Per wiki policy, Spoilers Off applies here and all spoilers are unmarked. You Have Been Warned.
"Monsters are tragic beings. They are born too tall, too strong, too heavy. They are not evil by choice.''
- The death of Godzilla, despite everything he had done and all the people who died because of him. You can't help but feel a little pity for the big guy (or girl) when he finally goes... and in his last moments, he just stares at Nick with a resigned look in his eye.
- For all the damage Godzilla caused, no one could argue that this version was ever malicious. He was just an animal looking for, and protecting, its nest. Its fate is almost more tragic than the original 1954 Gojira.
- As Nick points out: This was the emergence of a brand-new species, something that should be celebrated and studied with care, especially since it emerged as a direct result of mankind's actions and did so within living memory. Unfortunately it proved to be as destructive as the weapons that birthed it and we had no choice but to destroy it before it could destroy us.
- The novelization adds to the tearjerkiness. For context, much of the novel is from Nick's POV, and this passage comes after the F-18s' final run:We turned around just as Gojira's enormous head came crashing down onto the bridge. It landed directly on top of the taxicab, crushing it like a paper cup. The bridge swayed violently and the steel cables moaned, threatening to pull loose from their mighty anchors. But the bridge - or what was left of it - held, and the swaying slowly subsided.
I took a few steps back toward the creature's head, which towered above me. One of his hundred-pound eyeballs was pointed in my direction, but I don't think he saw me. The nictitating membrane was half closed and the iris had a glazed, weary look. He blinked slowly and exhaled, the breath of life slipping out of him.
I felt like rushing over to him and trying to offer him some comfort. I wanted to explain that we'd only done what we had to do. The Earth just wasn't big enough for both our species. But in the end, I just stood there. And then he was dead.
- Godzilla arrives back at his nest, only to find all his babies dead. It's tragic watching him nudge that one infant, as if hoping his actions would help.
- The death of every American and French soldier. Some of them may have been frightened, but every single one tried to do their job to the best of their abilities.
- Post-2001, the casual commentary about "worse than the World Trade Center bombing" may come off as this. The Twin Towers feature very prominently in the background, and are often ominously obscured in fog (though thankfully, they are not shown being destroyed in the film itself).
