What If Godzilla Were Real?
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VOICE OVER: Phoebe de Jeu
WRITTEN BY: George Pacheco
It's a question many of us who grew up watching Godzilla flicks always asked, and about which legions of the G Man's fans have wondered. What if Godzilla were real? For this list, we're exploring the possibility of a real life Godzilla, and how his presence would affect our lives. WatchMojo asks: What if Godzilla were real?
It's a question many of us who grew up watching Godzilla flicks always asked, and about which legions of the G Man's fans have wondered. What if Godzilla were real?
Well, for starters, don't wish that, because it would, in all actuality, signify the end of the freaking world. Seriously, we're talking apocalyptic Armageddon here, because Godzilla just can't be stopped.
We're getting ahead of ourselves, though, so let's back things up a bit. We have to first try and rationalize a living, breathing, God-like giant sea reptile into the world. The first question we'd have to ask ourselves is, well, "Exactly how big a beast are we dealing with here?" Coming up with an answer is trickier than you might think, as Godzilla's reported size and measurements have varied greatly over the years.
The King of the Monsters debuted in 1954 standing at a little over 150 feet, and he's growing exponentially over the decades. This has to do, in part, with how he's been depicted. We're going to expand a bit on that later, but let's just state for the record that Godzilla has stood between 150 and nearly 500 feet, depending upon which screenwriter or director you're working with at the time. It doesn't take a master's degree in physics to realize that this kind of size is impossible to carry around without basically collapsing in on itself, or at the very least into the ground upon which G is trying to stand.
We're going to play Devil's Advocate though, and just imagine a world wherein this can occur, and Godzilla is able to do his missile dropkicks and victory dances without incident. There's also the notion of food, as in how is it possible for something that big to consume enough calories to justify its existence? The answer? It's not, making it possible that Godzilla could just die of starvation, if we're willing to wait long enough for that to happen. That idea makes more sense than trying to see if he would die of old age, as there probably (thankfully?) wouldn't be another one of his kind around for mating purposes. And no, we haven't forgot about Godzilla's "son" Minya. But since it was never explained whether or not he had a mother, we're just going to go with immaculate conception or divine intervention for that one.
We mentioned "victory dances" earlier, which makes this a perfect time to discuss the various stages of Godzilla's existence throughout cinema. The Showa Period covers the films from 1954's "Gojira" to 1975's "Terror of Mechagodzilla.” and can be categorized largely by Godzilla's position as the world's defender. This is what many fans grew up with during the "Creature Feature" days of cable T.V., with the films generally being much lighter in tone. This is especially true when we compare the Showa Period to Heisei Period of the 80s and 90s, where Godzilla signifies death and destruction, as well as the fear of atomic and scientific irresponsibility.
Since this time, the remaining two periods, Millennium from 1999 to 2004 and the Current Period from 2016 on have tended to flip back and forth between whether Godzilla is seen as the solution or the problem. What's important to realize, however, is that G causes collateral damage no matter where he goes, meaning that a world where Godzilla actually exists is bad news for just about everyone but The Big Guy himself.
Godzilla's origin story will forever be tied into the Atomic Bombs dropped on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II. His atomic breath is one of the monster's defining offensive characteristics, while the 1995 film "Godzilla vs. Destoroyah" actually describes his heart as a nuclear reactor, one which is ultimately approaching meltdown status. This doubles the destructive power of Godzilla, as not only could he demolish a city with ease, but those who survived, much like the victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, would likely be left with life altering diseases or scars, as a result of all the excess radiation.
So, despite all of the advances within modern warfare over the years, it would likely take nothing short of a nuclear attack to even remotely come close to defeating Godzilla. The films have shown us time and time again that the military is useless against him, with more lives likely being lost in an all out attack. Sure, perhaps focusing fire on Godzilla's eyes could slow down the beast, but ultimately we would have to invent a "Pacific Rim" sort of situation to even come close to irritating Godzilla's incredibly resilient skin or dissuading his destruction.
Ok, so thus far things look pretty bleak, right? But it doesn't have to be all bad! Since we're talking real life Kaiju here, what if Godzilla weren't the only giant monster around? What if G's disposition was something akin to the Showa Period, and he generally either hangs out on Monster Island, or is otherwise slumbering deep beneath the waves? In this case, it's more than possible that a Cult to The Monster could emerge, with some taking the "God" in his name quite literally. A heroic Godzilla could actually be a good thing, if a world filled with other, malevolent Kaiju was to exist. Then again, there's also the question of nationalism, specifically meaning that any country with a Godzilla (or Kaiju) would immediately be a threat to the world stage, perhaps resulting in a sort of "arms race" of pitting one Kaiju against another.
We're not here to discuss an all out monster mash, however, so bringing things back to Godzilla, how would his existence affect population and trade? Well, there would almost certainly be a mad exodus from coastal regions, in an attempt to move as far away from G's aquatic stomping grounds as possible. This also means that maritime trade, fishing, commercial cruises....basically anything out on the water would be severely limited, if not totally eliminated, by the possibility of Godzilla attacks. It also bears mentioning that, given Godzilla's intrinsic link with the Atomic Bombings , it's very possible that the U.S. would face the brunt of blame for the monster's existence, perhaps resulting in widespread exclusion from foreign politics.
