For the latest Top Ten Tuesday Scified.com asked members of Godzilla-Movies on its forums and facebook page for their top most challenging Godzilla adversaries. Their opinions were tallied and the top three taken under careful consideration. The top ten greatest Godzilla foes are:
10) ORGA
Orga was originally an alien species known as Millennian that chose Earth's dominant life form as the genetic base for a body-- In this case Godzilla. A Millennian/Godzilla hybrid, Orga attempted to become a perfect clone of Godzilla. After a miscalculated attempt to consume the King of the Monsters, Orga was destroyed a mere day after it was revived.
Due to its consumption of Godzilla's cells, Orga has similar regenerative powers. He's able to control his space craft and launch an energy beam from his left shoulder. Because Orga is specifically targeting Godzilla, he becomes a direct threat to the Monster King. Brutal, swift and intelligent, Orga is an extra-terrestrial born to defeat and consume Godzilla.
9) KING KONG
King Kong's battle with Godzilla was the original brawl of the century. Kong single handedly defeated Daidako (Giant Octopus) before being put to sleep and transported to Japan. Upon reaching the mainland, Kong is outclassed by Godzilla in their first meeting. He would later come back and overpower Godzilla with his electrical powers. After defeating him underwater, Kong swam safely home.
In King Kong Escapes Kong would kill a Gorosaurus (a strong ally of Godzilla's in Destroy All Monsters) and defeat his own mechanical doppelganger, Mechani-Kong. He would face Greenman and Godman as “Gorilla”, years later.
Kong's electrical powers were added by Toho so he could stand toe-to-toe with Godzilla's radioactive energy. However, his physical strength was enough to pummel Godzilla into submission. Defeating the King of the Monsters underwater is no easy feat.
8) SPACEGODZILLA
Cloned from Godzilla's cells floating in outer space, SpaceGodzilla is a juggernaut of energy balled into a single entity. Upon reaching Earth, SpaceGodzilla easily defeats Godzilla. It is the combined effort of both M.O.G.U.E.R.A. and Godzilla that finally put the space monster into a vulnerable position.
Although he's eventually defeated by Godzilla, SpaceGodzilla's wide range of attacks forced the King of the Monsters into a lengthy battle. SpaceGodzilla can control the direction of his corona beam while fired, levitate objects with telekinesis, create an energy shield and draw power from crystals he can materialize from the ground. Although SpaceGodzilla isn't very mobile he makes up for it with a flying form mostly used for intergalactic travel.
SpaceGodzilla's cosmic design is a hit with many fans. It is often compared to the “Super” Godzilla design from the popular Nintendo game of the same title.
7) HEDORAH
Hedorah is one of Godzilla's toughest foes in the Showa series. It took three to four brutal confrontations for him to finally defeat the smog monster. Feeding off pollutants and growing in power with various forms, Hedorah is a mass killer. He's capable of flooding whole cities with sulfuric properties that melt buildings and people alike. Godzilla defeated Hedorah at the cost of a corroded eye and hand.
Hedorah made a brief cameo in Godzilla: Final Wars and was quickly defeated alongside Ebirah. A short mid-credits shot reveals him attacking a city.
Hedorah is a walking sludge-ball of death. Everything he passes or touches is left decayed or dead. If that weren't enough, Hedorah is able to launch chunks of its corrosive form as a weapon and fire pollutant beams from its eyes. The fact Hedorah is also immune to Godzilla's atomic ray makes defeating it in a traditional battle nearly impossible. Hedorah was easily one of Godzilla's most challenging adversaries.
6) BIOLLANTE
Biollante is the product of Dr. Shiragami trying to save the remnants of his daughter. The end result was a plant spliced with Godzilla cells which carried a human spirit. Biollante's first confrontation with Godzilla ended in swift defeat. Her second form was far more formidable and did massive physical damage to Godzilla. After fighting to a draw, Biollante spored into space where she overlooked the planet as a giant rose. Her cells in outer space may have resulted in the birth of SpaceGodzilla.
Known as a fan favorite, for both her final form and the movie's popularity, Biollante has a ferocity unlike many of Godzilla's enemies. She's fairly stationary, but incredibly dangerous with biting, grappling vines and a corrosive sap sprayed from her many mouths. She also boasts the same super regenerative powers as Godzilla, making the battle one of stamina.
