Godzilla (MonsterVerse)

Hero Overview Synopsis Gallery

Do-Gooder
Full Name	Godzilla
Alias(es)	Gojira King of the Monsters King of the Titans Titanus Gojira Savior of San Francisco Alpha Predator Big Guy Giant Lizard Beast
Origin	MonsterVerse
Occupation	King of the Titans Force of Nature Apex predator
Powers / Skills	Immortality Atomic breath Superhuman strength Superhuman durability Powerful tail Strong bite Sharp claws Combatant Amphibious High intelligence Nigh limitless stamina Regeneration Nuclear pulse
Hobby	Protecting and saving the world by fighting other monsters. Keeping an eye over the balance of nature in his planet by protecting humans, including Madison Russell.
Goals	Hunt down and kill the two M.U.T.O.s including their parent M.U.T.O Prime to prevent them from tampering the balance further (succeeded). Destroy his arch-rival King Ghidorah with the help of Mothra and become the king of the titans (succeeded).
Family	Dagon (predecessor; deceased)
Friends / Allies	Mothra Monarch (indirectly) Ishiro Serizawa (indirectly; deceased) Mount Lady Rodan Ford Brody Kong Madison Russell Mark Russell Chen Emma Russell (deceased) Dagon (deceased) Behemoth Scylla Methuselah MUTO 3
Enemies	Ghidorah (arch-nemesis; deceased) Shinomura M.U.T.O.s (deceased) Rodan (formerly) Alan Jonah MUTO Prime (deceased) Kong (formerly)
Type of Hero	Gentle Giant

“	Nature has an order. A Power to restore balance. I believe he is that power.	„
	~ Serizawa describing Godzilla.

Godzilla, also dubbed Titanus Gojira, is one of the main kaiju protagonists of the MonsterVerse franchise alongside King Kong. He first appeared serving as one of the main protagonists of the 2014 film of the same name alongside Ford Brody. He also appeared as a cave painting in the 2017 film Kong: Skull Island where he is seen fighting King Ghidorah. In the 2019 sequel Godzilla: King of the Monsters, he once again returns as one of the main protagonists alongside Mark Russell and fights his ultimate nemesis, King Ghidorah. He will appear in the 2021 film Godzilla vs. Kong in which he is set to fight Kong.

He is an incarnation and version of Godzilla, who made his presence known to the public in 2014 during his hunt for the two M.U.T.O.s, and the very kaiju whom existence kick-started the foundation of Monarch, a secret governmental organization serving as the main protagonistic forces of the franchise.

He was portrayed by T.J. Storm via motion capture.

Characteristics

Personality

Godzilla never demonstrated outright hostility towards humans every time he crossed paths with them, despite not being a gentle giant unlike his friend Mothra. In fact, he tries his best not to spark a conflict against them, even when they initially perceive him as a threat and attacked him in some occasions. Although he was responsible for some human deaths and destruction throughout his hunt for two MUTOs, it was all simply the result of his overall size and collateral damage from the fight against the two titans. Even the destruction of the Golden Gate Bridge during the aforementioned hunt could've been avoided had the military allowed him to find the way to get past on his own.

However, Godzilla does display inquisitiveness toward humans and is able to tell that they are on the same side; this was seen when he sees Serizawa approaching him and placing his hand on his face and later, leaning forward to inspect Mark Russell as if deducing that he brought the former into his home. In his debut film, Godzilla displayed similar behavior upon seeing Ford Brody, apparently identifying him as the one who ruined the MUTOs' teamwork by destroying their nest which, in turn, led to him saving his life by killing the distracted female MUTO. It's implied that the reason for him avoiding pointless conflict against humanity stemmed from witnessing how formidable they can be and thus encouraged other Titans to do the same after defeating his nemesis, Ghidorah.

Godzilla's personality evokes that "last samurai" archetype, a lone ancient warrior content with solitude and preferring not to be a part of the world but has to resurface when certain types of events force him to appear and set things right (in Godzilla's own case, the imbalance of the nature of his home planet) befitting Ishiro Serizawa's theory of him as the driving force to restore balance to nature. Whenever that balance is disrupted, Godzilla would go on his way fighting any aggressors who threatened it regardless of the odds. This, in turn, led to Monarch describing his behavior as that of a "protector", calling him an "ancient guardian of the natural world". Whenever Godzilla is not enraged and in combat, Monarch describes him as "slow, graceful, inquisitive even".

