15 Laser Eyes
- 4.16 Cell-Division and Terraforming
- 4.17 Energy Conversion
- 5 Weaknesses
- 6 Trivia
- 7 External links
- 8 Navigation
Overview
Godzilla in the 2014 American Godzilla Reboot.
Godzilla is a famous daikaijū, or a giant movie monster, who first appeared as the titular main antagonist of Ishirō Honda's 1954 classic giant monster film, Godzilla. Since then, Godzilla has gone on to become a worldwide pop culture icon starring in over thirty-two Japanese films produced by Toho Co., Ltd., and three American films; one film released in 1998, produced by TriStar Pictures and featuring Zilla and two films released in 2014 and 2019 by Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros. with a remake to King Kong vs. Godzilla released in 2021. The 1998 version is widely disfavored and is not considered a real Godzilla film whilst the 2014/2019 version was generally positively received and is considered to be a real Godzilla film.
With the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki still fresh within the Japanese consciousness, Godzilla was conceived as a monster created by nuclear detonations and a metaphor for nuclear weapons in general. As the film series expanded, the stories took on less serious undertones portraying Godzilla in the role of a hero or an ally of humans, but only when facing a common foe or to protect planet Earth. Sometimes he is admired by children, but even in these depictions, most humans still fear Godzilla. In some films, Godzilla has even teamed up with fellow monsters to save the world or themselves, usually teaming with Anguirus, Rodan and Mothra. Godzilla's most famous enemies are known to be King Ghidorah and Mechagodzilla.
Despite being the main kaiju protagonist of the series and normally an anti-hero, Godzilla has committed numerous villainous acts of destroying cities, attacking humanity, and wreaking havoc on the world.
Appearance
Godzilla is a 50-100 meter kaiju (though he can be even taller) who can shoot a nuclear breath beam from his mouth. He is a daikaijū, a Japanese movie monster. Since then, Godzilla has gone on to become a worldwide pop culture icon starring in 31 films produced by Toho Co., Ltd.
The monster has appeared in numerous other media incarnations including video games, novels, comic books, television series, and two American movies (though the first one that made by TriStar was extremely panned due to creature that featured in the first film deemed having many deviating characteristics of Godzilla in the Japanese films that the creature is determined to be a separate creature called Zilla, whereas the MonsterVerse Godzilla is confirmed to be a more faithful adaptation of the character in spite of having more heroic qualities than the previous incarnations that tend to odds with mankind).
With the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the Daigo Fukuryū Maru incident still fresh in the Japanese consciousness, Godzilla was conceived as a monster created by nuclear detonations and a metaphor for nuclear weapons in general. As the film series expanded, some stories took on less serious undertones portraying Godzilla as a hero while other plots still portrayed him as a destructive animal.
General Depiction
Godzilla's appearance has changed between films over the years, but many defining details have endured. In the Japanese films, Godzilla is depicted as a gigantic dinosaur with rough, bumpy, usually charcoal gray scales, a long powerful tail, and generally bone-white dorsal plates, generally shaped like maple leaves, though there are some designs whose traits may differ.
His origins vary somewhat from film to film, but he is almost always described as a prehistoric creature (be it an intermediate reptile that scarred by nuclear radiation, an ancient reptilian lifeform that feed on natural atomic radiation as food whom interested with mankind's usage on atomic power or superorganism evolved from nuclear wastes), and his first attacks on Japan are linked to the beginning of the Atomic Age. In particular, mutation due to atomic radiation is presented as an explanation for his great size and strange powers.
Godzilla's iconic design is composed of a mixture of various species of dinosaurs; specifically, he has the body and overall shape of an old upright model of a Tyrannosaurus rex, the long arms of an Iguanodon, and the dorsal plates of a Stegosaurus.
MonsterVerse Incarnation
In response of the failed Hollywood incarnation that Toho denounced as a separate kaiju called Zilla, Hollywood filmmakers, who later worked on the ongoing MonsterVerse series, eventually recreated the Hollywood version of the character which is more faithful with Toho's Godzillas where this Godzilla is designed to resemble his original counterparts.
Even so, this Godzilla was given more natural physiology than the rest of his incarnations because in the MonsterVerse series, he was the last known member of prehistoric reptilian kaiju of the same name who naturally evolved to gained their nuclear-based powers due to in prehistoric times where his kind roamed the planet, radiation at that time was higher than in present day, and thus not gained his powers from humans' nuclear tests and therefore, lacked keloid scars other incarnations usually possessed.
For MonsterVerse's incarnation of the character, his face is shaped very squarely, with a broad neck and possesses gills that enable him to stay underwater indefinitely. He has yellow eyes, and his teeth are small and not nearly as straightly lined up as many previous Godzilla incarnations. His nostrils are more separate than previous incarnations, with them being on opposite sides of the snout. Godzilla's head and neck seem to lean forward more so than any previous design.
His dorsal plates are smaller than the previous designs, but they still retain the core maple-leaf shape, although straighter and very sharp, somewhat like the Godzillas from Godzilla 2000: Millennium and Godzilla vs. Megaguirus. His claws are a black color, and his feet are wider and resemble an elephant's foot more than the other Godzillas' feet do.
His skin is more reptile-like and crocodile-like as opposed to resembling keloid scars and rougher than the other incarnations and is a blackish color. His body and tail are very wide as well, making him look somewhat bulkier than other Godzilla designs.
Legendary Pictures has confirmed that their Godzilla's tail is 550 feet and 4 inches long, his height is 355 feet, there are exactly 89 dorsal plates running down his back, the palm of his hands are 34 feet and 4 inches each, and that his roar can be heard from three miles away.
Godzilla: King of the Monsters keeps the same general design of the 2014 Godzilla, except that he is now 120 meters (or 389 feet) tall. His dorsal plates now resemble those of the original Godzilla, except with a sharper appearance, which has been explained by a comic that takes place between the 2014 movie and Godzilla: King of the Monsters where his original dorsal plates were shattered by a monster known as MUTO Prime. His feet are also flatter.
Shin Godzilla
While Godzilla was still portrayed as a colossal prehistoric reptilian kaiju as before, this version of Godzilla is depicted with more advanced physiology than his predecessors' due to possessing eight times the genetic information of human beings in spite of originally having been a member of an unspecified prehistoric sea creature whom species closely related to prehistoric marine reptiles that first emerged in the Paleozoic Era (which explained this Godzilla's course of evolution where he took more and more reptilian appearance). As result Godzilla had five forms:
First Form
Aside from being confirmed to have a long tail and being mentioned by Ogashira as having gills and fin-like legs, what Godzilla's first form looked like is unclear. However, some information suggests that Godzilla's first form looked similar to his second form albeit more tadpole-like given that in his second form, he still possesses large gills and newly developed legs.
Second Form
2nd form
Soon after made his presence known, Godzilla makes his way for Tokyo where he now has a pair of fully-functional digitigrade legs that suit for better locomotion on land. Because the legs were newly developed for land movement at that time, Godzilla was only able to stand horizontally, with his body held parallel to the ground. He now began to grow arms that developed at a slower rate compared to his legs as they were just in the form of small, developing stubs. He also has a pair of huge eyes with small black pupils. His skin is a beige color and he has large pulsating gills on the sides of his neck, which leak a red, blood-like fluid as he moves. He also sports several rows of small tan dorsal plates on his back.
