I come from a time where Godzilla being one of the good guys was nothing new. The movies primarily produced in the “showa” era of Japan’s history owes a bit to business decisions. Kids really enjoy giant monsters smashing buildings and fighting each other. So that’s what Toho gave them, using their most popular monster to do so. However, they reasoned Godzilla should become a good guy, a guardian monster for the kids to cheer on, as definite good and evil forces were created, usually aliens from space and one undersea kingdom. And one terror group we never seem to remember because their monster was a giant crab.
A lot of newer Godzilla fans hate this. “Godzilla should be the bad guy, the threat to Japan inspired by the atomic and now nuclear explosives or payback for Japan’s sins.” Well, Godzilla was a threat but not necessarily evil. With a few exceptions in later continuities, Godzilla’s biggest issue was that he didn’t like walking around things, joined by his willingness to fight to retain his “king of the monsters” title. He didn’t hate humans so much as he didn’t care unless they started shooting at him or using his dead relatives as giant robots. Then he hated them.
Just for some interesting filler I wanted to put together a full list of the showa period guardian monsters. I don’t think they necessarily formed a battleline outside of their battles with Ghidorah, not a lot of team-ups. Still, when it came to protecting the earth from space monsters and robots from a black hole, these were the kaiju you called.
Mothra
There are two reasons for me to start with Mothra. For one, she’s always been a good monster, protecting her island and later everyone else in the world. In her debut movie she rescued her doll-sized priestesses, and in her first Godzilla movie she protected her egg from being Godzilla’s dinner. Mess with her priestesses or her kids and she’ll mess you up, but she’s always been a protector of the Earth, even when she got her own series of movies later on.
The other reason is that Godzilla and Rodan wouldn’t have become guardians if not for her. I’ll get more into that in a moment, but she’s closer to a “leader” of the guardians than Godzilla, though again the only real team-up was against King Ghidorah in the showa era. She’s basically the Wonder Woman of the Toho Trinity, but you can decide for yourself who’s Batman and who’s Superman. For me the analogy falls apart after that.
Godzilla
People who look down on this period for making Godzilla a protector of humanity…and must really hate the Warner Brothers “monsterverse” as much as they do the Hanna-Barbera series…don’t seem to realize that Showa Godzilla has a redemption arc. Granted, their real complaint is that the movie that started as a commentary on atomic bomb testing in a dark, serious movie of devastation became a lighthearted monster battle with space aliens while humans fought their masters, but it’s still one of their complaints. Throughout the franchise in movies and other media, Godzilla being hero or villain depends on the writers and directors, but I still maintain Godzilla was never evil in those days. He just didn’t like walking around stuff. In some continuities he was also vengeance against Japan, but we’re sticking to one continuity here.
In that continuity Godzilla began as just walking around smashing stuff, attacking when he was attacked but otherwise just shoving everything and everyone out of his way. It wasn’t until King Ghidorah’s arrival that things started to change. Godzilla was fighting Rodan because Rodan was there, and we’ll get back to him in a moment. Mothra, worried that Ghidorah was the real threat and still a larva at this point (there have been a few Mothras just in this time period), knew she needed help. So she went to the guy who once tried to eat her and her brother’s egg and the monster he was fighting. Godzilla doesn’t really have a history of getting along well with others. Ask Anguirus. Ask King Kong. Ask Mothra, but fight the greater evil and all that. He turned her down, wondering why he should care about those humans that keep shooting at him because he does minor things like step on them and burn their major cities to the ground because “I’m walking here”. Mothra gives up, but she’s determined to fight alone if she has too, which actually impresses both monsters, leading to them teaming up.
From there Godzilla realizes that helping humans and not intentionally smashing their stuff leads to them not shooting at him, throwing other monsters at him, and treating his son well. So he switches to protector and until the 1980s didn’t look back. From threat to champion, taking place of the course of multiple movies before he finally settles into that role, a proper character arc for a dinosaur that spits radiation lasers.
Rodan
Rodan was also not really evil. Most of the kaiju up to Mothra’s creation were just mindless creatures like any other animal. They were just really tall and violent. In his first appearance he woke up, ate the bugs that killed humans just because was hungry, went to wake up his mate, and long story short (go watch the movie) they both died. There was an egg, so this is actually Rodan Junior as far as the Showa era goes. Still, he just doesn’t know any better. He’s flying here, and doesn’t understand that LEGO stay together longer than a building near his windy wings.
Like Godzilla, Rodan only became a hero after Mothra showed moxie in attacking Ghidorah alone and decided to help. From there Rodan was one of the guardian monsters, fighting other monsters alongside Godzilla and the new hero of the movie, being another monster or a giant robot that changed sizes like he’s Ultraman. He’s also one of two contenders for Godzilla’s “wingman”.
If only all the bad stereotypes in this comic went down this way.
Anguirus
Here’s the other one. The first time we see him is in the other black and white Godzilla movie, and then his son (since Godzilla killed the one in that movie) is suddenly his best bud on Monster Island, being sent off by the Big G to investigate some weird noises they picked up (another long story). Did he hate his dad that much? Was it Stockholm? Did Godzilla raise Anguirus Jr as his own son? We may never know.
Anguirus is also the franchise punching bag. Poor dude’s been beaten, his jaw broken, and otherwise killed off by pretty much every enemy he’s ever fought. IDW finally gave the poor dude a break and let him win one, but even then the human military had to help (speaking of punching bags who never get a win).
We’ve gone over the recurring heroes. Now it’s time for the almost one-shotters who still manage to show up as homages in other continuities, but this was it for the Showa era movies.
