What if all Godzilla films had been on the same timeline?

[Mr. Anonymous]

I've seen it happen in fanfictions but what if it had happened in real life?

Every film from Godzilla (1954) to Terror of MechaG was in the same continuity. We all know that. Afterwards, Toho thought to make more Godzilla as superhero films but that was ultimately scrapped in order to reboot the franchise and we got Godzilla (1984). That happened again when Toho decided to make Godzilla 2000 and decided not to continue the where the last film left off.

What if it happened otherwise I have my own ideas -- they admittedly might go under the fanfic section -- but how would Godzilla be if there had just been one big timeline? How might it have looked like?

[GodzillaFan1992]

It'd be World War G that is what. A war between all the Godzilla's.

[gzilla46]

I could actually imagine it. The world is safe from the terror of MechaGodzilla after Godzilla saved the day. Then he's not been heard from since. 10 years later, Godzilla returns after a long absence. People at first embrace their hero, but Godzilla begins going on a rampage, much to the shock and horror of everyone.

[schvanzbass]

I was really confused about the drastic change in the films when younger, having not seen 1985 since I was 5 or 6. When I was 11 I got a Fangoria magazine that listed every Toho Godzilla film to date in production order, American release, and plot synopsis. It also explained the gap from Terror to Return. Until reading that I just figured Godzilla had turned bad. I'm pretty sure watching 1985 made me cry when I was 5.


Don't judge me.....

[GodzillaFan1992]

For the longest time, I thought that Godzilla 2000 took place after the Heisei series and that G2K was Godzilla Jr, lol. It sorta makes sense if you follow G2k, Godzilla X Megaguirus, Godzilla X Mechagodzilla, and Tokyo SOS, but GMK and Godzilla: Final Wars don't really fit in that timeline.

It really wouldn't have made sense if Junior was G2K. Unlike his father. Junior was friendly towards humans and when he became the next Godzilla. He would've been a protector of Humanity just like how Showa Godzilla is.

[Mr. Anonymous]

Like I said my ideas.

In the first wave we see Godzilla (1954) to Terror of Mechagodzilla mostly the same. Then Toho decides that they need to shake things up in order to get back audiences like they did in real life. The difference is that there is no reboot. Instead, we see a Gamera III style Godzilla as hero film wherein we see that some people harbor resentments towards Godzilla because of the damage he inevitably causes in saving the city. We learn that it had always been there; a lot of people still remember the old destructive Godzilla. The bad feelings only intensified in the Simeon invasion when people thought that the Monster King had gone rogue.

It all goes to the when Dr. Hayashida, who had lost his parents to (a) Godzilla in 1954 kidnaps Minilla as part of a plan to kill the little monster's father. It backfires and the doctor's monster not only escapes but its Godzilla who saves the city. Alas Minilla's is killed in the melee and the next film shows Godzilla attacking Tokyo in revenge. A remorseful Hayashida's words--"Godzilla's a victim of the modern nuclear age. Men are the only real monsters"--thus have a new power.

The hesei series continues mostly unchanged. I don't know how G vs King Ghidorah might change as there would have already been a King Ghidorah. Who knows maybe the big rematch with King Kong could have happened!

G and Mothra: The Battle for Earth would work well very nicely though. Years after the fact, it is revealed that Battra is the other caterpillar who hatched in G vs the Thing. Part of Battra's eco-terrorism stems from how Infant Island was left in ruins and maybe the mom from the 1990s movie is in fact an Infant Islander who was educated in Tokyo and is all modern but still worships Mothra and honors the Cosmos.

The Mom: Your holinesses... you honor me
The Cosmos: You still remember!

It changes in G vs MechaG II where we see the hatching of Baby. We've learned by then that Miki is the niece of Ichiro, the boy from Godzilla's Revenge. Ichiro wasn't playing with imaginary friends, he was astrally projecting himself to the real Monster Island! Not only that, but playmate Minya had imprinted his consciousness on Ichiro's mind and Ichiro before his death transferred it to his little Miki. Thus, after Miki places her hand on the egg and passes out, Baby is born looking for fruit and saying "Gwa-Gwa!"

Part of the reason that Godzilla left his showa heroics to return to destruction was the death of his son at the hands of humans. With his son restored to him, Godzilla forgives humans and goes home. And we then see G vs SpaceG except instead of Space Godzilla, we get one last rumble with King Ghidorah. It plays out much the same and indeed, after Godzilla saves the day, Miki uses her telekinesis to remove the control device from Godzilla's neck. The showa hero restored, he turns around and nods at her.

