Godzilla (Kiryu Saga)

Godzilla; Gojira; King of the Monsters

55 meters (180 feet)

95 meters (312 feet)

25,000 metric tons (27,557 short tons)

• Atomic breath
• Extreme physical strength and durability; totally immune and impervious to damage from conventional weapons
• Powerful regenerative healing factor
• Amphibiousness

• Susceptible to high voltage electricity

Godzilla does not display much of a defined personality, and is depicted as a destructive force of nature acting primarily on instinct. It is suggested that a primary reason for this Godzilla's rampages is the fact that he is attracted by Kiryu, who contains the remains of another Godzilla. This Godzilla does not appear to become violent or attack unless he is attacked first, after which he will lash out and brutally attack his enemies.

In 1954, the original Godzilla appeared and laid waste to Tokyo before being killed by Daisuke Serizawa's Oxygen Destroyer. In the decades that followed, Japan was frequently attacked by giant monsters, including Mothra and Gaira. The Anti-Megalosaurus Force (A.M.F.) was formed to combat these creatures, armed with advanced space-age weapons known as Maser Cannons. In 1999, a second Godzilla suddenly came ashore at Tateyama during a typhoon. The A.M.F. was deployed, with their new Type 90 Maser Cannons, to stop Godzilla's rampage. To the AMF's shock, Maser Cannons had no effect on Godzilla, and only served to further enrage him. Godzilla destroyed most of the Maser Cannons attacking him and roared victoriously into the air, with lightning striking his dorsal fins. In the aftermath of the attack, the Japanese government was scrambling to find a new way to fight Godzilla. When the first Godzilla's intact skeleton was discovered off Boso Peninsula, it was decided to use it to construct a mechanical Godzilla to fight the new one. Recruiting the assistance of Japan's greatest scientific minds, the Japanese government began construction on the Godzilla robot.

By 2003, four years after construction began, the weapon, codenamed Kiryu, was completed. Just after the mech was exhibited to the international community, Godzilla landed in Japan once again. Kiryu was launched and confronted Godzilla near the coast. Kiryu launched its rockets and fired its oral Maser beams at Godzilla, causing him to step back. Kiryu prepared to fire its ultimate weapon, the Absolute Zero Cannon, but Godzilla roared and caused the first Godzilla's soul within Kiryu to awaken. Kiryu, believing itself to be Godzilla once again, went berserk, destroying the surrounding city with its payload of weapons. Godzilla retreated in the confusion, while the A.M.F. raced to find a way to shut Kiryu down.

Once Kiryu's power was depleted, the project was shelved indefinitely, with A.M.F. and the government reduced to a laughingstock.

Later, Godzilla resurfaced in Tokyo Bay, demolishing the A.M.F. forces attacking him and coming ashore. As Godzilla drew closer and closer to the city center, A.M.F. and the Prime Minister had no choice but to launch Kiryu again, believing whatever caused it to run wild before had been repaired. As Godzilla approached a hospital and charged his atomic breath, Kiryu dropped from the sky and knocked Godzilla into a nearby building. Godzilla got up and attacked Kiryu. The monsters appeared equally matched as they pushed each other back and forth through the city. Kiryu stabbed Godzilla with its plasma sword and electrocuted him. Godzilla responded by kicking Kiryu into a building and stomping on it. Kiryu regained its footing and grabbed Godzilla's tail, swinging him in the air and tossing him across the city. Kiryu charged the Absolute Zero once again, but Godzilla fired his atomic breath and sent Kiryu hurdling through the sky, with the Absolute Zero beam hitting three skyscrapers instead. When Kiryu hit the ground, it was rendered inoperable. The A.M.F. distracted Godzilla while Kiryu's operator Akane Yashiro manually took control of the machine and got it back in working order. As Kiryu stood back up, Godzilla blasted it in the back with his atomic breath until it collapsed to the ground again. Kiryu stood up once more, as Godzilla charged his atomic breath. This time, Lieutenant Susumu Hayama piloted a AC-3 White Heron into Godzilla's mouth, buying Kiryu time to fight back. Kiryu grabbed the jet's cockpit and tore it from Godzilla's mouth, then threw Hayama to safety. Kiryu grabbed Godzilla and held his mouth shut as it took flight, charging the Absolute Zero. Kiryu crashed into Tokyo Bay and fired the weapon, causing water to erupt out of the bay and freeze solid in the air.

