History Franchise / Godzilla

[[caption-width-right:273:[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeYDIEh9dpk SQUEEEEARRRRGHHHRUH!]]]]

[[caption-width-right:273:[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeYDIEh9dpk SKREEEEEEEONNNNNK!]]]]

* CombiningMecha: MOGUERA and Super Mechagodzilla.

* CrossOver: Mothra, Rodan, King Kong, Gorosaurus, Manda, Varan, Baragon, MOGUERA, Kameba and Zilla all started in their own movies before being imported to the main series.

* EyeBeams: Hedorah, Mechagodzilla (except for Kiryu), King Caesar, Battra (both forms), MOGUERA, ''Final Wars'' Gigan and Monster X.

* FireForgedFriends: Godzilla, Rodan and Mothra in ''Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster'', Godzilla and King Caesar in ''Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla'', Mothra and Battra in ''Godzilla vs. Mothra'', Godzilla and MOGUERA in ''Godzilla vs. [=SpaceGodzilla=]''.

* FrickinLaserBeams: Mechagodzilla in two incarnations, MOGUERA, Mothra (starting with 1992's ''Godzilla and Mothra: The Battle for Earth'').

* {{Flight}}/GiantFlyer: Rodan, Varan, Mothra, King Ghidorah, Kamacuras, Hedorah, Gigan, Megalon, Jet Jaguar, the Mechagodzillas (except for Kiryu), Battra, [=SpaceGodzilla=], MOGUERA, Destoroyah and Megaguirus. [[FanonDisContinuity We don't mention when Godzilla did it]].

* RedemptionEqualsDeath: Mecha-King Ghidorah and MOGUERA (sort of).

* ThisIsADrill: Megalon's hands, MOGUERA's nose, Kiryu's hand in ''Tokyo SOS'' and the Gotengo's bow.

Along with the Western-made KingKong, Godzilla is ''the'' classic giant monster of modern fiction. As a ''{{kaiju}}'', time after time the mutated prehistoric reptile has risen from the deep, [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor sometimes to destroy Tokyo, sometimes to save it.]]

OlderThanTheyThink, because the movie is suspiciously similar to ''TheBeastFromTwentyThousandFathoms'', a 1953 American movie where a nuclear explosion awakens a giant dinosaur that attacks Manhattan. WordOfGod has it the real inspiration for Godzilla was a [[KingKong far better known monster movie]], though a working title for the film was "The Beast from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea", making it pretty obvious where they got the idea from.

** KingKong, the only BadassNormal monster to ever successfully beat Godzilla, although the King Kong that fought Godzilla is more BadassAbnormal. In order to make him suitable enough to actually fight Godzilla, they [[MakeMyMonsterGrow dramatically increased his size]] and gave him [[ElementalPowers electrical powers]].

* FantasyKitchenSink: The franchise and its related films feature dinosaurs that have survived until the present day to be mutated by atomic testing, present-day animals mutated by atomic testing, nearly a dozen different intelligent alien races trying to conquer us with various monsters and HumongousMecha, TimeTravel, mystical creatures and gods of religions that don't really exist, a massive sentient plant made by mixing a rose's DNA with Godzilla's and giving the result a human soul, ghosts, a living pile of sludge, two unrelated subterranean civilizations, {{Frankenstein}}'s monster, KingKong, humans with powerful psychic powers, a force made of humans born with supernatural strength and agility, a gun that fires black holes, a giant magic gliding lizard whose very presence creates DramaticWind, a giant walrus(!) and all other manner of wacky shit. And that's what fans love about these films!

* KingKong: The Eighth Wonder of the World battled the King of the Monsters in ''King Kong vs. Godzilla''.

* MysteryScienceTheater3000: ''Ebirah, Horror of the Deep'' and ''Godzilla vs. Megalon'' were shown.

-->--'''Music/BlueOysterCult''', ''Godzilla''

OlderThanTheyThink, because the movie is suspiciously similar to ''[[TheBeastFromTwentyThousandFathoms The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms]]'', a 1953 American movie where a nuclear explosion awakens a giant dinosaur that attacks Manhattan. WordOfGod has it the real inspiration for Godzilla was a [[KingKong far better known monster movie]], though a working title for the film was "The Beast from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea", making it pretty obvious where they got the idea from.

