Godzilla

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This article is about the character itself. For the movie series, see Godzilla (film series).
For other uses, see Godzilla (disambiguation).
Toho character
File:GODZILLA.jpg
Godzilla
Species Mutant Godzillasaurus
Alias Gojira
King of the Monsters
Gigantis the Fire Monster
Form(s) Godzillasaurus (unmutated form)
Super Godzilla (as seen in Super Godzilla)
Burning Godzilla (as seen in Godzilla vs Destoroyah)
Height 50[1]-100[2] meters
Weight 20,000[3]-60,000[4] tons
Origins Pacific Proving Grounds
Relationships Minilla (Son in Shōwa series)
Godzilla Junior (Son in Heisei series)
Biollante & SpaceGodzilla (Clones in Heisei series)
Orga (Clone in Millennium series)
Mechagodzilla (Robotic Replica)
Major enemies King Ghidorah
Gigan
MechaGodzilla
Destoroyah
Allies Rodan
Mothra
Anguirus
Jet Jaguar
King Caesar
Minilla
Zone Fighter
Godzilla Junior
Moguera
First appearance Gojira
Created by Tomoyuki Tanaka
Portrayed by: Shōwa series
Haruo Nakajima
Katsumi Tezuka
Shinji Takagi
Isao Zushi
Toru Kawai
Heisei series
Kenpachiro Satsuma
Millennium series
Makoto Itô
Mizuho Yoshida

Godzilla (ゴジラ, Gojira) is a fictional monster featured in Japanese films and has become one of the world's most recognized movie characters. He was first seen in the 1954 film Gojira, produced by Toho Film Company Ltd. To date, Toho has produced 28 Godzilla films. In 1998, TriStar Pictures produced a remake, set in New York City. The Film's name was simply "Godzilla" and the monster (also known as Zilla) was more of an oversized, agile T-Rex than a giant, upright-walking monster. Godzilla is a gigantic mutant dinosaur, transformed from the fallout of a hydrogen bomb test. As the Godzilla series continued, the great beast was developed as a character, and has become something of an anti-hero.

Godzilla is one of the defining aspects of Japanese popular culture for many people worldwide. Though his popularity has waned slightly over the years, he is still one of the most renowned monster characters in the world. To this day, Godzilla remains an important facet of Japanese films, embodying the kaiju subset of the tokusatsu genre. Godzilla has been called a filmographic metaphor for the United States. The earliest Godzilla films, especially the original Gojira, attempted to portray Godzilla as a frightening, nuclear monster. Godzilla represented the fears of many Japanese of a repeat of the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.[5] As the series progressed, so did Godzilla himself, changing into a less destructive and more heroic character as the films became increasingly geared towards children. Today, the character has fallen somewhere in the middle, sometimes portrayed as a protector of the Earth (notably Tokyo) from external threats and other times as a bringer of destruction.

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 grey scales, a long powerful tail, and bone colored dorsal fins shaped like maple leaves. His origins vary somewhat from film to film, but he is almost always described as a prehistoric creature, 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 a Tyrannosaurus, the long arms of an Iguanodon, and the dorsal fins of a Stegosaurus.

Godzilla remains an enduring fictional character beloved by fans worldwide, and is among the few fictional characters granted a Lifetime Achievement Award when he was awarded one by MTV in 1996, becoming the second fictional character (and the first non-human) to have received it. The character was also recently awarded with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Name

The name "Godzilla" is a transliteration of Gojira (ゴジラ), a combination of two Japanese words: gorira (ゴリラ, lit. "gorilla") and kujira (鯨, lit. "whale"). At one planning stage, the concept of "Gojira" was described as "a cross between a gorilla and a whale". The word alludes to the size, power and aquatic origin of Godzilla. A popular story is that "Gojira" was actually the nickname of a hulking stagehand at Toho Studio.[6] The story has not been verified, however, because in the more than 50 years since the film's original release, no one claiming to be the employee has ever stepped forward, and no photographs of him have ever surfaced.

File:Godzilla （01）.jpg
A statue of Godzilla, located near the Toho Pictures Building in Ginza, Japan.

