Godzilla (MonsterVerse)

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Godzilla incarnations
Godzilla 2004
MonsterVerse Godzilla
Shin Godzilla
Godzilla® (MonsterVerse) trademark icon
Godzilla® (MonsterVerse)
Godzilla on the poster for Godzilla: King of the Monsters
Alternate names Gojira, King of the Monsters, G, Goji, Alpha Predator, Nautilus,
Species 5146_Adam,
Legendary Godzilla, Hollywood Godzilla, American Godzilla, Godzilla 2014, LegendaryGoji, RejeGoji, GareGoji, DohaGoji, DougheGoji
Subtitle(s) King of the Monsters[1]
Species Prehistoric amphibious reptile (Titanus Gojira)
Height 355 feet[2] / 108 meters,G14[3][4][note 1]
393 feet[5] / 119.8 metersGKotM[6]
Length 550.4 feet[2] / 167.74 meters[4][7] (tail),G14
582 feet / 177.4 meters (tail)GKotM[6]
Weight 90,000 tons,G14[3][8][note 2]
99,634 tonsGKotM[6][5][note 2]
Other stats No. of dorsal plates: 89G14[2][8]
Hand palm size: 34.4 feetG14[2]
Volume: 89,724 cubic metersG14[7][8][note 3]
Foot length: 60 feetG14[8]
Foot width: 58 feet[8] / 17.66 metersG14[4]
No. of teeth: 60G14[8]
Teeth length: 3.51 feet[8] / 1.07 metersG14[4]
Teeth depth: 1.73 feetG14[8]
Roar audible radius: 3 miles[8] /
4.8 kilometersG14[4]
Maximum roar volume: 174 decibelsGKotM[6]
Swimming speed: 40 knotsGKotM[5]
Relations Dagon (possible ancestor),
Mothra (symbiont)
Allies Mothra
Enemies MUTO, Shinomura,
MUTO Prime, King Ghidorah
Created by Ishiro Honda, Tomoyuki Tanaka,
Eiji Tsuburaya, Gareth Edwards,
Andrew Baker, Matt Allsopp
Played by TJ Storm
First appearance Latest appearance
Godzilla (2014) Godzilla: King of the Monsters
Design(s) GareGoji, DougheGoji
Roar(s)
Keizer GKC Transparent.png
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This is Godzilla's world, we just live in it.
„ 

— Chief Warrant Officer Jackson Barnes (Godzilla: King of the Monsters)

Godzilla (ゴジラ,   Gojira) is a Titan who first appeared in the 2014 Legendary Pictures film, Godzilla.

The MonsterVerse Godzilla is the second incarnation of Godzilla to be featured in an American-made film, after the TriStar Godzilla from the 1998 film, and the tenth onscreen incarnation of the character overall. A colossal apex predator hailing from a time in Earth's past where surface radiation levels were considerably higher, Godzilla retreated deep underwater as this radiation declined to feed on the planet's natural geothermal radiation. Godzilla occasionally surfaced throughout history, inspiring some of humanity's mythology. In the 20th century, the advent of the nuclear age drew Godzilla to the surface, attracting the attention of the American military, which carried out a campaign of nuclear strikes against the monster in the South Pacific under the guise of nuclear testing. Godzilla vanished up until 2014, when parasitic creatures from his time period dubbed MUTOs were unleashed and prepared to begin reproducing. Godzilla hunted the MUTOs down to San Francisco, where he engaged in a protracted battle which ended when he killed them both and returned to the ocean. After subsequently slaying the MUTOs' mother, MUTO Prime, Godzilla vanished into the depths of the ocean for five years, though Monarch kept tabs on him. When a group of eco-terrorists awakened his ancient nemesis King Ghidorah from his icy tomb in Antarctica, Godzilla confronted the newly-awakened three-headed Titan. King Ghidorah escaped their first battle, but Godzilla tracked him down to the waters off of Mexico and nearly defeated him in an underwater clash before being interrupted by the military's Oxygen Destroyer. Godzilla retreated to his underwater lair to heal, but his rejuvenation was accelerated by the sacrifice of Dr. Ishiro Serizawa, who set off a thermonuclear warhead in his vicinity. Godzilla made his way to Boston for a final battle with Ghidorah, and with the intervention of Mothra was finally able to triumph. The surviving Titans who had been following Ghidorah congregated around Godzilla and submitted to him, accepting him as the King of the Monsters.

This incarnation of Godzilla is set to return and battle King Kong in the fourth entry of the MonsterVerse, Godzilla vs. Kong.

Name

Godzilla is consistently referred to as "Gojira" (ゴジラ) by the character Ishiro Serizawa, although other characters eventually begin referring to him by his English name "Godzilla." Godzilla: Awakening reveals that "Gojira" is a name from Pacific island myths, and is applied to the monster by Serizawa's father Eiji, the scientist who discovered him. Monarch gave Godzilla's species the designation "Species 5146_Adam" after uncovering and analyzing the skeleton of another member of his kind. In Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Godzilla is given the Titan designation Titanus Gojira by Monarch.

Design

Main articles: GareGoji, DougheGoji.

The MonsterVerse Godzilla's face is shaped very squarely, while his neck is broad and possesses gills on its sides.[9] He is not the first incarnation of the character to have gills: producer Tomoyuki Tanaka explained the air holes in the front of the necks of Showa-era Godzilla suits as gills in his book Definitive Edition Godzilla Introduction.[10] Of course, this computer-generated Godzilla required no such accommodations, and his gills are more easily recognized as such by the viewer. His eyes are a yellow color, and his teeth are small and not nearly as straightly lined up as many previous Godzilla incarnations.

