Americans Hate Tingle: While Minilla is adored in Japan, Western audiences are more mixed, some seeing him as Ugly Cute and others viewing him as just ugly and annoying.
Angst? What Angst?: The entire series is really guilty of this. Especially in the Showa and Heisei films. The original Godzilla has destroyed Tokyo and only affected the 50's generation while the new generation had only heard of the monster, and each succeeding film shuffles every new character that only vaguely remembers Godzilla and his actions. The only characters to even know about Godzilla are those that survived the events of 1954.
Anvilicious: Since the very beginning with Gojira these films have never really been subtle about their political statements whether it be the dangers of atomic power, environmental destruction, the greed of capitalism, dangers of unchecked science, Japan forgetting about their past crimes and many other topics.
Archive Panic: As of this writing, Toho Studios has released a total of thirty-three full-length films starring the Big Guy. If you decided to binge-watch them all at once, it would take you about two days and five hours to watch them all (assuming they ran continuously and you didn't stop to eat, use the bathroom, or sleep). If you decided to throw in theAmericanremakes, plus Toho's twenty other Kaiju movies in the Godzillaverse note Rodan, Mothra and its reboot trilogy, all of the movies focusing on The 'Verse's secondary monsters and various alien races, etc. the whole marathon would take roughly four days. And let's not even get started on Expanded Universe material, such as comic and video game tie-ins, a live-action show, and the four cartoon series. All of this is without including the multitude of alternate dubs and versions to choose from.
The Millennium series has also been seen as this for some due to a lack of continuity (which is made worse by the fact that, excluding Tokyo S.O.S and Final Wars, every single film ends on a Cliffhanger, only for the next film in the line to ignore that the previous one ever happened), a perceived overuse of plots from past Showa and Heisei films alongside tropes lifted from popular anime of the time and of Godzilla himself being too overpowered to the point where it got predictable who would win in the end. Though there is still some contention within the fandom on this and it isn't as widely considered as a low point as the later Showa series.
After the well-received, revivals with Godzilla (2014) and Shin Godzilla the franchise fell into this again thanks to the controversialAnimeTrilogy. An interesting idea with many fans feeling it was executed horribly with unlikable or bland characters, mixed animation quality, bad writing and overall boring experience. Some fans go as far as to say that the anime Trilogy is the worst piece of Godzilla media out there, whichis sayinga lot. Luckily, the American Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019) was seen as a vast improvement, at least as far as the fanbase is concerned, and Toho's live-action follow-up Godzilla Minus One was released to nigh universal acclaim, so all in all, only the anime trilogy is generally considered a low point for post-2014 Godzilla films.
Awesome Art: The advance posters for the Heisei Era movies, painted by the late Noriyoshi Ohrai (who also did advance posters for the Millennium Era movies, Godzilla vs. Megaguirus and Godzilla: Final Wars), are absolutely phenomenal, and are easily some of the greatest movie posters ever. In some cases, it could even be argued that the posters are better than the movies themselves.
Godzilla's son Minilla has his fair share of fans and haters. Some view him as a sympathetic, Ugly Cutewoobie. Others view him as an annoying and ugly Scrappy blatantly pandering to children.
What's the best era of Godzilla films? Were the Showa (1955-1975) films fun yet cheesy films or low-budget over-the-top messes? Was the Heisei (1984-1995) era a good throwback to Godzilla's darker roots with tighter continuity or were they nothing but wangst and boring "beam war" fights? Was the Millennium era (1999-2004) a unique way of continuing the franchise with different continuities in each film or a confusing mess that tried too hard to capture the feel of both the Showa and Heisei eras all while blending too many anime tropes to no success? And now there's the Reiwa era (2016-Now). Good luck getting the fans to agree on any one era.
