| “ | That monster... will never forgive us. | „ |
| ~ Koichi Shikishima regarding Godzilla's unforgivable misanthropy. |
| “ | It was like a prehistoric dinosaur turned monster. The local inhabitants called it... Godzilla. | „ |
| ~ Shikishima discussing Godzilla's origins to Noriko Oishi. |
Godzilla (ゴジラ, Gojira) also known as Godzilla Minus One, Minus One, or simply MinusGoji, is the titular main antagonist of the 2023 kaiju drama film Godzilla Minus One. He is a huge, dinosaur-like creature who was mutated by the 1946 nuclear testings of Operation Crossroads, causing Godzilla to enact terrible vengeance by unleashing havoc upon post-war Japan in 1947; the advent of Godzilla brings Japan to "below zero" following the aftermath of World War II.
Departing from traditional incarnations of the character, this version of Godzilla is the first adaptation that depicts Godzilla attacking Japan before the 1950s. Notably, this version of Godzilla is outlandishly violent, making him one of the most violent and aggressive incarnations of the character to date.
Appearance[]
Prior-mutated form[]
Godzilla's prior-mutated form is reminiscent to an older depiction of Tyrannosaurus Rex, Godzillasaurus (The Heisei reimagining of the prehistoric amphibious reptile mentioned in the 1954 film), concept art of the MonsterVerse Godzilla, and in lesser extent, Zilla; He was a 15-meters tall amphibious theropod-like dinosaurian monster. He assumed a hunched, bipedal stance akin to kangaroos, and had digitate feet. Unlike his post-mutated form, his head is larger relative to his body and more tyrannosaurid in shape, particularly the snout and also maple leaf-shaped dorsal fins with largest ones being top of his back. Godzilla is noted to have some scars in the form of deep gashes on his neck and back, but the origin of them is unknown.
Post-mutated form[]
Following his irradiation in 1946, Godzilla attained a more muscular physique, brawny arms and sturdy legs just like the Heisei iteration of the character, even bearing a stance and general shape evocative of the latter to the boot. His body is covered in rough, bumpy skin of brownish gray hue reminiscent to that of his MonsterVerse counterpart albeit with more apparent resemblance to keloid scars instead of crocodilian and have mottled, pale brown burn scars in some parts. He also attained a new scar on his right cheek following the explosion of a mine inside his mouth and his subsequent regeneration. His four-toed feet are now larger with short black claws while his eyes are a golden yellow. His now prominent dorsal fins now became larger and more jagged.
Mutilated state[]
After being critically injured by the decompression strategy in Operation Wada Tsumi, Godzilla surfaces from the water in a horrific state of mutilation. His skin bears massive cracks and fissures across the entirety of his body, through which pulses of blue energy periodically shine. His eyes also burst out of their sockets and frost over, suggesting that he has become blind. Godzilla would have presumably regenerated from this damage, but the process of regeneration hadn't started by the time Shikishima landed the final blow with the Shinden's bombs.
Personality[]
This incarnation of Godzilla harbored strong grudge toward humanity for nuclear tests which irradiated him in the first place not unlike the original iteration of the character, though his case is much worse as he was already hostile towards humans prior to his mutation. During the fateful grisly encounter with Japanese military personnel in 1945, after destroying the watchtower in response of the officer within (Taki) shone its spotlight at his face, Godzilla took his time inspecting the area rather than laying waste upon it outright, displaying a curious side as he never saw instruments Japanese military personnel placed in their base and only resumed the attack once provoked. Even Odo Island natives who managed to earn his respect by appeasing him in exchange of deep-sea fishes knew better than enraging him.
However, after being irradiated by the Operation Crossroads nuclear test a year later, Godzilla's hostility toward human presence worsened more than ever, perpetually angered by his predicament and believed that nothing in their disposal could stop him thanks to newfound powers from his mutation. So much that he demonstrated his wrath towards humankind expressively and aggressively with his actions and occasional satisfaction in the destruction he causes as shown during his rampage at Ginza and Operation Wada Tsumi, showing no remorse at destruction and deaths he caused. Not even those who have little to no involvement in aforementioned nuclear tests such as civilians in Tokyo are spared from his wrath. Unfortunately for him, his rage served as double-edged sword for him as shown when Shikishima and co. managed to trick him to blast two unnamed vessels as a distraction and later, attempting to blast them with atomic breath at full power despite the risk of the attack would potentially vaporize his crippled body from inside out.
