The Godzilla (ゴジラ Gojira) is a giant reptilian daikaiju created by Tomoyuki Tanaka, Eiji Tsuburaya and Ishirō Honda in 1954. His first appeared in the 2014 Warner Bros. and Legendary's MonsterVerse film Godzilla. He will appear in the sequel Godzilla: King of the Monsters before getting his long awaited rematch with Kong in the film Godzilla vs. Kong.
Background[]
Name[]
In this continuity, Godzilla gains his name from the Pacific Islanders, who refer to him as "Gojira". Most of the English-speaking characters eventually starts to call him Godzilla over the course of the film's events.
Appearance[]
This Godzilla's face is shaped very squarely, its neck is broad and appears to have shark-like gills. Its eyes are yellow, and its teeth are small and not nearly as straightly lined up as the previous Godzilla designs.
The nostrils of this Godzilla are more separate than previous Godzillas, with them being in opposite sides of the snout, making it more reptile-like instead of the more mammalian fashion of being close together in front of it. This Godzilla's head and neck seem to lean forward more so than any previous design. Its dorsal fins are smaller than the previous designs, but they still retain the core maple-leaf shape, although straighter and very sharp, somewhat like the 1999-2000 Godzillas and the 2002-2003 Godzillas,creating a more jagged look when rising from the water.
This Godzilla's claws are black, and its feet are wider and more pillar-like, resembling those of sauropods or elephants, with larger claws more than the other Godzilla designs do. Its skin is more reptile-like, with osteoderms similar to a crocodile and rougher than the other designs, and is a dark shade of grayish green. Its body and tail are very wide as well, making it look somewhat bulkier than other Godzilla designs. It also has a proportionally smaller head and longer tail.
Legendary has confirmed that the length of their Godzilla's tail is 550 feet and 4 inches long, his height is 355 feet, there are exactly 89 dorsal spines 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, loud enough to make an opponent go deaf.
Personality[]
In Godzilla, Godzilla's behavior seems to be that of a territorial animal. Ishiro Serizawa theorized that this Godzilla is the driving force to restore balance to nature whenever that balance is disrupted, suggesting that he essentially considers the entire Earth to be his territory.
However, unlike previous incarnations, he doesn't blatantly attack or plow through ships at sea simply because they're there. In fact, with larger ships like aircraft carriers, he simply dives down under them. Even when he was attacked by the military, he didn't noticeably react or fight back and simply continued to hunt the MUTOs, even when he was being followed in close proximity by four naval ships. As opposed to any sort of morality, it appears to be that he simply considers humans to be tiny and insignificant: he does not care about their general well-being but at the same time does not consider them worth destroying even though they (harmlessly) fire at him.
He also does not seem to intentionally cause destruction. Even when he destroyed the Golden Gate Bridge, it did not appear to be intentional, but rather just him reacting from being hit in the gills by missile fire. He shows little interest in humans, instead focusing his attention entirely on the MUTOs. After defeating both MUTOs, he leaves the humans alone without any more conflict.
Godzilla does however occasionally show signs of higher thought, as he is shown adapting his strategies to fight the MUTOs and even uses a sleight-of-hand tactic to trick the male MUTO into coming into attacking range to strike him to death with his tail. He also shows to have some degree of emotion, as he briefly looks Ford Brody in the eye when he collapses to his level.
Abilities[]
Roar[]
The Godzilla roar was revamped for the movie. According to Edwards, sound designer Erik Aadahl and fellow sound designer Ethan Van Der Ryn spent six months over the three-year production getting the roar right. Using microphones that could record sound inaudible to humans, the team found sounds to match the initial shriek and the finishing bellow of Godzilla's iconic roar.
The final version that was created was the 50th the team produced. The pair tested the roar on a back lot at Warner Bros., using a tour speaker array for The Rolling Stones, and estimated that it could be heard three miles away.
Amphibious Lifestyle[]
In Godzilla, Godzilla now possesses gills/amphibious lungs so he can stay underwater indefinitely, but he closes them when he's on land and uses his lungs. These gills appear to be his weak points, as Godzilla reacts aggressively whenever he is struck in the gills by artillery fire or strikes from the MUTO's claws.
Atomic Breath[]
As shown in Godzilla, Godzilla's atomic breath was more of a focused, fiery shaped energy beam that Godzilla spews out. Godzilla only used it against the MUTO 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. Though it doesn't appear to have the same destructive properties as the versions prior, the blasts were strong enough to push back, severely weaken, and eventually kill, the female MUTO, showing that while it may not have the destructive force of its predecessors, this version of Godzilla's atomic breath is still incredibly deadly in its own right.