Whether or not the American made MonsterVerse Godzilla movies should be accepted as part of the official Godzilla series has also split the fandom apart. Some feel that because they weren't made or produced by Toho means they shouldn't be part of the Japanese series whatsoever. Others feel that Legendary and Warner Bros. have done such a good job at capturing the spirit of the Toho made Godzilla films that they consider them to be spiritually on par with the Japanese films. The fact that Toho has approved of Legendary's efforts hasn't helped matters either, with some citing it as proof that Toho has faith in the American studio to do their character justice, while others dismiss it by claiming that Toho also approved (albeit begrudgingly) of the infamous 1998 American remake, as well as some of the other notorious entries within the main series, such as All Monsters Attack and Godzilla: The Planet Eater.
There is a slight one between which Showa Mechagodzilla film is better. The more upbeat Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla with a snazzy tune by Sato that is delighted with playing 70s spy tropes and ape aliens straight or grimmer Terror of Mechagodzilla with brooding music by Ifukube with Godzilla outmatched by two monsters and the aliens look like burn victims now. Both sides agree that both films are a step up in production after the previous two films and of course some like them both for being like day and night.
The Showa-Era films box set by The Criterion Collection has noticeably split the fanbase apart, with the use of previous HD masters as opposed to new scans (not including Godzilla (1954), which uses Criterion's transfer from 2012) and the lack of American cuts (excluding the original and King Kong vs. Godzilla) being the two biggest points of content. Did this ruin the initial hype behind the set since the original HD masters don't live up to Criterion's standards and the American cuts are still hard to get, or were these minor critiques that didn't take away from the overall sets quality? About the only things both sides agree on is that it was impressive for Criterion to get all 15 films together in one set considering its tangled up home video history, and that there was some Executive Meddling by Toho regarding the transfers and alternate cuts.
Which look and design for the Big G is best. These debates can get heated, especially when it's about which of the two MonsterVerse designs (2014, and 2019-onward) is better.
Common Knowledge: Godzilla being green. In the films? Sometimes but mostly not. This is the case for some posters and spin-off material. A green Godzilla was not in the live-action movies until Godzilla 2000 and they only stayed green for one film after before going back to the charcoal grey color scheme. Godzilla being green is largely an invention of American media, such as the poster for Godzilla: King of the Monsters! (1956), the Marvel comic, and the Hanna-Barbera cartoon.
Cowboy BeBop at His Computer: Innumerable professional critiques of the American MonsterVerse films will do this to the Japanese films by implying all or the majority of them are dead-serious atomic metaphors in the vein of the first film; this became especially pronounced after Shin Godzilla, a Darker and Edgier Japanese reboot, was released. While many of the Japanese entries have serious themes, by the time the MonsterVerse began, there were far more Godzilla films centered around the Big G fighting other monsters and/or defending humanity than him simply being a pure force for destruction.
Creator Worship: Among the many composers throughout the series, Akira Ifukube is universally lauded as the Godzilla maestro, not only for being responsible for Godzilla's iconic theme, but also his many emotional and epic militaristic pieces throughout both the Godzilla series and Toho's other monster and Sci-Fi movies. It is very unwise to criticize any piece he's ever composed.
Ensemble Dark Horse: With a robust roster of monsters, there are many of these, and nearly every monster is a fan favorite in certain sectors. However, probably the best two examples would be Anguirus, particularly for American fans, and Baragon, particularly for Japanese fans.
Despite only appearing in the first movie (and, even there, having limited screen time) Dr. Daisuke Serizawa is easily the most famous human character in the series.
Megalon. Despite appearing in one movie, he is one of the easiest monsters to play in the Godzilla games. Easy to use in combat and great for beginners no matter which system you're playing.
Gorosaurus and Titanosaurus both have very devoted followings with frequent overlap despite never reappearing outside the Showa Era films.
Despite being scrapped, the Rat/Fish monster Deutalios is popular due to the Toho Kingdom toons.
Biollante and Destoroyah both proved very popular despite only appearing in one movie each. These two tend to be the characters fans want most when asked who should return in the next movie.