Biography[]
In 1945, Godzilla came ashore on Odo Island at night and entered a Japanese military airbase. Kamikaze pilot Koichi Shikishima entered his Zero aircraft fighter on the airfield to try and attack the creature with its 20mm guns but froze up in fear and shock as Godzilla stood in front of him. The panicked military repairmen nearby opened fire on Godzilla, enraging him and causing him to brutally murder them all. By morning, the only survivors were Shikishima and the lead mechanic, Sosaku Tachibana, who blamed Shikishima for failing to act and costing the others their lives.
The incident was covered up by the Japanese government, with the official story being that the men on the island were wiped out by American force however this event would cause Shikishima to be haunted by his experience with the monster, having nightmares of his attack on Odo Island years after the war ended. In July 1946, Godzilla was caught in one of the American military's nuclear weapons tests at Bikini Atoll, burning and mutating him to gigantic proportions in the span of two years.
Now substantially larger and even more enraged, Godzilla began destroying American vessels in the Pacific as he approached the Japanese archipelago. However, the American military refused to take action against Godzilla in the Pacific and warned the Japanese to begin preparing for the worst. In 1947, the minesweeper Shinsei Maru was ordered to stall Godzilla until the Japanese battle cruiser Takao could arrive and attack him. Shikishima, now a crew member on the Shinsei Maru, saw a destroyed ship and deep-sea fish floating to the surface and immediately recognized that the culprit was the creature he saw on Odo Island before Godzilla soon appeared and gave chase to the Shinsei Maru, which dropped mines they picked up and detonated one on Godzilla's back, to no avail. Another mine was dropped into Godzilla's mouth, with Shikishima using the ship's guns to detonate it. destroying half of Godzilla's face, that of which regenerated in an instant before the crew's eyes, enraging Godzilla, and leaving a scar on his face.
As Godzilla rose from the water, the Takao arrived and began firing at him, saving the Shinsei Maru. Godzilla, now enraged, turned his rage to the cruiser and grabbed it, tearing it apart viciously with his claws. The ship's guns unloaded on Godzilla again, causing wounds on his chest visibly, making him to fall backward into the sea. However, the enraged Godzilla swam underneath the Takao and obliterated it in an instant with an explosive heat ray. Godzilla then surfaced amid the ashes and smoke and roared triumphantly.
About a week later, Godzilla passed through a mine blockade and entered Tokyo Bay before coming ashore in Ginza where he tore through the district in a frenzied rage, grabbing a large train in his mouth. Noriko Oishi, Shikishima's partner and girlfriend who was inside the train, narrowly escaped the train before Godzilla dropped it into the water below. Shikishima arrived to rescue Noriko as Godzilla approached. Godzilla passed by a news team, who reported things about the monster. Godzilla ignored them simply as he moves forward, but his leg destroyed the building they stood on. A group of Chi-To tanks rode in and started firing at him, obviously to no avail. Godzilla, now visibly yet truly furious, began charging a heat ray. his dorsal fins began jutting out from his back and tail and emitting a blue-green glow one-by-one from the tail to his head. He then fired a devastating blue-green heat ray from his mouth that crushed the tanks and produced a nuclear explosion that flattened most of the surrounding area.
Noriko was swept away in the shockwave after pushing Shikishima to safety, leaving him screaming in grief among the ruins of Ginza, as a black rain began to fall. In the aftermath of Godzilla's raid, an estimated 30,000 civilians were killed or injured, and Ginza was in shambles.
With Godzilla approaching Tokyo once again in about ten days' time, there wasn't much time to prepare a plan to kill the beast. Dr. Kenji Noda eventually came up with a plan to lure Godzilla to the Sagami Bay over a massive trench and use Freon gas to drag Godzilla to the seafloor, crushing him with the sudden pressure change. If that doesn't kill him, then they inflate balloons full of carbon dioxide to pull him back up, causing a massive decompression, which should kill him. If all else fails, Shikishima will fly into Godzilla's mouth and detonate explosives loaded inside a Kyushu J7W Shinden fighter plane, destroying his brain and killing him.
