Godzilla is a fictional monster, or kaiju, that debuted in the eponymous 1954 film, directed and cowritten by Ishirō Honda. The character has since become an international pop culture icon, appearing in various media: 33 Japanese films produced by Toho Co., Ltd., five American films, and numerous video games, novels, comic books, and television shows. Godzilla has been dubbed the King of the Monsters, an epithet first used in Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (1956), the American localization of the 1954 film.
Destroy All Monsters is a 1968 Japanese epic kaiju film directed by Ishirō Honda, with special effects directed by Sadamasa Arikawa and supervised by Eiji Tsuburaya. The film, which was produced and distributed by Toho Co., Ltd, is the ninth film in the Godzilla franchise, and features eleven monster characters, including Godzilla, Mothra, Rodan, King Ghidorah, Anguirus, and Minilla. The film stars Akira Kubo, Jun Tazaki, Yukiko Kobayashi and Yoshio Tsuchiya.
Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah is a 1991 Japanese kaiju film written and directed by Kazuki Ōmori and produced by Shōgo Tomiyama. Distributed by Toho and produced under their subsidiary Toho Pictures, it is the 18th film in the Godzilla franchise, and is the third film in the franchise's Heisei period. The film features the fictional monster characters Godzilla and King Ghidorah, and stars Kōsuke Toyohara, Anna Nakagawa, Megumi Odaka, Katsuhiko Sasaki, Akiji Kobayashi, Yoshio Tsuchiya, and Robert Scott Field. The plot revolves around time-travelers from the future who convince Japan to travel back in time to prevent Godzilla's mutation, only to reveal their true motives by unleashing King Ghidorah onto the nation.
Rodan is a fictional monster, or kaiju, which first appeared as the title character in Ishirō Honda's 1956 film Rodan, produced and distributed by Toho. Following its debut standalone appearance, Rodan went on to be featured in numerous entries in the Godzilla franchise, including Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster, Invasion of Astro-Monster, Destroy All Monsters, Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II and Godzilla: Final Wars, as well as in the Legendary Pictures-produced film Godzilla: King of the Monsters.
Mothra is a fictional monster, or kaiju, that first appeared in the 1961 film Mothra, produced and distributed by Toho Studios. Mothra has appeared in several Toho tokusatsu films, most often as a recurring monster in the Godzilla franchise. She is typically portrayed as a colossal sentient larva (caterpillar) or imago, accompanied by two miniature fairies speaking on her behalf. Unlike other Toho monsters, Mothra is a largely heroic character, having been variously portrayed as a protector of her own island culture, the Earth and Japan. Mothra's design is influenced by silk worms, their imagos, and those of giant silk moths in the family Saturniidae. The character is often depicted hatching offspring when approaching death, a nod to the Saṃsāra doctrine of numerous Indian religions.
King Ghidorah is a fictional monster, or kaiju, which first appeared in Ishirō Honda's 1964 film Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster. The monster was initially created by Tomoyuki Tanaka, Eiji Tsuburaya and Shinichi Sekizawa as an homage to the eight-headed mythological Japanese dragon Yamata no Orochi. Although the name of the character is officially trademarked by Toho as "King Ghidorah", the character was originally referred to as Ghidorah or Ghidrah in some English markets.
Godzilla vs. Gigan, is a 1972 Japanese kaiju film directed by Jun Fukuda, written by Shinichi Sekizawa, and produced by Tomoyuki Tanaka, with special effects by Teruyoshi Nakano. Distributed by Toho and produced under their effects-based subsidiary Toho-Eizo, it is the 12th film in the Godzilla franchise, and features the fictional monster characters Godzilla, Gigan, Anguirus, and King Ghidorah. The film stars Hiroshi Ishikawa, Yuriko Hishimi, Tomoko Umeda, and Minoru Takashima, alongside Haruo Nakajima as Godzilla, Kenpachiro Satsuma as Gigan, Koetsu Omiya as Anguirus, and Kanta Ina as King Ghidorah. It is the last film in which Godzilla was portrayed by Nakajima after playing the character since the original 1954 film; he subsequently retired from suit acting.
Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster is a 1964 Japanese kaiju film directed by Ishirō Honda, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. Produced and distributed by Toho Co., Ltd., it is the fifth film in the Godzilla franchise, and was the second Godzilla film produced that year, after Mothra vs. Godzilla. The film stars Yosuke Natsuki, Hiroshi Koizumi, Akiko Wakabayashi, with Haruo Nakajima as Godzilla, Masanori Shinohara as Rodan, and Shoichi Hirose as King Ghidorah. In the film, an extraterrestrial from Venus, possessing the body of a princess, warns humanity of the pending destruction by the alien-dragon King Ghidorah, with Godzilla, Rodan, and Mothra being their last hope for survival.
Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II, is a 1993 Japanese kaiju film directed by Takao Okawara, with special effects by Kōichi Kawakita. Distributed by Toho and produced under their subsidiary Toho Pictures, it is the 20th film in the Godzilla franchise, as well as the fifth film to be released during the franchise's Heisei era. The film features the fictional monster character Godzilla, along with Baby Godzilla and the mecha character Mechagodzilla. Despite its English title, the film is not a sequel to the 1974 film Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla.
Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack is a 2001 Japanese kaiju film directed and co-written by Shusuke Kaneko, with special effects by Makoto Kamiya. Distributed by Toho and produced under their subsidiary Toho Pictures, it is the 26th film in the Godzilla franchise and the third film in the Millennium era. The film stars Chiharu Niiyama, Ryudo Uzaki, Masahiro Kobayashi, Hideyo Amamoto, and Shirō Sano, with Mizuho Yoshida as Godzilla, Akira Ohashi as King Ghidorah, and Rie Ōta as Baragon. In the film, Mothra, King Ghidorah, and Baragon defend Japan from Godzilla, who has been possessed by the souls of those that were killed during the Pacific War. Like the other films in the franchise's Millennium period, Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack serves as a direct sequel to the original 1954 Godzilla film, ignoring the events of every other installment in the series, minus a small reference to Godzilla (1998).
Minilla is a kaiju who first appeared in Toho's 1967 film Son of Godzilla. He is the adopted son of Godzilla, and is sometimes referenced as Minya Godzilla Jr and Baby Godzilla in the American dubbed versions.
Varan is a fictional monster, or kaiju, that first appeared in the 1958 film Giant Monster Varan, directed by Ishirō Honda and produced and distributed by Toho. Varan is depicted as a giant prehistoric reptile capable of gliding flight, and has gone on to appear in the 1968 film Destroy All Monsters, the ninth film in the Godzilla franchise.
Godzilla Island is a television show spinoff of the Godzilla franchise. It premiered on October 6, 1997, and ran for a total of 256 three-minute episodes, finishing on September 30, 1998.
Super Godzilla is a video game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System released in Japan on December 23, 1993, and in North America in July 1994. It is based on Toho's Godzilla franchise and was developed by Advance Communication Company.
Godzilla is a Japanese monster, or kaiju, media franchise consisting of films, television series, novels, comic books, video games, and other merchandise. The franchise is centered on the fictional kaiju Godzilla, a prehistoric reptilian monster awakened and powered by nuclear radiation. The franchise is recognized by the Guinness World Records as the "longest continuously running film franchise", having been in ongoing production since 1954, with several hiatuses of varying lengths. The film franchise consists of 38 films: 33 Japanese films produced and distributed by Toho Co., Ltd.; and five American films, the first of which was produced by TriStar Pictures and the remaining ones by Legendary Pictures, with the latest being set for release in April 2024.
As an enduring and iconic symbol of post-World War II cinematic history, the fictional giant monster Godzilla has been referenced and parodied numerous times in popular culture. Godzilla and other atomic monsters have appeared in a variety of mediums, including cartoons, film, literature, television, and video games.
Godzilla is a series of children's novels by Scott Ciencin, based on the Toho-produced film series of the same name and its eponymous character.
Ramisyllis multicaudata is a species of polychaete worm in the family Syllidae. It was found in Darwin Harbour, Australia, where it was living within the tissues of a sponge of the genus Petrosia. It was the second branching species of polychaete worm to have been discovered, the first having been Syllis ramosa, a deep water species, more than a century earlier. In 2022, a second species in R. multicaudata's genus, Ramisyllis kingghidorahi, was described from specimens taken off the coast of Sado Island, Japan.
Scytodes kumonga is a species of spider in the Scytodidae family native to Iran. It was described in 2020. The specific name kumonga refers to the spider kaiju Kumonga, a recurring monster in the Godzilla franchise by Toho which can spit silk in a similar manner to spitting spiders to ensnare opponents, whose name in turn is derived from the Japanese word for 'spider', kumo (クモ). Kumonga's binomial name in Godzilla Singular Point, Kumonga scytodes, pays homage to this species.
Ramisyllis is a small genus of polychaete annelid marine worms. Both species are characterised by their branching body plans. Both species are found in shallow water, with R. multicaudata native to Darwin Harbour, Australia, and R. kingghidorahi native to the Sea of Japan near Sado Island, Japan.
