By Joe Gibson
Recently on our YouTube
page, I ranked the kaiju in Johnny Sokko And His Flying Robot (Ranking The Kaiju, Robots
And Seijin In Johnny Sokko And His Flying Robot)as I had done for the
Gamera series a while ago. For a little while now, I have been planning on
ranking the Godzilla series kaiju, but since Godzilla as an IP has an
extraordinary amount of kaiju compared to Gamera, Kong, Giant Robo, or one
season of Ultraman even put together, I knew I would have to approach it in a
different way. I realized I would be better off grouping the kaiju in
subdivisions for the rankings based on more objective metrics.
But I had other projects
I wanted to work on first. Toho, in some ways, has forced my hand with the New
Monster General Election that already has the fanbase in a state of frenzy. If
you are unaware, for the past few years, every Godzilla Day (November 3rd) Toho
has released a tokusatsu short featuring refurbished suits and puppets usually
including a kaiju battle. I have loved watching these, and others in the fandom
share this sentiment. The original wave of these reached their climax with the
Godzilla from Final Wars teaming up with a Jet Jaguar with Gigan claws to
defeat the King Ghidorah from GMK, and that series is no longer available on
YouTube, but the relaunch started with a refurbished Godzilla 2000 suit
rampaging and attaining a Burning form. That video is still up, and the ending
teased that another monster would arrive through the smoke and fog to fight
Godzilla next (now this) year.
Monster X, a Ghidorah
variant from Godzilla Final Wars (2004), has been confirmed to be the first
opponent for Burning G2K, but Toho has more ambitious plans for next year’s
short. The New Monster General Election features eight sketches of monsters
that the general public can vote on, and the winner will fight Godzilla. It is
still technically unclear if next year’s short will be live action tokusatsu in
this new series or something akin to Gemstone’s animated specials Godzilla vs
Gigan Rex and Godzilla vs Megalon, but I really want these new designs
immortalized in suitmation.
With this new marketing
campaign from Toho, the Godzilla fanbase is excited but puzzled. I have heard
wild speculation that Toho’s larger plans for these new eight kaiju to appear
in a new Ultraman style show no matter who wins the election, and furthermore
the topic on everybody’s mind is that somehow the winner will get an immediate
boost to the top of franchise importance, rising to place alongside the Big
Five (Godzilla, Mothra, Ghidorah, Mechagodzilla, and Rodan) in Toho’s in-house
productions. I find that part, at least, unlikely, but it serves as a fair
segue into my approach for ranking the Godzilla series. This article will
explore the concept of Toho’s Big Five and beyond as well as the limitations of
such a schema to more effectively introduce these new eight upstarts.
Last year, I tried to use
Toho’s Big Five to frame discussion of Gamera’s costars (https://planninecrunch.blogspot.com/2025/09/who-are-big-five-kaiju-in-gamera.html).
I was able to mostly map a one-to-one comparison, but the entire premise needed
some disclaimers that I should reproduce here. Ostensibly, the objective
measure for the Big Five is box office appeals in Toho’s filmography. This was
purposeful and helped return on investment in the Heisei and Millennium films
after the films with new kaiju underperformed. Consequently, it resulted in a
larger market share in popular culture, which translated into numerous mainline
appearances, merchandise, other ancillary media and outside references in pop
culture. As I explained, that means that it is really a Big 7 that adds in Kong
and a child for Godzilla (which meant that I could include Daimajin and
nonspecific baby kaiju for Gamera’s Big 5 but actually 7), but the current
anthology approach to kaiju storytelling in the East means that the Reiwa Era
is not likely to have a Big 5 that actually interacts with each other.
Furthermore, the box office disappointment of Godzilla King of The Monsters and
extenuating Covid circumstances of Godzilla vs Kong means that, by box office,
the Monsterverse box office positions Godzilla, Kong, Mothra and nebulous
swappable villainous doppelganger (Mechagodzilla, Skar King, Shimo,
Spacegodzilla) as its Big Four.