The MonsterVerse Godzilla's nostrils are more separate than previous incarnations, 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. Godzilla's head and neck seem to lean forward more so than any previous design. His Template:Scutes are smaller than the previous designs, but they still retain the core maple-leaf shape, although straighter and very sharp, somewhat like the Godzilla from Godzilla 2000: Millennium. In Godzilla: King of the Monsters, he has larger, more jagged dorsal fins based on those of the 1954 Godzilla design.

This Godzilla's claws are a black color, and his feet are wider and resemble an elephant's foot more than the other Godzillas' feet do. In Godzilla: King of the Monsters, the feet are altered to more closely resemble those of past designs, with larger curved claws. His skin is more reptile-like and crocodile-like 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. Godzilla's tail is considerably longer than most designs, and becomes very thin and pointed at the end. In Godzilla: King of the Monsters, his tail is proportionately shorter compared to the rest of his body although it is still longer than before, and ends with a rounded tip instead.

Personality

We [humans] have helped create an imbalance [in nature], and Godzilla moves in to right the balance. He is not our 'hero,' but represents something greater—he is saving us in the process of righting the balance.
„ 

Alex Garcia, Godzilla: The Art of Destruction pp. 118-119

Monarch describes Godzilla's behavior as that of a "protector," calling him an "ancient guardian of the natural world."[5] While Monarch initially considered Godzilla to be a threat, it now considers him the potential greatest defender of the planet, as he emerges to battle any aggressors which threaten the balance of nature. Whenever Godzilla is not enraged and in combat, Monarch describes him as "slow, graceful, inquisitive even."[11]

In Legendary Pictures' Godzilla, Godzilla's behavior seems to be that of a territorial animal. Ishiro Serizawa theorizes 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 are there. In fact, with larger ships like aircraft carriers, he simply dives down under them. Even when he is attacked by the military, he doesn't noticeably react or fight back and simply continues to hunt the MUTOs, even when being followed in close proximity by four naval ships. He also does not seem to intentionally cause destruction. Even when he destroys the Golden Gate Bridge, it does 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. In Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Godzilla continues to behave in this manner. He maintains a patrol route around his territory, and uses his glowing dorsal plates to perform an intimidation display. While Monarch initially assumed Godzilla was demonstrating aggression toward them, they later realized he was reacting to the presence of the ORCA before pursuing it to Antarctica. Godzilla recognizes the threat posed by his ancient nemesis King Ghidorah and goes out of his way to seek out and try to defeat Ghidorah on three occasions. Godzilla recognizes Mothra as his ally and communicates with her through sonar. He demonstrates inquisitiveness toward humans, first when he sees Serizawa approaching him and placing his hand on his face, and later after he resurfaces and leans forward to inspect Mark Russell. Godzilla never demonstrates outright hostility toward humans when he notices them, and allows himself to be surrounded by a full military escort when he heads to Boston to confront Ghidorah.

Origins

In Godzilla: Awakening, the prequel to Legendary Pictures' Godzilla, Godzilla was explained to be an ancient life form from the Permian period, having survived various extinction events by consuming geothermal radiation in a hibernation-like state at the bottom of the sea. 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.

History

MonsterVerse

Godzilla (2014)

An ancient alpha-predator that thrived during the Late Permian period over 250 million years ago, 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 unwittingly awakened 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 1, 1954, Godzilla was lured ashore at Bikini Atoll, where the American military detonated their first-ever dry-fuel hydrogen bomb, codenamed 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 dove underwater and continued pursuing his enemy. The United States military believed Godzilla to be just as dire 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 MUTOs 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 smash into the bridge and split it in half. Godzilla roared and continued to approach the city, where the MUTOs had constructed their nest.

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 attacked him. Soon, the male reentered the battle and both MUTOs double-teamed 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 MUTOs 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 to catch his breath, only for a skyscraper to collapse onto him and bury him in rubble. As Godzilla lie 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, Godzilla came up behind the MUTO and bit down on her neck, pulling her away from the boat. Godzilla grabbed the MUTO's jaws and pried them open, then fired his atomic breath down her throat until her head fell off. 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, 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 eye opened and he began to stir. Godzilla stood up and began walking back out to the ocean. Godzilla let out one last victorious roar before diving back into the sea and disappearing beneath the waves.

Kong: Skull Island

A cave painting of Godzilla in Kong: Skull Island

While appealing to Senator Willis to approve an expedition to Skull Island, Monarch member Bill Randa mentioned how the 1954 Castle Bravo nuclear tests were not tests, but attempts to kill a creature, though he did not mention Godzilla by name.

Following their adventure on Skull Island, James Conrad and Mason Weaver were held in an interrogation room by Monarch members Houston Brooks and Lin San, where they were shown documents related to the 1954 nuclear strikes against Godzilla, as well as two cave paintings depicting Godzilla alone and locked in battle with King Ghidorah.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters

While fruitlessly searching through the ruins of San Francisco for their missing son Andrew in 2014, Mark Russell and his wife Emma and their daughter Madison witnessed Godzilla walk past them. Mark grew to blame Godzilla for the loss of his son and resigned from Monarch, meaintaining a desire to have the monster killed. The U.S. government and a large portion of the public grew to feel the same way following the devastating events in San Francisco. After five years, Godzilla had seemingly disappeared. Monarch's Dr. Ishiro Serizawa, Vivienne Graham, and Sam Coleman appeared before a Senate hearing to discuss the organization's future. The government and military expressed a desire to exterminate Godzilla and all of the other Titans like him, but Serizawa and Graham insisted that the solution was to find a way to coexist with Godzilla and other possibly benevolent Titans in a sort of symbiotic relationship. Monarch soon faced a bigger crisis, as they learned that Emma and Madison had been kidnapped from Outpost 61 in China along with Emma's sonar device the ORCA. They brought Mark with them to their underwater headquarters in Bermuda, Outpost 54, a.k.a. Castle Bravo. From there, they covertly had been observing Godzilla on his own turf. Inside Castle Bravo, Monarch determined that Emma and Madison had been abducted by Col. Alan Jonah, a British Army colonel-turned eco-terrorist bent on restoring the natural order. Evidently, he intended to use the ORCA to achieve his goal. While Monarch attempted to decipher where Jonah had brought the ORCA, the base detected Godzilla approaching unusually close. Readings of the monster showed his breathing and heart rate were elevated, and he seemed ready to attack the base. Members of Monarch's G-Team manned the base's Maser Turrets and prepared to open fire, but Mark convinced them to stand down and lower the base's shields to signal to Godzilla that they were not a threat. As the shields were lowered, Godzilla could be seen swimming just outside the base, his dorsal fins emitting a periodic blue flash which Graham identified as an intimidation display. Mark approached the window to get a better look, as the glow faded and Godzilla vanished into the blackness. Suddenly, Godzilla charged past the base and swam off. Mark asked to view Godzilla's movement routes, saying that if he left his territory it was because he must have felt threatened. Mark believed this could be because he detected the ORCA. Monarch's course projections showed Godzilla heading to a single location: Antarctica. The members of Monarch boarded the flying command ship the USS Argo and followed Godzilla to Antarctica. Graham explained to Mark that Antarctica was the location of Outpost 32, an off-the-books outpost in which Monarch studied a recently-uncovered specimen which Emma called "Monster Zero," possibly a rival alpha to Godzilla in the ancient past. Godzilla soon vanished from tracking, which Dr. Rick Stanton took to mean he was using passages within the Hollow Earth to navigate underwater more quickly.

Upon arriving at Outpost 32, Monarch was ambushed by Jonah's men and was unable to stop them from unleashing Monster Zero. The three-headed Titan menaced the members of Monarch before Godzilla erupted from the ice to challenge him. The Titans charged at each other, with Godzilla trying to grapple with each of the beast's heads. Monster Zero seemed to have the physical advantage over Godzilla, who attempted to fire his atomic breath at his enemy. Instead, the beast's heads simply dodged the blast and countered with a series of gravity beams that knocked Godzilla off the ice shelf. Godzilla got back onto the ice and attempted to reengage, but after being bombarded by missiles from the Argo Monster Zero simply flew away. Monster Zero later vanished within a tropical storm, while Godzilla seemed headed to Isla de Mara, Mexico, the site of Outpost 56. Emma had actually sided with Jonah from the start to unleash the Titans in an attempt to "restore balance" to the world, and her next target was the Titan in Outpost 56, Rodan. Monster Zero arrived over the waters near the island within the tropical storm and defeated Rodan in an aerial clash, only for Godzilla to leap from the ocean and drag him underwater. Godzilla had the upper hand below the waves, tearing off one of Monster Zero's heads, but the U.S.military attempted to kill both Titans with the experimental Oxygen Destroyer missile. When the warhead impacted, it produced a huge green explosion that sent Godzilla sinking to the bottom of the sea, his vital signs dropping until he was pronounced dead by Stanton. Monster Zero, however, was unharmed by the blast and promptly regenerated his severed head before unleashing all of the Titans around the world. Monarch's Dr. Ilene Chen concluded that the creature was not part of the natural order like Godzilla, but was rather an alien organism that came to Earth aiming to bend its ecosystem to his will. Ancient accounts corroborated that he had battled Godzilla in the past, and referred to him as "Ghidorah, the One Who is Many." While Titans around the world bowed to Ghidorah's will, Mothra did not and upon emerging from her cocoon made her way to Castle Bravo. Monarch analyzed the sonar she emitted and found that Godzilla was responding to her. Realizing Godzilla was still alive, Serizawa, Stanton, Chen, and Mark followed Mothra to Godzilla's location in a submarine, which was pulled deeper underwater by a sudden whirlpool. They discovered that this whirlpool led to the Hollow Earth, where they came upon the sunken ruins of an ancient city. Adorning its walls were murals depicting humans worshiping Godzilla. The submarine located Godzilla laying on a giant altar within a nearby underwater air pocket, which contained molten lava flows and extremely high radiation levels. This chamber was Godzilla's lair, and where he went to continuously feed on radiation, allowing him to continuously evolve and survive for an incredibly long time. While the radiation would allow Godzilla to recover from the Oxygen Destroyer, it wouldn't do it fast enough for Godzilla to stop Ghidorah. Unfortunately, the submarine's firing systems had been damaged, meaning it could not fire one of its nuclear torpedoes at Godzilla in order to speed up the process. Furthermoroe, no one would be able to survive the lethal heat and radiation within the chamber if they armed the warhead manually. Serizawa declared that he would sacrifice himself to do this task, and donned a radiation suit which would protect him long enough to arm the warhead. Serizawa departed in a smaller submarine which surfaced in Godzilla's lair. He brought the warhead to the altar and armed it. As the timer counted down, Serizawa removed his helmet and approached Godzilla, who opened his eyes and seemed to notice him. Serizawa placed his hand on Godzilla's face and said "Goodbye, old friend" just before the warhead detonated. The explosion obliterated the sunken city and propelled the main submarine to the surface. Chen and Mark went above deck to see if Serizawa had succeeded, and witnessed Godzilla emerge from a whirlpool, completely rejuvenated. Godzilla fired his atomic breath into the sky, then turned his attention to the nearby humans. Godzilla leaned forward and locked eyes with Mark before turning around and making his way to Boston, where Madison had activated the ORCA after stealing it from her mother and Jonah.

