C.C.C. Issue #26: Top Ten Godzilla Villains

Top Ten Godzilla Villains

Top: King Ghidorah, Left: Godzilla, Center: Anguirus, Right: Gigan

With the new Godzilla opening in theaters everywhere today, it’s time to take a look back at the king of the monster’s most memorable villains. From mechanized monsters to alien attackers and everything in between, Godzilla has battled some of the craziest, silliest, and most creative giant monsters ever to be put in front of a camera.

10. Rodan

Starting off the list is a monster that made his first appearance in the 1956 film Rodan, before appearing in later Godzilla films alongside other villains that may pop up in this list. He’s basically a mutated Pterodactyl, only way bigger and more powerful than his extinct brethren. He can flap his wings to create sonic blasts, his beak is indestructible, and at one point he even gets brought back to life with Godzilla’s radiation as Fire Rodan. On occasion he assisted Godzilla in past battles, but Rodan is mainly remembered as a nemesis. 

9. Biollante

What is Biollante, exactly? Basically a giant mutant rose bush. Seriously, though? Yeah, I was being serious. Biollante was only featured in one film (Godzilla vs. Biollante) but is remembered for being one of Big G’s more unique enemies. Think Audrey II from Little Shop of Horrors with a crocodile head. A combination of Godzilla cells, a rose bush, and the DNA of a woman is what produced her final form, which looks intimidating and impressive. She even made an appearance in the video game Godzilla Unleashed as a playable character. A colossal baddy even compared to Godzilla himself, Biollante is like a Venus Fly Trap on steroids, only cooler.

8. Destoroyah

This villain is truly unique. Beginning in multiple smaller forms that look like messed up sea lice, these creatures eventually combine to form the enormous Destoroyah. No, that’s not a spelling error, it’s not DESTROY-ER, it is actually DESTO-ROYAH! As described by James Rolfe in his Godzillathon, Destoroyah’s ultimate form looks like the goddam devil! He certainly matches Satan’s brutality. Godzilla basically gets his ass handed to him, which says a lot considering Godzilla is usually the one laying down the beatings. Destoroyah is surely the most kick-ass original bad guy from the second Godzilla series.  

7. Anguirus 

Godzilla’s first opponent, a giant mutated dinosaur like him, Anguirus is a spiky backed beast who first appeared in Godzilla Raids Again, and would eventually become Godzilla’s number one ally. Earlier on, he’s depicted as a giant Ankylosaurus; an armoured dinosaur with a club at the end of its tail. He has a spiky turtle-like shell, long tail (no club), and quadrupedal posture. Later on, he acts more like a reptilian porcupine, which is equally awesome. In one of the later Showa films he’s said to be a giant Stegosaurus, but he looks nothing like a Stegosaurus—in fact, Godzilla is said to be part Stegosaurus, which accounts for his own huge dorsal spikes. Anguirus is a fan favourite, despite lacking some of the more impressive powers of other villains, such as fire breath and flight. 

6. Gigan

This giant cyborg first appeared in Godzilla vs. Gigan, and even though his premiere film wasn’t among the best Godzilla flicks of the Showa era, Gigan himself proved cool enough to appear again on more than one occasion. It’s sort of hard to describe him. He’s got this bird-like beak with teeth, but he’s got giant metal hook hands, oh and shoots lasers from his single red eye, and he’s got a buzz saw on his stomach, and can fly... Yeah, he’s awesome.  In Godzilla Final Wars, he gets an upgrade and is given chainsaw hands. He’s half monster, half robot, and all destructive. 

5. Mothra 

Mothra is among the most widely known Godzilla villains. Although she sometimes serves as Godzilla’s ally like Rodan, her film debut was again comparable to Rodan’s in that she was the star. She later appeared in Mothra vs. Godzilla, and though she usually helps protect humankind, she has always been an enemy to Godzilla. In a nutshell (or eggshell, as her lifecycle starts out), she’s a giant moth. In earlier films she doesn’t do much except fly around and torment Big G, but she would continue to make memorable appearances in subsequent Godzilla flicks, and gets points for being distinct, creative, and even a monster you care about.

4. Orga

After the disappointing 1998 American Godzilla, Toho basically went out and made Godzilla 2000 as if to say to Hollywood, “Take that! Now that’s how you make a Godzilla movie!” and ended up making what is my personal favourite Godzilla film of all time (next to the original of course). It brought Big G back to his epic roots, and was a great start to the third series. The villain—an ancient asteroid which is actually a space craft—doesn’t even fully reveal itself until the ending, but it’s well worth the wait. Orga takes Godzilla’s cells and becomes a giant beast with huge hands and a mouth that opens like a snake’s. Orga’s only film appearance is in Godzilla 2000: one more thing that makes the first film of the millennium series that much more unique and fantastic. 

3. Mechagodzilla 

Whether portrayed as a mechanical, extraterrestrial titan of terror, an upgraded Super-Mechagodzilla, or even a machine built around the old Godzilla’s bones and renamed Kiryu, Mechagodzilla never fails to impress. The original origin is that an alien race created him as a weapon, originally disguised with Godzilla skin covering his robot body. His origins differ from one film series to the next, but he’s essentially the same in all three. His gadgets and powers also vary. Complete with finger missiles, a rotating head that can generate a force field, electricity that shoots out of its chest, plasma grenades, projectile hooks and cables, a sub zero freeze ray, and rainbow energy vision, Mechagodzilla is a foe with force. His host of crazy powers makes him one of the strongest of Godzilla’s foes. Mechagodzilla is a bionic badass to say the least, yet rarely gets the best of Big G. 

2. King Ghidorah

Most fans would site this giant dragon as the pinnacle of Toho’s Godzilla villains. He may not be my number one, but he definitely holds a distinct position among Toho monsters. To sum up what he is in one sentence wouldn’t do him justice, but here it goes. King Ghidorah has three heads, two tails, and giant wings, shoots gravity beams, has a screech like a bell, and can fly through space. In the Showa series he was a space monster, in the Heisei era he was created when three future creatures were left in the past and mutated by radioactivity, and in the Millennium era he had two different origins: as an earth guardian, and as an alien once again, this time called “Keizer Ghidorah”. He’s been in more Godzilla films than any other villain, he’s made some great appearances throughout all three film series, but there’s one other villain whose sole film appearance beats all the others. 

1. King Kong

 

The other most famous giant monster aside from Godzilla is...? The eighth wonder of the world, the giant ape from Skull Island, the one and only, King Kong! So of course this clash of the titans was going to be epic, and epic it was! Here, Kong is taken from a different island than the one in the original 1933 film. Both monsters end up in Japan and fight, with some of the best giant monster battles ever filmed. Kong is portrayed by a man in a suit rather than stop motion, and re-scaled to be as big as Godzilla. He also becomes more powerful from electricity. Kong proved to be a worthy opponent as he (spoiler alert) apparently defeats Godzilla at the end, something that rarely happens. This is definitely an awesome Godzilla flick, with the most entertaining and iconic villain of all.