King Shisha/Caesar is incredibly popular, despite only having one major role.
Jet Jaguar is still very popular among the fans, having lots of fanart and videos dedicated to him. And of course, there's his song: PUNCH PUNCH PUNCH!
Mecha-King Ghidorah only appeared in one movie, but would go on to feature in many comic books, novels and video games, and nowadays is nearly as iconic as his non-cyborg counterpart.
Music wise, both Reijiro Koroku and Michiru Oshima are often cited as being some of the franchises best composers, with many praising their ability to create new themes and make them as bombastic, gothic and even emotional, with many fans favorably ranking their scores on par with the works of series regular Akira Ifukube despite composing less films then most of the series composers (Oshima did the music for threeGodzillamovies, where as Koroku only did one).
Evil Is Cool: King Ghidorah, Gigan, SpaceGodzilla, the Showa Mechagodzilla, and Destoroyah. Godzilla also gets this a lot when in a villainous role.
Some fans refer to the original 1954 film by its Japanese title Gojira to differentiate it from the 1998 and 2014 films that share the same name.
"The Big Guy", "Big G", and "Goji-San" are all common nicknames for Godzilla.
The different designs and versions of Godzilla have also been given their own identifying appellations to avoid confusion, usually spelled with CamelCase and derived from either their continuity, their individual film’s title, or the film’s director’s name (i.e. ShowaGoji, GMKGoji, GareGoji).
"Mosu" as a term of endearment for Mothra (an abbreviation of her Japanese name, Mosura).
"Cookie Monster Godzilla" is a nickname for the 1973-1975 costume design.
"Toonzilla" and "Godzilla Jr." for the animated version of Zilla's son.
It’s common for people with FanGoji stories to rename Spacegodzilla as well. Aside from the aforementioned Xenilla, there’s Hoshira (“Hoshi”, the Japanese word for “star” + Gojira), Xenojira (alternative spelling/variant of Xenilla), Kessho (Japanese for 'Crystal'), and Onyx (a type of black gemstone), as well as suitably-intimidating mythology-derived names like Hades, Erebus, Apollon, Oroboros, and Odysseus.
Tomoyuki Tanaka, Eiji Tsuburaya, Ishiro Honda, Akira Ifukube and Haruo Nakajima have all been nicknamed the "Fathers of Godzilla" as they've each contributed to the creation of the character.note Tanaka for conceptualizing the character, Tsuburaya for designing the look, Honda for giving the creature his soul, Ifukube for giving him his voice, and Nakajima for creating his characteristic traits.
"Vishnu" for the giant centipede in the teaser trailer of Godzilla (2014), named after the part of the Oppenheimer quote that plays over its shot in the teaser trailer. A rumour on the internet was that Talaghan was its official name, but this was proven untrue.
While the MUTOs aren't given individual names in the films, fans refer to the male one as "Hokmuto" (for being discovered in Hokkaido in an early draft of the script) and refer the female one as "Femuto" (for obvious reasons) based on script rumours.
Other members of the MUTO species have also gotten stuck with this to a somewhat lesser degree:
The older, spikier female seen inKOTM is referred to either as "Barbmuto" (or just Barb) after her nickname during production, or as "Bosmuto" because the scene where we first get a good look at her is set in Boston, Massachusetts (she's officially called the Queen MUTO).
Primuto, for MUTO Prime from the tie-in graphic novels, though her full name and her scientific name (Jishin-Mushi, Japanese for "earthquake-beetle") are used just as frequently.
The Giant Condor from Ebirah, Horror of the Deep is often called Ookondoru, the Giant Lizard from King Kong vs. Godzilla is often called Ootokage, and the Giant Octopus is often called Oodako (this one was actually canonized in the comic Godzilla: Here There Be Dragons). All three cases are just transliterations of the Japanese pronunciations for their canonical names.
