Godzilla (TriStar)

Godzilla incarnations
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Godzilla® Alternate names American Godzilla, America Godzilla, Hollywood Godzilla, Godzilla-USA, ToraGoji, AmeriGoji, Godzilla 1998, Fred, G.I.N.O., Deanzilla, Fraudzilla, Cyber GodzillaGTS, first GodzillaGTS, giant creature resembling GodzillaGMK Subtitle(s) Gigantic Creature (巨大生物,   Kyodai Seibutsu) Species Irradiated iguana Height >180 feet / 54 meters Length >300 feet / 90 meters, 200 feet (Tail) Weight 500 tons Other stats Tooth length: 5+ feet, Talon length: 6 feet, Length of foot: 45 feet, Top speed: 300-500 miles per hour, Largest dorsal plate height: 20+ feet Forms Cyber GodzillaGTS Controlled by Leviathan AliensGTS Relations Numerous offspring, Second Godzilla (son) Enemies Humans, Second GodzillaGTS Created by Ishiro Honda, Tomoyuki Tanaka, Eiji Tsuburaya, Roland Emmerich, Dean Devlin, Patrick Tatopoulos Played by Kurt Carley, Gary A. Hecker, Frank Welker, Scott Gershin (vocalizations) First appearance Latest appearance GODZILLA (1998) Godzilla: The Series Design(s) ToraGoji Roar(s) More roars

This article covers the adult Godzilla from the 1998 film. For his revived cybernetic form, see Cyber Godzilla. For his offspring, see Baby Godzilla (TriStar). For this Godzilla's surviving offspring from Godzilla: The Series, see Godzilla (Godzilla: The Series). For the Toho monster possessing the design of this Godzilla, see Zilla.

“	He's not some monster trying to evade you. He's just an animal. If you find what he wants, then he'll come to you.	„
	— Niko Tatopoulos (GODZILLA)

Godzilla (ゴジラ,   Gojira) is a giant monster who appeared in the 1998 TriStar Pictures film GODZILLA.

The first incarnation of Godzilla to appear in an American-made film, the TriStar Godzilla deviated sharply from previous incarnations of the character, being a mutated iguana rather than a prehistoric creature. His appearance is more reminiscent of modern reconstructions of theropod dinosaurs, and he lacks some of Godzilla's most well-known traits, such as atomic breath and immunity to conventional weaponry. Instead, this Godzilla relies on his speed and animalistic cunning to evade and ambush attackers rather than fight them head-on. This Godzilla was ultimately killed by fighter jets at the end of his debut film, but one of his asexually-produced offspring survived and grew into the next Godzilla in Godzilla: The Series, an animated sequel to the 1998 film. This Godzilla's carcass was eventually salvaged by the Leviathan Aliens and converted into a cyborg dubbed Cyber Godzilla as part of the aliens' plan to use Earth's many mutations to conquer the planet.

The TriStar Godzilla became particularly controversial among the fanbase due to his departure from previous versions of the character. The Toho film Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001) acknowledged this controversy in the form of dialogue mentioning a monster recently attacking New York City, identified as Godzilla by the U.S. but faced with skepticism by Japanese experts. When TriStar's rights to the character expired in 2003, Toho assumed ownership of the TriStar Godzilla and reintroduced it as a new character called "Zilla" in the film Godzilla Final Wars (2004), who has himself since been featured in other Godzilla media.

Name

Godzilla's Japanese name, Gojira (ゴジラ), comes from a combination of the Japanese approximation of "gorilla" (ゴリラ,   gorira), and kujira (クジラ), the Japanese word for "whale." The name is said to have been chosen to represent the size and strength of both animals. Contrary to popular belief, the English name "Godzilla" was not invented by the American distributors of the original film. Before Toho sold the film to U.S. distributors, the company's international division had originally marketed English-subtitled prints of the film under the title of Godzilla, which were shown briefly in Japanese-American theaters. Toho themselves had decided on "Godzilla" as the English transliteration of Gojira. According to the 2002 book Since Godzilla, the English name "Godzilla" produces connotations such as the words "God," "lizard," and "gorilla." The word "God" is applicable to Godzilla because of his immense size and destructive power, which causes him to be seen as a god by some, "lizard" is applicable due to his reptilian appearance and ties to the time of the dinosaurs, and "gorilla" is applicable due to his strength and his creation having been inspired by the famous gorilla-like giant monster King Kong. "Godzilla" may be approximated into Japanese as ガッズィラ (Gazzira) or ガッズィーラ (Gazzīra).

