Godzilla (TriStar)

Godzilla; Gojira; King of the Monsters; American Godzilla; Godzilla-U.S.A.; Godzilla In Name Only (G.I.N.O.)

54 meters (180 feet)

90 meters (300 feet)

23,000 metric tons (25,353 short tons)

• Combustible "power breath"
• Impressive physical strength; able to borrow and excavate the thick tar and concrete beneath New York City
• Asexual reproduction; capable of laying in excess of 200 eggs, which threaten to overwhelm and supplant humanity as the Earth's apex species
• Amphibiousness

• Susceptible to conventional weaponry

The TriStar Godzilla is an intelligent animal simply bent on survival. He evades, confuses, and ambushes his attacker rather than fight them head-on, behavior which allowed him to survive several encounters with the U.S. military. According to Niko Tatopoulos, Godzilla is not acting maliciously, but is simply providing for the survival of himself and his young. The destruction Godzilla causes is generally the result of his gigantic size as he searches for food or attempts to evade the military. Godzilla is visibly saddened and enraged after he finds his offspring dead in the ruins of Madison Square Garden, and seems to hold the humans who are present responsible, immediately giving chase after them.

The TriStar Godzilla is a mutated creature that hatched from an iguana egg exposed to a 1968 French nuclear test conducted in Moruroa Atoll of French Polynesia. The creature apparently grew over a period of 30 years, and by the year 1998 had reached a size of about 180 feet as a result of his mutation.

In 1998, a gigantic creature sunk the Japanese fishing vessel Kobayashi-Maru, leaving only one survivor. The creature later crossed Panama, leaving behind many large footprints, and attacked another ship carrying canned fish in the Atlantic Ocean. The wreckage washed up on the coast of Jamaica. Believing the monster was the product of a secret nuclear test their country had conducted in French Polynesia 30 years prior, the French government authorized a team of secret servicemen led by Philippe Roaché to investigate. Posing as an insurance agent, Philippe investigated the shipwreck, which was completely stripped of tuna, and interviewed the only survivor of the incident, who had been exposed to a great deal of radiation during the attack. He claimed he saw Gojira, a giant sea monster from Japanese legend. In the meantime, the American military deployed forces to Panama to further investigate the incident, establishing a scientific team composed of Niko "Nick" Tatopoulos, Elsie Chapman and Mendel Craven to determine what caused it. Elsie proposed the shipwreck and footprints were made by some kind of huge lost dinosaur, but Nick believed otherwise. He hypothesized that the animal was a new mutant species spawned from exposure to nuclear radiation.

The creature swam up the Eastern Seaboard of the United States, causing multiple shipwrecks as it approached New York City. When he came ashore in Manhattan, he revealed himself to be a huge reptilian creature standing approximately 180 feet in height. He tore apart the docks and wandered through the city, causing extensive damage before vanishing into the urban jungle.

The military scrambled to evacuate the city and prepare countermeasures against the monster. Nick determined that the monster was piscivorous, and proposed a plan to lure it into Flatiron Square with 20,000 pounds of fish. The plan was set into motion, with a mound of fish being dumped into the street and military forces being stationed around the area. After manhole covers in the area were opened, the creature broke through the street and began eating the fish. Nick took photographs of the beast before the military opened fire on it. The monster fled from the military's attack, and began picking off the AH-64 Apache choppers deployed after him one-by-one. In the end, the monster escaped and the military inflicted more damage on the city than he did. In the aftermath, Nick recovered a blood sample from the creature, and after close analysis discovered that the creature was capable of asexual reproduction and about to lay eggs. Nick's former college sweetheart, Audrey Timmonds, reunited with him and stole some of his classified videotapes about the monster, intending to use them to advance her aspirations as a news reporter. Audrey's boss, Charles Caiman, in turn stole the story and reported it on live television, giving the monster the name "Godzilla" after mispronouncing Gojira. When the report aired, the military promptly kicked Nick off the task force dealing with the monster. Nick was subsequently kidnapped by Philippe and his men, who wanted to work with him to find Godzilla's nest under the city before his young could hatch.

The military prepared for another assault against Godzilla in Central Park. Once Godzilla surfaced and entered the park, the military opened fire on him, sending him into retreat again.

Godzilla dove into the Hudson River, where two Ohio-class submarines and one Los Angeles-class submarine were waiting for him. The submarines locked onto Godzilla and fired torpedoes at him while he attempted to burrow to safety. The torpedoes struck the monster, sending him sinking to the river floor. The military declared Godzilla dead, bringing relief to the city.

Meanwhile, Philippe's team, secretly followed by Audrey and her cameraman Victor "Animal" Palotti, made their way through New York’s subway tunnels. They soon found Godzilla's nest inside Madison Square Garden, containing 228 eggs and a large supply of fish to feed the young. The eggs then hatched into Baby Godzillas, who caught the smell of fish on Nick and the others and began attacking them. Eventually, Nick and Philippe met up with Audrey and Animal, and they all boarded themselves inside the arena's media room. Using the broadcasting equipment, Audrey broadcast a live news report to the city showing the Baby Godzillas roaming through the arena and warning of the threat. Major Anthony Hicks ordered three F-18 Hornets to blow up the arena, and gave Nick and the others a brief window to flee. Using an assault rifle to shoot down chandeliers on the ceiling, Philippe cleared a path for himself, Nick, Audrey, and Animal to escape just before the arena exploded with all the Baby Godzillas still inside.

The four believed the threat was over, but were proven wrong when the still-living adult Godzilla rose up from under the street. After seeing the charred corpses of his young, Godzilla became enraged and gave chase to the humans. They quickly hijacked a taxi and began fleeing from the monster, who chased them across the city. Nick established contact with the military, warning them that Godzilla was still alive. The group then lured Godzilla to the Brooklyn Bridge to trap him for the military, but the creature suddenly caught the cab in his mouth.

They electrocuted the monster's mouth with a nearby live wire, making him roar in pain and allowing them to drive back out onto the bridge. Godzilla persisted, jumping onto the bridge and eventually becoming ensnared in the suspension cables. With Godzilla trapped, the three F-18 Hornets flew overhead and unleashed their payload on the stationary monster. Godzilla roared as the missiles created enormous wounds in his sides. Godzilla made eye contact with Nick before rising up and dropping in front of the humans. Nick looked Godzilla in the eye as the monster slowly died. New York immediately erupted into celebration, with the threat of Godzilla finally eliminated.

However, inside the smoldering ruins of Madison Square Garden, a lone egg that survived the airstrike hatched into a new Godzilla.

The TriStar Godzilla has a stance similar to modern depictions of theropod dinosaurs, such as Tyrannosaurus rex and dromaeosauridae, in contrast to Godzilla's traditional upright humanoid posture.

The color of Godzilla's skin is a very dark blue on the top of his body, to the point of looking black during some scenes, a silvery light-blue color on the sides of the body, and tan on the underside, as if to blend in with the urban environment. The design has powerful, long legs and arms, which enable for very swift movement; something it was specifically designed to have.

Godzilla has a notably enormous underbite with a huge chin, and teeth that stick out of the mouth, much like crocodiles'. In contrast to Godzilla's traditional maple leaf-shaped dorsal plates, the ToraGoji has curved, spike-like dorsal plates, curving towards the front, described as looking somewhat like reversed shark fins.

Godzilla only has four fingers in the master CG model used in the movie, the giant animatronic, and the final design maquette. However, a vestigial fifth digit is present in the suit.