Line #23 Film/GodzillaVsDestoroyah


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/godzilla_vs_destroyah_531373234f07e.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:''The king is dead, long live the king.'']]
3
4
5	-> "''My job is done now... Godzilla.''" (dub)\
6	"''My mission is now complete.''" (original line)
7	-->-- '''Miki Saegusa''', after Godzilla dies.
8
9	''Godzilla vs. Destoroyah'' is the 1995 sequel to ''Film/GodzillaVsSpaceGodzilla'', the twenty-second film in the ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'' series and the final film in the Heisei series. It is directed by Takao Okawara, with Kazuki Omori writing the screenplay.
10
11	The film involves Godzilla (Kenpachiro Satsuma) suffering from a [[SuperpowerMeltdown nuclear meltdown]] with 2 scenarios: A. He will blow up, resulting in a nuclear explosion that will destroy the world. Or B. He will meltdown at 1200 degrees to the point he will destroy the world from the inside. New problems arise when fish in aquariums are being reduced to skeletons caused by creatures awakened by the Oxygen Destroyer, the weapon used to kill the first Godzilla in the original ''[[Film/Godzilla1954 Godzilla]]''. Now the world rests on Godzilla and his newly grown son Godzilla Junior (Hurricane Ryu) to take on this new threat, before the nuclear dinosaur dies.
12
13	The film also stars Takuro Tatsumi as Dr. Kensaku Ijuin, Yōko Ishino as Yukari Yamane, Yasufumi Hayashi as Kenkichi Yamane, Sayaka Osawa as Meru Ozawa, Megumi Odaka as Miki Saegusa, Masahiro Takashima as Sho Kuroki, Momoko Kōchi (in her final film performance) as Emiko Yamane, Akira Nakao as Takaaki Aso, Shigeru Koyama as Goto, and Saburo Shinoda as Professor Fukazawa.
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15	As this is the GrandFinale of the Heisei saga, this is the last contributions by Kazuki Omori, and the actors' roles, as well as Momoko Koichi's final film role before her death in 1998. The series would briefly retire Godzilla so Tri-Star create their own Godzilla film, [[Film/Godzilla1998 which would be released in May 20th, 1998]]. However due to the negative response to that film, Toho would release Godzilla from retirement in 1999 instead of their original intent to start a film in 2004 for its 50th anniversary.
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17	The film was released on December 9, 1995.
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19	''Film/{{Godzilla 2000}}'' starts a new series of films called the "Millennium Series".
20	----
21	!!The film provides examples of:
22
23	* AlienBlood:
24	** Destoroyah has lime green or yellow blood. He spits or bleeds huge amounts of it in the later phases of the final battle.
25	** Due to the side effect of Godzilla's Burning mutation, his blood went from red to orange to ''white''.
26	* AntagonistInMourning: Takaki Aso, who had been antagonizing Godzilla since ''Film/GodzillaVsMechagodzillaII'' quietly mourns when he dies by his own meltdown. Aso's eyes are notably wet when this happens.
27	* ApocalypseHow: Godzilla's meltdown is at risk of causing a Class 6, as his exploding heart will ignite and vaporize the atmosphere, causing Earth to become uninhabitable.
28	* AscendedToCarnivorism: Junior seems to have shifted from eating plants, to eating ''whales''. Justified, in that it's established that Godzillasaurus is carnivorous by nature. It's likely that he learned to hunt for food while living with his adoptive father.
29	* AwesomeButImpractical:
30	** Destoroyah can emulate the Oxygen Destroyer causing the target to be reduced to bones. Sounds cool right? The problem? He has to have them in a body of water and break up into a swarm of microbes for it to work. And even when he dropped Godzilla into the ocean he still couldn't use it because Godzilla's imminent meltdown was boiling the water and made it and him too hot to use this power. The only one to fall victim to this in the whole movie was an aquarium full of fish.
31	** Subverted with the chest laser it was supposed to use, that uses the power of the Oxygen Destroyer. This attack however was cut from the film.
32	* BackFromTheDead: Junior. "[[Film/GodzillaVsKingGhidorah Godzilla never does destroy Japan]]" [[GentleGiant indeed]].