Since Godzilla is neither a gorilla nor a whale, the name had to be devised in a different way for the film's story; Godzilla's name was originally spelled in kanji (呉爾羅) by the Oto Island people—however, Toho chose these characters for sound only; the combined characters mean "give you net". This has been referenced countless times in Japanese books on Godzilla.[citation needed]

There is disagreement as to exactly how the creature's name should be pronounced. Purists tend to say that the Japanese pronunciation [godʲʑira] listenⓘ is correct, while others favor [gɑd'zɪlə] (with the first syllable pronounced like the word "god", and the rest rhyming with "chinchilla"), an anglicized pronunciation based on its English spelling. Back in the 1950s when Godzilla was created—and Japanese-to-English transliteration was less sophisticated—it is likely that the kana representing the second syllable was misinterpreted as being pronounced [dzi].[citation needed] Had the more conventional Hepburn romanization system been used, Godzilla's name would instead have been rendered as "Gojira".

1954 film

The original Godzilla in Godzilla or Godzilla, King of the Monsters! was a prehistoric monster 50 meters tall and weighing 20,000 metric tons that was disturbed by American Hydrogen bomb testing in the Pacific Ocean. After attacking Tokyo, destroying much of the city and killing tens of thousands, Godzilla was defeated when the scientist Dr. Daisuke Serizawa (Akihiko Hirata) committed suicide out of shame and guilt after activating an experimental weapon, the Oxygen Destroyer, which completely dissolved Godzilla. It was stated at the end of the film that it was doubtful that there was only one creature, alluding not only to the many incarnations of Godzilla that would later appear but also to all the other kaiju monsters that would be featured in movies produced by Toho.

The following series would use the events of the first movie as part of their narrative but would occur in their own continuity separate from each other.

1956 American version

When first released in wide distribution in the U.S., its footage was reworked and supplemented with new footage featuring Raymond Burr as "Steve Martin" for general commercial release as Godzilla, King of the Monsters! in 1956, and the giant monster would be known outside Japan by the name "Godzilla" ever after. In 1957, the American version worked its way back to Japan, where the Godzilla name also took root. This American version was the only version represented on North American home video until the release of the Gojira DVD in September 2006, which contains both the unedited Japanese theatrical version and the reworked U.S. version).

The Americanized Godzilla, King of the Monsters! was honored with a plaque on its 50th anniversary at the former location of Visual Drama, where Raymond Burr's insert scenes were filmed by director Terry Morse. The location is now the Frank del Olmo Elementary School (named after the late Los Angeles Times columnist). The plaque is at the main entrance at 100 N. New Hampshire Ave., Los Angeles.

Shōwa series (1955–1975)

File:Godzilla Evolution.jpg
Godzilla's appearance gradually changed throughout the early-1960s and mid-1970s. From top-left to bottom-right, Top left King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962), Top right Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (1966), Bottom left Godzilla's Revenge (1969), and Bottom right Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974)

As alluded to at the end of the original movie, Godzilla again surfaced at first as a menace in Godzilla Raids Again (shown in the U.S.A. as Gigantis, The Fire Monster, In which Godzilla is referred to as Gigantis and Anguirus as Angurous or Angurousaurus). Setting the tone for future Showa-series films, Godzilla's fate is uncertain at the end. His next film was 1962's King Kong vs Godzilla. The menacing ego of Godzilla's final film in the Showa series was 1964's Godzilla vs. The Thing (that being the original American release title, but since known by the Japanese and international title, Mothra vs. Godzilla). Starting with Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster, Godzilla took on the "good guy" persona he would wear for the remainder of the series. He would team up with Mothra, Rodan, and Anguirus along with other monsters to battle a variety of foes both mundane (Ebirah, Kumonga, and Kamacuras) and bizarre (Hedorah, Gigan, and Megalon). He even gained a son in the form of Minilla. The series ended with Terror of Mechagodzilla in 1975. The final scene depicted Godzilla wading off into the sea, not to be seen until his return in the VS series ten years later. It is notable, however, that the earlier-released film Destroy All Monsters took place in 1999, twenty-four years after Terror of Mechagodzilla. The series could also be said to truly end with Destroy All Monsters's ending, which depicted all of Earth's monsters living out the rest of their days in peace on Monster Island. This "jump" of dates also explains how King Ghidorah appeared in movies such as Godzilla vs. Gigan after he was killed in the earlier film.

