Line #23 Literature/Godzilla


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2	'''Godzilla''' is a series of four young adult novels based on the [[Franchise/{{Godzilla}} franchise of the same name]]. The series was written by Marc Cerasini and published by Random House from 1996 to 1998.
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4	It consists of four books, with a fifth written but unreleased (and further books that only made it to the planning stage):
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6	* ''Godzilla Returns'' (November 1996)
7	** In 1998, years after Godzilla's original attack on Tokyo in 1954, the King of the Monsters resurfaces.
8	*** Monsters introduced: Godzilla.
9	* ''Godzilla 2000'' (November 1997)
10	** A year after Godzilla's destructive rampage in Tokyo, America and the world are threatened with destruction when several new monsters surface and scientists detect a swarm of gigantic asteroids that could wipe out all life on Earth.
11	*** Monsters introduced: Kamacuras, King Ghidorah, Mothra, Rodan and Varan.
12	* ''Godzilla At World's End'' (April 1998)
13	** Nearly a year after the ''kaiju'' attacks on America, things take a turn for the worse when five new monsters suddenly appear from beneath Antarctica and begin wreaking havoc all over the world.
14	*** Monsters introduced: Anguirus, Battra, Biollante, Gigan, Hedorah, Manda and Megalon.
15	* ''Godzilla Vs. the Robot Monsters'' (July 1998)
16	** Three years after the most recent wave of monster attacks, America and Russia reveal a pair of giant robots designed to defend against further incursions, while a Mongolian warlord prepares to unleash his own monstrous cyborg.
17	*** Monsters introduced: Baragon, Fire Rodan, Mecha-King Ghidorah, Mechagodzilla, MOGUERA.
18	* ''Godzilla and the Lost Continent'' (planned for November 1998; unreleased)
19	** The world is stunned when a new continent surfaces in the Pacific Ocean, one home to monsters old and new.
20	*** According to an interview with Marc Cerasini, the book would have introduced a CanonImmigrant monster as one of the major threats; however, Toho never got to approve or decline this version of the manuscript before Random House canceled the series.
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22	----
23	!!This series provides examples of:
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25	* AdaptationDeviation: Nearly all the monsters (except for Godzilla himself, whose origins as a [[LivingDinosaurs living dinosaur]] that mutated after exposure to an atomic bomb remain intact, Mechagodzilla, who's still a collaborative effort between America and Japan towards making a anti Godzilla mech like his Heisei self, and King Ghidorah, who remains a roaming space monster that initially comes to Earth within an asteroid) have different origins from movie canon. Apparently, Toho preferred this approach. Some specific examples include:
26	** The swarm of Kamacuras is now the result of alien DNA bonding with some praying mantises, while in the Showa era they were mutated by nuclear testing. Varan also only appears after some meteorite pieces crash on Earth, but it's left ambiguous if he arrived from this or was only woken up by the crash after a deep sleep.
27	** The novel's versions of Gigan, Hedorah, Battra, Manda and Biollante are enforcers for an underground civilization that wants to wipe out humanity. Megalon is among this group too, but his status here is similar to how he was in Showa canon.
28	** M.O.G.U.E.R.A. is Russia's anti-kaiju mech rather than being Mechagodzilla's replacement as he was in the Heisei era.
29	* AdaptationalVillainy: Biollante and Mecha-King Ghidorah, who're respectively portrayed as neutral and heroic in the Heisei movies, are both heavily antagonistic in this series. Though this may be justified in Mecha-King Ghidorah's case since his normal self was closer to Showa Ghidorah than the Heisei version, he wasn't fully killed during ''Godzilla 2000'' before he became a cyborg, and this version of him was created as a super weapon designed for conquest, rather than a protector made to defend humanity from Godzilla.
30	* AdmiringTheAbomination: A variant in the preview for ''Godzilla and the Lost Continent'', included at the end of ''Godzilla Vs. the Robot Monsters''. Gecko, an aspiring artist who makes a living from his sketches, is awed when he sees Godzilla coming ashore and, despite the devastation caused by the monster at the time, can't help but be inspired by the creature's power and magnificence and becomes determined to try and capture Godzilla's presence via paint and canvas.
31	* AnimalWrongsGroup: In ''Godzilla Returns'', people react in various ways to Godzilla's resurfacing in 1998. It's offhandedly mentioned that Greenpeace reacted by trying to have him declared an endangered species and given a protected status, completely ignoring the death toll caused by the creature during its first attack in 1954 and since its recent return.
32	* BaitAndSwitch: Played for laughs in ''Godzilla at World's End''. The crowd is eagerly awaiting the appearance of the ''Destiny Explorer'', and more than one person calls "Here it comes!" or similar lines when the hanger doors open... only to laugh when all that comes out is a diminutive maintenance truck. Then subverted when it turns out the truck is ''towing'' the airship, which proves as magnificent as they expected.
