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A titan of terror, a god of destruction,Godzillais an iconic colossal Kaiju that’s both an unstoppable force of nature’s wrath and the Earth’s most powerful defense against other giant monsters, aliens, and more.
Created by Toho Studios of Japan back in 1954, Godzilla, Gojira, Monster Zero-One, Big-G, or however you’d like to call them is a creature that dominated Eastern and then Western cinema for decades — and rightly so. A supposed man-made creation of radioactive origin, there’s a lot to learn about what makes this big lizard tick. So here’s everything you need to know about Godzilla’s biology.
Updated June 23, 2025:The big lizard is more popular than ever before. Thanks to some new Kaiju content, there are some new takes on the lore that have made the big fellah more intimidating and have really helped reinforce how much of an unstoppable force of nature Godzilla is.
Big G’s origin also got a little tweaking with Godzilla: Minus One and though it wasn’t too drastic, it was thematic and helped flesh out more of this classic cinema creature. If you’re a little behind on your Godzilla lore, or new to always terrific works of Toho, then here’s an updated look at Godzilla’s Biology.
What Is Godzilla?
For first-timers new to the massive monster scene, here’s a Kaiju crash course. From what we’ve gathered from Monarch’s files on the creature, and reported yet redacted encounters by the JSDF, Godzilla is estimated to bethousands, if not millions of years old(depending on the canon). And is a creature of such a physical and destructive scale that merely having it appear on a city’s shoreline is enough to startmass panic throughout an entire country.
Taller than a skyscraper and with thighs wider than a city block, this towering reptile hasscales that can stop missiles and atomic-fueled fire breath that can reduce entire neighborhoods into molten irradiated slag. Buildings crumble with its passing and there’s yet to be a giant beast, alien, mechanized weapon, or battle droid capable of putting it down permanently. ThoughOxygen bombs have proved a potent deterrentto this overgrown dinosaur, it always returned in one form or another.
Truly unkillable, humanity’s best option for surviving alongside Godzilla is to just evacuate major population centers, stay out of the way,andinvest in home insurance.
The Biology Of Godzilla
If you were to take a cathedral-sized Scalpel to Godzilla and start to dig around inside, you’d find something interesting. For a start, the creature’s carapace is composed of anultra-dense material formed into a reptilian scale shapethat deflects, dissipates, and defends against any and all attacks. However, it seemsweak to high temperatures and extreme voltages, perhaps due to conductivity between the scales.
The bones of this beast are equally massive and made of a mineral composition that renders them seemingly unbreakable. This makes sense considering the sheer amount of tonnage in weight they would need to support. The organs of the beast are also capable of breaking down all sorts of material,both organic and inorganicto seemingly sustain Godzilla. They’re also able to withstandextreme temperatures into the Kelvins or Super Negatives, whilst also exuding extremely high amounts of radiation.
So much radioactive material is released by Godzilla. In fact, the areas it passed through often endureelevated radiation levels for several weeks. Also, if Godzilla releases its fire breath, the immediate area will be renderedunlivable for years almost instantly. Standard decontamination protocol after exposure is recommended, but not always successful.
Origins
The origins of Godzilla have varied over the years. Different sources point to everything from agenetic deviancybrought about through Nuclear Testing, or the Hollow-Earth school of thought that saysit emerged from a subterranean realm. Or it’s aprehistoric creature that crawled out of a chasmafter being asleep for millennia. Whichever one matters, they share a common thread: Nuclear bombs or testing is involved, the big lizard appears from somewhere, and things get smashed.
Godzilla wasfirst sighted off the shores of Japan in the 50s. Since then, the creature has continued to bounce between periods of destructive activity and extended periods of dormancy. Though it’s noted these active apocalyptic occurrences are often due toexternal negative stimuli. (e.g. the appearance of another Super Predator, the creation of something that would negatively impact the earth’s environment, or because of alien control.)
Powers
The destructive capabilities of Godzilla can be best categorized ascataclysmic. Not only does the sheer weight it can throw around alone mean it can casually walk through a busy city without those pesky buildings slowing it down. But the power put behind its claw makes it capable of tearing bridges and reinforced heavy weaponry apart like tissue paper.
Then there’s the fire breath.
Depending on where you’re standing in the canon, Godzilla’s Atomic Fire Breath hasvaried in strength over the years. Scaling upwards in scale from high-temperature flames to radiation-tinged lines of plasma then finally highly radioactive laser beams that blast in a seemingly infinite direction from its mouth, spinal fins, and tail.