The Big Five as a concept
only really made sense in the decade between Godzilla: Final Wars and Godzilla
2014. That is the only time in history that those 5 uniquely were set aside for
their “prophesied importance.” When the original films were coming out in the
60s and 70s, there certainly was a drive to revisit Rodan, Mothra, Ghidorah and
Mechagodzilla in Godzilla sequels, but Gigan also got an immediate follow-up,
as was also initially planned for King Kong and Hedorah. The Heisei series only
relied on Ghidorah, Mothra and eventually Mechagodzilla and Rodan when Toho
lost money introducing new kaiju, and Anguirus almost made it into what
eventually became Godzilla vs Destoroyah while a different son of Godzilla than
Minya also existed. The Millennium series, as the third time for Mothra,
Ghidorah, Mechagodzilla and Rodan, finally set the pattern that The Big Five
were the only Godzilla kaiju to reappear in every era (even if Mechagodzilla
and King Ghidorah were excised to elseworlds continuities from each other).
With Godzilla Final Wars as the end of the franchise and Godzilla 2014 a
surprising new beginning, that 10 years codified the Big Five as a group that
we expected to see in any sequels to G14. The issue is that announcing Godzilla
vs Kong kind of screwed with things on that front as Kong has always had more
marquee value than the other four of the Big Five, and his remakes, though
divorced from Godzilla, also mapped closely enough on to the Showa, Heisei and
Millennium Series.
Secondly, you may also
notice that the order of that Big Five kept changing, pushing Rodan further and
further down essentially. Though of the KOTM crew, Rodan was the only survivor,
he only reappeared after Ghidorah’s corpse created Mechagodzilla, Mothra was
reborn to help Godzilla and Kong and the new Titan X grounded a whole season of
television. Rodan may very well be the central kaiju in season 3 of Monarch
Legacy of the Monsters or the Cold War themed spinoff, as he was arguably the
main kaiju in Godzilla Singular Point, but he is also the only one in the Big
Five that has not appeared outside of an offscreen fridging with Anguirus in a
recap section (Planet of the Monsters) in a Japanese feature film since 2004.
Ranking the kaiju by importance honestly is difficult because Rodan has this
spot no matter what, unless Toho does restructure to include the election
winner.
Mothra has not appeared
in the flesh since then outside of the Monsterverse, but the same trilogy that
reduced Rodan to a generic Pteranodon corpse kept her spirit as a central Deus
ex machina. Still, there is a valid argument that Ghidorah and Mechagodzilla
may be surpassing Mothra overall, and even so, the recent confirmation of
Ghidorah’s role in Godzilla Minus Zero, produces an interesting dialectic in
regards to his overuse.
Ghidorah is the most
overused antagonist, appearing directly in Ghidorah The Three Headed Monster,
Godzilla vs Monster Zero, Destroy All Monsters, Godzilla vs Gigan, Godzilla vs
King Ghidorah, Rebirth of Mothra, Rebirth of Mothra 3, GMK, Godzilla Final Wars,
Godzilla: The Planet Eater, Godzilla King Of The Monsters, and Godzilla Minus
Zero with ample stock footage cameos and multimedia presence (Godzilla vs
Evangelion, Godzilla The Ride, etc.). These appearances all fall into a variety
of contextual subsets based on if Ghidorah is in control of his own mental
faculties, if he is from outer space or not, if he is King Ghidorah or a
different type, etc. to the point it is simultaneously true that both the
Monsterverse and Reiwa had a Ghidorah within a year of each other and that the
last time Godzilla fought a villainous King Ghidorah in a Japanese live action
film was 1991 (last time Godzilla fought a villainous extraterrestrial King
Ghidorah in a Japanese live action film was 1972). There is equal parts hunger
for and fatigue of Ghidorah’s role as Godzilla’s eternal archenemy.