Ghidorah, detecting the ORCA, had landed in Boston and begun to menace Madison. Just before he could kill her with his gravity beams, he was struck and knocked off his feet by a blast of Godzilla's atomic breath. Godzilla came ashore in Boston accompanied by a full military escort, ready for a final battle with his ancient nemesis. Godzilla and Ghidorah charged at each other and began fighting. Stanton observed that the radiation Godzilla absorbed from the blast had begun to reach critical levels, meaning that he would explode like an atomic bomb in 12 minutes. Two Ospreys were deployed from the Argo to try and locate Madison and the ORCA while Godzilla and Ghidorah clashed. Ghidorah used his heads to restrain Godzilla and pin him to the ground, but Godzilla forced him off with his atomic breath. As the monsters' battle continued, Mothra arrived and pinned Ghidorah's heads against a nearby building with her silk. Godzilla lunged at Ghidorah and tackled him through the building. As Godzilla prepared to attack his fallen enemy, Ghidorah called for Rodan to intercept Mothra and take her out of the fight. While Mothra and Rodan dueled in the sky, Godzilla and Ghidorah continued their struggle. Ghidorah bit down on a nearby power substation and absorbed the electricity, projecting it from his wings in an attack that temporarily stunned Godzilla. Ghidorah leaped at Godzilla and grabbed him with his claws before lifting him into the air. Ghidorah wrapped his middle neck around Godzilla's throat and strangled him until he went limp, then flew above the clouds before releasing Godzilla. Godzilla plummeted back to the ground, producing a blue explosion upon striking it. With Godzilla immobilized, Ghidorah landed in front of him and prepared to finish him. However, the wounded Mothra crawled weakly onto Godzilla's body and shielded him from Ghidorah. She then flew directly at Ghidorah, who vaporized her with his gravity beams. Mothra's energy flowed into Godzilla, causing his skin to form glowing red cracks. Ghidorah bit down on Godzilla and lifted him, draining his atomic energy through his bite. However, Emma and Mark were able to reactivate the ORCA and draw Ghidorah away from Godzilla. Ghidorah pursued the ORCA, which Emma transported in a jeep, finally destroying the vehicle with his gravity beams. As Emma lay dying on the ground, she looked up at Ghidorah and defiantly declared "Long live the king." Ghidorah noticed something behind him, and turned to see Godzilla approaching, now covered in glowing bright orange patterns and emitting heat that melted everything around him. Godzilla's dorsal fins sparked and glowed before he launched forward a nuclear pulse shaped like Mothra's wings and making the sound of her roar. This pulse incinerated the flesh of Ghidorah's wings as he tried to shield his heads from the blast. Wounded, Ghidorah countered with his gravity beams which seemed to not even affect Godzilla. Godzilla emitted a second nuclear pulse which disintegrated Ghidorah's left and right heads. Ghidorah fell to the ground as Godzilla stomped on his chest just before the nuclear energy inside of him exploded. Boston was consumed by a fiery explosion, and when the smoke cleared neither monster was visible. After a few moments, Ghidorah's burned head emerged from the rubble, followed by Godzilla, who was carrying the severed head in his mouth. Godzilla fired his atomic breath, which incinerated the head until it was nothing but ash. While victorious over Ghidorah, Godzilla was soon confronted by the other Titans Ghidorah had awakened: Methuselah, Behemoth, Scylla, and another MUTO. Rodan, having survived being impaled by Mothra's stinger earlier, approached Godzilla and roared angrily. Godzilla met his gaze, and Rodan promptly backed down and submitted to Godzilla. The other Titans each followed suit, all "bowing" to the new King of the Monsters.

In the aftermath of the battle, Godzilla kept the other Titans in check and prevented them from attacking human cities. Under Godzilla's leadership, many of the stray Titans began congregating at Skull Island, which had recently become affected by seismic disturbances.

Godzilla vs. Kong

Godzilla will face off against the giant ape King Kong in a battle to determine who will reign supreme.[12]

Abilities

Atomic Breath

Godzilla uses his atomic breath against the female MUTO

The MonsterVerse Godzilla retains the character's trademark atomic breath, however in his battle with the MUTOs he seems to use it as a weapon of last resort rather than as his primary weapon. When Godzilla charges his atomic breath, he draws energy from his bio-nuclear circulatory system which activates when he is threatened. This triggers a neutron flux that manifests as a blue glow which slowly moves from the tip of his tail up his protective Template:Scutes, which serve as energy reserves for his atomic power.[5] Finally, the energy reaches Godzilla's nucleosynthetic throat chambers, where it explodes into a concentrated wave of atomic energy.[11] Godzilla then spews this atomic energy from his mouth as a blue blast of flame which is capable of wounding and knocking down the female MUTO and pushing King Ghidorah backward. When he fires the beam directly into the female MUTO's mouth, it decapitates and kills her almost instantly. It appears that once Godzilla has fully charged his atomic breath he can fire it multiple times, as he fires the beam twice in rapid succession after he charges it for the first time.