33	* BehemothBattle: Par for the course with the ''Godzilla'' franchise, as every book except for the first features battles between giant monsters.
34	** ''Godzilla 2000'' has Godzilla and Mothra fighting King Ghidorah in the climax.
35	** ''Godzilla at World's End'' has Godzilla facing Manda, Hedorah and Biollante, while a younger Rodan fights Battra and Anguirus takes on Gigan.
36	** ''Godzilla Vs. the Robot Monsters'' pits Mechagodzilla against Baragon, M.O.G.U.E.R.A. against Anguirus (twice), and the final battle turns into a free-for-all with the two giant machines, joined by Godzilla, taking on Mecha-King Ghidorah... with M.O.G.U.E.R.A. turning on Godzilla partway through.
37	* BigBad:
38	** ''Godzilla Returns'' has Godzilla as the sole antagonist, showing up to wreck havoc once more in Tokyo.
39	** ''Godzilla 2000'' doesn't have one central threat and instead features a BigBadEnsemble of Godzilla, King Ghidorah, Varan, Rodan, and the Kamacuras swarm all causing havoc independently of each other, though the first two eventually meet and fight each other.
40	** Biollante in ''Godzilla At World's End'', here reimagined as a monster from an underground world who wants to kill off humanity and leads a group of 5 other monsters to accomplish that.
41	** ''Godzilla vs. the Robot Monsters'' has Kulgan Khan, the ruler of Mongolia who's rebuilt Ghidorah into Mecha-King Ghidorah and is planning to use the cyborg as a weapon of conquest.
42	* BigCreepyCrawlies: The Kamacuras are a swarm of giant preying mantises who devour plant and person alike.
43	* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Three cases in ''Godzilla Vs. the Robot Monsters'', all important individuals in the plot of the previous books.
44	** Nick Gordon, after having a presence in the first three books, isn't so much as mentioned -- not even by his old friend Brian Shimura.
45	** Robin Halliday is likewise completely absent after being a major character in ''Godzilla 2000'' and ''Godzilla at World's End''.
46	** Mothra, who also played a key role in ''Godzilla 2000'' and ''Godzilla at World's End'', isn't mentioned at all -- particularly odd given her role in driving away King Ghidorah before, and his return for revenge and role as the FinalBoss of the book.
47	* ColonyDrop: ''Godzilla 2000'' features a swarm of asteroids, including three that are large enough that an impact by any one of them could mean TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt. They're stopped while still far enough out in space... but one portion remains, still on course for Earth, though it's now small enough that supposedly, it'll burn up in the atmosphere. It turns out to be holding King Ghidorah.
48	* CrystallineCreature: The AncientAstronauts from beneath Antarctica turn out to be enormous (almost twenty-five feet tall) and limbless "glowing figures of pure, living crystal", two glowing blue and one glowing crimson, with their crystalline internal organs visible through their skin.
49	* DeadlineNews: In ''Godzilla Returns'', INN reporter Max Hulse, with a few members of his crew, stay in Tokyo Tower and continue to report on Godzilla's attack on the city, even as the monster approaches them, calmly accepting their fate and dying when Godzilla destroys the tower. This doubles as a CallBack to the original 1954 film, in which a group of Japanese reporters do essentially the same thing.
50	* DistantFinale: The epilogue of ''Godzilla Vs. the Robot Monsters'' takes place a year after the final battle in Tokyo.
51	* EmergencyAuthority: A little over ten months after the final battle in ''Godzilla 2000'', only a little of the catastrophic destruction caused by Godzilla's trek across America and the attacks by Varan, the Kamacuras and King Ghidorah (Rodan did comparatively little damage and Mothra only appeared in New York during the final battle) has been fixed. It's gotten to the point where, thanks to the recovery process achieving so little and the country being in such bad shape, the President of the United States declares a continuing state of emergency that effectively puts the country under martial law and suspends the upcoming presidential election for at least three months. He's even sending lawyers out to warn news stations not to release reports that make the current administration's efforts look bad. After the Babel Event that cut off all communications is over with and elections are finally held, the civilian populace quickly votes the current crop of politicians out of office, with their bloated, inefficient government programs being removed as well.
52	* GiantFlyer: Eleven of the eighteen monsters in the series (Battra, Fire Rodan, Gigan, Hedorah, Kamacuras, King Ghidorah, Mecha-King Ghidorah, M.O.G.U.E.R.A., Mothra, Rodan and Varan) can fly under their own power. A twelfth (Mechagodzilla) requires the aid of the ''Garuda'' lifting aircraft, and a thirteenth (Megalon) is noted as having wings but is never actually seen flying. The airship ''Destiny Explorer'', at 890 feet long, also qualifies.
53	* GlassCannon: Kamacuras, essentially. Its size makes it a clear threat, and it is capable of eating people and tearing apart anything in its way; but it can also be destroyed by jets and tanks fairly easily.
