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Godzilla (ゴジラ, Gojira) is a daikaijū, a fictional Japanese giant monster. His first film was Ishiro Honda's 1954 film Gojira, and since then, he has made many more appearances, and has become a pop-culture icon. In total, Godzilla has appeared in 28 films, all of which were produced by Toho Company Ltd. Godzilla has also appeared in numerous comic books, video games, novels and even an American remake.

Name

Gojira (ゴジラ) is a combination of two Japanese words: gorira (ゴリラ, "gorilla"), and kujira (鯨（くじら）, "whale"), which is fitting because in one planning stage, Godzilla was described as "a cross between a gorilla and a whale", alluding to his size, power and aquatic origin. 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 fifty years since the film's original release, no one claiming to be the employee has ever stepped forward and no photographs have ever surfaced.

Godzilla's name was spelled in kanji as Gojira (呉爾羅), but for sound only (the meanings of the characters have no significance).

The Japanese pronunciation of the name is [ɡodʑiɽa] ; the Anglicized form is /ɡɒdˈzɪlə/, with the first syllable pronounced like the word "god", and the rest rhyming with "gorilla". When Godzilla was created (and Japanese-to-English transliteration was less familiar), it is likely that the kana representing the second syllable was misinterpreted as ; in the Hepburn romanization system, Godzilla's name would have been rendered as "Gojira", whereas in the Kunrei romanization system it would have been rendered as "Gozira".

Attributes

Godzilla's appearance has changed over the years, but many of his characteristics have remained constant. His roar has remained the same, only changing in pitch. Godzilla's approximate appearance, regardless of the design of the suit utilized for the creature, remains the same general shape, which is instantly recognizable: a giant, mutant dinosaur with rough, bumpy charcoal-gray scales, a long powerful tail, and jagged, bone-colored dorsal fins. Godzilla's iconic character design is a blended chimera inspired by various prehistoric reptiles, gleaned from children's dinosaur books and illustrations from an issue of Life magazine: Godzilla has the head and lower body of a Tyrannosaurus, a triple row of dorsal plates reminiscent of a Stegosaurus, the neck and forearms of Iguanodon and the tail and skin texture of a crocodile. Godzilla's dorsal plates have themselves altered in size and appearance over the years.

Godzilla's body and facial structure changed often from film to film. The first films depicted the creature with a more feral head and facial structure, to indicate his status as a feared threat. As the character became more of a heroic figure – particularly to children, who became a large part of Godzilla's target audience from 1965 until 1978 in the Showa era – the creature's look was softened somewhat, and made to look more intelligent in order to reflect the change in Godzilla's role. When the Heisei era of films was produced, Godzilla's appearance was generally uniform. It was meant to show Godzilla as an implacable force of nature and was thus given a harder and more menacing quality. Godzilla's appearance was uniform in four out of the six films of the Millennium era, looking more wild. The creature was depicted as having human or near-human intelligence in most films. Godzilla was originally believed by many to be green when the original black and white film was produced, and promotional artwork in America and other English speaking countries depicted him as such. The creature was also depicted as being green in the Hanna-Barbera cartoon and a number of toys in the United States prior to the Trendmasters toy line, which depicted Godzilla in his actual coloration. Godzilla actually has a greenish hue about him in Godzilla 2000 and again in Godzilla vs. Megaguirus, but returns to his classic charcoal gray in subsequent films in the Millennium series starting with Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack.

Although his origins vary somewhat from film to film, he is always described as a prehistoric creature, who first appeared and attacked Japan at the beginning of the Atomic Age. In particular, mutation due to atomic radiation is presented as an explanation for his size and powers. The most notable of Godzilla's resulting abilities is his atomic breath: a powerful heat ray of thermonuclear energy that he is able to fire from his mouth. Godzilla is also depicted as being resistant to damage thanks to a tough hide and an advanced healing factor, which itself became a focal point in Godzilla vs. Biollante and Godzilla 2000. He is portrayed as being strong and dexterous, sometimes utilizing martial arts techniques in combat. Described as a transitional form between aquatic and terrestrial vertebrates in the original film, Godzilla is able to survive in the ocean for indefinite periods of time and is as adept a fighter underwater as he is on land.

These particular abilities are portrayed consistently among Godzilla's many incarnations, though he also possesses skills, often employed as weapons of last resort that are only seen on rare occasions, such as his nuclear pulse, an unnamed wave of nuclear energy that can be pumped directly into a foe (as seen in the climax of his battle with Orga in Godzilla 2000), magnetic powers, and even the ability to fly.

Appearances

Godzilla is the main character of all of the Godzilla films, though there are numerous different versions of the monster. The silver screen is not the only place Godzilla has appeared; there have been literary sources that have expanded the universe of Godzilla. The Godzilla universe, and the character himself have also starred in comic books, manga, Japanese television and many cartoons.

Showa series

The Showa-era Godzilla films were the first of the film series. In total, there are fifteen Showa-era films, amounting to over half the total Godzilla movies currently in existence.