In the 2014 film's official novelization and in an earlier screenplay, it is mentioned that the MUTOs' EMP evolved to interfere with Godzilla's atomic breath, meaning it is possible that the atomic breath is not shown at its full strength in the film. However, it is unknown if this use of the EMP applies to the film.

It is possible that using his atomic breath significantly drains Godzilla's energy, as he is shown collapsing from exhaustion shortly after using his atomic breath a third time to kill the female MUTO, though this could also be attributed to fatigue from the rest of the battle or from swimming from Hawaii to San Francisco.

In addition to serving as a weapon, Godzilla's atomic breath can be utilized as a "dominance display,"[5] while he also uses the bluish glow which emanates from his dorsal fins as a form of intimidation.

Godzilla uses his atomic breath in combat more frequently against King Ghidorah, although it is still not his primary attack. Ghidorah is able to dodge Godzilla's atomic breath when he first uses it, and when the attack does connect later it is sufficient to knock Ghidorah backward. Godzilla ultimately incinerates Ghidorah's last head by holding it in his mouth while firing his atomic breath.

Symbiosis

Godzilla possesses a symbiotic bond with Mothra. The two are able to communicate using sonar over great distances, with Mothra using this ability to locate Godzilla and lead Monarch to his location to revive him. After King Ghidorah disintegrates Mothra with his Gravity Beams, her life energy rains down into the wounded Godzilla, imbuing him with increased power that causes his skin to crack and glow orange while emitting incredibly intense heat. In this empowered state, Godzilla can utilize his powerful incendiary nuclear pulse, which manifests in the shape of Mothra's wings and makes the sound of her roar.

Nuclear Pulse

The MonsterVerse Godzilla possesses a variation of the character's nuclear pulse ability, which he uses in his final confrontation with MUTO Prime. Once MUTO Prime is stunned by the ORCA, Godzilla lifts it onto his back and fires a concentrated shockwave of atomic energy from his shattered dorsal plates. This pulse launches MUTO Prime into the air and renders it helpless enough for Godzilla to finish it off by crushing its head.

Godzilla utilizes a more powerful version of the attack in his final battle with King Ghidorah in Boston. After absorbing Mothra's energy following her death in addition to the nuclear energy already absorbed from a thermonuclear explosion, Godzilla's nuclear power builds to the point his skin begins to crack and glow bright orange, giving off heat intense enough to melt everything around him. In this state, Godzilla approaches Ghidorah and fires forth an incredibly powerful nuclear pulse that takes the shape of Mothra's wings and emits the sound of her roar. The first nuclear pulse is sufficient to shred both of Ghidorah's wings, and Godzilla follows up with a second that incinerates both Ghidorah's right and left heads. Godzilla then finishes Ghidorah by stomping down on his chest and releasing his accumulated nuclear power in a massive explosion.

Durability

Godzilla is bombarded by artillery but unharmed

The MonsterVerse Godzilla displays an impressive degree of durability. He is shown to have survived the detonation of Castle Bravo, a 15 megaton hydrogen bomb, while directly next to the bomb in 1954. He also survived the impact of the meteor which caused the Permian extinction event. When blasted by missiles and artillery by the United States military, Godzilla reacts but appears unharmed until one missile strikes him directly in the gills, causing him to reel back in pain and plow through the Golden Gate Bridge. Godzilla survives his battle against both MUTOs with little visible physical injury, and despite collapsing from exhaustion awakens hours later and walks back into the ocean completely unharmed. According to Monarch, Godzilla's dorsal fins serve a "protective" function,[5] meaning that they may act as a sort of sharp armoring meant to stab enemies that touch them. This function has not yet been demonstrated in any of Godzilla's observed battles, however. In Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Godzilla survives several vicious attacks from King Ghidorah, including several strikes from his powerful gravity beams, being strangled by his necks, and being dropped from extremely high in the air to the ground below. However, while these attacks are not able to kill Godzilla, they all visibly injure him and the last one nearly killed him before Mothra intervened.

Godzilla's durability is supplemented by radiation he absorbs. After being severely weakened by the Oxygen Destroyer, Godzilla retreats to his lair where he rests and feeds on the surrounding radiation. Monarch is able to accelerate this process by detonating a thermonuclear warhead right next to Godzilla while he rests. Not only does he survive the explosion unharmed, but he absorbs the radiation and is instantly revitalized. After Godzilla is nearly killed when Ghidorah drops him from the sky, he is revived by Mothra's energy. This not only allows him to get back to his feet, it overloads him with nuclear power to the point he is able to emit nuclear pulses that ultimately destroy Ghidorah. Godzilla also survives the explosion produced when the nuclear energy within his body reaches critical mass.

Physical abilities

While relying less on his atomic breath than previous incarnations, the MonsterVerse Godzilla makes greater use of his physical strength and combat skills when fighting. Godzilla is able to defeat the male MUTO in each encounter, due to his size advantage. Godzilla is also able to overpower the larger female MUTO when he confronts her, although he does experience difficulty when trying to battle both MUTOs at once. When fighting the female MUTO, Godzilla first grabs her by the neck and pushes her backwards then bites down on her neck. He also at one point pushes the female MUTO to the ground and steps on her chest to pin her down, which could have allowed him to finish her had the male not intervened. Godzilla finally kills the female MUTO by grabbing her from behind when she is distracted and prying her jaws apart so he can fire his atomic breath down her throat. Godzilla's tail is also a formidable weapon, shown when he uses it to smash the male MUTO into a skyscraper when it tries to attack him from behind, impaling it on the building and killing it instantly. In one of his battles with MUTO Prime, Godzilla manages to force the creature off of him by slashing it in the head with his claws, visibly drawing blood.