* ''Latitude Zero'' (1969)

* ''Film/EbirahHorrorOfTheDeep'' (1966)
* ''Film/SonOfGodzilla'' (1967)

* ''Film/GodzillaVsMechagodzilla'' (1974)
* ''Film/TerrorOfMechagodzilla'' (1975)

* ''Film/RebirthOfMothra3'' (1998)

** ''Final Wars'' is essentially this trope in movie form, combining almost every monster that has ever appeared in Godzilla's movies with a storyline involving, among other things, alien invasion (again) mutants, and special-effects laden gun battles and martial arts sequences that almost seem to have been pulled directly out of TheMatrix.

* ''Space Amoeba'' (1970)

Currently, [[TheDarkKnightSaga Legendary]] [[ThreeHundred Pictures]] is working on a new reboot of the series promising to be closer to the original material. And there was much rejoicing. In 2011, IDW Publishing launched an ongoing Godzilla comic book series, co-written by [[ComicBook/TheGoon Eric Powell]] and Tracy Marsh and drawn by [[GreenArrow Phil Hester]].

- American remake (not technically part of any series)-

* ''Battle in Outer Space'' (1959)

* ''Film/AllMonstersAttack'' (1969)
* ''Film/DestroyAllMonsters'' (1968)
* ''Film/EbirahHorrorOfTheDeep'' (1966)
* ''Film/GhidorahTheThreeHeadedMonster'' (1964)

* ''Film/GodzillaVsGigan'' (1972)
* ''Film/GodzillaVsHedorah'' (1971)
* ''Film/GodzillaVsMechagodzilla'' (1974)
* ''Film/GodzillaVsMegalon'' (1973)
* ''Film/{{Gojira}}'' (1954)
** ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters'' (1956)
* ''Film/InvasionOfAstroMonster'' (1965)

* ''Film/SonOfGodzilla'' (1967)
* ''Film/TerrorOfMechagodzilla'' (1975)

* ''Film/GodzillaAndMothraTheBattleForEarth'' (1992)

* ''Film/GodzillaVsDestoroyah'' (1995)
[[/index]]

* ''Film/TheReturnOfGodzilla'' (1984)

* ''Film/GodzillaMothraKingGhidorahGiantMonstersAllOutAttack'' (2001)
* ''Film/GodzillaTokyoSOS'' (2003)
* ''Film/GodzillaVsMegaguirus'' (2000)
- American remake (not technically part of any series)-

* ''Film/{{Godzilla}}'' (1998)

!!Television series

* ''Godzilla Island'' (1997 - 1998)
* ''WesternAnimation/TheGodzillaPowerHour'' (1978-1981)
* ''WesternAnimation/GodzillaTheSeries'' (1998-2000)

!!Other Toho films to feature Kaiju and alien invaders
[[index]]
* ''Film/{{Atragon}}''
* ''Film/BattleInOuterSpace''
* ''Film/{{Dogora}}''
* ''Film/FrankensteinConquersTheWorld''
* ''Gorath''
* ''Film/KingKongEscapes''
* ''Latitude Zero''
* ''{{Mothra}}''
* ''Film/TheMysterians''
* ''Film/RebirthOfMothra'' trilogy
[[/index]]

* ''{{Rodan}}''
* ''Space Amoeba''
* ''Film/VaranTheUnbelievable''
* ''The War in Space''
* ''Film/WarOfTheGargantuas''
* ''Yamato Takeru''

->''"With a purposeful grimace and a terrible sound,''

->''Helpless people on subway trains''

->''He picks up a bus and he throws it back down''

At the end of the film, Yamane says he doesn't believe Godzilla was unique. [[ThereIsAnother Another will inevitably appear]].

These are the titles of the official films. The names vary in regional release--A LOT.