Third Form
3rd form
Upon developing into the third form, Godzilla began to change his posture into a more upright one like a traditional depiction of Godzilla thanks to further development of his legs. Aside from his more upright posture, his skin has turned reddish in color, which also glows due to the cooling system for nuclear energy in his body is yet to fully developed for adaptation on land. His tiny arms have also developed further as well, where they now sprout still-developing fingers. Since the course of his evolution now intended to have better physiology for adapting land environments, Godzilla's gills are now closed and reduced in prominence albeit still functions when he needs to go to the ocean to cool off his body until the biological cooling system for nuclear energy in his body was fully developed.
Fourth Form
4th form
After further evolution to the point where his body was now suited for adapting land environment as well as completing the development of his nuclear energy's natural cooling system, Godzilla now no longer need to retreat to the ocean to cooling his body. While his appearance now looks more like the rest of his incarnations (particularly the first design featured in the 1954 film), the result of his evolution for fully adapted on land made him completely hideous and looked like a skeletal, undead being: He had numerous gaps on his hide that results in his muscles over several parts of its body exposed. Godzilla's rib cage protrudes from the rest of his body, coming to a pointed and pronounced sternum, far more pronounced than that of any other Godzilla.
This design also appears to possess a longer neck than previous versions. He also possesses countless uneven rows of jagged, shark-like teeth inside his mouth and a pronounced nose with large round nostrils, and his mouth extends partially into his cheeks, some teeth protruding from the skin above and underneath his mouth. Not only that, he also possesses red scales resembling keloid scars to give of impression that he seems the victim of a Hydrogen bomb, where many of them running into structures in his black dorsal plates which are reminiscent of blood vessels. His arms now more developed albeit looked emaciated and still short compared to the rest of his incarnations'.
Godzilla's tail is noticeably longer than his own body, where the tip of it red and bloody, and is covered in twisted, mangled bones. The very end of his tail appears to have a small, mostly skeletal face/skull that had a prominent jaw that later can be opened like actual jaw. Godzilla used this face/skull to fire his second atomic beam to simultaneously beamed his atomic breath to two targets at once.
In spite of drastic changes on his body due to evolution progress, there are still some traits that still remained. First of all, Godzilla still retained his digitigrade-style posture in spite of the extreme development on his legs. Godzilla also retained his gills, though smaller than in his previous forms and may useless due to his current physiology. Even after his eyes shrunk, Godzilla still lacked eyelids, and only had a protective membrane in place of it instead that both protected them from intense light from his atomic breath and bombs, and functioned like typical eyelids that he closed when entering his resting coma-like state.
Whenever Godzilla released the atomic breath, his skull unhinges upwards, while the bone of his lower jaw splits apart so he can have more room for his atomic beam.
Fifth Form
While this may not count, after Godzilla was forced to freeze himself due to the blood coagulant, it is revealed that there are smaller Godzillas that have a more skeletal, humanoid appearance, and are seemingly growing out from the fleshy tip of his tail.
Anime Trilogy
The Anime iteration of the character resembles the MonsterVerse incarnation, with a bulky body, a thick and short neck, large arms, jagged triangular dorsal plates, and a crocodile-like head with a relatively long snout. His dorsal plates are somewhat larger than the MonsterVerse Godzilla's, and more closely resemble the traditional maple leaf-shaped plates of past Godzilla incarnations. He also has a more rounded head and thinner neck. He possesses rough bluish skin with a tree bark-like texture covering the entirety of his body, very robust musculature with muscles visible through his skin and pronounced abdominal and pectoral muscles on his chest, and slimmer and longer legs that possess four claws. His tail has a ridged underside and ends with a pointed spear-like tip.
While Godzilla looks more or less like a larger version of his identical progeny and clones Godzilla Filius after 20,000 years, he also possesses a pronounced hunch in his back and several spikes on the bottom of his chin that resemble a beard.
Godzilla: Singular Point
Aquatilis
Godzilla in his first form, possesses a Mosasaurus-like body with reddish yellow colored skin, a spiked underbelly, and red veins on his dorsal fins. His fins have several claws on them. His overall face shape resembles that of a crocodilian as having two large antennae that are similar to Titanosaurus'. On his head, two fins are seen on his cheeks and a single larger wider fin on his head. He also has a long tail with three fins that can spread out from the tip.
Amphibia
After he went on land, He takes on a land form that resembles his aquatic form but his spikes are larger and lacking the fin-like appearance they have before and his skin is now darker which makes him look like Varan. Godzilla also has webbed feet and the fins on his tail are gone with the spikes remaining. Godzilla soon makes a red and cocoon-like exoskeleton that has the texture of rocks.
Terrestris
His third Form after emerging from his cocoon, has completely changed with now having a Tyrannosaurus rex-like body with green skin as well as a yellow underbelly and the features of Gorosaurus. He also walks on two legs and takes on a theropod-like stance.
Ultima
Godzilla has larger dorsal fins as well as two more rows on his body. He lacks the spikes on his tail. When He was weakened by the JSDF, Godzilla evolves into his four and final form which takes a more monstrous version of his third form. He now has black crocodilian-like skin and white dorsal fins. Godzilla also develops multiple rows of sharp teeth with two larger fangs sticking out of his upper jaw.
Personality
Over the course of the franchise to the day, Godzilla is usually portrayed as an anti-heroic kaiju or force of nature without true malicious intent, and well-known for causing destruction mostly unintentionally and largely ignoring human beings as he developed into a character that we know and love today. The first film of the franchise, Godzilla portrayed the original Godzilla as a tragic kaiju who intentionally harmed humans and reduced Tokyo into ruins in retaliation for nuclear testing that both mutated him and killed his entire family.
But the second Godzilla, particularly both, the Showa and Heisei incarnations, began to undergo character development that made both incarnations become lesser of two evils, when Godzilla begins to defend Earth from threats that are worse than himself such as Hedorah, King Ghidorah, and Destoroyah. Even so, Godzilla's motivation in dealing those threats is merely for territorial purposes as he makes no special effort to protect human life or property and will turn against his human allies on a whim.
For instance, in Godzilla: Final Wars, Godzilla crashed the Gotengo soon after the Xiliens and their controlled monsters are defeated due to him still seeing the ship and its crew as threats until he was persuaded by Minilla to forgive them. His attacks were not motivated by predatory instinct: he doesn't eat people, and instead sustains himself on radiation and an omnivorous diet.
Godzilla's allegiance and motivations have changed from film to film to suit the needs of the story. When inquired if Godzilla was "good or bad", producer Shogo Tomiyama likened it to a Shinto "God of Destruction" which lacks moral agency and cannot be held to human standards of good and evil. "He totally destroys everything and then there is a rebirth. Something new and fresh can begin."
