Godzilla (Kiryu Saga)

* 2002
* 2003

The **Godzilla** (ゴジラ *Gojira*?) of the ***Kiryu Saga*** continuity was the fourth within the Millennium series of films.

This Godzilla was the second one in the millennium era to have a crocodile like head. following the *Millennium* Godzilla, but is not from the same continuity. with the first Godzilla having been killed and used to create Mechagodzilla.

## Name

Godzilla's name within the Millennium series follows the convention of that of the Showa era Godzilla, being 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.

## Design

### Appearances

#### KiryuGoji

For the film, *Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla*, Toho decided to stray away from Shusuke Kaneko's SokogekiGoji and go back to the look of the MireGoji. This new version, dubbed **KiryuGoji**, did however go under some pretty obvious changes from those two previous designs.

The head was completely changed and made smaller, almost imitating the head of the Heisei series Godzilla. The dorsal plates were reduced a bit and lost their purplish hue, deciding to keep the classic bone-white color, but still remained jagged like the MireGoji's dorsal plates. Godzilla's skin also returned from the MireGoji green to the old charcoal black, Godzilla's traditional color.

The KiryuGoji suit is among the most expressive of the Godzilla suits, and has animatronics included which allow for some facial expressions and more notably, the ability to widen or narrow the suit's eyes, giving Godzilla genuine expressions of surprise, shock or anger.

#### TokyoGoji

The following year for the film *Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.*, the sequel to *Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla*, Godzilla's appearance remained basically the same. A new suit named **TokyoGoji**, was created with an almost identical design, only sporting a large scar on the chest region, sustained from Kiryu's Absolute Zero cannon in the previous film.

### Roar

This Godzilla would continue the trend of using the revamped *Millennium* roar from the 1999 *Millennium* Godzilla.

## Personality

Taking another detour from its predecessor, this Godzilla retains the earlier Millennium incarnation's animal-like nature. Godzilla does not appear to attack anyone unless he is being attacked which leads to him to attack without. This Godzilla seems shown to a vengeful side due to him attacking Tokyo many times, possibly as an attempt to avenge his predecessor. When faced with defeat or even death, Godzilla becomes visibly afraid as seen in *Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S* when Kiryu was getting close to him, Godzilla seems to cower in fear as he was stuck in the web that Mothra's twin larvae made.

## Origins

This Godzilla's origins are relatively unknown, having suddenly appeared in 1999, succeeding the original Godzilla who was killed in 1954.

## History

### *Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla*

In 1954, Godzilla appeared and laid waste to Tokyo before being killed by Daisuke Serizawa's Oxygen Destroyer. In the decades that followed, Japan was frequently attacked by giant monsters, including Mothra and Gaira. The Anti-Megalosaurus Force (AMF) was formed to combat these creatures, armed with advanced space-age weapons known as Maser Cannons. In 1999, a second Godzilla suddenly came ashore at Tateyama during a typhoon. The AMF was deployed, with their new Type 90 Maser Cannons, to stop Godzilla's rampage. To the AMF's shock, their weakened Maser Cannons had no effect on Godzilla, due to the rain, and only served to further enrage him. Godzilla destroyed most of the Maser Cannons attacking him and roared victoriously into the air, with lightning striking his dorsal plates.

In the aftermath of the attack, the Japanese government was scrambling to find a new way to fight Godzilla. When the first Godzilla's intact skeleton was discovered off Boso Peninsula, it was decided to use it to construct a mechanical Godzilla to fight the new one. Recruiting the assistance of Japan's greatest scientific minds, the Japanese government began construction on the Godzilla robot. By 2003, four years after construction began, the weapon, codenamed Kiryu, was completed. Just after the mech was exhibited to the international community, Godzilla landed in Japan once again.

