Godzilla (character)

"Listen, kid; there are two things you don't know about the Earth: one is me, and the other is Godzilla."

- Captain Douglas Gordon to the Xilien Controller (Godzilla: Final Wars)

Godzilla is a giant mutated dinosaur kaiju created by Toho that first appeared in the 1954 Godzilla film.

Name
The name "Godzilla" is a transliteration of Gojira (ゴジラ), a combination of two Japanese words: gorira (ゴリラ), meaning gorilla, and kujira (鯨 or クジラ), meaning whale. At one planning stage, the concept of "Gojira" was described as "a cross between a gorilla and a whale". The two words "whale" and "gorilla" fit Godzilla. Whale represents the aquatic and bulk of his life. The Gorilla represents the sheer strength and strategic thinking he does when fighting against other monsters. A popular story is that "Gojira" was actually the nickname of a hulking stagehand at Toho Studio. The story has not been verified, however, because in the more than 50 years since the film's original release, no one claiming to be the employee has ever stepped forward, and no photographs of him have ever surfaced.

Since Godzilla is neither a gorilla nor a whale, the name had to be devised in a different way for the film's story. Godzilla's name was originally spelled in kanji (呉爾羅) by the Odo Island people. However, Toho chose these characters for sound only, as the combined characters mean "give you net". This has been referenced countless times in Japanese books on Godzilla.

Contrary to popular belief, the name "Godzilla" is not the idea of the American distributor. Before Toho sold the film to US distributors, Toho's international division had originally marketed an English-subtitled print under the title of Godzilla, King of the Monsters, which was shown briefly in Japanese-American theaters. Toho came up with "Godzilla" as an English transliteration of the name "Gojira". The Japanese-to-English translation method of the Americans in the 1950's also proved that Godzilla was the correct English translation of Gojira.

Appearance
Godzilla's appearance has changed between films over the years, but many defining details have endured. In the Japanese films, Godzilla is depicted as a gigantic reptile with rough, bumpy, usually charcoal gray scales, a long powerful tail, and bone-colored scutes ), shaped like maple leaves. His origins vary somewhat from film to film, but he is almost always described as a prehistoric creature, and his first attacks on Japan are linked to the beginning of the Atomic Age. In particular, mutation due to atomic radiation is presented as an explanation for his great size and strange powers. Godzilla's iconic design is composed of a mixture of various species of dinosaurs; specifically, he has the body and overall shape of an old model of a Tyrannosaurus Rex, the long arms of an Iguanodon, and the dorsal plates of a Stegosaurus.

Personality
Godzilla, in the original film, the Heisei era, some of the Millennium era, and Godzilla 2014, is an animal with semi-sapience that stumbles upon human civilization without any malicious intent, only destroying man-made structures or obstacles like buildings when the humans provoke him, or, when dead-set on arriving at a certain location. In Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack, Godzilla is a malicious entity created from the restless souls of the dead from World War II. As the Godzilla series continued into the 60's and 70's, the terrifying monster developed as a character, and has since become a savior of the Earth, saving the world from other monsters like King Ghidorah, the Showa MechaGodzilla, Biollante, and Monster X, alone or alongside other monsters like Rodan, Anguirus, and Mothra.

According to Mothra's Shobijin's translation of Mothra, Rodan and Godzilla's conversation in Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster, Godzilla only "hates humans because they hate him."

Origins
Before being mutated by the nuclear fallout of atomic bomb tests performed on an island called Rongerik, which is close to Lagos Island, the island where Godzilla lived, Godzilla was a dinosaur called Godzillasaurus that had somehow survived the extinction of the dinosaurs in the late Cretaceous era. In Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, the Futurians take the Godzillasaurus away from Lagos Island and place him frozen in the Bering Sea, where he's mutated into Godzilla once again by a nuclear submarine crash.

The back side of the box of Jakks Pacific's Giant Godzilla figure states Godzilla was an amphibious reptile evolved while Earth had ten times more radiation. It is unknown if Godzilla was mutated further than that in the film.