G vs Destroyer happens unchanged with Godzilla saving the day from Destroyer, dying, and his radiation saving Junior. G 2000 then happens as a direct sequel with the new Godzilla even carrying his scar from the fight against Destroyer. We even see Miki having quit G-Force and creating the Godzilla Prediction Network. The American dub has the following dialogue.

Katagiri: Awww... there's mommy's sticking up for her little boy! And I suppose we just let Godzooky there smash Tokyo.

Miki: Firstly, with his father dead, his name is Godzilla. Secondly, he'd never do that!

Katagiri vows to kill the new King of the Monsters.

Miki: Humph. You think your little toys can kill my Godzilla!

All the while Katagiri disprages the kaiju, calling him Godzooky. Its only after the monster in question saves the world from Orga that it changes. He walks up to the building where Katagiri had set up his command center. Said human sees that he no longer deserves to live; all this time he'd been trying to kill the only force capable of saving the world.

When Miki tries to pull him away, he punches her out thus--perhaps--angering her "son." Its at this that Katagiri finally says "Godzilla!" and Godzilla brings his fist crashing down.

The rest of the millennium series happens the same though perhaps G vs MechaG III involves Godzilla II's remains.

Guys it could have happened!

[schvanzbass]

Also Destroy All Monsters take place in 1999, the same year where Godzilla 2000 happens and the year that states where the meteor from Godzilla vs. Mothra '92 happens.

Battra dies, Mothra goes to intercept the meteor. The meteor appears, Mothra obviously fails. The Kilaaks control all the monsters (including Mothra, who reappears as having been captured), and Orga is the replacement for King Ghidorah?

Maybe?

[DrBreakfastMachine]

I've honestly never quite understood why Toho felt it was necessary to divide the films into so many different continuities.

It would have been perfectly fine if The Return of Godzilla had been a continuation of the Showa series. Basically all you'd have to do is change every instance of "Godzilla hasn't appeared in 30 years" to "Godzilla hasn't appeared in 9 years" and it would be the same movie. There wouldn't be the redone versions of the classic monsters, but more new creatures like Biollante and Destoroyah. Godzilla 2000 could have mentioned that this Godzilla was the grown up Godzilla Jr. from the Heisei film and it wouldn't have affected the movie much. Megaguirius could have been a continuation of 2000. Final Wars would be set up perfectly because it would be following 50 years of continuity with a ton of monsters to choose from.

The only movie in the series that actually needed to be a reboot was the Legendary film, because it was made to draw in new American viewers instead of continuing a story for fans.

[Mr. Anonymous]

I was really confused about the drastic change in the films when younger, having not seen 1985 since I was 5 or 6. When I was 11 I got a Fangoria magazine that listed every Toho Godzilla film to date in production order, American release, and plot synopsis. It also explained the gap from Terror to Return. Until reading that I just figured Godzilla had turned bad. I'm pretty sure watching 1985 made me cry when I was 5.


Don't judge me.....

Don't be so defensive, buddy. Growing up in the 80s, with no knowledge that there even was a hesei series going on, I thought the exact same thing. I too cried for Godzilla, "that strangely innocent and tragic monster." (Heck I cried when I saw G vs King Ghidorah because I thought he'd reform like in Ghidra: The Three Headed Monster and didn't.*)

If they happen in the same timeline then what happens to Minya? I doubt Godzilla will ditch his own son for a new kid. Also Destroy All Monsters take place in 1999, the same year where Godzilla 2000 happens and the year that states where the meteor from Godzilla vs. Mothra '92 happens.

Well I said in my what-if ideas post, the reason Godzilla turns bad in G 1985 is that Minya was killed by humans. As for Destroy All Monsters... I have no idea how that could be fit in.

*That of course happened in G vs SpaceG.

[Dr. Professor]

[insert huge thing here]

I really like that. A lot.

[Gamingboy]

If they happen in the same timeline then what happens to Minya? I doubt Godzilla will ditch his own son for a new kid. Also Destroy All Monsters take place in 1999, the same year where Godzilla 2000 happens and the year that states where the meteor from Godzilla vs. Mothra '92 happens.

Maybe Showa Godzilla was poisoned or something in the fight with Mechagodzilla, dies, Minya becomes Heisei Godzilla?

[gigandude]

If they happen in the same timeline then what happens to Minya? I doubt Godzilla will ditch his own son for a new kid. Also Destroy All Monsters take place in 1999, the same year where Godzilla 2000 happens and the year that states where the meteor from Godzilla vs. Mothra '92 happens.

Maybe Showa Godzilla was poisoned or something in the fight with Mechagodzilla, dies, Minya becomes Heisei Godzilla?