33	* BequeathedPower: [[spoiler:Godzilla's power flows into his son after his death.]]
34	* BewareTheNiceOnes: Attack humans? Get shot at by Junior.
35	* BigDamnHeroes: Just as Godzilla is about to attack another nuclear plant, the Super-X III launches in defense of the plant. It not only survives the battle, it [[spoiler: actually ''wins'', a feat that only a handful of Kaiju movie vehicles can boast.]]
36	* BittersweetEnding: As the {{Tagline}} says, Godzilla has died... [[spoiler: but the radiation that was expelled from his body revives Junior into a full-grown Godzilla]].
37	* BlindIdiotTranslation:
38	** Toho's international English credits misspell Kenpachiro Satsuma's name as Ken''HA''chiro in this and every one of their international versions.
39	** There's a lot of cryptic, "Huh? What?" dialogue regarding Destoroyah and his powers in the international dub. The writing is certainly a far cry from say, ''Biollante'''s dub.
40	** Most of the dubbed dialogue script either over simplifies things or just plain made stuff up. For example, near the end of the movie when Colonel Kuroki is about to send the Super X-III out to stop Godzilla's meltdown, to drive home the gravity of the odds hinging on the film's climax, he morosely remarks, "Our budget for next year is zero yen... Then again, we may not even have a next year." This line in the dubbed version becomes, "Let's go freeze that overgrown lizard. This is gonna make my day." Unfortunately, this sort of thing is commonplace in the Heisei dubs.
41	* BloodFromTheMouth: Destoroyah coughs up blood after getting hit with the Red Spiral Ray.
42	* BloodierAndGorier: The kaiju action gets more violent than ever, with scenes like Destoroyah spiking a gory hole in Junior's chest with its inner mouth, and when Destoroyah and Godzilla go hand to hand combat they slash and blow bloody chunks off each other (including Destoroyah spewing a mass of blood from [[BloodFromTheMouth its mouth]]).
43	* BookEnds: The franchise started with the events of ''Film/Godzilla1954'' where Godzilla is a TragicMonster and dies at the hands of Daisuke Serizawa. This film starts with Godzilla dying, but not before defeating Destoroyah, a monster born from that very weapon used to kill the original Godzilla.
44	* TheBusCameBack:
45	** Emiko Yamane, last seen in ''Film/Godzilla1954''; absent six movies in the Heisei timeline.
46	** The Super X pilot Sho Kuroki, last seen in ''Film/GodzillaVsBiollante'' (1989); absent four movies. Gets a dramatic reveal the first time he's seen in the Super X 3's pilot seat.
47	* CallBack:
48	** The film itself is one big call-back to the [[Film/Godzilla1954 first film]] which has several moments where the characters discusses the events of that film. The music even provides the context to the first film.
49	** The entire plot is Godzilla's power going out of control to the point he will eventually explode. This is exactly what almost happened in [[Film/GodzillaVsSpaceGodzilla the previous film]] after [=SpaceGodzilla=] shoulder crystals were destroyed and his energy began to overload, only in that case the explosion would've only blown up everything from the city to Birth Island (presumably because [=SpaceGodzilla=] wasn't overcharged to anywhere close to the degree like Godzilla is here).
50	** Godzilla's body heat becomes a plot point again. In ''Film/GodzillaVsBiollante'', increasing Godzilla's body heat was to use the Anti-Nuclear Bacteria in order to subdue him. In this film, his body heat is dramatically increasing in three digits, and any more will actually kill him. This is what exactly happens in this film.
51	* CatastrophicCountdown: Rather than counting down to Godzilla's meltdown, the countdown is his rise in temperature.
52	* CharacterAgedWithTheActor: Momoko Kochi returned for the role as Emiko Yamane. This would be her final role after her death in 1998.
53	* ColdBloodedTorture: Destoroyah is ''ruthless'' when it comes to attacking Junior.
