Godzilla (First Generation)

Articles About Godzilla
Generations	First Godzilla - Second Godzilla - Heisei Era - TriStar Era - Kiryu Series - Monsterverse
Other Continuity Movies	Millennium - Godzilla vs. Megaguirus - Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack - Final Wars - Shin Godzilla - Godzilla vs. Gigan Rex - Godzilla Minus One
Other Continuity TV Series	Godzilla: The Series - Godzilla Singular Point - Chibi Godzilla Raids Again - Pucca Funny Love
GODZILLA: Planet of the Monsters	Godzilla Filius - Godzilla Earth
Comics	Marvel Domics - DC Comics - Dark Hose Comics - IDW Comics - Godzilla In Hell

“	This creature, according to the folklore of Ohto Island, is called Godzilla.	„
	~ Kyohei Yamane on Godzilla

“	The original king of the monsters, this towering behemoth was the first post-war radioactive monster unleashed upon the world. Godzilla '54's atomic-powered body was so powerful that each footprint he left was a crater seeping with lethal radiation. The infamous day that Godzilla rose from the sea to conquer Tokyo will be remembered as the beginning of the humanity's epic struggle against the reign of giant monsters.	„
	~ Godzilla 1954 bio in Godzilla: Unleashed

Background

Godzilla (ゴジラ Gojira) is a kaiju who first appeared in the 1954 film Godzilla. The original Godzilla is a prehistoric amphibious sea creature that was disturbed and burned when an American hydrogen bomb test conducted in the Pacific Ocean destroyed his habitat and drew him to the surface. Godzilla unleashed his rage upon humanity, destroying any ships in his vicinity and eventually laying waste to Odo Island and the city of Tokyo. Daisuke Serizawa eventually used his invention, the Oxygen Destroyer, to kill Godzilla, while taking his own life to ensure the weapon could never be used again. Typically, in the various continuities of the Godzilla franchise, a second Godzilla appears sometime after this Godzilla's death. Despite only being the focus of one film, the First Generation Godzilla has been referenced to some degree in several entries in the series since.

This dropdown contains the synopsis of Godzilla’s story. Read at your own risk as you may be spoiled otherwise!

Showa Era Godzilla (1954) Following an American hydrogen bomb test at Bikini Atoll in the South Pacific Ocean, a giant prehistoric reptile was disturbed from its underwater slumber and heavily irradiated. The monster began attacking various ships in the waters off Japan, prompting a search party to be sent to Odo Island, where some of the survivors had washed ashore. The islanders believed the shipwrecks were caused by Godzilla, a giant sea monster from their folklore which they believed would come ashore to feed on humanity. One night, a typhoon struck the island, leaving it devastated. However, it was apparent most of the damage was caused by something other than a typhoon, as houses in the village appeared to have been crushed from above. A research team headed by Kyohei Yamane was sent to the island, and discovered a giant radioactive footprint on the island, with a Trilobite embedded in it. Suddenly, the monster that was responsible for the shipwrecks and the damage on the island appeared over a hill on the island. The people fled upon realizing the enormous presence of the 50-meter creature. Back in Japan, Yamane named the creature "Godzilla" after the monster from Odo Island folklore, and proposed it was a transitional organism from the Jurassic Period, related to both land-living and sea-dwelling reptiles. Yamane believed that Godzilla was exposed to a recent American H-bomb test, hence the radiation found in his footprint, and stressed the monster should be studied to see how he survived to this point. The JSDF sent battleships to destroy Godzilla with depth charges, declaring him dead. However, Godzilla soon surfaced in Tokyo Bay completely unharmed, plunging Japan and the international community into a state of emergency. One night, Godzilla came ashore in Tokyo, destroying the outskirts of the city before returning to the bay. In response, the JSDF erected a barrier of power lines around the heart of Tokyo, with 50,000 volts of electricity passing through them, in the hopes they would halt Godzilla. When Godzilla came ashore again another night, he tore through the power lines and melted them with a beam of radioactive heat fired from his mouth. The JSDF fired on Godzilla with artillery and tanks, but their weapons had no effect. Godzilla proceeded into downtown Tokyo, transforming the Japanese capital into a sea of flame overnight. With his rampage concluded, Godzilla returned to the bay, where he was attacked by F-86F Sabre fighter jets before finally disappearing beneath the waves. In the aftermath of Godzilla's raid, Tokyo was an uninhabitable wasteland, burned to a crater and contaminated with deadly radiation. The Japanese government was at a loss in combating the monster and preventing future attacks. Scientist Daisuke Serizawa was approached by his former fiance Emiko Yamane and her boyfriend Hideto Ogata, who asked for him to use his experimental chemical weapon, the Oxygen Destroyer, against Godzilla. Serizawa was horrified by the idea of revealing his invention to the world and refused at first, but was convinced after watching a television program showing Japanese schoolchildren singing a song praying for peace. Serizawa burned his notes on the Oxygen Destroyer and handed it over to the JSDF. A boat was sent to Tokyo Bay, using a Geiger counter to locate Godzilla underwater. Serizawa and Ogata donned diving suits to go underwater and detonate the device. Once they reached Godzilla, who was sitting on the ocean floor, Ogata was pulled to the surface while Serizawa severed his line and activated the device, sacrificing his own life to stop Godzilla and prevent his weapon from ever falling into the wrong hands. After a few moments, Godzilla rose to the surface and roared defiantly at the boat before sinking under the waves to his death. While the people on the boat both celebrated Godzilla's demise and mourned Serizawa's sacrifice, Dr. Yamane solemnly warned that it was unlikely Godzilla was the last member of his species, and that if mankind continued nuclear testing, another Godzilla would almost certainly appear. Godzilla Raids Again After pilots Shoichi Tsukioka and Koji Kobayashi witnessed a second Godzilla battling another monster called Anguirus on Iwato Island, Dr. Yamane was brought to Osaka to meet with city officials to discuss countermeasures. Yamane showed footage of the first Godzilla's Tokyo rampage from a year prior, and expressed his regret in saying there was no reliable way to combat Godzilla with Dr. Serizawa and the Oxygen Destroyer both gone forever. He did however remark that the first Godzilla had a peculiar instinct toward lights and was enraged by and drawn to them, likely because they reminded him of the hydrogen bomb explosion. Assuming this second Godzilla possessed the same instinct, Yamane proposed instituting a citywide blackout in Osaka, while using flares to lure Godzilla away from the city. Heisei Era The Return of Godzilla When interviewing Hiroshi Okumura about the giant monster that supposedly attacked the fishing boat he was on, Doctor Hayashida showed him photographs taken of the original Godzilla's attack in 1954. After viewing the photographs, Okumura confirmed that the creature he saw was Godzilla. Godzilla vs. Destoroyah When Godzilla's heart became unstable after absorbing an excessive amount of radiation from a uranium explosion on Baas Island, G-Force determined that he would eventually explode, setting off a chain reaction that would cause the planet's atmosphere to ignite and wipe out all life on Earth. G-Force sought out the expertise of Dr. Yamane's grandson Kenkichi, who had written a thesis paper on Godzilla's biology. Kenkichi proposed that the only way to prevent this cataclysm was to kill Godzilla before he exploded. He stated that they had to kill this Godzilla the same way they killed the first Godzilla, using the Oxygen Destroyer. Kenkichi's aunt Emiko had warned his sister Yukari that Dr. Kensaku Ijuin's recently-unveiled invention, Micro-Oxygen, was dangerously similar to the weapon her friend Daisuke Serizawa had given his own life to ensure would never be used again. Kenkichi convinced Yukari to go against their aunt's wishes and try to get Ijuin to recreate the weapon. However, Ijuin had recently performed analysis on the soil from the part of Tokyo Bay where the Oxygen Destroyer was detonated to kill the first Godzilla in 1954, and found that it had caused microbes trapped in the strata since the Precambrian Era to revive and begin evolving abnormally.