I like to think Minya is the Heisei Godzilla.

[Rareeve6195]

I havnt seen them yet but im curious , does the rebirth of mothra movies fit into the heisei series ? or are they their own thing

[schvanzbass]

Pretty sure they are their own thing. I haven't seen them either, but seeing as how the Heisei films would have two Ghidorahs....probably different universes.

[Beef Bigshot]

Godzilla would have defeated all his enemies with his tail slide or by flying.

/thread

[Pkmatrix]

I've seen it happen in fanfictions but what if it had happened in real life?

Well, for one, it would be the longest unrebooted movie series in history. I think the current record is the James Bond series at 20 films (Dr. No to Die Another Day, Casino Royale rebooted it). Hell, if we accept the Showa films as being one continuity (dubious, as I'll discuss below), that probably puts Godzilla at #2. And even Heisei Godzilla, if we count the original film too, is nothing to sneeze at with eight films.

Every film from Godzilla (1954) to Terror of MechaG was in the same continuity. We all know that.

Not necessarily.

I think an argument could be made for Showa Godzilla being broken into three or four distinct continuities. Obviously, all that follows is just a hypothesis:

1. Godzilla, Godzilla Raids Again, and King Kong vs. Godzilla

There is no question that GRA is in continuity with G'54 and the iceberg in KKvG has been stated again and again as being intended as a direct reference to GRA. IMO, though, the connection between KKvG and Mothra vs. Godzilla is more than tenuous, it's nonexistent. I think an argument could be made that, instead, there's a break in continuity and a second one emerges:

2. Mothra, Mothra vs. Godzilla, Ghidorah the Three-Headed Monster, Monster Zero, and Ebirah Horror of the Deep.

In my opinion, Mothra vs. Godzilla is far more a sequel to Mothra than to King Kong vs. Godzilla. Not only do the characters seem to recall Mothra, the movies share characters (the Shobijin and Islanders) and settings (Infant Island). Godzilla, meanwhile, just appears - we only know this isn't supposed to be his first appearance only because the characters know who he is. That's not enough to claim continuity with KKvG, IMO. For all intents and purposes, Godzilla is the immigrant into Mothra's universe, not vice versa.

Ghidorah is a direct sequel MvG, and like the G'54-GRA connection I think it's hard to dispute continuity between the two: they share characters and locations, plus they even reference the events of the previous film directly. The movie also brings in Rodan, but while the movie connects Rodan with Mt. Aso that's really all it says - honestly, it connects the movie with the movie Rodan as Godzilla's appearance from the sea in MvG. Nothing is said other than a monster called Rodan exists and that he is associated with Mt. Aso. Obviously, it's a reference to the 1956 movie, but I don't think that necessarily means continuity. Why?

There's a similar situation in House of Frankenstein. That movie features characters, settings, and directly references the events of Frankenstein meets the Wolfman, which clearly places it in the Frankenstein series (and the movie previous did the same with Ghost of Frankenstein and The Wolfman). It also includes Count Dracula, but it's difficult to believe the movie is in continuity with 1931's Dracula and 1936's Dracula's Daughter considering it gets basically NONE of the plot details right: the movie claims Dracula was staked (as in the first Dracula) but that it was in the basement of his castle in Transylvania (in the first film, it was in Carfax Abbey in England). Even if we just assume that Dracula's Daughter is not in continuity, the details are different enough that we can assume that this is not the same Dracula and that the previous Dracula films are not in continuity.

I think the same could be argued here for Godzilla and Rodan.

Moving on, Monster Zero has a fairly weak connection to Ghidorah but it does reference the fight in the previous movie some I'm willing to allow it. Ebirah has no connection to anything else beyond the return of Mothra, the Shobijin, Infant Island, and the islanders, but that's a lot of baggage so it's probably safe to assume Ebirah is also in continuity.

3. NO Continuity: Son of Godzilla, Destroy All Monsters, Godzilla's Revenge, Godzilla vs. Hedorah, Godzilla vs. Gigan, Godzilla vs. Megalon

IMO, none of these movies are in continuity with themselves or anything else. The only thing connecting most of these is Monster Island, but the depiction of the island different every movie.

Son of Godzilla: Solgell Island
Destroy All Monsters: Ogasawara Island, a completely different location than the previous movie and a tightly controlled UN facility
Godzilla's Revenge: A figment of a child's imagination.
Godzilla vs. Gigan: "Monster Island", which seems to basically be the same thing as the facility in DAM but no reference to Ogasawara. Plus, it seems to suddenly exist in the 1970s.
Godzilla vs. Megalon: It exists. That's it.

