Godzilla (Godzilla: Here There Be Dragons)
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Hail the Sons of Giants, my friends. Hail the kaiju. Hail Godzilla!
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— Sir Francis Walsingham (Godzilla: Here There Be Dragons #5) |
Godzilla (ゴジラ Gojira) is an ancient reptilian kaiju who appears in IDW Publishing's mini-series comics Godzilla: Here There Be Dragons as well as its sequels Godzilla: Here There Be Dragons II - Sons of Giants and Godzilla: Here There Be Aliens. An ancient monster, Godzilla was involved in numerous events that shaped history as both an enemy and inadvertent protector of humanity: he joined forces with Mothra, Rodan and Hedorah to defeat the Xilien pawn King Ghidorah in Ancient Rome, defended his home Monster Island from the Spanish Armada, Ebirah, and Oodako in the 16th century, and was one of the monsters who appeared to defend Earth from a total Xilien invasion in 1954.
Name
- Main article: Godzilla#Name.
Godzilla's Japanese name, Gojira (ゴジラ), comes from a combination of the Japanese approximation of "gorilla" (ゴリラ gorira), and kujira (クジラ), the Japanese word for "whale."
In-universe, Henry Hull learned Godzilla's name from carvings on Monster Island, which had been left behind by unknown inhabitants of the island. He was also repeatedly identified as a dragon, or specifically "Yanes' Dragon" after Martin Yanes, the pirate who hid his treasure in Godzilla's cave.
Design
In both Godzilla: Here There Be Dragons and Godzilla: Here There Be Dragons II - Sons of Giants, Godzilla's design is nearly identical to his appearance in Godzilla Final Wars. His skin is depicted as a dark purple hue, his eyes are luminously orange, and his dorsal plates are completely white rather than black with white outlines.
In Godzilla: Here There Be Aliens, Godzilla generally resembles his Heisei counterpart, especially his appearance in Godzilla vs. Biollante. His dorsal fins are now grey instead of white. However, his design is somewhat inconsistent and occasionally resembles other incarnations of the character, such as the Godzilla from the Kiryu saga in the final pages of issue #3.
Personality
Godzilla is shown to attack when threatened as with Ebirah and Oodako distinctly. He also attacked a ship when it fired its weapons at him. Godzilla is also incredibly territorial, exemplified when he obliterated a human who ventured too close into his cave.
Despite his tendency to attack other kaiju on sight, Godzilla was able to recognize allies in battle and appears to gain respect for them upon fighting alongside them. After allying with Mothra, Rodan, and Hedorah against King Ghidorah in Rome, Godzilla demonstrated none of his previous animosity towards them and calmly walked side-by-side with them, indicating that their alliance was not merely temporary. Notably, when Hedorah came to his rescue centuries later against the Xiliens, Godzilla appeared to immediately recognize the smog monster as an ally and joined him on the journey to the Xiliens' base.
Origins
While Godzilla's origins are not fully known, he is known to be an ancient creature that has existed for much of humanity's history. He is also known to have battled other kaiju such as Titanosaurus, King Caesar, Oodako, Ebirah, and Kumonga prior to the events of Godzilla: Here There Be Dragons. The sequel comic Godzilla: Here There Be Dragons II - Sons of Giants further explores his history by depicting a clash with a samurai called Hideki and a battle in ancient Rome in which Godzilla allied with Mothra, Rodan, and Hedorah against the Xilien pawn King Ghidorah. Beyond that, Godzilla's origins go unexplored in all three series.
History
- Godzilla: Here There Be Dragons #1-5 (2023) [flashbacks]
- Godzilla: Here There Be Dragons II - Sons of Giants #1-5 (2024) [flashbacks]
- Godzilla: Here There Be Aliens #1-5 (2025) [mask and coin in flashback only in issue 2]
Godzilla: Here There Be Dragons
Godzilla: Here There Be Dragons #1
As Henry Hull began his story about Monster Island and Godzilla, he began by describing how in 1357 the pirate Martin Yanes discovered Monster Island and hid his treasure there after noticing an enormous footprint on the beach. As the story shifted to the 16th century, he mentioned how Sir Francis Drake was convinced this story was true when a fellow pirate showed him a gold doubloon depicting Godzilla and so he hatched a plan with Queen Elizabeth - circumnavigate the globe while secretly searching for Monster Island and finding Yanes' loot. The story continued as Drake, Hull and the rest of the crew of the Golden Hind set sail only to run into the Spanish Armada and attract their ire, leading to a battle. However, the battle was interrupted by a massive storm which brought the Golden Hind to Monster Island though the crew's celebrations would be cut short by Godzilla suddenly appearing and looming over the ship.