The first film was simply titled Godzilla (1954). In the original film, Godzilla was portrayed as a terrible and destructive monster. Following the success of Godzilla, Toho started filming a quickie sequel called Godzilla Raids Again. In this film, a new Godzilla was set up to fight another dinosaur-like creature, Anguirus. This second film started a trend for Godzilla films, where Godzilla would fight other giant monsters. In his fifth film, Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster, Godzilla took the role of a hero. From that point onto the end of the Showa series, Godzilla stayed a hero, protecting Japan against attacks from other monsters, aliens, etc. At one point, Godzilla even adopted a son, Minilla, in Son of Godzilla, who would make appearances in later Showa-era films.

The Showa-era movies played on a lot of fears and interests of people during the time period in which they were made. For instance, Godzilla was a movie designed to warn people about the use and testing of nuclear weapons. Likewise, Godzilla vs. Hedorah was designed to carry a message about the dangers of pollution. As space exploration and the Space Age were extremely popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s, many of Godzilla's films revolved around Godzilla fighting alien monsters, or involved an alien invasion in some shape or form. For instance, in the movie Destroy All Monsters, an alien race had managed to take control of all of earth's monsters, who were eventually freed from their control, and destroyed the aliens who had put them under control.

Heisei series

The Heisei-era Godzilla films were the second of the film series. In total, there were seven Heisei-era films, making them amount to one fourth the total Godzilla movies in existence.

The Heisei-era films differed drastically from the Showa-era films in a variety of ways. The most prominent difference is that the Godzilla outfit was changed to look much more intimidating than previous suits. Another significant difference is that Toho did away with Godzilla being the hero of the films. While occasionally Godzilla would take the role of an antihero, he was still consistently portrayed as hazardous to humanity throughout the films. Another change was that the series was given an overall plotline. Each movie happened in some sort of sequence, and generally referenced previous movies to further the plot of the series.

As in the Showa era, in the first Godzilla movie of the Heisei era, The Return of Godzilla, Godzilla was the only monster to make an appearance. All succeeding Heisei-era movies would have Godzilla fight other giant monsters. Like the Showa series, Godzilla adopted a son, Baby Godzilla, as his own child. In the final Heisei-era movie, Godzilla vs. Destoroyah, Godzilla dies after undergoing a nuclear meltdown, and his son (by that point almost half as tall as his father and called Godzilla Junior) absorbs the radiation and quickly matures to become the new King of the Monsters.

In much the same way that the Showa-era played on fears and interests of people during the time period of production, Heisei-era Godzilla films made some attempts at making statements on popular topics for their time period. One good example would be Godzilla vs. Biollante, which made explicit warnings against research involving genetic engineering. Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah touched very lightly on the subject of Communism, implying a negative view on it, and introduced a time-travel plot. Other themes in the movies included commenting on research into hazardous material and environmental statements.

American remake

In 1998, TriStar Pictures produced a remake set in New York City, directed by Roland Emmerich and starring Matthew Broderick; the film's name was simply Godzilla. Despite negative reviews from films critics and fans of the original Japanese Godzilla, the film was a financial success, taking in nearly $380 million worldwide, and had an animated television series called Godzilla: The Series.

Millennium series

The Millennium series of Godzilla films are the third and currently final of the film series. There are six of these films, making them slightly under a fourth the total of the series.

The Millennium series attempts to bring Godzilla back to his roots by eliminating a few of the things that the Heisei-era films had done. The most notable of these changes are, with one exception, the lack of any real continuity in the movies. Godzilla is, however, still a hazard in the Millennium series, and is always a destructive force.

The 2004 Godzilla: Final Wars, marked the supposed end to the Godzilla series. Final Wars yet again put evil aliens on earth, and made Godzilla a superhero. Several major Godzilla antagonists and allies were in Final Wars, including Rodan and Mothra.

Rumored reboot

On August 13, 2009 Bloody Disgusting.Com reported that Legendary Pictures, an American motion picture company, are in early talks about producing a possible Godzilla film, though the likelihood of the project entering production, as well as Toho's part in this, is still unclear. Toho was asked if this was true and they did not state anything, rather saying that there was no comment. .

In television and printed media

In Japan, Godzilla was a frequent guest star on the tokusatsu series Zone Fighter. In it, Godzilla occasionally fought alongside the protagonist against other monsters, including Gigan and King Ghidorah, two monsters who had previously appeared in Godzilla films.

Godzilla made his American series debut in the 1978 Hanna-Barbera Saturday morning show Godzilla. In this series, Godzilla had a nephew, Godzooky. In addition to his trademark atomic breath, which simply changed to fire in the cartoon, he was given the power to shoot laser beams out of his eyes. Godzilla could be summoned by his human friends, sea-explorers on the ship USS Calico, with a signaling device or by the cry of Godzooky. The series ran until 1981.

A second series, based on the American Godzilla, aired on Fox Kids. The series featured a baby Godzilla which had grown to full size. Godzilla traveled around the world with a team called HEAT, including scientist Nick Tatopoulos, battling monsters. Godzilla had the abilities and physical forms of his parent, but the creators of the show gave him more powers and an attitude more resembling the original Japanese Godzilla.