Kiryu was launched and confronted Godzilla near the coast. Kiryu launched its rockets and fired its oral Maser beams at Godzilla, causing him to step back. Kiryu prepared to fire its ultimate weapon, the Absolute Zero Cannon, but Godzilla roared and caused the first Godzilla's soul within Kiryu to awaken. Kiryu, believing itself to be Godzilla once again, went berserk, destroying the surrounding city with its payload of weapons. Godzilla retreated in the confusion, while the AMF raced to find a way to shut Kiryu down. Once Kiryu's power was depleted, the project was shelved indefinitely, with AMF and the government reduced to a laughingstock.

Meanwhile, Godzilla resurfaced in Tokyo Bay, demolishing the AMF forces attacking him and coming ashore. As Godzilla drew closer and closer to the city center, AMF and the Prime Minister had no choice but to launch Kiryu again, believing whatever caused it to run wild before had been repaired. As Godzilla approached a hospital and charged his atomic breath, Kiryu dropped from the sky and knocked Godzilla into a nearby building. Godzilla got up and attacked Kiryu. The monsters appeared equally matched as they pushed each other back and forth through the city. Kiryu stabbed Godzilla with its plasma sword and electrocuted him. Godzilla responded by kicking Kiryu into a building and stomping on it. Kiryu regained its footing and grabbed Godzilla's tail, swinging him in the air and tossing him across the city. Kiryu charged the Absolute Zero once again, but Godzilla fired his atomic breath and sent Kiryu hurdling through the sky, with the Absolute Zero beam hitting three skyscrapers instead.

When Kiryu hit the ground, it was rendered inoperable. The AMF distracted Godzilla while Kiryu's operator Akane Yashiro manually took control of the machine and got it back in working order. As Kiryu stood back up, Godzilla blasted it in the back with his atomic breath until it collapsed to the ground again. Kiryu stood up once more, as Godzilla charged his atomic breath. This time, an AC-3 White Heron flew into Godzilla's mouth, buying Kiryu time to fight back. Kiryu grabbed the jet's cockpit and tore it from Godzilla's mouth, then threw it to safety. Kiryu grabbed Godzilla and held his mouth shut as it took flight, charging the Absolute Zero.

Kiryu crashed into Tokyo Bay and fired the weapon, causing water to erupt out of the bay and freeze solid in the air. The ice shattered, and Godzilla rose from the water with a gaping wound in his chest. As Godzilla began wading out to sea, Kiryu surfaced as well, missing an arm and unable to move. Godzilla looked back at Kiryu and growled before continuing on his way back out to sea. While Kiryu failed to kill Godzilla, it did expel him, meaning humanity finally had a weapon to defend itself against Godzilla.

### *Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.*

Just one year after Godzilla and Kiryu's epic battle, Mothra's Shobijin appeared to Shinichi Chujo and warned him that the first Godzilla's bones must be returned to their resting place in the sea, and that it was blasphemous to use them as a weapon. The Shobijin stated that Mothra would have to declare war on humanity if the bones were not returned, and that she did not want to do that. Chujo spoke to the Japanese Prime Minister Hayato Igarashi, who stated that too many resources had been sunk into the Kiryu project for it to be scrapped now. He expressed his hope that Kiryu would one day kill Godzilla, after which the project could finally be scrapped. Meanwhile, the corpse of Kamoebas, a giant sea turtle, washed up on a beach, with claw marks in its neck. The AMF declared it to be the work of Godzilla, and Kiryu's repairs were sped up to prepare for the monster's return. Soon, Godzilla arrived in Tokyo, and appeared to be heading for Kiryu's hangar.

Igarashi began to worry that Kiryu itself was what had been attracting Godzilla. Chujo's grandson Shun used school desks to recreate Mothra's sacred symbol, drawing her to Tokyo. Mothra attacked Godzilla, but in her old age was outmatched. Unwilling to let Mothra continue the fight alone, Igarashi ordered for Kiryu to be deployed. Kiryu arrived during Mothra and Godzilla's battle and attacked Godzilla after Mothra's wings had been destroyed by Godzilla's atomic breath. On Infant Island, Mothra's egg hatched into two twin larvae, which swam to Tokyo to assist their mother. Back in Tokyo, Godzilla used his atomic breath to blast off the side of Kiryu's face, knocking it out of commission. When Mothra's larvae arrived and began speaking with their mother, Godzilla fired his atomic breath at them. Mothra used the last of her strength to fly in front of the beam, causing her to be set ablaze and explode.

