11 monsters from Godzilla movies that can transform

One of GodzillaThe 70-year-old’s defining characteristic on screen is his ability to adapt and transform from film to film, and he’s not alone in that regard. The transformations that marked Godzilla’s history have always been an important part of the metaphorical narrative surrounding him and his monstrous contemporaries. Godzilla has often been portrayed as an animal or dinosaur altered and enlarged by nuclear radiation, so the transformation is a central element of Godzilla’s entire origin story. Its defining characteristics – its size and atomic breathing – are direct results of its original transformation.

In addition to Big G himself, many of the monsters in Godzilla’s gallery of allies and enemies are also capable of changing their physical appearance to suit their needs. While transformation is a fundamental aspect of some monsters like Mothra or Destoroyah, others have only been able to transform once in their cinematic history with Godzilla, and under very specific circumstances. Most of the time, these transformations come with a power boost, making battle much more fun as each monster inevitably encounters an enemy.

11

Rodan

The Giant Pteranodon Took on an Alternate Fire Form

Rodan has been an on-and-off ally of Godzilla over the years, but regardless of his alignment, his general form has remained largely the same. Generally considered the fastest monster on Earth, Rodan is a huge pteranodon with spines on its back and belly. Most of his destructive power comes from the supersonic shockwave that follows his flight path, but he is equally effective in dive bomb attacks. However, on one occasion during Godzilla’s Heisei Era, Rodan assumed a new form after being defeated by Godzilla.

In 1993 Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla IIRodan was close to death after being trampled and hit with atomic breath several times at close range. Thanks to an appropriately weird Heisei Era twist, with psychics and a giant egg, Rodan is cured and revived as Fire Rodan, a more powerful, all-red version of the pterosaur. Rodan never evolved into Fire Rodan again, but the Legendary Monsterverse took some notes from the Toho version; Rodan is referred to as “the Fire Demon” in the Monsterverse and a “bio-volcanic” internal magma system.

10

Organization

The Mutant Alien Adapted to Drain Godzilla’s Power

Godzilla’s Millennium Era appropriately began with Godzilla 2000: Millennium which saw Godzilla fight an alien hybrid called Orga, capable of psychokinesis, regeneration, and DNA absorption, among other talents. The massive, hulking monster was created with some of Godzilla’s own DNA, and he sought to absorb even more of Godzilla’s power in his final battle. To do this, Orga’s entire body transforms and expands to accommodate an attempt to swallow Godzilla. It turns out exactly as you’d imagine when Godzilla activates a version of his famous nuclear pulse.

9

Spacegodzilla

Godzilla’s cosmic doppelgänger displayed a flying form

Spacegodzilla may be the most powerful foe Godzilla has ever faced, and his battle form is certainly among the most intimidating creature designs in Godzilla film history. However, Spacegodzilla had a different shape as it approached Earth. Godzilla’s deadly clone is recognized by the two gigantic crystals protruding from his shoulders, and his “flying form” is essentially a huge mass of crystals with Spacegodzilla’s body nestled in the center. It’s one of the strangest forms any enemy or ally of Godzilla has taken, but it’s certainly distinctive.

8

Battra

Mothra’s dark counterpart evolves as she

Just as Spacegodzilla and Mechagodzilla are evil inverses of Godzilla himself, 1992 Godzilla vs. Mothra features an evil version of the Queen of Monsters, Mothra. Created by Earth itself thousands of years ago, Battra sees humanity as an evil in the world that should be exterminated, and when he is awakened by a meteor, he and Mothra find themselves at odds once again. Like Mothra, Battra has a larval form and an imago form, and her larval form is quite deadly; he has a massive horn, the ability to fire prism beams, and refuses to stop his attack.

Once he transforms into his flying imago form, Battra’s prism rays are fired from his eyes instead of his horn, which has split into three smaller horns. He can lift Godzilla, reach supersonic flight speeds, and even project energy at enemies at close range. Battra’s transformation pattern is identical to Mothra’s, but both her larval and imago forms are far more deadly than the two different iterations of the Queen of the Monsters.

7

Hedora

Godzilla’s Toxic Enemy Has Evolved Multiple Times

One of the tropes that Toho has revisited several times in its long history of Godzilla films is a villain who evolves through multiple forms over the course of a very short period of time. Hedorah originated as an alien life form that landed on Earth and was corrupted by Earth’s pollution. Pollution causes him to enlarge and evolve, just as radiation originally did for Godzilla, and Hedorah takes on five separately recognized forms throughout 1971. Godzilla vs. Hedorah.

The original life form is little more than a tadpole, but it quickly evolves into a large swimming creature that features Hedorah’s signature red eyes. When it reaches the mainland, it is little more than a gray mass of swarming tentacles, but Hedorah quickly transforms back into a flying monster that spreads a toxic mist across the countryside. The final “perfect stage” iteration of Hedorah is a bipedal creature much larger than Godzilla that almost manages to kill him.