Godzilla has been featured in comic books, most often in American productions (from Marvel Comics in the late-1970s, and from Dark Horse Comics in the 1980s and 1990s). Japanese Godzilla manga comics are also available.

The Marvel series told original stories and attempted to fit into the official Toho continuity, while avoiding direct references to it. It integrated Godzilla into the Marvel Universe. It was published from 1977 to 1979, fitting between the Showa Period movies and the Heisei Era. This series described the adventures and confrontations of Godzilla in the United States.

Between 1996 and 1998 Random House published four books by Marc Cerasini featuring Godzilla and other kaiju of the Toho franchise: Godzilla Returns, Godzilla 2000 (unrelated to the film of the same name), Godzilla at World's End, and Godzilla vs. the Robot Monsters. The release of a fifth book, Godzilla and the Lost Continent was planned but was canceled when Random House's license for Godzilla expired.

On September 23, 2004 Godzilla on My Mind: Fifty Years of the King of Monsters by William M. Tsutsui was released by Palgrave Macmillan. The book was released to mark the fiftieth anniversary of Godzilla and looks into some of the ways Godzilla has become a simple part of everyday life for fans.

In 2009, author James Morrow released a novel Shambling Towards Hiroshima, a fictional retelling of the cinematic origins of a giant, fire-breathing lizard, named Gorgantis, created by the US army during WWII to terrify the Japanese into surrendering.

Cultural impact

Godzilla is one of the most recognizable symbols of Japanese popular culture worldwide and remains an important facet of Japanese films, embodying the kaiju subset of the tokusatsu genre. He has been considered a filmographic metaphor for the United States, as well as an allegory of nuclear weapons in general. The earlier Godzilla films, especially the original, portrayed Godzilla as a frightening, nuclear monster. Godzilla represented the fears that many Japanese held about the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the possibility of recurrence.

As the series progressed, so did Godzilla, changing into a less destructive and more heroic character as the films became geared towards children. Since then, the character has fallen somewhere in the middle, sometimes portrayed as a protector of the world from external threats and other times as a bringer of destruction. Godzilla is also the second of only three fictional characters to have won the MTV Lifetime Achievement Award, which was awarded in 1996.

Awards

• 1985 Japan Academy Award - Special Effects (The Return of Godzilla)
• 1992 Japan Academy Award - Special Effects (Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah)
• 1993 Tokyo Sports Movie Awards - Best Leading Actor (Godzilla vs. Mothra)
• 1993 Best Grossing Films Award - Golden Award and Money-Making Star Award (Godzilla vs. Mothra)
• 1995 Best Grossing Films Award - Silver Award (Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla)
• 1996 Best Grossing Films Award - Golden Award (Godzilla vs. Destoroyah)
• 1996 Japan Academy Award - Special Effects (Godzilla vs. Destoroyah)
• 1996 MTV Movie Awards - Lifetime Achievement
• 2002 Best Grossing Films Award - Silver Award (Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack)
• 2004 Hollywood Walk of Fame

References

1. ^ Godzilla (1954)
2. ^ Godzilla (Heisei)
3. ^ Takeo Murata (writer) and Ishirō Honda (writer/director) (2006). Godzilla (DVD). Classic Media.
4. ^ Al C. Ward (writer) and Ishirō Honda, Terry Morse (writers/directors) (2006). Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (DVD). Classic Media.
5. Steve Ryfle. Japan's Favorite Mon-Star. ECW Press, 1998. Pg.22
6. Gojira Media. Retrieved 2006-09-23
7. Many Japanese books on Godzilla have referenced this, including B Media Books Special: Gojira Gahô, published by Take-Shobo in three different editions (1993, 1998 {{cite book - | year = 1998 - | title = B Media Books Special: The Godzilla Chronicles Ver. 2: The History of Toho Fantastic Movies, 1935-1998 - | location = Japan - | publisher = Take-Shobo - | id = ISBN 4-8124-0408-8 - }}, and 1999)
8. William M. Tsutsui, Godzilla on My Mind: Fifty Years of the King of Monsters (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003), p. 23.
9. Gojira Classic Media audio commentary
10. http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/news/17061
11. Bloody Disgusting Godzilla News
13. The Monster That Morphed Into a Metaphor, By Terrence Rafferty, May 2, 2004, NYTimes
14. http://www.fanpop.com/spots/godzilla/videos/7584880/title/godzilla-wins-mtv-lifetime-achievement-award-1996

External links

• Official Website of Toho (Japanese)
• Godzilla Official Website (Japanese)
• Template:Imdb character

• Godzilla characters
• Toho Monsters
• Animal superheroes
• Film characters
• Fictional kings
• Fictional dinosaurs
• Fictional deities
• Fictional mutants
• Fictional sea creatures
• Fictional amphibians
• Fictional characters with accelerated healing
• Fictional characters with superhuman strength
• 1954 introductions