10 Best Godzilla Franchise Monsters
2. Mothra
The First Lady of Kaiju, the Queen of the Monsters, is a giant moth worshipped as a god, a force of balance and renewal in nature. Like Rodan before her, Mothra and her mythology was established in her own movie prior to meeting Godzilla. Uniquely among the Toho monsters, she appears in two forms throughout the franchise – sporadically as the colourful, powerful, winged creature, but far more frequently as one or more silk-spraying caterpillars.
She is usually accompanied by her miniature fairy priestesses and, though she has shown aggression towards those that threaten her, she is one of the more peaceful monsters and a frequent ally of Godzilla, whether fighting by his side or giving him a timely boost with energy transference usually resulting in her death and rebirth.
Most Monstrous Moment: Appealing to his sense of honour, Mothra convinces Godzilla (monster noises subtitled) not only to team up with Rodan to fight Ghidorah but to watch his language. (Ghidorah the Three-Headed Monster)
1. King Ghidorah
The biggest bad of Toho Kaiju movies. The hydra-headed arch-nemesis. The Moriarty to Godzilla’s Sherlock Holmes. A.K.A. Monster X, A.K.A. Monster Zero. When the King of the Monsters has nothing left to fight on Earth, then new threats come to him from alien worlds…
Ghidorah has had more origin stories than any other monster in the Godzilla franchise – sometimes he’s an alien or an inter-dimensional being acting under his own cognisance, other times he’s an ancient creature of pure evil from legend, and occasionally he is artificially created and controlled by another more intelligent (usually humanoid) invader.
The problem with having such an elaborate creature design – winged, three-headed, breathing lightning, is how you convincingly realise it. It’s amazing King G has so many appearances in the Godzilla franchise considering the elaborate mix of suit acting, puppetry and old-fashioned stage effects required to achieve bringing him to life. Even when he is CG the artists went to the trouble of giving each of his heads their own personality. But when this mean customer squares up to fight Godzilla you know the big lizard is on the back foot, and that this time it’s going to be personal.
Most Monstrous Moment: After Ghidorah wakes from an eons-long slumber in Antarctica and rallies other monsters around him as the alpha of their species, Godzilla chases him to a final battle above the Boston skyline. The duel of the titans is apocalyptic in its level of destruction and the victor is only decided when Godzilla receives a timely dose of radiation that supercharges his atomic breath. (Godzilla: King of the Monsters)
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Agree with our monster ranking? Disagree enough to unleash a mighty roar and smash a building? Which Kaiju would make your personal top 10? Let us know in the comments below and be sure to find us @thefilmagazine on Facebook, X (Twitter) and beyond for many more lists like this.