6

Biolante

The Godzilla-Rose hybrid had two monstrous forms

Godzilla fans have called for Biollante to be resurrected by a major studio, whether through Toho’s Godzilla franchise in a Godzilla minus one sequel or with an all-new take on Legendary’s Monsterverse. The massive plant hybrid kaiju was born from the union of Godzilla’s cells with a rose (which had previously been infused with the scientist’s dead daughter’s cells), which created a massive flower-headed kaiju that was quickly dispatched by Godzilla. However, when that version was destroyed, it released its spores into the sky.

The spores later fall back to the ground to reveal a much more terrifying “vegetable beast” version of Biollante. The transformed version has a huge head/mouth that it uses to try and bite Godzilla, and is covered in snake-like vines, each with its own mouth full of cutting teeth. Biollante’s transformation definitely produces one of the coolest monster designs in any Godzilla movie.

5

Jet Jaguar

Friendly Kaiju Robot Could Inexplicably Adjust Its Size

Jet Jaguar is perhaps the perfect monster to sum up the Showa Era of Godzilla films, which was marked by family friendliness and silly monster fights. The friendly robot was built by a scientist to perform tasks, but becomes self-aware and capable of altering its own programming as needed. He chooses to act as a benevolent force and reprograms himself (explanation not included) so he can grow to the size of a kaiju so he can fight Megalon and Gigan with Godzilla. It may be a rather silly transformation, but it’s truly unique in Godzilla lore.

4

Keiser Ghidorah

Ghidorah’s final iteration appeared in two forms

Godzilla: Final Wars it acted as an exclamation point at the time of Godzilla’s 50th anniversary and featured one of the most fearsome forms of Godzilla’s most iconic foes. At the climax of Final WarsGodzilla fights a black and gray bipedal creature known as Monster

Monster X eventually transforms to reveal his true identity: Keizer Ghidorah, the supremely powerful quadrupedal version of Godzilla’s archenemy King Ghidorah. King Ghidorah also doesn’t mind Godzilla’s average atomic blast and has Big G on the ropes until he gets a huge power-up from Godzilla. Gotengo to send. Monster X is among the coolest kaiju designs in Toho history, but his transformation leads to one of the most powerful enemies Godzilla has ever faced.

3

Mothra

The Queen of Monsters is almost immortal thanks to her evolution

Mothra is the original transforming monster in Godzilla film history, as the Queen of the Monsters has always had two versions: a larval form and an imago form. Mothra’s larval form hatches from what’s commonly called a “mystery egg,” and while her silky spray has kept some particularly powerful enemies at bay in the past (including Godzilla himself), Mothra’s imago form is her most recognizable. Mothra’s transformation abilities are a key part of her importance in Godzilla’s story, as she is always able to come back thanks to resurrecting her larval form.

2

Destoroyah

Godzilla’s Deadliest Enemy Evolved Quickly

Destoroyah is often considered Godzilla’s most powerful opponent, and for good reason. Created from fallout from the Oxygen Destroyer weapon that killed the original Godzilla, Destoroyah’s first form is a simple ancient crustacean that evolved in an unusual way due to the weapon’s detonation. These organisms quickly evolved into a series of monstrous crawling juvenile monsters, which continued to combine into an aggregated form. From there, the combined creature adopted a flying form before adopting its “perfect form”, which is what Godzilla fights in the climax of Godzilla vs. Destoroyah.

Destoroyah follows a similar evolutionary path to Hedorah, until he adopts a flying form before his final, perfected stage. However, each of his forms is far more intimidating than Hedorah’s Showa Era nonsense, as Destoroyah’s entire appearance was designed to be demonic and hellish. It’s a pattern of transformation that Godzilla himself would go through just a few years later.

1

Godzilla

The King of Monsters has undergone many transformations

A fundamental tenet of Godzilla’s character as an allegory for nuclear fallout is that he is the result of a prehistoric animal that underwent a transformation after being irradiated. Most of his various iterations carry this backstory, but some versions of Godzilla undergo new transformations due to various external factors. This remained true of both the Japanese and American versions of the famous monster, albeit on very different scales.

The greatest example of Toho’s transformation is, without a doubt, Shin Godzilla. Like Destoroyah, Godzilla rapidly evolves through multiple forms, appearing in five different versions throughout the film. The first form is simplistic but never seen in the film, while the second form is little more than a huge lizard with no front arms (and googly eyes). The third form stands upright but still has comically small arms, while the fourth form is much closer to Godzilla’s typical bipedal appearance. Godzilla was killed in the film before his fifth form, which was considered a humanoid form, was seen.

Legendary’s Monsterverse kept the transformation theme strong, although it largely avoided the origins of Godzilla’s radioactive transformation in favor of making Godzilla an ancient Earth Titan (Oca). The Monsterverse’s version of Godzilla transforms by absorbing power or DNA and energy from other monsters. The newer version, known as “Evolved Godzilla”, has a much sharper appearance and pulses with pink energy instead of blue, as a sign of his nearly limitless atomic power. Each season of GodzillaHis films have been defined by transformation, and that should continue as long as he’s on the big screen.