Godzilla uses his physical strength during his battles with King Ghidorah as well. In their first battle in Antarctica, Godzilla grabs one of Ghidorah's heads and slams it into the Outpost 32 building. Godzilla easily overpowers Ghidorah in their underwater battle, dragging him below the surface and managing to bite down on and tear off his left head. In their final battle, Godzilla demonstrates impressive speed for his size when he charges at Ghidorah and collides with him. Godzilla uses several physical attacks in this confrontation, including tackling Ghidorah through a building.

Amphibiousness

The MonsterVerse Godzilla possesses gills and amphibious lungs, which close whenever he comes onto land, allowing him to breathe both underwater and on land. An adept swimmer, Godzilla swims at a speed of up to 40 knots by undulating his tail like a crocodile. Godzilla is capable of swimming extremely quickly and eluding the United States Navy despite his size. Thanks to his aquatic adaptation, Godzilla is an extremely powerful combatant underwater. He was able to overpower the much larger King Ghidorah underwater and tear off one of his heads, and likely would have defeated him were it not for the Oxygen Destroyer.

Intelligence

The MonsterVerse Godzilla demonstrates learning and strategy during his battle with the MUTOs. When he is unable to overpower both MUTOs at the same time, he instead gradually learns their weaknesses and attack patterns after repeated clashes with them. After being repeatedly attacked from behind by the male MUTO, Godzilla anticipates its attack and allows it to fly behind him before swinging his tail and impaling the male MUTO on a building. After his atomic breath proves effective against the female MUTO, Godzilla sneaks up on her while she is going after Ford Brody and pulls her jaws apart, then fires his atomic breath down her throat and kills her. Godzilla uses his surroundings to his advantage, shown when he uses buildings to shove or smash his enemies. The MonsterVerse Godzilla also appears to avoid unnecessary conflict, as he completely ignores the military's attacks and does not at any point retaliate, even after being visibly hurt by a missile striking his gills. After defeating both MUTOs, he leaves San Francisco peacefully, without causing any further destruction.

In Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Godzilla continues to demonstrate intelligence. He continues to avoid unnecessary conflict with humans, preferring to intimidate them when they encounter him at Monarch's Castle Bravo base. During his second fight with King Ghidorah in Mexico, he exploits his advantage when fighting underwater by dragging Ghidorah under the surface and keeping him submerged. Godzilla manages to rip one of Ghidorah's heads off and would have most likely won using this tactic if not for the use of the Oxygen Destroyer. After being revitalized by a nuclear detonation, Godzilla seems to acknowledge the humans observing him from a nearby submarine, particularly Mark Russell, before heading off to confront Ghidorah in Boston. After beating Ghidorah, Godzilla acknowledges the other Titan's submission without any further conflict.

Radiation absorption

Godzilla feeds on radiation, and can absorb it in a variety of ways. During the Permian, Godzilla and his kind subsisted on the planet's natural surface radiation, but he retreated deep underwater to sustain himself on the planet's natural geothermal radiation following the Permian extinction. In the modern day, Godzilla is capable of absorbing radiation through man-made sources such as nuclear reactors and thermonuclear weapons. Godzilla can survive seemingly indefinitely by remaining in a hibernation-like state feeding on the surrounding radiation within his underwater lair, and this radiation allows him to continuously grow and recover from existing injuries. He was able to completely regrow the dorsal plates MUTO Prime destroyed in 2014 by 2019. Godzilla: King of the Monsters director Michael Dougherty compared this process to "deer or elk antlers. Or your own hair." [13]

Godzilla's healing process is accelerated when he is exposed to a nuclear blast at point-blank range, completely healing and revitalizing him and granting him a huge boost of internal nuclear power. Godzilla also absorbs energy from Mothra after she is killed by King Ghidorah's gravity beams. In combination with the energy he already absorbed from the nuclear blast, this charges Godzilla's internal power to the point his skin cracks and emits a bright orange glow. Godzilla becomes so superheated in this state that he melts everything around him, and emits the excess energy through a series of powerful nuclear pulses that obliterate King Ghidorah.

Weaknesses

Godzilla bleeds after being struck in the gills by the MUTOs

The Legendary Godzilla, while a formidable opponent, demonstrates a few weaknesses. The gills on his neck appear to be a weak point, shown when he reels back in pain after being struck directly in the gills by a missile. The MUTOs are able to draw blood from Godzilla and cause him to collapse to the ground by striking his gills with their hooked claws. Godzilla was also easily overwhelmed when both MUTOs attacked at once, being unable to fight the female head on and anticipate the male's attacks at the same time. Godzilla's endurance is also not limitless, as he suffers from apparent exhaustion multiple times during the fight. After killing the male MUTO, Godzilla pauses to breathe, only to be pinned under a collapsing skyscraper. After killing the female, Godzilla roars victoriously before collapsing to the ground and passing out.

Godzilla can also be outmatched in one-on-one combat by an enemy comparable to him in size and strength, as observed in his encounters with MUTO Prime and King Ghidorah. MUTO Prime relies on its powerful forelimbs to stun Godzilla with a well-timed punch to the face, while also successfully drawing blood from him with the sharp claws on its smaller additional arms. MUTO Prime's sonic roar is also powerful enough to completely shatter his dorsal fins. MUTO Prime's speed allows it to escape before Godzilla can react, meaning MUTO Prime gradually weakens Godzilla over several encounters by attacking him and retreating before it sustains any damage itself. Monarch determines that Godzilla lost his battle against MUTO Prime in France, as he sustains numerous wounds while MUTO Prime escapes mostly unharmed. Godzilla is nearly infected by MUTO Prime's parasitic spores twice, and only manages to survive and win their final battle in Montana due to Monarch's intervention. However, unlike in his battle with the MUTOs, Godzilla's battle with MUTO Prime leaves him with visible injuries all over his body, and he is only able to weakly limp away. Godzilla is visibly hurt by Ghidorah's gravity beams, and is outmatched against him in physical combat on several occasions. Ghidorah is strong enough to restrain Godzilla with his three heads, and can pin him to the ground or lift him into the air.