54	* ContinuityNod: Several connections with the original ''[[{{Film/Gojira}} Godzilla]]'' appear on this film:
55	** Emiko (played once again by Momoko Kochi) senses Kensaku Ijuin's Micro-oxygen being similar to Daisuke Serizawa's Oxygen Destroyer, thus, the flashback (with the stock footage from the original Godzilla) making the connection.
56	** Emiko's nightmare after Ken Yamane's NiceJobBreakingItHero moment when he declares using the Oxygen Destroyer on Godzilla's current state. Emiko's nightmare sequence plays another flashback scene in which Ogata and Serizawa went underwater and Serizawa using the weapon underwater. Of course, Emiko and Miki Saegusa both object to this.
57	** While the Oxygen Destroyer is the only weapon to ever kill Godzilla, it ''mutated'' Precambrian life-forms that could survive without oxygen. This is similar to Godzilla's mutation from the H-Bomb testing, which could wipe out anything within proximity and mutated the poor creature. This returns to one of the dark themes of the original [[Film/Godzilla1954 Godzilla]].
58	* ContrivedCoincidence: Godzilla is undergoing a nuclear meltdown, and so the military is trying to find a way to cool him down before he accidentally destroys the world. At the same time, Kensaku Ijuin created a micro-organism which bore similarities to the Oxygen Destroyer that killed the original Godzilla back in 1954. Said Oxygen Destroyer awakened and mutated Precambrian life-forms 41 years after the death of the original Godzilla, which now means things went FromBadToWorse. So now Japan is between a rock and a hard place now that the atomic God of Destruction fights the devil of the Oxygen Destroyer to determine the end of the world.
59	* CoolPlane: The Super-X III is capable of tanking Godzilla's fire head-on. Cooler still, [[spoiler: it actually survives to the end of the movie and successfully does its job]].
60	* DarkerAndEdgier: Compared to the semi-soft hearted ''Film/GodzillaVsSpaceGodzilla'', this film is perhaps the darkest entry of the entire Heisei series (being the last film of this series notwithstanding). As dark as the first film as people say, since it deals with Godzilla dying, a villain that has no qualms killing anything in its path, and the idea to use the weapon to kill the original Godzilla. Several reprise from the music drives this further.
61	* DarkReprise: Several music scores by Akira Ifukube are either darker or somber versions of his score from 1954. Some are even mixed with the new tracks to drive the point home that the world itself is in danger, and Godzilla ''knows'' he's dying.
62	* DeadLineNews: Averted, as Yukari Yamane was about to fall victim to one of the Destoroyahs until Kensaku saves her when Destoroyah blasts a car in half and flips the car over.
63	* DeathByIrony:
64	** Destoroyah is a creature mutated by the Oxygen Destroyer, a weapon that killed the first Godzilla. Godzilla of the Heisei era is the one who kills him (indirectly).
65	** Two years previously, Rodan dissolved himself into energy and got absorbed by Godzilla so that Godzilla could use the Spiral Ray. Now, close to death, Godzilla ''can't fire his normal strength beam'', as he simply has too much radiation.
66	** Destoroyah dies in a similar manner to the way [[spoiler: he killed Junior: Falling to the ground from a high altitude, with the impact killing him]].
67	* DefeatEqualsExplosion:
68	** Kenkichi's first initial theory that if Godzilla explodes, he would inadvertently take the Earth with him. He also advises Aso to not hit Godzilla with any weapons, since doing so could cause him to prematurely explode.
69	** Destoroyah's body explodes after he is killed. Destoroyah also explodes midway through the final battle after Godzilla mortally wounds him, but this isn't fatal, and is actually his way of dividing his Perfect form back into an assortment of smaller Aggregates which he later recombines back into his Perfect Form, thus escaping dying.
70	* DepletedPhlebotinumShells: The freeze rays, and several weapons that actually ''work'' on a kaiju.
71	* DestructiveSavior: Understandably for a teenaged Godzilla, Junior causes some destruction, but not nearly at a the level of his father's collateral damage. This is due to him in large part being RaisedByHumans, at least initially. However, being Godzilla's son and able to breathe a stream of atomic breath, at least some collateral damage is inevitable. And in Junior's defense, the main piece of destruction he's "responsible" for (toppling a building) is due to Destoroyah blasting him into it.
