Fictional monster
"ゴジラ" redirects here. For other uses, see
Gojira .
"Godzillasaurus" redirects here. For the dinosaur, see
Gojirasaurus .
Fictional character
Godzilla (Japanese : ゴジラ , Hepburn : Gojira , ; [ɡoꜜ(d)ʑiɾa] ⓘ ) is a fictional monster, or kaiju , that debuted in the eponymous 1954 film , directed and cowritten by Ishirō Honda .[2] The character has since become an international pop culture icon , appearing in various media : 33 Japanese films produced by Toho Co., Ltd. , five American films , and numerous video games , novels, comic books , and television shows . Godzilla has been dubbed the King of the Monsters , an epithet first used in Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (1956), the American localization of the 1954 film.
Godzilla is a prehistoric reptilian monster, awakened and empowered after many years by nuclear radiation . With the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the Lucky Dragon 5 incident still fresh in the Japanese consciousness,[25] Godzilla was conceived as a metaphor for nuclear weapons .[26] Others have suggested that Godzilla is a metaphor for the United States, a "giant beast" woken from its "slumber" that then takes terrible vengeance on Japan.[27] [28] [29] As the film series expanded, some storylines took on less-serious undertones, portraying Godzilla as an antihero or as a lesser threat who defends humanity. Later films address disparate themes and commentary, including Japan's apathy, neglect, and ignorance of its imperial past , natural disasters , and the human condition .[31]
Godzilla has been featured alongside many supporting characters and over the decades, has faced off against various human opponents, such as the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF), in addition to other gargantuan monsters, including Gigan , King Ghidorah , and Mechagodzilla . Godzilla has fought alongside allies such as Anguirus , Mothra , and Rodan as well as had offspring, including Godzilla Junior and Minilla . Godzilla has also battled characters and creatures from other franchises, in crossover media—such as King Kong —as well as various Marvel Comics characters, like S.H.I.E.L.D. ,[32] the Fantastic Four ,[33] and the Avengers .[34]
^ "Haruo Nakajima, actor who played original Godzilla in a monster rubber suit, dies at 88" . South China Morning Post . Associated Press. August 8, 2017. Archived from the original on June 5, 2023. Retrieved June 4, 2023 .
^ a b Williams, Owen (March 3, 2021). "An Essential Guide To All The Godzilla Movies" . Empire . Archived from the original on August 6, 2022. Retrieved August 6, 2022 .
^ Doug, Bolton (July 7, 2015). "Godzilla creator Eiji Tsuburaya celebrated in Google Doodle" . The Independent . Archived from the original on July 27, 2022. Retrieved July 25, 2021 .
^ Comey, Jonathan (January 1, 1970). "Critter chronology: the history of Godzilla" . Cape Cod Times . Archived from the original on December 31, 2022. Retrieved December 31, 2022 .
^ Ashcraft, Brian (August 1, 2016). "Meet Godzilla Resurgence's Motion Capture Actor" . Kotaku . Archived from the original on June 5, 2023. Retrieved August 1, 2016 .
^ Mirjahangir, Chris (November 7, 2014). "Nakajima and Carley: Godzilla's 1954 and 1998" . Toho Kingdom . Archived from the original on July 27, 2022. Retrieved April 5, 2015 .
^ Miller, Bob (April 1, 2000). "Frank Welker: Master of Many Voices" . Animation World Network . Archived from the original on July 27, 2022. Retrieved March 24, 2018 .
^ Arce, Sergio (May 29, 2014). "Conozca al actor que da vida a Godzilla, quien habló con crhoy.com" . crhoy.com . Archived from the original on May 24, 2019. Retrieved March 26, 2015 .
^ Pockross, Adam (February 28, 2019). "Genre MVP: The Motion Capture Actor Who's Played Groot, Godzilla, and Iron Man" . Syfy Wire . Archived from the original on March 1, 2019. Retrieved March 16, 2019 .
^ "Godzilla: King of the Monsters Final Credits" . SciFi Japan . May 23, 2019. Archived from the original on May 24, 2019. Retrieved May 23, 2019 .
^ Sarah Moran (May 31, 2019). "Every Titan In Godzilla: King Of The Monsters" . Screen Rant . Archived from the original on October 25, 2019. Retrieved October 25, 2019 .
^ Souder, William (2012); On a Farther Shore - The Life and Legacy of Rachel Carson. Broadway Books, New York, 496 pp. ISBN 978-0-307-46221-3
^ Merchant, Brian (August 25, 2013). "A Brief History of Godzilla, Our Never-Ending Nuclear Nightmare" . Vice . Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved February 23, 2022 .
^ Eric Milzarski (December 12, 2018). "How Godzilla films were actually a metaphor for how postwar Japan saw the world" . We Are the Mighty.
^ "Is Godzilla a metaphor for the United States?" . Fox News. October 13, 2016.
^ Ambrosia Viramontes Brody (January 23, 2012). "Trojans explore the fantastic aspects of reality" . USC News. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved August 8, 2020 .
^ Robbie Collin (May 13, 2014). "Gareth Edwards interview: 'I wanted Godzilla to reflect the questions raised by Fukushima' " . The Telegraph . Archived from the original on January 11, 2022. Retrieved May 19, 2016 .
^ Godzilla, King of the Monsters (vol. 1) #1 (Marvel Comics, 1977)
^ Godzilla, King of the Monsters (vol. 1) #20 (Marvel Comics, 1979)
^ Godzilla, King of the Monsters (vol. 1) #23 (Marvel Comics, 1979)