Godzilla is susceptible to the Oxygen Destroyer, which lowered his vital signs and forced him to retreat back to his lair to recover.

Filmography

Video Games

Godzilla: Strike Zone

In this freeware game released shortly before the film debuted in theaters, Godzilla serves an antagonistic role, and chases the player through San Francisco in the third stage. Players must avoid flying debris and make it to the end of the level to take cover.

Godzilla (PlayStation 3 / PlayStation 4)

The Hollywood Godzilla in Godzilla

Legendary Godzilla appears in the video game Godzilla on the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4, under the names "Hollywood Godzilla" or "Godzilla (2014)." He is encountered on the final stage of the game as the final boss when playing through God of Destruction Mode as the default Godzilla, provided the player has reached at least 100 meters and recorded all of the special camera angles on the other stages. After the Hollywood Godzilla is defeated, he and Burning Godzilla are unlocked as playable characters in King of Kaiju Mode. In the PlayStation 4 version of the game, Hollywood Godzilla is available to play in all game modes. In God of Destruction Mode, Hollywood Godzilla will always be scaled to his movie-accurate height of 108.2 meters, while other monsters start at 50 meters and grow by absorbing G-energy. However, Hollywood Godzilla will only begin the game at 50% power, and absorbing G-energy increases his power. In King of Kaiju mode, Hollywood Godzilla is scaled to the 80-meter class, like all other monsters.

Moveset

Square

One tap: Right Scratch

Two taps: Left Scratch

Three taps: Slap Down

Triangle

Tap: Bite

Tap + Up: Grab Press

Tap + Down: Tail Sweep

X

Tap: Tackle

Tap + Roar: Armor Tackle

Circle

Tap: Atomic Ray

Tap + Roar: Rushing Blast

R2

Tap: Double Tail Attack

Kaiju Guide

Main article: Godzilla (2014 video game)/Kaiju Guide#Godzilla (2014).

Comics

Godzilla: Awakening

An ancient creature, Godzilla slept in the sea 250,000,000 years ago and was disturbed by a Shinomura that landed near him. Godzilla stood up and blasted the Shinomura with his atomic breath just as a meteor exploded nearby, triggering the Permian-Triassic extinction event and diminishing atmospheric radiation, which Godzilla depended on, forever, forcing Godzilla to look for radiation closer to the Earth's core in the bottom of the ocean.

Millions of years pass and Godzilla hibernates until he is awakened by the atomic bombing of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. He surfaces near Hiroshima and chases after the awakened Shinomura. Throughout the rest of the 1940's, Godzilla chases off Shinomura from all sites it attacks around the Pacific Ocean and is mass-reported by eye-witnesses, but no one working for the U.S. government believes he exists except for doctor Serizawa, Ishiro Serizawa's father.

In March of 1954, Godzilla surfaces near Moansta Island to fight the two Shinomura, who had just fused into one. After a heated battle, Godzilla manages to separate both Shinomura and kills one of them with his atomic breath. As the other Shinomura gets away, Godzilla follows it to Bikini Atoll and is seen by Monarch, proving "Gojira" exists. The next day, an atomic "test" is performed on Bikini Atoll, killing the Shinomura and presumably Godzilla. Serizawa, however, believed Godzilla couldn't have died.

In 1981, Monarch member Shaw approached Ishiro Serizawa at his father's funeral, who joins Monarch in order to study Godzilla, who's still alive.

Skull Island: The Birth of Kong

A photograph of Godzilla surfacing at Bikini Atoll, along with photographs of the male MUTO and Mothra, in the first issue of Skull Island: The Birth of Kong

A photograph taken of Godzilla surfacing at Bikini Atoll in 1954 prior to the detonation of Castle Bravo, as well as photographs of the detonation itself, were hung on a map in Houston Brooks office at Monarch Field Office Sigma in 2012. Also hung on the map were a photograph of the male MUTO inside of its chrysalis and an image of a moth-like creature.

Godzilla: Aftershock

Following his victory over the MUTOs in San Francisco, Godzilla emerged to battle MUTO Prime when it emerged at an American military base in Guam. MUTO Prime punched Godzilla in the face before escaping back underground, causing Godzilla to return to the sea. When MUTO Prime destroyed a Russian nuclear submarine in the Barents Sea, Godzilla arrived and rammed it underwater. MUTO Prime again stunned Godzilla with a blow to the face and swam away. MUTO Prime next struck the Athena II Nuclear Power Plant in France, drawing Godzilla, who fired his atomic breath at his foe. The monsters clashed again, with MUTO Prime slashing into Godzilla's neck with its claws and flooring him with a devastating punch. MUTO Prime leapt onto Godzilla and extended its ovipositors, but Godzilla clawed into MUTO Prime's face and forced it off. The monsters exchanged roars before MUTO Prime retreated back underground. Godzilla returned to the sea, but was visibly injured from the encounter.