It is, however, entirely possible that Godzilla never used his atomic breath at its full power, seeing as the glow from his dorsal spikes was very faint. This is also seeing as how Godzilla was already extremely weakened in battle and had used up a lot of energy when he began using it, while the film's official novelization and an earlier screenplay suggest that the female MUTO's EMP field interferes with his atomic breath, so whether or not it's capable of more is unknown at this point. The neon-blue glow on Godzilla's dorsal plates begins at the tail and goes all the way to the top of his neck in this film, and to let the audience know when he was going to fire it, it makes an electric humming sound.
In the prequel comic Godzilla: Awakening, his breath is far more intense and beam-like in appearance, implying that his breath is not at full power in the film and can be even stronger when he is in better condition.
Durability, Healing Factors and Stamina[]
In Godzilla, Godzilla was stated to have survived exposure to the nuclear tests carried out in the South Pacific in the 1950s, even appearing to have withstood the detonation of Castle Bravo, a 15-megaton hydrogen bomb, at Bikini Atoll while directly next to the bomb. A testament to his durability is his survival of the extinction of the Dinosaurs that happened millions of years before his encounters with humanity.
Additionally, like his previous incarnations, Godzilla showed no outwards signs of damage from any weaponry used by the United States Armed Forces, including heavy gunfire, missiles, tank shells, and various other weapons. In fact, Godzilla seemed to not even notice most of these attacks, only flinching slightly at artillery fire striking him at point-blank range and briefly showing visible pain after being struck directly in his gills. Godzilla was also pinned underneath a skyscraper that collapsed on him while he paused to catch his breath, but it did not keep him subdued for long as he quickly got back to his feet to continue pursuing his enemy.
While the MUTO fought Godzilla to the point of exhaustion, he managed to get back to his feet and return to the ocean in a matter of hours, showing no physical fatigue or injury. This could be a testament to Godzilla's durability, showing that he was either simply exhausted, or because of his healing factor that allowed him to recover from any wounds he sustained by sunrise. It is also possible that he absorbed the energy from the warhead that detonated offshore, both reviving him to full strength and preventing the West Coast from being doused by nuclear radiation.
Godzilla is shown to be able to travel for thousands miles for a long period of time to track down his enemies, and he does not show any signs of exhaustion when he reaches his destination to prepare himself for battle.
Energy Absorption, Projection, and Longevity[]
In Godzilla, Godzilla still feeds on nuclear radiation, and is able to sustain himself for millions of years at a time by absorbing geothermal radiation from the Earth's core.
Intelligence[]
While fighting the MUTO during the events of Godzilla, Godzilla figures out their strengths and weaknesses through repeated clashes with them. He lets the male MUTO fly to attack him, and he then used his tail to slam him into a building, killing him. With the female MUTO, he fired his atomic breath right into her mouth after forcing it open, making her neck explode, and decapitating her.
Senses[]
Godzilla has a very strong sense of smell or hearing in order to track down the MUTO's locations from the ocean.
Speed and Agility[]
When he was chasing the male MUTO, Godzilla's swimming speed is said to be increasing from 33 knots. His tail is shown to be fast enough to hit the male MUTO on time in order to have him slammed into a skyscraper.
Strength and Combat[]
Like his previous incarnations, the Legendary Godzilla possesses immense physical strength and can use his huge mass as a weapon. He is able to toss both the male and female MUTO around with ease by biting into their bodies and he is able to effortlessly push the female MUTO backwards with his arms, like a bear would with its opponent. The strength of his tail swings are great enough to kill the male MUTO outright as well as knock over a large skyscraper by accident.
However, unlike previous incarnations, he didn't use his arms much to toss them around. This is due to his fighting style being modeled after those of bears and Komodo dragons which, despite having powerful front legs and sharp claws, use their jaws and teeth as their primary weapons.
Overall, this Godzilla's fighting style seems to be somewhat of a reversal of his previous incarnations, preferring to be in close and in direct combat with his targets rather than relying on his atomic breath or throwing objects. Godzilla might not be too much of a veteran fighter, and it could be possible that he has not fought for a very long time, as he shown to be quite inexperienced. Godzilla is also able to cause tsunamis just by going ashore.
Weaknesses[]
Despite being incredibly powerful, Godzilla does have a few weaknesses of his own.
Enormous Size[]
Godzilla's enormous size has given him lack of speed and agility, giving him the inability to dodge incoming attacks. It is quite possible that he will be more wary of this in the future.
Evolutionary Relationship[]
While Godzilla is a powerful alpha predator of his prehistoric ecosystem, the MUTO have evolved over millions of years to specifically hunt and battle his kind. As such, the MUTO have specific adaptations to counteract Godzilla in battle, such as hooked claws to snag his vulnerable gills, EMPs to disrupt his atomic breath, and different fighting styles for the male and female to confuse and tag-team against him.
Short Arms[]
While Godzilla's arms are shown to be strong enough to pry open the female MUTO's jaws and tear through the Golden Gate Bridge, they are shown to be too short to reach the top of his head: a weakness exploited by the male MUTO who latched onto the back of Godzilla's head just out of reach.
Vulnerable Gills[]
A weakness that the MUTOs exploited in Godzilla was the set of gills that Godzilla possesses on his neck. Puncturing them caused him great pain and weakened him from repeated blows. This is also seen when he tried to make his way to San Francisco. A stray shot from the naval fleet managed to hit his gills and he toppled through the Golden Gate Bridge as a reaction.
Origins[]
In Godzilla: Awakening, the prequel to Godzilla, Godzilla was explained to be an ancient life form from the Permian period. It survived various extinction events by consuming geothermal radiation in a hibernation-like state at the bottom of the ocean until a nuclear submarine woke him up in 1954.
Godzilla was theorized by Ishiro Serizawa to have been the alpha predator of his ecosystem, and prevented the other species from overpopulating and overrunning the world, acting as a force of nature that maintained balance.
Appearances[]
MonsterVerse[]
Godzilla (2014)[]
An ancient alpha predator that thrived during the Permian period, Godzilla retreated to the ocean depths as the Earth's surface radiation levels declined, instead feeding on the planet's natural geothermal radiation. Godzilla remained dormant underwater for hundreds of millions of years, appearing occasionally at various points in human history, inspiring the mythologies of several cultures. In 1954, an American nuclear submarine unknowingly woke up Godzilla when it reached the lower depths of the ocean, drawing him to the surface in search of new sources of radiation. Godzilla attacked and fed on American and Soviet nuclear submarines in the South Pacific Ocean, with each nation believing the other was responsible for the attacks.
When Godzilla's existence became known, the American military began detonating a series of nuclear bombs in the Marshall Islands to try and kill him, under the guise of nuclear testing. On March 1st, 1954, Godzilla was lured ashore at Bikini Atoll, where the American military detonated their first-ever dry-fuel hydrogen bomb, code named Castle Bravo, in an attempt to kill him. Godzilla vanished following the detonation, and the United States covered up all evidence of his existence. A scientific organization known as Monarch had been formed to study Godzilla and any gigantic creatures like him, and continued to search for him in the following decades.
In 2014, Godzilla detected the mating call of a MUTO, a parasitic lifeform that lived during Godzilla's time and laid its eggs in corpses of his species. In order to preserve his own existence, Godzilla came ashore in Honolulu to fight the winged male MUTO before it could reunite with its female counterpart and reproduce. Godzilla confronted the MUTO at the Honolulu airport, engaging in a brief clash before the MUTO flew back out over the ocean. Godzilla returned underwater and continued pursuing his enemy. The United States military believed Godzilla to be just as big a threat as the MUTO, although Monarch scientist Ishiro Serizawa stated that Godzilla was only here to hunt the MUTO and that he should be allowed to do so.
When the female MUTO emerged in Nevada and began heading to California to reunite with the male, the military formed a plan to lure Godzilla and both MUTO out to a remote island and kill them all with a nuclear warhead several times more powerful than Castle Bravo. Serizawa believed the detonation would fail to kill any of the creatures and warned William Stenz, the Navy admiral in charge of the operation, to call off the attack. Stenz regretfully told Serizawa they had no choice and allowed the warhead to be armed and carried by boat over San Francisco Bay.
The male MUTO used its electromagnetic pulse to disable the military's vehicles and stole the warhead, using it as a nest on which the female could lay its eggs. Godzilla emerged from the Bay shortly afterward, surfacing near the Golden Gate Bridge. Tanks were deployed onto the bridge and opened fire on Godzilla while civilians were attempting to cross it. Godzilla withstood the artillery fire until a blast hit him in the gills, causing him to accidentally smash into the bridge and split it in two. Godzilla shrieked and continued to approach the city, where the MUTOs had constructed their nest. Shortly afterwards, Stenz has a talk with Serizawa and finally has a change of heart. Realizing that Godzilla may be the only one capable of destroying the MUTOs, Stenz and the military finally allowed him to proceed into the city.
