Summary
- Godzilla has faced off against powerful kaiju rivals like Destoroyah, who nearly defeated him multiple times in their epic battles.
- Anguirus, Godzilla's first monster rival, may not always win, but his scrappy spirit has earned him a place in monster history.
- King Ghidorah, the alien threat who almost destroyed Earth, remains Godzilla's most iconic foe, setting the stage for epic battles.
One doesn’t get to be the King of the Monsters without fending off the competition. Godzilla has fought off many kaiju in his 70+ years of movies, from mythical beasts like King Caesar, to his own monstrous clones in Biollante and Space Godzilla. Sometimes he did so to defend the planet. Other times, they were the only things keeping him from destroying the Earth on his own.
Godzilla Vs. Kong: Most Powerful Kaiju Godzilla Has Fought Other Than Kong
Godzilla has fought countless Kaiju over the years, some of them even more powerful than King Kong.
But no matter the side they were on, some of his foes have become iconic in their own right. They either gave the franchise some of its famous firsts, or became as important to the franchise as Godzilla himself through their strength, designs, and popularity. If a Godzilla movie series missed out on any of these iconic enemies, they'd be in trouble.
8 Destoroyah
The Perfect Lifeform
- Debut: Godzilla Vs Destoroyah (1995).
- Trivia: Destoroyah was originally going to have a more impressive death where he's held in place by Godzilla as he suffered his fatal meltdown, but Toho felt it took away focus from Godzilla's own demise and trimmed it down. This alternate ending is still available on its DVD and YouTube.
Destoroyah is akin to the Superman villain Doomsday, in that they both peaked with their debut. They both managed to (sort of) kill their foes, then did little else of note after that. Only Doomsday was actually finished off by Superman before his end. Destoroyah’s end saw him get shot out of the sky and back into Godzilla's fatal meltdown zone by the military. Nonetheless, that doesn't negate the fact that he beat Godzilla multiple times in his own movie.
Destoroyah was originally a set of Precambrian crustaceans who were awakened and mutated by the Oxygen Destroyer bomb from the first Godzilla movie. They would then evolve into multiple forms before combining and mutating into larger Aggregate and Perfect forms that could blast laser beams, manipulate oxygen, and drain energy. It was enough to put Godzilla down multiple times, making him one of the strongest kaiju in the series by physical stats alone. Which made their defeat by the JSDF, the Saibamen of the Godzilla series, all the more ironic.
7 Anguirus
The Armored Killer
- Debut: Godzilla Raids Again (1955).
- Trivia: He almost made his return to the Heisei era by proxy as an alternate 'Anguirus Hound' form for Barubaroi, the prototype design for Destoroyah.
The Krillin of Kaiju is perhaps better known for being Godzilla’s dopey friend than a fearsome threat nowadays. He tried holding down Ghidorah in Destroy All Monsters, only to be taken for a short ride through the air before suffering a hard crash. His best plan of action to fight Gigan, a monster with a buzzsaw on its torso, was to charge headfirst into his belly. Then his last appearance in Godzilla: Final Wars saw him get swatted about like a spiky soccer ball.
Nonetheless, Anguirus was Godzilla’s first monster rival, debuting in Godzilla Raids Again to fight him in and around Osaka. His scrappy battle was the first bout of kaiju-on-kaiju action in the Godzilla franchise, proving that the only thing better than one monster was multiple ones instead. Though he lost the fight, and Godzilla would go on to have better fights later on, Anguirus gained his place in monster history, and in fans’ hearts, as one of the franchise's biggest underdogs.
6 Gigan
The Cyberclaw Terror
- Debut: Godzilla Vs Gigan (1972).
- Trivia: Gigan served as Godzilla's rival in a 1996 Japanese Children's Day special that saw the King of the Monsters join forces with Kamen Rider, Ultraman, Ultra Seven, and the Carrangers (aka Power Rangers Turbo) among others to save the Earth.
The best thing about Gigan is his design. His covered-in-claws look made him one of the meanest-looking monsters in the series, and he had the strength to back it up. He was the first kaiju to make Godzilla bleed on camera in Godzilla Vs Gigan, making it seem like he’d be capable of killing him without needing the Oxygen Destroyer or Destoroyah. Though he didn’t get that far, it was the closest any monster got up to that point in the franchise.
Godzilla: Every Alien Monster In The Movies, Ranked
Godzilla will battle fellow kaiju with all kinds of different origins, but some of his most memorable opponents have come from outer space.
Unfortunately, the worst part about Gigan are his movies. Godzilla Vs Gigan is a slog to get through with its dull plot and annoying ‘monster language’ that sounds like distorted tape. Then he returned for Godzilla Vs Megalon, which is entertaining in an ironic way (Godzilla dropkick, Jet Jaguar, etc.) Godzilla: Final Wars stands as Gigan’s best movie, where he had some good fights against Godzilla and Mothra. At least until the big dope decapitated himself accidentally with his own razor discs. He deserves a movie as cool as his appearance.
5 Rodan
The Titan of Winged Fury
- Debut: Rodan (1956).
- Godzilla Debut: Ghidorah the Three-Headed Monster (1964).
- Trivia: Original Godzilla actor Haruo Nakajima portrayed the bird kaiju in Rodan, where he almost died when his wires snapped, and he fell into a water tank in full costume.
Anguirus may have been first, and Gigan may look cooler, but Rodan is one of Godzilla’s most persistent foes. He's considered one of Toho's 'Big 5' kaiju since he's one of the few monsters to appear in each of Godzilla's movie eras, from having his own movie in the Showa era, to being in the Monsterverse’s Godzilla: King of the Monsters. Though it was practically a remake of Ghidorah the Three-Headed Monster, the first movie to pit Godzilla and Rodan against each other before they fought the titular beast.