In the comics, Godzilla's personality remained consistent, as he can be either a neutral protagonist or antagonist depending on the comic's storyline. As with his film counterparts, he displayed persistent and strong determination to survive. For instance, in Godzilla in Hell, after suffering an untimely demise during a ferocious and destructive battle and having arrived in Limbo, Godzilla, having no interest to join either the forces of Heaven or Hell that wage war against each other during his arrival, decided to return to his dying body to live in the world of the living, which he succeeded to do in spite of horrors he gone through in the said journey.
Godzilla had to take the route straight through hell while facing various demonic creatures such as demonic versions of King Ghidorah and Destoroyah, The Thing-esque demonic imitation of himself, demonic bats, and finally Cthulhu-esque Hellgate Guardian, who stood between him and the world of the living. His determination not to give up went to ridiculous levels, for example, when he was devoured alive to the bone by swarms of demonic bat-like creatures, Godzilla unexpectedly possessed the whole swarm, forced them to fuse with his skeleton and reformed his body, what allowed him to defeat the Hellgate Guardian.
As a Hero
In some films, Godzilla becomes the lesser of two evils and saves mankind from certain threats, such as King Ghidorah or other malevolent terrestrial monsters such as Ebirah and Kumonga. When portrayed as a protagonist, Godzilla is either a heroic monster, a caring but strict parent, or an animal trying to find its place as the last of its kind. It is to be noted that Godzilla defends Earth only, which does not necessarily include humanity, Godzilla defends Earth solely for territorial purposes, which can be seen mostly in the Heisei and Millennium films. However, he is portrayed as an actual hero in the Showa series.
Godzilla appears as a hero in the films Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster, Invasion of Astro-Monster, Ebirah, Horror of the Deep, Son of Godzilla, Destroy All Monsters, All Monsters Attack, Godzilla vs. Hedorah, Godzilla vs. Gigan, Godzilla vs. Megalon, Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, and Terror of Mechagodzilla in the Showa series. In the subsequent Heisei and Millennium films, Godzilla is usually portrayed as an anti-hero that often comes into conflict with humanity but is ultimately sympathetic to some degree and battles against a more malicious creature. The incarnation and version of Godzilla from the 2014 American reboot is portrayed as a non-malicious creature that only seeks to defend his own territory and preserve his existence by battling other creatures that threaten him (and possibly other life and keep the balance of nature remain intact). This version of Godzilla goes out of his way to avoid conflict with humanity and limit the amount of destruction he causes.
As a hero, Godzilla has gained many allies, such as Mothra, Rodan, Anguirus, King Caesar, and Jet Jaguar (just to name a few). In Godzilla Island, a TV series based on the Godzilla franchise, Godzilla also befriended G-Guard Commander and Torema, who keep an eye on him in the titular island, and even actively aided them in the fight against the Xiliens. Their friendship was used against them once when Xiliens sent a Mechagodzilla to disguise as Godzilla both to frame him and destroy cities. Predictably, G-Guard Commander and Torema would hesitate to kill their friend's doppelganger and only incarcerate it, only for disguised Mechagodzilla later escape and resume the rampage. Torema was nearly killed in the attempt to stop the disguised Mechagodzilla, in which real Godzilla immediately come to the rescue and untimely cleaned his name by exposing his doppelganger's true identity before dismantling it.
Showa Godzilla
Starting in Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster, Godzilla begins a transition into a heroic character as he joins forces with Mothra and Rodan to fight off the evil space monster King Ghidorah. In subsequent films in the 1960s, Godzilla is often depicted as the lesser of two evils, doing battle with much more malicious and dangerous creatures such as King Ghidorah, Ebirah, and Kumonga. In the film Son of Godzilla, Godzilla discovers an infant member of his species named Minilla, which he decides to raise as a son and train to take up his mantle. Godzilla's loyalty and love for Minilla eventually lead to him becoming a primarily heroic, charming, and sympathetic character.
Heisei Godzilla
This Godzilla became an anti-hero after originally being a villain. He is extremely compassionate and merciful, as he later adopted Godzilla Jr. and revealed to have human-like emotions. He is also shown that he is capable of loving, such as mourning Godzilla Jr. when he is seemingly killed by Destoroyah.
Godzilla 2000 and Godzilla vs. Megaguirus
In Godzilla 2000 and Godzilla vs. Megaguirus, Godzilla retains the destructive anti-heroic persona of the Heisei Godzilla, menacing Japan and battling the J.S.D.F. before fending off a much greater threat, in this case, Orga and Megaguirus. He is more hesitant to retaliate against the military than the Heisei Godzilla, as he withstands an entire assault from the J.S.D.F. without ever fighting back, only beginning to charge his atomic breath after being injured by Full Metal Missile Launchers.
However, Godzilla had strategic thinking in dealing with his enemies: Upon discovered that Orga can recover from everything he threw on it, Godzilla decided to outsmart Orga by allowing the mutated alien monster to devour him alive means access to the mutated alien monster's innards. Once Orga is occupied on assimilating the kaiju alive, Godzilla used the opportunity to blast the upper half of Orga's body through combined nuclear pulse and atomic breath. Godzilla also used a similar strategy in dealing with Megaguirus: By memorizing Megaguirus's flying pattern, he successfully regained the energy that she stole from him, which allowed him to bite off her stinger and blast her with his atomic breath.
The Godzillas from Godzilla 2000 and Godzilla vs. Megaguirus are actually separate incarnations, but both are discussed in this section due to both sharing a similar personality.
Godzilla: Final Wars
In Godzilla: Final Wars, Godzilla is portrayed as an anti-heroic monster who harbor deep resentment toward humanity. The reason, why he declares war on humanity, was not just for being responsible for his mutation, as Godzilla has seen too much destruction of Earth's environment caused by mankind. Like his Showa and Heisei incarnations, he protected Earth from threats that are worse than himself for a territorial purpose: While he managed to defeat the Xiliens's horde of brainwashed monsters, he immediately turned against Gotengo crews due to still considered them as a threat for Earth's environment.
However, he does have the capacity for mercy and forgiveness. Out of all monsters that he neutralized over the course of the film, Godzilla only spared Rodan, Anguirus, and King Caesar (which a nod to his previous incarnations whom befriends with those monsters). Though still considered mankind on the list of those who threatened Earth's environment, Godzilla eventually decided to spare them after convinced to do so by Minilla.
Perhaps due to the film's plot or his experience in various battles against humans prior to being sealed inside a glacier, the Godzilla in this film was surprisingly smart, cunning, and intelligent akin to a seasoned fighter, as he knows how to outsmart most of the Xiliens's brainwashed monsters as means to defeat them while saving his energy for finishing his battle against Gotengo crew. The only opponent who he can only defeat with help of someone else was Monster X who, in his true form, is known as Keizer Ghidorah, wherein the said battle, Ozaki recharged his energy with his powers that allowed Godzilla to quickly destroy two of Keizer Ghidorah's heads to give the alien kaiju disadvantages before finishing him. Even so, Godzilla still turned against Gotengo crew because he was unaware of Ozaki's intervention due to being focused on resisting Keizer Ghidorah instead of being ungrateful.
