Godzilla (Earth-616)

Godzilla
Name	Godzilla
Aliases	Gojira, King of the Monsters
Affiliation and Relationships
Marital Status	Single
Physical Characteristics
Gender	Male
Eyes	Irises: Red
Hair	No Hair At All
Skin	Green, Brown scales
Unusual Features	Excessively large, emits radioactivity, scales, claws, tail, fangs, dorsal plates running down his back Formerly dorsal fins, two horns coming out of his nose, webbed limbs
Origin and Living Status
Origin	Prehistoric giant reptile, hybrid of land and marine reptiles, mutated and awakened by a hydrogen bomb test in 1956
Living Status	Alive
Reality	Earth-616
Place of Birth	An island near Japan
Personal Information
Identity	No Dual
Base of Operations	Monster Island, Pacific Ocean Formerly unknown island in the Pacific Ocean near Japan
Creators and Appearances
Creators	Doug Moench, Herb Trimpe
First	Godzilla #1 (May, 1977)
First	Godzilla #1 (May, 1977)

In conclusion, some factors are certain: Godzilla represents a hitherto unknown essence of life and behavior... As such, he is highly unpredictable, and definitely the most dangerous living creature on the face of the Earth.

—Dr. Yuriko Takiguchi[source]

History

Original Rampage

According to the research of Dr. Yuriko Takiguchi, Godzilla was spawned during Pacific nuclear bomb tests in the 1950s.

Per Takiguchi's original account, the first recorded moment when the monster attacked Tokyo was in 1956. Records of the creature after that point are spotty at best. However, Godzilla eventually became trapped in an iceberg off the coast of Alaska and only managed to break free during the Modern Age. With the creature cutting a swath of destruction across the northern state, the spy agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D. formed a new Godzilla Squad to try and stop the monster. This squad included S.H.I.E.L.D. veterans Dum Dum Dugan and Jimmy Woo along with Dr. Takiguchi, his grandson, Robert, and his assistant, scientist Tamara Hashioka. Although they failed to stop the creature in Alaska, the Godzilla Squad vowed to stop the monster no matter what it took to do so.

Travelling down the Pacific Coast, Godzilla resurfaced in Washington State, where he went on a rampage in Seattle before being repelled by S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Godzilla Squad. It next appeared in San Francisco Bay, where he clashed with the local super-hero group known as the Champions. S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Godzilla Squad also arrived on the scene with new tech developed by Stark Industries to try to stop the creature. Although Godzilla was driven back out to sea again, it was not before the Godzilla Squad's Helicarrier was sent crashing into San Franciso Bay after the Golden Gate Bridge was destroyed by Godzilla. Out in the Pacific Ocean, Godzilla encountered the mutated beast known as Batragon. Forcing the other monster to flee, Godzilla followed him to the island of its creator, Doctor Demonicus, who was creating monsters on the island with the help of his Lifestone meteorite. As the Godzilla Squad arrived on the scene, Godzilla slew Batragon. Furious, Demonicus unleashed his other three creatures, Ghilaron, Lepirax, and Centipor upon Godzilla. While the King of the Monsters slew the Doctor's creations one at a time, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Godzilla Squad shut down his operation and took him into custody, allowing Godzilla to escape their grasp once again.

American Tour

Godzilla eventually returned to the California coast, where he was attacked by S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Godzilla Squad once again. This time, they went after the monster in their new Behemoth Helicarrier, which was constructed specifically to contain Godzilla. Although S.H.I.E.L.D. managed to incapacitate Godzilla, take the monster aboard the Behemoth and transport him to a secret S.H.I.E.L.D. base, when Godzilla finally awakened, he broke free with ease. With Godzilla on a rampage again, the creature was getting dangerously close to a nuclear stockpile that was located at the base. By this point the Godzilla Squad had finished constructing their latest anti-Godzilla tech, the massive samurai robot dubbed Red Ronin. Seeking to stop Godzilla without destroying him, young Robert Takiguchi took command of the robot and faced off against Godzilla alone. Because the youth only wished to befriend the monster, Robert fought Godzilla to a standstill in order to protect the nearby city of San Diego, and later allowed the monster to go free, much to the frustration of Dugan. Travelling across the United States, Godzilla eventually ended up in Colorado, where he smashed Boulder Dam. The powerful torrent of water then washed him out into the state of Nevada, where Godzilla went on a rampage in Las Vegas. The combination of Godzilla's rampage and the flood water from the destruction of Boulder Dam created the perfect storm that decimated the entire city. Godzilla survived, however, and continued on his path of destruction across the United States of America.