When Godzilla arose from Tokyo Bay and started another rampage, Shikishima used his Shinden fighter to draw Godzilla back into the ocean after the beast came ashore, drawing him to the trap point in Sagami Bay. Noda tricked Godzilla into firing his atomic breath at two unmanned vessels, leaving him unable to use it again while it recharged before he ordered all of the ships to circled Godzilla and tied a cable attached to Freon canisters around him. As Godzilla prepared to fire his heat ray again, the canisters were ruptured, and he was forcibly pulled underwater where he immediately froze in place.
Noda inflated the balloons under him, and Godzilla was rapidly drawn to the surface, but Godzilla tore through the balloons in his wrathful fury, foiling the plan until a fleet of tugboats arrived to help the ships pull him the rest of the way where his flesh began to freeze and rupture, however he did not sustain enough damage for the plan to succeed. Noda and the others accepted their inevitable demise as Godzilla coursed with power to unleash his atomic breath to kill them all. However, Shikishima flew his plane into Godzilla's mouth, ejecting just before it crashed and exploded the top of Godzilla's head and causing the accumulated atomic energy to burst from Godzilla's seemingly dead body, tearing his body to shreds and dispersing the clouds in the sky.
However, unknown to anyone, a surviving fragment of Godzilla's flesh began to regenerate as it sank into the depths of the ocean, foreshadowing his possible return. Furthermore, a black spot spreading on Noriko's neck, coupled with her surprisingly fast recovery from the Ginza blast, indicate that Godzilla's return may be in another form altogether.
Powers and Abilities[]
Dinosaurian Physiology: Godzilla was once a theropod dinosaurian creature, which gave him incredible instincts, enhanced strength, speed, durability, and endurance. This also made him a fierce animal as many of Odo Island's soldiers stared in shock at the monster upon arrival on the island.
- Large Size: Godzilla was about 15 meters in height prior to his mutation in 1946.
- Enhanced Strength: Godzilla was stronger than an average human, as he was able to stomp on a human and destroy a watchtower by simply ramming into it. He was also able to destroy a plane with pure force alone.
- Enhanced Speed: Godzilla seemed to be faster than a normal human, as shown that he ran to catch up to one of the soldiers on Odo Island. His speed calculation in mph and km/h is a complete mystery, but some sources claim that he has a speed of 20 mph (32 km/h). Compared to Shin Godzilla who went up to a speed of 13 km/h
- Enhanced Durability: Godzilla's hide was strong enough to withstand firearms, showing that when being shot, he displayed immense aggression and annoyance. However, his hide does have scars, indicating that some party managed to hurt him in the past one way or another.
- Enhanced Endurance: Godzilla was shown to have remarkable endurance, as he was able to endure bullets from firearms.
- Amphibiousness: Godzilla, even before mutation, is a deep-sea marine reptile, capable of staying in water for indefinite amounts of time without getting air.
- Swimming Skills: Godzilla is an extremely skilled swimmer as he can effortlessly swim after a speeding boat.
- Intimidation: Godzilla is extremely intimidating, and it appears to be intentional.
Kaiju Physiology: The Atomic Bomb made Godzilla far more powerful than he was before, making him a much bigger monster. This also augmented his physical attributes to numerous monstrously immense levels, this resulted in unbearable levels of physical strength, speed, durability, agility, reflexes, stamina, and endurance. This not only made Godzilla more intimidating, but made him both an overwhelming force and an unbearable powerhouse.
- Gigantic Size: Thanks to the Atomic Bomb, Godzilla is much more bigger than he when he was first encountered on Odo Island. He is about 50.1 meters in height.
- Immense Strength: Godzilla's natural strength augmented to immensely monstrous levels, thanks to the atomic bomb. With this level of strength, he is capable of tearing down numerous warships with only his bare hands, an example of this is when Godzilla grabbed onto the Takao cruiser and punch into it. He is also strong enough to tear through structures such as buildings, this example is when he tore apart a theater by ramming into it and knocking over numerous buildings by swinging his tail. He can also throw trains and heavy objects with his hands alone. According to Mr. Noda, it is estimated that Godzilla weighs 20,000 tons (20,000,000 kilograms), which means that Godzilla can lift even the heaviest of any warships.
- Immense Bite Force: Godzilla is shown to have incredible jaw force, he can lift a train after biting down on it.