72	* {{Determinator}}: Both Godzilla and Destoroyah during the final battle use every extent of their abilities during the final battle, with Destoroyah only opting to make an attempted retreat when it becomes obvious that he no longer stands any chance of survival. Not even the loss of his son and repeated grievous injuries will stop Godzilla from securing his final victory.
73	* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu:
74	** The Super-X III is one of the few Anti-Kaiju weapons to actually A: Survive the end of the movie, and B: [[spoiler: win a battle against the Kaiju. It actually puts Godzilla ''down'' and slows his meltdown for several precious hours, and at the end of the movie, it and the Maser Cannons work together to finish Destoroyah off.]]
75	** WordOfGod says that [[spoiler: it is Godzilla who lands the killing blow, not the military. As Destoroyah falls out of the sky, Godzilla refuses to move out of the way. This is because he has been superheating the ground. The sudden change in temperatures between freezing cold and blazing hot is what destroys Destoroyah, which is Godzilla's doing. Rather than through just straight-up brutal violence, Godzilla kills Destoroyah scientifically. But it is still his actions (however relatively passive they may be) that end the monster.]]
76	* DramaticIrony: In the original film, Serizawa feared that the Oxygen Destroyer in its current form is nothing but a destructive weapon more powerful than an atomic bomb, and burned his notes so he won't have to be forced to make another one. Kensaku Ijuin's Micro Oxygen is a near identical, but weaker, version of the original weapon despite his intentions to respect Daisuke's wishes to not replicate it as a weapon, only to realize that Destoroyah gets ''stronger'' after the Micro Oxygen doesn't kill it. And so Kensaku accidentally made Serizawa's fear come to reality.
77	* DyingMomentOfAwesome: Arguably the only known case of having a ''movie length'' version of this, as the film states Godzilla is literally dying from the film's very start, and despite this manages to fight off the army, the Super X-III, kill Destoroyah, and even [[spoiler:''resurrect'' his dead son]]! What makes the latter more impressive is that he did it in the process of finally going out while burning through an attempt to freeze him solid to prevent him from going into meltdown!
78	* DynamicEntry: Destoroyah's final form makes a hell of an entrance appearing in silhouette amidst a mass of fire and smoke, its wings aloft, looking like the literal devil, complete with [[ScareChord a deafening musical sting]].
79	* EnergyBlade: One of Destoroyah's signature techniques in his Perfect Form is the Variable Slicer, also called the Horn Katana. Using the long horn on his forehead, Destoroyah can generate an incredibly sharp blade of pure energy over it, which he uses to great effect against Godzilla, performing a full-on DiagonalCut through his body twice! Judging by how much blood Godzilla lost, this technique is particularly devastating.
80	* EvilCounterpart: Believe it or not, Destoroyah is this to Godzilla (especially the original). They're both ancient creatures that existed long before humans before being awaken by a man-made superweapon. While Godzilla vented on humanity because of what he's become, Destoroyah is an AxCrazy murderer who has absolutely no qualms about killing everything in his path.
81	* EvilIsNotAToy: Yes Kenkichi, Destoroyah will ''[[SarcasmMode gladly]]'' kill Godzilla for you when it was born from the Oxygen Destroyer, even though it has killed innocent people [[spoiler:and Godzilla's son]].
82	* ForegoneConclusion: Both times for ''Film/GodzillaVsKingGhidorah'' and this film:
83	** Godzilla never destroys Japan. In the ending, we see why, explaining Japan's economical boom in the future.
84	** Mothra successfully destroys the meteor heading towards Earth like she voluntarily does so for Battra in ''Film/GodzillaAndMothraTheBattleForEarth''.
85	** Godzilla's death itself, as he already has his fatal condition when the movie starts, and the {{tagline}} and the trailers proclaimed "Godzilla Dies!"
86	* {{Foreshadowing}}: After putting down Destoroyah after defeating his Aggregate Forms, Godzilla makes his way to Junior's lifeless body. For the shortest of moments, the sheer radiation he gives off causes Junior to briefly come back to life, but he is so badly injured that he can only make the slightest of movements on the ground, and his eyes gently close, indicating that he truly is dead. This foreshadows [[spoiler:his eventual resurrection following his father's death, as in his final moments, Godzilla gave Junior his radiation, allowing him to come back to life and grow into an adult, the ''New'' King of the Monsters.]]