Mechagodzilla has the
most unambiguous universal appeal/significance. “X vs Mecha-X” is a trope
bordering on cliche at this point, and Mechagodzilla himself somehow made it
into Ready Player One’s film without Godzilla (or Ultraman who Mechagodzilla
fought in the book). Mechagodzilla has also made similar strides to what I
pointed out for Viras in my Gamera Big Five video. Mechagodzilla was the last
straight up villain and second to last antagonist to Godzilla introduced in the
Showa series, and still came after Ghidorah in sequence in the Heisei,
Millennium and Monsterverse series. Godzilla’s Reiwa series adapted
Mechagodzilla before Ghidorah, and after Ghidorah and Rodan had to share
Yamazaki’s first Godzilla the Ride, before Mothra has gotten any treatment from
Yamazaki, Mechagodzilla gets the second Godzilla the Ride to himself to explore
his fight against Godzilla. (This is especially significant because it took
until 2002 for Mechagodzilla to be the only other kaiju/mech Godzilla
interacted with in a film, and that has still only happened once since then.)
Similarly, the first kaiju/mech to interact onscreen with both Godzilla and
Kong was Gorosaurus, but the second one and first in an American film was
Mechagodzilla, with Mothra next and Ghidorah and Rodan still not having achieved
this. Despite making the least sense in the real world, a mechanical version of
Godzilla has the smallest buy-in of any concept.
My own personal ranking
based on enjoyment would be 1. Rodan, 2. Ghidorah, 3. Godzilla, 4.
Mechagodzilla, 5. Mothra, but as I hope I have justified sufficiently, this is
almost meaningless to say. If I do videos or later blog points following up on
my Godzilla kaiju ranking, the most productive next step would be to rank the
incarnations of each of the Big Five against each other, ranking the top 20
Ghidorahs for instance. And that should wait until after Minus Zero comes out
for the sake of being thorough.
Expanding the Big Five
into a Big 10 or Big 15 is something numerous people have tried to do, and I am
still not sure that I have succeeded, but hear me out. Box office appeal is the
primary metric for the Big Five, and so, logically movie attendance in Japan
should be a consideration for expanding the Big Five, in which case the top 10
films are King Kong vs Godzilla (12.55 million), Godzilla 1954 (9.61 million),
Godzilla Raids Again (8.34 million), Mothra vs Godzilla (7.20 million), Shin
Godzilla (5.69 million), Ghidorah The Three Headed Monster (5.41 million),
Invasion of Astro Monster (5.13 million), Godzilla Minus One (5.04 million),
Ebirah: Horror of The Deep (4.21 million) and Godzilla vs Mothra 1992 (4.20
million) (https://www.reddit.com/r/GODZILLA/comments/1o75xmh/godzilla_series_japanese_box_office_charts/).
In addition to the
Monsterverse’s US and international appeal, KKvsG’s top placement means we can
certainly keep Kong in the 6th slot, and while this list keeps Ghidorah, Mothra
and Rodan pretty central, Anguirus’ debut film is in the top 3. I am hesitant
to give Anguirus a slot here because he is not that popular in Japan
(especially compared to Baragon, who, in turn, is less popular in the US), but
he has been in as many films as Rodan and serves a similar role as “dinosaur
inspired friend to Godzilla,” and he is the only one we can promote from this
data. (For the American side of things, Anguirus has an almost cameo in the
Monsterverse where a skeleton with his head appeared in Godzilla’s temple when
it exploded, and Anguirus won the 2024 Toho Kingdom Hall of Fame vote, beating
out Hedorah and Gigan.)
If we adjust and take out
the films that only featured members of the Big Five, the top 10 films are
KKvsG, Godzilla Raids Again, Ebirah Horror Of The Deep, Godzilla vs Destoroyah,
Godzilla vs Spacegodzilla, Destroy All Monsters, Son of Godzilla, GMK, Godzilla
2014, and Godzilla vs Biollante, but GvB is about the point where we are
getting into box office disappointments. This list confirms my other suspicion
that the Son of Godzilla character, be it named Minilla or Godzilla Junior, is
important glue in the franchise, so the 7th place spot I have earmarked for him
stays (Anguirus being number 8). Put a pin in Spacegodzilla, Destoroyah, and
Biollante for a moment; it makes more sense to get back to them after another
Toho Kingdom indulgence. In a poll from 2020 with over 100 votes as to which
kaiju should be considered the next five in a Big 10, Anguirus earned first place
with 22 votes, Gigan second place with 20, Minya 12 (but Godzilla Jr 3 so our
combined Son of Godzilla archetype gets 15), then Baragon with 11, Destoroyah
8, Biollante 7, and that is enough for the sake of this discussion.