5) GIGAN
Gigan is characterized as a bully and a fair weather fighter. When things are looking tough, he's gone, but if the battle is going his way he makes sure to gloat. Teamed with King Ghidorah, Gigan proved to be a brutal force against Godzilla and Anguirus. He's one of the few adversaries to draw blood from both monsters. He was next seen with Megalon, ganging up on Jet Jaguar and meeting Godzilla for the second time. His final battle against Godzilla was in Zone Fighter. After being defeated by Godzilla, Zone Fighter killed Gigan with his Meteor Missile barrage.
Gigan wasn't seen on-screen for another three decades. In Godzilla: Final Wars he is a cyborg created by the Xillians and a long time enemy of Mothra. After a quick defeat by Godzilla he is later upgraded with chainsaws and new mandibles. The upgrade proves all for not when he's destroyed by a burning Mothra.
Gigan's techno-organic design is beloved by fans. His hook-hands and buzzsaw stomach are his trademark weapons. The Showa Gigan was often depicted with a forehead laser in publicity photos for Godzilla vs. Gigan; however no projectile weapon was shown onscreen until his visor beam in Godzilla: Final Wars.
4) MOTHRA
The eternal goddess of Infant Island, Mothra hatches from an enormous egg as a rather ugly, spotted caterpillar. She later becomes a beautiful moth capable of pounding hurricane winds against her foes.
Godzilla's first encounter with Mothra resulted in her death, but her offspring trapped him in silk and ended his attack on Japan. She would next combine forces with Godzilla and defend the planet from King Ghidorah.
Mothra would later be awakened to rescue her people from the Red Bamboo. She won a small skirmish against Godzilla during the rescue. By 1999 Mothra was captured and consolidated to Monsterland. She partook in the final battle against King Ghidorah.
In the Heisei series Mothra was the protector of Earth and longtime foe of Battra. Eventually Godzilla provided the monsters a mutual enemy to join forces against. Mothra left Earth to stop a major calamity and dispatched Fairy Mothras to warn humans of SpaceGodzilla.
In Rebirth of Mothra a classically designed Mothra fell victim to Death Ghidorah while trying to protect her offspring. The child, Mothra Leo, becomes one of the most powerful kaiju in history over the course of the trilogy. He finally becomes the “Eternal” Mothra after defeating King Ghidorah.
Mothra's first appearance in the Millennium series was as a Guardian Monster of Japan. She aided King Ghidorah in a life and death struggle against Godzilla.
Mothra was later depicted as the same creature from her 1961 debut in Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. She protected Japan against Godzilla until she was killed defending her young. After Kiryu severely wounded Godzilla the Mothra larva wrapped him in a cocoon and swam back to Infant Island. Mothra's final appearance was in Godzilla: Final Wars as Gigan's nemesis.
Known for her benevolent character and beauty, Mothra's most popular attacks are her impenetrable silk and atomic breath neutralizing scales. Always one to give Godzilla a difficult time, she will next appear in 2018's Godzilla 2.
3) DESTOROYAH
Originally a dormant species of precambrian life form, microscopic signs of Destoroyah began to stir after the detonation of the Oxygen Destroyer in 1954. Feeding off the absence of oxygen, their growth was increased by the advent of micro-oxygen in 1996. As the life forms grew stronger they began to increase in size, take on various forms and combine into one enormous creature with the power to fight Godzilla's most dangerous form.
Although initially durable enough to stand up against Godzilla's attacks, Destoroyah fled when defeat was all but assured. He was gunned down Godzilla Force's freezing beams.
Destoroyah's primary weapon is his oxygen-destroying ray. Another dangerous weapon in his arsenal is the laser horn. He is also able to absorb energy from other monsters and inject oxygen destroying properties into his enemies.
Due to his relationship with the Oxygen Destroyer, and his ability to take on Godzilla at peak power, Destoroyah is considered one of Godzilla's most powerful and personal enemies.
2) MECHGODZILLA
One of Godzilla's most dangerous foes, MechaGodzilla was originally created by aliens from the third planet of the blackhole. With their home world slowly sinking into the black, the aliens snuck to Earth and convinced the world it was being attacked by Godzilla. When the jig was up, Godzilla did battle with his mechanical clone and overcame it in a brutal fight.
The aliens returned to rebuild a MechaGodzilla 2 aided by Titanosaurus, but Godzilla put a stop to both.
