Villains Wiki

Hi. This is Thesecret1070. I am an admin of this site. Edit as much as you wish, but one little thing... If you are going to edit a lot, then make yourself a user and login. Other than that, enjoy Villains Wiki!!!

READ MORE

Villains Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Villain Overview

He's not some monster trying to evade you. He's just an animal. If you find what he wants, then he'll come to you.
~ Nick regarding Godzilla.

Godzilla, also known as Gojira in Japanese, also simply Zilla, and dubbed as the 1998 Godzilla, is the titular main antagonist of Roland Emmerich's 1998 film of the same name, and the titular overarching antagonist of its animated TV series sequel as Cyber-Godzilla.

Originally a normal iguana, he was mutated into a giant reptilian monster as a result of a nuclear test done in French Polynesia. Prior to his debut in Godzilla: Final Wars, he was originally intended to be a reimagined take on Godzilla. However, due to the critical failure of the 1998 film, he was later rebranded as a whole new character with an exception when he came to the original film and series. He's also the arch-nemesis of Niko Tatopoulos.

He was portrayed in mo-cap by Kurt Carley, and his vocal effects were provided by Frank Welker, who also voiced Little Sergei in The Secret Life of Pets 2, Krang Three in Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie, Constance in Monster House, the Spiny Mandrilla in The Croods: A New Age, Mor'du in Disney and Pixar's Brave, the Turbo Toilet 2000 in DreamWorks' Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie, the Indoraptor in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, and Rudy in Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs.

Personality[]

In his appearances in Godzilla: Final Wars and Godzilla: Rulers of Earth, he was shown to not run away nearly as much and tried to fight even when outmatched. In Godzilla: Final Wars, he faced Godzilla head-on, a move that was specifically dependable and brave, although this could be because he was under the Xiliens' authoritative control and was forced to fight Godzilla.

In Godzilla: Rulers of Earth, he retained many of the same abilities and characteristics of his 1998 counterpart, although he lost his cowardly and pusillanimous nature. He faced Godzilla head-on once again, evaded his attacks, and landed several attacks of his own. However, he retreated to the sea when Godzilla was close to killing him, and he had just barely escaped Godzilla's grip. When Zilla resurfaced for the final battle against the Trilopods, he attacked and brutally killed and wounded numerous Trilopods.

Overall, he's just a big animal that wants to live and secure the survival of his species, he acts on instincts and emotion than logic, his main priority is only eating, breeding, feeding and protecting his babies and surviving, but he'd also be emotional in wanting to kill and eat Niko's crew for killing his babies. At best he doesn't have much ill will against humans, he was just defending himself and his babies from them, at worst he wants to eat them out of hunger, anger and to get revenge on Niko.

Physical appearance[]

Unlike most other Godzilla incarnations, the 1998 Godzilla himself physically resembles modern depictions of theropod dinosaurs, specifically dromaeosaurids such as Velociraptor and Deinonychus, with some inspiration from iguanas and crocodiles.

He displays a rough, square-shaped underbite, a pronounced chin, a long, thick, muscular neck with a small, spiky dewlap, a powerful tail and a slender but muscular build with long, burly legs and arms. Unlike the original Godzilla's traditional maple leaf-shaped dorsal plates, he possesses large, fin-shaped scutes. His mouth is lipless with numerous small, pyramid-shaped razor-sharp teeth that are always visible, even when his mouth is closed while they stick out over both his upper and lower jaws, similar to crocodiles and alligators. For eye color, he has bright yellow-orange irises with black pupils (which glow a neon yellow) and a bright orange sclera. Each of his 13.7-meter-long feet display three large, dinosaur-like primary digits on the front with a much smaller, seemingly vestigial, hallux on the back.

In Godzilla Final Wars, his appearance looks almost exactly the same that is similar to the one from the 1998 film, except the only differences in his physical appearance are his scutes, which point straight upward instead of curving forward while his skin is tan with blue on top of his body like in the 1998 film, although he appears almost entirely light blue during daytime scenes. Zilla displays a dewlap, except it is not spiky like the one that was present on his neck in the 1998 film.