If that wasn’t terrifying enough, in Godzilla: Minus One we saw the introduction of anew evolution of Godzilla’s fire breath. This one was a little slow on charging, but when unleashed it’s potentiallyone of the most powerful iterations of everyone’s favorite big lizard so far.
For the uninitiated, in Godzilla: Minus One we seeGodzilla’s tail begin to glow as the bright radioactive colors work their way up its back. Each fin juts out and when the charge reaches his mouth, the nowbrightly glowing fins slam back in, and a slim, yet far-reaching blue beam blasts out.
This projectile deafens everyone nearby momentarily and there’s amassive circular blast wave that devastates everything within a hundred feet or more of the beam itself, and then it gets worse. The beam hits its target and amassive mushroom cloud that resembles the Russian Tsar Bomba but bigger appears, then the blast wave arrives.
First agigantic wave of force blasts out for miles from the impact site, titanic winds crush buildings to rubble instantly beforethrowing it out ahead of the wave in a devastating surge.
During the blast wave scene,cars, tanks, people, huge warships, and parts of buildings are effortlessly lifted and tossed around.
Those not smushed into a paste by this point will getbattered apart two more times as the wave implodes back in and then washes out once more. Just one shot from the big Lizard was enough towipe the entire coastal city of Ginza off the map.
The other fusion-powered trick in its arsenal is to stockpile radiation within itself until a moment of critical mass is achieved and acolossal nuclear-fuelled explosionoccurs or is surged outwards in damaging pulses. Finally, Godzilla is shown to be able toexert a strong magnetic field(Godzilla Vs Mechagodzilla) to both attract and repel objects as large as power pylons and combat droids.
Is Godzilla Real?
Though this piece started as a fictional “Field Report,” there is a need to clarify thatGodzilla is in fact not real. It was first created as ametaphor for the destructive power of atomic energyin post-World War 2 Japan and the loomingsleeping monster that was the US and its occupation and subsequent Nuclear Testing in the nearby atolls. following the War. It was also Toho Studios' way of putting out their version of ananti-nuclear protest. There’s a little more to it than that, but that’s an apt way to keep it brief.
Godzillafirst appeared on the silver screen back in 1954and was a big success. The classic Kaiju would go on from there to star in countless sequels and spin-offs that are still carried on to this day. It impacted the cultural zeitgeist over the years so much in fact that there are endless parodies, references, and direct inspirations in pop culture that you can directly point to because of it.
Is Godzilla A Girl?
Godzilla’s gender is something that’s been up for debate for years. Through the different eras of Toho Studios, they played a little fast and loose with that rule. Either altering it slightly or not really addressing it outright. In some versions, they’ve always been male, other’s there are hints of it being between genders, but either way,it’s often referred to as an “it”. Where the confusion lies is thatGodzilla is capable of self-procreation, which makes it difficult to pin down where they fall.
For example, in the ‘98 movie, they were shown laying eggs asexually. Plus, in older examples like Son Of Godzilla, Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla II, or the animated show, a hatchling was shown to be born. Usually named Godsuke, Minilla, or Baby Godzilla. There’s also the example of Godzilla Vs Destroyah where a new Godzilla was formed out of the destroyed remains of the old one. The same applies in the Netflix adaptation Planet of the Monsters where a smaller version just randomly appeared, whilst the original much larger one slept. In general,Godzilla is referred to as a “he” or an “it”.
Does Godzilla Die?
This is one topic that unfortunately falls into the relationship category of"it’s complicated"as the big Lizard’s connection with the afterlife is tenuous at best. Like how Kratos can casually walk out of the Underworld again and again, so too does Godzilla shake off death like it’s a minor inconvenience. But this is not to say the creature is truly unkillable; it’s justvery, very resistant to dying.
Over the years, Godzilla has “died” a few times but due to resets in the canon, it keeps coming back. Whether through energy transference from Mothra, recuperating at a site of radioactive and geothermal activity, or unsubtly detonating a Nuclear Bomb in its face.
There have also been examples of Godzilla producing a smaller, equally strong copy of itself as a contingency plan which then grows in size. Should the original die, thisnew creature assumes the role of its deceased parent, and the cycle continues. But no matter where in the canon you look, Godzilla keeps coming back.
More recently in Godzilla: Minus One, they introduced the concept of Godzillarapidly regenerating in seconds from the most grievous of wounds. Such asreforming its head when a sea mine detonates in its face, regenerating its arm whena battleship unleashes its biggest cannons at point-blank range, or regrowing from abadly burnt nugget of lizard bits. You really can’t keep this big lad down for long.
Except for the 1998 Godzilla, that one stayed dead for all the right reasons.