In the 1998 film, the monster is initially called by its Japanese name, "Gojira", when a Japanese sailor witnesses the creature attack his boat and believes it to be a legendary sea monster. Before a recording of the sailor becomes public, the U.S. military gives it the codename "Fred," as shown briefly on a monitor after it destroys a submarine. Eventually, reporter Charles Caiman gives it the name Godzilla by mispronouncing "Gojira."

When TriStar's rights to the Godzilla franchise expired in 2003; the rights to this incarnation of Godzilla reverted to Toho, who re-trademarked it as a new character called Zilla for the 2004 film Godzilla Final Wars, as according to Shogo Tomiyama it "took the 'God' out of 'Godzilla.'" All further incarnations of this version of Godzilla will therefore be known as "Zilla." However, new merchandise of the 1998 incarnation of the monster may still use the name "Godzilla" to refer to it, as demonstrated by the recent DefoReal Godzilla (1998) figure produced by X-Plus, the various Godzilla 1998 ornaments released by Cast, and a keychain from Bandai. Conversely, as the Zilla character encompasses all of the traits of the TriStar Godzilla, merchandise such as Spiral Studio's The Legacy Series Zilla statue may be based entirely on the TriStar Godzilla but use Zilla's name. Despite this distinction, fans often call this Godzilla "Zilla," owing to their identical designs and characteristics and a persistent myth that Toho retroactively changed this Godzilla's name upon making Godzilla Final Wars.

This version of Godzilla is also commonly referred to by fans as G.I.N.O. (also spelled GINO and Gino), an acronym for "Godzilla In Name Only." This term was coined by Richard Pusateri in January 1998. Some Japanese sources contemporary with the film called this incarnation America Godzilla (アメリカゴジラ,   Amerika Gojira), while the official Japanese nickname for its design is ToraGoji (トラゴジ), which comes from combining and shortening "TriStar" and Godzilla's Japanese name, Gojira. At the beginning of Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack, the monster is alluded to as a "giant creature resembling Godzilla" (ゴジラに酷似した巨大生物,   Gojira ni kokuji shita kyodai seibutsu).

Development

Main articles: Godzilla: King of the Monsters 3-D, Godzilla (1994 film).

Godzilla concept art from the original 1994 TriStar screenplay

The idea of an American Godzilla film was considered as early as 1983, when Steve Miner proposed a project called Godzilla: King of the Monsters 3-D. Concept art and maquettes for this Godzilla's design, which resembled a hybrid of Godzilla's traditional design and dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus rex, were completed before the film was abandoned.

When TriStar Pictures acquired the rights to produce a Godzilla film in 1992, it hired Ted Eliott and Terry Rossio to write a script for the film, which was completed in 1994. The Godzilla featured in this script would be a creature genetically engineered from the DNA of dinosaurs by an ancient civilization to defend the Earth. It would retain most of the characteristics of the Japanese Godzilla, including the mostly upright stance, immunity to conventional weaponry, and atomic breath. Carlos Huante, Ricardo Delgado, and several other artists prepared concept art of Godzilla and his proposed enemy, the Gryphon, before Stan Winston received the contract to design the monsters. This version of the film was ultimately scrapped after Sony executives could not come to a budget agreement with director Jan De Bont, who subsequently left the project.

When Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin were brought on to handle the film, they discarded Eliott and Rossio's script and re-envisioned Godzilla as a mutated iguana spawned by nuclear testing. They hired Patrick Tatopoulos to design the new Godzilla. Emmerich sent him Toho's extensive design guidelines via fax, but the artist never received it, reimagining the character as a lean, swift creature capable of running extremely fast. Tatopoulos took his prominent chin from Shere Khan, the villainous tiger in Disney's The Jungle Book. Emmerich and Devlin decided to make their Godzilla susceptible to conventional weaponry, instead having him rely on his speed and cunning to evade the military. This Godzilla would lack the character's traditional abilities, such as atomic breath, instead posing a threat by asexually producing hundreds of offspring. When Emmerich and Devlin revealed a maquette of the design to Toho executives, they were stunned, but approved it the following day with only minor caveats. Tatopoulos had designed Godzilla with two rows of dorsal plates and five fingers on each hand; Toho wanted three and four, respectively.

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  1983 Godzilla: King of the Monsters 3-D storyboard

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  Stan Winston's unused 1994 American Godzilla design

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  Godzilla concept art by Patrick Tatopoulos

Design

Main article: ToraGoji.

The TriStar Godzilla differs greatly in appearance from most other incarnations of Godzilla. Physically, the creature resembles modern depictions of theropod dinosaurs, specifically dromaeosaurids, with some inspiration from iguanas and crocodilians. He has a rough, square-shaped underbite and a pronounced chin, a long and thick neck with a small, spiky dewlap, large, fin-shaped scutes instead of the character's traditional maple leaf-shaped dorsal plates, and long, powerful legs and arms. His mouth is lipless with numerous small, pyramid-shaped teeth that are always visible, even when his mouth is closed, and stick out over both his upper and lower jaws, much like a crocodile. His eyes are fiery-looking, with bright yellow pupils and orange sclera. Each of his 13.7-meter-long feet possess three large, dinosaur-like primary digits on the front and a much smaller, seemingly vestigial pinky on the back.

Personality

The TriStar Godzilla is an intelligent animal simply bent on survival. He evades, confuses, and ambushes his attacker rather than fight them head-on, behavior which allowed him to survive several encounters with the U.S. military. According to Niko Tatopoulos, Godzilla is not acting maliciously, but is simply providing for the survival of himself and his young. The destruction Godzilla causes is generally the result of his gigantic size as he searches for food or attempts to evade the military. Godzilla is visibly saddened and enraged after he finds his offspring dead in the ruins of Madison Square Garden, and seems to hold the humans who are present responsible, immediately giving chase after them.

Origins

The TriStar Godzilla is a mutated creature that hatched from an iguana egg exposed to a 1968 French nuclear test conducted in Moruroa Atoll of French Polynesia. The creature apparently grew over a period of 30 years, and by the year 1998 had reached a size of about 180 feet as a result of his mutation.

History

• GODZILLA (1998)
• Godzilla: The Series (TV 1998-2000) [as Godzilla and Cyber Godzilla]
• Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001) [referenced]

GODZILLA (1998)

Godzilla in GODZILLA (1998)

In 1998, a gigantic creature sunk the Japanese fishing vessel Kobayashi-Maru, leaving only one survivor. The creature hauled the ship ashore in Panama, leaving behind a trail of footprints across the island. Believing the monster was the product of a secret nuclear test their country had conducted in French Polynesia 30 years prior, the French government authorized a team of secret servicemen led by Philippe Roaché to investigate. Posing as an insurance agent, Philippe investigated the shipwreck, which was completely stripped of tuna, and interviewed the only survivor of the incident, who had been exposed to a great deal of radiation during the attack. He claimed he saw Gojira, a giant sea monster from Japanese legend. In the meantime, the American military deployed forces to Panama to further investigate the incident, establishing a scientific team composed of Niko "Nick" Tatopoulos, Elsie Chapman and Mendel Craven to determine what caused it. Elsie proposed the shipwreck and footprints were made by some kind of huge lost dinosaur, but Nick believed otherwise. He hypothesized that the animal was a new mutant species spawned from exposure to nuclear radiation.