MonsterVerse series
In the MonsterVerse films, Godzilla is also portrayed as a territorial animal like the previous incarnations. He is now portrayed as a force of nature who come to restore balance on the entire planet. Perhaps after learned consequences of his past actions in attacking American and Soviet submarines out of its curiosity with their usage with nuclear power that resulting mankind retaliates by using atomic bombs against him under nuclear tests, Godzilla actively avoid another conflict with humanity, which is apparent as he tried his best not to provoke military forces to attack him: When having himself surrounded by navy ships in close proximity during his pursuit for M.U.T.O.s, he carefully (and cautiously) swim near them and even chooses to dive below the said ships to escape instead of ramming them. Even when splitting Golden Gate Bridge in half, the destruction of the bridge was purely accidental due to him reacted by artillery shots on the gills that made him panic and flee in confusion. After killing both M.U.T.O.s, he even peacefully left humanity without any conflict.
As a Villain
In the original 1954 film, Godzilla was a prehistoric creature who was awakened and mutated by nuclear testing. He destroyed multiple fishing boats. When investigators arrived on Odo Island, they learned that the native islanders believed the attacks were caused by a sea-god named Godzilla ("Gojira" in Japanese), and when the island was attacked by the mutant creature, the name stuck. Godzilla attacked Tokyo multiple times until he was killed by the Oxygen Destroyer, a powerful weapon created by Dr. Serizawa. Dr. Yamane implied that the reason for Godzilla's rampage was due to his habitat being destroyed by the American hydrogen bomb test that was not only wiping his entire family, but also mutating him to the point he becomes a radioactive kaiju.
In the later films, either a second Godzilla exists, or Godzilla survived the Oxygen Destroyer (the former is much more likely as by the end of 1954 Godzilla film, Dr. Yamane solemnly warned that it was unlikely Godzilla was the last member of his species and that if mankind continued nuclear testing, another Godzilla would almost certainly appear, which turned out to be true in the sequels).
In Godzilla, Mothra, and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack, Godzilla has been dead for years and has become nothing but a legend that some do not believe in. However, the souls of those who died in World War II merged and resuscitated Godzilla into the apocalyptic undead. When Godzilla is portrayed as a villain, he is usually retaliating against humanity for the nuclear test that awakened him and presumably killed his companions, fighting back against numerous attempts by the human military to kill him, or attempting to recover and defend a juvenile member of his species. The exception is the film Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack, in which Godzilla is a malevolent undead being formed by restless souls that seek to wipe out Japan.
Original Godzilla
In the 1954 film, Godzilla is portrayed as a tragic monster who lashed out on humanity by destroying any boats that he encountered and later destroying Tokyo in retaliation for the destruction of his home and death of his family caused by American H-bomb testing. The kaiju was traumatized so much that mere sight of bright light made him angrier than ever. Dr. Yamane, who knew that the bright light would provoke Godzilla tried to warn the military but is ignored that as he feared, this resulting Godzilla enraged so much that all of Tokyo is destroyed.
Second Showa Godzilla
For later Showa films, the second Godzilla undergo character development. He started off as a destructive villain who indiscriminately attacked and even killed other monsters, like Angurius, and caused destruction as well. He has hated mankind and remained a villain until Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster, where he became an anti-hero.
According to Mothra's Shobijin's translation of Mothra, Rodan and Godzilla's conversation in Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster, Godzilla only "hates humans because they hate him", suggesting that this Godzilla never had any truly malicious intent but was only reacting to constantly being attacked by humans that explained odds between him and mankind. Rodan later agrees with Godzilla's statement.
Heisei Godzilla
In the Heisei films, this Godzilla was originally portrayed as a villainous monster who found himself lost in human civilization and tried to find his place on Earth but is very difficult due to constant odds with mankind. He was extremely aggressive with other monsters, including Biollante, Battra, and Mothra. However, Godzilla only wants his place on Earth and a place for his son. When Godzilla found out that his son was taken from him in Godzilla vs MechaGodzilla II, Godzilla went on a rampage, and would let nothing stop him, showing his true destructive nature. When Godzilla met his son for the first time since he was taken away, he went back to his home island and began to raise him.
Godzilla, Mothra, and King Ghidorah: Giant Monster All-Out Attack
This is the only Godzilla in the Millennium Era that is portrayed as a truly malevolent and acrimonious being. Unlike the rest of his incarnations, this Godzilla was an entity of pure evil rather than a force of nature. Godzilla almost never showed any facial expression beyond a cold and terrifying glare. On top of that, he cannot be reasoned with and will not stop until all of Japan is reduced into ashes. Isayama, the prophet who had the vision of Guardian Monsters whom would rose to stop the kaiju, explained that reason why Godzilla became a malevolent being was due to him not being truly Godzilla, but rather the amalgam of restless souls of those whom were killed or left to die in the Pacific War that possessed his remains not long after his demise at hands of Serizawa in 1954, reanimating the kaiju into a colossal revenant (which explained his survivability even after being reduced into disembodied beating heart and his zombie-like pure white eyes).
Kiryu Saga Godzilla (Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla and Tokyo S.O.S.)
In the Kiryu Saga films, Godzilla does not display much of a defined personality, unlike previous incarnations due to being depicted more like a destructive force of nature who acts primarily on instinct. It is suggested that a primary reason for this Godzilla's rampages is the fact that he is attracted by Kiryu, who contains the remains of another Godzilla that desecrated by Japanese Government as the part of Kiryu project. This Godzilla does not appear to become violent or attack unless he is attacked first, after which he will lash out and brutally attack his enemies.
Shin Godzilla
Shin Godzilla.
In Shin Godzilla (also known as Godzilla: Resurgence), Godzilla was passive and unaware of humanity's presence due to his enormous size and clumsiness in his second form. Godzilla appeared to primarily driven by instinct and the will to survive: At first, he had no interest to retaliate J.S.D.F. when they attack him and seems to barely notice their assault, at least until he revealed his aggression and awareness once American B-2 Stealth Bombers dropped Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) that injured his back and blasted off one of his dorsal fins.
In the climax of the film, Godzilla has perceived humanity as a threat to his existence, and did not hesitate to use his atomic breath and various beam attacks against them. Unfortunately, he was quite reckless, as he wasted too much energy when he released his powers for the first time, and also used it all up by the final confrontation with the humans, something that they later exploited to weaken him so that they can freeze him with blood coagulant.
Godzilla Anime Trilogy
Godzilla Filius.
In the Godzilla Anime Trilogy, Godzilla has conquered Earth, mercilessly killed the other monsters and driven humanity off of the planet during the 21st Century. Humans discovered a new planet called Tau Ceti e, but upon arrival, the planet became uninhabitable for humans. They decide to return to Earth, where 20,000 years have passed due to time dilation and take it back from Godzilla and his monster minions.
As opposed to most villainous incarnations of Godzilla, who are usually on the neutral spectrum, this Godzilla is purely more of a malicious and aggressive being, with the intent of claiming Earth as his own and actively seeking out to destroy anyone who threatens it, even when not provoked. The reason for his attacks against humanity appeared to be purely territorial, perceiving them as a rival against his title of the dominant species on earth. His territorial nature also extends towards extraterrestrial life, as shown as when he attacks King Ghidorah, upon the latter’s arrival. However, it appears that Godzilla has somewhat mellowed down over the years of his slumber and would only be awakened by dangerous threats that put both him and his kind at harm, as shown when he awoke in anger towards humanity upon witnessing the death of Godzilla Filius, as well as reacting to the reactivation of Mechagodzilla and the arrival of King Ghidorah.