The S.H.I.E.L.D. Godzilla Squad caught up with Godzilla in the Grand Canyon. There, the monster had crossed paths with another mutated beast, Yetrigar. As the two creatures battled it out, Robert sought to stop the hostilities and intervened with Red Ronin. A three-way battle ensued, and Robert was forced to bury Yetrigar under a ton of rocks, allowing Godzilla to escape once again. Godzilla was later abducted and brought to the Moon by members of the Betan race, who wished to test him against their most powerful war-monster, the Beta-Beast, to determine his worthiness to stand against their enemies the Megans' trio of Mega-Monsters which were about to be unleashed upon Earth, a planet which the Megans sought to plunder to enhance their war efforts against the Betans. Godzilla slew the Beta-Beast and used the Betans' portal to return to Earth, appearing before Triax as it battled Red Ronin. Godzilla and Red Ronin then battled Triax, but the battle became utter chaos when Rhiahn, Krollar, and the Godzilla Squad arrived on the scene, causing even more destruction. The battle resulted in the destruction of Red Ronin and much of the Godzilla Squad's weapons. With Red Ronin destroyed, Godzilla was alone against the Mega-Monsters, who had just gained a power boost via the Megans' Energex-Ray. Now stronger and facing less foes, the Mega-Monsters were slowly killing Godzilla until Dugan and Gabe Jones boarded their aircrafts and joined Godzilla in the fight to save Earth and (unknown to both of them) Beta. With Triax fighting Gabe and Rhiahn fighting Dugan, Godzilla killed Krollar. He then proceeded to kill Triax, and fought and killed Rhiahn while saving Dugan's life. Dugan, grateful to Godzilla, simply let the creature go this time.

In the Colorado region, Godzilla's ongoing rampage across the United States inadvertently foiled some cattle rustlers. This led to a group of cowboys unsuccessfully managing to try and capture Godzilla before the rustlers were caught and the monster left the region.

Preparing to destroy the Empire State Building

New York Rampage

The Godzilla Squad finally gained the upper hand against Godzilla when they enlisted the aid of scientist Hank Pym, who provided the Squad with his Pym Particle gas, which they used to shrink Godzilla down to the size of a small lizard, allowing for his easy capture and containment. Brought to New York City, the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents charged with transporting Godzilla accidentally dropped his cage in New York Harbor, allowing the diminutive creature to escape from it and into the New York sewer system. While the Godzilla Squad scoured New York for the creature, he managed to escape the sewers after a fierce battle against a sewer rat. On the surface, the Pym Particles began to wear off, causing Godzilla to grow to 6 feet tall. At that very moment, Godzilla was found first by Robert. Robert tried to help Godzilla escape again, but the dangers of New York kept them on the defensive. They were also found by the Godzilla Squad who tried to tackle Godzilla, but the King of the Monsters managed to escape them again.

Godzilla, by now 20 feet tall, went on a rampage through the streets of New York City, where he was eventually forced into hiding in the American Museum of Natural History. There, the Godzilla Squad were assisted by the Fantastic Four, who battled the monster. Capturing Godzilla, he was brought back to the Baxter Building, where Mister Fantastic attempted to use Dr. Doom's Time Platform to send Godzilla back into the past. However, the radiation in Godzilla's body caused interference with the Time Platform and instead sent Godzilla to Earth-78411, a prehistoric alternate Earth where primitive man lived alongside dinosaurs. There, Godzilla found unlikely allies in Devil Dinosaur and Moon-Boy. Godzilla assisted Devil Dinosaur and Moon-Boy in repelling the Lizard-Warriors from the Valley of Flame. However, Godzilla's radiation was causing a catastrophic effect on the Time Platform, forcing the Fantastic Four to return Godzilla to their era in order to avoid a massive explosion. When Godzilla was returned to the present, the energies of the Time Platform negated the Pym Particles, restoring Godzilla to his normal size in the middle of Times Square. Godzilla went on yet another rampage through New York, and was met with resistance from the combined efforts of the Godzilla Squad, the Fantastic Four and the Avengers. Despite the heroes' efforts, Godzilla seemed to be unstoppable. But the rampage was stopped by the most unlikely of reasons: the impassioned cries of Robert, who managed to convince Godzilla to stop his rampage and return to the ocean from whence he came.