54	* HandicappedBadass: Michael Sullivan, lead pilot of Mechagodzilla, is paralyzed from the waist down.
55	* HoistByHisOwnPetard: In trying to stop the reopening of the old coal mine (also home to a large uranium deposit) in Cheeachaw Valley, which could threaten their own plans to open a casino in the same valley, members of the Mob set off explosives at the mine and flood it. As a result, the monster Baragon is released, and later ''eats'' one of the mobsters and an associate.
56	* HollowWorld: Discussed in ''Godzilla at World's End''. Alexander Kemmering and his daughter Zoe are both convinced that a portal to the hollow world -- which they believe is the Garden of Eden, and the birthplace of mankind -- is due to open in Antarctica in 1992, and plan to be there when it does. Unfortunately, the expedition costs Alexander his life, while Zoe successfully enters the subterranean area and discovers a crystalline city, but has been driven mad by her experiences and takes control of it, along with the Ancient Ones who predated mankind. In late 2000/early 2001, she uses the monsters she's created there in an attempt to exterminate mankind, only to be thwarted through a combination of a team of humans (who enter the city and ultimately free the Ancient Ones from her control) and Godzilla, who also enters the area and does battle with the monster Biollante.
57	* IntrepidReporter: Every book has them.
58	** ''Godzilla Returns'' has Brian Shimura as lead character and science reporter Nick Gordon as a supporting one.
59	** ''Godzilla 2000'' has reporter Robin Halliday in a supporting role as she follows the story of Varan, while Nick and his crew report on the events of the climax.
60	** Both Nick and Robin are present during the main events of ''Godzilla At World's End''. Brian Shimura also makes a brief appearance at one point, discussing a dragon sighting that turns out to be Manda, while backpacking reporter Craig Weedie features in a chapter dedicated to Gigan's battle with Anguirus.
61	** Downplayed in ''Godzilla Vs. the Robot Monsters''. No reporters act as main characters, but Brian returns and reports on the climactic battle.
62	* TheMafia: Members of the Mob appear in ''Godzilla Vs. the Robot Monsters'', secretly backing the startup of a casino at the Little Blackfoot Reservation in Cheeachaw Valley, Montana. Unfortunately, their efforts to stop a rival project (the reopening of an old coal mine that's also the location of a large uranium deposit) end poorly for them.
63	* MinorWithFakeID: Downplayed -- early in ''Godzilla At World's End'', Patrick Brennan recalls how, at the age of sixteen, he'd used his brother Sean's official I.D. to enlist in the military under Sean's name and age (eighteen) after Sean himself had left for Australia using a stolen passport he'd bought on the black market. He gets away with it because he looks old for his age, and when he finally confesses during the epilogue of the book, he's permitted to remain in the army since he's almost legal at that point, and promoted from corporal to first lieutenant to boot (along with receiving a Purple Heart after being severely wounded during the battle under Antarctica, and a Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions in the battle).
64	* MistakenForRacist: ''Godzilla Vs. the Robot Monsters'' has Jack Strongbow, a Blackfoot brave with a strong dislike of Joel Mitchell, a white man working for the U.S. Department of the Interior. In one scene, his girlfriend, Theresa Rainbird, accuses him of hating Joel just for being white, completely ignoring the fact that Jack's best friend and almost brother Wayne is white, as are some other people he's friends with. For his part, Jack privately thinks that he has a whole host of reasons for disliking Joel, none of them related to race, but doesn't bother to voice any of them to Theresa because he knows that in the mood she's in then, she won't listen, although she learns soon enough that she should have taken his misgivings seriously.
65	* MutualKill: In ''Godzilla Vs. the Robot Monsters'', some Russians are convinced that Anguirus and Gigan had performed one during their battle several years ago. They're quickly proven wrong when Anguirus emerges from the Caspian Sea and attacks an oil platform.
66	* MythologyGag: The Monsterverse films, particularly ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'' have so many coincidental parallels to this series of novels that one wonders if they served as direct inspiration.
67	* ObliviousAstronomers: Subverted -- two older astronomers discover the asteroid swarm months ahead of time, and a third, accidentally, is able to confirm their discovery, giving humanity more than enough time to figure out how to deal with the larger asteroids and then do so while they're still very, very far away.
68	* OffWithHisHead: Downplayed in ''Godzilla 2000''. The final battle has King Ghidorah wrapping his middle neck around Godzilla's own throat and trying to strangle him. Kip Daniels, in Raptor-1, then spots the missile he'd shot at Ghidorah earlier, which penetrated the base of his middle neck but failed to detonate. Shooting it with Raptor-1's cannons, he sets it off, causing an explosion that completely severs the neck. Unfortunately, King Ghidorah still has two more heads, so the blast doesn't ''kill'' him... but this, followed by the blast of Godzilla's radiation that destroys the tower behind him and temporarily buries Ghidorah in rubble, is enough for the monster to call it quits and make a run for it.