At the end of the third film, Haruo sacrifices himself by flying towards Godzilla as a suicide mission to ensure he and the remaining nanometal cannot pose a threat to humanity anymore, which Godzilla obliges to by blasting the Vulture he is in to bits. The post credits scene shows that humanity still lives on, implying that Godzilla has either chosen to not actively seek out and destroy the last traces humanity anymore, or that he is simply unaware of their presence. By the end of the Anime Trilogy, the last remnants of humanity have accepted Godzilla as a necessity, no worse than a natural disaster.
Powers and Abilities
Breath Powers
Atomic Breath
Godzilla's signature weapon is his distinctive atomic breath. Godzilla's dorsal plates glow ominously, and then he lets loose with a concentrated blast of radiation from his mouth. This power is commonly mistaken for breathing literal fire, one of the most common misconceptions of the entire series. Godzilla has been shown apparently being able to adjust the intensity of his ray, varying from a blast of superheated vapor.
Such as in the 1950s and 1960s (in the earliest films, the atomic breath was nothing more than baby powder shot out with a hose), to a beam with explosive and kinetic properties, in the 1970s and onward. The ray is usually portrayed as being neon blue, though in Godzilla 2000: Millennium and Godzilla vs. Megaguirus, it is a reddish orange to signify an increased level of power.
In Godzilla 2000 and Godzilla vs. Megaguirus, Godzilla's atomic breath was shown as having incendiary properties and was strong enough to destroy a miniature black hole, while in Godzilla: Final Wars, it possessed incredible range, amazing power and pin-point accuracy, able to hit a target in outer space and kill most kaiju with a single shot. Also in Godzilla: Final Wars, Godzilla also demonstrated his ability to actually change the intensity of his atomic breath when fighting Keizer Ghidorah. With a quick turn, Godzilla's breath went from the iconic blue beam to the intensity of reddish orange which literally caused the monster Keizer Ghidorah to explode in the upper atmosphere.
A variation of the standard atomic ray in the Heisei series was the red "spiral ray" which he acquired as a result of absorbing the Rodan's life energy. This ray was so powerful that only a few blasts of it were sufficient to completely destroy MechaGodzilla and SpaceGodzilla, though Destoroyah was able to withstand several hits. In Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack, a variant of his spiral ray was seen when King Ghidorah used his golden gravity beams on Godzilla.
Godzilla was somehow able to draw strength from the gravity beams and used the absorbed energy to fire a blast of blue energy wrapped in a golden spiral that completely destroyed King Ghidorah. The spiral ray returned in Godzilla: Final Wars, where it was strong enough to push Keizer Ghidorah to the edge of space, destroying him in an explosion visible from the surface of the Earth.
In MonsterVerse series, Godzilla's atomic breath was initially portrayed in form of focused, fiery blast he spewed out. He ultimately unleashed it against the M.U.T.O.s after he had taken a severe beating and was already growing weaker, showing that Godzilla only uses it as a last resort against opponents he can't physically overpower on his own. This version's atomic breath is obviously not as destructive as its predecessors', but still incredibly deadly in its own right as it can be used to both burn and push the female M.U.T.O. as well as detonating her throat that resulted in fiery decapitation. However, it's entirely possible that Godzilla didn't use his atomic breath at its full power due to aforementioned beating and worse, hampered by M.U.T.O.s' EMP as noted in his debut film's novelization, something that confirmed in the prequel comic Godzilla: Awakening and subsequent battles in which his atomic breath's normal output shown far more intense and beam-like in appearance with its explosive properties being stronger. True to this, whenever Godzilla is about to release his atomic breath in normal circumstances, his eyes and numerous orifices around his scales glow neon-blue along with dorsal spines.
Upon being revived by Monarch, the excess energy from nuclear bomb Serizawa used significantly improves Godzilla's atomic breath to the point of him being able to knock or push back opponents several times heavier than him with a single blast as much as burn them as shown in the final battle against King Ghidorah. From that point and Mothra's energy infusion following her sacrifice, Godzilla's atomic breath has grown more powerful to the point of being able to bore straight into the Earth's core in its maximum output.
In Godzilla: Resurgence, when Godzilla developed the ability to release atomic breath, it initially started out as a thick black smoke that comes from Godzilla's mouth and spreads around the surrounding area before eventually ignites into a stream of flame, producing a huge destructive fireball that sweeps through the area. The fire condenses further into a thin highly-destructive purple beam capable of slicing through buildings.
In Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters, Godzilla's atomic breath is described to be highly accelerated, particle-charged, and is electronic. It is highly destructive; according to official records, this beam is capable of annihilating single cities and mountains, penetrating the Rocky mountains, melting parts of Himalayan Range, and destroying continental plates. In the tie in novel, an event is also described where Godzilla uses a Red Spiral Ray to destroy a meteor heading towards Earth after charging energy for a few years.
The estimated range of the beam is approximately 30 kilometers (18.6411 miles). During the charging process of this attack, Godzilla also produces strong electromagnetic pulses and powerful shockwaves, making any efforts by mankind to hide or withstand meaningless. Anyone at close range will face severe radioactive exposure, and nearby areas will be severely polluted by radioactivity, forcing humanity to abandon the area. Land pollutants were later fixed by technologies provided by Bilusaludos.
This version takes on the form of a thin, focused beam, almost like the atomic breath attacks of the Legendary Godzilla and Shin Godzilla, but there are notable differences in terms of charging up said ability aesthetically. They include things such as the visible electric nature of the creature's overall body and fins rather than vivid luminescence and the generation of a force field out of in front of the face with a large build-up of energy simultaneously focused in front of the mouth before fired, terminating the need to open its mouth wide to discharge his atomic powers.
On an interesting fact, whilst Godzilla's signature atomic breath can easily set entire city blocks ablaze and obliterate most military weaponry on a whim, many of Godzilla's opponents have shown the ability to withstand it, at least in its standard intensity. For example, in the Showa series, both Rodan and King Ghidorah were able to withstand direct hits from Godzilla's atomic breath with little visible harm. In the Heisei series, Rodan was vulnerable to the beam at close range, though King Ghidorah remained immune until Godzilla utilized his more powerful spiral heat ray. The Heisei version of MechaGodzilla possessed a special diamond-plated armor that allowed it to absorb Godzilla's atomic breath and reflect it through the plasma grenade port on its abdomen. Many of Godzilla's more powerful opponents, including King Ghidorah, Mechagodzilla, SpaceGodzilla, Destoroyah, and Monster X, have proven to be resistant to Godzilla's atomic breath until he was forced to utilize a more powerful variation of it. The only exception of this is in his fight against Zilla, where Godzilla only needed a single atomic blast to defeat it.
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Fire Breath
This is another ability used in Hanna Barbera's take on Godzilla, as well as the Marvel comic adaptation of Godzilla and the Reiwa era. However, these are the only three times that Godzilla has been seen using fire breath. It is a common misconception that he uses fire breath instead of his iconic atomic breath since in the Reiwa era, Godzilla breathes fire at Tokyo before releasing his atomic breath. However, this is only true in Marvel and Hanna Barbera's adaptations, and in Toho's Reiwa era.