Mutated by Doctor Demonicus

Mutated

Godzilla was later captured by his foe Doctor Demonicus, who used his scientific genius to mutate Godzilla into a more amphibious form and unleashed him upon the world again. In his new form, Godzilla terrorized the Pacific Coast where he was opposed by the Avengers West Coast. Iron Man managed to carry the monster out to sea, but was forced to abandon the monster and his armor when it ran out of power, dropping Godzilla into the ocean. Godzilla returned to his master with Iron Man's armor. Demonicus then contained his slave once more. Somehow, Godzilla managed to escape and later attacked a small island off the Pacific Coast where a film crew was making a movie based on Devil Dinosaur. Although the Fantastic Four's member the Thing was on the island as well, he stayed out of the confrontation, thinking it was all part of the production and forcing the film crew to force the monster back with their animatronic version of Devil Dinosaur.

Back To Normal

Restored to normal

Godzilla disappeared for a number of years and somehow returned to a form that was similar to his original appearance. Godzilla was among the monsters used by the Mole Man to attack the surface world. Godzilla and the other monsters were then repelled by the Mighty Avengers.

Attributes

Powers

• Atomic Fire Breath: Best recognized as his signature weapon, Godzilla is able to expel a deadly nuclear blast from his mouth. The blast is powerful enough to create large-scale explosions, destroy cities, and set entire forests ablaze.

• Near Impenetrable Hide: Godzilla has, on numerous occasions, been the subject of military assault using all manner of man-made ballistic weapons and weapons of mass destruction, none of which are reported as having been effective. Godzilla also was unaffected by Thor's lightning, which harmed the Chaos King.

• Regeneration: Godzilla can regenerate wounds at an extremely fast pace.

• Underwater Breathing: After being mutated by Doctor Demonicus, Godzilla gained the ability to breathe while underwater.

Abilities

• Intelligence: Godzilla has demonstrated intelligence capable of outsmarting trained S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.

Paraphernalia

Transportation

Having originated as an amphibious species of dinosaur, Godzilla can swim at high speeds.

Trivia

• Godzilla is based on a character created by Tomoyuki Tanaka, Ishirō Honda, Akira Ifukube, Eiji Tsuburaya, and Haruo Nakajima and owned by Toho Co., Ltd, first appearing in the 1954 film Gojira (Godzilla). In 1956, TransWorld Releasing Corp. released a English-dubbed and heavily re-edited version of the film titled Godzilla, King of the Monsters! exclusively in North America.
• Toho's trademark icon for Godzilla uses Marvel's depiction of him.
• Marvel no longer has the licensing rights to use the Godzilla name due to the license elapsing, as it was licensed out first to Dark Horse Comics and, later, IDW Publishing.
• In the comics, Godzilla's dorsal plates never light up when unleashing his atomic breath, as in the original films. That was until his return in Godzilla vs. Fantastic Four #1 in which his dorsal plates do light up when using his atomic breath.
• In one Spider-Man comic, Kraven the Hunter and Spider-Man fight on top of a movie theater, with one citizen referencing Spider-Man's previous fight with the Lizard as a promotion for the film Godzilla vs Megalon. This was before Godzilla's debut series.
• Given that Godzilla was mutated as a result of exposure to a hydrogen bomb, it is likely that he would be considered a Gamma Mutate in the same way that the Hulk is.

See Also

• 29 appearance(s) of Godzilla (Earth-616)
• 13 minor appearance(s) of Godzilla (Earth-616)
• 57 mention(s) of Godzilla (Earth-616)
• 7 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Godzilla (Earth-616)
• 90 image(s) of Godzilla (Earth-616)
• 6 victim(s) killed by Godzilla (Earth-616)

Links and References

• Godzilla at the Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe