Everyone knowsGodzilla. This kaiju is one of the most famous monsters in movie history. As such, his abilities are practically set in stone within the cultural zeitgeist. He’s a colossal dinosaur who breathes atomic destruction on unsuspecting cities and even other monsters. In theory, it shouldn’t be more complicated than that, but theGodzillafranchise is a long one.
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Because of that, some weird moments have popped up over the years. Godzilla pulls off moves that defy all logic, leaving dumbfounded audiences to wonder how or why. Sadly, this wondering is in vain. The King of the Monsters is ultimately subject to whatever the writers want. On the upside, viewers never quite know what entry holds.
9Space Dancing
This was one of the early indicators that the movies were becoming more kid-friendly. InGodzilla vs. Monster Zero, Rodan and the titular lizard are taken to a distant planet to fight King Ghidorah.It doesn’t take long for the two of them to send the dragon packing.
In celebration, Godzilla jumps up and down, moving his arms and legs in a joyful jig. Suffice it to say, he never did anything like this on Earth. Perhaps the alien planet’s different gravity field makes it possible. Perhaps the foreign atmosphere also affected his brain. No wonder this dance became a meme.
8Kangaroo Sliding Kick
The plated champ pulls off another gravity-defying move – this time an attack – inGodzilla vs. Megalon. To fight a giant beetle, Godzilla teams up with Jet Jaguar. ThisPower Rangerprecursor is silly enough, but Godzilla isn’t content to come second in any area.
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While his robotic ally holds Megalon, the heroic star charges forward. Maintaining his momentum, he then leans back on his tail and slams into the bad guy. It’s such a shocking sight that the monster does it once more for good measure, but that doesn’t make it any more believable. This stunt defies any semblance of physics. The filmmakers aren’t done yet, though.
7Atomic Breath Liftoff
As a somewhat psychedelic environmental flick,Godzilla vs. Hedorahgets pretty weird.The villain is a bug-eyed sludge monster, for crying out loud. That’s definitely strange, but the movie saves the best for last.
Godzilla emits his atomic breath like any other time. This time, however, the force is enough to propel him backward. It’s a slow liftoff at first, but it isn’t long before he’s soaring through the air. It seems all he has to do is tuck in his limbs. This could open up a wealth of new possibilities for travel. Sadly, he never uses it again, leaving any rocket-powered flight to Gamera instead.
6Magnet
Godzilla vs. Mechagodzillaspeaks for itself. A band of space apes (yes, really)built the titular robot to counter Godzilla and anything he can throw at it. As such, he must develop a new move to topple his mechanized nemesis. He just needs a little juice.
Godzilla gets it after being struck by lightning. This appears to have no effect at first, but Godzilla is later able to wield this new energy in battle. He first demonstrates this by repelling Mechagodzilla’s darts. Then, when the extraterrestrial adversary attempts an aerial retreat, Godzilla uses the rest of the magnetic force to pull his enemy down from the sky. This shows remarkable improvisation on the monster’s part. He takes the lightning strikes like a champ and controls his new magnetic abilities without any practice. He’s not just an atomic lizard, but an electric one.
5Reproduction
One element that perplexes people about America’s 1998Godzillareboot is a late-game revelation about the monster’s biology. It turns outhe came to New York to lay eggs, as he reproduces asexually. As weird as this is, it doesn’t
completely come out of nowhere.
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Whenever Godzilla’s son has appeared in the Japanese movies, he’s always hatched from an egg. Viewers never see a mate, so solo reproduction has always been a staple of the character. If nothing else, it makes for a convenient method of species survival.
4Digging
Another prominent power in the 1998 film is Godzilla’s ability to burrow underground. This is supposedly how he evades military forces and disappears without a trace. When the movie shows him digging, however, it seems slow and cumbersome.
The subsequent animated show better utilizes such a gift. Here, Godzilla tunnels much more rapidly, covering great depths and distances in seconds. This makes it useful in battle as a means of misdirection and flanking enemies. It makes one wonder why his Eastern counterpart never adopted such a useful move.
3Plate & Tail Lasers
As an irradiated monster, Godzilla has always sported atomic breath. He shoots destructive energy from his mouth like a dragon breathes fire. It’s easily his most powerful attack, but why stop there?
Shin Godzillaexpands many aspects of his growth. This quickly becomes apparent whenhe first crawls on land as a blubbery eel-like creature, but that’s only the tip of the iceberg. The biggest shock are the lasers he shoots from his back plates and tail. He often fires these off at the same time as his atomic breath. Using these attacks in tandem, Godzilla can reduce a city to rubble in seconds. Neither human nor monster stands a chance.
2Everything In Godzilla: Singular Point
Thisanimegetsverycomplicatedveryquickly. It all starts with anomalies called “singular points.” These mysterious veins emit red dust, which soon covers much of Japan. The dust forms crystalline “archetypes” capable of distorting space and time, and it also creates monsters that can do the same thing. However, which came first: the chicken or the egg?
Godzilla himself is one of these singular points. Yes, he can alter the environment, tear holes in the space-time continuum, and birth an army of demonic dinosaurs with the same abilities. He’s trampled cities before, but he’s never trampled the laws of nature like this. It really puts the “god” in Godzilla.
1Talking?
Godzilla vs. Giganproceeds likeany other monster mashuntil this happens. Godzilla and Anguirus hear a high-pitched sound. After that, they suddenly start talking.
The style of the conversation depends on the film’s version. The Japanese use speech bubbles to convey the lines, but the U.S. release has them speaking English. It’s horribly filtered and hard to hear, as record-scratching noises play over it. Either way, this is a random moment for Godzilla. That said, such moments are becoming par for the course for this series.