The Toho sentai series Zone Fighter is notable in that it features Toho Kaiju from the films, such as Gigan, King Ghidorah and Godzilla himself. Produced during the 70s, Toho has gone on record stating that the events depicted in the Zone Fighter television series are part of the Showa era, taking place between Godzilla vs. Megalon and Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla.

VS, 90s or Heisei series (1984-1995)

The VS series is in the era known as the Heisei Period wherein, when not only does Godzilla return after more than a decade's absence, but marks a transition between the reign of the Showa Emperor Hirohito to that of his son Akihito, now dubbed the Heisei Emperor.

In The Return of Godzilla, the famous monster is re-invented to be taller and more powerful, at 80 meters tall and 50,000 metric tons. Return of Godzilla ignores all previous films in the series aside from the original. Godzilla vs King Ghidorah explains that this second Godzilla is the product of a botched time travelling mission by a group of terrorists from the 23rd century known as Futurians. Under the guise of wanting to save Japan from Godzilla's devastation, the Futurians travel back to 1944 and transport an injured Godzillasaurus residing on Lagos Island to the Bering Sea, thus preventing its exposure to the A-bombs. The Godzillasaurus lies dormant in the Bering Sea till the late 1970s, where it is exposed to radiation after a nuclear submarine accidentally detonates in the dinosaurs vicinity. Hungry for nuclear energy, the new Godzilla attacks a Soviet nuclear submarine before turning towards Japan as its predecessor in 1954 did, attacking the nation's nuclear power plants. After his battle with the Super X, Professor Hayashida lures Godzilla to Mount Mihara, where he is dropped into the lava below. There he enters a state of dormancy.

During his slumber, Japan develops an underfunded agency, designed to track any and all of Godzilla's future sightings in Japan. Japanese corporations develop Anti-Nuclear Energy Bacteria (ANEB) in order to protect the country from nuclear accidents or attacks.

File:Godzilla.jpg
Godzilla , as portrayed during the late Heisei era. (Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla, 1994)

Reawakened by explosions detonated during a failed terrorist ransoming, Godzilla heads for Lake Ashino where he does battle with Biollante in Godzilla vs. Biollante, the hybrid monster of Godzilla’s own DNA and the cells of a rose that bonded with the soul of a scientist's daughter. After their first battle, a new Super X-2 confronts Godzilla and distracts the monster so soldiers can administer the ANEB through rocket-propelled grenades. Super X-2 is badly damaged during the battle, unable to further engage Godzilla. In an attempt to activate the ANEB, Godzilla is lured to a site with experimental lightning generators intended to increase Godzilla's core temperature so the bacteria can function properly. At the site, a new form of Biollante arrives and besieges the weakening Godzilla. The ANEB takes effect and forces the battle to a draw. Biollante is mortally wounded and Godzilla falls into the ocean, where he is believed to die from the ANEB. However, the cold waters of the Pacific lower Godzilla’s body temperature, retarding the effects of the ANEB and allow Godzilla to live on. In his weakened state, Godzilla swims back to the area of his origin, the Bering Sea.

In Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, it is discovered that the time-travellers responsible for Godzilla's creation had, during the Godzillasaur's transportation, left in its place their own creation — three tiny Dorats, which are harmless pets of the Futurians — to allow them to undergo Godzilla’s nuclear transformation instead, mutating and combining them into a three-headed golden abomination, King Ghidorah. Unfortunately, they are unaware that the Godzilla they had planned to erase was not, as they assumed, the one which originally attacked Tokyo in 1954.

