Film: Gojira (1954)

Alias: Gojira

Type: Ancient/Mutant

Location: Ocean/Civilized area

Height/Weight: 50 meters and 20,000 metric tons.

Affiliation: Neutral

Summary: America, you ignorant oafs. You can spend all your time moping about how dangerous the atom bomb can be, but did you ever stop and ask the people who were subject to its power in the first place? The Japanese folk, after the tragic disaster that was Hiroshima and Nagasaki, knew the horrors of the atomic age better than anyone else, and the monster they created to represent it would go on to become the face of monster cinema as we know it. The beast known as Godzilla.

History: After several ships mysteriously go missing and fishing spirals downward for poverty stricken countries, the Japanese government is at a loss as to what's going on. Some islanders believe that an ancient monster known as Gojira is at fault. Indeed, the radioactive beast makes its presence known, having been awakened and empowered by the atomic bomb. Soon, every effort to prevent Gojira from reaching the more civilized areas fails entirely, and the fury of the atomic age is unleashed once again unto an uncaring world.

Notable Kills: The rampage on Tokyo leaves the city uninhabitable, in ruins, and with very few survivors.

Final Fate: An introverted scientist by the name of Dr. Serizawa manages to construct a pouch-sized super weapon known as the Oxygen Destroyer, which can destroy all live within a given radius. The doctor, preferring that his work not fall into the wrong hands, sacrifices himself by activating the device to kill Godzilla, turning the both of them into nothing but bones.

Powers/Abilities: Godzilla's signature power is not only the insane amount of radiation that covers his body, but the ability to concentrate it into a thermonuclear breath weapon that can annihilate just about anything it touches. He is also practically invulnerable to artillery.

Weakness: Only a method that can kill him from the inside, like that nifty oxygen destroyer.

Scariness Factor: 5-Godzilla is the physical embodiment of the very worst the atomic age can offer, and it shows. A walking apocalypse, this beast looks like he can think of nothing other than how many ways he can make the world suffer as much as he does.

Trivia: -The name "Gojira" is a combination of the Japanese words for "gorilla" and "whale". The monster was called this because a tough-looking guy worked at Toho Studios, and he had the exact nickname.

-Originally, Godzilla was to be portrayed by stop-motion effects ala the Rhedosaurus, but they settled for suitmation instead.