Godzilla (Godzilla: Skate or Die)
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Godzilla (ゴジラ Gojira) is a kaiju who appears in IDW Publishing's 2024 comic Godzilla: Skate or Die. Drawn to Australia by a mysterious force, Godzilla would go on to battle Varan while a group of skater enthusiasts unwittingly uncovered the secret government project that lured the monsters to their skate park in the first place.
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 the Japanese word for "whale" (クジラ kujira).
Design
This Godzilla incarnation is primarily modeled after the Heisei Godzilla design, though his dorsal fins are noticeably shorter, uneven, jagged, and point downward. His eyes glow red for most of the series when under the influence of the meteorite that drew him to Australia, though upon its destruction, his eyes return to their normal white coloration with yellow irises.
Personality
Godzilla is shown be territorial, as he attacked Varan on sight at the location of the meteorite that lured him to the coast, seeing him as a challenger. He was largely unfazed by the weaponry launched against him, which seemed to do little more than irritate him at most. Jules Wheeler later indicated that Godzilla typically retreated when he had nothing to fight, which was confirmed to be true after Varan was defeated.
History
- Godzilla: Skate or Die #1-5 (2024)
Godzilla: Skate or Die
Issue #1
Shortly after the emergence of Varan in the Australian Outback, Godzilla swam to Port Kembla, leaving a destruction of sunken vessels in his wake as he maintained a projected collision course with Varan.
Issue #2
Godzilla maintained his course to the coast, unfazed by a minefield and the naval ships firing missiles upon him, unable to be deterred as he effortlessly destroyed more ships. In time, Godzilla eventually arrived just outside of the Coin Toss - a skatepark created by four teenage skaters who arrived on the scene at the same time as the kaiju, much to their horror.
Issue #3
As Godzilla prepared to fire a blast of his atomic breath, Varan tackled him back into the water and quickly gained the upper hand, clawing and biting him. Even after Godzilla managed to tail swipe his foe away, he was unable to get another hit in before being tackled yet again due to Varan's superior speed. However, as Varan pinned him to the ground, he managed to fire a blast of his atomic breath directly at Varan's exposed underbelly, sending him flying into the air, only for Varan to use this to his advantage and attack Godzilla from above with a spinning tail whip. The arrival of fighter jets briefly halted the intense bout, though the kaiju were unharmed in the assault.
Issue #4
With his atomic breath, Godzilla dispatched most of the squadron of fighter jets as Varan took to the skies to destroy the rest. As the two prepared to reengage one another, they were momentarily distracted by a pulse emanating from beneath the ground, which the teenagers had discovered to house a secret government facility containing mysterious alien technology. At the center of it all was a strange glowing meteorite, which was responsible for unleashing irregular pulses that not only led Godzilla and Varan to this location in the first place, but also posed the risk of awakening additional kaiju around the globe. One of the teens ultimately decided to intervene by destroying the meteorite with his skateboard, momentarily snapping Godzilla and Varan out of its influence before the excess energy released by its destruction enveloped Varan, empowering him with the strength to knock Godzilla off his feet.
Issue #5
After getting back to his feet, Godzilla charged into Varan, though the lizard kaiju successfully held him back and began slashing and clawing the King of the Monsters' face, drawing blood. As Varan continued to thrash Godzilla, the teens decided to intervene, having felt the destructive energy that was channeled into Varan and knowing that Godzilla could save the world. The teens set off fireworks to distract Varan, giving Godzilla time to recover. Godzilla proceeded to grab the momentarily dazed Varan by the tail and swung him into the air, at which point he unleashed a powerful blast of his atomic breath that sent Varan flying up through the atmosphere and off the planet entirely, leaving the monster floating motionless in space. Roaring in victory, Godzilla turned towards the ocean and began his withdrawal before pausing. After looking back and seemingly acknowledging the teens that helped him, Godzilla finally departed back into the ocean.
Abilities
Atomic breath
Godzilla employed his atomic breath in the fight against Varan, and while it seemed to leave the kaiju largely unharmed, he was able to use the attack to push Varan back. Godzilla's atomic breath was also used to dispatch a squadron of fighter jets with little effort.
At the end of their fight, Godzilla was able to blast Varan with a particularly intense beam that launched the lizard kaiju through Earth's atmosphere and into outer space.
Physical abilities
While battling Varan, Godzilla resorted to close-combat tactics on multiple occasions, including using his tail to swat Varan away. Godzilla also possesses remarkable strength, as demonstrated when he grabbed Varan by the tail and swung him high into the air with seemingly little effort at the end of their bout.
Amphibiousness
Godzilla is an adept swimmer, capable of leaping out of the water to avoid naval vessels, though he nevertheless destroyed one with his tail.
Durability
Godzilla was completely unfazed by swimming through a minefield and effortlessly shrugged off all military attacks lobbed against him.
Weaknesses
Despite his strength, Godzilla found himself overwhelmed by Varan's superior speed throughout their battle and struggled to get in as many hits as his foe. In addition, despite being impervious to conventional weaponry, Varan was able to puncture his skin several times with his teeth, spikes, and claws.
Gallery
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Godzilla -
Godzilla vs. Varan
References
This is a list of references for Godzilla (Godzilla: Skate or Die). 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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