When Godzilla entered downtown San Francisco, the male MUTO attacked him while its mate laid her eggs. Meanwhile, several soldiers were sent into the heart of the city via a HALO jump to recover and disarm the warhead before it could explode. Godzilla finally reached the nest and roared at the female MUTO, who charged at Godzilla and tried to attack him, but Godzilla barged her backward and pinned her to the floor. Soon, the male reentered the battle and both MUTOs ended up pummelling Godzilla. With the nest unguarded, the soldiers recovered the warhead, while Ford Brody opened a gasoline line, causing the entire nest to explode in a fireball.
Both MUTO witnessed the explosion and stopped pummeling Godzilla and rushed back to their nest. The female MUTO grieved over her dead offspring, but became enraged after seeing Brody near the nest. Before the MUTO could kill Brody, Godzilla emerged behind her and blasted her with his atomic breath, buying time for Brody and the other soldiers to carry the warhead to the docks. The male flew behind Godzilla and pulled him out of the way, allowing the female to chase after the soldiers. As the male flew behind Godzilla to try and grab him again, Godzilla swung his tail at it, impaling the MUTO on a skyscraper and killing it. Godzilla stopped for a moment to catch his breath, only for a skyscraper to collapse onto him and bury him in rubble. As Godzilla laid on the ground being buried in debris, he caught a brief glimpse of Brody, who was running to the docks.
Brody ran to the docks, only to witness the female MUTO kill all of his companions. Brody grabbed the warhead and placed it on a boat, preparing to send it out to sea where it could detonate safely. Suddenly, the boat's engine deactivated as the female MUTO approached, her EMP field disabling all nearby electronics. Brody drew his pistol and aimed it at the MUTO, fully expecting to be killed. Just then, out of nowhere, Godzilla came up behind the MUTO and bit down on her neck, pulling her away from the boat. Godzilla grabbed the MUTO's jaws with his claws, pried them open, and gave her a "Kiss of Death" by firing his atomic breath down her throat until her neck blew open and her head tore off, killing her instantly. After decapitating the female MUTO, Godzilla roared victoriously before dropping the MUTO's head and collapsing onto the ground unconscious. The boat reactivated and began heading out of the bay, and exploded with the warhead far from the city, while Brody was rescued by a helicopter.
The next morning, San Francisco was in ruins, while military and emergency personnel surrounded Godzilla's unconscious body. Serizawa and his assistant Vivienne Graham looked sadly at Godzilla, believing him to be dead. Suddenly, Godzilla's nostrils flared and he began to stir. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at him, wondering what was going on, and Godzilla's eye opened, confirming that he was okay. After Ford, Sam, and Elle were finally reunited, Godzilla stood up and began walking back out to the ocean with the city's residents cheering for him. As a result of that, the media hailed Godzilla as a hero who saved San Francisco. In the process, Godzilla let out one last victorious roar before slinking back into the sea and disappearing beneath the waves.
Kong: Skull Island[]
Godzilla is mentioned by William Randa, who stated that the 1954 nuclear tests were not tests, but attempts to kill Godzilla. Randa also stated that he was the only survivor of one of Godzilla's attacks on a military battleship during that time. He also appears in the post-credit scene, along with Mothra, Rodan, and Ghidorah. In the post-credit scene, he is shown as a cave painting, implying that he was worshipped similar to Kong as a god. Another cave painting shows him fighting Ghidorah, showing it as his destiny to fight the giant three-headed dragon or that he fought Ghidorah before. The scene cuts black and Godzilla's notorious shriek is heard.
Godzilla: King of the Monsters[]
Fives years after the battle of San Francisco, Monarch and a recently-reawakened Godzilla travel to Antarctica where the team realizes Alan Jonah's intentions to free a Titan encased in the ice called "Monster Zero". Once there, Jonah's team ambushes the Monarch soldiers while Mark is unable to rescue Emma and Madison. In desperation, Emma frees and awakens the Titan herself. Monster Zero begins rampaging until Godzilla emerges through the ice, engaging in a fight that ends with Monster Zero flying away, but Graham is killed in the ensuing mayhem.
