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| This sandbox is for potential new sections for pages or rewrites of sections on existing pages. Essentially, I use this page to test things that don't themselves constitute entire pages. | | This sandbox is for potential new sections for pages or rewrites of sections on existing pages. Essentially, I use this page to test things that don't themselves constitute entire pages. |
| {{TOC}} | | {{TOC}} |
| ==[[Godzilla Misconceptions]]== | | ==[[Godzilla]]== |
| ===What is Godzilla?===
| | Godzilla's Japanese name, ''Gojira'' {{Nihongo|ゴジラ}}, comes from a combination of the Japanese approximation of "gorilla" {{Nihongo|ゴリラ|Gorira}}, and ''kujira'' {{Nihongo|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.<ref name="SinceGodzilla">{{cite book|title=[[Since Godzilla]]|date=20 April 2002|publisher=Rikuyosha Co. Ltd|page=4|isbn=4897374472}}</ref> In an early script for the original [[Godzilla (1954 film)|1954 ''Godzilla'' film]], Godzilla's name was spelled in katakana as ゴヂラ, though it was still pronounced ''Gojira''.<ref name="1954-1999 p.208">{{cite book|title=[[Godzilla 1954-1999 Super Complete Works]]|date=1 January [[2000]]|publisher=[[Shogakukan]]|page=208|isbn=978-4091014702}}<br>[[File:G54-99SCW_p208.jpg|150px]]</ref> In the original film, Godzilla's name is originally spelled in kanji as 呉爾羅 by the [[Odo Island]] natives, though these characters were chosen for sound only. This kanji spelling of Godzilla's name is also used in ''[[Shin Godzilla]]'', where it is said to mean "Incarnation of God" in the dialect of Odo Island, and in ''[[Godzilla: Monster Apocalypse|GODZILLA: Monster Apocalypse]]'', the official prequel novel to ''[[Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters|GODZILLA: Planet of the Monsters]]'', where it is said to be the name of a mythological dragon from the island's folklore. |
| Throughout his film appearances, [[Godzilla]] has possessed multiple different origins. For the most part, Godzilla is usually a type of prehistoric reptile that has been awakened and/or mutated by atomic radiation. In the [[Godzilla (1954 film)|original 1954 film]], [[Godzilla/1954|Godzilla]] is hypothesized by [[Kyohei Yamane|Dr. Yamane]] to be some sort of amphibious prehistoric reptile, intermediary to land-dwelling and sea-dwelling reptiles. In this film, Godzilla's bumpy, scarred hide and atomic breath are byproducts of his exposure to the hydrogen bomb. This same origin applies to the [[Godzilla/Showa|second Showa Godzilla]] and presumably the various [[Millennium era|Millennium series]] Godzillas as well.
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| The [[Godzilla/Heisei|Heisei Godzilla]] is explained in the film ''[[Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah]]'' to have mutated from a type of fictional theropod dinosaur called a [[Godzillasaurus]] as a result of exposure to radiation from a nuclear submarine crash. Contrary to popular belief, the Heisei Godzilla is the only incarnation of Godzilla to be definitively confirmed as a type of dinosaur, with most other incarnations only being an unspecified type of prehistoric reptile.
| | Contrary to popular belief, the name English name "Godzilla" was not invented by the [[United States|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 his immense size and destructive power cause him to be seen as a god by some, "lizard" is applicable due to Godzilla's reptilian appearance and ties to the time of the dinosaurs, and "gorilla" is applicable due to Godzilla's creation having been inspired by the famous gorilla-like giant monster [[King Kong]].<ref name="Since Godzilla"/> |
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| The [[Godzilla/TriStar|Godzilla]] from the [[Godzilla (1998 film)|1998 American film]] directed by [[Roland Emmerich]] is an iguana whose egg was exposed to a [[1968]] [[France|French]] nuclear test conducted in French Polynesia. The radiation caused the resulting creature to grow into a gigantic theropod-like monster. To date, this is the only incarnation of Godzilla to be a type of lizard, even though Godzilla is often mockingly called an "overgrown lizard" by characters in the Japanese films.
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| The [[Godzilla/GMK|Godzilla]] from ''[[Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack]]'' is a malicious supernatural entity spawned by the restless souls of those killed by the Japanese military during World War II. This is the only incarnation of Godzilla to be supernatural in origin, though he is presumed to have still originated as a prehistoric reptile like the 1954 Godzilla.
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| The [[Godzilla/Legendary|Godzilla]] from [[Legendary Pictures]]' [[Godzilla (2014 film)|2014 American Godzilla film]] is a member of a species of massive prehistoric amphibious reptiles that fed on radiation when the planet's surface radiation levels were much higher. Unlike other incarnations of the character, the Legendary Godzilla does not appear to have been altered or enhanced by radiation, instead being a naturally evolved creature that uses radiation as a food source.
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| The [[Godzilla/2016|Godzilla]] featured in ''[[Shin Godzilla]]'' is an unspecified type of prehistoric marine animal that became heavily mutated after feeding on nuclear waste dumped into its habitat in the 1950's. The creature mutated rapidly over a period of 60 years, eventually coming ashore and continuing to mutate until it took the recognizable form of Godzilla. While the exact type of animal this Godzilla originated from is never discussed in the film, an essay written from an in-universe perspective by the character [[Goro Maki]] included with the film's Blu-ray release suggests that the creature's base form likely possessed large teeth and fangs and was "in all likelihood, closely related to prehistoric marine reptiles, which first emerged in the Paleozoic Era."<ref>[[File:Mutation of Shin Godzilla.jpg|150px]]</ref> A common misconception regarding this version of Godzilla is that it originated as a colony of mutated microorganisms. This misconception likely arose due to Godzilla being referred to as a [[wikipedia:Mixotroph|mixotroph]], an organism that is able use a mix of different forms of energy and carbon, in the film. Because many mixotrophs are microorganisms, some fans apparently assumed that this Godzilla is the result of several mixotrophic microorganisms being mutated by nuclear waste on the sea floor and combining into a superorganism. It should be noted, however, that there exist many multicellular mixotrophs as well, such as the [[Wikipedia:Oriental hornet|Oriental hornet]] and the [[Wikipedia:Venus flytrap|Venus flytrap]]. The film does not ever suggest that Godzilla originated as a microorganism, and as previously mentioned states that he was a type of marine animal, likely a reptile.