Godzilla
The original Godzilla in Gojira was a prehistoric monster that weighed 20,000 metric tons, was 50 meters tall, and terrorized the ships of Japan. It was disturbed by an American Hydrogen bomb testing in the Pacific Ocean. After being awakened, Godzilla attacked Tokyo, destroyed much of the city, and killed tens of thousands. In hopes of stopping Godzilla, a scientist by the name of Dr. Daisuke Serizawa activated an experimental weapon he had developed, named the Oxygen Destroyer. Although Dr. Serizawa committed suicide in the process (out of shame and guilt), the weapon was successful, completely disintegrating Godzilla. It was stated at the end of the film that it was doubtful that there was only one creature, alluding not only to the many incarnations of Godzilla that would later appear, but also to all the other monsters that would be featured in movies produced by Toho.

Godzilla Raids Again
As alluded to at the end of the original movie, Godzilla again surfaced at first as a menace in Godzilla Raids Again. Raids Again was the first film where Godzilla fought another monster; Anguirus. Godzilla and Anguirus were first spotted fighting by two pilots and ended up falling down a cliff, their fight to be resumed later. Godzilla and Anguirus meet again in Osaka, and Godzilla ends up killing Anguirus. Setting the tone for future Showa series films, Godzilla's fate is uncertain at the end when he is buried under tons of ice.

King Kong vs. Godzilla
His next film was 1962's King Kong vs. Godzilla. Godzilla emerges from an iceberg at sea and heads for a Japanese base in the Arctic. After an unsuccessful defense attempt, Godzilla is all over the news, and Mr. Tako, head of Pacific Pharmaceuticals, is angry at it, as he wants King Kong to bring attention to the company, and so he sends two men to get King Kong over there. They manage to capture King Kong, but he escapes and goes towards Godzilla. The two monsters meet in a valley and fight. Godzilla wins and King Kong retreats. The J.S.D.F. try to stop Godzilla and Kong multiple times, but fail. Eventually, they set up one million-volt power lines around a city and manage to fend off Godzilla, but King Kong seems to not be affected. After King Kong goes inside and is put asleep, he is airlifted with balloons to fight Godzilla once again.

The next morning, Kong meets up with Godzilla and the two begin to fight. Godzilla eventually knocks Kong unconscious but then a thunderstorm arrives and revives King Kong, giving him the power of an electric grasp. The two begin to fight, Kong shoving a tree in Godzilla's mouth, Godzilla lighting it on fire, burning Kong's hand. The two monsters fight some more, tearing down Atami Castle in the process, and eventually plunge into the sea. After an underwater battle, only King Kong resurfaces and begins to slowly swim back home to Faro Island. As Kong swims home onlookers aren't sure if Godzilla survived the underwater fight, but speculate that it was possible.

Mothra vs. Godzilla
Godzilla was an antagonist for the final time in Mothra vs. Godzilla. Godzilla rose up from a beach and quickly started terrorizing the surrounding civilization. Eventually, Mothra and Godzilla meet up and battle near Mothra's egg. Mothra dies, and Godzilla leaves. The military try to stop Godzilla but fail. The egg hatches two Mothra Larvae, who follow Godzilla to Iwa Island. The Larvae use their web attacks to trap Godzilla in a cocoon, and Godzilla plunges into the ocean, defeated.

Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster
Starting with Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster, Godzilla took on the protagonist persona he would wear for the remainder of the series. Godzilla and Rodan wake up from hibernation and start attacking Japan, as well as each other. One of the two Mothra Larvae comes and convinces them to not fight and help fight King Ghidorah, with the Shobijin translating the conversation for the humans. Godzilla apparently uses terrible language, but ends up agreeing. He, Rodan, and Mothra go after King Ghidorah and eventually drive him off. Afterwards, Godzilla and Rodan stand by as they watch Mothra swim back to Infant Island.

Invasion of Astro-Monster
In Godzilla's next film, Invasion of Astro-Monster, astronauts find the Xiliens and their planet, Planet X, behind Jupiter. The Xiliens ask if they can borrow Godzilla and Rodan to combat Monster Zero, to which the people of Earth agree. Godzilla and Rodan, dubbed "Monster Zero-One" and "Monster Zero-Two", respectively, are brought up from the bottom of the sea while they were sleeping to Planet X. There, Godzilla and Rodan fight King Ghidorah and defeat him, to which Godzilla does an infamous victory dance in an act of celebration. The Xiliens assure the astronauts that King Ghidorah is gone, trades the monsters for the promise of a drug that cures all diseases, and the astronauts return to Earth.