Godzilla's most notable relationships with other titans are with MUTOs, Mothra, and Ghidorah. With Mothra, they are true allies, more so than their past incarnations that were prone to be at odds with each other since their species have symbiotic relationships with one another. This was evident through Mothra's undying loyalty towards him when other Titans were coerced to serve Ghidorah and Godzilla himself, in turn, avenged her defeat at the hands of their common enemy. With MUTOs in general, he perceived them as an uneasy ally at best (as some MUTOs such as the one that appeared in the events of King of the Monsters do respect him) and both deadly pests and natural enemy at worst. With Ghidorah, the two Titans are fierce rivals whose feud is best described as the symbolic battle between light and shadow.

Godzilla was surprisingly capable of forgiveness and mercy shown by the fact he spared Rodan, despite the fact Rodan had previously served Ghidorah as his minion and severly injured Mothra.

Overall, this is the most heroic incarnation of Godzilla to date, willing to risk his life to protect Earth from the evil Titans that threaten it and acting as Monarch's greatest ally.

Physical appearance

In response of the previous deviating 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 Godzilla where this Godzilla is designed to resemble his original counterparts, particularly the 1954 version to keep his character in Hollywood movies consistent with Toho's. Even so, this Godzilla was given more natural physiology than the rest of his incarnations because in the MonsterVerse franchise, he was the last known member of a prehistoric reptilian kaiju species of the same name, which naturally evolved to gain their nuclear-based powers. Radiation during the era where Godzillas came to existence on Earth at that time was higher than in present day, resulting Godzillas's evolution into nuclear-enhanced kaiju worked naturally, evident from lack of keloid scars resulted from exposure to man-made radiation.

For the MonsterVerse incarnation of the character, his face is shaped very squarely, with a broad neck and possesses gills that enable him to stay underwater indefinitely. His eyes are a yellow color, 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 in 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 Godzilla incarnations' feet do. His skin is more reptile-like and crocodile-like as opposed of 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, feet that are about 59 feet and 6 inches long, and that his roar can be heard from three miles away.

Powers and Abilities

Powers

• Titan Physiology: As a titan, Godzilla is incredibly powerful; as he possesses various physical and supernatural attributes that surpasses that of most other titans. The only titan who rivals/matches his power is his nemesis Ghidorah since he is an alien.
  • Advanced Strength: Godzilla is far stronger than most other titans; for example, he is capable of smashing through the Golden Gate Bridge (though it was mostly accidental) overpowering the Eight-Legged M.U.T.O. with ease, manhandling both the M.U.T.O.s, and having a strong bite; he also killed the Winged M.U.T.O. with his huge tail, which can also bring down a huge building. He is also shown to strong enough to spin around and throw the larger and heavier Ghidorah with ease as well as rip one of his heads apart.
  • Advanced Durability: Godzilla is far more durable than most other titans; for example, he is immune to conventional weaponry and is tough enough to survive constant beatings from the two M.U.T.O.s, but the only body part that was least durable was his gills, as seen when he became panicked when one of the missiles hit his gills and forced him to retreat, and as a result, he destroyed Golden Bridge by accident. Godzilla even can survive a fall from thousands of feet after being airlifted by Ghidorah, though he is still weakened by the sheer amount of pain caused by the impact.
  • Advanced Speed: Godzilla is much faster than most other titans; for example, in the water, he can reach up to 40 knots, on land, Godzilla is able to move at great speeds. Godzilla is also able to run at great speed when charging Ghidorah, running in a horizontal posture comparatively similar to that of a theropod dinosaur.
  • Advanced Agility: Godzilla is far more agile than most other titans; for example, he was able to slam the male MUTO into a skyscraper with his tail.
  • Advanced Stamina: Godzilla possesses far more stamina then most other titans; allowing him to remain physically active for long periods of time.
  • Advanced Senses: Godzilla's senses are far more greatly developed than most other titans; for example, he was able to track down the MUTOs' locations from the ocean by their mating calls.
  • Advanced Bite: Godzilla has a particularly strong and powerful bite, either because of his sharp teeth, jaw-muscles, unusual jaw-structure or some other reason. Exactly what he can bite depends on the jaw-strength, resilience of his teeth/bite-surface and his shape.
  • Energy Absorption: Godzilla can absorb various types of energy; for example, the more energy Godzilla absorbs, particularly radiation, the stronger/more powerful his physical and supernatural attributes become.
    • Accelerated Healing Factor: Due to Godzilla's ability to absorb energy, particularly radiation; he can heal much faster, more extensively and efficiently than most other titans, depending on how serious his injuries are; for example, he was completely healed following the Battle of San Francisco, while it took him 5 years to completely heal from injuries inflicted on him by MUTO Prime.
  • Underwater Breathing: Due to Godzilla's gills; he is capable of breathing underwater indefinitely; although he is certainly more than capable of breathing on land.
  • Bio-atomic Nature: Godzilla possesses natural bio-nuclear circulatory systems as with his species, instead of gaining it upon being irradiated by man-made nuclear which acts as the source of his nuclear-based powers. Activating when threatened, a neutron flux is triggered that travels up Godzilla's dorsal fins to nucleosynthetic chambers in his throat and explodes into his atomic breath. His radioactive signature also makes it easy for Godzilla to be followed and monitored.