Super Oscillatory Wave
In GODZILLA: Planet of the Monsters, the sheer power of Godzilla’s roar is immense. Likewise, he is able to release a powerful sound wave blast to destroy enemies.
Tail Beam Attacks
Atomic Tail Beam
In Shin Godzilla, upon realizing his dorsal beam attack spent much of his energy reserves, Godzilla redirected some portion of atomic energy to his tail and projected it in form of atomic laser that fired from the mouth on the tip of his tail. This, when used alongside atomic breath, enable him to cut and slice through multiple adversaries from every direction at once. Godzilla used it to conserve his energy better to take down drones that approach him during Operation Yashiori before collapsed and in the helpless state as blood coagulant will be pumped into his mouth.
Plasma Cutter
In GODZILLA: Planet of the Monsters, by concentrating powerful plasma from his fins, Godzilla can swing his tail and produce a massive plasma blade that extends for 600 meters and can reduce anything it touch to ashes, causing massive destruction.
Energy Pulse
Nuclear Pulse
In addition to his very deadly atomic breath, Godzilla can also emit atomic energy in all directions from every inch of his body in a short-range pulse. The pulse was first seen in his fight against Biollante. Godzilla only used the nuclear pulse in the Heisei series, such as when King Ghidorah was constricting him with its necks, although many consider the climactic scene in Godzilla 2000 in which Orga is destroyed while attempting to swallow Godzilla like a snake to be a use of Godzilla's nuclear pulse; and also, Godzilla uses something similar to a nuclear pulse to prevent Keizer Ghidorah from draining any more of his energy from him after being surged with Ozaki's energy.
Godzilla's ability to fire a salvo of atomic lasers from his dorsal plates in Godzilla: Resurgence may inspire by/a variant of nuclear pulse ability. When he fires atomic lasers from his dorsal plates, the plates also emit tremendous amounts of radiation in the same direction where he fired the lasers.
Radiation Stream
As demonstrated in Godzilla: Aftershock, the MonsterVerse incarnation of Godzilla has a variation of Nuclear Pulse which, instead of all-direction blast, the energy stream is more focused onto a single direction and apparently projected straight from the kaiju's dorsal fins. The radiation stream is strong enough to gravely wound MUTO Prime.
Electromagnetic Pulse
In GODZILLA: Planet of the Monsters, Godzilla is capable of releasing an electromagnetic pulse. He can discharge the energy after releasing his atomic breath. The electromagnetic pulse is an ability that the Servum had been endowed with when they evolved separately.
Ferrokinesis
In Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, Godzilla found a way to generate powerful magnetic fields from his body after being struck several times by lightning, which proved devastating against his metallic foe. This is the only time Godzilla ever used this power.
Superhuman Durability
Godzilla has displayed an uncanny ability to sustain damage throughout his films. Starting in the first Godzilla film, Godzilla displayed an immunity to conventional weaponry, virtually impervious to everything the JSDF threw at him. He has demonstrated the ability to survive complete submersion in magma for an extended period of time, sometimes while under extreme pressure from tectonic plates (as seen in Godzilla vs. Mothra). He has even survived being in ground zero of asteroid impacts. The only times his flesh has been visibly pierced were in a battle with the Super X, Showa Gigan, Biollante, King Ghidorah, Destoroyah, MechaGodzilla's weapons in the Showa, Heisei, and Millennium series, and in a lesser extent, by M.O.P. bombs in Godzilla: Resurgence.
Regeneration
In addition to being extremely resistant to damage, Godzilla possesses an extremely advanced and highly efficient regenerative ability. This power was a crucial plot point of Godzilla vs. Biollante and Godzilla 2000: Millennium. In Godzilla 2000: Millennium, it is explained that Godzilla's regenerative abilities may have something to do with his radioactive properties, and Regenerator G-1 ("Organizer G-1" in the Japanese version) is the name given to a substance in his cells that is responsible for Godzilla's swift healing. In Godzilla vs. Biollante, Japanese scientists use samples of the Godzilla cells (called G-cells throughout the Heisei series of Godzilla films) to help create the Anti-Nuclear Energy Bacteria (ANEB). This healing factor would be inherited by all creatures spawned from Godzilla's DNA, those being Biollante, SpaceGodzilla and Orga. While the M.U.T.O.s are shown to face Godzilla to the point of exhaustion, he manages to get back to his feet and return to the ocean in a matter of hours which could either be a testament to his incredible durability and he was simply exhausted, or he healed off the damage by sunrise.
In Godzilla: Resurgence, Godzilla's healing factor is so potent that pieces of his flesh that are broken off from his body can continue to live on their own and evolve and regenerate into entire creatures in the same manner with starfishes.
In Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters, Godzilla's multi-layered, physaliformed skin enables him to regenerate new skins near instantly, even if the older skin is incinerated or becomes plasma due to several hundred, or even several thousand nuclear bombings, making Godzilla essentially immune to human weapons.
Superhuman Strength
Godzilla using super strength with his tail to swat Baragon.
As attributed to his size, weight, and mass, Godzilla has displayed varied levels of physical strength sufficient to lift weights exceeding 20,000 tons and smash skyscrapers. He has been depicted lifting and throwing monsters in excess of his own weight, such as King Ghidorah, Hedorah, MechaGodzilla, and others including Biollante, and in Godzilla: Final Wars, he was even able to throw Kumonga clear over the horizon.
Energy Absorption and Manipulation
Ever since the original film, Godzilla has been capable of absorbing huge amounts of energy, often nuclear in nature. This also explained various feats that he can do such as Atomic Breath, Nuclear Pulse, Ferrokinesis, and energize his blows for more destructive effect.
In the Showa series, as result of being irradiated by a hydrogen bomb explosion, Godzilla's body absorbed a tremendous amount of nuclear energy so much that his physiology enhanced to the point that he becomes walking nuclear reactor, gaining the ability to emit high levels of radiation and fire his trademark atomic breath. The same thing occurred on other Godzilla in the Heisei series, wherein this case, the said Godzilla was exposed to the detonation of a Soviet nuclear submarine, which irradiates and mutate him into an 80 meter-tall atomic-powered monster. Since his physiology enhanced to the point of his heart become a biological nuclear reactor, the Heisei Godzilla relies on nuclear power to sustain his metabolism and derives his sustenance from absorbing energy from active man-made nuclear reactors.
Godzilla was also able to absorb the energy that generated from nuclear submarines or other man-made nuclear reactors as well; in one case the energy absorbed from a nuclear sub was enough to allow Godzilla's immune system to purge the Anti-Nuclear Energy Bacteria from his body and cause him to grow 20 meters in height. When nuclear reactions in his heart caused uranium deposits under Birth Island to ignite and vaporize the island, Godzilla absorbed the radiation given off by the explosion. While this influx of radiation did eventually cause Godzilla's heart to undergo a catastrophic meltdown and kill him, it made Godzilla substantially more powerful for a period of time. According to Kenichi Yamane, Godzilla's heart contained enough nuclear power to create "a burst of energy unseen since time began" which would cause the Earth's atmosphere to ignite if it exploded. If Godzilla's meltdown was not kept under control by G-Force's freezer weapons, his heart would have melted down into the Earth's core and caused the planet to implode.