The ice shattered, and Godzilla rose from the water with a gaping wound in his chest. As Godzilla began wading out to sea, Kiryu surfaced as well, missing an arm and unable to move. Godzilla looked back at Kiryu and growled before continuing on his way back out to sea. While Kiryu failed to kill Godzilla, it did expel him, meaning humanity finally had a weapon to defend itself against Godzilla.

Just one year after Godzilla and Kiryu's epic battle, Mothra's Shobijin appeared to Shinichi Chujo and warned him that the first Godzilla's bones must be returned to their resting place in the sea, and that it was blasphemous to use them as a weapon. The Shobijin stated that Mothra would have to declare war on humanity if the bones were not returned, and that she did not want to do that. Chujo spoke to the Japanese Prime Minister Hayato Igarashi, who stated that too many resources had been sunk into the Kiryu project for it to be scrapped now. He expressed his hope that Kiryu would one day kill Godzilla, after which the project could finally be scrapped. Meanwhile, the carcass of Kamoebas, a giant turtle, washed up on a beach, with claw marks in its neck. The A.M.F. declared it to be the work of Godzilla, and Kiryu's repairs were sped up to prepare for the monster's return. Soon, Godzilla arrived in Tokyo, and appeared to be heading for Kiryu's hangar. Igarashi began to worry that Kiryu itself was what had been attracting Godzilla. Chujo's grandson Shun used school desks to recreate Mothra's sacred symbol, drawing her to Tokyo. Mothra attacked Godzilla, but in her old age was outmatched. Unwilling to let Mothra continue the fight alone, Igarashi ordered for Kiryu to be deployed. Kiryu arrived during Mothra and Godzilla's battle and attacked Godzilla after Mothra's wings had been destroyed by Godzilla's atomic breath. On Himago Island, Mothra's egg hatched into two twin larvae, which swam to Tokyo to assist their mother.

Back in Tokyo, Godzilla used his atomic breath to blast off the side of Kiryu's face, knocking it out of commission. When Mothra's larvae arrived and began speaking with their mother, Godzilla fired his atomic breath at them. Mothra used the last of her strength to fly in front of the beam, causing her to be set ablaze and explode. Determined to avenge their mother, the larvae attacked Godzilla while Yoshito Chujo, an A.M.F. mechanic, attempted to repair Kiryu from inside. When Kiryu was repaired, it engaged Godzilla again near the National Diet Building. The Diet Building was destroyed in the monsters' confrontation, but Kiryu managed to stab Godzilla's chest wound from their previous battle with its drill hand. Kiryu rotated the drill, causing Godzilla immeasurable pain. Mothra's larvae covered the wounded Godzilla in silk until he fell over, too injured to continue fighting. A.M.F. ordered Kiryu to finish Godzilla, but Godzilla's pained cries reawakened the first Godzilla's spirit inside Kiryu. Unwilling to kill a member of his kind, Kiryu simply grabbed Godzilla and flew out to sea, sinking himself along with Godzilla in the Japan Trench. Igarashi declared the battle to be a hollow victory, and ordered the Kiryu project officially scrapped. However, the AMF was secretly holding the DNA of several monsters in a lab, including Godzilla's, to construct more weapons to defend against future monster attacks, possibly Godzilla again should he break free from Kiryu's grip.

Godzilla features a much more reptilian head than past versions of the monster, as well as the pointed, jagged dorsal fins. However, this Godzilla's skin returns to the traditional charcoal gray color, while his dorsal fins are somewhat smaller in size and are bone-white in color once again. This Godzilla's eyes are notable for being extremely large and bird-like, as well as yellow in color, making this Godzilla considerably more expressive than past incarnations.