69	* OutlivingOnesOffspring: Oswald Peaster, an elderly farmer in Kansas, thinks to himself at one point that "It's a bad thing when a father outlives his son.", once again lamenting his eldest child and only son's decision to join the army instead of taking over the family farm, a decision that had led to First Lieutenant Michael Oswald Peaster's death in Vietnam twenty-seven years before.
70	* PlayfulHacker: Michael Sullivan, introduced in ''Godzilla at World's End'', whose interview early on reveals he's been a hacker for years but never used his talents to cause trouble. In fact, when he discovers a band of rival hackers who've been stealing money (causing cases of double-billing all over the net) and then returning it but keeping the interest they accrued in the interim (building up to millions of dollars), he hacks into ''their'' system, downloads their records and turns them over to the New York State attorney general.
71	* PoweredByAForsakenChild: The only one able to pilot Mecha-King Ghidorah is Yisui, a young Mongolian girl (appearing about twelve when first introduced and sixteen when the main events take place four years later). Connecting with the monster's mind has some... extremely negative side-effects on her own mind.
72	* ScrewThisImOuttaHere:
73	** In the climax of ''Godzilla 2000'', after losing his middle head and neck and then getting buried in debris from having a tower collapse on him, Ghidorah decides enough is enough and beats a hasty retreat.
74	** In ''Godzilla at World's End'', Manda decides to retreat into the ocean after Godzilla manages to grab it and blast it with his radiation breath.
75	** In ''Godzilla Vs. the Robot Monsters'', the final battle with Baragon sees it getting zapped with a large quantity of electricity and decide to burrow its way back underground to escape.
76	* SealedEvilInACan: King Ghidorah, who's introduced when he breaks ''out'' of his can -- a massive asteroid that's headed straight for Earth.
77	* ShockAndAwe: Jack Strongbow uses lightning as a weapon against Baragon in ''Godzilla Vs. the Robot Monsters'', and while it's not powerful enough to stop the monster (who's been mutated by exposure to uranium), it's key to the beast's final defeat: when Mechagodzilla zaps the creature with electricity, Baragon flees back underground to escape it and is buried in a cave-in caused by the robot's missiles. Played with by King Ghidorah and Megalon, whose energy attacks also resemble lightning bolts.
78	* SlayingMantis: Kamacuras is essentially an enormous preying mantis, capable of eating anything and anyone in its path. And there's a whole ''swarm'' of them. Fortunately, they're also fairly weak against tanks and jets, it's the sheer number of them that make them dangerous.
79	* SuddenNameChange: Lori Angelo in ''Godzilla 2000'' suddenly goes to ''Tori'' Angelo in ''Godzilla Vs. The Robot Monsters''.
80	* TakesOneToKillOne: An odd variation is attempted in ''Godzilla Vs. the Robot Monsters''. During the final battle, M.O.G.U.E.R.A. is equipped with the ''Ordog'' toxin, made from samples of Godzilla's flesh and blood (acquired a few years earlier in ''Godzilla at World's End''), in an attempt to kill Godzilla himself. The author's plans for sequels, however, indicate that the toxin was unsuccessful.
81	* ToServeMan: The Kamacuras, Varan, Rodan (the mutant adult), Baragon and King Ghidorah (after his upgrade into Mecha-King Ghidorah) are all seen to eat humans over the course of the series. A digital version of Godzilla also swallows an aircraft (presumably piloted) in a video game in ''Godzilla 2000'', but the real monster is never shown eating in-series (though it's known that he does have a stomach).
82	* WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue: ''Godzilla 2000'' and ''Godzilla at World's End'' each end in these, showing what the characters did in the aftermath of the final monster battles.
83	* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes:
84	** Subverted with Nick Gordon. ''Godzilla Returns'' shows him with a fear of flying, suffering from extreme nausea whenever he's in a plane or helicopter; however, in ''Godzilla at World's End'', it turns out he just has motion sickness.
85	** Played straight in ''Godzilla at World's End'' with teen genius and computer designer Leena Sims, who has a ''serious'' problem with heights, suffering from tremors and heart palpitations when her fear takes over. It's been a problem since she was little, as she recalls.
86	* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: In ''Godzilla at World's End'', it's initially believed that the main antagonist -- the daughter of a scientist who died discovering the AncientAstronauts -- is being possessed by the long-dormant, frozen aliens in their underground AdvancedAncientAcropolis as part of their bid to take over the world once more. As it turns out, ''she's'' keeping ''them'' dormant so they won't stop her, and her acts are a combination of desire for revenge on the world that drove her father to the situation that killed him, and she may or may not be influenced to do this by Biollante.

Context Literature / Godzilla