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Godzilla, the Most Famous Lizard of them all.
Godzilla or Gojira was first seen on the silver screen in
Japan in 1954 in a movie called "Gojira" produced by Toho.
Little did they know that from the first movie Gojira the
monster would become one of the most famous monster icons
known today. Since 1954 twenty-eight movies starring
Godzilla have been produced by Toho.
In 1954 Gojira was a gigantic dinosaur with rough, bumpy
charcoal grey scales, a long powerful tail, and bone colored
dorsal plates shaped like maple leaves protruding along its
back. It looks like a Tyrannosaurus augmented with the
dorsal fins of a Stegosaurus and the forelimbs of an
Iguanodon.
Gojira
When Godzilla attacks in the first movie it is explained
that because of nuclear H-bomb testing Godzilla was mutated
from a peaceful dinosaur or Godzillasaurus to a terrifying
monster that destroys Tokyo, coming up from the sea to the
land and crushing buildings, people and vehicles with his
powerful tail and arms while blowing radioactive blasts from
its mouth and yelling its patented roar.
Godzilla was originally fifty meters tall and weighed twenty
thousand metric tons. Through the years Godzilla's
appearance has changed, but his roar remains the same. The
roar is said to be a cross between whale song and a bow
being scraped across a cello's strings.
In the first movie Gojira was destroyed by an oxygen weapon
developed by a scientist. In the movie it was stated that it
was unlikely that this was the only Gojira, thus laying the
foundation for the spawning of the other twenty-seven movies
produced by Toho.
In 1956, the original "Gojira" movie was reworked for
American consumption and became "Godzilla, King of the
Monsters." Outside of Japan Gojira would forever after be
known as Godzilla. Once the American version worked its way
back to Japan in 1957, Gojira was transformed to Godzilla
even there.
After the original movie, Godzilla progressed through a
series of movies where it battled other monsters ranging
from King Kong to a giant Moth-like thing called Mothra. It
wasn't until "Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster" that
Godzilla became a hero instead of a villain.
After the original series of movies there was a ten year
span without a new movie, then a new Godzilla appeared. An
injured Godzillasaurus is taken by futurians from the
twenty-third century and transported back in time. They
leave it in the past, in the Bering Sea, where it stays
until in the 1970s a Russian nuclear sub detonates near it
and mutates it into a Godzilla. This starts the second era
of Godzilla films. In this series there is significant
change. Where Godzilla's original breath attack was a
radiation blast, it now has a power ray coming from its
mouth and it is now twice as tall and twice its original
weight.
Overall there are four series of films: the Showa series
(1954-1975), Heisei series (1984-1995), American film series
(1998), and Millennium series (1999-2004). Since 2004 there
haven't been any new films about Godzilla.
Here is a complete list of Godzilla movies & films:
Godzilla (1954)
Godzilla Raids Again (1955)
King Kong versus Godzilla (1962)
Godzilla vs. Mothra (1964)
Ghidrah, the Three-Headed Monster (1964)
Godzilla vs. Monster Zero (1965)
Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster (1966)
Son of Godzilla (1967)
Destroy All Monsters (1968)
Godzilla's Revenge (1969)
Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971)
Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972)
Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973)
Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974)
Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975)
Godzilla 1985 (1985)
Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989)
Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991)
Godzilla & Mothra: The Battle for Earth (1992)
Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II (1993)
Godzilla vs. Spacegodzilla (1994)
Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995)
Godzilla (1998)
Godzilla 2000: Millennium (2000)
Godzilla vs. Megaguirus (2000)
Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001)
Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla (2002)
Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. (2003)
Godzilla: Final Wars (2004)
Below is a full breakdown on the character Godzilla:
Species: Irradiated Godzillasaurus
Alias:
Gojira
King of the Monsters
Gigantis the Fire Monster
Form(s):
Godzillasaurus (unirradiated form)
Super Godzilla (as seen in Super Godzilla)
Burning Godzilla (as seen in Godzilla vs. Destoroyah)
Height: 50[1]-120[2] meters
Weight: 20,000[3] -60,000[4] tons
Designation:
Showa - Sapient
Heisei - Semi-Sapient
Millennium - Varies By Movie.