Though it might seem harmless, don't ever use "Zilla" as an abbreviation for "Godzilla". As plenty of hardcore fans will be happy to explain, "Zilla" was the monster from the 1998 American remake (alternately called "GINO", or "Godzilla In Name Only"), so-called because the fans accused him of taking the "God" out of "Godzilla". If you must refer to the Big Guy by a diminutive nickname, the preferred epithet is "Goji" (short for "Gojira"). Or "Goji-san", if you're the formal type.
Saying Godzilla 'breathes fire' will drive some fans up the wall. They will quickly insist that only the Hanna-Barbara Godzilla spat fire. The proper phrase would be atomic breath/spits thermonuclear energy/radioactive vapor even though plenty of fans think 'breathes fire' rolls off the tongue better and 'thermonuclear breath' is simply a mouthful.
Minilla and Godzilla Junior, despite being the same concept of Godzilla's adopted son each in a different canon, are considered separate characters. Confusing one with the other is guaranteed to rile up fans.
Fandom Heresy: Criticizing the original film. No matter what your opinion of all the other films are, you're asking for an ass-kicking if you insult the original on any forum.
To a lesser extent, insult Mothra (especially regarding her tendency to be underutilized or Stuffed in the Fridge), and her fans will come after you, as one film critic who called her King of the Monsters design "ugly and disgusting" found out the hard way.
Being that Ishirō Honda and Akira Kurosawa were both friends in their lifetimes, while most of their films were produced by Toho and share a lot of actors. The Godzilla and Akira Kurosawa fandoms get along quite well, especially when several Godzilla films and other Toho kaiju films joined the Criterion Collection. It also helps that Akira Kurosawa famously sang praises for Godzilla (1954) and wanted to direct a Godzilla film at one point, while Ishiro Honda served as a co-director for many of Kurosawa's later films.
With the Gamera fan base. Kaiju movie fans as a norm watch more than one series and to say both franchises have essentially the same, shared fanbase wouldn't be a stretch at all.
Also with Digimon fanbase as well, to a lesser extent.
There's also one with fans of Ultraman, thanks in part to the series creator, Eiji Tsuburaya, also being the same man who worked on the majority of special effects in the Showa Godzilla series, and several Godzilla kaiju suits were recycled for use in the Ultraman series.
Godzilla and Marvel Cinematic Universe fans also share some overlap. It's not uncommon to see Godzilla fans show their respect and support for the MCU and vice-versa. Godzilla having a run of comics by Marvel in the past, as well as some of the actors from the MCU appearing in some of the MonsterVerse movies helped.
Due to both franchises featuring kaiju, Neon Genesis Evangelion fans tend to also be Godzilla fans. It helps that Evangelion's creator Hideaki Anno would go onto direct Shin Godzilla, and this resulted in a few official tie-in crossovers.
In general, all the Kaiju Works fandoms are pretty close together, to the point it would be fairly accurate to describe the Godzilla fanbase as being the central nexus of a fandom of most/all kaiju media, and you'll frequently hear people say "kaiju fan" or "kaiju fandom" without distinguishing series or franchise.
Fandom-Specific Plot: One that's been cropping up recently is the concept of the "Fangoji". The idea is, since Godzilla has been so many things over the years, fans have started designing and putting their own spin on the Big G, frequently the other kaiju, and also creating their own headworld or fan-continuity. The idea is frequently something like "If you were hired by Toho to make your own Godzilla story and given complete free rein over it, what would you do?" Common Crossovers including various other kaiju stories are common here.
Germans Love David Hasselhoff: Before anime took off, this was Japan's biggest cultural export to America aside from Kurosawa movies. But as for individual films, Godzilla vs. Megalon was a massive flop in Japan...and a Sleeper Hit among kids when it hit American theaters.