I posit that, like the Millennium series, these are are stand alones.

4. Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla and Terror of Mechagodzilla.

ToMG opens with INTERPOL looking for the head of Mechagodzilla lost at sea off Okinawa at the end of the previous film plus is still about INTERPOL fighting the Black Hole Aliens. I think these two definitely form a continuity all their own.

What if it happened otherwise I have my own ideas -- they admittedly might go under the fanfic section -- but how would Godzilla be if there had just been one big timeline? How might it have looked like?

Honestly, probably not much different. I think Godzilla vs. Gigan would've retconned Destroy All Monsters as taking place in 1969 instead of 1999 to justify having masers and Monsterland (plus, there probably would be a reference to either this being a "new" Ghidorah or Ghidorah's body having never been found after the Mt. Fuji fight). In G'85 there might be a reference to Godzilla "going back to his old ways", but I think otherwise it would be the same. GvKG, GvM, and GvMG could probably get away with brief references to the original King Ghidorah, previous Mothra appearances, and the original Mechagodzilla. The Millennium movies would have G-Force instead of the JSDF/G-Graspers/JSXDF.

[Gamingboy]

PKMatrix: And even the Casino Royale reboot may no longer really hold... the Goldfinger Aston Martin showed up in Skyfall and M talked about it as if 007 had been sent in the field with it before.


Also, this requires me to note that, thanks to You Only Live Twice, there have been a few actors who have been in both the EON Bond and Toho Godzilla films.

[kamilleblu]

Every film from Godzilla (1954) to Terror of MechaG was in the same continuity. We all know that.

Not necessarily.

I think an argument could be made for Showa Godzilla being broken into three or four distinct continuities. Obviously, all that follows is just a hypothesis:

1. Godzilla, Godzilla Raids Again, and King Kong vs. Godzilla

There is no question that GRA is in continuity with G'54 and the iceberg in KKvG has been stated again and again as being intended as a direct reference to GRA. IMO, though, the connection between KKvG and Mothra vs. Godzilla is more than tenuous, it's nonexistent. I think an argument could be made that, instead, there's a break in continuity and a second one emerges:

2. Mothra, Mothra vs. Godzilla, Ghidorah the Three-Headed Monster, Monster Zero, and Ebirah Horror of the Deep.

In my opinion, Mothra vs. Godzilla is far more a sequel to Mothra than to King Kong vs. Godzilla. Not only do the characters seem to recall Mothra, the movies share characters (the Shobijin and Islanders) and settings (Infant Island). Godzilla, meanwhile, just appears - we only know this isn't supposed to be his first appearance only because the characters know who he is. That's not enough to claim continuity with KKvG, IMO. For all intents and purposes, Godzilla is the immigrant into Mothra's universe, not vice versa.

Ghidorah is a direct sequel MvG, and like the G'54-GRA connection I think it's hard to dispute continuity between the two: they share characters and locations, plus they even reference the events of the previous film directly. The movie also brings in Rodan, but while the movie connects Rodan with Mt. Aso that's really all it says - honestly, it connects the movie with the movie Rodan as Godzilla's appearance from the sea in MvG. Nothing is said other than a monster called Rodan exists and that he is associated with Mt. Aso. Obviously, it's a reference to the 1956 movie, but I don't think that necessarily means continuity. Why?

There's a similar situation in House of Frankenstein. That movie features characters, settings, and directly references the events of Frankenstein meets the Wolfman, which clearly places it in the Frankenstein series (and the movie previous did the same with Ghost of Frankenstein and The Wolfman). It also includes Count Dracula, but it's difficult to believe the movie is in continuity with 1931's Dracula and 1936's Dracula's Daughter considering it gets basically NONE of the plot details right: the movie claims Dracula was staked (as in the first Dracula) but that it was in the basement of his castle in Transylvania (in the first film, it was in Carfax Abbey in England). Even if we just assume that Dracula's Daughter is not in continuity, the details are different enough that we can assume that this is not the same Dracula and that the previous Dracula films are not in continuity.

I think the same could be argued here for Godzilla and Rodan.

Moving on, Monster Zero has a fairly weak connection to Ghidorah but it does reference the fight in the previous movie some I'm willing to allow it. Ebirah has no connection to anything else beyond the return of Mothra, the Shobijin, Infant Island, and the islanders, but that's a lot of baggage so it's probably safe to assume Ebirah is also in continuity.

3. NO Continuity: Son of Godzilla, Destroy All Monsters, Godzilla's Revenge, Godzilla vs. Hedorah, Godzilla vs. Gigan, Godzilla vs. Megalon

IMO, none of these movies are in continuity with themselves or anything else. The only thing connecting most of these is Monster Island, but the depiction of the island different every movie.