  • File:G14 - Japanese TV Spot 4 - 6.png

    Godzilla firing his atomic breath.

    Atomic Breath: Godzilla possesses atomic breath; his atomic breath is a powerful, concentrated blue beam of pure radiation blasted from his mouth. In the 2014 film, it is strong enough to bring down the Eight-Legged M.U.T.O. in two shots, and he often uses it as a final blow on his opponent. The neon-blue glow on Godzilla's dorsal plates begins at the tip of his 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, an electric humming sound is heard. His eyes and numerous orifices around his scales also glow neon-blue moments before and when he unleashes the beam from his mouth, though this only occurs if he is in perfect condition and not hampered by MUTOs' EMP field. The atomic breath that Godzilla demonstrated during his battle against MUTOs might not have been released in full strength unlike his counterpart, since in the graphic novel Godzilla: Awakening and later, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Godzilla was shown breathing a more intense and beam-like atomic breath, which could be stronger and as destructive as the atomic breath used by his Japanese incarnations when he is in better condition. Even so, he can only use it sparingly, as using the ability three times in a row would exhaust him. In King of the Monsters, his atomic breath is mostly ineffective against King Ghidorah. It can push Ghidorah back a relatively short distance away and knock him down, but Ghidorah is keen enough to avoid it in time if he knows Godzilla will fire at him. The atomic breath does nothing to harm or burn Ghidorah severely, forcing Godzilla to find alternative means to take down Ghidorah such as his fire Godzilla form.
  • Nuclear/Thermonuclear Pulses/Radiation Blast: As revealed in Godzilla: Aftershock, Godzilla possesses the ability to emit a shockwave of atomic energy from his body, specifically from his then-shattered dorsal plates at will as a short-range attack. MonsterVerse's version of the attack is shown to be strong enough to send a kaiju around MUTO Prime's size sailing and crippling it at the same time if deployed from point-blank range. His Fire Godzilla form is shown to be even more powerful. Three successive blasts of the nuclear pulse were able to destroy Ghidorah completely, except for his middle head, which he later destroyed with his Atomic Breath.