So, what we have is essentially an unstoppable force of nature with no natural predators, no obvious weaknesses, and a lifespan which has endured for over sixty years in the pop culture consciousness. The most likely answer to the question of Godzilla actually existing, then, is reckoning. The end of the world. There would likely be nowhere to run, and nowhere to hide against an aggressive Godzilla. This makes humanity's only hope being that, somehow, The King of the Monsters either remains asleep and ignorant of humanity's presence, or, if the Showa Period taught us anything, is content to fight our battles against other men in monster suits until the end of time.
Well, for starters, don't wish that, because it would, in all actuality, signify the end of the freaking world. Seriously, we're talking apocalyptic Armageddon here, because Godzilla just can't be stopped.
We're getting ahead of ourselves, though, so let's back things up a bit. We have to first try and rationalize a living, breathing, God-like giant sea reptile into the world. The first question we'd have to ask ourselves is, well, "Exactly how big a beast are we dealing with here?" Coming up with an answer is trickier than you might think, as Godzilla's reported size and measurements have varied greatly over the years.
The King of the Monsters debuted in 1954 standing at a little over 150 feet, and he's growing exponentially over the decades. This has to do, in part, with how he's been depicted. We're going to expand a bit on that later, but let's just state for the record that Godzilla has stood between 150 and nearly 500 feet, depending upon which screenwriter or director you're working with at the time. It doesn't take a master's degree in physics to realize that this kind of size is impossible to carry around without basically collapsing in on itself, or at the very least into the ground upon which G is trying to stand.
We're going to play Devil's Advocate though, and just imagine a world wherein this can occur, and Godzilla is able to do his missile dropkicks and victory dances without incident. There's also the notion of food, as in how is it possible for something that big to consume enough calories to justify its existence? The answer? It's not, making it possible that Godzilla could just die of starvation, if we're willing to wait long enough for that to happen. That idea makes more sense than trying to see if he would die of old age, as there probably (thankfully?) wouldn't be another one of his kind around for mating purposes. And no, we haven't forgot about Godzilla's "son" Minya. But since it was never explained whether or not he had a mother, we're just going to go with immaculate conception or divine intervention for that one.
We mentioned "victory dances" earlier, which makes this a perfect time to discuss the various stages of Godzilla's existence throughout cinema. The Showa Period covers the films from 1954's "Gojira" to 1975's "Terror of Mechagodzilla.” and can be categorized largely by Godzilla's position as the world's defender. This is what many fans grew up with during the "Creature Feature" days of cable T.V., with the films generally being much lighter in tone. This is especially true when we compare the Showa Period to Heisei Period of the 80s and 90s, where Godzilla signifies death and destruction, as well as the fear of atomic and scientific irresponsibility.
Since this time, the remaining two periods, Millennium from 1999 to 2004 and the Current Period from 2016 on have tended to flip back and forth between whether Godzilla is seen as the solution or the problem. What's important to realize, however, is that G causes collateral damage no matter where he goes, meaning that a world where Godzilla actually exists is bad news for just about everyone but The Big Guy himself.
Godzilla's origin story will forever be tied into the Atomic Bombs dropped on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II. His atomic breath is one of the monster's defining offensive characteristics, while the 1995 film "Godzilla vs. Destoroyah" actually describes his heart as a nuclear reactor, one which is ultimately approaching meltdown status. This doubles the destructive power of Godzilla, as not only could he demolish a city with ease, but those who survived, much like the victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, would likely be left with life altering diseases or scars, as a result of all the excess radiation.
So, despite all of the advances within modern warfare over the years, it would likely take nothing short of a nuclear attack to even remotely come close to defeating Godzilla. The films have shown us time and time again that the military is useless against him, with more lives likely being lost in an all out attack. Sure, perhaps focusing fire on Godzilla's eyes could slow down the beast, but ultimately we would have to invent a "Pacific Rim" sort of situation to even come close to irritating Godzilla's incredibly resilient skin or dissuading his destruction.
Ok, so thus far things look pretty bleak, right? But it doesn't have to be all bad! Since we're talking real life Kaiju here, what if Godzilla weren't the only giant monster around? What if G's disposition was something akin to the Showa Period, and he generally either hangs out on Monster Island, or is otherwise slumbering deep beneath the waves? In this case, it's more than possible that a Cult to The Monster could emerge, with some taking the "God" in his name quite literally. A heroic Godzilla could actually be a good thing, if a world filled with other, malevolent Kaiju was to exist. Then again, there's also the question of nationalism, specifically meaning that any country with a Godzilla (or Kaiju) would immediately be a threat to the world stage, perhaps resulting in a sort of "arms race" of pitting one Kaiju against another.
We're not here to discuss an all out monster mash, however, so bringing things back to Godzilla, how would his existence affect population and trade? Well, there would almost certainly be a mad exodus from coastal regions, in an attempt to move as far away from G's aquatic stomping grounds as possible. This also means that maritime trade, fishing, commercial cruises....basically anything out on the water would be severely limited, if not totally eliminated, by the possibility of Godzilla attacks. It also bears mentioning that, given Godzilla's intrinsic link with the Atomic Bombings , it's very possible that the U.S. would face the brunt of blame for the monster's existence, perhaps resulting in widespread exclusion from foreign politics.
So, what we have is essentially an unstoppable force of nature with no natural predators, no obvious weaknesses, and a lifespan which has endured for over sixty years in the pop culture consciousness. The most likely answer to the question of Godzilla actually existing, then, is reckoning. The end of the world. There would likely be nowhere to run, and nowhere to hide against an aggressive Godzilla. This makes humanity's only hope being that, somehow, The King of the Monsters either remains asleep and ignorant of humanity's presence, or, if the Showa Period taught us anything, is content to fight our battles against other men in monster suits until the end of time.
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