87	* FreezeRay: The Super-X III and several modified Maser Tanks use these and freezing missiles against both Godzilla and Destoroyah [[spoiler: (They actually ''work'').]]
88	* FromBadToWorse: Godzilla is about to explode if someone doesn't do anything about it. Freeze him, and crisis averted. Then Godzilla's going to undergo a literal SuperPowerMeltdown. Then it gets worse: a mutated life form is killing fish, has the powers of the Oxygen Destroyer, can transform multiple stages, and its final form [[MemeticMutation looks like the devil]].
89	* FutureBadass: ''Film/GodzillaVsKingGhidorah'' implies this will happen to Junior as the plot of this film covers Godzilla's death, and the resurrection of Junior, though exactly how depends on whether the Futurians were telling the truth or not. According to their statements, Japan becomes a global superpower stronger than any other on Earth, and Godzilla supposedly destroys it. If Godzilla does trash Japan after it becomes a global superpower, then it will in fact be Junior who teaches the nation a lesson; if this doesn't happen, then it's Junior's kindness and affinity towards humans which will enable the nation to succeed.
90	* GenericDoomsdayVillain: Destoroyah fulfills this role, although it has [[EvilCounterpart thematic connections to Godzilla]].
91	* GentleGiant:
92	** Junior of course since ''Film/GodzillaVsSpaceGodzilla'', he seems more accustomed to humans than his father (for obvious reasons). Played straight ''AND'' horribly averted when he saves Miki and her psychic partner from Destoroyah from destroying their helicopter. The aversion is due to him eating whales in an earlier scene.
93	** When you get that big, eating tiny fruits on an island isn't going to cut it any more, also as mentioned earlier the Godzillasaurus is a carnivore. And to be fair he didn't see a far more [[ToServeMan plentiful source of fresh meat]] as food.
94	* GrandFinale: Of the Heisei series as a whole, with montage of the first film, then the entire second series in the credits. Production wise, it's also the final film produced by Tomoyuki Tanaka and composed by Akira Ifukube.
95	* HappilyMarried: Sadly {{averted\|trope}}. Emiko did ''not'' marry Ogata after the events of 1954. Yukari and Kenkichi Yamane are the children of the island boy Dr. Yamane adopted after the events of 1954. Emiko is their spinster aunt.
96	* HarmfulToTouch: Destroyah tries twice to choke Godzilla to death with its tail, but Godzilla's scorching body temperature forces Destroyah both times to let go.
97	* HarmlessFreezing: Both played straight and averted. It's played straight towards humanity in the case of the JSDF, whose freezer weapons meant that Godzilla didn't explode and breach the Earth's crust when he melted down. The aversion is due to Destoroyah's weakness to extreme temperatures.
98	* HeartbrokenBadass: Godzilla goes on one Hell of a RoaringRampageOfRevenge when Destoroyah kills his son.
99	* TheHeroDies: True to the tagline, the film sees Godzilla die because of his SuperPowerMeltdown at the end.
100	* HeroicBSOD: Both Godzilla and Miki suffer one after [[spoiler:Junior's death]]. Then ''everyone'' mourns (Both in-universe [[TearJerker and out]]) when Godzilla himself dies.
101	* HeroicRROD: Godzilla's SuperPowerMeltdown from nuclear energy, becoming the plot of the film.
102	* IJustWantToBeNormal:
103	** Miki Saegusa notes that her psychic powers have been fading away lately, which worries her. Meru Ozawa, in contrast, says that she can't wait for her own powers to fade away, since it means she would be able to start a family as a normal person. Miki's reaction to Meru's response seems to indicate that she agrees with her colleague's sentiments more than she had realized.
104	** Averted in the Japanese version, Meru's reaction is actually the opposite from the dub's dialogue. She relishes having psychic powers and even says that [[MundaneUtility she uses them to find out if the boys who loved her would ever marry her.]] Being that she's still single, apparently, the jury's out on that one.
