Ranking Godzilla's Strongest Kaiju

Godzilla wasn't the only giant kaiju to help establish the house of Toho back in the day. Rodan debuted all the way back in 1956 with its own film, before entering the Godzilla universe with 1964’s “Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster.” Rodan’s main attack strength lies within the supersonic winds that it’s able to be conjured up with its wings. Elsewhere, its evolved Fire Rodan version lends this irradiated pteranodon one serious power upgrade. Rodan is agile, too, and able to dart and fly around his opponents in order to keep them guessing. This kaiju mainstay may not like to play with others that often, but we can’t say we’re surprised: Rodan is a true winged assassin.

1971’s “Godzilla vs. Hedorah” tends to be a divisive film among Godzilla fans, thanks to its uneven tone and psychedelic visuals. Yet, its titular antagonist, Hedorah, just may be a slept-on kaiju when it comes to its sickening power. The Smog Monster’s poisonous properties rack up a disturbing amount of human victims throughout the film, while Hedorah’s toxic physical makeup makes him a challenging adversary. Godzilla finds it difficult to come up with a gameplan, since Hedorah spouts off corrosive, acidic and toxic chunks that seem to debilitate the King of the Monsters at every turn.

We all know that Mothra is the OG Queen Moth, dominating her Godzilla film appearances with wind attacks, powerful lightning, and silk threads that can easily incapacitate an opponent. Her side appearances in the “Rebirth of Mothra” films lend her even more impressive powers, to the point where she can dominate a 3-headed space dragon without breaking a sweat. That said, Mothra’s other strengths actually lie within her peace-loving nature, since it’s her restraint that we find so charming and lovable. This is a kaiju that’s truly heroic, only causing chaos if provoked or threatened. And that, we think, is a welcome breath of fresh air.

Call the case of this next kaiju one of both style and substance. There’s just no way around it: Gigan looks cool. He may not always be the smartest alien cyborg on the block, since Gigan seems to be a near-constant victim of alien mind-control. This aside, Gigan arrived armed with some serious heavy artillery, alternating hooks and chainsaws on his hands, a deadly buzzsaw on his stomach and a vicious mean streak. He even makes Godzilla bleed on screen. Gigan’s visor makes it difficult to guess what’s going on upstairs (maybe he’s thinking about his pal Megalon?), but all we know is that we always wanna show up for a Gigan party.

The world of Godzilla fandom has largely come around to how sympathetic and even tragic Biollante is as a Godzilla antagonist. She’s created in the aftermath of a bombing that takes the life of one Erika Shiragami, when her father, Dr. Genshiro Shiragami splices her DNA with Godzilla cells and a rose. Biollante’s rose form and her evolved crocodilian iteration take Godzilla to the absolute limit in combat. She’s able to quickly heal her wounds, while her acidic spit and poisonous, corrosive properties are similar to that of The Smog Monster, Hedorah. We can’t help but feel sorry for Biollante, however, particularly after she succumbs to Godzilla’s attacks in their final battle.

It isn’t often that we see kaiju antagonists with psychic abilities within the Godzilla universe. This is just one of the reasons why SpaceGodzilla is so dangerous. Let’s forget for a moment the creature’s rather uninspired moniker, and instead focus upon Space G’s abilities of telekinesis, telepathy and even levitation. SpaceGodzilla’s energy shield can reflect back the OG Godzilla’s atomic breath attack, as well, giving this kaiju tons of defense properties against his opponents. There’s also an aura of malevolence and spite involved with nearly everything SpaceGodzilla does, lending him the reputation of a planner and a tactician, as opposed to a mindless kaiju beast.

A Ghidorah by any other name would still be a king. This thousands years old dragon has reared his three heads in many Godzilla films over the years, including Mecha versions and the Monster X upgrade Kaizer Ghidorah from “Godzilla: Final Wars.” He’s even taken on rare protagonist roles in films like 2001’s “Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack.” King Ghidorah primarily loves to be bad, however, and utilizes his lightning strikes and energy shields for god-level attack and defense capabilities. Said simply? It’s always a fight when King Ghidorah shows up.

We’re very used to seeing Godzilla take on a myriad of “monster of the week” style enemy fights. Most of these battles don’t possess particularly high stakes, and we never feel a semblance that there’s anything personal between the opponents. Destoroyah is something of an outlier, however, a demonic kaiju that seems to be committing carnage with relish and zeal. Godzilla actually perished at the finale of 1995’s “Godzilla vs. Destoroyah,” an event that made international headlines at the time. The fact that Destoroyah was brought into creation via the Oxygen Destroyer that 86’d the OG Godzilla isn’t lost on fans, either, with this fact always coming into play with regards to its dangerous reputation.

It’s a walking arsenal, a disaster waiting to happen with one fearsome moniker: Mechagodzilla. Sometimes it arrives from space, more often it’s made by human hands, and arrives armed with missiles that can fire from practically anywhere on its body. Mechagodzilla can fire energy beams from its eyes at three-hundred and sixty degrees, thanks to its swiveling head. This, combined with the Cross Attack Beam from its chest, means that Mechagodzilla can basically fire in every direction, all at once. It’s honestly an impressive sight when Mecha G goes all out in a fight: all energy fireworks and pulse blasts that can lay low basically anything in its path.

It’s perhaps the easiest lay-up possible, as well as a foregone conclusion to our list. What other kaiju could take the number one spot, other than the King of the Monsters? Godzilla’s power levels and abilities have fluctuated over the years, with some iterations (such as “Final Wars” Godzilla) possessing little trouble taking down enemies. Still other versions of Godzilla have been forced to team up with other kaiju in order to take down a larger threat. At the end of the day, however, the staying power of Godzilla is undeniable. Take your pick: movie appearances, comic book dominance, animated adaptations…Godzilla has done them all, and remained unconquerable for decades, with no sign of stopping.


How old were you when you watched your first Godzilla film? Let us know in the comments!