Zilla

**Zilla** (ジラ *Jira*) is a giant reptilian kaiju created by Toho that first appeared in the 1998 TriStar *Godzilla* film, *GODZILLA (1998)*.

## Name

The 1998 incarnation of the monster is called "**Godzilla**" in the film, and is still legally trademarked under that name in all media released prior to Toho acquiring the rights to the creature in 2004.

Toho has declared that any subsequent appearances of the 1998 character will be under the name "Zilla," because according to Shogo Tomiyama it "took the 'God' out of 'Godzilla.'"

## Design

### Appearance

This design is mostly based off of the 1998 Godzilla design, and remains mostly unchanged. The two most notable differences between the 2004 design and its predecessor are its scutes, which now point up straight instead of curving forward like the original design's scutes.

Additionally, another difference is the color of its skin, which is now a stone grey, presumably to blend in with the Sydney architecture, similar to how the 1998's design blended in with New York's architecture.

### Roar

Zilla reused the 1998 Godzilla's roars, and resued T-Rex from the very first *Jurassic Park* film, albeit with slight alterations for the film. In *Godzilla: Rulers of Earth*, Zilla's roar is written as "*SKREEEEEENK*."

## Personality

In his appearances in *Godzilla: Final Wars*, and *Godzilla: Rulers of Earth*, Zilla, 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, while not smart, was brave, although this could be because he was under the Xiliens' 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 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 viciously killed and wounded multiple Trilopods.

## Origins

Zilla's origins go unexplained in *Godzilla: Final Wars*, and he is never even mentioned by name in the film. According to supplementary materials for the film, Zilla is a monster "closely resembling" a monster that attacked New York City in 1998 and may be the same creature, though this is "unconfirmed," an obvious inside-joke referencing the 1998 film.

In *Godzilla: Rulers of Earth*, Zilla's origins are never directly discussed, but it is established that he is part of the natural balance of Earth, along with all of the other Earth kaiju. Zilla's appearance on the Infant Island mural suggests that he is an ancient creature, instead of a mutated iguana like his previous incarnations.

## History

### *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*.

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.

## 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.

## In other languages

* Russian: Зилла
* Bengali: জেলা
* Chinese: 斯拉
* Gujarati: જીલ્લા
* Hebrew: זילה
* Hindi: जिला
* Kannada: ಜಿಲ್ಲಾ
* Korean: 질라
* Marathi: जिल्हा
* Telugu: జిల్లా
* Urdu: ضلع
* Yiddish: זיללאַ

## List of appearances

### Films

* *Godzilla: Final Wars* (First appearance)

### Comics

* *Godzilla: Rulers of Earth*
* *Godzilla: Oblivion*