The Heisei MechaGodzilla was built by the UNGCC (United Nations Godzilla Countermeasures Center) from 22nd century technology. Godzilla Force pilots would man the walking tank into battle. When combined with the airship Garuda it became Super MechaGodzilla-- One of the few foes known for killing Godzilla. (Albeit, briefly.)
In the Millennium Series MechaGodzilla was the code name for Kiryu (Machine Dragon). Kiryu was a bio-mechanical weapon built around the remains of the original, 1954 Godzilla. Although it proved to be an agile, formidable opponent for the new Godzilla, it would occasionally become self-aware.
MechaGodzilla's vast arsenal of weapons change drastically from each incarnation. Eye beams and finger missiles were a favorite of the Showa MechaGodzilla. Meanwhile, mouth beams and maser cannons were used for latter MechaGodzilla's, respectively. The Heisei MechaGodzilla's most devastating weapon was the plasma grenade. Kiryu's was the Absolute Zero cannon, later replaced by a triple maser chest piece.
Because of its massive cache of weapons and history of violent battles MechaGodzilla is a deadly force in Godzilla's “rogues gallery.”
1) KING GHIDORAH
In every era of the Godzilla series King Ghidorah has made an impressionable appearance. He wasn't a victim or allegory of nuclear proliferation like Godzilla and Rodan. He wasn't a mystical springboard for Japanese social commentary like Mothra. He was a mindless killing machine-- A planet destroyer capable of exterminating Earth. It took the combined strength of Godzilla, Rodan and Mothra to halt his debut attack.
Afterwards, King Ghidorah was typically controlled by various aliens to conquer the planet-- Most notably the People of Planet X. King Ghidorah's sole ally was Gigan whom aided him in a fierce battle against Godzilla and Anguirus. He is also one of the few monsters to survive a confrontation with Zone Fighter. The Showa King Ghidorah would finally meet his end in Destroy All Monsters.
The Heisei King Ghidorah was the product of 22nd century bio-creatures mutated by nuclear tests in the 1950s. Dormant until 1992, King Ghidorah laid waste to Japan until it was stopped by Godzilla. It was revived 200 years later as a cyborg and sent back to 1992 to defeat the Monster King.
King Ghidorah also made an appearance in Rebirth of Mothra III, feeding off humans for energy.
His final appearance was in Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack with a very different role. One of three Guardian Monsters of Japan, King Ghidorah put up the most persistent effort to stop Godzilla's terror.
King Ghidorah's signature attack is his gravity beams capable of leveling cities in mere moments. He scatters debris with hurricane winds from his wings. Mecha-King Ghidorah was an upgraded form specifically built to incapacitate and remove Godzilla from the Japanese mainland. Later incarnations are capable of creating organic domes to hold humans for later feeding. His Millennium incarnation can absorb other guardian monsters' energy for temporary power boosts, boasting electric bites, massive plasma balls and energy shields.
King Ghidorah has inspired various imitators such as Death (Des) Ghidorah, Cretaceous Ghidorah and Kaizer Ghidorah. Toho considers King Ghidorah the ultimate foil to Godzilla and his all-time nemesis-- The trend will continue when he returns in Godzilla 2.
HONORABLE MENTION: RODAN
No Godzilla adversary list is complete without at least mentioning the terror of the skies. Rodan is a prehistoric flying reptile often cited as the fastest monster of them all. His first meeting with Godzilla resulted in a cross-country war eventually halted by Mothra. After becoming close allies with Godzilla, Rodan would be instrumental in defeating King Ghidorah multiple times.
In the Heisei series Rodan provided a difficult battle for Godzilla. Even though he was defeated he was far from dead. He re-energized as “Fire” Rodan and sported a powerful uranium beam. Rodan's radioactive energy was also able to revive Godzilla from death.
Although Rodan was quickly defeated by an overpowered Godzilla in Godzilla: Final Wars, he's one of the few monsters in the movie to land a solid hit on the King of the Monsters.
Although he's often considered one of Godzilla's greatest allies, Rodan has never made it easy for Godzilla in battle. His speed is capable of creating massive shockwaves and sonic booms. His strength is also impressive-- Capable of lifting Godzilla off the ground and carrying him to great distances and heights. Rodan will return to the big screen in Godzilla 2.
Which monsters do you consider to be Godzilla's greatest foes? Do you agree with the list? Disagree? Sound off below and let us know!
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