Godzilla: Here There Be Dragons #2
Henry Hull named several aquatic beasts such as the Kraken, mermaids, sea serpents and Moby Dick, asserting that none compared to the might of Godzilla as the story showed Godzilla roaring at the Golden Hind. As he prepared to light a cannon to attack Godzilla, Drake intervened to stop him as the Spanish Armada arrived and demonstrated how foolish this was as Godzilla was merely irritated by the numerous cannonballs shot at him by the Armada and destroyed the entire fleet with his claws, tail and atomic breath, sending them to a watery grave as the Golden Hind watched.
Hull's interrogator interrupted the story to voice his skepticism though Boggs, who had previously been even more dismissive of Hull, sided with Hull as he believed in dragons and pointed out that denying St. George slew a dragon would be blasphemy; the interrogator allowed Hull to continue his story. Hull stated that the Golden Hind docked at Monster Island and encountered giant sea turtles before coming across Yanes' shipwreck in the jungle and taking the journal explaining how to find the treasure as they were then attacked by giant bats. Hull's story was once again interrupted by Boggs and the interrogator as they voiced skepticism once again and then dragged Hull to the gallows after he referenced a conspiracy leading all the way to Queen Elizabeth.
Godzilla: Here There Be Dragons #3
Luckily for Henry Hull, Sir Francis Walsingham intervened to prevent his hanging and asked Hull to continue his story, explaining that William Cecil himself sent Walsingham to check if there truly was a conspiracy at play. Hull thanked him and explained that kaiju such as Godzilla had always had a major role in human history, sometimes feared or worshiped but always respected for their power as a depiction of Godzilla fighting an army of samurai was shown - this led to the formation of a secret society known as the Sons of Giants who would protect the secrets of the kaiju no matter the cost.
The former interrogator interrupted once again but Walsingham explained his loyalty was to England rather than its current ruler and warned him not to interrupt again, allowing Hull to continue. Hull explained that there was only survivor of the Spanish Armada: Captain Cortez Blanco, the "White Shark", who vowed revenge against Drake and searched for him on Monster Island after drifting onto the island from the remains of the Armada and came across the Golden Hind's crew as they clashed with the colossal bats. As one bat picked up Hull, he was inadvertently saved by the colossal lobster Ebirah, an enemy of Godzilla who preyed on the bats before turning its attention to the crew. In an attempt to find the treasure and realized it was located in Godzilla's cave, Drake decided to engineer a confrontation between Godzilla and Ebirah as a distraction.
Godzilla: Here There Be Dragons #4
The crew learnt more about Godzilla when they came across the Temple of Godzilla and its neighboring village, learning his name as well as cave paintings of him battling former foes such as Titanosaurus, King Caesar and Oodako. They attracted Ebirah to the area using dynamite taken from Yanes' shipwreck and Godzilla emerged from his cave to battle the lobstrosity as Hull pondered how many times the two had battled though Ebirah was determined to resolve their conflict that day regardless and used his massive pincers to grab Godzilla and take the battle to the nearby water; a realm in which Ebirah was even more adept than Godzilla. While Drake and the crew explored his cave to locate the treasure and were ambushed by Blanco, Godzilla clashed with Ebirah in the sea and was able to overpower the foe despite the disadvantages by ripping off one of his pincers and repeatedly hitting the lobster around the face with it. As Godzilla prepared to kill Ebirah with atomic breath, he was grabbed and dragged under the water by another old enemy of his: Oodako.