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| ===Is Godzilla female?===
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| While the Japanese versions of the Godzilla films use gender-neutral pronouns (equivalent to "it") to refer to Godzilla and all the other monsters, all official translations of the films, including dubs and subtitle tracks, will often explicitly identify Godzilla as a male creature. While some translations will still refer to Godzilla as "it," he has never been referred to as a female in any of his onscreen appearances. Further establishing Godzilla's male gender is his official title, '''King of the Monsters''', or '''Monster King''' {{Nihongo|怪獣王|Kaijū-Ō}} in Japanese. This title was first used for Godzilla in the 1956 [[United States|American]] re-edit of the [[Godzilla (1954 film)|original Godzilla film]], ''[[Godzilla (1954 film)#U.S. Release|Godzilla, King of the Monsters!]]'' This title has subsequently been applied to Godzilla in both official Japanese and American media, and has become synonymous with the character, even to the point of being trademarked by [[Toho]].
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| A common point of confusion that has led some to speculate that Godzilla is female is the presence of his sons, as no mate for Godzilla is ever seen onscreen and only female reptiles can produce eggs. However, Godzilla's son in the [[Heisei era|Heisei series]], [[Godzilla Junior]], is explicitly confirmed to not be Godzilla's biological son, but rather another member of the [[Godzillasaurus]] species that Godzilla simply adopted. Godzilla's relation to [[Minilla]], his son in the [[Showa era|Showa series]] and in ''[[Godzilla: Final Wars]]'', is unclear, as it is never explained if he is Godzilla's biological child or if he was adopted like Godzilla Junior. Even still, Godzilla is explicitly described as being Minilla's father and not his mother, being referred to as "Papa Godzilla" {{Nihongo|パパゴジラ|Papagojira}} in supplementary materials for ''[[Son of Godzilla]]''. In addition, the film's director, [[Jun Fukuda]], clarified at the time that the Godzilla featured in the film was in fact male.<ref>[https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%80%AA%E7%8D%A3%E5%B3%B6%E3%81%AE%E6%B1%BA%E6%88%A6_%E3%82%B4%E3%82%B8%E3%83%A9%E3%81%AE%E6%81%AF%E5%AD%90#.E6.A6.82.E8.A6.81 Overview - ''Son of Godzilla'' on ja.Wikipedia]</ref>
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| Another common source of confusion regarding Godzilla's gender comes from the [[1998]] [[Godzilla (1998 film)|American Godzilla film]] directed by [[Roland Emmerich]], which featured an [[Godzilla/TriStar|incarnation of Godzilla]] that lays eggs asexually. Even despite this ability, this version of Godzilla is explicitly referred to as a male in dialogue, with [[Niko Tatopoulos|Nick Tatopoulos]] even calling it "a very unusual he" after discovering its ability to reproduce asexually. This Godzilla's [[Godzilla/Godzilla: The Series|asexually-produced offspring]] from ''[[Godzilla: The Series]]'' does not retain his father's ability to reproduce asexually, and later mates with a female mutant Komodo dragon named [[Komodithrax]] to act as a surrogate father to her offspring. When the original Godzilla returns as [[Cyber-Godzilla]] in the series, Nick refers to the creature as the other Godzilla's "daddy." The [[Godzilla/2016|Godzilla]] featured in ''[[Shin Godzilla]]'' also possesses the ability to reproduce asexually, but not through the production of eggs. Rather, cells that are removed from Godzilla's body will continue regenerating, eventually growing into fully-functioning organisms.
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| While a female member of Godzilla's species has never appeared in a film, some have been featured in official non-film media. Examples include [[Rozan]] from ''[[A Space Godzilla]]'', [[Bijira]] and [[Majira]] from ''[[Godzilla (Gameboy)|Gojira-kun: Kaijū Daikōshin]]'', and [[Gojirin]] from ''[[Get Going! Godzilland]]''. The monster [[Biollante]], spawned partially from Godzilla's own cells, is considered to be a female monster, and she and Godzilla are compared to a "brother and sister" at one point in the film ''[[Godzilla vs. Biollante]]''.
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This sandbox is for potential new sections for pages or rewrites of sections on existing pages. Essentially, I use this page to test things that don't themselves constitute entire pages.
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.[1] In an early script for the original 1954 Godzilla film, Godzilla's name was spelled in katakana as ゴヂラ, though it was still pronounced Gojira.[2] In the original film, Godzilla's name is originally spelled in kanji as 呉爾羅 by the Odo Island natives, though these characters were chosen for sound only. This kanji spelling of Godzilla's name is also used in Shin Godzilla, where it is said to mean "Incarnation of God" in the dialect of Odo Island, and in GODZILLA: Monster Apocalypse, the official prequel novel to GODZILLA: Planet of the Monsters, where it is said to be the name of a mythological dragon from the island's folklore.
Contrary to popular belief, the name 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 his immense size and destructive power cause him to be seen as a god by some, "lizard" is applicable due to Godzilla's reptilian appearance and ties to the time of the dinosaurs, and "gorilla" is applicable due to Godzilla's creation having been inspired by the famous gorilla-like giant monster King Kong.[3]
