The “King of the Monsters,” Godzilla first appeared onscreen as a villain, and he has done some terrible things in his movies. In the original 1954 horror movie Godzilla, the giant radioactive monster represented a living nuclear explosion. Though he emerged from the sea and destroyed Tokyo with his size and atomic breath, he became unexpectedly popular. As Godzilla’s movie franchise grew, the titular character was given an ecological angle, in which he warned humanity about respecting the Earth. Godzilla has now appeared in many forms and shows different powers throughout his movies.
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Godzilla spent the first four movies of his franchise as the antagonist before Ghidorah arrived to threaten the world in Ghidorah – The Three-Headed Monster. After defeating Ghidorah, Godzilla movies cast the titular character in a more protective and heroic role turning him into an antihero, who occasionally turns evil. Godzilla now fights many villains as a guardian of the planet, but while he is the hero in most of his movies, the worst things he has done have been cruel and violent.
10 Destroying Tokyo
Godzilla (1954)
Godzilla is one of the best 1950s monster movies, and it is still scary today. Godzilla’s advance toward Tokyo looks more menacing than many later Godzilla scenes, and though most modern Godzilla movies focus on his strength and power, the original treats him as an inescapable living disaster. The slow way he makes his way through the city as people rush to get away adds to the disturbing nature of Godzilla.
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In the original Godzilla movie. Godzilla was not necessarily an evil character, despite representing the horrors of war. He was portrayed as a beast, and one that simply didn’t care about the impact of his radioactive body, or his atomic breath. This is a clear parallel to war and its uncaring nature. While Godzilla did not choose to be evil in his original movie, his destruction of Tokyo was one of his worst actions in the Godzilla franchise due to the huge death toll and damage it incurred.
9 Killing Mothra
Mothra vs Godzilla (1964)
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The moth-shaped kaiju, Mothra, first appeared in her own movie, where she was a popular character. She then began to appear in crossover movies with Godzilla. Her life cycle is one of constant death and rebirth, and when Mothra senses that she will die, she usually lays two eggs, which hatch into her larval form. While this life cycle means that Mothra is rarely gone for long, her deaths are usually sad, and often come at the hands of Godzilla.
Mothra vs Godzilla was Mothra’s first movie in the Godzilla franchise. Future Godzilla movies see her allying with Godzilla when the fate of humanity is in danger from another source, but, in Mothra vs Godzilla, the antagonist is Godzilla himself. Before Mothra engaged Godzilla in battle, she laid two eggs, and after he hit her with his atomic breath, she died next to the eggs. It is an unexpectedly tragic moment – given the monstrous participants in the scene – and juxtaposes Mothra’s potential as a life-giver with Godzilla’s destructive instincts.
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8 Picking On His Son (But Only In A Dream)
All Monsters Attack (1969)
Godzilla’s son, Minilla, was introduced to appeal to younger audiences. The mischievous baby Godzilla is playful, liking to jump on rocks, fire his atomic rays, and ride on Godzilla’s tail. He is introduced as friendly to humans, and much less destructive than his father, which makes it difficult to watch him get into trouble. In All Monsters Attack, Minilla finds himself battling a bully monster, Gabara, who is much bigger than him.
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Minilla is outsized and can’t yet control his atomic breath power. Rather than comforting Minilla, Godzilla forces his son to fight Gabara several times. Godzilla even kicks Minilla when he runs away, asking for help. Though Minilla eventually defeats Gabara, the scenes where Godzilla forces him to fight are tough to watch. Fortunately, the sequences are only being imagined by a young boy named Ichiro, who has been having trouble with bullies of his own.
7 Destroying Mr. Shindo
Godzilla vs King Ghidorah (1991)
Mr. Shindo was not a good character, but there had been a possibility for his redemption, as he waited to meet Godzilla. Shindo has recurring memories of being saved from American soldiers during World War II by what he interpreted as a dinosaur-like creature. The creature was a pre-mutated Godzilla. When Godzilla arrives to attack Tokyo once more, the grateful Shindo stays behind to meet with the creature that he believes saved him. This, however, does not go well.
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Though Godzilla appeared to recognize Shindo, he blasted him at close range. Godzilla’s deadly atomic breath destroys Shindo in seconds. By the time Godzilla vs King Ghidorah was released, Godzilla had played the hero in earlier movies, and though he was still better known as a villain, his choice to kill a character that he had previously saved was shocking to see.
6 Destroying The Guardian Monsters
Godzilla, Mothra, And King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters: All-Out Attack (2001)
In GMKG, Godzilla is at his most dangerous since his first movie appearance, and the movie reverses Godzilla’s role with Ghidorah’s. GMKG casts Ghidorah as Earth’s guardian, while Godzilla is back to his rampaging ways. Godzilla is powered by the tormented souls of everyone killed in the Pacific War and is so powerful that multiple kaiju are needed to defeat him. Unfortunately for these kaiju (known as The Guardian Monsters), they are no match for Godzilla.
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When he isn’t using his atomic breath, Godzilla often fights using physical force, without caring who gets in his way. However, in GMKG, Godzilla has a more sadistic streak, slamming Mothra with his tail and deliberately destroying passers-by. As Mothra has a phoenix-like regeneration power, she sacrifices herself, giving her spirit to Ghidorah. Godzilla then destroys Ghidorah too. Godzilla is firmly the evil antagonist in this movie, which essentially ignores all of Godzilla’s character development and history in the previous movies.