Godzilla: Here There Be Dragons #5
Hull compared to Godzilla's status as the ruler of Monster Island to being the captain of a ship as flashbacks showed him fighting Oodako and deterring Kumonga from a battle with his atomic breath. Godzilla was initially overwhelmed by the teamwork of Ebirah and Oodako as they attacked him under the waves while Drake and Blanco dueled in Godzilla's lair after Blanco knocked out Hull. Godzilla continued to struggle against the pair even as he returned to the surface of the sea, being strangled by Oodako's tentacles and repeatedly bashed around the face by Ebirah's remaining pincer until he grabbed Ebirah's pincer in his mouth and ripped it off his arm. Godzilla then beat Oodako with the pincer, forced Ebirah's mouth open, stuffed Oodako into Ebirah's mouth and defeated both with a blast of atomic breath. Victorious, he returned to his cave and incinerated Blanco with his atomic breath as the pirate prepared to kill Drake, sparing Drake for unknown reasons as Godzilla left. Hull explained that he and Drake were now very rich and never saw either Godzilla or Monster Island again as they returned to England to give Queen Elizabeth her share of the treasure as Drake was sworn to secrecy but later died, officially from dysentery though Hull suspected it was instead poisoning at the hands of the Sons of Giants. Walsingham asked Hull if that was the end of the story and after confirming it was, shot him dead. Boggs then shot the interrogator dead as Walsingham confirmed he was a member of the Sons of Giants and then shot Boggs dead. Walsingham and the guards blew up the building while hailing the Sons of Giants, the kaiju and Godzilla.
Godzilla: Here There Be Dragons II - Sons of Giants
Godzilla: Here There Be Dragons II - Sons of Giants #1
During a meeting, the Sons of Giants recounted the legend of Hideki, a samurai who lost everything to Godzilla and sought vengeance using a sword forged from a meteorite. Hideki managed to draw blood from Godzilla's foot, restoring his honor before he was incinerated, sparing only the blade that was now in the possession of the Sons of Giants.
In 1804, reporter Mortimer Lane approached Aaron Burr in a restaurant and spoke with him about Godzilla, as he believed the Vice President to be a member of the Sons of Giants. Lane recounted what little he knew of Godzilla, including the fact that the monster attacked Rome at the height of its power. Lane was subsequently abducted by the Sons of Giants.
Godzilla: Here There Be Dragons II - Sons of Giants #2
Lane was brought before a man donning a Godzilla mask, who shared additional details of Godzilla's attack on ancient Rome. Shortly after his arrival, Godzilla encountered Hedorah, who had also been drawn to the city. Godzilla bathed Hedorah in his atomic breath, though Hedorah was undeterred and pressed on before the arrival of Mothra and Rodan briefly halted their bout, though Godzilla prepared to attack all three kaiju. Meanwhile, the man in the Godzilla mask revealed himself to be none other than President Thomas Jefferson, much to Lane's shock.
Godzilla: Here There Be Dragons II - Sons of Giants #3
Jefferson detailed the historic kaiju brawl in Rome, which lasted for hours. As the battle escalated, Godzilla and the other monsters were interrupted when a hail of lightning knocked them off their feet, marking the arrival of the extraterrestrial King Ghidorah. After recovering, Godzilla, Hedorah, Mothra, and Rodan decided to end their own clash and resolved to take on the alien invader that threatened their shared home together.
Godzilla: Here There Be Dragons II - Sons of Giants #4
The Earth-defending kaiju fought valiantly, though King Ghidorah quickly gained the upper hand and incapacitated the kaiju one by one until only Godzilla remained. The King of the Monsters fought fiercely and charged King Ghidorah, though the three-headed monster grabbed Godzilla and slammed him to the ground, leaving the alien victorious.
