Godzilla

The Original Godzilla

Godzilla (Japanese: ゴジラ, Hepburn: Gōjira) (/ɡɒdˈzɪlə/; [ɡoꜜdʑiɾa] is a fictional monster, or kaiju, originating from a series of Japanese films of the same name. The character first appeared in Ishirō Honda's 1954 film Godzilla and became a worldwide pop culture icon, appearing in various media, including 32 films produced by Toho, four Hollywood films and numerous video games, novels, comic books and television shows. Godzilla has been dubbed the King of the Monsters, a phrase first used in Godzilla, King of the Monsters!, the Americanized version of the original film.

Godzilla is depicted as an enormous, destructive, prehistoric sea monster awakened and empowered by nuclear radiation. With the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the Lucky Dragon 5 incident still fresh in the Japanese consciousness, Godzilla was conceived as a metaphor for nuclear weapons. As the film series expanded, some stories took on less serious undertones, portraying Godzilla as an antihero, or a lesser threat who defends humanity. With the end of the Cold War, several post-1984 Godzilla films shifted the character's portrayal to themes including Japan's forgetfulness over its imperial past, natural disasters and the human condition.

Godzilla has been featured alongside many supporting characters. It has faced human opponents such as the JSDF, or other monsters, including King Ghidorah, Mechagodzilla and Gigan. Godzilla sometimes has allies, such as Rodan, Mothra and Anguirus, and offspring, such as Minilla and Godzilla Junior. Godzilla has also fought characters from other franchises in crossover media, such as the RKO Pictures/Universal Studios movie monster King Kong, as well as various Marvel Comics characters, including S.H.I.E.L.D., the Fantastic Four and the Avengers.

Note: Tokusatsu (Japanese: 特撮, "special filming") is a Japanese term for live action film or television drama that makes heavy use of special effects.

Shōwa era (1954–1975)

#	Title	Year	Director(s)	Monster co-star(s)

#	Title	Year	Director(s)	Monster co-star(s)
1	Godzilla 1954	1954	Ishirō Honda	(none)
2	Godzilla Raids Again	1955	Motoyoshi Oda	Anguirus
3	King Kong vs. Godzilla	1962	Ishirō Honda	King Kong, The Oodako
4	Mothra vs. Godzilla	1964	Ishirō Honda	Mothra
5	Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster	1964	Ishirō Honda	King Ghidorah, Rodan, Mothra
6	Invasion of Astro-Monster	1965	Ishirō Honda	King Ghidorah, Rodan
7	Ebirah, Horror of the Deep	1966	Jun Fukuda	Ebirah, Mothra, The Ookondoru
8	Son of Godzilla	1967	Jun Fukuda	Minilla, Kumonga, Kamacuras
9	Destroy All Monsters	1968	Ishirō Honda	King Ghidorah, Rodan, Mothra, Anguirus, Minilla, Kumonga, Manda, Gorosaurus, Baragon, Varan
10	All Monsters Attack	1969	Ishirō Honda	Gabara, Minilla
11	Godzilla vs. Hedorah	1971	Yoshimitsu Banno	Hedorah
12	Godzilla vs. Gigan	1972	Jun Fukuda	Gigan, King Ghidorah, Anguirus
13	Godzilla vs. Megalon	1973	Jun Fukuda	Megalon, Jet Jaguar, Gigan, Anguirus, Rodan
14	Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla	1974	Jun Fukuda	Mechagodzilla, King Caesar, Anguirus
15	Terror of Mechagodzilla	1975	Ishirō Honda	Mechagodzilla 2, Titanosaurus

Heisei era (1984–1995)

#	Title	Year	Director(s)	Monster co-star(s)
16	The Return of Godzilla	1984	Koji Hashimoto	Giant Sea Lice
17	Godzilla vs. Biollante	1989	Kazuki Ōmori	Biollante
18	Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah	1991	Kazuki Ōmori	King Ghidorah, Mecha-King Ghidorah, The Dorats, Godzillasaurus
19	Godzilla vs. Mothra	1992	Takao Okawara	Mothra, Battra
20	Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II	1993	Takao Okawara	Mechagodzilla, Super Mechagodzilla, Rodan, Fire Rodan, Baby Godzilla
21	Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla	1994	Kensho Yamashita	SpaceGodzilla, Moguera, Fairy Mothra, Little Godzilla
22	Godzilla vs. Destoroyah	1995	Takao Okawara	Destoroyah, Godzilla Junior

Millennium era (1999–2004)

#	Title	Year	Director(s)	Monster co-star(s)
23	Godzilla 2000: Millennium	1999	Takao Okawara	Orga, The Millennian
24	Godzilla vs. Megaguirus	2000	Masaaki Tezuka	Megaguirus, The Meganulons, The Meganulas
25	Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack	2001	Shusuke Kaneko	King Ghidorah, Mothra, Baragon
26	Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla	2002	Masaaki Tezuka	Mechagodzilla (Kiryu)
27	Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.	2003	Masaaki Tezuka	Mechagodzilla (Kiryu), Mothra, Kamoebas
28	Godzilla: Final Wars	2004	Ryuhei Kitamura	Monster X a.k.a. Keizer Ghidorah, Zilla, Rodan, Mothra, Gigan, King Caesar, Anguirus, Minilla, Kumonga, Kamacuras, Manda, Hedorah, Ebirah

Reiwa era (2016–present)

#	Title	Year	Director(s)	Monster co-star(s)
29	Shin Godzilla	2016	Hideaki Anno	(none)
30	Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters	2017	Kōbun Shizuno	Servum, Dogora, Dagahra, Orga, Kamacuras, Anguirus, Rodan, Mechagodzilla
31	Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle	2018	Kōbun Shizuno	Mechagodzilla City, Servum, Vulture
32	Godzilla: The Planet Eater	2018	Kōbun Shizuno	King Ghidorah, Mothra, Servum

Hollywood productions

#	Title	Year	Director(s)	Monster co-star(s)
1	Godzilla US 1998	1998	Roland Emmerich	Baby Godzilla
2	Godzilla US 2014	2014	Gareth Edwards	MUTO (male and female)
3	Godzilla: King of the Monsters	2019	Michael Dougherty	King Ghidorah, Mothra, Rodan, King Kong (archival footage), female MUTO, Behemoth, Methuselah, Scylla
4	Godzilla vs. Kong	2020	Adam Wingard	King Kong

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