* ''Film/{{Gojira}}'' (1954)
** ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters'' (1956)

* ''Film/GhidorahTheThreeHeadedMonster'' (1964)
* ''Film/InvasionOfAstroMonster'' (1965)
* ''Film/EbirahHorrorOfTheDeep'' (1966)
* ''Film/SonOfGodzilla'' (1967)
* ''Film/DestroyAllMonsters'' (1968)
* ''Film/AllMonstersAttack'' (1969)
* ''Film/GodzillaVsHedorah'' (1971)
* ''Film/GodzillaVsGigan'' (1972)
* ''Film/GodzillaVsMegalon'' (1973)
* ''Film/GodzillaVsMechagodzilla'' (1974)

* ''Film/TheReturnOfGodzilla'' (1984)

* ''Film/GodzillaAndMothraTheBattleForEarth'' (1992)

* ''Film/GodzillaVsDestoroyah'' (1995)
[[/index]]

* ''Film/GodzillaVsMegaguirus'' (2000)
* ''Film/GodzillaMothraKingGhidorahGiantMonstersAllOutAttack'' (2001)

* ''Film/GodzillaTokyoSOS'' (2003)

- American remake (not technically part of any series)-

* ''Godzilla Island'' (1997 - 1998)

* ''{{Rodan}}''
* ''Film/TheMysterians''
* ''Film/VaranTheUnbelievable''

* ''{{Mothra}}''
* ''Gorath''
* ''Film/{{Atragon}}''

* ''Film/WarOfTheGargantuas''

* ''Space Amoeba''
* ''The War in Space''
* ''Yamato Takeru''

* And some non-movie instances:
** ''Godzilla! Monster of Monsters'' ([[NintendoEntertainmentSystem NES]]).
** ''Super Godzilla'' (SuperNES).
** ''VideoGame/GodzillaDestroyAllMonstersMelee'' (GameCube, PlayStation2 and {{Xbox}}), ''Godzilla: Save the Earth'' ({{Xbox}} and {{Playstation 2}}) and ''Godzilla: Unleashed'' ({{Wii}} and {{Playstation 2}}).
** The [[MarvelComics Marvel]] and [[DarkHorseComics Dark Horse]] comic books.
* AIIsACrapshoot: Kiryu is built around the original Godzilla's skeleton, and when it first hears Godzilla's roar, it remembers its past and goes rampaging. They quickly find out a way to fix it, though.

* AscendedExtra (or possibly EnsembleDarkhorse): Bagan. Was considered (and passed on) for multiple films until finally appearing in the SuperNES game ''Super Godzilla''. Despite never actually appearing in a Godzilla movie, Bagan has become stupidly popular with the fans. Well, most of them.

* AttackReflector: King Caesar can absorb energy weapons into his eyes and fire them back.The Super X-2's Fire Mirror also counts, as does Mechagodzilla II's "Plasma Grenades", both off which turn Godzilla's breath weapon against him.

** Colonel Gondo from "Biollante"? A ColonelBadass who makes a BondOneLiner to a very angry Godzilla.

* BadassBookworm: Dr. Serizawa. You can count the number of things that actually managed to kill Godzilla on one hand. You can count the number of ''people'' that killed Godzilla on one finger.
** Partially averted by the Americanized version of ''The Return of Godzilla'' which takes the scene of the skeleton of Godzilla vanishing as meaning that the creature seen in the movie is the same as the original, meaning that Serizawa didn't actually ''kill'' Godzilla, just put him out of action for some thirty-odd years.
** If you want to take the ending of GMK as an idea, this can explain how Godzilla revived from the Oxygen Destroyer. Whether this is canon or "counts" of course is up to each viewer.

** Classic Media's dirty, faded print of the U.S. cut of ''Rodan'' is in a very dire shape, and appears to be the same one that was released ''decades'' earlier on countless VHS and television releases.

** Earlier, Godzilla was getting trounced by Gigan and Monster X when Mothra showed up and clotheslines them. It. Is.

* CallBack: Final Wars features many callbacks to the classic Toho sci-fi films of the 50s and 60s, including having the object plummeting towards Earth be Gorath from SuspiciousStarGorath, and having the vintage Tohoscope logo be shown at the beginning.

* CanonDiscontinuity: The Godzilla series has multiple separate continuities within it: Showa (The films between 1954 and 1975) and Heisei (the films between 1984 and 1995) being the longest of them. Most films after that are their own individual continuity (But most still keep the original as canonical). This still doesn't prevent fans from picking and choosing amongst them. The fact that the first film's american version was actually re-dubbed in Japanese and shown in cinemas to a great success also adds some confusion to the Japanese fans as to what version was canon.