Afterwards, the Xilien Controller reveals that they have control of the three monsters and that Earth must surrender, or else. Eventually, the Xiliens send the monsters down and they rampage, but the humans manage to break them free of their mind control. Godzilla and Rodan team up against King Ghidorah and force him to retreat.

Ebirah, Horror of the Deep
Godzilla starts off in Ebirah, Horror of the Deep by getting revived by lightning after being found in a cavern. Godzilla finds and fights Ebirah, but Ebirah retreats. Godzilla then fights the Giant Condor and kills it after a skirmish. Godzilla destroys the Red Bamboo Organization's base and encounters Ebirah. He fights him once again and defeats it by ripping both of its pincers off. Godzilla then finds Mothra, who was summoned onto the island. Mothra manages to push Godzilla away and carry the people who called her off the island. Godzilla dives into the sea and escapes the island just before it explodes.

Son of Godzilla
In Son of Godzilla, Godzilla gained a son, Minilla. Minilla hatched out of an egg, whose origins were unknown, prematurely, as the egg was broken by three Kamacuras. Godzilla arrives and beats up the Kamacuras, taking his son with him. At first, Minilla has difficulty producing anything more than smoke rings, but Godzilla discovers that stressful conditions, such as stomping on Minilla's tail, produce a true atomic blast. Some time soon, Godzilla comes to the aid of Minilla, whom had accidentally awoken Kumonga. Together, the two are able to defeat Kumonga, with Minilla finally learning to control his radioactive blast. The weather control machine on the island freezes over the island, and Godzilla protects his son from the harsh cold, and the two eventually fall unconscious. The scientists know that once the snow melts, Godzilla and his son will live peacefully on the island.

Destroy All Monsters
Godzilla and all of Earth's monsters are living peacefully in Monsterland during the events of Destroy All Monsters. However, the Kilaaks come and take control of all the monsters and set them loose around the world. Godzilla attacks New York. After a series of events, the Earth monsters loose their mind control and the Kilaaks unleash King Ghidorah, their ultimate weapon. Godzilla, along with Minilla, Mothra, Rodan, Gorosaurus, Anguirus, Kumonga, Manda, Baragon, and Varan], fight and utterly destroy King Ghidorah. With their ultimate weapon dead, the Kilaaks attempt an escape, but their flaming U.F.O. is destroyed. The monsters then live peacefully on Monsterland forever after.

Destroy All Monsters took place in the year 1999, twenty-four years after the events of Terror of MechaGodzilla. The series could also be said to truly end with Destroy All Monsters's ending, which depicted all of Earth's monsters living out the rest of their days in peace on Monsterland. This "jump" of dates also explains how King Ghidorah appeared in Godzilla vs. Gigan, as he was killed in Destroy All Monsters.

All Monsters Attack
In All Monsters Attack, Godzilla only appears through the daydreams of Ichiro, meaning the events of this film never happen in the Universe's reality. Godzilla's appearance mostly consists of stock footage from previous films, and he eventually has Minilla try and fight his own battles against Gabara. After Gabara is seemingly defeated, he and Minilla assume the dream monster is defeated. However, Gabara bites and shocks Godzilla, but Godzilla and Minilla beat up Gabara, forcing him to retreat.

Godzilla vs. Hedorah
In Godzilla vs. Hedorah, classic music plays momentarily on a picture of a sunrise or sunset as Godzilla slowly comes on-screen and roars. Ken Yano has a short monologue about nuclear fallout and waste being put into the sea as Godzilla sets fire to sludge on the water. Hedorah then appears in land form, and begins to feed on pollution from a factory. Godzilla appears and attacks Hedorah, only to find out that the monster is immune to his atomic breath. Hedorah then retreats back to the ocean with Godzilla on his tail. Ken is at an amusement park and rides on the roller coaster when he spots Godzilla, looking like a silhouette in the background.

Eventually, Hedorah appears at Mount Fuji, and Godzilla flies over there and fights it. Godzilla is burned by Hedorah's sludge and his hand almost melts off, but he manages to disable one of Hedorah's eyes and then, while it is on the ground, removes two white objects from its body and he destroys them. The weakened Hedorah tries to fly away, but Godzilla flies after him. Hedorah returns to land form, and is dragged back to an electric weapon by Godzilla. Godzilla activates the weapon and kills Hedorah. Godzilla then heads back to the sea.