105	* InconsistentSpelling: Is it Destoroyah, Destroyer, or Destroyah? The English dub simply refers to him as ''Destroyer''. WordOfGod says "Destroyer" is the correct pronunciation, but rights issues with the word "Destroyer" caused the change in spelling to "Destoroyah".
106	* MadeOfExplodium:
107	** After Destoroyah's wings get shot by the freeze weapons and lasers, [[spoiler: he explodes after crashing into the ground]].
108	** Averted with Godzilla, since he was thought to explode. [[spoiler:Instead, he was having a literal [[ImMelting meltdown]]]].
109	* MightyGlacier: After achieving his Perfect Form, Destoroyah's incredibly durable exoskeleton armour slows him down significantly, but he balances this by still being able to fly at impressive speeds, as well as by using his Micro-Oxygen Beam, [[EnergyBlade Variable Slicer]] and physical strength to keep his opponents at bay.
110	* MoodWhiplash: The [[TearJerker scene of Godzilla]] [[spoiler:[[TearJerker mourning Junior's death]]]] is promptly interrupted by Destoroyah attacking him. The same thing happens when [[spoiler:Godzilla attempts to revive his son after seemingly defeating Destoroyah, who was NotQuiteDead]].
111	* MythologyGag:
112	** Shinkichi Yamane, the boy next to Kyohei Yamane (Takashi Shimura), is the father of Ken and Yukari, who wants them to become scientists. Ken actually is one somewhat while Yukari is a newsreporter
113	** Serizawa's picture, which is Akihiko Hirata, plus Ken's room, with has Kyohei's stegosaurus.
114	** The simulation if Godzilla explodes shows him behind the Wako clock tower and the Diet Building, the two monuments the original Godzilla destroys in the first film.
115	* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Destoroyah was awoken and mutated by the Oxygen Destroyer, which killed the first Godzilla. As it turns out, in ending one threat, Dr. Serizawa indirectly created another.
116	** Also way to go [[Film/GodzillaVSMechagodzillaII Rodan]], you gave Godzilla his Hyper Red Spiral Atomic Breath which allowed him to destroy Super Mechagodzilla to avenge you and also to kill Spacegodzilla, but you also gave ''too much'' radiation to Godzilla in the process. Thus Rodan's HeroicSacrifice is what ultimately ends up killing the Heisei era Godzilla.
117	* NotTheFallThatKillsYou: [[spoiler: Destoroyah finishes off Junior by dropping him from high in the air, along with a Micro Oxygen ray for good measure. [[DeathByIrony Destoroyah suffers this himself]] when his wings are frozen - and he ''[[MadeOfExplodium explodes]]'' once he hits the ground]].
118	* OneWingedAngel: Destoroyah evolves as the film progresses, each new form getting an appropriately epic reveal, but his final form is probably the best example.
119	* PapaWolf: Hooooo boy, ''Godzilla.'' When Destoroyah [[spoiler:kills Junior]], ''[[UnstoppableRage all hell breaks loose]]''.
120	* PosthumousCharacter: 3. Shinkichi Yamane (Toyoaki Suzuki, the boy in the photo with Dr. Yamane), Dr. Kyohei Yamane (Takashi Shimura), and Daisuke Serizawa (Akihiko Hirata).
121	* ReadingsAreOffTheScale:
122	** The scanners produce this result when the Juvenile Destoroyahs combine into their first {{Kaiju}} sized form, the Aggregate Form.
123	** The soldiers say this about the radiation levels Godzilla is emitting.
124	* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Godzilla's response to Destoroyah [[spoiler:killing his son]] is ''not'' pretty. When you take away his son, he literally has nothing to lose.
125	* SatanicArchetype: Given Godzilla is often considered a god (with his name meaning "God Incarnate"), it's only fitting that Destoroyah looks like a kaiju-sized demon.
126	* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: When Godzilla reaches the 1200 degree point, he starts to implode and Destoroyah tries fleeing for his life but the humans stop him dead in his tracks with freezing cannons, and Godzilla superheating the ground meant Destoroyah would die from thermal shock, which is why Godzilla refused to move.
