Since his inception nearly seventy years ago, Godzilla has gone through many changes. He’s been depicted as a hero and a villain, a force of nature and a big, dumb brute. He’s sparred with the Japanese Self-Defense Force so many times that he might as well be their mascot. And his visual appearance has changed so much that the Godzilla of the past is practically a different creature than the one we have now.
One aspect of Godzilla’s design that refuses to stay the same is his height. Just like his appearance, Godzilla has grown and shrunk, depending on who’s sitting in the director’s chair.Here are all of Godzilla’s cinematic incarnations, including the American ones, arranged by height.
10 Showa Era Godzilla (1954-1975): 50 Meters
Before he fought Mothra and Ghidorah and became a household name across the world, Godzilla was a towering metaphor for the destructive power of nuclear weapons. His original design, while simple, was nonetheless effective in driving the film’s point home. The goal was to make a monster who was mangled and grotesque, like the victim of a radioactive bomb.
Throughout the original series, Godzilla’s look underwent a metamorphosis, beginning with King Kong vs Godzilla in 1962. His muscle mass was increased and he was given longer arms, to compensate for physical combat. In the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, Toho capitalized on Godzilla’s popularity with children by softening his features to make him less scary. But throughout it all, Godzilla stood at a consistent 50 meters. It wouldn’t be until 1984 when Godzilla would get his first major growth spurt.
9 Millennium Godzilla (1999-2000, 2002-2003): 55 Meters
At the turn of the century, Godzilla underwent his biggest facelift in almost forty years. Perhaps as a way to counter TriStar’s recent disappointment, Toho went back to the drawing board and created a monster to show the Americans how it’s done. This new creature, who first appeared Godzilla 2000, was given more reptilian look, with a large mouth, narrow head, jagged dorsal spines, and a sleeker, leaner build. He was also the first Godzilla to be green in color, forgoing the dark charcoal shades of years past.
This design also went back to basics, shrinking Godzilla to close to his original size. This represented the first size reduction in the franchise, and the resulting design was actually slightly shorter than TriStar’s Zilla. Nevertheless, Millennium Godzilla was a hit with fans and was Godzilla’s de-facto look for much of the early 21st century. The design heavily inspired Godzilla’s appearance in Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla and Godzilla Tokyo S.O.S, and the two designs are almost identical save for a few subtle differences.
8 GMK Godzilla (2001): 60 Meters
Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (GMK for short) is one of the most original movies in the franchise. In it, Godzilla gets possessed by the souls of those who were killed by the Japanese during World War II, and the only creatures that can stop him from destroying Japan are Mothra, Ghidorah, and Baragon.
To capitalize on Godzilla’s sinister agenda, Godzilla was given a design that harkened back to the early Showa era creatures, with one major alteration. His eyes were turned white, with no visible irises or pupils, giving him a freakish look. And despite being only ten meters taller than the original, GMK Godzilla was still the tallest creature in the movie, giving him a significant advantage over his adversaries.
7 Zilla (1998): 70 Meters
In 1998, Sony Pictures hired Independence Day director Roland Emmerich to direct the first-ever American Godzilla movie. The result was a universally panned dud that serves as a cautionary tale of what happens when a director doesn’t care about the source material.
The star of this disaster, Zilla, was so universally panned that Toho actually refused to acknowledge it as a true Godzilla, hence dropping the ‘God’ in the name. While his size was increased, so as not to look dwarfed by New York’s skyline, he still managed to get stuck in the wires of the Brooklyn Bridge, a klutzy move that cost him his life. And the less that’s said of his design, the better.
6 Heisei Era Godzilla 1 (1984-1991): 80 Meters
After several failed attempts, Toho finally greenlit The Return of Godzilla, a movie that served as a direct sequel to the original, while ignoring the continuity of the previous movies. Released in time for the franchise’s 30th anniversary, Return was not only the first Godzilla re-boot, but also the first time Godzilla’s height was changed. To compensate for the fact that skyscrapers had gotten taller since 1954, Godzilla’s height was increased by 30 meters, so he wouldn’t get lost amid his urban stomping ground. In addition, Godzilla’s appearance was changed to make him more closely resemble the frightening, wild-eyed incarnation of the ‘50s.
For 1989’s Godzilla vs. Biolante, Godzilla’s head was slimmed and his face was given a more feline look. This second style would remain consistent throughout the Heisei era, with only minor changes between films.
5 Heisei Era Godzilla 2 (1991-1995): 100 Meters
Thanks to the meddling of future humans in Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, Godzilla underwent a growth spurt that saw him break the 100-meter mark. While his look didn’t change much visually, he did pack on some bigger muscles along his legs and torso.
For the last movie in the Heisei era, Godzilla vs. Destoroyah, Godzilla suffered a catastrophic nuclear meltdown, causing fiery blisters to erupt over his skin and turned his dorsal spines bright orange. Burning Godzilla, as this version has since been called, has gone down as one of the most iconic incarnations in the franchise’s history.
4 Final Wars Godzilla (2004): 100 Meters
For his 50th birthday, Toho threw Godzilla a massive birthday party and invited all of his friends. To get him ready for his big day, Godzilla was got a lean, mean new design, that was also one of the tallest in the franchise’s history. Godzilla: Final Wars is one of the most action-packed films in the franchise, so it made sense to create a monster that had the build of Millennium but the height of Heisei.
3 Shin Godzilla (2016): 118 Meters
The first movie of the Reiwa era, Shin Godzilla was a bold installment in the franchise that touched on the fears and anxieties of modern audiences. At 118 meters tall, Shin Godzilla was the tallest Godzilla in the franchise’s history at the time and is still the largest live-action incarnation produced by Toho. Along with the impressive height, Godzilla also got a radical facelift, one that harkened back to the grotesque roots of the past. He may be ugly, but this Godzilla defiantly stands out among the pack.
2 Monsterverse Godzilla (2014-2020): 119 Meters
It took twenty years, but America finally got Godzilla right with Legendary Pictures’ Monsterverse. The current face of the Godzilla franchise stateside, this creature features pointed dorsal spines, a thick build, a flattened forehead, and an emotive face that’s enhanced by advanced motion capture technology.
When he made his debut in 2014, America’s Godzilla topped out at 108 meters, but with 2019’s sequel, King of the Monsters, Godzilla hit a growth spurt that increased his height by an additional 9 meters. As of this writing, Monsterverse Godzilla is the tallest live-action creature in the franchise, though it’s possible he could get even taller for Godzilla vs. Kong.
1 Godzilla Earth (2017-2018): 300 Meters
The largest Godzilla to date, in any medium, Godzilla Earth appeared in a trilogy of anime movies beginning with Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters in 2017. After forcing humanity to abandon earth, Godzilla proceeds to grow from 50 meters all the way up to 300 during the course of 20,000 years. The end result is a monster that is practically a landmass in and of himself, and a tremendous girth that would make defeating him almost impossible. Due to the sheer size of Godzilla Earth, it’s likely that this record will never be broken, at least in the live-action movies.
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2020-03-08 01:03:43
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David Chiodaroli
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