The creature swam up the Eastern Seaboard of the United States, causing multiple shipwrecks as it approached New York City. When he came ashore in Manhattan, he revealed himself to be a huge reptilian creature standing approximately 180 feet in height. He tore apart the docks and wandered through the city, causing extensive damage before vanishing into the urban jungle. The military scrambled to evacuate the city and prepare countermeasures against the monster. Nick determined that the monster was piscivorous, and proposed a plan to lure it into Flatiron Square with 20,000 pounds of fish. The plan was set into motion, with a mound of fish being dumped into the street and military forces being stationed around the area. After manhole covers in the area were opened, the creature broke through the street and began eating the fish. Nick took photographs of the beast before the military opened fire on it. The monster fled from the military's attack, and began picking off the AH-64 Apache choppers deployed after him one-by-one. In the end, the monster escaped and the military inflicted more damage on the city than he did. In the aftermath, Nick recovered a blood sample from the creature, and after close analysis discovered that the creature was capable of asexual reproduction and about to lay eggs. Nick's former college sweetheart, Audrey Timmonds, reunited with him and stole some of his classified videotapes about the monster, intending to use them to advance her aspirations as a news reporter. Audrey's boss, Charles Caiman, in turn stole the story and reported it on live television, giving the monster the name "Godzilla" after mispronouncing Gojira. When the report aired, the military promptly kicked Nick off the task force dealing with the monster. Nick was subsequently kidnapped by Philippe and his men, who wanted to work with him to find Godzilla's nest under the city before his young could hatch.

Two Baby Godzillas in GODZILLA (1998)

The military prepared for another assault against Godzilla in Central Park. Once Godzilla surfaced and entered the park, the military opened fire on him, sending him into retreat again. Godzilla dove into the Hudson River, where two Ohio-class submarines and one Los Angeles-class submarine were waiting for him. The submarines locked onto Godzilla and fired torpedoes at him while he attempted to burrow to safety. The torpedoes struck the monster, sending him sinking to the river floor. The military declared Godzilla dead, bringing relief to the city. Meanwhile, Philippe's team, secretly followed by Audrey and her cameraman Victor "Animal" Palotti, made their way through New York’s subway tunnels. They soon found Godzilla's nest inside Madison Square Garden, containing 228 eggs and a large supply of fish to feed the young. The eggs then hatched into Baby Godzillas, who caught the smell of fish on Nick and the others and began attacking them. Eventually, Nick and Philippe met up with Audrey and Animal, and they all boarded themselves inside the arena's media room. Using the broadcasting equipment, Audrey broadcast a live news report to the city showing the Baby Godzillas roaming through the arena and warning of the threat. Major Anthony Hicks ordered three F-18 Hornets to blow up the arena, and gave Nick and the others a brief window to flee. Using an assault rifle to shoot down chandeliers on the ceiling, Philippe cleared a path for himself, Nick, Audrey, and Animal to escape just before the arena exploded with all the Baby Godzillas still inside.

A new Godzilla hatches in GODZILLA (1998)

The four believed the threat was over, but were proven wrong when the still-living adult Godzilla rose up from under the street. After seeing the charred corpses of his young, Godzilla became enraged and gave chase to the humans. They quickly hijacked a taxi and began fleeing from the monster, who chased them across the city. Nick established contact with the military, warning them that Godzilla was still alive. The group then lured Godzilla to the Brooklyn Bridge to trap him for the military, but the creature suddenly caught the cab in his mouth. They electrocuted the monster's mouth with a nearby live wire, making him roar in pain and allowing them to drive back out onto the bridge. Godzilla persisted, jumping onto the bridge and eventually becoming ensnared in the suspension cables. With Godzilla trapped, the three F-18 Hornets flew overhead and unleashed their payload on the stationary monster. Godzilla roared as the missiles created enormous wounds in his sides. Godzilla made eye contact with Nick before rising up and dropping in front of the humans. Nick looked Godzilla in the eye as the monster slowly died. New York immediately erupted into celebration, with the threat of Godzilla finally eliminated.

However, inside the smoldering ruins of Madison Square Garden, a lone egg hatched.

