History Film / ShinGodzilla

** This Godzilla is even taller than previous incarnations, but most of its volume lies in its legs, which is the most logical configuration for a creature of this size. Likewise, its massive tail should completely throw it out of balance, should Godzilla lift it… except if one looks closely, one can see that base of Godzilla's tail is always lying on the ground. The surprisingly agile movements of the rest of the tail are made possible because its heaviest part is already resting on the ground, further stabilising the beast.
** The prodigious density needed for a creature of this size to just not collapse under its own weight is the reason it No Sells such heavy firepower. The other logical consequence is that it moves at a slow pace and cannot evade danger : no amount of reflexes can counterbalance the sheer inertia of its body.
** There is no possible way this Godzilla could fly by sprouting wings like some officials and scientists ponder. A creature that needs practically supernatural density to just stand up is impossible to lift ; a flight-capable creature this large would need to be extremely light and would not be so tough.

* SquareCubeLaw: Invoked when government officials believe the young Godzilla will be unable to support its weight on dry land, only for it to make landfall during a press conference where they insist it can only stay in the water.

* ChekhovsHobby: Played with in terms of origami, the art of creating shapes through paper folding. One of the teammembers in Rando's group had been studying the mapped lines compiled by Goro Maki's data, remembered the mention of a paper crane that had been left behind on Maki's yacht, and [[spoiler:[[EurekaMoment realizes]] that the lines could allow the paper to be folded in various ways to point towards a method of stopping Godzilla]].

* KillItWithFire: Careful study of Godzilla reveals that he's essentially a living atomic reactor, and one of the most feasible (and in the loosest sense of the term, safest) ways of neutralizing him is to overload his capacity to channel energy, burning him out. Unfortunately, given how ineffective conventional bombardments have been on him (a massive aerial raid just puts him into brief stasis to cool himself off), the only weapons capable of forcing him into critical mass are [[spoiler:nuclear warheads; an option despised by the Japanese for obvious reasons and attractive to the other countries of the world because at the rate Godzilla is mutating, he may soon be capable of flight, making him an international menace.]]
* KillItWithIce: The other solution humanity comes up with to deal with Godzilla is to essentially freeze him, dousing the fiery core of his being and preventing him from evolving any further. An ideal alternative to the above with the caveat that due to the open conditions of his environment (read: the outside), the only way this plan could ever work on a creature his size is if he were to ingest a lot of the freezing agent.

** A theme heard during Godzilla's initial coming ashore in Shinagawa is later reprised as ''Under a Burning Sky'' during the Yashiori Strategy at the film's climax.

* ChekhovsHobby: Played with in terms of origami, the art of creating shapes through paper folding. One of the teammembers in Rando's group has been studying the mapped lines compiled by Goro Maki's data, remembers the paper crane that had left behind on Maki's yacht, and [[spoiler:[[EurekaMoment realizes]] that the lines could allow the paper to be folded in various ways to point towards a method of stopping Godzilla]].

* VastBureaucracy: The Japanese government is portrayed as extremely slow and inefficient, requiring a meeting to do absolutely anything, even, multiple times, having meetings that conclude with the decision to have another meeting. Notably, this isn't shown to be the fault of any particular ObstructiveBureaucrat, but a general tendency to [[HeadInTheSandManagement do nothing as to save face]]. Several times, the government members get annoyed at the fact they'd have to go through legal channels, waste time on pointless meetings, or have ''zero'' experience with, well, a rampaging monster.

* VastBureaucracy: The Japanese government is portrayed as extremely slow and inefficient, requiring a meeting to do absolutely anything. Notably, this isn't shown to be the fault of any particular ObstructiveBureaucrat, but a general tendency to [[HeadInTheSandManagement do nothing as to save face]]. Several times, the government members get annoyed at the fact they'd have to go through legal channels, waste time on pointless meetings, or have ''zero'' experience with, well, a rampaging monster.

* BoomHeadshot: As Godzilla's fourth form approaches central Tokyo, it's confronted by multiple [=JSDF=] forces, who were given orders not to attack his body to avoid possibly causing a radiation leak. The helicopters barrage its head with machine guns and missiles, the tanks go for both its head and legs, and the planes drop bombs on its head.
[[SubvertedTrope None of these attacks so much as scratch Godzilla.]]
* BreatherEpisode: Meta-example. Despite being [[DarkerAndEdgier the bleakest]] ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'' film since [[Film/Godzilla1954 the original]], the film serves as a palette cleanser to both Hideaki Anno and Creator/StudioKhara after the former's CreatorBreakdown while making the even darker ''[[Anime/RebuildOfEvangelion EVANGELION:3.0 YOU CAN (NOT) REDO.]]''.

** To a certain extent, Hiromi and Kayako have similarities to ''Evangelion''[='s=] Rei and Asuka.

* DaylightHorror: Unlike the original ''[[Film/Godzilla1954 Godzilla]]'' and ''Film/TheReturnOfGodzilla'', the majority of Godzilla's attacks are during daylight hours. Only one scene is set at night, to highlight the intensity of its rays.

* BoomHeadshot: Attempted. When Godzilla arrives, the [=JSDF=] were given orders not to hit his body to avoid leaking his radiation properties, so they went with shoot at his legs and head. The attacks on both does not slow him down.

* DesolationShot: Inevitable, given what kind of creature Godzilla is.

* HollywoodEvolution: Godzilla's AdaptiveAbility is often called "evolving", even though evolution only describes changes in a species as a whole and thus couldn't apply to a SingleSpecimenSpecies. If anything Godzilla's evolution is similar to a ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}''[[note]]In this context, Godzilla undergoes a different form whenever he's onscreen, similar to a how a Pokémon evolves through leveling or evolution stones, just not as horrific[[/note]]. Bizarrely, one scientist points out that lifeforms normally evolve through generational change, but the term continues to be used regardless.