In America itself, the states of California and Hawaii are hotbeds of Godzilla fandom: before Raymond Burr, the original, uncut version of the first film was first shown to local theaters catering to the Japanese-American population in both states.note California is home to the largest Japanese immigrant community in the mainland, and a majority of Hawaiians claimed Japanese descent until the 21st century. For most of the 20th century, Hawaii tended to get Japanese movies and shows that usually don't make it to the mainland, especially Toku Local TV stations in those states would often play the Showa-era movies as late-night filler, and for decades, KTLA in Los Angeles (now the local station for The CW) even had a Godzilla movie marathon every year during Thanksgiving. To top it all of, the premiere of Final Wars was at the Chinese Theater in Hollywood.
Perhaps due to larger population overall, the Northeast and Midatlantic States/New York City are also home to a decent concentration of kaiju fans.
As seen in the documentary Kaijunited, there's a big fanbase for the franchise in France...including a certain French death metal band named after Big G.
Ho Yay: Godzilla and Anguirus's friendship is sometimes looked at in this light.
Iron Woobie: Godzilla himself in some tellings, but especially the Heisei incarnation. He's introduced in The Return of Godzilla as a lonely animal, acting on instinct rather that out of malice, who is thrown into a volcano and left to burn for five years. He's freed, almost immediately poisoned with anti-nuclear bacteria, recovers, gets beaten by Mecha-Ghidorah then by Mothra and Battra, and gets almost killed twice by Mechagodzilla. When he finally has a stroke of good fortune by meeting an infant of his species and basically retires to Birth Island to raise his adopted son in peace, they're both attacked by Space Godzilla and Godzilla has to fight once again. Less than a year later, Godzilla undergoes nuclear meltdown, watches Destoroyah brutally kill his son, then dies in the most painful way imaginable without getting the finishing blow or ever knowing that Godzilla Junior actually survived. The constant tragedy of Godzilla's life is more or less the emotional backbone of the series, rather than the humans.
I Am Not Shazam: Thanks to a TNT music video, people used to think Gabara is Baragon thanks to a mislabel.
Just Here for Godzilla: Wait, there's more to these films than just watching Godzilla destroy cities and fight monsters? It's the Trope Namer for a reason.
Mainstream Obscurity: Everyone has heard of Godzilla, but few people have actually seen many of the movies or know much about them.
In the six decades since the original movie's release, the suffix "-zilla" has entered common English parlance as a tongue-in-cheek way of describing something abnormally large or powerful (e.g. "Bridezilla" or "Momzilla"). Godzilla is iconic enough that people will always know what you mean.
"Godzilla had a stroke trying to read this and fucking died." ExplanationA shot of the Godzilla prop being carted off with the text above it. Used to denote that whatever someone just said was incomprehensible or literal gibberish.
"Sad Godzilla" ExplanationThis picture from the children's book "Who's Afraid of Godzilla" that's often used to highlight someone's sadness or disappointment regarding a topic.
"RUN, IT'S GODZILLA!" ExplanationA line that's often associated with the Godzilla franchise despite actually coming from Austin Powers in Goldmember.
"Oh Godzilla, what terrible language!" ExplanationA line spoken by the twin guardians in the English dub of Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster when they were translating Godzilla's response to Mothra about teaming up to stop King Ghidorah.
A Coke Zero commercial features a green dinosaur insisting to an approaching meteor that Coke Zero is the best drink ever being compared to Gorosaurus due to the design has been making the rounds.
SKREEEEEEEOOOOONK Explanation The written Godzilla roar; oftentimes this is used as a censor by fans. Has also led to much parodies being made.
The Toy WarsExplanationThere's a loooot of chances for a flame war when someone criticizes a toy brand a lot of others love to death. (example: S.H Monsterarts)
The Dorsal Plate WarsExplanationArguments frequently break out on G-Fan Twitter and in forums about which visual designs for Godzilla or the other kaiju are best. Named for the particularly bitter rivalry between fans of the 2014 design and the 2019 design (The only really significant difference between the two is the shape of Godzilla's dorsal plates).