Abilities

• Genius-level intellect/Master tactician/Leader: Due to Godzilla's extended lifespan, he is amazingly intelligent; as he displayed the ability to learn and strategize to solve problems at hand, throughout his fight against the M.U.T.O.s, he didn't just simply attack them head on, but he also studied their pattern and weaknesses. When he killed the male M.U.T.O. by impaling him against a nearby skyscraper with a swipe of his tail, Godzilla targeted vital part on said M.U.T.O. to ensure he will be unable to recover from his wounds. Upon discovering female M.U.T.O.'s susceptibility to his atomic breath and exhaustion from being overwhelmed at the same time, Godzilla blasted her mouth to incinerate her innards and save his energy reserves in process, effectively killing her from the inside out and decapitating her in process. In his fight against Ghidorah, he brought their fight underwater and would've won had the military not severely crippled him with the experimental Oxygen Destroyer and to everyone's horror, ensuring his said nemesis' escape (due to the latter's immunity) and brief dominance over other titans across the world. In addition of combat, Godzilla also displayed his problem-solving skills to avoid unnecessary conflict with others. He intimidated the personnel of Monarch's Castle Bravo base not to attack him when they get into his way for investigating the ORCA signal from Antarctica and later, detecting humans from a nearby submarine (particularly Mark Russell) observing him and having something to do with the sudden nuclear explosion that revitalized his systems before heading off to confront Ghidorah in Boston. He also acknowledged the other titans who submitted to him after Ghidorah's defeat, proving that Godzilla knows that the only way to win over them and put them in their place; was by defeating Ghidorah and reclaim his rightful place as there alpha.
• Alpha Call: As the alpha titan, Godzilla is able to let out a powerful call that can be heard by titans all over the world and make them compliant to his commands. However, he lost this when his nemesis Ghidorah bested him in the water; due to the fact that the military interfered. After killing Ghidorah once-and-for all, Godzilla regained his alpha call. As displayed by Ghidorah, this cry only works on lesser titans and does not work on titans with their own alpha status; such as Godzilla, Mothra and Kong, who were unaffected by Ghidorah's cry. When Godzilla destroyed him, he no longer has this ability.

Weaknesses

• Short Arms: Godzilla has relatively short arms, which allows an opponent to leap onto his head and attack since he can't reach over, and fight back. This was the case with the male M.U.T.O., in which he leaped onto Godzilla's head without being taken off. The male M.U.T.O. attacking Godzilla like this allowed the female M.U.T.O. to ram Godzilla into a building.
• Gills: Godzilla's greatest weakness seems to be his gills. This was shown when the military (scared because he was a giant monster) shot at Godzilla's dorsal plates while rising out of the sea, but he didn't suffer any damage. When they fired at his gills, it caused him to accidentally smash through the Golden Gate Bridge, since he was suffering from a lot of agony at the time before continuing to hunt the male M.U.T.O. This was also shown when Godzilla was being beaten down by the mated M.U.T.O. pair. At one point, he roared at the female M.U.T.O., but her mate attacked him, and after that, he suffered extreme agony when the female M.U.T.O. slashed through his gills with one of her claws.
• Lackluster size: While not inhibiting Godzilla in combat, his size can be exploited against his status as a hero, as he unintentionally causes destruction (such as creating a tsunami when he surfaces near Hawaii or when he plows right through the Golden Gate Bridge, cleaving it in half) as a byproduct. However, the destruction he inadvertently causes is of little concern to himself and is more of a danger to other, smaller lifeforms; such as humans.
• Oxygen Destroyer: Godzilla is highly susceptible to the Oxygen Destroyer. Despite this, he was able to survive the exposure from a single blast; albeit it severely crippled him in the process, forcing him to retreat to his lair to restore his health before his heart stopped beating which would kill him of cardiac arrest.

Relationships

Mothra

Template:Section stubGodzilla has a symbiotic relationship with Mothra, as she is loyal only to the giant lizard even after Ghidorah became the alpha titan. Mothra sacrifices her life to save Godzilla and Godzilla expressed sadness upon watching his friend die.

Ghidorah

Template:Section stubGhidorah was Godzilla's primary arch-nemesis as they fought over the course of history for the alpha title. He and Ghidorah are always mortal enemies. Ghidorah manages to defeat Godzilla three times over the course of the movie and becomes the new alpha titan. However, Godzilla ends up killing Ghidorah for good and retaking his title as the alpha.

Kong

Template:Section stubAlthough Godzilla has never directly encountered Kong, the giant ape does not seem to recognise him as the alpha titan, a cave painting of a member of Godzilla's species fighting against a member of Kong's species can be seen; implying that his species has a rivalry or an negative relationship with the giant apes.

Rodan

Template:Section stubRodan served Ghidorah as his right-hand man when he became the new Alpha. While Rodan served Ghidorah in the final battle, Rodan and Godzilla never attacked or harmed each other during the fight. After Godzilla defeated Ghidorah, Rodan initially was going to fight Godzilla, but he glared at Rodan which forced him to bow down to Godzilla and acknowledge him as the rightful alpha. Rodan is forgiven by Godzilla and then becomes his new minion.