In Godzilla: Rulers of Earth, he's given the exact same design similar to the one from the 1998 film, complete with curved scutes and has the same coloration and details on his body.

Biography[]

Godzilla (1998)[]

IMG 1765

Godzilla roaring in victory.

The 1998 Godzilla is a giant mutated iguana originating from a nuclear test in French Polynesia. As the test was done in 1968, the creature (or perhaps species) grew over a period of approximately 30 years. His irradiated genes caused him to achieve a height of over 60 meters (about 200 feet).

He swam from the islands across the Pacific, attacking a Japanese freighter, and then stomped across Panama. From there, he traveled up the American Eastern Seaboard, where he sank several American fishing boats. He then stomped through and invaded New York City, necessitating the evacuation of the entire city, and have some sort of mutual interest in one of the main characters. The military battled him extensively, and supposedly killed him in the East River. However, he had laid at least 100 eggs in Madison Square Garden (an arena in midtown Manhattan), which hatched and filled the Garden with hundreds of baby Zillas. The military bombed the Garden, killing most of the creatures. However, Zilla then revealed himself to have survived, and chased the heroes through New York across the Brooklyn Bridge, where he became entangled in the suspension cables.

IMG 1766

GODZILLA DEFEATED!

He was then killed by F-18 missiles (although later on, in the sequel TV series, he was resurrected as a cyborg by the Tachyons, this cyborg variant appeared during the Monster Wars story arc which was very similar to the general plot of Destroy All Monsters and Godzilla: Final Wars). However, one of his offspring survived, and imprinted upon Dr. Niko Tatopoulos. From there, it accompanied Tatopoulos and his team, H.E.A.T., on their missions against various monsters mutated by nuclear experiments in Godzilla: The Series.

Godzilla: The Series[]

Godzilla animated

Zilla's death in Godzilla: The Series.

Zilla appears in the beginning of New Family: Part 1, the first episode of the TV-series, which was a recap on the ending of the film. He later returns in the episodes, Monster Wars: Part 2 and Monster Wars: Part 3 as Cyber-Zilla.

Godzilla: Final Wars[]

ZillaGFW

The 1998 Godzilla, as he appears in Godzilla: Final Wars.

In Godzilla: Final Wars, Zilla is one of the monsters controlled by the Xiliens, and under their control, he attacks Sydney, Australia. Zilla is taken away by the Xiliens to give mankind the illusion that they stopped it, and is later unleashed by X to battle Godzilla. Zilla is defeated rather quickly by Godzilla himself, who sends him flying into the Sydney Opera House and finishes him off with his powerful atomic breath. X throws a tantrum over Zilla's failure then complains he always doubted that "Tuna-Eating Monster" was any use to it.

Zilla's appearance in the film was mainly as a take that to the 1998 film, as he's intentionally rendered using bad CGI, and the fight between him and Godzilla lasts 13 seconds, as the shortest battle in the entire series.

Godzilla: Rulers of Earth[]

ZillaGRoE

The 1998 Godzilla as he appears in Rulers of Earth.

Zilla is a major antagonist in the first two issues of the comic Godzilla: Rulers of Earth, where he comes ashore and attacks the city of Honolulu. Godzilla appears and does battle with Zilla, forcing the monster to retreat.

Zilla later reappears swimming in the waters around the Monster Islands in the thirteenth issue.

In the last issue, Zilla returns to join Godzilla and the other monsters in the battle against the Trilopods. He kills many of them, but he's finally defeated by Magita. After Godzilla managed to destroy him, Zilla follows him into the sea along with the other monsters.

Godzilla: Oblivion[]

At the end of Issue 4 of the comic Godzilla: Oblivion, Zilla makes a brief appearance alongside Anguirus, Rodan, Biollante, King Caesar and Mothra.