Son of Godzilla: Solgell Island
Destroy All Monsters: Ogasawara Island, a completely different location than the previous movie and a tightly controlled UN facility
Godzilla's Revenge: A figment of a child's imagination.
Godzilla vs. Gigan: "Monster Island", which seems to basically be the same thing as the facility in DAM but no reference to Ogasawara. Plus, it seems to suddenly exist in the 1970s.
Godzilla vs. Megalon: It exists. That's it.

I posit that, like the Millennium series, these are are stand alones.

4. Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla and Terror of Mechagodzilla.

ToMG opens with INTERPOL looking for the head of Mechagodzilla lost at sea off Okinawa at the end of the previous film plus is still about INTERPOL fighting the Black Hole Aliens. I think these two definitely form a continuity all their own.

What if it happened otherwise I have my own ideas -- they admittedly might go under the fanfic section -- but how would Godzilla be if there had just been one big timeline? How might it have looked like?

Honestly, probably not much different. I think Godzilla vs. Gigan would've retconned Destroy All Monsters as taking place in 1969 instead of 1999 to justify having masers and Monsterland (plus, there probably would be a reference to either this being a "new" Ghidorah or Ghidorah's body having never been found after the Mt. Fuji fight). In G'85 there might be a reference to Godzilla "going back to his old ways", but I think otherwise it would be the same. GvKG, GvM, and GvMG could probably get away with brief references to the original King Ghidorah, previous Mothra appearances, and the original Mechagodzilla. The Millennium movies would have G-Force instead of the JSDF/G-Graspers/JSXDF.

If you're going to pick apart the Showa Era like that, the same thing applies to the James Bond continuity. The only major connection you have to pay attention to is the fact that Bond's wife died. Continuity becomes even less clear after Moore's departure, almost to the extent where it reaches the level of the Show Era.

Back to Godzilla, I think the films connect well enough. In the latter half there aren't any overt references to previous films, though they usually do reference some things.

After Monster Zero, Godzilla takes stays away from Japan and has various adventures in the South Seas (Sea Monster and Son of Godzilla). Since Mothra convinced him to stop attacking humanity in Ghidrah, he doesn't have much of a reason to return to Japan. Godzilla makes his reappearance when Hedorah strikes and from that point on he defends the Earth from alien threats (Gigan- Terror).

As for Monster Island, doesn't DAM state that the island has existed for at least twenty years? Megalon mentions the aliens from Gigan. After the events of Megalon, Godzilla is now seen as benevolent force and is considered a threat by Black Hole Aliens from the two Mechagodzilla films. And the 24 years between Terror of Mechagodzilla and Destroy All Monsters allows plenty of time for the monsters to be captured and Monster Island to be firmly established.

We don't have to have the answer to everything that occurs in-between each film.

[Rareeve6195]

I believe that Hedorah-Terror of Mecha comes right after Son of Godzilla as opposed to being in the future after DAM. Theres a line in Terror of Mechagodzilla where they say how " 20 Years ago Dr. Mafune was mocked by scientists when he claimed to have found a dinosaur living under the sea" or somthing along those lines
I could have been wrong about the date but I think its referring to him finding Titanosaurus before Godzilla attacked Tokyo in 54 , it be strange if this happened after DAM and no one believed him that he found a giant monster seeing how the world is full of them at this point and aliens are a common sight

[Mr. Anonymous]

I havnt seen them yet but im curious , does the rebirth of mothra movies fit into the heisei series ? or are they their own thing

In real life, RoM is its own continuity but they could have been fit into the Hesei series without too much difficulty.

Fan: If its the same continuity, why aren't the Cosmos twins anymore? And why are they called the Elias and have names??
Toho: Ah, just enjoy the movie already!



Like I said, if showa and hesei series had been in the same continuity, then the Mothra from G vs M: The Battle for Earth would have been the granddaughter of the original Mothra from the 1961 movie right? (The worms in the G vs the Thing are the daughters and the hatching worm in Battle for Earth is therefore granddaughter.)

Like I said, if that had been the case, then you could easily say that Battra is the other Mothra caterpillar from G vs the Thing. Two worms hatch but only one ever makes another appearance. So Battra is the long lost sibling.

The reason that Mothra Leo, the male Mothra from the ROM series, is so powerful is that he inherited not only his mother's power but also the power of his late uncle Battra. According to Wikizilla, the original Mothra from the first film is much larger than subsequent iterations. Now, the power once divided is now reunited!

I wonder what else could be fit in...