Zilla

**Zilla** is a giant mutated iguana made by Tri-Star that first appeared in, *Godzilla (1998)*

## History

### *Godzilla (1998)*

An iguana nest is exposed to the fallout of a military nuclear test in French Polynesia. In the South Pacific Ocean, a Japanese fishing vessel is suddenly attacked by an enormous creature, with only one seaman surviving. Traumatized, he is questioned by a mysterious Frenchman in a hospital regarding what he saw, to which he only replies "Gojira."

Dr. Niko "Nick" Tatopoulos, an NRC scientist, is in the Chernobyl exclusion zone in Ukraine (site of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster) researching the effects of radiation on wildlife, but is interrupted by the arrival of an official from the U.S. State Department. He is sent to Panama and Jamaica to study a trail of wreckage across land leading to the recovered Japanese fishing ship with massive claw marks on it. Nick identifies skin samples he discovered in the shipwreck as belonging to an unknown species. He dismisses the military's theory that the creature is a living dinosaur, instead deducing it is a mutant created by nuclear testing.

The creature travels to New York City, leaving a path of destruction in its wake. The city is evacuated before the U.S. military, on Nick's advice, lure the creature into revealing itself with a large pile of fish. They fail to kill it, however, and their fight with it causes further damage before it escapes. Nick collects a blood sample, and by performing a pregnancy test, discovers the creature reproduces asexually and is collecting food for its offspring. Eventually, Nick meets up with his ex-girlfriend, Audrey Timmonds, a young aspiring news reporter. While she visits him, she uncovers a classified tape in his provisional military tent concerning the monster's origins and turns it over to the media. She hopes to have her report put on TV as to launch her career, but her boss, Charles Caiman, uses the tape in his broadcast, declaring it his own discovery, and dubs the creature "Godzilla."

With the classified information released mainly because of his inadvertent actions, Nick is removed from the operation and disowns Audrey, before being kidnapped by Philippe Roaché, an insurance agent he met in Jamaica. Revealing himself as an agent of the French secret service, Philippe explains he and his colleagues have been closely watching the events to cover up their country's role in the nuclear testing that created Godzilla. Suspecting a nest somewhere in the city, they cooperate with Nick to trace and destroy it. Meanwhile, Godzilla dives into the Hudson River to evade a second attempt by the military to kill it, where it is attacked by Navy submarines. After colliding with torpedoes, Godzilla sinks, believed to be dead by the authorities.

Nick and Philippe's strike team, followed by Audrey and her cameraman Victor "Animal" Palotti, find the nest inside Madison Square Garden, with over 200 eggs. Before the French can succeed in destroying them, the eggs hatch, and thinking the humans to be food, the offspring attack. Nick, Animal, Audrey and Philippe take refuge in the Garden's broadcast booth and successfully send out a live news-report to alert the military. A prompt response involving an airstrike is initiated as the four escape moments before Air Force jets bomb the arena.

Audrey and Nick reconcile, before the adult Godzilla, having survived, emerges from the Garden's ruins. Enraged by the deaths of its young, it takes its full rage out on the four, chasing them across Manhattan. After a taxi chase, they manage to trap Godzilla within the cables of the Brooklyn Bridge, allowing the returning Air Force jets to shoot it. Godzilla dies from its wounds, and the remaining citizens celebrate. Audrey tells Caiman that she quits working for him after what he did, before leaving with Nick. Philippe, taking a tape Animal was recording and promising to return it after removing certain contents, thanks Nick for his help and parts ways. In the ruins of Madison Square Garden, a single surviving egg hatches and the emerging hatchling roars.

### *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. The towering reptile topples down buildings, chomps on vehicles, incinerates a crowd with his acidic flame breath, and even eats a couple of civilians.

Then suddenly, the Xiliens teleport the reptile and the other monsters around the world. They tell the humans that they took the monsters away to save Earth. However, the humans find that the Xiliens were controlling the monsters and the Xiliens release all the monsters again to finish destroying the cities they were attacking. When Godzilla is freed from the south pole and defeats the Xilien warrior Gigan, the alien leader's re-release Zilla in Sydney to do battle with Godzilla. He is defeated rather quickly by Godzilla himself, who sends him flying into the Sydney Opera House and finishes him off with his atomic breath. The battle was the shortest in the *Godzilla series*, unless one counts the deleted "Godzilla vs Manda" scene from Destroy All Monsters.

Critics have said that this short battle was meant to show Toho's displeasure towards Sony and TriStar with their handling of the *Godzilla* franchise, even going as far as labeling this particular scene in the scene selection menu of the DVD "Pretender to the throne", which is meant to be an inside joke about Godzilla being nicknamed "King of the Monsters".

## Abilities

### Agility

This creature was shown to be extremely agile and fast.

### Camouflage

In *Godzilla: Final Wars*, Zilla's stone-gray skin color seemingly allows him to blend in with Sydney's architecture.

### Burrowing

He also has shown a remarkable burrowing ability, able to excavate the thick tar and concrete with ease. This ability is present with Zilla in *Godzilla: Rulers of Earth*, which allowed him to evade and ambush Godzilla.

### Acidic flame breath

In *Final Wars*, Zilla is said by director Ryuhei Kitamura to possess an "acidic flame breath." This is most likely a variation of his previous incarnation's power breath, but it is never seen in use, only hinted at when Zilla emerges from behind an explosion similar to the one caused by Godzilla's power breath in the 1998 film.

### Intelligence

In *Godzilla: Final Wars*, Zilla does not exhibit a great deal of strategy, as he (perhaps foolishly) attempts to attack Godzilla head-on, only to be swatted into the air and quickly reduced to a pile of ash by his atomic breath.

In *Godzilla: Rulers of Earth*, however, Zilla seems to regain the 1998 Godzilla's intelligence, as he exhibits strategy in his battle with Godzilla, using his burrowing ability to evade a blast of Godzilla's atomic breath and even pulling Godzilla into the military's line of fire to use him as a shield while the latter is grappling him.

When Zilla realizes he has no chance of winning the fight, he waits for an opportunity and escapes to the ocean while Godzilla is distracted. Zilla later somehow manages to avoid capture by the Trilopods when they attack the Monster Islands, and knows to travel to Los Angeles to join forces with the other Earth monsters and battle the Trilopods.

### Scutes

In *Godzilla: Rulers of Earth*, Zilla displayed the ability to use his scutes as a weapon. Zilla ran at a Trilopod and bent downward, causing his scutes to slice its neck.

## List of appearances

### Films

* *Godzilla (1998)*
* *Godzilla: Final Wars* Godzilla (Tristar)