Still, some of Rodan’s appearances are more interesting than others. Godzilla: Final Wars made him a jobber alongside Anguirus and King Caesar. Ghidorah softened his and Godzilla’s edge by turning them into good guys. Then Godzilla Vs Mechagodzilla 2 really built on his role by having him serve as Baby Godzilla's guardian against both his dad and his robot uncle. Though he’s 5th in Toho’s ‘Big 5’, he’s earned his spot in their line-up.
4 Mechagodzilla
The Anti-Godzilla Superweapon
- Debut: Godzilla Vs Mechagodzilla (1974).
- Trivia: Mechagodzilla's debut film was the first movie in the series to credit the actors in the monster suits.
Having previously given King Kong a robot doppelgänger in Mechanikong from King Kong Escapes, Toho finally did the same to Godzilla with Mechagodzilla. Though, like Gigan, his design was better than his first two movies. He was a force to be reckoned with in Godzilla Vs Mechagodzilla, but its choppy editing, pacing, and ill-fitting music did its best to make it a hard watch. Terror Against Mechagodzilla was better in those departments, but still had to work with Mechagodzilla's weird ape-men creators.
Things improved for him from the Heisei era onward. Godzilla Vs Mechagodzilla 2 made him strong enough to put Godzilla on the ropes. While his Kiryu redesign (not that one) in Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla and Godzilla: Tokyo SOS gave him a newer, sleeker look. He even appeared in the Monsterverse in a neat surprise twist. In all his appearances, he’s either proved himself a match for Godzilla or surpassed him, so there’s little wonder he always makes an impact when he arrives.
3 Mothra
Queen of the Monsters
- Debut: Mothra (1961).
- Godzilla Debut: Mothra Vs Godzilla (1964).
- Trivia: According to late kaiju actor Kenpachiro Satsuma, producers originally wanted Mothra to die in Godzilla Vs Mothra, so she could be brought back as a 'Mecha-Mothra' in a sequel.
Godzilla and his cinematic universe of monsters really began when, unable to schedule Godzilla’s rematch against King Kong, Toho Studios had him fight their other headlining monsters instead. They could’ve had him fight Rodan from the start, or Varan from Varan the Unbelievable, or even Frankenstein, the original planned rival for King Kong, before Toho gave him his own movie in Frankenstein Conquers the World. Instead, Godzilla took on Mothra in Mothra Vs Godzilla.
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Godzilla has made a plethora of enemies throughout his existence, but he has also made some truly great friends. Here are his best ones.
It seemed like an odd fit at the time, and certainly didn’t give the US distributors much faith. They would rename the movie Godzilla Vs the Thing and keep her off posters, fearing audiences wouldn't think a giant moth could take on Godzilla. However, Mothra Vs Godzilla would become one of the best films in the Showa era, as her role as a defender of nature contrasted well against Godzilla being a nuclear abomination. She'd become a mainstay in the Godzilla series, and would receive more of her own movies in the Rebirth of Mothra trilogy.
2 King Ghidorah
Demon of the Galaxy
- Debut: Ghidorah the Three-Headed Monster (1964).
- Trivia: King Ghidorah's design was inspired by multiple mythical beasts like the Hydra and Yamata no Orochi, but its most curious inspiration came from Zmey Gorynych, a dragon from Slavic folklore that appeared in the 1956 Soviet fantasy movie Ilya Muromets.
Today, Godzilla can be a friend or foe to humanity depending on his mood. But it took King Ghidorah to make him a good guy in the first place. Ghidorah the Three-Headed Monster introduced him as the alien threat that turned Venus into an inhospitable wasteland, and aimed to do the same to Earth. It took a triple-effort from Godzilla, Rodan, and Mothra to send him packing, which would turn the former two beasts into heroes for the rest of the Showa era .
Since then, King Ghidorah has become the arch-nemesis of nearly every kaiju in the Godzilla series. Figuratively through his multiple bouts against Godzilla across the decades, and literally in Destroy All Monsters where it took everyone from Anguirus to Minilla to destroy him. It made him the most iconic of Godzilla’s Toho foes to the point where it’s to his detriment. The Heisei era and Monsterverse used him ASAP when they arguably should’ve built up to him in later movies instead. Then they wouldn’t have had to come up with SpaceGodzilla.
1 King Kong
The Eighth Wonder of the World
- Debut: King Kong (1933).
- Godzilla Debut: King Kong Vs Godzilla (1962).
- Trivia: After failing to get permission to use King Kong in the sequel to Godzilla Vs King Ghidorah, Toho Studios tried to use their robot double Mechani-Kong instead. Once he got nixed too, they made Godzilla Vs Mechagodzilla 2 instead.
However, outside of Toho’s creations, Godzilla's most iconic foe has to be King Kong. His first film practically invented kaiju movies, and would become one of the biggest inspirations for Godzilla, so the two have been practically linked from the beginning. Then it became literal when Toho were able to pit the two against each other in King Kong Vs Godzilla. It's not the best monster movie, but it gave Godzilla a shot in the arm. Without it, he might've only had a handful of movies instead of nearly 40.
Godzilla would fight other, newer threats, and King Kong got his remakes, but despite efforts in both the East and West, fans wouldn't get a second match. Not until fans' wishes were granted (by a genie or monkey’s paw, depending on who gets asked) by the Monsterverse in Godzilla Vs Kong. Now the two act as cinematic tag team partners via Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire, and they have a host of threats, new and old, to fight.
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