Much later over the oceans, Godzilla emerges and engages Monster Zero again, successfully tearing off one of its heads. During the battle, the military launches a missile known as the Oxygen Destroyer towards them, seemingly killing Godzilla, who sinks into the ocean. Monster Zero survives the missile unscathed and regenerates its missing head with a recovered Rodan, which becomes submissive to its rule, later. Eventually, Monarch discovers that Monster Zero’s real name is Ghidorah, an alien who has usurped Godzilla’s position as the alpha.
Following Ghidorah’s ascension and the awakening of Titans around the world, Mothra emerges from her cocoon underneath the waterfall and flies to Castle Bravo to communicate with Godzilla, who had survived the detonation and is recuperating in a chamber inside an underwater city. Monarch uses the communication frequency to locate the pair. There, Mark and a Monarch team board a submarine to revive Godzilla, as they realize the natural process could take years. Ultimately, the team decides to detonate a nuclear weapon, allowing Godzilla to feed on the radiation, but due to earlier damages the submarine suffered from a vortex, the weapon system is offline. Serizawa volunteers to sacrifice himself to manually detonate the weapon, which will revive Godzilla. As the weapon counts down to detonation, Godzilla awakens and stares at Serizawa, who touches Godzilla's snout and bids goodbye to him who Serizawa calls his old friend. After the detonation, Godzilla emerges from the ocean and hovers menacingly in front of the sub. However, Mark Russell orders the crew to remain perfectly still as Godzilla starts to sniff them. Although not seeing them as a threat at first, Godzilla suddenly realized that the group actually helped by healing him upon catching the scent of Serizawa on them before he swims away without harming them.
At Fenway Park, Madison broadcasts a frequency that attracts all the Titans to its location. Ghidorah arrives at Boston and attempts to kill Madison, only for Godzilla to appear with Monarch's assistance to engage it. Mark leads a Monarch team to rescue Madison and escape the city before Godzilla overloads and emits a thermonuclear explosion. Mothra and Rodan arrive and fight each other while Godzilla battles Ghidorah. Mothra defeats Rodan after a long fight in which she was nearly defeated. Godzilla proved to be stronger than Ghidorah due to his body overloading with radiation but Ghidorah absorbed electricity from a power grid and blinded him and, with his increased strength, picked Godzilla up and lifted him up in the sky and then dropped him, heavily wounding the Titan, Mothra attempted to fight Ghidorah but is disintegrated by one of his blasts, Mark, Emma, and Madison are reunited and attempt to restart the damaged ORCA to lure Ghidorah away from Godzilla.
As they are evacuated, Emma drives away with the ORCA to continue luring Ghidorah so Mark and Madison can escape, sacrificing herself in the process. Godzilla recovers and unleashes a series of thermonuclear blasts, bombarding Ghidorah with atomic pulses that destroy his body and two of his heads. After grasping Ghidorah's middle head in his mouth, Godzilla destroys him permanently by incinerating it with his atomic breath. Rodan and the other Titans then converge on Godzilla, bowing to him as their new alpha.
Following the Titan outbreak, Monarch has divulged it's information on the Titans to the public. News clippings reveal Godzilla’s swimming path having a restorative effect on coral reefs and fish populations, as well as him keeping the other Titans in check and making a surprise visit to the cruise ship Carnival Breeze. Another article elaborates on the discovery of ancient paintings displaying Godzilla battling Kong.
Godzilla vs. Kong[]
Five years after the battle in Boston, Godzilla has suddenly become more aggressive and violent as he begins to against to attack major human settlements for unknown reasons, despite the fact that in the past, he was never aggressive towards humans in general. Madison Russell believes there is something provoking Godzilla into attacking these said human settlements.
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire[]
Monarch: Legacy of Monsters[]
Video games[]
Godzilla: Crisis Defense[]
Godzilla: Strike Zone[]
Godzilla: Smash 3[]
Comic books[]
Godzilla: Awakening[]
Godzilla: Aftershock[]
Godzilla: Dominion[]
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- The Legendary Godzilla was at one point the tallest incarnation of Godzilla to appear in a film, however, his height was exceeded by the Godzilla from Shin Godzilla two years later.
- This Godzilla's fighting style and movements were primarily based on bears and komodo dragons.
- This is the first Godzilla to be portrayed by motion-capture, and the second to be primarily computer-generated, after the TriStar Godzilla.
- In an interview with Digital Spy, Jordan Vogt-Roberts stated that one potential post-credits scene for Kong: Skull Island involved characters on a boat in the Arctic Ocean witnessing Godzilla surface.
External Links[]
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