* ComicBookAdaptation: One from MarvelComics (in the '70s), another from DarkHorseComics (in the '90s). Both suffered from being unable to use anyone but Godzilla.

* CosmicHorrorStory: King Ghidorah's background mentions that it has destroyed countless worlds with life.

* CurbStompBattle: A few.

** Gigan being killed by ''{{Zone Fighter}}'' and King Ghidorah beating ''{{Zone Fighter}}'' in round one.

* DefeatMeansFriendship: After Godzilla maims/kills Anguirus in the second movie, they're close allies throughout the rest of the Showa series.
* DefrostingTheIceQueen: Katsura in ''Terror of Mechagodzilla''.

* [[EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs Everything's Better With Dinosaurs]]: [[PrehistoricMonster Mutant dinosaurs the size of skyscrapers]], that is.

* {{Eyepatch of Power}}: Dr. Serizawa, the only man to kill Godzilla officially.
** Captain Yamoto from ''Ebirah, Horror of the Deep'', also portrayed by Akihiko Hirata.

* ExecutiveMeddling: Ishiro Honda, the director of the first film and many other Toho kaiju movies, preferred science fiction/alien invasion movies (like ''The Mysterians'' or ''Gorath'') to kaiju efforts, but the monster movies were so successful that he didn't really have a choice. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as he still made excellent movies, but Honda's non-kaiju movies [[NeedsMoreLove are often unfairly overlooked]].
** Also, Shusuke Kaneko originally wanted to use Anguirus and Varan in a Godzilla movie he was directing. However, the executives at Toho Studios told him he had to use two more popular monster. The end result? '''''Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack.'''''
** Creator/AkiraKurosawa, one of the most respected filmmakers of the 20th century, wanted to direct a Godzilla movie, but Toho didn't want to spend the money (as Akira was known to go overbudget and himself cost a lot to direct a film in adittion to the Special Effects cost).
* EyeLightsOut

* FamilyFriendlyFirearms: Family friendly maser technology, especially in the 1990s series. Conventional guns still appear frequently, however.
** Justified, as bullets do not affect kaiju generally.
** In ''Godzilla vs. Megalon'', the agents from Seatopia used ''knockout gas guns.''

* {{Flight}}/GiantFlyer: Rodan, Varan, Mothra, King Ghidorah, Kamacuras, Hedorah, Gigan, Megalon, Jet Jaguar, the Mechagodzillas (except for Kiryu), Battra, [=SpaceGodzilla=], MOGUERA, Destoroyah and Megaguirus. [[FanonDisContinuity We don't mention when Godzilla did it]].
** Kiryu is still capable of at least some limited flight, as in the end of ''Tokyo SOS''.

* GagDub: ''Godzilla 1985'' and ''Godzilla 2000'' were both given these, the latter as an {{Affectionate Parody}} of the 70s Godzilla movie dubs.
* [[GaiasVengeance Gaia's Vengeance]]: Battra.

** The Lord Howe Monster, in the DarkHorseComics.

* GiantSpider:

** A robotic instance: The All-Terraintula, from the [[DarkHorseComics Dark Horse]] comics.

* GodzillaThreshold: TropeNamer. ''Final Wars'' is essentially a movie-long {{LampshadeHanging}} of this.

* HongKongDub: These dubs were originally commissioned by Toho themselves for overseas export in Asian countries with a large English speaking populace (Singapore, Malaysia, etc). Commonly referred to as "International Dubs" by fans.

* LargeHam: Mr. Tako, head of Pacific Pharmaceuticals.

* LawyerFriendlyCameo: In issue #2 of the IDW comic, three children are seen in a town called El Paso, who very much resemble the [[PowerTrio PowerTrio]] of the [[BlueBeetle Blue Beetle]]

* LicensedGame: Dozens. Mostly for Nintendo consoles.
* LivingStatue: Gekido-jin from the DarkHorseComics ''Godzilla Color Special''.

* MarsNeedsWomen: The eponymous race in ''The Mysterians''.