Mosura, Ya, Mosura~Explanation Part of the lyrics to Mothra's theme song. Similarily, "Ya, Mosura!" may be jokingly used by G-Fans as an equivalent to "Oh, God!" or another similar sentiment.
This is Tokyo. Once a city of six million people. What has happened here was caused by a force which up until a few days ago was entirely beyond the scope of Man's imagination. Tokyo, a smoldering memorial to the unknown, an unknown which at this very moment still prevails and could at any time lash out with its terrible destruction anywhere else in the world. There were once many people here who could've told of what they saw... now there are only a few. My name is Steve Martin. I am a foreign correspondent for United World News. I was headed for an assignment in Cairo, when I stopped off in Tokyo for a social; but it turned out to be a visit to the living hell of another world.ExplanationThe first lines uttered in the Americanized version of Gojira.
Once it was announced that Bryan Cranston would appear in the 2014 film, fresh off his success in Breaking Bad, jokes that Walter White was going to use meth to kill Godzilla abounded.
Rodan Confirmed Explanation The first trailers for the 2014 movie offered glimpses of a winged monster (revealed to be Hokmuto), and fans quickly started throwing around theories as to who it could be, ranging from Rodan to Mothra to Battra, even after Gareth Edwards informed everyone that it was an original monster. Became Hilarious in Hindsight when Rodan and Mothra actually were confirmed for the sequel. Still gets tossed around whenever someone overhypes, engages in clickbait, or jumps the gun as to what monsters may be included in an upcoming movie.
Mega Breast Cannon Explanation the name of one of Mothra Leo's beam attacks from the Rebirth of Mothra trilogy.
Megatron Face Syndrome Explanation a term used to describe MUTO Prime’s… bad character design, and frequently used to pan the kaiju, the graphic novel she appears in, and/or the MonsterVerse graphic novels overall, for issues such as poor storylines, contradictory canon, and traced art.
No dick, no balls, and probably no butthole because this guy feeds on radiation Explanation a phrase from the Goji Center video “Do Godzilla and Kong Have Balls?”, discussing a certain aspect of kaiju Speculative Biology. Frequently shortened to just “no dick, no balls, and probably no butthole”.
“GIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGAAAAAAAAANNNNNNN… RISE!”Explanation Controller X’s hilariously hammy invocation to awaken Gigan in the English dub of Godzilla: Final Wars. Fans watching the film as a group will usually scream along, and the phrase is frequently commented under fanart of Gigan (usually with one fan commenting the first part and a second replying the second part).
Narm Charm: Many of the Showa films, but in terms of characters, Jet Jaguar definitely has so many fans because he's just so laughably silly.
Newer Than They Think: there are some concepts that are strongly associated with the franchise by the general public and casual fans which were actually not introduced until the Heisei-era movies and are nowhere to be found in the Showa movies, despite the latter being the longest and most internationally recognizable chapter of the franchise. These include:
Godzilla being an ordinary dinosaur that grew to colossal size and became nearly invulnerable after exposure to atomic testing. Originally he was a previously undiscovered ancient species that was always that big (which is also true of nearly every prehistoric Showa monster), and the H-bomb test just gave him his atomic breath. The new origin debuted in 1991's Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah.
Likewise, Godzilla feeding on radiation and growing stronger from exposure to it, even to the point of being able to heal fatal wounds or return from death. He could absorb electricity in the later Showa films, but never goes near radiation apart from the incident that gave him his atomic breath. 1984's The Return of Godzilla was the first to establish his unique atomic metabolism.
Godzilla having an extremely accelerated healing factor.
The existence of the G-Force, a specialized international military organization formed to develop defenses against Godzilla. Films prior to 1993's Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II just have the Japanese Self Defense Force acting solo.