The Futurians trick several scientists into aiding them on a false time-traveling mission under the pretense of preventing Godzilla's transformation on Lagos Island. In efforts to stop the Futurians' monster that is instead created, an extremely wealthy corporate developer, who previously fought on the island as a Japanese soldier, plans to send a nuclear submarine into the Bering Sea in an attempt to create the second Godzilla. Instead of finding the Godzillasaurus, the submarine would come face to face with Godzilla himself, still recovering from the ANEB. The Futurians’ ignorance of the past leads them to create the second Godzilla in the first place rather than removing him from history. Godzilla absorbs the power of the nuclear sub, purging his system of the ANEB and increasing his size further, becoming powerful enough to defeat King Ghidorah. Godzilla proceeds to attack Japan itself, but is stopped when Emmy, one of the Futurians who had turned on her fellows, resurrects Ghidorah as a cyborg in the future and returns to the past to battle Godzilla with the new Mecha-King Ghidorah. The two battle in Tokyo, with both falling into the sea, but Godzilla is still alive and reawakens using his atomic ray underwater at the movie's conclusion.

These films show mankind's efforts to defeat Godzilla while also being challenged by other monsters such as Mothra, Rodan, and SpaceGodzilla. This series features a specialized organization of monster-combating soldiers and engineers called G-Force. Several of the ways G-Force plan to stop Godzilla include the construction of two "mecha-kaiju", MechaGodzilla (who would battle both Godzilla and Rodan) and M.O.G.U.E.R.A, also called Moguera (vs. SpaceGodzilla). Like in the previous series, Godzilla eventually adopts a "son" that is discovered by scientists in Rodan's nest, this time simply called "Baby Godzilla", "Little Godzilla," and "Godzilla Jr.," simply referred to as "Junior." It is never stated that Godzilla birthed (asexually) the monster itself, or even made clear whether Godzilla has any knowledge of the creature's existence before it is born. Both Rodan and Godzilla have a natural drive to want to be close to the monster, much to the tactical benefit of G-Force.

Ultimately, this Godzilla meets his end in the finale of the versus series, Godzilla vs. Destoroyah. Everything comes full circle when Godzilla is faced with a monster, Destoroyah, created by the Oxygen Destroyer, which was used to kill the first Godzilla in 1954. Godzilla's end comes when his internal radiation becomes too intense for his body to control, and he finally succumbs to a total nuclear meltdown. This is not the end of Godzilla's legacy, however; the previously wounded Godzilla Jr. (who is killed by Destroyah earlier) absorbs all of the radiation from Godzilla's meltdown and fully matures into an adult Godzilla.

Shinsei or Millennium series (1999–2004)

The Millennium series is unique because rather than creating a single continuity that all the films would follow, the series would instead comprise a number of discrete narratives, each using only the original Godzilla film as a backdrop. It is often called the "Shinsei" (新生) series by Western fans (meaning "rebirth") however the name is not recognized by Toho. In Japan, rather, many call it the "X" series, due to the Japanese titles containing "X" instead of "Vs".

Godzilla 2000: Millennium

As a direct sequel of the original movie, the Godzilla, 55 meters tall and 25,000 metric tons, depicted in Godzilla 2000: Millennium is not related to any other Godzilla films seen previously, or to those to come. It is unclear whether this Godzilla is the same as the original, but what is known is that he has been attacking and feeding off of Japan’s energy plants for some time. On Godzilla’s latest rampage an alien is found which attacks Godzilla and steals his Organizer G-1 (Regenerator G-1 in U.S. movie) in order to adapt to Earth’s atmosphere and becomes the monster Orga. The two monsters battle and Godzilla prevails by destroying his foe as it attempts to swallow him whole.

Godzilla vs. Megaguirus

File:Millenium Godzilla.jpg
Godzilla, as portrayed during the early Millennium series. (Godzilla vs. Megaguirus, 2000)

Though Godzilla looks nearly the same in this film as he did in Godzilla 2000: Millennium, this movie takes place in a separate continuity from the previous film. The Godzilla in Godzilla vs. Megaguirus attacked Tokyo in 1954, the Tokaimura Power Plant in 1966, and Osaka in 1996. In 2000, Godzilla would be the first to encounter the Meganula threat. However, shortly after this, Godzilla would be lured to Kiganjima Island where he would fall victim to a top secret weapon, the Dimension Tide. The attack would be interrupted by the Meganura allowing Godzilla to battle their queen, Megaguirus in battle. After Godzilla's victory he would fall victim once again to the Dimension Tide and be buried deep underneath the city. Shortly after the credits, however, the main character (a child) goes to the window and hears Godzilla's famed roar.

Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack

File:Godzilla GMK.jpg
Godzilla, as depicted during Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001).

Again disregarding the continuity of previous films of the millennium series, the Godzilla in Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack is confirmed to be the original monster (because of the American's mistake of misconfirming Zilla as the true Godzilla). Godzilla is depicted as a demonic beast possessed by the souls of those who died in the Pacific in World War II. This film returns Godzilla to his roots of being a genuinely malevolent being who deliberately seeks to punish Japan for the sins of WWII. Godzilla would do battle with the Yamato beasts Baragon, Mothra, and King Ghidorah but would be nearly destroyed by the actions of General Tachibana, who piloted a submersible down Godzilla's throat and out through a wound in his neck. The next two times Godzilla attempted to use his atomic breath it shot out of his wound, and eventually tore him apart from the inside. At the bottom of Tokyo Bay the monster's heart lived on, continuing to beat.

Godzilla Against MechaGodzilla and Tokyo S.O.S.

For the first time in the Millennium Series, a specific Godzilla would appear in a series of two movies, Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla and Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.. As predicted at the end of the original film, a second Godzilla emerges in the middle of a typhoon in 1999, but would be driven away. In his attack on Tokyo, he was temporarily defeated by the new Mechagodzilla. Godzilla reappeared in 2003 where it would take the combined efforts of Kiryu, Mothra and her larva to bring him down.

Godzilla: Final Wars

The Godzilla from Godzilla: Final Wars is the last Godzilla film as of 2004; Toho has decided to retire the franchise for a period of 5-10 years to renew interest in the future, possibly returning with a new film in 2014 or 2013 as Godzilla's 60th Anniversary.

Decades before the main story starts, an older past Godzilla was buried in ice at the South Pole by the Earth Defense Force’s aerial battle ship Gotengo. When the Xilians, an alien race, used many of Earth's own monsters in attempts to conquer it, the EDF would have to be forced to free Godzilla from the ice to fight for mankind. This Godzilla was lured towards the Xilians' mothership in Tokyo while he fought the Xilians' monsters along the way, defeating/destroying each one in his path including Gigan, Zilla, Kumonga, Kamacuras, Rodan, King Caesar, Anguirus (which along with Rodan and King Caesar is ironically spared because of them being fan favorites and being Godzilla's closest allies (except King Caesar) that Toho didn't have it in the budget to destroy the costumes as originally planned), Ebirah and Hedorah.

He at last arrived in Tokyo just in time for an asteroid to enter Earth's atmosphere. Godzilla attempted to stop it by exhaling his atomic breath on it, causing it to explode and releasing the real threat, Monster X. Mothra came to aid Godzilla while the Xilians summoned the revived and rebuilt Gigan. Mothra was quickly dispatched by Gigan, who then joined Monster X to double team Godzilla. Mothra recovers and attacks both Monster X and Gigan, turning the tide of battle. Gigan resumes his battle with Mothra, when Gigan used it's laser vision beam, turning Mothra to Fire Mothra, and both Kaiju are destroyed in a Kamikaze attack by the lepidopteran deity, while Monster X transformed into a new form, Kaiser Ghidorah. He nearly would have killed Godzilla if it weren't for the superhuman Ozaki transferring his mutant powers (when you watch you see an infinity sign on the Gotengo's screen) into Godzilla, restoring his strength and empowering him enough to use his greatest weapon-his spiral ray and destroy Kaiser Ghidorah. Turning his attention back on his old enemies, Godzilla shot down the Gotengo and was prepared to finish its crew off if Godzilla's infant son, Minilla, had not intervened, pleading Godzilla to stop. Both tired from his past battles and moved by Minilla's courage to stand up to him, Godzilla returns to the ocean with his son. But not with out Minilla finally using his atomic ray on his own.

Powers and abilities

Over the years Godzilla has possessed many powers and abilities to use against his foes. Godzilla is generally considered to be the most powerful kaiju.