Monarch had determined that MUTO Prime was responsible for infecting another member of Godzilla's species, known to the ancients as Dagon, with its parasitic eggs using its ovipositors. Dagon had eventually been killed by the parasites and became entombed in a cavern in the Philippines, the same cavern which was unearthed in 1999 and unleashed both MUTOs. Now, MUTO Prime was intending to incubate its young inside Godzilla himself, which could lead to MUTOs overrunning the world and triggering a mass extinction. Fearing that MUTO Prime would kill Godzilla in their next encounter, Monarch developed a plan to replicate the sonic pulses given off by the MUTO eggs, fooling MUTO Prime into believing its young were safely incubating long enough for Godzilla to gain the upper hand.

Dr. Emma Russell and Tarkan Cavusgolu traveled to a repository for decommissioned nuclear submarine power cores in Nevada with the prototype ORCA sonar device developed by Emma. When they arrived, they found Godzilla and MUTO Prime already locked in combat. MUTO Prime used a sonic roar to shatter Godzilla's dorsal plates, knocking him to the ground and giving his foe the opportunity to strike. As MUTO Prime extended its ovipositors, Emma activated the ORCA. MUTO Prime hesitated, allowing Godzilla to grab his foe and lift it onto his back. Godzilla unleashed a pulse of atomic energy from his shattered dorsal plates which launched MUTO Prime into the air, severing its additional forelimbs and causing it to crash to the ground on its back. Godzilla then walked over to MUTO Prime and stomped on its head, killing it. Godzilla roared victoriously before weakly walking off into the sunset, smoke pouring from his back.

Gallery

Main articles: GareGoji#Gallery, DougheGoji#Gallery.

Roar

When creating Godzilla's new roar, sound designers Erik Aadahl and Ethan Van der Ryn embarked on a process of experimentation similar to the development of Godzilla's roar for the original 1954 film. They tried animal sounds, and reproduced the glove-on-strings method used to create the original Godzilla roar, but were not happy with the results. They spent six months over a three-year period trying to create a roar that would fit the new Godzilla, using scientific microphones that record above the range of human hearing and then taking the ultrasonic sounds and pitching and slowing them down.[14] In Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Godzilla's roars are merged with various classic roars from the Showa era.

In-universe, Godzilla's roar can be heard for three miles[2] and can reach a maximum volume of 174 decibels.[6]

Godzilla's roar in the Legendary series
Godzilla's roar in the Comic-Con 2013 trailer
Godzilla's original 1954-inspired roar

Trivia

  • The MonsterVerse 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. For Godzilla: King of the Monsters, the MonsterVerse Godzilla's size was increased and he exceeded Shin Godzilla as the tallest live-action Godzilla to date, although he is still shorter than the Hanna-Barbera Godzilla and Godzilla Earth.
  • This Godzilla's fighting style and movements were primarily based on bears and komodo dragons.[15]
  • 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.[16]

Videos

Wikizilla: YouTube Kaiju Profile: Godzilla 2014

See also

Notes

  1. While most Japanese sources elect to approximate Godzilla's height to simply 108 meters, Toho Special Effects All Monster Encyclopedia (p. 120) instead lists a more precise measurement of 108.2 meters.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Both American and Japanese sources measure Godzilla's weight as "90,000 tons" in Godzilla (2014) and "99,634 tons" in Godzilla: King of the Monsters, however it should be noted that in Japanese sources this refers to 90,000 metric tons (99,208.018 U.S. tons) and 99,634 metric tons (109,827.69 U.S. tons), respectively.
  3. The Japanese publication Godzilla Dictionary [New Edition] erroneously claims that Godzilla's body volume is 89.724 cubic meters, rather than 89,724.

References

This is a list of references for Godzilla (Monsterverse). These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: [1]

  1. GKOTM merchandise - Godzilla, king of the monsters subtitle.png
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Legendary - Godzilla Facts. (link dead, archive available)
  3. 3.0 3.1 Shin Godzilla Walker: The New Legend of the King of the Monsters. Kadokawa. 22 July 2016. p. 81. ISBN 9784048956321. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Godzilla Dictionary [New Edition]. Kasakura Publishing. 7 August 2014. p. 7. ISBN 9784773087253.
    Godzilla Dictionary G14 trivia.jpg
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 "Specimen: Titanus Gojira". Toho Kingdom on Twitter. 16 May 2019.
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 Godzilla2019stats.jpeg
  7. 7.0 7.1 Toho Special Effects All Monster Encyclopedia. Shogakukan. 23 July 2014. p. 120. ISBN 4-096-82090-3. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 8.7 8.8 Barry, Vic (29 April 2014). "Godzilla Ultimate Trivia". The Movie Bit.
  9. Mark Cotta Vaz. Godzilla: The Art of Destruction. Insight Editions. p. 99. ISBN 978-1783292806.
  10. Definitive Edition Godzilla Introduction (14th Edition). Shogakukan. 20 November 1996. p. 18. ISBN 4-09-220142-7. Check date values in: |date= (help)
    A diagram detailing Godzilla's traits, including his gills
  11. 11.0 11.1 "Monarch Sciences".
  12. Legendary and Warner Bros. Pictures Announce Cinematic Franchise Uniting Godzilla, King Kong and Other Iconic Giant Monsters - Legendary
  13. [MDTweetAnswer.jpeg]
  14. Ray, Amber. (May 22, 2014) 'Godzilla': The secrets behind the roar. Entertainment Weekly.
  15. Buzz Exclusive: Roar Deal
  16. Kong: Skull Island nearly had a very different post-credits sequence featuring a familiar face - Digital Spy

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