Godzilla (Final Wars)

## Godzilla

The **Godzilla** (ゴジラ *Gojira*?) of the ***Final Wars*** continuity was the fifth and final Godzilla within the Millennium series of films. This Godzilla was the first and only within its continuity, much like the *Megaguirus* Godzilla.

## Name

Godzilla's name within the Millennium series follows the convention of that of the 1954 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

### FinalGoji

For Godzilla's 50th Anniversary film in 2004, *Godzilla: Final Wars* director Ryuhei Kitamura wanted Godzilla to take on a leaner, meaner look while combining the looks of the previous three eras of *Godzilla* films. The arms and legs are slimmer than usual and Godzilla's thighs are also one size smaller. This suit also has much more noticeable ears than previous suits, which sets this suit apart from the others. They also made the dorsal plates smaller, making them look much like the dorsal plates of the 1954 Godzilla with a single prominent row with smaller surrounding plates.

To make this suit leaner and more flexible, the suit makers at Toho used less urethane foam and latex rubber, instead adding a special material called "foam latex" (a chemical compound made with latex and some additional Agents that bakes to become a soft rubbery material that is "foamy") which reduced the weight of the suit by almost 44 pounds, allowing the actor inside much more movement and flexibility, and making this one of the most realistic-looking suits ever.

### Portrayal

*Final Wars'* Godzilla was portrayed by suitmation, following in the footsteps of every Millennium Godzilla preceding it.

### Roar

This Godzilla utilizes the revamped Millennium roar of the prior Godzillas in the series.

## Personality

This Godzilla features an animal-like personality, however, it also possesses some basic emotions. This includes the ability to forgive humanity, having been spurred on by Minilla's defense of the humans as he went in to destroy them.

## Origins

This incarnation of Godzilla was awakened by nuclear testing in 1954, however, it wasn't killed by the Oxygen Destroyer, and merely trapped under the Antarctic ice sheet for decades, before rising again.

## History

### *Godzilla: Final Wars*

In 1954, nuclear testing awakened the monster Godzilla, the most powerful enemy mankind ever faced. The international military organization known as the Earth Defense Force (EDF) was formed to combat Godzilla and other giant monsters that appeared over the next decade, but it could never defeat Godzilla. Sometime in the 1960's, the EDF lured Godzilla to Antarctica for a final showdown. Godzilla easily defeated the EDF's Maser Cannons it had stationed there, but found himself under attack by the advanced warship the Gotengo. Godzilla shot down the Gotengo with his atomic breath, but before he could finish it he fell into a crack in the ice. Young Gotengo crewmember Douglas Gordon fired a missile at a nearby slope, causing Godzilla to be buried under tons of ice. The facility known as Area G was constructed around Godzilla's icy prison, and the monster remained trapped for decades to come.

In the year 20XX, an alien force known as the Xiliens had invaded Earth and taken control of all of the planet's monsters, using them to destroy major cities around the globe. The Gotengo, piloted by Gordon and staffed with all of the EDF's remaining forces, flew to Area G and used its missiles to free Godzilla, believing him the only force capable of defeating the Xiliens' monster army. Godzilla emerged from his icy prison, and was immediately attacked by the Xiliens' cyborg monster Gigan. Gigan wrapped Godzilla in barbed wire, but Godzilla blasted the monster's head off with his atomic breath. Believing his battle with the Gotengo from decades ago was still going on, Godzilla chased the ship to Australia. In Sydney, Godzilla found himself attacked by the monster Zilla, which lunged at him. Godzilla used his tail to smack Zilla into the Sydney Opera House, then finished his opponent with a blast of atomic breath.

Godzilla then traveled to New Guinea, where he fought Kumonga. Godzilla grabbed a thread of Kumonga's web and tossed the giant spider over the horizon before continuing on his way. After reaching the Kanto region of Japan, Godzilla encountered Kamacuras. Godzilla fired his atomic breath at the monster, which dodged the beam and flew at him. Godzilla simply grabbed Kamacuras and threw it at an electrical tower, which impaled and killed the creature. As Godzilla marched further inland he reached Mount Fuji, where the Xiliens deployed Anguirus, Rodan and King Caesar against him. Godzilla proved to be more than a match for the three opponents, and defeated them one-by-one, stacking their unconscious bodies on top of each other. Godzilla reached Tokyo Bay, where he was attacked by Hedorah and Ebirah. Godzilla tossed both monsters out of the bay with his atomic breath, causing Ebirah's claw to impale Hedorah's eye. With both monster immobilized, Godzilla fired his atomic breath at them and destroyed them both.