Atomic Breath/Ray

File:Atomic Breath.jpg
Godzilla unleashes his atomic breath. (Godzilla: Final Wars, 2004)

Godzilla's signature weapon is his distinctive atomic breath. Godzilla's back spikes 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.

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), 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 and Godzilla vs. Megaguirus, it is a reddish orange to signify an increased level of power.

In Godzilla GMK, the ray had the explosive power of a nuclear bomb, 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. In a memorable (and somewhat infamous) scene in Godzilla vs. Hedorah, Godzilla even used his atomic breath to fly by aiming it at the ground and lifting off like a rocket.

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 Ghidorah. The spiral ray returned in Godzilla: Final Wars, where it was strong enough to push Kaiser Ghidorah into the atmosphere, destroying him in an explosion visible from the surface of the earth.

Nuclear pulse and magnetic powers

In addition to his 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, although many consider the climactic scene in Godzilla 2000 to be a use of Godzilla's nuclear pulse. Also, Godzilla used his nuclear pulse against Mothra in the movie, Godzilla vs. Mothra Battle for Earth.

In the 1974 movie, 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.

In the 1993 Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, Godzilla demonstrated another ability that may have been a variant of his nuclear pulse. After being struck with Mechagodzilla's Shock Anchor harpoons, Godzilla discharged a form of energy up the cables, severely damaging the robot's internal mechanisms. Again, this was the only time Godzilla ever used this ability.

Durability

File:Regenerator G1.jpg
Regenerator G1, the secret to Godzilla's awesome durability. (Godzilla 2000: Millennium, 1999)

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. He has even survived being in ground zero of asteroid impacts. In one instance Godzilla escapes unscathed from the space and time warping abilities of a singularity. Since realistically, nothing would survive, much less escape a singularity, this would suggest that Godzilla's power is practically limitless. The only times his flesh has been visibly pierced were in battle with the Super X, Shōwa Gigan, Biollante, Destoroyah, and from Mechagodzilla's weapons in the Shōwa, Heisei and Millennium series. Godzilla's blood, in the showa series, is red. However, in the heisei series (except for Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II) his blood is green. In the Millennium films his blood goes back to red.

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, 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 ANEB. This healing factor would be inherited by all creatures spawned from Godzillas DNA, those being Biollante, SpaceGodzilla and Orga.

Physical abilities

File:Ghidorah Toss.jpg
Godzilla displays his formidable physical strength by throwing his arch-enemy, King Ghidorah over his head in (Godzilla vs. Gigan, 1972)

Godzilla has displayed varied levels of physical strength. He has been depicted lifting and throwing monsters in excess of his own weight, (such as King Ghidorah, Hedorah, Mechagodzilla and others), and in Godzilla: Final Wars was even able to throw Kumonga clear over the horizon.

He is shown using martial arts in a comical fashion during the Shōwa Series, or moving very quickly in spite of his size, such as in Zone Fighter. Godzilla has even demonstrated at least one judo technique, employing the single-arm throw against Ghidra in the film 'Godzilla versus Monster Zero'. In the millennium series he has also been able to leap high into the air.

Godzilla's long tail is also a formidable weapon. It has been shown to be very flexible and powerful, able to lash out quickly and topple over buildings and enemy monsters. In Godzilla vs. Megalon, he was able to slide on his tail a great distance to deliver a devastating kick, and in Godzilla vs. Megaguirus it was revealed to be prehensile as well. In all his incarnations he has been shown to have powerful jaws and sharp teeth and claws, although these are more prominent in some incarnations than in others. Godzilla also showed the ability to use his dorsal fins as a weapon in Godzilla vs. Megaguirus, when he uses their jagged tips to slice into Megaguirus' wrist.

However, many of the films show Godzilla preferring to battle his opponents from a distance, particularly in the Heisei series; either by using his atomic breath, or by hurling objects such as boulders.

Amphibiousness

Though not an amphibian, Godzilla has an amphibious lifestyle; he spends half of his life in water and the other on land to either wreak havoc or save the day. He is as adept a fighter underwater as he is on land. Capable of marching on the sea floor 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. 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.

