Godzilla (Showa)

, or sometimes known as is a fictional Japanese monster, or ''kaiju'' and the main protagonist of the Showa era of the ''Godzilla'' franchise by Toho Co., Ltd.

Originally, Godzilla was the main antagonist in the Showa era of the franchise until ''Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (1964),'' where he becomes an anti-hero. He turns into the titular main protagonist for the remainder of the series and fights to protect the world from various threats. Along with that, Godzilla would gain partnerships with other monsters like Anguirus and Rodan.

Overview

Design

Throughout the Showa era of the ''Godzilla'' franchise, Godzilla's design changed repeatedly between 1955 and 1975.

The Godzilla design for ''Godzilla Raids Again'' (1955) / '' Gigantis, the Fire Monster'' (1959) took on a slimmer build and a smaller head. The design resulted from the need to make the suit more flexible to battle with Anguirus in the film. This version of Godzilla had movable eyes. A separate set of legs, worn like boots, was used for close-up shots of Godzilla's feet and lower legs. As with the first Godzilla design, a hand-operated puppet was used for close-ups of the monster's face. This puppet features teeth that protruded outward from the mouth, a feature not shared by the suit.The Godzilla design from the 1962 film ''King Kong vs. Godzilla'' had major changes that distinguished it from his design in 1955. The suit was more reptilian in appearance and the build was very stocky, with the lower half of the body being thicker in aesthetics. The head was modified to look smaller and more streamlined, with a combination of human-like eyes placed on its sides in a reptilian fashion. They gave the design larger hands, spike-like claws, and thumbs nearly as large as his other fingers. This suit design would be recreated for a 1983 film that is still being edited, titled ''Wolfman vs. Godzilla''.

In ''Mothra vs. Godzilla'' (1964), the body of Godzilla was sleek and bell-shaped, with a pronounced sternum and knees. The hands featured slender, sharp claws with spread fingers. The dorsal plates were nearly identical to his suit from 1962. The facial features were defined, with pronounced brows and large, angry-looking eyes.

In ''Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster'' (1964), Godzilla was given a new head with unique facial features: Movable eyes were inserted, the upper lip and teeth were reduced, and the tongue was elongated, going past his lower row of teeth. These changes were due to damage the suit's head had sustained during the previous film, primarily during the scenes where Godzilla smashed headfirst into Nagoya Castle, and later when his head is briefly set on fire.

In 1965, Godzilla was given a head slightly larger than that of the suit from 1964, with a round face and jaws. The torso is thinner and proportionally smaller than the rest of the body compared to previous suits. This suit would be reused again in the 1966 film ''Ebirah, Horror of the Deep.''

In 1967, Godzilla was given a somewhat human-like head with big, high-set eyes, heavy lids and a stubby nose, which was done to make the suit more closely resemble Minilla. Godzilla's overall look was changed to still look intimidating, but at the same time look like a father figure. A much longer and thicker neck was given to this Godzilla, to try and make him look much taller than his son. This suit was used again in the film '' Godzilla vs. Gigan'' for the film's swimming scenes. When this suit was used in scenes where Godzilla was sitting, parts of the suit's legs appeared to concertina inwards, making the suit's legs look stumpy.

For the films in 1968 and 1972, Godzilla had been given a bell-shaped body with a pronounced breast bone, a long neck and a head somewhat similar to the suit from 1965 and 1966, with defined brows and more menacing eyes than the previous suits.

In 1973, Godzilla had a plain, streamlined body, a short neck and silver, puffy, pillow-like designed dorsal plates. The face looks more friendly than usual, with a rounded muzzle, oversized brows and huge eyes. The eyes of Godzilla were movable and had movable eyelids. Compared to other Godzilla designs, this suit also had a more upright stance than previous suits, a characteristic that would be kept for the Godzilla suits made in the Heisei era.

In 1974, Godzilla remained mostly the same but with some minor changes to the face; with more detail added in the muzzle and the brows being reduced in size, making this Godzilla suit look less playful than in 1973. The eyes did not move nor did they have movable eyelids. A second suit was used for Mechagodzilla's "Fake Godzilla" disguise.

In 1975, Godzilla had a further face lift; the muzzle was reduced and given more detail, the height of the brows were lowered and the eyes were reduced, thus giving the face a semi-comical and semi-mean look. The eyes did not move nor did they have movable eyelids, and the rest of the body was unchanged.

''Ultra Q'' and ''Ultraman'' use

In 1966, the ''Mothra vs. Godzilla'' suit of Godzilla was reused to depict the kaiju Gomess for ''Ultra Q'' episode 1 "''Defeat Gomess!''". During the shooting of ''Ebirah, Horror of the Deep'', Tsuburaya Productions asked to borrow the head of a Godzilla suit for usage in the ''Ultraman'' television series. This was because the head of the previous Godzilla suit could not be used, as it had already been modified to portray the monster Gomess in ''Ultra Q''. Toho approved the request and the head from the 1965 Godzilla suit was removed, and grafted onto the body of another Godzilla suit. Both parts of the two separate Godzilla suits were then repainted in green with yellow stripes, and a frill was added around the completed suit's neck to create the monster Jirahs.

Appearances

Films

* ''Godzilla Raids Again'' (1955)
* '' Gigantis, the Fire Monster'' (1959; as Gigantis)
* ''King Kong vs. Godzilla'' (1962)
* ''Mothra vs. Godzilla'' (1964)
* ''Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster'' (1964)
* ''Invasion of Astro-Monster'' (1965)
* ''Ebirah, Horror of the Deep'' (1966)
* ''Son of Godzilla'' (1967)
* ''Destroy All Monsters'' (1968)
* ''All Monsters Attack'' (1969)
* ''Godzilla vs. Hedorah'' (1971)
* '' Godzilla vs. Gigan'' (1972)
* '' Godzilla vs. Megalon'' (1973)
* ''Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla'' (1974)
* ''Terror of Mechagodzilla'' (1975)

TV series

* ''Zone Fighter'' (1973) - episodes 4, 11, 15, 21, and 25
* '' Godzilla Tales'' (2020; stock footage) - episodes 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 10, 12, 13, 16

Video games

* ''Godzilla'' (1993)
* ''Godzilla'' (1993)
* '' Godzilla: Giant Monster March'' (1995)
* ''Godzilla Movie Studio Tour'' (1996)
* '' Godzilla: Trading Battle'' (1998)
* ''Godzilla'' (2015)
* ''Godzilla Kaiju Collection'' (2015)
* ''Godzilla Defense Force'' (2019)
* ''Godzilla'' (2021)
* ''DAVE THE DIVER'' (2022; mod to the game in 2024)

Public displays

A statue of Godzilla from ''Godzilla Raids Again'' / '' Gigantis, the Fire Monster'' was placed on display at Shinsaibashi station in Osaka, Japan to promote the opening of the Godzilla Store in Osaka.

The head of Godzilla from '' Godzilla vs. Gigan'' was placed on static display at Nihon Engineering College right next to the Kamata station.

Notes

References

Bibliography

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