- Immense Durability and Invulnerability: After his mutation, Godzilla's physical durability increased significantly. He is able to withstand anything that hits him such as bullets, explosives and artillery cannons, showing that even the toughest of weapons cannot harm him. He can also withstand his atomic breath, despite it burning his face. Not even Takao's artillery was able to harm Godzilla, proving how invulnerable Godzilla's body can be, although, the Takao's artillery did push back Godzilla, and even hurt him at point-blank range.
- Immense Agility: Godzilla surprisingly can turn rather quickly and nearly catch Koichi's prop aircraft by simply trying to bite it or catching it with his tail.
- Immense Stamina: Godzilla never appears to be tired or exhausted due to the fact that he has unlimited stamina.
- Immense Endurance: Godzilla has immense endurance, as shown that he can endure other attacks that hit him.
- Immense Reflexes: Godzilla is capable of reacting quickly to what occurs around him, as he is shown to react to Koichi's jet movements approaching his exact location.
- Enhanced Senses: Godzilla is granted with unique senses, allowing him to easily track down US vessels and the like. It is possible that he tracked them down by simply smelling them, implying that Godzilla has great smell and hearing.
- High Intelligence: Godzilla demonstrated some moments where he is capable of being amazingly intelligent, such as decimating the Japanese cruiser Takao with his atomic breath after he was shot at point-blank range, swinging his tail to cut through buildings and killing many humans after realizing his slow mobility, and even firing his atomic breath at all over Ginza after being slightly injured by a group of Chi-To tanks.
- Immense Strength: Godzilla's natural strength augmented to immensely monstrous levels, thanks to the atomic bomb. With this level of strength, he is capable of tearing down numerous warships with only his bare hands, an example of this is when Godzilla grabbed onto the Takao cruiser and punch into it. He is also strong enough to tear through structures such as buildings, this example is when he tore apart a theater by ramming into it and knocking over numerous buildings by swinging his tail. He can also throw trains and heavy objects with his hands alone. According to Mr. Noda, it is estimated that Godzilla weighs 20,000 tons (20,000,000 kilograms), which means that Godzilla can lift even the heaviest of any warships.
- Atomic Energy: Godzilla's body has numerous atomic atoms that he can stockpile, to the point where he can generate and produce it into a deadly weapon.
- Atomic Breath: Godzilla's most powerful weapon is his atomic breath or heat ray, a large, powerful, blue-colored beam of atomic energy that he shoots out of his mouth. Before using the attack, Godzilla's dorsal plates jut out from his body and emit a blue glow one-by-one, starting from the tip of his tail up his back. Glowing blue ionized radiation leaks from his mouth as his eyes and neck glow. The plates then all retract back into his body as he fires the heat ray from his mouth. The beam generates an extremely powerful explosion upon striking its target, powerful enough to destroy an entire city, as well as creating a mushroom cloud and crater and generating incredibly powerful shockwaves that level anything around the blast such as buildings. The beam is extremely powerful that it leaves Godzilla's face burned due to the intense heat and radiation it gives, which means he has to regenerate before using it again.
- Contamination: After Godzilla destroyed Ginza, authorities quarantined the area due to lingering radioactive contamination he left and to recover pieces of his flesh which are composed of unknown material. Noriko is shown to have developed a veiny pattern resembling Godzilla's dorsal fin on her neck when reunited with Shikishima at the hospital, presumably a form of infection caused by exposure to Godzilla. Hinting that Noriko may have Godzilla's DNA after the destruction of Ginza.
- Pain Tolerance: Because of his immense durability and invulnerability, Godzilla is shown to not feel any sort of pain from anything that hits his body. Showing that he can block out any sort of physical pain, with the exception of his beam and the inside of his mouth (as the inside of his mouth is more vulnerable than his body).
- Regeneration: Godzilla's body can instantly regenerate tissue, muscle, skin, bones, and flesh. This was shown when Godzilla's face was badly wounded by one of the water-mine's dumped by Koichi and his friends, which regenerated instantly but left a permanent scar on his face. According to the novelization, Godzilla had this power before his mutation, he was nearly killed by the detonation of the bomb that caused his mutation, but he managed to survive and regenerate his body, although it spiraled out of control. This means that the atomic bomb increased the strength of his regeneration, seeing as Godzilla’s flesh chunks begin to regenerate even after his defeat.
Weaknesses[]
- Deep Sea Pressure: When Godzilla is rapidly rising to the surface at depth of 1,500 meters, his body begins to bloat up and his skin begins to tear, exposing his flesh, this also makes him have trouble using his atomic breath as it begins to overcharge itself, putting Godzilla's life on risk.