Intelligence

The extent of Godzilla's intelligence varies throughout the character's history, but Godzilla is generally depicted as a thinking creature. The Showa incarnation in particular is depicted as being close in intelligence to a human, capable of abstract thought, and able to communicate with other monsters. Other versions of Godzilla display a simple animal cunning. Though the American-shot inserts from King Kong vs. Godzilla have little consistency with the timeline and rules of the Godzilla character in the Toho films, it may be worth mentioning that one of the American characters says that Godzilla has a brain about the size of a marble ("He's sheer brute force"); in comparison, the character states that Kong "Is a thinking animal." Again, this is largely inconsistent with Godzilla's character.

Weaknesses

Despite his incredible strength, Godzilla has displayed a few weaknesses over the years. In King Kong vs. Godzilla, he is shown to be incredibly "vulnerable" to electricity, shying away from even the smallest source; however, this is inconsistent with the resilience to electricity he displayed in the original Gojira (1954 film). Indeed, later films in the Showa series would portray Godzilla as being immune to electricity, or even drawing power from it. In The Return of Godzilla, Godzilla was shown to be vulnerable to cadmium. Anti-nuclear bacteria has had an effect on him, though Godzilla's immune system was eventually able to overcome it. Later on, Godzilla is revealed to have a second brain in his spine, and Mechagodzilla was able to kill him by destroying it; however, he was revived by Rodan and further films seem to ignore this Achilles heel. It was also suggested by the character Yuki in Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla that Godzilla has a soft spot under each armpit. However, the validity of this claim was highly dubious and this weak point was never exploited.

To date, the only weapon ever shown to be truly effective against Godzilla was Dr. Serizawa's Oxygen Destroyer, which disintegrated the king of the monsters down to the bone, and then into nothing. The technology for this weapon was lost forever when Serizawa killed himself along with the original Godzilla, in order to keep it from being used ever again.

Animated series

Godzilla made his American series debut in the 1978 Hanna-Barbera Saturday morning show The Godzilla Power Hour, in which he gained a sidekick, Godzooky, described as his nephew. Godzilla cartoons were paired with cartoons featuring Jana of the Jungle. The series ran, both as part of the hour and with the Godzilla segments airing as a separate half-hour show, until 1981.

In the Hanna-Barbera cartoon, Godzilla's roar was not his trademark roar.

The second cartoon series, which aired on Fox Kids, was based off the events of the 1998 American movie. Godzilla: The Series featured a juvenile Godzilla from the 1998 American remake which had grown to full size. In a similar fashion to earlier animated works, Godzilla traveled around the world with a group of humans called H.E.A.T, including scientist Nick Tatopoulos, battling monsters. The offspring not only had the abilities and physical forms of his parent, but the creators of the show gave him even more powers and attitude more resembling the Japanese Godzilla. There were even references to the Japanese Godzilla series.

Parodies and spoofs

Godzilla and his friends, foes and movies have parodies of them.

Godzilla in musical culture

  • Lemon Demon makes reference to Godzilla in the song "The Ultimate Showdown" as a warrior in the eponymous conflict.
  • The Creatures' 2003 album Hai! contains a song entitled "Godzilla," which was released as a single with multiple mixes.

Video Games

File:King vs. king.jpg
Godzilla fighting Mecha-King Ghidorah in Godzilla: Save the Earth.

There have been many video games based on Godzilla over the years. These include:

File:Gojira and Kiryu.jpg
Godzilla and Kiryu in Godzilla Unleashed.

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ http://www.tohokingdom.com/kaiju/godzilla54.htm
  2. ^ http://www.tohokingdom.com/kaiju/godzilla_heisei.htm#91
  3. ^ http://www.tohokingdom.com/kaiju/godzilla54.htm
  4. ^ http://www.tohokingdom.com/kaiju/godzilla_heisei.htm#91
  5. ^ [1] The Monster That Morphed Into a Metaphor, By TERRENCE RAFFERTY, May 2, 2004, NYTimes
  6. ^ [2] Gojira Media. Retrieved 2006-09-23

External links

Official

Information

Related

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