In Legendary Pictures' Godzilla, Godzilla still portrayed with the ability to feed on nuclear radiation as sustenance. While at first, he can absorb natural geothermal radiation on Earth when radiation was ten times more than today prior to resort to consuming the same energy on Earth's core, Godzilla later discovered that he can do the same on man-made nuclear reactor from nuclear submarines. It was thanks to his natural abilities in absorbing geothermal radiation from the Earth's core that enable him to survive the extinction era.
In Godzilla: Resurgence, Godzilla's ability to manipulate energy was proved more potent than his predecessors. In fact, this version of Godzilla is now able to perform feats that never displayed by any of his predecessors as he can fire atomic beams from the tip of his tail and dorsal fins. How Godzilla came to being in the said film was explained to be a prehistoric marine animal that evolved due to surrounded by nuclear waste in his habitat, and with him developed ability to withstand the radioactive material, he began to feed on the said material. As result, he evolved to the point of possessing eight times the genetic information of human beings, becoming a superorganism kaiju he is now. Godzilla derives his energy from nuclear fission occurring within his body, which fueled by air and water that his body synthesized into radioactive substances that filled his power reserves.
Godzilla can also absorb another form of energy, such as electricity that now not only revitalizes him like nuclear energy but also enable him to performed Ferrokinesis. The revenant Godzilla in Godzilla, Mothra, and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack can also absorb Ghidorah's gravity beam and combines them with his atomic breath, forming a more powerful atomic beam that obliterates King Ghidorah in a single hit. Godzilla can also absorb plasma energy or Keizer energy from Ozaki's that save his life from Keizer Ghidorah's clutches.
Amphibious
Though not an amphibian, Godzilla has an amphibious lifestyle. He spends half of his life in water and the other on land. He is as adept a fighter underwater as he is on land. Capable of marching on the seafloor or swimming by undulating his tail like a crocodile, Godzilla is displayed as being able to breathe underwater, occasionally hibernating in the ocean depths between movies, and being submerged apparently does not impede his atomic ray, as seen in Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah. He engages opponents in the sea on multiple occasions, fighting King Ghidorah, Ebirah, Battra, Biollante, and Mothra either beneath or on the surface of the waves. In Legendary Pictures' Godzilla, Godzilla now possesses gills so he can stay underwater indefinitely, but he closes them when he's on land and uses his lungs. Godzilla's incarnation in Godzilla: Resurgence also portrayed with unusually large gills in his earlier developed form that eventually shrinks when he evolved to a better form that enable him to adapt to land.
Flight/Jet Propulsion
In a memorable and somewhat infamous scene in Godzilla vs. Hedorah, Godzilla used his atomic breath to fly by aiming it at the ground and lifting off like a rocket. How this ability works by manipulating nuclear energy within his body so his atomic breath projected in form of jet propulsion that strong enough to send him flying and catch up with the flying Hedorah.
Godzilla has used this ability two times outside of the said film; in the comic series Godzilla: Ongoing and in Godzilla: The Game, where it is called "Back Charge".
Undead Physiology
In Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack, Godzilla whom killed by Serizawa's Oxygen Destroyer eventually reanimated and possessed by restless souls of those whom killed or left to die at the hands of the Imperial Japanese Army during the Pacific War. Though his body appeared to be restored by the said restless souls back to the condition prior to disintegrated by the said chemical weapon upon possession, Godzilla has become undead version of his former self: The proof that Godzilla has become the undead is having white and cloudy eyes, as if they suffer decomposition in spite of not affect the vision. Not only his physiology that supernaturally enhanced tenfold, as he now possesses unusual reflexes where when he pinned prematurely awakened Ghidorah, he reflexively swatted Mothra when the latter tried to approach him. Also, since he now become an undead, Godzilla is capable to remain alive even when in a state of being where death should be unavoidable: By the end of the film, Godzilla is revealed to still alive even after reduced into disembodied beating heart, a state where it's unlikely that the rest of his incarnations able to survive in the same way (with exceptional of his Godzilla: Resurgence counterpart though in the latter's case, due to being composite creature that can regrow from pieces that broke off from his body).
This power is exclusively possessed by the incarnation of Godzilla in Godzilla, Mothra, and King Ghidorah: Giant Monster All-Out Attack.
Extrasensory Perception
According to an American scientist, Godzilla in Shin Godzilla possesses a "phased-array radar" which allows him to detect threats without even needing to see them. Godzilla utilized this to sense his enemies' presence either when hibernating or in combat. This explained how he can destroy drones that went too close in observing him when hibernating and direct his dorsal plate beams' direction straight to oncoming foes behind him so he won't waste too much energy just to attack them. The same ability also allowed him to fire small bolts of atomic energy to shot down drones sent to study him within range.
Self-Mutation
In Shin Godzilla, one of Godzilla's most unique abilities is his capacity to develop new features and powers through controlled self-mutation in order to adapt to any situation in short amount of time. According to characters in the film, Godzilla is the most evolved creature on the planet, and currently possessing eight times the genetic information of human beings. It explained how Godzilla adjust his own physiology that progressively more to land environment in his last three forms. The same thing also applies for his combat abilities, as not long after release his atomic breath, Godzilla immediately developed advanced techniques of energy manipulation includes dorsal beams to combat foes that approach him from behind and ESP ability to detect oncoming threat without the need to directly seeing them. During Operation Yashiori, Godzilla developed new ability to use mouth on the tip of his tail to fire second atomic breath to sweep multiple foes and conserve his energy reserves. When his body began to burn itself due to blood coagulant, he developed the ability to freeze himself solid to prevent a meltdown, something which predicted by Yaguchi's team.
The last scene of the film shows that on the tip of his tail, several small Godzillas in more humanoid form has sprouted from it, suggested that Godzilla attempted to break himself into multiple smaller progenies of himself to combat humans better.
Self-mutation is arguably Godzilla's core ability in the film as it was through the said power he can evolve to better form and gained new abilities.
Dorsal Plate Beams
In Shin Godzilla, upon sensing multiple American bomber aircraft began to approach him, Godzilla redirected his atomic beam onto his dorsal fins, and project it in form of a salvo of atomic beams to dispatch them. He would later use it again in conjunction with his extrasensory perception ability to shot down drones that approach his comatose body and multiple drones that attacked him in Operation Yashiori.
In spite of the beam's effectiveness in dispatching multiple adversaries that attacked him from behind and above, Dorsal Plates beam technique depleted his atomic reserve more than his atomic breath, so he developed an atomic tail beam to conserve his energy better.
Laser Eyes
In addition to all of his other abilities, Godzilla was shown firing laser eyes in The Godzilla Power Hour. This ability was never used in any other media besides this show.
Cell-Division and Terraforming
In GODZILLA: Planet of the Monsters, using cell-division, Godzilla produced multiple forms of progeny, from the fauna-like organisms such as Filius and the Servum, to the very flora that build up the forest-dominated terrain.
