Godzilla (Showa)

Godzilla is the titular protagonist and the hero of many Godzilla movies (although in some movies such as the earlier ones, he is portrayed as either a villain or an anti-hero). He is a 50-100 meter kaiju that can shoot a nuclear beam from out of 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 28 films produced by Toho Co., Ltd. The monster has appeared in numerous other media incarnations including video games, novels, comic books, television series.

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.

Appearance
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, 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 model of a Tyrannosaurus rex, the long arms of an Iguanodon, and the dorsal plates of a Stegosaurus.

As a Villain
Godzilla was originally a dinosaur called Godzillasaurus (revealed in Godzilla vs King Ghidorah 1991), who was then 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 (Japenese name is Gojira), and when the island was attacked by the mutant, the name stuck. Godzilla attacked Tokyo multiple times until he was killed by the Oxygen Destroyer, a powerful weapon created by Dr. Serizawa.

In the later movies, either a second Godzilla exists, or Godzilla survived the oxygen destroyer. 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 merge and create another Godzilla.

As a Hero
In some films, Godzilla becomes the lesser of two evils and saves the world from alien threats, such as King Ghidorah, or human spawned creations, such as Hedorah. When portrayed as a protaginist, Godzilla is either a heroic monster, a caring but strict parent, or animal trying to find it's place in the world as the last of it's 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 the behavior can be seen mostly in the Heisei and Millennium films. However, he is portrayed as an actual hero in the Showa series.

As a hero, Godzilla has gained many allies, such as Rodan, Anguirus, King Caesar, and Jet Jaguar (just to name a few).

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 often mistaken for Breathing Fire.

Strength
As expected because of his size, weight and mass, Godzilla has shown great levels of physical strength, able to lift weights exceeding 100,000 tons (shown when he threw Keizer Ghidorah) 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.

Durability
Godzilla is physically immune to conventional weaponry such as tanks and missiles and is capable of taking strong hits harsh injury from other Monsters along with having the ability to Regenerate. The secret to Godzilla's Durability is his Regenerator G-1 cell

Amphibiousness
Godzilla is capable of living, swimming and breathing underwater for as long as he wants. He also is great at fighting underwater and has fought enemies underwater on several occasions.

Nuclear Pulse
Godzilla can emit atomic energy in all directions from every inch of his body to create a short-range nuclear pulse.

Magnetic Powers
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.