5 Killing Baragon (In An Unfair Fight)
Godzilla, Mothra, And King Ghidorah. Giant Monsters: All-Out Attack (2001)
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The reptile kaiju Baragon is one of the ancient Guardian Monsters of Japan, though he is nowhere near as powerful as Mothra or Ghidorah. Still, despite being weaker than Godzilla, Baragon also fights him to buy Mothra and Ghidorah time. Baragon’s bravery and perseverance make his death particularly troubling as Godzilla is at his most evil in this movie. Godzilla appears to take pleasure in humiliating Baragon during their mismatched fight.
Godzilla makes the fight last much longer than it needs to by throwing Baragon around, slapping him with his tail, launching him into a helicopter, and even stomping on his head. Though Godzilla is clearly strong enough to force his way past Baragon, he shows his evil side in GMKG at the end of the fight by proving that he could have finished Baragon off in seconds. Godzilla finally blasts Baragon with his atomic breath powers, only destroying him after prolonging his suffering.
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4 Targeting Individual People
Godzilla, Mothra, And King Ghidorah. Giant Monsters: All-Out Attack (2001)
Godzilla is frightening enough in movies where he just causes destruction because part of the horror is that the individual people don’t matter to him at all. The aftermath of this kind of attack is seen in the original Godzilla movie, which focuses on the civilians (including children and hospitals) after the Godzilla attacks. However, GMKG‘s Godzilla is even more terrifying, because he goes back for the people he didn’t kill.
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Godzilla deliberately destroys a helicopter and its passengers by throwing Baragon into it, uses his atomic breath on civilians who are running away from him, and, worst of all, targets a bedridden girl. In the scene, the girl looks up to see Godzilla coming toward her. She is unable to escape because she is in traction and has a head injury, and just when she thinks he has passed by the hospital, Godzilla smashes his tail into the building. This scene showcases a sadistic streak that is difficult to stomach.
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3 Killing Mothra Again (And In Front Of Her Children)
Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. (2003)
In Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S., Godzilla returns to fight his robot double, Mechagodzilla, again. Godzilla was often presented as an antagonist during his Millennium era, but this time, he was righteously angry, as his original bones had been used to construct Mechagodzilla. Still, his actions with Mothra were unforgivable, as when Mothra was deployed to try and stop Godzilla’s rampage, he directed a blast of atomic breath at her children.
Mothra is most famous for her cycle of death and rebirth, and her eggs had hatched into twin larvae just before she fought Godzilla again. Mothra’s death in Tokyo S.O.S. was one of the saddest deaths in a Godzilla movie, as the larvae tried to help her, but failed as Mothra took the blast that was intended for them. Mothra not only died defending her children from Godzilla, but they saw her die.
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2 Betraying The Gotengo
Godzilla: Final Wars (2004)
In Godzilla: Final Wars, the Earth does battle with virtually every kaiju in existence, threatening the future of humanity. Humans and Godzilla have not always had the best relationship, but in Godzilla: Final Wars, they are supposed to be allies against the other kaiju. Godzilla was being guided in battle by the crew of the undersea warship, The Gotengo . However, there was a twist just as Godzilla appeared to have won.
Godzilla emerged victorious, but despite the crew of The Gotengo helping Godzilla win his battles and emerge as the undefeated kaiju, he suddenly shot The Gotengo in a move that shocked viewers. Godzilla then prepared to destroy its crew. However, while Godzilla might have been a bad ally to the crew of The Gotengo, he is a good father, and listens to his son, Minilla, who persuades his father to spare the crew.
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1 Destroying Ginza District
Godzilla Minus One (2023)
During the many epic battles against humans and other kaiju, sometimes Godzilla’s actions are understandable, even if they aren’t right. However, Godzilla’s devastating attack on humanity in Godzilla Minus One is both callous and villainous, taking the “King of the Monsters” back to his war allegory roots. Like war, the antagonistic version of Godzilla does not care for innocent people. In Godzilla Minus One, Godzilla unleashes his strongest and most devastating atomic breath power yet.
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Godzilla’s atomic breath is blue in Godzilla Minus One, and he uses it more like a bomb than a death ray. The impact of his attacks sends up mushroom clouds, just like real bombs, and the effect is catastrophic. As tanks arrive to try and take Godzilla down, he uses a different attack: a heat ray. This attack destroys most of Ginza district, killing tens of thousands of people, including Noriko, the love interest for the protagonist, Shikishima.
Godzilla
The Godzilla franchise, spanning over six decades, follows the adventures of the titular kaiju, a colossal, prehistoric sea monster awakened and empowered by nuclear radiation. Originating in Japan, Godzilla has evolved from a destructive force of nature to a protector of humanity, battling various other giant monsters, including iconic foes like King Ghidorah, Mothra, and Mechagodzilla. The series explores themes of environmental destruction, nuclear anxiety, and human resilience. With numerous films, TV series, and an expanding universe, Godzilla remains a cultural icon, captivating audiences worldwide with its epic battles and compelling narratives.