Godzilla: The Series

Main articles: Cyber Godzilla, Godzilla (Godzilla: The Series).

"New Family: Part 1"

The first Godzilla in Godzilla: The Series

In a recap of the ending of the 1998 film, Godzilla was killed on the Brooklyn Bridge by three F-18 Hornets.

"Monster Wars: Part 2"

Cyber Godzilla in Godzilla: The Series

After his death, the first Godzilla's body was taken to the Sandy Point military base where it was studied. The base was eventually overtaken by the Leviathan Aliens, who used their technology to resurrect Godzilla as a cyborg called Cyber Godzilla. He was then sent to eliminate Nick Tatopoulos's research team H.E.A.T., who had sneaked into the facility. When the second Godzilla, who had hatched from the sole surviving egg in Madison Square Garden and imprinted on Nick, arrived to save them, he refused to fight his biological father and was taken under the control of the Leviathan Aliens. The father and son team gave chase to H.E.A.T., but were distracted by N.I.G.E.L., which allowed them to escape. Cyber Godzilla and the other mutations under Leviathan Alien control were then sent out to destroy various cities. Cyber Godzilla was sent to Tokyo.

"Monster Wars: Part 3"

The other mutations were freed from the control of the Leviathan Aliens, but Cyber Godzilla remained loyal. He soon confronted his son, who decided to fight for his surrogate father, Nick, rather than his biological father. The two fought, with Godzilla ripping off Cyber Godzilla's robotic arm and tearing out his internal mechanisms, killing him permanently.

Millennium era

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

In 2002, JSDF Admiral Taizo Tachibana gave a lecture to several soldiers detailing how the JSDF faced Godzilla in 1954. Despite a long period of peace, Tachibana warned that monster sightings have increased in recent years, with a giant reptilian creature having recently attacked New York City. One soldier in the audience asked his comrade if the creature was Godzilla; he replied that all the American experts claimed that it was, though Japanese authorities had their doubts.

Abilities

Though he lacks the renowned strength and imperviousness of other Godzilla incarnations, the TriStar Godzilla has demonstrated several unique abilities of his own.

Physical strength

While not as physically powerful as other Godzilla incarnations, the TriStar Godzilla has demonstrated incredible strength. He easily sunk three fishing boats at full speed, pulling them underwater. He also brought a large freighter onto shore.

Agility

Godzilla diving into the Hudson River to evade the military

Godzilla is extremely agile; in the Stephen Molstad novelization of GODZILLA, Dr. Elsie Chapman estimates that he possesses a land speed of 300 to 500 miles per hour. Godzilla outran multiple squadrons of AH-64 Apaches and dodged missiles launched at him at close range. He was also fast enough underwater to evade torpedoes.

Camouflage

Godzilla's skin color allows him to blend in well with New York City's architecture. He also possesses an incredibly low body temperature, which renders him colder than surrounding buildings and unable to be detected by heat-seeking technology.

Teeth and claws

Godzilla leaping up and crushing a helicopter in his jaws with ease

Godzilla has five-foot-long teeth and six-foot-long talons, that allowed him to casually burrow through tough surfaces and crush steel helicopters.

Dorsal plates

Godzilla's dorsal plates sliced through the metal hull of a submarine as he swam beneath it.

Burrowing

Godzilla burrowing through a tunnel under New York City

Godzilla's burrowing ability allowed him to excavate the thick tar and concrete around New York with ease to escape and hide from the United States Army.

Durability

Machine gun fire is capable of drawing blood from Godzilla, although he is too large to be seriously hurt by it. However, he was stunned by two torpedoes fired by two Ohio-class submarines. The F-18 Hornet's missile compliment proved strong enough to kill him; however, it required at least 12 missiles.

Power breath

Godzilla breathing his flammable power breath onto the street

The TriStar Godzilla lacks the character's iconic atomic breath, though he possesses a "power breath" (strong flammable winds of gas) which he can also ignite to form a wall or blast of flames. This power breath can send things weighing several tons flying away, including cars. In GODZILLA's screenplay, his breath did not ignite; it became flammable in post-production to placate outraged fans. Consequently, it also does not ignite in novelizations of the film, which had to be finalized prior to the change.