Gigan is another strong
contender for a Big 10. He first appeared prominently in a film featuring King
Ghidorah (though low attendance overall, it is the highest attendance of the
Champion Fest era of the Showa series) and then got a direct sequel (kind of)
and multiple appearances on Zone Fighter. The addition of Godzilla and Gigan
together into Jet Jaguar vs Megalon and Zone Fighter indicates that, at least
of the available suits, Toho considered them the quintessential hero and
villain…for at least one year in the 70s. Gigan was prominent in Godzilla Final
Wars, but there was no Heisei appearance, and the other continuities of Gigan
have been in expanded multimedia material similar to Viras in the Gamera
series. Still, multiple creatives working on the Monsterverse have voiced
desire to bring Gigan into the universe, and the various repaints of Gigan are
carrying the Godziburst toyline on their back, so the number 9 spot going to
Gigan seems fair to me.
On April 10th, 2021, there
was a Japanese popularity ranking, surveying modern favorites in the franchise.
With 5730 votes and a two-week survey period, this is the most objective of the
sources I have brought into this investigation today. The top ten films
according to a modern audience (which should thus influence a modern Big 10)
were Shin Godzilla (914 votes), Godzilla 1954 (662 votes), Godzilla vs
Destoroyah (655), Godzilla vs Biollante (645), GMK (288), Godzilla Final Wars
(274), Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla II (212), Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla
(208), Mothra vs Godzilla (202) and Godzilla vs King Ghidorah (183).
The Heisei series has
been integral to Toho’s internal marketing of the character ever since they
came out, and its new creatures Biollante, Spacegodzilla and Destoroyah deserve
consideration for the last spot because even with no reappearances (yet), they
have greater staying power than the Millennium kaiju (Orga and Megaguirus).
GMK’s position vindicates Mothra and Ghidorah’s popularity, but also implicates
Baragon as a profitable asset, and it is probably fairest to have Anguirus and
Baragon share the number 8 spot, because where one is popular, the other is an
afterthought basically. It is very difficult to narrow down who of the three
Heisei kaiju should get that lost slot. The Monsterverse would otherwise be a
kingmaker, but I do not really know if the confirmed impending revival of
Spacegodzilla in Godzilla x Kong Supernova matters as much to the overall state
of the franchise. Toho is introducing the eight new monsters this month before
the new Spacegodzilla has the chance for so much as a trailer, and IF Toho
truly does intend for the winner of the contest to be a new franchise mainstay,
they would supplant Spacegodzilla here.
Biollante and Destoroyah
each have interesting rhetorical situations, Biollante being the result of a
similar contest that actually also inspired the Ultra series kaiju Leogon,
while Destoroyah was the (retconned) logical extension of the Oxygen Destroyer
and also went through several drafts that would have seen him interact with
Anguirus. Godzilla vs Biollante is consistently a critical darling in Japan and
America, and I would give Biollante the edge just for having half the
theatrical attendance of Godzilla vs Destoroyah but as much, if not more,
staying power.
So, with these next five,
I would rank them a little differently. Kong should really have his own ranking
inclusive of his opponents, but Son of Godzilla includes Minya, the three
different suits for Godzilla Junior, Zilla Jr, Godzilla Filius, etc, so that
would be its own post or video, as would the different incarnations of
Anguirus. I will just rank the rest now. I like Biollante more than Destoroyah,
but then Gigan, Spacegodzilla, and Baragon.
There are, of course, a
few more secondary kaiju in the franchise: Ebirah, Kumonga, Kamacuras, Hedorah,
Jet Jaguar and Megalon had multiple appearances across films, series or official
shorts. And Titanosaurus, Orga, Megaguirus, the MUTOs, Skar King and Shimo are
still prominent in their own films. The tertiary kaiju and Toho expanded
catalog would add Varan, Moguera, Oodako, the giant lizard, the Giant Condor,
Shukra, Momagon, The Griffon, Sanda, Gaira, Frankenstein, and so, so many more.