Godzilla: Here There Be Dragons II - Sons of Giants #5
With no one else to fight, King Ghidorah prepared to ravage the planet unopposed, though as he flew away, he was suddenly caught by the recovered Godzilla, who bit into King Ghidorah's tail and pulled him back as the other kaiju also recovered. Working together, the three kaiju attacked their three-headed foe simultaneously and soon prevailed, killing the alien invader and saving the Earth from his wrath. As he recounted this legend, Jefferson revealed that witnesses to the titanic battle for Earth subsequently formed the Sons of Giants to honor the kaiju, knowing that they could rely on them to defend the planet in times of crisis - times which included the present, as Jefferson believed the Earth to be under siege by the same extraterrestrial force that sent King Ghidorah to Earth centuries prior. His fears were soon proven correct when Jefferson and Lane uncovered a conspiracy led by the Xiliens, who were preparing to launch a full-scale invasion of Earth.
Godzilla: Here There Be Aliens
Godzilla: Here There Be Aliens #1
In 1954, U.S. agent and head of Project Colossus Bob Jones became aware of the kaiju, including Godzilla himself, alongside the Sons of Giants. In a presentation with his incredulous superiors, Jones shared artists' renderings of Godzilla, who had recently been sighted in Japan, though he lacked clear photographic proof. Shortly thereafter, Godzilla made landfall in Japan, finally revealing his existence to the entire world as news of the attack was broadcast around the globe.
Jones was later abducted by the enigmatic Dr. Kyoto, who revealed that Godzilla was not attacking Japan, but was in fact searching for the Xiliens, who later began their full-scale invasion of Earth in the wake of Godzilla's appearance.
Godzilla: Here There Be Aliens #2
Godzilla's likeness appeared on a coin and on the mask of a member of the Sons of Giants as Dr. Kyoto recounted the secret society's downfall to Xilien assassins over the years.
Godzilla: Here There Be Aliens #3
As Dr. Kyoto's giant robot Jet Jaguar attempted to defend New York City from the Xilien robot Mechagodzilla, Godzilla arrived to battle his mechanical doppelganger. Mechagodzilla launched a barrage of missiles at its foes, but the combined efforts of Godzilla and Jet Jaguar soon overwhelmed it, with the duo overloading his shield with their respective beam weapons. In a last-ditch effort, Mechagodzilla charged its foes, though Godzilla and Jet Jaguar knocked it off its feet together. As Jet Jaguar prepared to deliver a finishing blow to Mechagodzilla, he and Godzilla were ambushed from behind by Mecha-King Ghidorah, who promptly decapitated Godzilla's robotic ally while knocking the King of the Monsters out.
Godzilla: Here There Be Aliens #4
Sometime after the battle of New York, Godzilla fought Mecha-King Ghidorah again in Hawaii but lost once more. Following his defeat, the King of the Monsters was restrained on an Xilien transport vehicle under watch by Mechagodzilla. Hedorah, revealed to be a defective Xilien probe that rebelled against its masters, arrived on the scene to help free Godzilla by fighting off its Xilien-controlled brethren, though it struggled against Mechagodzilla until the rebuilt and upgraded Jet Jaguar was dispatched to the scene to stop Godzilla's robotic doppelganger. After being freed by Jet Jaguar, Godzilla began dispatching surrounding Xilien UFOs with his atomic breath, standing side-by-side with Jet Jaguar and Hedorah to decimate the remainder of the fleet. The trio then departed for the Xiliens' base of operations: Monster Island.
Godzilla: Here There Be Aliens #5
As Godzilla, Hedorah, and Jet Jaguar made landfall on Monster Island, they were met by Mechagodzilla, Gigan, SpaceGodzilla, and Megalon. During the brawl of titans, the Simians launched their own armada of ships to aid humanity against the Xilien fleet. Soon, Mecha-King Ghidorah arrived on the scene, prompting Godzilla to concentrate his firepower at the formidable cyborg. Fortunately, the Simians quickly deployed "Frankenghidorah", the reanimated corpse of the original King Ghidorah that Godzilla and his allies had slain in Rome centuries prior, to fight off its cloned cyborg counterpart, allowing Godzilla to turn his attention to the monsters being held captive by the Xiliens. Using his atomic breath, Godzilla shattered the chains being used to contain various monsters, including old allies Mothra and Rodan alongside old foes such as King Caesar, Kumonga, and Ebirah. As Godzilla and his allies fought the alien invaders, the clash between Frankenghidorah and Mecha-King Ghidorah generated a vast explosion that soon consumed the entirety of the island, including the Xilien and Simian armies as well as Godzilla and the kaiju.