** The eponymous A-bomb spawned mutants from ''The H-Man'' who disintegrate anyone they touch.

** Goro Maki the reporter character from ''Son of Godzilla'' and Goro Maki the ''reporter character'' from ''The Return of Godzilla''.

** ''Ghidorah, the Three Headed Monster'' and ''All Monsters Attack'' have the notability of being the only two Showa films not theatrically released in Germany.

* NonindicativeName: ''Frankenstein Conquers The World''. Dr. Frankenstein's not in it, and there's no conquering of any kind. Also ''Godzilla vs. The Thing'', though you can be forgiven for expecting to hear [[ComicBook/FantasticFour "IT'S CLOBBERIN' TIME!"]] at some point.
* NotEvilJustMisunderstood: The original 1954 film shows that he's as much a victim of the atomic bomb as everyone else.

* NuclearWeaponsTaboo: Borderline {{Anvilicious}} sometimes, the earlier movies especially would bring up atomic bombs as a way to destroy Godzilla and the other monsters, but would always get shot down because no one was anxious to destroy Tokyo and a large chunk of Japan in the process. Some films speculated that the bomb would just make the creatures ''stronger''.

* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: The Final Wars Kamacuras destroyed the ''Ecleir'', one of the EDF's flying warships. What a shame it was off-screen.
* [[OnlySaneMan Only Sane Kaiju]]: Mothra. While the other giant monsters prefer to destroy things and being pissed at the human race, she and her children (all of whom, even the males, share her name in whole or in part depending on the era.) prefer to save things and the human race from monsters like Godzilla and King Ghidorah.

* OurMonstersAreWeird: A lot of the stranger Kaiju fall under this, including Biollante, Hedorah, Gigan and even freaking Mothra.

* {{Overcrank}} and PeopleInRubberSuits form the special effects more often than not.

* PersonOfMassDestruction: Godzilla is a prime example of this, especially in the original movie when he levels Tokyo to the ground.
* PlayingAgainstType: King Ghidorah, usually a villain, is [[TheHero the hero]] in GMK. That's not the only occasion where a monster has [[HeelFaceTurn switched]] [[FaceHeelTurn moralities]], but given that he otherwise varies between being a force of nature and outright evil, it's very notable.

* RedshirtArmy: The ignorance of this trope is one of the many reasons the American Godzilla is so loathed by fans of the Japanese/canon Godzilla films.

* [[ShootTheShaggyDog Shoot The Shaggy Dog]]: Dr. Serizawa [[HeroicSacrifice sacrificed himself]] to make sure the Oxygen Destroyer was only used to kill Godzilla in the first film because he didn't want it to become a weapon like the hydrogen bomb that helped bring about Godzilla. Disregarding the fact Dr. Yamane was right when he said [[ThereIsAnother There Is Another]] and more Godzillas came for their turn to smash Tokyo, Godzilla vs. Destoroyah features a monster that is arguably worse than almost all the Godzilla and was created by the Oxygen Detroyer, just like how the hydrogen bomb created Godzilla.

* TheSoulless: In one of the films Godzilla comes back as an undead white eyed monster possessed by evil spirits of dead WW2 soldiers. Kananko explicitly said in interviews that the pure white eyes means either Godzilla had his soul exorcized by the evil spirits or he never had one to begin with.

* SpecialGuest: Godzilla, King Ghidorah, and Gigan all showed up in the show ''{{Zone Fighter}}'' at one point and have fought him. Godzilla even teamed up with ''{{Zone Fighter}}'' several times and Gigan was even killed by ''{{Zone Fighter}}''!

* TimeTravel: The 1990s version of ''Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah''.

* {{Toho}}

** Another urban legend states that the name "Gojira" was supposedly the nickname of an employee working for Toho.

* WheresTheFunInThat:

** AkiraKurosawa, one of the most respected filmmakers of the 20th century, wanted to direct a Godzilla movie, but Toho didn't want to spend the money (as Akira was known to go overbudget and himself cost a lot to direct a film in adittion to the Special Effects cost).