That would be its own video to parse. Let us know which of those you would like
to see first (a video ranking the incarnations of Ghidorah, the same video but
with a kaiju the caliber of Anguirus or a wild obscure ranking like what half
of my Gamera kaiju picks were).
In the meantime, we have
a new bottom eight with the potential of rising stars, so let us go through the
new contenders, knowing that they will either rise to the top of our lips or
die in obscurity like Firelion and Lightning Bug.
Though this post is
technically more about grouping the different Godzilla kaiju than ranking them,
I still did include my best guess of the order of importance of the Big Five as
well as my own ranking of the major stars. As we know little about these new
kaiju, the order of importance seems to be their billing on the website and the
order their silhouettes were first revealed. This is like how, in my Gamera
ranking, I had to rank Vaora, Sohra and Bodera fairly low, as I only had access
to their designs in a still image. So, the objective ranking is Gigasecto,
Candyroy, Gilx, Sagius, Xenolhu, Madomuh, Minacias and Rigedoh, but, for fun, I
will introduce them to you in the opposite order.
Rigedoh is ostensibly a
triceratops but resembles a roided up fusion of Godzilla Evolved, Shimo and the
Ultra series kaiju Gomora. Rigedoh thawed out of ice, due to global warming,
and went through an evolution into its final form, per the information provided
on the election website. A whole movie’s worth of context already exists just
leading up to Rigedoh using his Dino Trident energy move against Godzilla, so I
voted for Rigedoh rather early on in this election process (the first block of
voting allows one vote per day between September 16th and October 4th, at which
point the top 4 advance to midterms). I like Rigedoh, and I could see him as a
suit very easily, but I kind of hope he does not win.
Still, we must recall
that the most likely Godzilla for these kaiju to face is Burning Godzilla 2000,
and I must admit that a jagged, spiky Burning Godzilla in black and orange
would contrast nicely with a muscular, spiky white and pink triceratops. I also
appreciate the recent trend of bringing herbivore kaiju into the fray with
Therizirus in Ultraman Omega being a Therizinosaurus. I have not voted for
Rigedoh a second time, but my second vote was for him.
My fourth vote overall
was for the 48 meter ancient mecha Minacias, which resembles a thorny unicorn.
Evidently, it was the peacekeeping guardian of an ancient prehistoric society
that they used as a weapon, which wiped them out (bringing to mind Heisei Gamera
and Gyaos). Upon its awakening, it passed judgement on modern day weapons
testing, misconstrued Godzilla for a weapon of destruction and sought him out
to make an example of him. In this case, it feels like the “movie pitch” here
necessitates Godzilla, especially as its ‘Electric Damned’ unicorn electricity
could beam clash with Godzilla and would effectively target the infrastructure
Godzilla would not attack (siphoning energy from communication networks and
causing total electrical gridlock). The spindly appendages make this difficult
for me to visualize as a suit, but the silhouette is strong; of all the
creatures here, I recommend flipping through the front, back and side profiles
provided most of all.
I have joined consensus
in declaring that Madomuh is the least unique, clearly just a copyright-able
version of Cthulhu (Xenohlu, who we will get to, takes the concept of an eldritch
horror interacting with Godzilla to a more fresh place), but Cthulhu vs
Godzilla has always been a popular match-up that I would not mind seeing, and
Toho inevitably was always going to make their own Cthulhu for this match-up to
make money. Madomuh has arisen from the sea, following a period of dormancy, to
re-establish itself as a ruler of earth. It can brainwash other lifeforms, is
50 meters tall (these new opponents range from 40 to 60 meters for the most
part), and has a self-destructing mutagenic Grand Spore that can enter a
creature to bring it under Madomuh’s control.