General Information

Name: Godzilla, Gojira

Origin: Godzilla (1954)

Sex: Male (Godzilla is constantly referred to with "he/him" pronouns throughout the movie. Though it was speculated by producer Tomoyuki Tanaka that Godzilla could have been a female)

Age: At least 2 million years old (Theorized to have been alive at least since the Jurassic period by Professor Yamane)

Classification: Gojilla, Goji, ShodaiGoji, Original Godzilla, Godzilla 1954, First Generation Godzilla, Angurus, Godzilla-1st., Giant Hydrogen Bomb Monster 水爆大怪獣 (Suibaku Daikaijū)
, King of the Monsters 怪獣王 (Kaijūō)

Species: Irradiated prehistoric amphibious reptile

Occupation: None

Status: Deceased (Godzilla was eventually killed by the Oxygen Destroyer)

Alignment: Chaotic Neutral (Seeks vengeance on humanity for attacking and altering its natural habitat and home from the atomic bomb)

Codex Statistics

Tier: At least High 8-C

Dimensionality: 3-D

Attack Potency: At least Large Building level (Directly noted to be 50 meters in height, along with being estimated to be this tall. Destroyed many buildings and towers through tearing through them or swinging at them with his tail. Upon waking up caused a massive explosion that sunk the Southern Sea Steamship Company vessel, the Eiko-maru, a 7500 ton freighter, sunk another freighter that tried to search for the Eiko-maru), bypasses conventional durability with his Atomic Breath (Godzilla's breath can shoot out white vapor hot enough to melt metal, and cause fires across several city blocks, allowing him to bypass conventional durability through its extreme heat)

Durability: At least Large Building level (Took no damage from any tank fire), Far Higher with Absorption (Godzilla after being hit by the atomic bomb absorbed an enormous amount of atomic radiation, along with being noted how he was able to absorb a massive amount of atomic radiation but still survived, noted by the professor how he is still alive despite how much radiation he absorbed)

Striking Strength: At least Large Building Class

Lifting Strength: Class M (Easily flipped over a giant bridge, with modern day Tokyo bridges weighing 36,000 tons. Easily ripped off buildings, clock towers, and bent the transmit tower. Casually lifted and threw a giant metal tower)

Travel Speed: Superhuman (Through his sheer size and how far he is able to cross cities, he should move this fast)