After finally reaching Tokyo, Godzilla saw the asteroid Gorath hurdling toward the city. Godzilla planted his feet and fired his atomic breath at Gorath, causing the asteroid to explode in the skies over Tokyo, reducing the city to a crater. As Godzilla stood in the ruins of Tokyo, Monster X levitated to the ground behind him. Godzilla attacked this new monster, but found it was more than a match for him, fighting with incredible speed and ferocity. Mothra flew to Tokyo to assist Godzilla, but was intercepted by the repaired and modified Gigan. Gigan sliced Mothra's wing with his chainsaw hand, then began to help Monster X fight Godzilla. Monster X held Godzilla from behind while Gigan sliced his chest with his chainsaws. Godzilla moved out of the way and caused Gigan to strike Monster X instead, causing him to release him. Mothra then flew by and knocked both Monster X and Gigan to the ground. Gigan pursued Mothra again, but was killed when his razor discs accidentally sliced his head off and Mothra flew into him and exploded. Godzilla and Monster X resumed their one-on-one battle, with Godzilla finally gaining the upper hand. Godzilla pinned Monster X to the ground and pummeled him mercilessly. When the Xilien Mothership self-destructed, Godzilla and Monster X fired their beams at each other, which locked in the air. The beams exploded, knocking the monsters to opposite sides of the city.

Suddenly, Monster X transformed into Keizer Ghidorah, which was much larger and more powerful than Godzilla. Godzilla fired his atomic breath at Keizer Ghidorah, but the creature's gravity beams overpowered Godzilla's beam. Keizer Ghidorah used its telekinetic gravity beams to toss Godzilla across the ruined cityscape, then began to kick the fallen Godzilla in the head repeatedly. Finally, Keizer Ghidorah grabbed Godzilla with hits mouths and began draining his energy. When the Gotengo flew past the monsters, its crewmembers realized they needed to help Godzilla. Shinichi Ozaki used the ship's Maser Cannon to fire his Keizer energy into Godzilla's dorsal plates, reinvigorating him. Godzilla released a shockwave that forced Keizer Ghidorah to release him, then destroyed the beast's middle head with his atomic breath. When another head tried to fire a gravity beam at Godzilla, Godzilla pulled the other head in front of the beam, severing it. Godzilla grabbed the maimed Keizer Ghidorah by its remaining head and slammed it up and down before throwing the monster into the air. Godzilla fired his spiral red heat beam at Keizer Ghidorah, pushing it into outer space, where it exploded.

As the Keizer energy wore off, Godzilla shot down the Gotengo with his atomic breath. As the ship's crew exited and aimed their weapons at Godzilla, Minilla suddenly ran into the city. Minilla stood in front of Godzilla, holding out his arms and blocking him from attacking the humans. Godzilla finally forgave humanity and turned around and walked out to the sea. Minilla followed after Godzilla, but not before firing a blast of atomic breath into the air. As Godzilla and Minilla waded out into the sunset, Godzilla turned and roared out one last time.

## 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 predecessor, however, it received a large boost in power, able to create large explosions and even destroy most monster in a single blast. During Godzilla's battle against Keizer Ghidorah, Godzilla once again showed the ability to change the intensity of his atomic breath at will. With a quick turn, Godzilla's breath went from the iconic blue beam to the red spiral heat ray, which literally caused the monster Keizer Ghidorah to explode in the upper atmosphere.

### Energy absorption and projection

Godzilla was able to absorb Shinichi Ozaki's Keizer energy, empowering him and allowing him to easily defeat Keizer Ghidorah.

### Nuclear Pulse

Godzilla is seen using what resembles a nuclear pulse to disorient Keizer Ghidorah long enough to escape from his energy draining bite, after absorbing Shinichi Ozaki's keizer energy.

### Physical abilities

Godzilla displays immense physical strength in this film, having been able to throw Kumonga clear over the visible horizon through sheer strength alone. After absorbing Shinichi Ozaki's Keizer energy, Godzilla gained the physical strength to toss Keizer Ghidorah around and then throw him into the air.

### Spiral heat ray

The red spiral ray returned in *Godzilla: Final Wars*, where it was strong enough to push Keizer Ghidorah to the edge of space, destroying him in an explosion visible from the surface of the Earth.

## Weaknesses

### Subzero temperatures

During the events of the film, Godzilla was sealed under ice in Antarctica for several decades. While this didn't physically harm him, it incapacitated him.

## Trivia

* This Godzilla, as of 2018 is the last Godzilla to be mostly portrayed by suitmation, as the practice wouldn't be utilized for 2014's *Godzilla*, 2016's *Shin Godzilla*, nor 2017's *Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters*. The former two titles would utilize a mix of pure CGI and chroma key based practical effects, alongside motion capture, and *Planet of the Monsters'* Godzilla was realized fully through CGI.
	+ It should be noted however, that *Shin Godzilla* was originally going to utilize a suit-like animatronic of the titular monster, which, rather than being operated by one person, would be controlled by a large crew. Said crew had full control over the animatronic's movement, right down to the eye movement. This animatronic would later be scrapped in favor of the aforementioned CGI, but can be seen in Blu-ray extra for the film's Japanese release.