After seeing how much damage Godzilla has done, Serizawa does eventually decide to use his oxygen destroyer, but first he [[NoPlansNoPrototypeNoBackup burns all his research notes]]. The navy take Serizawa to the middle of Tokyo bay, where he successfully uses his invention to kill both Godzilla and himself, a HeroicSacrifice to prevent the oxygen destroyer being misused.

** Godzilla: Final Wars was originally written so that the titular monster was ''Junior''. For unknown reasons, this concept was never used in the finished product and it's never revealed exactly ''which'' Godzilla it's supposed to be.

** ''King Kong vs. Godzilla'' to an extent, as it was Toho's 30th anniversary film. Both titular monsters appear for the first time in color, widescreen and stereo. Of course, a good chunk of the budget went to the ownership of King Kong's rights alone.

** Averted, however, with Rodan. At the end of their [[{{Rodan}} titular film debut]] [[spoiler:both the male and female Rodan die by falling into a volcano as the JSDF bombs the area with an air strike]]. The male [[UnexplainedRecovery recovered]] and returned in ''Ghidorah the Three-Headed Monster''. So this may not be as much of an aversion as we think, unless this was intended to be a third Rodan not discovered in the original film.

* MarsNeedsWomen: The titular race in ''The Mysterians''.

** The titular A-bomb spawned mutants from ''The H-Man'' who disintegrate anyone they touch.

** Brutally played straight with the second film, ''Godzilla's Counterattack/Godzilla Raids Again/Gigantis the Fire Monster''. Read all about it [[http://www.aycyas.com/godzillascounterattack.htm here]] and [[http://www.historyvortex.org/GodzillaAmerica2.html here]]

* AttackReflector: King Caesar can absorb energy weapons into his eyes and fire them back.

** ''Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee'' (GameCube and {{Xbox}}), ''Godzilla: Save the Earth'' ({{Xbox}} and {{Playstation 2}}) and ''Godzilla: Unleashed'' ({{Wii}} and {{Playstation 2}}).

** In ''Godzilla vs. Magalon'', the Seatopians actually call Nebula M and ask to borrow Gigan to help Megalon against Godzilla. No interaction between the two races, no evidence that they are allies, no reason for them to help except maybe because they don't like Godzilla on general principles. They just phone up and ask to borrow their Kaiju, like he's a cup of sugar. At least give the Nebulans credit for being helpful.

* ArtisticLicencePhysics: In ''Godzilla vs. Megalon'', Jet Jaguar -- a human-sized robot built by a human inventor in his spare bedroom -- suddenly grows to over 50 meters tall. The inventor's comment? "He must have reprogrammed himself to change his size somehow."

* RuleOfCool: ''Final Wars'' has many attempts to use this trope, but YourMileageMayVary, with the motorcycle gun martial arts fight being the most dividing. On the other hand, the scene with [[BadassLongcoat Captain Gordon]] and his [[KatanasAreJustBetter katana]] definitely succeeds.

Currently, [[TheDarkKnightSaga Legendary]] [[ThreeHundred Pictures]] is working on a new reboot of the series promising to be closer to the original material. [[AndTheFandomRejoices And there was much rejoicing]]. In 2011, IDW Publishing launched an ongoing Godzilla comic book series, co-written by [[ComicBook/TheGoon Eric Powell]] and Tracy Marsh and drawn by [[GreenArrow Phil Hester]].

** TheBigGuy: Rodan (though he can also sometimes double as the SmartGuy). Gorosaurus fits as well, in ''Destroy All Monsters''.
** TheSmartGuy / TheChick: Mothra. Usually the level-headed one, her son, also named Mothra like his twin sister, broke up the fight between Godzilla and Rodan in ''Ghidorah'' and the female twin seemed to be telling Godzilla she didn't want to fight him in ''Ebirah, Horror of the Deep''.

-->''With a purposeful grimace and a terrible sound,''
-->''He pulls the spitting high-tension wires down;''
-->''Helpless people on subway trains''
-->''Scream Bug-eyed as he looks in on them;''
-->''He picks up a bus and he throws it back down''
-->''As he wades through the buildings toward the center of town;''
-->''Oh no, they say he's got to go, go go Godzilla!''
-->''Oh no, there goes Tokyo, go go Godzilla!''
--->--[[Music/BlueOysterCult Blue Öyster Cult]], ''Godzilla''