Energy Conversion
In GODZILLA: City on the Edge of Battle, the humans attempt a strategy to defeat Godzilla’s that was similar to the strategy used on Filius. However, when the EMP Harpoons send electromagnetic energy to overload Godzilla, he is able to convert the excess energy into heat, and uses it as a heat attack, which melted the surrounding area. It also allows him to return to a safe level of electromagnetic energy, which allowed him to use his atomic breath.
Weaknesses
In spite of being very powerful, Godzilla still has some weaknesses:
Electricity
Early films showed in King Kong vs. Godzilla and Mothra vs. Godzilla, he is shown to be vulnerable to strong voltages of electricity. As the series progressed, lightning (i.e., electricity found in nature) has been shown to have the opposite effect, at times serving to revitalize him as later films portrayed him to have the ability to absorb energy.
A.N.E.B. and Cadmium
Both Cadmium shells and A.N.E.B. (Anti-Nuclear Energy Bacteria) can slow down his metabolism and potentially able to kill him.
Secondary Brain
In Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II, Godzilla is revealed to have a second brain in his spine, with Super Mechagodzilla being able to paralyze him from the waist down by destroying it. Nevertheless, his secondary brain was restored by Fire Rodan and further films seem to ignore this gigantic weak spot.
Sheer Bulk
Godzilla's sheer bulk proved to be disadvantageous for him to combat more agile and faster enemies such as Megaguirus, forcing him to perform counterattacks as he relies on his endurance. Also, while he has an endurance level beyond measure, his enemies usually counter by trying to crush and batter him. Mechagodzilla managed to overpower Godzilla by firing more weaponry than he could defend against, although this became useless after Godzilla became magnetized.
Limited Energy
In Shin Godzilla, Godzilla has limited energy to use for his atomic beams. After using large amounts, he must refuel, essentially. Towards the end, due to excessive use of energy, he could not attack against the Yahuchi Plan’s forces efficiently.
Freezing Coagulant
In Shin Godzilla, The Yaguchi Plan, or Project Yashiori, involved a coagulant that disabled Godzilla’s internal cooling and heating system, which caused his isotope to freeze.
Trivia
- In Godzilla Island, Godzilla's house is a large cave, with the entrance once blocked with iron bars due to it being used for incarcerating him after his doppelganger Mechagodzilla/Fake Godzilla was sent to frame him.
- Starring in 36 films, Godzilla has appeared in more films than any other kaiju to date.
- Godzilla is one of the most recognizable symbols of Japanese popular culture worldwide.
- Although Godzilla's first film appearance was in Godzilla, released on November third of 1954, he made his first official debut four months earlier, in July, when an earlier version of the film's script was read on a radio as an 11-part radio drama.
- In 2004, as a part of the celebration of the release of Godzilla: Final Wars and the 50th anniversary of the franchise, Godzilla was given a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame.
- Godzilla's appearance has changed many times over the years. Some changes were subtle differences such as changes in the size of his dorsal plates and others which were much more dramatic, including Godzilla's overall size and appearance.
- The 2021 Godzilla Singular Point anime marked the 66th anniversary of Godzilla.
- They also listed the original 1954 Godzilla movie, Gojira, as #7 on their "Top 10 Sci-Fi Movies of the 1950s" list.
- Among fights that Godzilla had over the course of the history of the franchise, his most famous and shortest battle was against Zilla in Godzilla: Final Wars. In the said fight, Godzilla simply defeated Zilla by outsmarting it: He tricked Zilla to pounce on him with low-caliber atomic breath as a distraction and once Zilla did, he sends Zilla flying into the Sydney Opera House and finishes him off with his atomic breath. The most surprising fact in the said battle is, the battle only lasts 13 seconds.
- Critics say that this short battle was meant to show Toho's displeasure towards Sony and TriStar with their handling of the Godzilla franchise. Others say the significant difference in size, speed, and abilities between the two showed it truly played out the way it should have.
- Godzilla's characteristics in Shin Godzilla draws parallel from Hedorah and Destoroyah as both theorized to be superorganism kaiju that had multiple forms and were empowered by hazardous materials to the point of being capable in using them as weapons (Hedorah empowered and utilizes sludge full of pollutants, whereas Destoroyah was mutated and empowered by Oxygen Destroyer in the same way Godzilla empowered himself with radioactive materials). This is quite interesting, as Hedorah and Destoroyah are Godzilla's most dangerous adversaries in their films.
- Among buildings that Godzilla destroyed in the 1954 film was the Toho Theater. In fact, some moviegoers who were watching the film in that theater actually thought the theater was being attacked and tried to run outside.
- This was reminiscent with the airing of the episode of The Mercury Theatre on the Air titled The War of the Worlds about Martians' invasion on earth which infamously caused mass hysteria out of belief that Martians were really invading Earth.
- Godzilla's original famous roar was not based on any kind of real-life animal as during the production of the 1954 film, the sound department was unable to find which animal sound that fit for the kaiju. Akira Ifukube came up with Godzilla's roars by rubbing a coarse, resin-coated leather glove up and down the strings of a contrabass (double bass), and reverberated the recorded sound. Also, Godzilla's thunderous footsteps were made by beating a kettle drum with a knotted rope.
- Godzilla fought his long-time box office rival Gamera in Screwattacks' DEATH BATTLE and won.
- For Shin Godzilla, the early concept of Godzilla's regenerative ability and procreate through fission like starfish shown more disturbing than in final film, as some concept art of him undergo fission process depicted him morphed into a mountain of radioactive fleshy biomass with several of Godzilla's heads protruding for them as it split into several new progeny of himself.
- A deleted scene showed JSDF soldiers finding the torn pieces of his dorsal fin which was severed due to M.O.P. bombs already melting into a bloody biomass with a number of eyes growing from them. Due to the scene being deemed disturbing, this was replaced with JSDF soldiers finding the severed dorsal fin still intact albeit beginning to be coated with blood and a small piece of it falling near them, alerting its location above them. The scene then shifts to the protagonists discovering that the fin has begun to undergo fission into a new Godzilla.
- Godzilla's size is inconsistent, changing from film to film and even from scene to scene for the sake of artistic license. It is confirmed that the Godzilla Earth from the Godzilla Anime Series on Netflix is a colossal 318 meters in height, by far the tallest height of any Godzilla incarnation.
- Koei Horikoshi, creator of My Hero Academia, has made a hero named Godzillo, based off of Godzilla (primarily his Heisei design) for My Hero Academia: Two Heroes as part of a collaboration project.
- Both Godzilla's shape and roar were used for the Dragon Minosaur in the first episode for the new series titled Kishryu Sentai Ryusoulger.
- The Godzillas from Godzilla vs Megaguirus, Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack, and Godzilla: Final Wars are all intended to be the exact same Godzilla from the 1954 film of the same name with different retcons regarding his fate at the end of the film, whereas every other Godzilla that appeared in the three original eras are intended to be a second Godzilla succeeding the original.
- Godzilla made his appearance in the 2019 anime movie titled Shinkansen Henkei Robo Shinkalion the Movie: The Marvelous Fast ALFA-X That Comes From the Future.
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