- Internal Insides: Godzilla's insides are susceptible to damage and his regeneration can't fully heal them, as shown when the right side of Godzilla's face was destroyed by him swallowing a mine, it regenerated into a scar that was present throughout the rest of the film.
- Blind Fury: Ironically, for all his strength, Godzilla is prone to becoming overcome by his own rage, entering into a state of tunnel vision where he fixates on a single target, even if this means putting himself in a vulnerable position. Having witnessed this when Godzilla abandoned his pursuit of the Shinseimaru to focus on attacking Takao, the crew of the minesweeper - including Kenji Noda and Koichi Shikishima - used this against him during Operation Wada Tsumi, distracting Godzilla for long enough for the plan to be put into motion.
Trivia[]
- At 50.1 meters tall, this Godzilla's primary form is the second shortest of any incarnation on film, standing only 0.1 meters taller than his Showa counterpart and Godzilla Filius.
- Just like the Heisei incarnation, this version of Godzilla began life as a dinosaur-like creature. Though it is unknown if the name of his prior-mutated form was also called Godzillasaurus, despite fans calling Godzilla’s prior-mutated form the so-called name.
- Unlike those of his previous iterations, this Godzilla's atomic breath deals small amounts of damage to his skin when used.
- Like the GMK Godzilla, this Godzilla intentionally destroys cities and tramples humans fleeing, his atomic breath creates a mushroom cloud in one scene, he is defeated by a single-pilot vehicle as he attempts to fire his atomic breath, and a small piece of him is revealed to have survived in the film's final scene, plus, they both can also be able move their Dorsal Plates, In addition, when this Godzilla suffers decompression damage, his damaged eyes turn pure white like the eyes of the GMK Godzilla, it is also noted of how they both got defeated by vehicles entering their body before they got to use their Atomic Breath one final time, (Shikishima flew the Shinden Plane at Minus One Godzilla’s mouth, blowing up his head before he could fire at the Ships, and Taizo using the Tatsuma Sub to drill out of GMK Godzilla, causing him to explode when attempting to use the Atomic Breath at him), also, at ending of their films, it shows a piece of their flesh still remains fully living (Minus One with his flesh regenerating sinking in the Bay, and GMK Godzilla’s Heart beating at the bottom of the ocean).
- This Godzilla uses an enhanced and amplified roar of the original Godzilla, being the original roar of Godzilla blasted from a loudspeaker before being re-recorded.
- Godzilla's themes in the movie utilize snippets from the themes of other movies in the franchise combined with Godzilla's classic theme song. Suite I, which plays during the attack on Ginza, is a rearrangement of the main theme for the 1964 movie Mothra vs, Godzilla, while Suite II, which plays during Operation Wada Tsumi, contains a portion of the theme from 1962's King Kong vs. Godzilla.
- According to the movie’s director, Takashi Yamazaki, Godzilla’s behaviors such as fixating on planes and swishing his tail into buildings were inspired by his cat, with his wife noting its behavioural similarities to their pet upon watching a screening of the movie.
- In the film's novelization which can be read here (Note: The translations are made by Google translate and are thus bound to have errors).
- Godzilla and the inhabitants of Odo Island originally had a symbiotic relationship with one another; the latter would appease him with gifts in exchange for the kaiju providing them deep-sea fishes he herded to the surface.
- Godzilla spotted Shikishima in his aircraft, yet chose not to kill him since he wasn't attacking him. Whether Godzilla let him go because it thought Shikishima was being kind, or was rewarding him for respecting the food chain is unclear.
- Godzilla's regeneration did not just exist in his post-mutated form but also in his pre-mutated form as well but when he was caught in front of the atomic bomb testing, it not only caused his healing factor to spiral out of control but also changed and deformed him in the process. The film hints at this through his ability to shrug off gunshots from Tachibana's men without visibly bleeding.
- The aforementioned forced evolution due to atomic bomb testing could be the reason behind his worse temper and vengeful side, as it understandably traumatized and embittered him.
- The explosion resulted from Godzilla's atomic breath destroying all of Tokyo for a radius of 6 kilometers upon being used as demonstrated during his attack at Ginza.
External Links[]
- Godzilla on Wikizilla
- Godzilla on the Godzilla Wiki