Atomic breath

Cyber Godzilla unleashing his atomic breath in Tokyo

When this Godzilla was revived and upgraded as Cyber Godzilla in Godzilla: The Series, he displayed the ability to fire a blue atomic breath. In some of Patrick Tatopoulos' concept artwork for the 1998 film as well as in some artwork for merchandise related to the film, Godzilla is depicted firing atomic breath.

Reproduction

The TriStar Godzilla is capable of asexual reproduction, laying over 200 eggs in Madison Square Garden. The fact that this Godzilla laid eggs has led to a prevalent misconception regarding the character's gender; however, like all other versions of Godzilla, the TriStar Godzilla is officially recognized as a male creature in spite of his reproductive ability. Niko Tatopoulos even describes Godzilla as a "very unusual he" after discovering its reproductive ability. In Godzilla: The Series, Nick also refers to the creature as the "daddy" of the Godzilla featured in the series. Despite the monster's official gender, designer Patrick Tatopoulos has revealed that female genitalia were sculpted onto Godzilla's CGI model, though this is not plainly visible in the film.

Intelligence

While portrayed as more animalistic than many other Godzilla incarnations, the TriStar Godzilla is still capable of thinking and strategizing in the midst of battle. Throughout the film, Godzilla eludes the U.S. military, causing them to ultimately cause more damage to New York City than he does. Using his speed and camouflage, Godzilla evades several military helicopters and attacks them from behind.

Weaknesses

Godzilla roaring in agony as he is fatally wounded by missiles on the Brooklyn Bridge

Unlike most Godzilla incarnations, the TriStar Godzilla is not immune to conventional weaponry, and relies on his cunning and speed to survive the military's attacks. He is ultimately killed after being lured onto the Brooklyn Bridge and becoming entangled by the suspension cables, leaving him helpless against the missile strikes of three F-18 Hornets.

Video games

• GODZILLA (1998) - pinball
• GODZILLA - The Aftermath (1998) - Microsoft Windows [footprints]
• Godzilla: Trading Battle (1998) - Sony PlayStation
• Godzilla Generations (1998) - Sega Dreamcast
• Collect Godzilla: Giant Monster Assembly (1998) - Sega Dreamcast VMU
• GODZILLA (1998) - LCD
• GODZILLA - The Destruction (1998) - Microsoft Windows
• GODZILLA: Virtual Shakin' (1998) - LCD
• Godzilla: The Series - Monster Wars (2000) - Nintendo Game Boy Color [as Cyber Godzilla]

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  Godzilla USA in Godzilla Generations

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• 
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  GODZILLA in Godzilla: Trading Battle

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  USA Godzilla's sprite in Collect Godzilla: Giant Monster Assembly

Books

• GODZILLA (1998) [HarperPrism novelization]
• GODZILLA: A Junior Novelization (1998)
• GODZILLA (1998) [Scholastic young adult novelization]
• GODZILLA (1998) [Scholastic picture book]
• The GODZILLA Movie Scrapbook (1998)
• The Official GODZILLA Movie Fact Book (1998)
• The Making of GODZILLA (1998)

Gallery

Main article: ToraGoji.

Roar

Main article: Godzilla's roar#GODZILLA (1998).

	[citation(s) needed] — This section is missing references. Please improve this section by including relevant citations. As a reader, exercise caution when encountering unsourced statements.

The TriStar Godzilla's roars are a mix between the roars of the Second Generation Godzilla, elephant sounds, trumpets, and metal slides. He also emits a crocodile growl just before he first emerges from the ground in front of Nick in Flatiron Square. Gary A. Hecker, Frank Welker,^{[citation needed]} and the film's sound designer, Scott Martin Gershin, also contributed vocals for Godzilla.

The TriStar Godzilla's roars were later used for Godzilla in the American version of Godzilla 2000, his cameo appearance in Always: Sunset on Third Street 2, and for an official trailer for the English-language release of the Godzilla PlayStation 3 and 4 video game.

Godzilla's revived cybernetic form and surviving offspring from Godzilla: The Series and Zilla in Godzilla Final Wars also used these same roars, only slightly modified. The roars were later reused for the Monsterverse Godzilla in the trailer for the Godzilla vs. Kong x PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds Mobile collaboration.

Godzilla 1998 roars

Trivia

• Though his appearance may suggest otherwise, the TriStar Godzilla is a mutated iguana, and not a dinosaur or prehistoric reptile like nearly all other versions of the character.
• At only 500 tons in weight, the TriStar Godzilla is the lightest known incarnation of Godzilla. Interestingly, this Godzilla's offspring in Godzilla: The Series is stated to weigh 60,000 metric tons in the episode "Cash of the Titans," the same weight as the Heisei incarnation of Godzilla.
• The TriStar Godzilla became incredibly controversial among both American and Japanese Godzilla fans, due to his drastic departure from the character's traditional appearance and characteristics. Toho would humorously acknowledge this controversy in the 2001 film Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack, where one character mentions that a giant monster recently attacked New York City. A soldier asks his comrade if the monster was Godzilla, and the other responds that the American experts seem to believe so, though the Japanese doubt it.
• According to Koichi Kawakita, some concept art of Godzilla Junior was influenced by the concepts of the TriStar Godzilla that existed in 1995.
• Despite widespread criticism of TriStar's version of Godzilla, producer Shogo Tomiyama maintained that Toho had clear communication with TriStar during the development of the 1998 film. When asked about Hollywood's 1998 film interpretation of Godzilla, Tomiyama stated: "There was always very good communication between Tokyo and Hollywood. We knew exactly how they were going to do it, and we knew what Godzilla was going to look like."
  • After TriStar's rights to the Godzilla franchise expired in 2003, Toho assumed ownership of the TriStar Godzilla and re-trademarked it as a new character called Zilla that was featured in the 2004 film Godzilla Final Wars, where it is quickly killed onscreen by the Japanese Godzilla. According to Shogo Tomiyama, the monster was given the name Zilla because in his words TriStar "took the 'God' out of 'Godzilla'" with its reinterpretation of the character.
• In an interview with Starlog, Dean Devlin mentioned that in several earlier drafts of the 1998 film, Godzilla was to have been created by aliens rather than nuclear testing. Devlin said that the filmmakers stuck with Godzilla's traditional nuclear origin because it was something they "felt strongly about not abandoning" and that they thought "it was too important to what Godzilla is all about."
• In GODZILLA: Monster Apocalypse, the prequel novel for GODZILLA: Planet of the Monsters, Zilla and Gorosaurus are given a shared chapter which goes into detail about the destruction they caused within the timeline. Zilla is given a role directly inspired by the worst case scenario proposed by Nick in the 1998 film, where it can reproduce asexually and tons of its offspring overrun the city, becoming a pest kaiju. Zilla also attacks France, a reference to the French being responsible for the TriStar Godzilla's creation. Text from the novel says: "If you leave one young one alive, no, if you leave just an egg behind, it'll hatch and reproduce all over again"; also, "The big ones are dangerous, but the young ones were more troublesome. They're intelligent and act in herds. The young ones act as decoys for the tanks while the adults attack from the rooftops"; additionally, "It was more difficult to free the city besieged by Zilla than any other monster."
• In the 80th Academy Awards opening, for a brief moment Peter Jackson's King Kong can be seeing fighting against TriStar's Godzilla.
• In reference to the TriStar Godzilla's in-universe origin as a mutated iguana, scientists named a species of marine iguana after Godzilla in 2017, known as Amblyrhynchus cristatus godzilla.

Video

Kaiju Profile: Godzilla 1998 / Zilla

See also

• Godzilla (Godzilla: The Series)
• Baby Godzilla (TriStar)
• Zilla

References

This is a list of references for Godzilla (TriStar). 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]

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