Determined to avenge their mother, the larvae attacked Godzilla while Yoshito Chujo, an AMF mechanic, attempted to repair Kiryu from inside. When Kiryu was repaired, it engaged Godzilla again near the National Diet Building. The Diet Building was destroyed in the monsters' confrontation, but Kiryu managed to stab Godzilla's chest wound from their previous battle with its drill hand. Kiryu rotated the drill, causing Godzilla immeasurable pain. Mothra's larvae covered the wounded Godzilla in silk until he fell over, too injured to continue fighting. AMF ordered Kiryu to finish Godzilla, but Godzilla's pained cries reawakened the first Godzilla's spirit inside Kiryu. Unwilling to kill a member of his kind, Kiryu simply grabbed Godzilla and flew out to sea, sinking himself along with Godzilla in the Japan Trench.

Igarashi declared the battle to be a hollow victory, and ordered the Kiryu project officially scrapped. However, AMF was secretly holding the DNA of several monsters in a lab, including Godzilla, to construct more weapons to defend against future monster attacks, possibly Godzilla again should he break free from Kiryu's grip.

## Abilities

### Amphibiousness

Though technically a reptile and not an amphibian, Godzilla has an amphibious lifestyle. He spends half of his life in water and the other on land. Capable of marching on the seafloor or swimming by undulating his tail like a crocodile, Godzilla has displayed as being able to breathe underwater.

### Atomic breath

This Godzilla retains the trademark ability, an atomic breath (**Radioactive Flame** (放射火炎 *Hōsha Kaen*?) or **Radioactive Heat Ray** (放射熱線 *Hōsha Nessen*?)), with it functioning much like its predecessors, albeit being slightly less powerful with regards to outright destructive potential. However, it's shown to possess a lot of concussive force, having been able to knock Mechagodzilla down, even if it didn't outright damage the armor of the robot itself.

It was also able to strike both Mothra and her larvae without causing extensive damage, instead providing a much more concussive blow that incapacitated them and knocked them down, but didn't initially kill them outright.

### Energy absorption and projection

In *Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla*, lightning is shown striking Godzilla's dorsal plates, causing them to glow.

### Physical abilities

This incarnation of Godzilla had his physical strength exemplified in the two films he was featured in. He was able to stand toe to toe with both Mothra and Mechagodzilla, even gaining the upper hand on both, and eventually killing the former. Godzilla also utilized his tail in combat, and was able to trip Mechagodzilla, allowing him to blast the mechanical being with his atomic breath.

## Weaknesses

### Chest wound

After the climactic battle of *Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla*, Godzilla was left with a large chest wound which didn't fully heal, and became scarred over the events of the following film. This wound was targeted by Mechagodzilla's pilots, who utilized the robot's drilling hand as a blade, being able to drill into and impale Godzilla, weakening him and causing him to keel over shortly afterwards.

## Anti-Godzilla weaponry

### Mechagodzilla

A third version of Mechagodzilla, Kiryu, appeared in *Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla*. This time, the mecha was built around the skeleton of the original Godzilla from 1954. However, DNA in the bones caused Kiryu to remember that it was once Godzilla and it went on a rampage.

Once the JSDF was able to get Kiryu under control, it forced Godzilla to retreat. Godzilla and Kiryu would meet again in *Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.*, but this time, Mothra would intervene. Mothra demanded that Godzilla's bones (inside Kiryu) be returned to their grave. The JSDF agreed, but only after Godzilla was defeated.

Ultimately, Kiryu made the final decision and returned to the sea on its own will, carrying Godzilla with him and plummeting into the ocean.

## Trivia

* The design sported by this incarnation of Godzilla has become an incredibly popular design for the character, and has been used by Toho for numerous promotional events and non-film media.