Powers and Abilities[]

  • Amphibious Nature: Zilla was able to swim through the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans in a matter of days.
  • Atomic Breath: When Zilla was revived and upgraded as Cyber-Godzilla in Godzilla: The Series, he gained a blue atomic breath, much like the Japanese Godzilla's. His son from Godzilla: The Series possesses a green atomic breath. In some of Patrick Tatopoulos' concept artwork for the 1998 film as well as in some artwork for merchandise related to the film, Godzilla is depicted firing atomic breath.
  • Burrowing: Zilla possessed a remarkable burrowing ability, able to excavate the thick tar and concrete around New York with ease. Using this advantage, he was able to escape and hide from the United States Army.
  • Camouflage: Zilla's skin color allowed him to blend in well with New York City's architecture. This Godzilla also possessed an incredibly low body temperature, which rendered it colder than his surroundings and unable to be detected by the military's thermal scanning.
  • Superhuman Durability: Durability-wise, small arms fire is useless on Zilla as well as standard tank rounds. The F-18 Hornet's missile compliment proved strong enough to kill him. However, he required at least twelve missiles to do so.
  • Superhuman Intelligence: While Zilla relies on instinct to a greater degree than the Japanese Godzilla, he was still shown to be capable of thinking during battles and forming strategies. Throughout the 1998 film, Godzilla eludes the United States military, causing them to ultimately cause more damage to New York City than he does. Using his speed and camouflage, Godzilla evaded several military helicopters and attacks them from behind. Later, he faked his death by two torpedoes, causing the military to call off their attacks and allowing Godzilla to resurface. Another testament to his intelligence was where he sticks his arm into the Park Avenue tunnel in an attempt to grab the taxi that Niko Tatopoulos, Audrey Timmonds, Philippe Roaché and Animal were hiding in after sticking his head in failed.
  • Power Breath: Zilla originally lacked the Japanese Godzilla's iconic atomic breath, though he possessed a Power Breath (strong flammable winds of gas) which he can also ignite to form a wall or blast of flames. This Power Breath can send things weighing several tons flying away, including cars.
  • Reproduction: Zilla was capable of asexual reproduction and is shown to have laid over 200 eggs in Madison Square Garden. The fact that this Godzilla laid eggs has led to a prevalent misconception regarding the character's gender. However, like all other versions of Godzilla, Zilla is officially recognized as a male creature, even in spite of its reproductive ability. Despite the monster's official gender, designer Patrick Tatopoulos has revealed that female genitalia was sculpted onto the beast's CGI model, though this is not visible clearly in the film.
  • Superhuman Mobility: Zilla was very fast and agile, possessing a land speed of 300 miles per hour. This speed was showcased in the 1998 film when Godzilla was able to outrun multiple squadrons of AH-64 Apaches and, despite being in point-blank range, was able to dodge and avoid missiles launched at him with ease.
  • Superhuman Stamina: Zilla was able to run and swim for a long time without showing any signs of exhaustion.
  • Superhuman Strength and Combat: Zilla had 5-foot-long teeth and 6-foot-long talons, which allowed him to burrow through tough surfaces, destroy helicopters with little effort, be him by hand or jaw strength, and can gut a large ship's hull with ease.

Reception[]

The design and characterization of TriStar's Godzilla was negatively received. Film critic Richard Pusateri of G-Fan Magazine coined the acronym G.I.N.O. ("Godzilla In Name Only") to distinguish him from the original Godzilla created by Toho, while some fans referred to him as the "American Godzilla". The major points of criticism were centered around the character's radical departure from the traditional Godzilla design, how he was portrayed fleeing from the military instead of confronting them, how he didn't breathe traditional nuclear fire, how he laid eggs, and was easily killed by missiles during the film's climax whereas Godzilla can withstand a torrent of missiles that he shrugged them off as annoyance.