Godzilla's
Abilities:
Atomic breath
Nuclear Pulse
Enhanced regeneration
Spiral Fire Ray
Magnetic manipulation (Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla only)
Flight (Godzilla vs. Hedorah only)
Origins of Godzilla:
Bikini Atoll
Bering Sea (Heisei series)
Enemies of Godzilla:
King Ghidorah
Mothra
Mechagodzilla
Gigan
Hedorah
Megalon
Monster X
Megaguirus
Ebirah
Spacegodzilla
Titanosaurus
Destoroyah
Orga
Gabara
Kamacuras
Kumonga
Giant Condor
Deathla
Zilla
Godzilla vs. Ghidorah
the Three Headed Monster from Outer Space
Allies of Godzilla:
Mothra
Rodan
Anguirus
King Caesar
Jet Jaguar
Varan
Gorosaurus
Kumonga
Zone Fighter
Baragon
Manda
Godzilla's
Relationships:
Minilla (Adoptive son in Showa & Millennium series)
Godzilla Junior (Adoptive son in Heisei series)
Biollante & SpaceGodzilla (Clones in Heisei series)
Orga (Clone in Millennium series)
Mechagodzilla (Robotic Replica) Godzooky (Nephew)
Godzilla's First appearance:
Gojira
Godzilla Created by:
Tomoyuki Tanaka
Ishiro Honda
Eiji Tsuburaya
Portrayed by:
Showa series -
Haruo Nakajima
Katsumi Tezuka
Shinji Takagi
Isao Zushi
Toru Kawai
Heisei series -
Kenpachiro Satsuma
Millennium series -
Tsutomu Kitagawa
Mizuho Yoshida
Video Games inspired by Godzilla:
1983: Godzilla by Codewords for the Commodore 64.
1984: Godzilla vs. 3 Major Monsters by Bandai for the MSX.
Japan only.
1985: Godzilla by Bandai for the MSX. Japan only.
1986: The Movie Monster Game by Epyx for the Apple II and
Commodore 64.
1986: Monster's Fair by Toho for the MSX.
1988: Godzilla - Monster of Monsters! By Toho for the Nintendo
Entertainment System.
1990: Godzilla by Toho for the Game Boy.
1992: Godzilla 2: War of the Monsters by Toho for the Nintendo
Entertainment System.
1993: Kaijuu-Oh Godzilla by Bandai for the Game Boy. Japan only.
1993: Super Godzilla by Toho for the Super Nintendo
Entertainment System.
1993: Godzilla: Battle Legends by Toho for the Turbo Duo.
1994: Godzilla by Toho for the Turbo CD. Japan only.
1994: Godzilla: Kaijuu Daikessen by Toho for the Super Famicom. Japan
only.
Godzilla and Kiryu in the Wii version of Godzilla Unleashed.1995:
Godzilla by Sega for the Game Gear. Japan only.
1995: Godzilla by Sega for the Sega Saturn. Japan only.
1998: Godzilla Generations by Sega for the Dreamcast. Japan only.
1998: Godzilla Trading Battle by Toho for the PlayStation. Japan only.
1999: Godzilla: The Series by Crave for the Game Boy.
1999: Godzilla Generations - Maximum Impact by Sega for the
Dreamcast. Japan only.
2000: Godzilla: The Series - Monster Wars by Crave for the Game
Boy Color.
2002: Godzilla: Domination! By Atari for the Game Boy Advance.
2002: Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee by Atari for the
GameCube and Xbox.
2004: Godzilla: Save the Earth by Atari for the Xbox and PlayStation 2.
2007: Godzilla: Unleashed by Atari for the Wii, Playstation 2, and
PlayStation Portable.
2007: Godzilla: Unleashed Double Smash by Atari for the Nintendo DS.
Godzilla has even been portrayed in some comic books since
his inception. There isn't an aspect of media that hasn't
portrayed Godzilla in some fashion. You can find the King of
Monsters everywhere. It is this kind of injection into
society that truly makes Godzilla the most famous lizard and
possibly the most famous monster of all time.
Godzilla even had a song written about him, here are the
lyrics to Godzilla by Blue Oyster Cult.
Godzilla
by Blue Oyster Cult
With a purposeful grimace and a terrible sound
He pulls the spitting high tension wires down
Helpless people on a subway train
Scream bug-eyed as he looks in on them
He picks up a bus and he throws it back down
As he wades through the buildings toward the center of town
Oh no, they say he's got to go
Go go godzilla, yeah
Oh no, there goes tokyo
Go go godzilla, yeah
Rinji news o moshiagemasu!
Rinji news o moshiagemasu!
Godzilla ga ginza hoomen e mukatte imasu!
Daishkyu hinan shite kudasai!
Daishkyu hinan shite kudasai!
Oh no, they say he's got to go
Go go godzilla, yeah
Oh no, there goes tokyo
Go go godzilla, yeah
History shows again and again
How nature points up the folly of men
Godzilla!
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