In the aftermath, Bob Jones met with President and Sons of Giants-member Dwight D. Eisenhower, who assured Jones that the kaiju would return one day just as they always had.
Abilities
Physical abilities
Godzilla uses his teeth, claws, and tail in combat with foes, using the latter two in addition to his atomic breath to attack the numerous ships making up the Spanish Armada and was depicted wrestling with Titanosaurus and King Caesar in cave paintings. He delivered a headbutt to Ebirah in their battle and used his claw to rip off Ebirah's left pincer, repeatedly whacking him with it as well as later ripping off Ebirah's other pincer with his jaws and beating Oodako with it.
Godzilla employed similar melee combat tactics when battling King Ghidorah in Rome, attempting to tackle the three-headed monster and later biting King Ghidorah's tail to prevent him from fleeing the battle. He was strong enough to prevent King Ghidorah from flying away with his teeth alone.
Atomic breath
One of Godzilla's primary weapons is his atomic breath which he uses to destroy the Spanish Armada and defeat both Ebirah and Oodako, as well as Kumonga in a flashback. It is also capable of instantly vaporizing humans such as Captain Cortez Blanco and Hideki.
Godzilla's atomic breath was his weapon of choice in the face of the Xilien invasion, repeatedly employing it against Mechagodzilla and Xilien UFOs. Godzilla was capable of effectively aiming the weapon as precise targets, such as the chains that held monsters captive on Monster Island.
Amphibiousness
Godzilla is capable of moving on both land and water as seen when he battled the Spanish Armada, though is not as adept as his enemy Ebirah in the water, who boasted superior speed.
Intelligence
Godzilla demonstrates strategic intelligence in battle when he exploits a mistake from Ebirah by grabbing his remaining pincer in his mouth and ripping it off. He shows an ability to differentiate potential allies from enemies and work well with them, demonstrating this with his battle against King Ghidorah in Ancient Rome by allying with Mothra, Rodan and Hedorah, and centuries later joined forces with Jet Jaguar against Mechagodzilla. He similarly allied with other old foes such as King Caesar and Ebirah when facing the Xilien invaders to the point of freeing them from captivity.
Durability
Godzilla appeared to merely irritated by the cannonballs fired at him by the Spanish Armada and none of the attacks used by Ebirah or Oodako drew blood. While battling Hedorah, Godzilla's hand was burned by the sludge monster's touch, though it left no lasting damage.
Weaknesses
Godzilla initially struggled against the combined efforts of Ebirah and Oodako as the latter strangled him with his tentacles and the former repeatedly hit him with his remaining pincer. He was similarly overwhelmed when battling King Ghidorah and later Mecha-King Ghidorah alone, requiring the assistance of allies to defeat the former.
Gallery
Concept art
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Godzilla character sheet by Inaki Miranda
Roar
This Godzilla's roar is written with the onomatopoeia "Skreeonk" similar to many other IDW comics featuring Godzilla.
Trivia
- This Godzilla incarnation is unusual in being allies with both Hedorah and King Ghidorah, though he started off as enemies with both of them.
- As a Godzilla incarnation who made a great impact on human history, this Godzilla is naturally reminiscent of the Godzilla from Godzilla: Rage Across Time, another IDW Publishing comic. Both Godzillas even influenced Feudal Japan and Ancient Rome, albeit in different ways.
- Cover B of Godzilla: Here There Be Dragons #3 depicts Godzilla fighting the giant bats of Monster Island, though he never interacted with them in the comic itself. Similarly, despite multiple covers of Godzilla: Here There Be Aliens featuring Godzilla contending against the Hedorah probes, he never interacted with them in the series.
- Of all the monsters Godzilla becomes allies with, the only two to not initially be enemies were Jet Jaguar and Anguirus. On the other hand, the only two monsters he fought prior to the Xilien invasion he never allied with were Titanosaurus and Oodako despite the former also fighting Mecha-King Ghidorah in 1954.
References
This is a list of references for Godzilla (Godzilla: Here There Be Dragons). These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: [1]
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