These sentiments were echoed by the veteran Godzilla suit actors, Kenpachiro Satsuma and the late Haruo Nakajima, and by Shusuke Kaneko, director of the 90s Gamera films. Nakajima ridiculed the character design, stating: "His face looks like an iguana and its body and limbs look like a frog". Satsuma walked out of the film, saying "it's not Godzilla, he doesn't have his spirit". Kaneko opined "[Americans] seem unable to accept a creature that cannot be put down by their arms", and later alluded to the character in his film Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack as a monster that Americans mistook for Godzilla.

The backlash on the character alluded further in Godzilla: Final Wars when this character confronted by Godzilla: Out of Xilliens' brainwashed monsters Godzilla tricked to face by the Gotengo crew, Godzilla only needs a single medium-calibre blast of his atomic breath to destroy the monster and the fight lasts for 13 seconds.

Ironically, the animated version of the character was more positively received than his live-action predecessor, due to being closer in line with the spirit of Toho's Godzilla, possessing the ability to breathe atomic fire, battle other monsters, and withstand attacks. However, the negative response to both Roland Emmerich's Godzilla as well as Disney's remake of Mighty Joe Young being released that same year, had caused giant monster movies to fall out of vogue for several years after, with films such as Peter Jackson's King Kong remake being postponed until 2005. Poor merchandise sales for the film led to a cancellation of a toyline based on Godzilla: The Series, and resulted in significant financial losses for toy manufacturer Trendmasters, which went out of business soon after.

These negative receptions are what caused the filmmakers who worked for the MonsterVerse series to decide to work together with Toho to create their series' incarnation of Godzilla whose character well-received to the point of considered as the true "Hollywood Godzilla" to avoid this mistake by creating a more faithful version of the character.

Over the years, fans have generally accepted Zilla as being a completely different monster and have warmed up to the character, with the animated series portrayal noted as being a more faithful version of Godzilla (albeit this was Zilla's son, who was dubbed by fans as Zilla Jr.). Zilla's debut into Rulers of Earth was also praised for his overall appearance and his performance in his fight against Godzilla.

Trivia[]

  • Shogo Tomiyama and Ryuhei Kitamura did not originally intend to include Zilla in Godzilla: Final Wars, but upon learning that they could use the TriStar Godzilla in the film, they decided to feature him as the new monster Zilla. Zilla's late addition may be responsible for the monster's lack of appearances in merchandise and promotional materials for the film.
  • Despite Zilla's quick demise in Godzilla: Final Wars, Patrick Tatopoulos was thrilled to learn that the Godzilla he designed would be appearing in a Toho film.
  • While newer works featuring Zilla are copyrighted as such, Godzilla 1998 is still copyrighted as an iteration Godzilla as seen in the icon on the back of the DVD. This is still the case even to this day as Toho has not changed the copyright status maintaining this creature as Godzilla.

Navigation[]

           Godzillalogo Villains

Movies
Showa
Godzilla (1954 | Showa) | Anguirus | Rodan | Meganulon | Moguera | Mysterians (Mysterian Leader) | H-Man | Natarls | Varan | Telegian | Human Vapor | Clark Nelson | Maguma | Oodako | Matango | Manda | Muans (Mu Empress) | Jiro Torahata | Kumayama | King Ghidorah | Malness | Dogora | Baragon | Xiliens (Controller of Planet X) | Gaira | Ebirah | Red Bamboo (Captain Ryuui) | Kamacuras | Kumonga | Gorosaurus | Kilaaks (Queen Kilaak | Fire Dragon) | Griffon | Bat People | Giant Rat | Malic | Lucretia | Captain Kuroiga | Gabara | Vampire Doll | Yog | Gezora | Ganimes | Kamoebas | Hedorah | Gigan | M Space Hunter Nebula Aliens (Fumio Sudo | Kubota) | Megalon | Seatopians (Emperor Antonio) | Mechagodzilla | Black Hole Planet 3 Aliens (Kuronuma | Shinji Mafune | Mugal | Yanagawa | Tsuda | Katsura Mafune) | Titanosaurus | Space Beastman | Messiah 13 Third Planet of Yomi Aliens (Commander Hell)