So far, Xenohlu is especially
popular in the West, and even though I voted for it only third, this is
probably my favorite to win and favorite overall. It has telekinesis, causes
hallucinations and arrives, seeking out Godzilla out of a “sinister curiosity”
about Godzilla’s atomic breath. This is easily the most bizarre and alien
concept, as its Abyss Gaze uses a giant eye to override a person’s willpower
and disintegrate them. Also, Xenolhu can fly by warping reality with his tentacles. This is almost too inventive to waste on a short film, but the odds
of a feature film from a visionary director featuring this kaiju is next to
nothing if he loses the poll I would think, so I still hope he wins. Starfish
squid is how I would describe this design, and I think they could realize it in
suitmation pretty similarly to Pestar from the Ultra series. The 58-meter
height also makes Xenolhu more imposing than Madomuh, and the marquee value of
“Godzilla vs Cthulhu" is present no matter which of the eldritch
abominations wins this election.
Sagius is the other
mecha, with the general shape being a cross between the Gamera monsters Iris
and Legion, as is the centaur to Minacias’ horse. It was seemingly made to
fight Godzilla and has drones that can come off its back as well as a variable
maser attack from its chest or from its drones in an array. I would wish to
actively campaign against Sagius making top 4, because it is a less cool
version of the scrapped Asuka Fortress Mecha Mobile Facility with tentacles and
smaller ancillary robots. I still voted for Sagius out of the interest of
fairness, but I would not do so again.
Gilx feels like a
Spacegodzilla offshoot concept, an extraterrestrial world destroyer that goes
to earth to seek Godzilla’s energy (that already has Godzilla’s general build
just with Ghidorah inspired features, in this case twin tails, and if he gets
his hands on Godzilla’s energy, I suspect he would assimilate him further).
Gilx’s goal with Godzilla’s energy is to destroy Earth with a beefed-up version
of its Planet-Destroying ray. This is a cool enough monster and seems perfect
for a short film (as opposed to a feature), but I find it weird to make
Godzilla’s big 70-meter opponent that weighs over 40,000 tons only capable of
destroying Earth by using Godzilla’s power. Godzilla’s victory would be ensured
in the premise if his power exceeds Gilx’s already.
Though I cannot verify
this, I have heard that Candyroy is especially popular in Japan, and I can see
why. A Hedorah type creature composed of candy wrappers in this huggable
exterior is the most “late Showa Ultraman” coded thing imaginable, and it
satisfies the itch for Hedorah to return in a suitmation format while not
making a CGI reimagination irrelevant. Candyroy is exceptionally weird. He
looks like Alien Zamu but with a Hedorah skin texture and ranges from 0 to 55
meters. Like Hedorah, he came from space but assimilated an earthly pollution
problem upon arriving. Still, like Hedorah, he seems to be a powerhouse, able
to turn him body partially into particles to make a Particle Cannon shockwave
or turn his arms into swords. Candyroy is neat, and I would like to see him in
something. Now may be his best chance, but I figure if he makes it top four, he
still has a chance to appear later on down the road.
Gigasecto was my first
vote in this race, because I think he was one of the better concepts, and
leading with him in the marketing tied my hands. If, after reading this whole
article, Gigasecto still grabs you, then he has a unique appeal that could lead
to him landing top 4. I certainly hope so, though he may be too close to
Megalon (Megalon appeared in Gemstone’s Godzilla Day short in 2023, so we could
do without Megalon lite this soon after). This is a detailed beetle design with
six limbs and a tail, and he spent 65 million years feasting on nutrients in
the Amazon rainforest before sensing Godzilla and becoming territorial. Like
Megalon, his backstory could make him the lesser or greater of two evils, and
if we are drawing from Megalon to make Gigasecto, I think it would be neat if
Gigasecto and Gilx develop an inexplicable friendship. The Sonic Blade attack
seems a little bit out there if it truly is a “vacuum blade that slices through
spacetime,” but Megalon’s firepower was on par with that of King Ghidorah, so I
should not complain too much. The four arms would make for interesting grappling
choreography as well.
Well, that is the
overview of the Godzilla kaiju as best as I can group them. Let us know if you
agree with my drafts for the Big 10 and which of those Big 10 you would like to
see ranked individually first. Also, let us know which, if any, of the new
eight kaiju appealed to you in the comments below. Stay tuned for more kaiju
coverage from a variety of angles in a variety of styles.