Mechagodzilla being a piloted mecha built by humanity to fight Godzilla. This is the origin of the Heisei and Millennium versions; the Showa Mechagodzilla was an autonomous robot built by invasive aliens to conquer the Earth (and to fight Godzilla).
The iconic "Godzilla March" by Akira Ifukube did not actually appear in its modern and most familiar arrangement until Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah. It is a medley of two separate motifs introduced originally in Godzilla (1954) and King Kong vs. Godzilla.
Mothra wasn’t referred to on-screen as her most famous Red Baron, “Queen of the Monsters”, until 2019.
The classic Godzilla theme that's played through the majority of the series run goes back further than its initial debut in 1954, as the earliest known rendition of the iconic theme was from a little known film called Shachô to onna-tenin (The President and the Shopgirl).
Only the Creator Does It Right: Many people find any of the movies not directed by Ishiro Honda to be inferior. This is especially true for the Showa Era where every non-Ishiro Honda directed film from that era being quite polarizing with the exception of Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla. Funny enough this is averted with All Monsters Attack, which Honda did directed and is considered one of the worst movies of the entire series.
Popularity Polynomial: After 2004, it seems Godzilla all but disappeared from the public eye (largely because no new films came out for an entire decade). But once trailers and footage from the 2014 reboot came out, the fans came back, memes surrounding the movie have started popping up around the internet, and even the general public is becoming interested in the character again. The film also inspired a renaissance to the character itself, with an expanded universe, Shin Godzilla, theanimetrilogy soon following its success.
It's been a slow process, but Zilla (aka American!Godzilla, aka GINO) has been gradually redeemed in the eyes of the fandom. The animated series featuring his more Godzilla-like son (with Zilla as an undead, robotic antagonist) helped, as did his brief appearance in Final Wars, where he received a beating from the original Godzilla. It's in the IDW comic Rulers of Earth however, that Zilla reached his final redemption, taking a huge level in badass and holding his own with the real Godzilla. The comic more or less indicates that Godzilla was the stronger of the two and would have killed Zilla if the fight had continued, but Zilla put up a fantastic fight against big G. The fandom universally acknowledging it as a great moment for both combatants. Zilla also gets some good moments later in the series such as surviving a fight with Destoroyah and being one of the only monsters to evade capture by the alien Tripods and destroyed several of them.
Baby Godzilla and Godzilla Junior showed that Godzilla having a son wasn't a bad idea if executed right.
With the original version of Gojira becoming better known in the States there has been a backlash against King of The Monsters. However numerous historians have pointed out that Godzilla would not be so well known if not for King of The Monsters. Even Raymond Burr as been redeemed somewhat in fan's eyes when it was revealed he refused the comical lines and played his reprisal in The Return of Godzilla with dignity.
Jet Jaguar being able to show off lightning bruiser skills and agility against mighty glaciers in various video games and the IDW comic has redeemed him.
In general during The New '10s, many of the more light-hearted aspects of the Showa Era came to be embraced or Reconstructed rather than reviled, mocked, or Deconstructed as they had been during the 2000s. This trend is even seen in official media (most notably the IDW comics) in addition to fan works.
This is generally chalked up to fans from the 90s through the 2000s trying to seem “mature” and worthy of respect by playing up the Darker and Edgier aspects of the franchise (given public perception of Godzilla at this time was mostly shaped by Out Of Context perceptions of the Showa Era and later the abysmal 1998 film, and consequently a laughingstock in the public eye and wider nerd culture). Most of these attempts failed, largely due to lacking the gravitas, tact, and respect said dark topics should be treated with and playing horrific events and subjects purely for shock value. Due to Pacific Rim’s Reconstruction and Godzilla (2014)’s Decon-Recon Switch, as well as the franchise’s and genre’s increasing popularity in the mainstream, this bad habit faded (although has not yet gone away entirely). See Vindicated by History below.