Yes, that’s Jet Jaguar using MechaGodzilla against Destroyah. I LOVE this comic!
Jet Jaguar
Mechagodzilla was never a hero machine in this continuity and with a robot Kong also out there and whatever Titanosaurus was, somebody had to represent properly for the robo community. That was Jet Jaguar. Created by a scientist, it was only after he was used by undersea enemies to lead a monster to Godzilla that he eventually became self-controlled for about five minutes and even learned to grow to kaiju size to fight alongside Godzilla. This has never been explained and probably never will.
Like Mothra, JJ has always been a hero, even in later continuities. Created by a child as part of a contest, he’s managed to show up multiple times and has his own fanbase (which I’m part of) despite only having one appearance in the Showa era. He was big with kids, those kids grow up, and Jet Jaguar gets to fly again.
King Caesar
Also always a hero, but given that he’s appeared more in video games and comics than he has in movies, it’s not like he has a big “career” in this franchise. The guardian of one particular family, aliens wanted to use him and Mechagodzilla against the real Godzilla, but that plan failed and King Caesar actually fought with Godzilla as part of a prophecy of some kind. I don’t do well with prophecies.
Our favorite dog monkey shrine…deity…thing never shows up again in the Showa era, but every now and then some love comes his way. Poor guy’s even more underrated than Anguirus, and that probably hurts more than a missile to the face. Almost.
King Kong
Another monster on our list who was never a villain, though he has been a victim. Taken from his home multiple times, it’s a miracle if he or part of his family isn’t killed or shoved in a sideshow. On other occasions he’s been the protector of his island home, usually in cartoons (including the one we don’t talk about for…reasons and the old Rankin/Bass cartoon that resulted from the Toho license) and Warner Brothers’ “monsterverse” alongside Godzilla, but he never really teamed up with him in Japanese movies.
They have fought, though, back when Godzilla was on the threat/jerk side. Not willingly, because of that whole victimized by humans issue. He’s fought an evil robot version of himself created by a mad scientist who shares the name of that guy in the blue cabinet with the blinking light on top. He’s also the only one that started out as an American creation, with rights issues more confusing that it should be and I won’t get into it here. Sadly, he’s only made two appearances in the Tohoverse, probably because of those rights issues, and only fought Godzilla and Mechakong once each. I would have loved to see them team together against their robot duplicates. I hear Mechagodzilla shows up in the latest Warner Brothers movie as a villain again, but I’m waiting for that to be available to me. In the meantime they need to bring Mechakong in for the next round.
Minya (well, Minilla will always be Minya to me)
Our last monster since Godzooki is a Hanna-Barbera creation, not Toho, so it’s iffy if he belongs here. Ah, heck with it. It’s my list.
And Godzooki
It’s debatable who gets more hate by the more “superserious” G-Fans out there. Godzooki can’t appear again due to all kinds of rights issues, though the official Godzilla YouTube channel does have that show…in multiple parts for some reason. Minilla, which sounds like an island, doesn’t fare much better. If you think people believe fans don’t want to see Peter Parker caring for children and being a dad…you’re wrong, but imagine what they think of this kid appeal character. You’re wrong about that, too. While various Godzilla kids have come and gone, one even taking his dad’s place at the end of the Heisei continuity, Minilla is the only one who gets the Jar Jar Binks treatment. Apparently we’re okay with baby Yoda, but not baby Godzilla unless he’s Little Godzilla…who is somehow even more “sickeningly” cute and should be giving the funless crowd Barney flashbacks, but we live in a weird world.
Minilla only gets to shine in a movie of questionable canonicity since all the monster stuff happens in the fantasies of a boy trying to deal with his latchkey life until bank robbers kidnap him. I don’t think people realize he doesn’t really live those adventures, Minilla doesn’t talk with a girl’s voice or…geez, even I barely know who Mortimer Snerd is and it’s still the only frame of reference I can come up with. He only has four appearances in this era, one as stock footage. He did manage to finish off the last Ghidorah head in one movie, so that’s a feather in his cap. At least it puts him over Anguirus. Apparently he dies in a tokusatsu TV show appearance, so yay for you haters I guess. You win. Otherwise he’s been replaced for most later continues by other offspring that resemble him more and humans less, but the little guy gets more hate than he deserves.
So does Godzooki. He gives the kid someone to play with, saves the crew of the Calico from getting themselves killed more than once (Quinn and Brock seem determined to die for science some episodes), and is a back-up caller for Godzilla to come save their butts from the monster of the week. He’s not just comic relief, he serves a purpose on the team, which is what I really want in the kid mascot character. If he/she serves a purpose to the mission and not just the story and marketing people, and doesn’t take the show away from what we’re here for, I’m okay with it. Also, no in-story evidence he’s “Godzilla’s nephew” so stop letting your equally misguided Scrappy-Doo hate cloud your perspective.
To borrow from another Japanese character: Dugan…KICK! Too bad you were retconned into a robot.
Me being me I would love to see a big battle royale with these guys on one side and the definite villain monsters on the other. I like seeing Godzilla and friends save the world. It’s the superhero fan in me. Who is on what side is iffy from Godzilla 1985 onward (which is technically still in Japan’s “showa” period but it’s a total reboot of the franchise, which like most reboots only recognized the first film) but nostalgia will always draw me to this period of Godzilla and the guardian monsters.
And as a kid you probably would have watched it.
Maybe not like that. I also would have watched that as a kid, but now that’s too much even for me. I mean, they made Hulk And The Agents Of SMASH and Mortal Kombat: Defenders Of The Realm. Frankly I’m surprised we didn’t get this.
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