Godzilla Movie

The Balance of Power Discrepancies: Why Doesn't Size Matter Anymore?

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TheGMan123

MemberTitanosaurusAug-19-2015 11:16 AM

This is a topic that's been buzzing around in my head for awhile.

I've noticed an odd and frankly disconcerting trend as of late: in many entertainment mediums, the size of the character/thing is becoming less and less important as a determining factor of the overall power of said being.

As is with most people who frequent these forums, I am an avid and passionate fan of all things daikaiju, the classic giant monster. But nowadays, even with the likes of Pacific Rim and Godzilla 2016 coming to the forefront, people still prefer the ludicrously powerful Human-sized characters for reasons unknown. This is something I truly dislike.

I was never one to like the average superhero compared to a daikaiju like Godzilla or Gamera. It just never made sense for someone so small to be so powerful. Yes, both scenarios violate so many known laws of physics, but at least with a giant monster, you get why they're supposed to be so amazingly strong.

I may be alone here, but I for one would like to see a return of size being an important factor in how powerful a being is in fiction. Let building-sized beings be able to easily crush buildings, and planet-sized beings able to easily crush planets, NOT some dinky Human-sized thing being capable of collapsing multiverses. What do you guys think?

12 Replies

KingKaijuGojira

MemberTitanosaurusAug-19-2015 11:47 AM

I think I can agree with that. Many times Godzilla's enemies have been larger than him, like Destoroyah and King Ghidorah. And they were more powerful, giving Godzilla some difficulty in defeating them. 

\"SKREEONGK!\" -Godzilla

Triple X

MemberMothra LarvaeAug-19-2015 11:56 AM

You just can't compare the Superhero with the Kaiju theme, it's like trying to fit Gandalf into the Aliens franchise! They make perfect sense in their own universes, with their own laws of physics!

HeiseiKing

MemberMothra LarvaeAug-19-2015 12:00 PM

Its probly just because all the superhero hero movies that have been coming out and that are coming out like deadpool, ant-man, the avengers, and the batman v superman movies.

There all showing how powerful the human size people are and that size dosnt matter, showing that these guys can take out armes and giant robots and etc. But for us monster guys, we know that SIZE DOES MATTER (<-- hehe see what i did there?) Showing us that the bigger it is the stronger it is, showing us how powerful it is and how many powers it has, showing us the a smaller monster stand no chance against a bigger one.

TheGMan123

MemberTitanosaurusAug-19-2015 12:39 PM

I don't just speak of superheroes. I'm talking about almost every single super-powered character in recent history. ALL OF THEM are human-sized, and usually actual humans. Even actual gods are still represented as human-sized for the most part

Anime is the worst offender. Characters are regularly disrupting things on a dimensional level and are considered nigh-immortal.

Robots the size of whales are busting things larger than moons.

It's all just so ridiculous to me. I wouldn't mind it so much if the scaling was both ways, but it's frequently being abandoned in favour of having the Human-sized characters taking on the task.

JRR

MemberMothra LarvaeAug-19-2015 7:50 PM

I personally never really liked when they over size kiju like in the heisei movies, a large kiju looses the sense of scale, the bigger it is the less impresive it seems, GMK proves size dosent mater, it has one of the smalest godzilla's but still being one of the steongest

Its more impresive when something small takes out something big, for example a single normal aized man taking out an entyre army is beter than a gaiant monster doing the same thing

Evacuate?, Godzilla is just a Legend!-Woman in GMK

Saitama

MemberMothra LarvaeAug-19-2015 8:56 PM

in anime it's usually like energy power not physical power.

I don't know what to put here 

Durp004

MemberBaragonAug-20-2015 5:10 AM

People want to interact more with the human side of characters, the bigger something gets the more it strays away from that. Thus easier to make smaller heroes; they can interact more on a person-to-person level.

wolfguy

MemberMothra LarvaeAug-21-2015 6:27 PM

It's all about relateability. A Superman, Thor, or Goku is far more enthralling to watch than a Godzilla because people can relate to them. Yes, some of these characters have out of the world strength... but that's what makes them so magnetic. Because most people wish they could do that. Well... Superman and Thor and hundreds of various other heroes could throw/teleport Godzilla into the sun, but that's not what is appealing.

One of the key attractions is overcoming boundaries. Rocky Balboa is a good example. We all wish that if we work hard enough, sweat enough, believe enough, we can break through that brick wall, shatter that glass ceiling. That's where the appeal of a Superman comes from, or a Captain America, or a Rocky, or a Monkey D. Luffy. That if one fights hard enough, they can overcome anything. Because while many of us can't lift a mountain, or leap a skyscraper in a single bound... or as many of us wish, have the ability to save our worlf (though the definition of "save" may differ from person to person).

Godzilla really doesn't offer that. If he did, the human element wouldn't really be needed in films. Godzilla fights and overcomes, and he's fun to watch in his moments of majesty, but say they made a 90-minute film with nothing but monster action. No human dialogue or actions, not even the traditional "fleeing crowd" scene which is meant to emotionally remind you that "you could be down there under those beasts feet too." Just 90 minutes of monster action... it'd be an interesting experiment. Ultimately, that's why certain kaiju have taken on more and more human aspects as certain series have gone on, Godzilla and Gamera as prime examples.

That's long winded, but it all boils down to relateability and human projection.

wolfguy

MemberMothra LarvaeAug-21-2015 6:30 PM

We still can't edit posts?! Anyways, "World" instead of "Worlf." A few other typos, but that's the most egregious.

wolfguy

MemberMothra LarvaeAug-21-2015 6:49 PM

Because while many of us can't lift a mountain, or leap a skyscraper in a single bound... or as many of us wish, have the ability to save our worlf (though the definition of "save" may differ from person to person), *we wish or hope that we one day can.

G. H. (Gman)

AdminGodzillaAug-21-2015 8:42 PM

"Why doesn't size matter anymore."

All I can think in reply to this line specifically is, "Because it didn't work in 1998."

But basically ditto to both Durp and Wolfguy as far as a serious answer goes.

"'Nostalgic' does not equal 'good,' and 'standards' does not equal 'elitism.'" "Being offended is inevitable. Living offended is your choice."

ZillaJrKaijuKing

MemberMothra LarvaeAug-22-2015 6:57 AM

What about weight?  Legendary Pictures' Godzilla weighs 90,000 tons, but Slattern from Pacific Rim, who is significantly bigger, weighs only 6,750 tons.

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