Ishiro Serizawa

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Ishiro Serizawa
Ishiro Serizawa in Godzilla (2014)
Species Human
Nationality Japanese
Affiliation Monarch
Occupation Biologist
Related to Eiji Serizawa (father)
First appearance Latest appearance
Godzilla (2014) Godzilla: King of the Monsters
Played by Ken Watanabe
The arrogance of man is thinking nature is in our control, and not the other way around.
„ 

— Ishiro Serizawa (Godzilla)

Ishiro Serizawa (芹沢猪四郎,   Serizawa Ishirō) is a Monarch biologist who first appeared in the 2014 Godzilla film, Godzilla and returned in its sequel, Godzilla: King of the Monsters.

Serizawa was born and raised in Hiroshima by his father Eiji, who instilled in him to respect man's harmony with nature from an early age. Having studied at both the University of Tokyo and Oxford, he grew to become a revered figure in the scientific community. In 1981, Serizawa joined Monarch, following the footsteps of his father who was one of the organization's founding figures. There, he quickly devoted himself to studying MUTOs, Godzilla in particular. In 1997 he met Vivienne Graham while at a speaking engagement at Oxford and took her under his wing in Monarch. Both he and his new assistant were summoned to the Philippines in 1999 to investigate a Titan skeleton unearthed in a mine, setting off a chain of events which led to the clash between Godzilla and two MUTOs in San Francisco in 2014, an incident in which Serizawa and Monarch would play a major role.

Personality

Dr. Serizawa is a somewhat stoic individual with a deep respect for the organisms he studies. He is very critical of the human race, particularly their attempts to dominate the planet and their scant regard for the rest of nature. As a reminder of humanity's destructive potential, he carries with him his father's pocket watch, which had stopped ticking because of the atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima. He believes Godzilla's existence is in the good of nature, as he appears to restore balance when it is disrupted.

According to Serizawa's personnel file, he is a reclusive man, even among his closest colleagues in Monarch. It is known that he enjoys the works of Wagner and the poetry of Matsuo Basho.

History

MonsterVerse

Godzilla (2014)

In 1999, Serizawa and his assistant Dr. Vivienne Graham were called to the Philippines to investigate a collapsed mine. There, they discovered the skeleton of a long-dead member of Godzilla's species along with two giant spores, one of which had hatched.

In the fifteen years following the incident at the Janjira power plant, Serizawa, Graham and a team of Monarch scientists studied the male MUTO while it was cocooned and feeding on the plant's reactor. After the MUTO broke free from its cocoon and destroyed Monarch's research facility, Serizawa and Graham were taken aboard the USS Saratoga to help the U.S. military, under the command of Admiral Willian Stenz, hunt and destroy the MUTO. After discovering that Godzilla had resurfaced, Serizawa believed that he had risen to kill the MUTO, which was his kind's natural enemy. Serizawa was proven correct when Godzilla swam underneath the Saratoga and confronted the MUTO in Honolulu. After Godzilla and the MUTO both left Honolulu, Serizawa began studying the MUTO's echolocation patterns more carefully. Serizawa concluded that the MUTO was communicating with a female --the dormant spore-- which at this point was moved to the Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository in Nevada. A team of soldiers was sent to the facility in Nevada and discovered that the female had already hatched and was attacking Las Vegas. When the military formed a plan to lure all three monsters offshore and try to kill them with a nuclear warhead, Serizawa protested, claiming that the bomb would have no effect on the monsters and that Godzilla was only there to kill the MUTOs and restore balance. Serizawa's pleas fell on deaf ears however and the military carried out the plan, which failed after the male MUTO stole the armed warhead and delivers it to the female at their nest in the center of San Francisco. After this, Admiral Stenz agreed to Dr. Serizawa's plan to withdraw military effort to destroying the MUTO and let Godzilla handle them. After Stenz refocused military efforts to extracting the bomb, Serizawa told an extraction team that the MUTOs had likely laid eggs underground and were keeping the warhead there.

After the battle, Serizawa and Graham gathered around the seemingly dead body of Godzilla in the ruins of San Francisco. When Godzilla stirred and returned to the ocean, Serizawa looked up in joy as the monster he had dedicated so many years of his life to studying returned to his home in peace.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters

Godzilla: King of the Monsters

Five years after the events of San Francisco, Monarch had started to receive backlash for seeming to be focused on protecting the Titans rather than focused on killing them. The heads of Monarch, including Serizawa and his assistant Dr. Vivienne Graham, were called for a Supreme Court hearing where they would plead their case as to why the government should continue to fund them. After a brief introduction by Sam Coleman, the judge questioned Serizawa as to why he has been focused on protecting the Titans. Serizawa explained that not all of these ancient creatures were malicious, and that some could be benevolent. As more of these creatures awakened, humanity should make an effort to form a kind of symbiotic relationship with a benevolent titan to protect them from more aggressive ones, ensuring their own survival. Serizawa saw Godzilla as a prime monster that could act as a protector. The judge mockingly asked Serizawa if he was suggesting humanity should make Godzilla their “pet”. Serizawa responded that it would be the other way around. Many inside the court room laughed out loud. The judge asked Serizawa if he even cared about human life. Serizawa replied that he respected all life. Sensing the tension in the room, Sam decided it was time to leave and led Serizawat and Dr. Graham out. Shortly after, Serizawa was informed that scientist Dr. Emma Russell and her daughter Madison Russell had been kidnapped. It was later revealed to be a group of eco-terrorists under the leadership of infamous ex-mercenary Alan Jonah. Shortly after learning this, they traveled to Colorado to inform Dr. Russell’s ex-husband Mark Russell. They then took him to Monarch Outpost 54 in Bermuda, were Godzilla supposedly resided nearby. As they were discussing what to do, the Outpost suddenly because to rumble and Godzilla’s roar could be faintly heard. G-Team began to arm the turrets, but Mark, though he hated Godzilla, blaming him for the death of his son, suggested that they stand down and open the hatches to the windows to show him that they weren’t a threat, as they might not be able to hold him off with their weaponry. G-Team stood down and opened the hatches to the windows. Staring them down was Godzilla, just feet away from the window. His dorsal plates glowed a bright blue, flashing on and off. Dr. Graham interpreted it as a dominance display. Godzilla stared at the terrified onlookers before his dorsal plates stopped glowing, cloaking him in the darkness. The onlookers began to relax, but Godzilla suddenly swam swiftly by the Outpost, causing massive tremors. After the shaking stopped, Dr. Ilene Chen noted that Godzilla didn’t seem to be angry at them, but something else that made his territory feel threatened. After tracking Godzilla, it was noted that he seemed to be headed for Outpost 32 in Antarctica, the same place a mysterious signal was headed. It was concluded that this is what upset Godzilla, and that it could be the ORCA, Dr. Russell’s device that could manipulate titans using a combination of human and various Titan sounds. Monarch sent G-Team to Outpost 32 to scout the area, and rescue the hostages if necessary. Those who accompanied them were Serizawa, Dr. Graham, and Mark. They flew to Outpost 32 in the highly advanced flying vehicle called the USS Argo, and deployed two Ospreys to land G-Team. Dr. Graham and Serizawa stayed in their Osprey while Mark accompanied G-Team. After waiting for awhile, the ground began to shake and Serizawa saw G-Team and Mark running away in terror. The ground began to cave in and out of it arose the three headed titan simply named ”Monster Zero”. As storm clouds spewing golden lightning began to cover the sky, energy began to glow from the creature’s necks, and out of the mouths golden electricity came out, wiping out more than half of G-Team. As the survivors ran for the Osprey, Godzilla rose from the frigid waters and began to fight the foreboding monster. This further endangered G-Team and some died as they attempted to reach the Osprey, while Godzilla seemed to be outmatched by Monster Zero. Just as the survivors reached the Osprey, Godzilla’s foot claws hit the vehicle which sent Dr. Graham flying out. Dr. Graham tried to run back inside, but Monster Zero noticed her and crushed her with one of his tails. The passengers seemed doomed as it was too dangerous to fly with Godzilla and Monster Zero in the way, but the latter suddenly stopped and began to retreat, Godzilla pursuing him. Aboard the Argo, G-Team leader Diane Foster reported that she saw Emma pressing a detonator that triggered bombs attached to an iceberg Monster Zero was frozen in. Mark confirms this, adding that her and Madison refused to come to him when he had Alan Jonah at gunpoint. On the radar, Godzilla was shown to be pursuing a massive hurricane headed for Isla De Mara. It was soon realized that this hurricane was in fact Monster Zero himself. As the Argo headed for Isla De Mara, they received a transmission from Dr. Russell. She revealed that the kidnapping was staged and that she and Madison went with Jonah willingly. She told the people on board that her and Jonah were planning to use the ORCA to awaken the titans so that they could massively reduce the human population, thereby stopping the negative effects humans have had on nature since the Industrial Age. Serizawa tried to convince Emma out of it but she wouldn’t listen. Mark became enraged and had an intense argument with his divorcee. Mark deeply hurt Emma by telling her that her plans wouldn’t bring their son back. Tears in her eyes, Emma ended the transmission. The Argo arrived at Isla De Mara just as the titan at Outpost 56, called Rodan awakened. The Argo and a flight squad of jets attempted to lead Rodan away from the nearby city and get him to fight Monster Zero, but a small area of the city was destroyed nevertheless and the Argo was the only ship remaining by the time they reached Monster Zero. Monster Zero easily defeated Rodan, and as he neared the coast on the other side of the city at Isla De Mara Godzilla jumped out of the water and dragged him in. Godzilla overpowered Monster Zero now that they were in his domain, eventually ripping off his left head. Back on the Argo, the passengers received a transmission from Admiral William Stenz informing them that the military has created a new weapon to kill both monsters, the Oxygen Destroyer. Serizawa begs Stenz to reconsider but Stenz refuses. The US military detonates the new weapon in the harbor, creating a green explosion that reaches about a two mile radius. With Oxygen virtually nonexistent, the fish immediately die, their carcasses rising to the surface. Monster Zero comes out of the water alive and completely unscathed. On the Argo, monitors on Godzilla show his vital signs fading, until they completely disappear. Serizawa bitterly tells Mark that he got his wish. Monster Zero returns to Isla De Mara and sits atop Rodan’s volcano. After his left head regenerates, he lets out a piercing cry that sounds through the entire Earth. Many titans suddenly begin to awaken from their slumber and begin destroying cities all around the world. Rodan returns to his mountain, sits on it’s foot and begins to bow to Monster Zero. Rick Stanton notes from Monster Zero’s regeneration that he defies the natural laws of any other creature on Earth. Dr. Chen suggested he wasn’t from Earth at, as ancient records, who called the beast Ghidorah, say that he “fell from the stars”. Essentially, he was an alien. Records also suggest that Ghidorah was Godzilla’s ancient nemesis, who battled him through the ages for dominance over the other titans. Serizawa noted that now Ghidorah had taken the position Godzilla deserved, becoming a “False King”. Soon after arriving at Outpost 54, a bright white light suddenly began to illuminate the sky. Dr. Chen recognized the titan emitting the light as Mothra from Outpost 61, the “Queen of the Monsters”. The bright light she was casting seemed to act as some kind of beacon. Since Mothra and Godzilla had a symbiotic in the ancient past, and since Mothra seemed attempting to communicate with something, it gave the possibility that Godzilla wasn’t dead. The computers at the Outpost picked up vital signs and sent drones to investigate. As the drones went deeper into the water, Mark asked Serizawa asked why they were going to so much trouble for Godzilla. Serizawa said that sometimes the best way to defeat ones demons was to make peace with them. He went on to explain Godzilla’s important role as the key to the coexistence between man and titan, and the necessity for man to live in harmony with nature. Mark replied that he always makes the best speeches. Serizawa joked that he got it from a fortune cookie. The drones eventually discovered a massive underwater city, with pictorials revealing that it’s inhabitants lived along side and even worshiped Godzilla. Th drones soon find an air-pocket, where they find Godzilla. Godzilla is seen eating molten lava that contains radiation, using it to recover. The drones soon short out from the intense amount of radiation in the area. At a natural rate, Godzilla’s recovery would take about five years. Ghidorah would have completely terraformed the planet by then and mankind would most likely go extinct. The only way to speed the process would be for a human to set nuclear bombs next to Godzilla, giving him a massive dose of radiation. However, the human who did so would certainly die from the massive dose of radiation in the area. Serizawa volunteered to go, much to the others refusal. After he convinced them to let him go, he gave Dr. Chen his notes and an emotional farewell to his colleagues. He entered a submarine and eventually came to the air pocket. Serizawa climbed up the massive altar Godzilla was laying on, set the timer on the bombs, and laid them beside Godzilla. Serizawa took off the radiation mask he had been wearing and touched Godzilla’s nose. Godzilla seemed to recognize Serizawa and gave him a look of curiosity. As the final seconds counted down, Serizawa said in Japanese “Goodbye old friend”. Then the bombs detonated.

Comics

Godzilla: Awakening

Ishiro Serizawa was born in 1945, before the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, to a Japanese sailor and his wife. Ishiro's father found his son alone in the ruins of Hiroshima and left him with his grandparents in Kyoto for the next several years.

In 1980, Ishiro went to visit his father in Tokyo, after he had called him urgently. His father began telling him things he said he would tell him when he was older: that he didn't work for a cargo company; instead he worked for a secretive government unit. His father told Ishiro about Shinomura and Godzilla. Ishiro attended his father's funeral the next year in 1981, where he was approached by Shaw, a former colleague of his father's. Knowing why Shaw was there, Ishiro said he was ready and joined Monarch.

Skull Island: The Birth of Kong

In 1995, while arguing with his father over the 1973 Skull Island expedition being kept secret by Monarch, Aaron Brooks angrily accused his father of being just like Serizawa, naively believing that giant monsters should be left to maintain the balance of nature by themselves.

Godzilla: Aftershock

To be added.

Gallery

Godzilla

Godzilla: King of the Monsters

Trivia


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