Dagon

Template:Section stubDagon was Godzilla's predecessor and a member of his species.

Eight-Legged M.U.T.O.

Template:Section stub

Winged M.U.T.O.

Template:Section stub

M.U.T.O. Prime

Template:Section stub

Six-Legged M.U.T.O.

Godzilla and the Six-Legged M.U.T.O. seem to have a respectful relationship. Unlike the other two M.U.T.O.s, the Six-Legged M.U.T.O. does not attack Godzilla, but instead bows to him to show how she respects and acknowledge him as the rightful alpha titan.

Behemoth

Template:Section stub

Scylla

Template:Section stub

Methuselah

Template:Section stub

Ishiro Serizawa

Template:Section stub

Ford Brody

Template:Section stubGodzilla displayed similar behavior upon seeing Ford, apparently identifying him as the one who saved him from the MUTOs by destroying their nest which, in turn, led to Godzilla saving Ford's life by killing the distracted female MUTO.

Mark Russell

Template:Section stub

Emma Russell

Template:Section stub

Madison Russell

Template:Section stub

Trivia

• Unlike most previous incarnations; this version of Godzilla is portrayed as a protagonist/anti-hero, instead of as an antagonist.
• This incarnation of Godzilla's recent design is based on the original 1954 design, the ShodaiGoji suit from the original 1954 film, as director Gareth Edwards wanted to create a Godzilla design that's very modern, but still respects and resembles the design from the original Toho films.
• This incarnation of Godzilla's fighting style mostly resembles a bear and Komodo dragon's and only use his atomic breath sparingly, contrasting to other incarnations who use the breath attacks more often; however, this may change in future films.
• This incarnation of Godzilla is one of the friendliest towards humans. Ironically, his copyright holder Toho Studios reverted Godzilla to his traditional unfriendly self in their 2010s domestic films for political and environmental purposes. His counterparts in Shin Godzilla and the anime trilogy are metaphors for both the damage done by the United States for meddling in foreign affairs and the homeland disasters that struck Japan in the 2010s decade including the Tōhoku earthquake and Fukushima nuclear disaster, thus making him incredibly malicious and detrimental to the human race's fate.
  • This incarnation of Godzilla also the first one who has best dynamic with Mothra unlike their previous incarnations who prone to at odds with one another as much as with humanity. Interestingly, Mothra's status as "Queen of the Monsters" suggested their relationship more than just friends, resulting fans ship both kaijus (see Relationships with Mothra section above for more information).
• In spite of Godzilla's huge size, he is very skillful at hiding from humans. After defeating the MUTOs and returning to the ocean at the end of the first movie in 2014, humans frantically searched for him but didn't find him until 2019. 
• Godzilla's Kevloid scars are a reference to the victims of the Hiroshima bombings. 
• He is credited as Himself in the sequel, despite T.J Storm is still credited for motion capture..
• It is unknown why Godzilla and Kong would fight each other in Godzilla vs. Kong, given the fact that they are both heroic monsters; this would classify both of them as Good Vs. Good, the first being Iron Man vs Captain America in Captain America: Civil War and Batman vs Superman in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
  • However, it is safe to assume that they believe each other are a threat, with Godzilla believing Kong is a threat to the balance of nature, well Kong believing Godzilla is a threat to Skull Island or that Kong refuses to accept Godzilla as his king and so he is challenging the giant lizard for the title of "King of the Titans". The ending credits imply this because Godzilla has been rivals with Kong's species since ancient times according to cave drawings.
• This is the first incarnation of Godzilla to possess gills, the other being the Godzilla from the Toho 2016 reboot, Shin Godzilla, except that the latter only had gills in his 2nd and 3rd forms, not the entire movie like the MonsterVerse Godzilla did. This allows Godzilla to sleep underwater, while Showa Godzilla slept on land. 
• Like Kong with the Skullcrawlers, Godzilla is implied to be the last of his kind, as the MUTO spores were found in the fossilized skeleton of another member of his kind, suggesting that his species was wiped out by the MUTOs with him as the sole survivor.

External Links

• Godzilla (2014 film)
• Godzilla King of the Monsters (2019 film)

Navigation

Template:Warner Bros. Animation Heroes