So Bad, It's Good: While this designation applies to much of the franchise, the films in the seventies are particular prone to falling under this sort of designation with plots, monsters, and dialogue that is outlandish even by the regular standards of the series, and a noticeable drop in production quality, as noted below.
Special Effects Failure: Fairly common among many of the movies, although surely the worst are Godzilla's Revenge, Godzilla vs Gigan, and Godzilla vs Megalon, which all include a hefty amount of stock footage.
Surprisingly Improved Sequel: The most commonly cited would be Destroy All Monsters over Godzilla vs the Sea Monster and Son of Godzilla, Terror of Mechagodzilla over all of the other 70's films, with a tiny window of Hedorah over Revenge, and 2001's GMK over Godzilla 2000 and Godzilla vs Megaguirus. Many fans would also say this for War of the Gargantuas, which is a cult favorite over its much more forgotten predecessor, Frankenstein Conquers the World.
Ugly Cute: A few of the monsters count. Mothra, Mothra's caterpillar babies, Minilla, and even Godzilla himself sometimes (mainly in the older films with the big eyes), to name a few.
Vindicated by History: The Showa Era as a whole. While it does havealotofgreatgems, it was more often than not reviled by many as a sea of goofy, low budget, over-the-top messes that gave the series a bad reputation as "mindless kids flicks". As the years went on, however, it's been viewed much more favorably by fans who appreciate the era for its creative special effects, deep themes and allegories, and interesting, fantastical storytelling, with some entries that were once said to be part of its Audience-Alienating Era (such as the Mechagodzilladuology) now being viewed as major highlights. Nowadays it's not too uncommon to hear fans rank it as their favorite series of Godzilla films. The fact that all 15 films got the Criterion treatment helps too.
Alternative Character Interpretation: Was Godzilla attacking the generators to feed on the G-Energy, like the prime minister said? Or was he a Well-Intentioned Extremist who knew the generators painted a huge target for hostile kaiju and aliens to come after?
Anticlimax Boss: Legendary Godzilla, the final boss of the single player campaign becomes this if you've hit Burning Godzilla status. Downplayed as his melee attacks are still extremely damaging and if the player isn't careful can easily beat them to death.
Broken Base: The game is rather divisive, with some viewing it negatively especially compared to the Pipeworks ''Godzilla'' Trilogy and considering it rather dull and repetitive, while others view it positively and feel comparing it to the fighting games is unfair as it's not really trying to be one so much as a kaiju movie simulator with a large emphasis on the rampage aspect.
Cycle of Hurting: In later levels you've got a time limit to destroy all the reactors while taking damage from the enemy monster, plus the Super-Xs. You have to let them do this to you if want to get to the reactors and destroy them before the time limit expires. Only when the reactors are destroyed, can you think of taking out the enemies.
Difficulty Spike: If you're unlucky, the Kaiju you're facing will be at 100 meters. It's worth noting that Destroyah will always be at 100 meters.
If you lose to a 100 meter monster, you'll get to fight a much easier monster.
Destoroyah will only appear on the stage as the boss under a specific set of requirements; if you lose to him, when you retry the level, he will have been replaced by a different monster instead.
No Problem with Licensed Games: As mentioned above, the game has been received fairly well, especially in Japan and by several fans. It helps that the game captures the spirit of the franchise in a good way.
Polished Port: The PlayStation 4 version bumps the resolution up, which results the visuals becoming clearer. There is also less lag than on the PlayStation 3 version, making the experience more consistent.
That One Boss: Even in the demo King Ghidorah is already gaining this rep due to high defenses, melee and range attacks. Which is rather befitting considering his name is KING Ghidorah.
Biollante, due to her long-range vines that she can drive into the ground and then stab Godzilla with in a flurry of rapid-fire jabs, along with her acid sap being very strong and able to push Godzilla back a lot and can even knock him off his feet. It doesn't help that she can also have the Super-X II attacking Godzilla at the same time.
"). Godzilla is iconic enough that people will always know what you mean.