Combat Speed: Superhuman

Reaction Speed: Superhuman

Stamina: Superhuman (Caused long attacks across Tokyo without tiring, only stopping his attack to retreat back underwater after the fighter jets attempted to attack him)

Range: Tens of Meters through sheer size (Directly noted to be 50 meters in height, , along with being estimated to be this tall), Hundreds of Meters with Atomic Breath (Godzilla's breath can shoot out white vapor hot enough to melt metal, and cause fires across several city blocks)

Intelligence: Average (Godzilla is more aware then an average animal, knowing that humanity injured his family, destroyed his natural habitat, and irradiated him, with his response being to seek vengeance on them)

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Powers and Abilities

Superhuman Physical Characteristics, Natural Weaponry (Godzilla has shown to use his claws and tail to tear through many buildings and towers, along with his teeth to bend down the transmit tower. His feet being able to easily crush objects such as houses), Longevity (Theorized to have been alive at least since the Jurassic period by Professor Yamane), Large Size (Building sized; Directly noted to be 50 meters in height, along with being estimated to be this tall), Aquatic Breathing (As it has lived within the bottom of the ocean, it can breathe underwater), Enhanced Senses (As it has lived within the bottom of the ocean, it is able to navigate within the dark waters where there is rarely any significant light beyond 200 meters), Pierce Resistance (Standard Pierce Resistance; Conventional weaponry bounces off of his skin, took no damage from any tank fire), Absorption (Godzilla after being hit by the atomic bomb absorbed an enormous amount of atomic radiation, noted by the professor how he is still alive despite how much radiation he absorbed), Radiation Manipulation (Godzilla spread radiation across several wells on an island he walked past, making the water in the wells dangerous to touch or drink, along with his footprints being radioactive and dangerous to be near. Noted that each footprint he leaves was a crater seeping with lethal radiation), Sound Manipulation (Due to the mutation from his exposure to a hydrogen bomb radiation, Godzilla is able to produce extremely loud, ear-piercing roars), Breath Attack, Smoke Manipulation, & Heat Manipulation (Godzilla's breath can shoot out white vapor hot enough to melt metal, and cause fires across several city blocks), Light Manipulation (Godzilla can cause his skin to light up).

Resistance to Radiation (Godzilla is noted how he was able to absorb a massive amount of atomic radiation but still survived, noted by the professor how he is still alive despite how much radiation he absorbed), Oceanic Pressures (Has lived within the deep waters of the ocean, with no damage to its skin despite the large amounts of pressure at the bottom of the ocean), Electricity (Took no damage from an electric current that was 50,000 volts)

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Equipment

Nothing notable.

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Notable Techniques

• Atomic Breath: Godzilla can exhale a powerful radioactive incandescent light, or atomic breath, which takes the form of a white vapor that is hot enough to melt metal and also causes raging fires that can spread across entire city blocks. Whenever Godzilla attacked a human vessel in the water from below, his breath boiled the ocean instantly and reduced said vessel to a sinking shipwreck. After engulfing Tokyo, this beam caused so much destruction, the city was reduced to ruins and rubble after the flames dissipated.
• Amphibious Physiology: Though technically a reptile and not an amphibian, Godzilla has an amphibious lifestyle. He spends half of his life in water and the other on land. Godzilla is capable of remaining completely submerged underwater for long periods of time, and it is suggested by Kyohei Yamane that he survived for millions of years living inside a deep underwater cavern. Godzilla's atomic breath is not impeded while underwater, shown when he obliterates boats with it while completely submerged underwater. While underwater, Godzilla can swim or simply march across the sea floor.

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Other

Standard Tactics: Godzilla will attack if angered or irritated, with Professor Yamane noting that things such as lights on him will only make him angry.

Weaknesses: Although his durability proved beyond humanity’s capabilities to harm him, Godzilla was eventually killed by the Oxygen Destroyer, a weapon that contained a chemical compound that liquefies oxygen atoms, causing living creatures to die of asphyxiation as their remains are liquefied by the surrounding water as it becomes corrosive.

Miscellaneous Feats

• Godzilla's strength was noted from a passerby as "the ocean blowing up".
• His attack on the ships were confused as either a drifting sea mine or an underwater volcanic eruption.
• His strength was questioned if it could've been an erupting volcano.
• He crushed 17 houses and a helicopter.

Trivia

• In the American version of the first Godzilla film, Dr. Kyohei Yamane estimates Godzilla's height as "over 400 feet," more than twice his canonical height.
• In explaining the existence of Minilla in the book Definitive Edition Godzilla Introduction, producer Tomoyuki Tanaka speculated that this Godzilla could have been female.
• The first and, by extent, second Showa Godzillas' weights of 20,000 metric tons are said to be equal to that of 5,000 elephants.

Battle Records

0-1-0

None.

• Citizens of Tokyo - Fight
  • Conditions: None.
  • Location: Tokyo, death occured in the outer seas of Tokyo
  • Note: The main factor that allowed them to win was Dr. Daisuke Serizawa's Oxygen Destroyer, otherwise all of their other weapons and planning were ineffective against Godzilla.

None.