127	* ShoutOut: Destoroyah's human sized forms have NestedMouths, like the Xenomorphs from ''Franchise/{{Alien}}''.
128	* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: Holy ''crap''. The entire film was basically 95% cynical, unlike the original film, which is 100%. This film heads towards the cynic route because Godzilla was dying, [[spoiler:Junior being dead]], and Destoroyah, being a monster that he is, is a living personification of the weapon that killed the original Godzilla. It got to the point people dreaded TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt if Godzilla dies either explosion or meltdown. As Godzilla does die, the remaining 5% lands on [[spoiler:the newly resurrected Junior]], who would give Japan its eventual future it gains.
129	* StockFootage: Used brilliantly to connect the original film with this one. The Montage in the credits also counts.
130	* SuperpowerMeltdown: Godzilla ''literally'' undergoes a nuclear meltdown, making it the plot of the film.
131	* SurvivorGuilt: This may imply what Emiko Yamane went through after the events of the original film, as it was her that Serizawa chose to use the Oxygen Destroyer on Godzilla while making a HeroicSacrifice. Her nightmare scene seems to support this.
132	* {{Tagline}}: "[[WhamLine On December 24,]] [[TheHeroDies Godzilla dies.]]"
133	* TakingUpTheMantle: [[spoiler: After Godzilla dies, his adoptive son Junior grows into his adult form and takes up the title.]]
134	* TakingYouWithMe: In the manga adaptation, [[spoiler: this is how Destoroyah is killed. As Godzilla begins to melt down, he grabs the weakened Destoroyah, and the combination of the dying Godzilla's extreme body heat and the JSDF's freezing laser beams basically disintegrate Destoroyah]]. [[WhatCouldHaveBeen This was the original ending for the movie as well]], but the writers felt it took the focus off Godzilla's death so it was scrapped.
135	* TankGoodness: In addition to the existing [=MBT=]-[=MB92=] and [=MBAW=]-93 Maser Cannons, which have been upgraded to carry freezer weapons, this film introduces a special Maser Cannon that's specialised to counter Godzilla's meltdown and Destoroyah's weakness to low temperatures, the [=CLT=]-95. Along with the Super X3, they prove their worth in the final moments of the battle, where they assist Godzilla in putting down Destoroyah once and for all, and also manage to help save the Earth by stopping Godzilla's meltdown from breaching the crust, although his released radiation does render Tokyo uninhabitable [[spoiler:for a few moments, until Junior absorbs the radiation given to him by his father]].
136	* TonightSomeoneDies: The tagline was "Godzilla dies."
137	* TookALevelInBadass:
138	** Junior, who in the previous film is portrayed as an [[TheLoad annoyingly weak]] SuperDeformed foster son, actually grew up badass like his father. [[spoiler: Apparently absorbing all the radiation from your melting-down daikaiju father will do that to you.]]
139	** Even better, [[spoiler:after he was seemingly killed by Destoroyah, he actually absorbs the remnants of his father's melting body, growing further into a massive, full fledged Kaiju, continuing his father's legacy]], and [[AccidentalHero accidentally saves Japan from nuclear devastation.]]
140	* UnstoppableRage:
141	** Crosses with PapaWolf. Godzilla[[spoiler:'s son, Junior, is killed by Destoroyah]], sending Godzilla into a frenzy wherein he nearly rips Destoroyah open, his own suffering be damned. The JSDF's freeze weapons and Destoroyah's own attacks did put nails in Godzilla's coffin, but it was his anger [[spoiler:over Junior's death]] that ultimately causes Godzilla's meltdown. To put this in perspective, Destoroyah is the AnthropomorphicPersonification of the only weapon to ever ''kill'' Godzilla. Godzilla's UnstoppableRage causes Destoroyah to '''''[[ScrewThisImOuttaHere run away]].'''''
142	* WaistDeepOcean: The 40-meter-tall Godzilla Junior is shown wading waist-deep through the Pacific Ocean following the destruction of Birth Island.

Context Film / GodzillaVsDestoroyah