Heisei
Godzilla (Heisei) | Biollante | SSS9 | Bio-Major (John Lee | Michael Low) | Futurians (Chuck Wilson | Grenchiko | M10) | King Ghidorah | Battra | SpaceGodzilla | Dr. Susumu Okubo | Destoroyah | Belvera | Garu Garu | Desghidorah | Dagahra | Moguera | Grand King Ghidorah

TriStar
Zilla | Baby Zilla

Millennium
Godzilla (2000 | GMK | Kiryu Saga) | Millennians (Orga | Millennian UFO) | Mitsuo Katagiri | Megaguirus | Meganulon | Xiliens (Controller X | Controller of Planet X) | Keizer Ghidorah | Gigan | Rodan | Anguirus | Hedorah | Ebirah | Kumonga | Kamacuras | Manda | Zilla

MonsterVerse
Titans (King Ghidorah | Rodan | Genitor | Genitor Swarm | Scylla | Amhuluk | Tiamat | Ion Dragon | Frost Vark | Skar King | Shimo) | M.U.T.O. (M.U.T.O. Prime) | Shinomura | Apex Cybernetics (Walter Simmons | Ren Serizawa | Maia Simmons | Brenda Holland | Mechagodzilla) | Terrorists (Alan Jonah | Emma Russell | Asher Jonah | Asaj | Sergeant Baker | Lieutenant Bottin | Corporal Winston | Sergeant Travis)

Reiwa
Godzilla (Filius | Shin | Earth | Minus One) | Metphies | Mulu-elu Galu-gu | Servum | Mechagodzilla | King Ghidorah

Television
Alexandra Springer | Anguirus (Singular Point) | Battra | Cameron Winter | Destoroyah | Dororin | Garogas | Gigan | Godzilla (Singular Point) | Hedorah | King Ghidorah (Showa) | Xiliens (Landes | Zagres) | Giant Dark Emperor | Kumonga (Singular Point) | M Space Hunter Nebula Aliens | Manda (Singular Point) | Megalon | Rodan (Singular Point) | Salunga | SpaceGodzilla | Xiliens | Zilla (Cyber-Zilla)

Zone Fighter
Garogas| Red Spark | Jikiro | Destro-King | Dorola | Wargilgar | Spyler | King Ghidorah | Dragon King | Gilmaras | Gelderah | Garoga Spider | Garoga Gorilla | Spider Uros | Shipdraw | Shadorah | Gigan | Barakidon | Garoborg | Detragon | Zandora | Moguranda | Balgaras | Gandarguirus | Goram | Jellar | Kastam Jellar Super Jikiro

Video Games
Anguirus | Bagan | Battra | Biollante | Desghidorah | Destoroyah | Ebirah | Gabara | General Gyozen | Gezora | Gigan | Godzilla | Gorosaurus | Hedorah | Kamacuras | Keizer Ghidorah | King Ghidorah | Krystalak | Kumonga | Mechagodzilla | Megaguirus | Megalon | Millennians | Obsidius | Orga | Rodan | SpaceGodzilla | Titanosaurus | Xiliens | Zilla

Comics and Manga
Bagorah | Battra | Biollante | Cryog | Destoroyah | Dr. Deverich | Ebirah | Gamoni | Gezora | Gigan | Godzilla Hedorah | Kamacuras | Keizer Ghidorah | King Ghidorah | Kumonga | M Space Hunter Nebula Aliens | Manda | Mechagodzilla | Megaguirus | Megalon | Mugal | MUTO Prime | Orga | Rita Repulsa | Rodan | Ryota Takahashi | Shinomura | SpaceGodzilla | Titanosaurus | Trilopods | Zilla

Other
Gigan Rex | King Ghidorah (Godzilla vs. Evangelion) | King Ghidorah (Godzilla the Ride)

Advertisement