Should there be a destruction ranking system?

[Ethan]

I was just thinking, wouldn't a world that's used to giant monsters attacking have a way to classify the destruction caused by said monsters, in a manner similar to the Fujita and Richter scales? I think future, more cerebral films should employ such technique, something I like to refer to as the Honda Scale. The destruction would be classified, both by the amount of damage caused and the number of monsters inolved:

H1: Minimal destruction. Like Rodan and Godzilla in Yokohama.
H2: Destruction of building and vehicles limited to a section of the city. Godzilla's first landing in Godzilla.
H3: Entire facilities destroyed, though not in large cities. Godzilla's destruction of the nuclear power plant.
H4: Large scale destruction on the city. Titanosaurus and Mechagodzilla in Tokyo.
H5: Complete destruction of the city. Much like Tokyo's destruction in Godzilla and Destroy all Monsters.

[Cimmerian Dragon]

That's a really cool idea, especially if utilized in a continuity with a long history of monster attacks. It would be like the Godzilla warning system in Biollante; a practical shorthand for the characters to get key information across.

[Rody]

I've often imagined having the kaiju themselves ranked by power/danger level, but I can't say I've ever thought of this. It's a great idea.

[edgaguirus]

It's an interesting idea. I saw a kaiju danger ranking system in a Bizzaro cartoon once, but your ranking system would work in a future film. The Honda scale is a good name.

[King Caesar]

This would be cool to see in a future G-flick. Good idea, Ethan.

[Legionmaster]

No one remembers the Godzilla warnings from Godzilla vs. Biollante. :'(

[Cimmerian Dragon]

^ Uh, actually....I brought those up in the first reply to this topic.

[Legionmaster]

^ Uh, actually....I brought those up in the first reply to this topic.

At 8 in the morning, I'm not surprised I missed it.

[Cimmerian Dragon]

I enjoyed that aspect of Biollante, it felt pretty logical to have some kind of unambiguous warning system in place once Godzilla had attacked twice. It's really too bad that they didn't really try to maintain those realistic human procedures later on.

[Living Corpse]

I enjoyed that aspect of Biollante, it felt pretty logical to have some kind of unambiguous warning system in place once Godzilla had attacked twice. It's really too bad that they didn't really try to maintain those realistic human procedures later on.

Too be fair they really weren't for how much damage is caused, it seemed like they just measured how likely Godzilla is to attack or how close he is to a civilized area depending on what kind of evidence is found of his presence or how active he is at the current time, like if you find dead irradiated fish the warning level would be two, if you see some of Godzilla's skin washed up on shore then it's a three, if fishermen are reporting a weird surf with spikes sticking out is headed to the main land it'd be a four.

Something like that.

[Cimmerian Dragon]

I realize that, but it's the same general vibe: A standardized system designed to efficiently assess a situation and communicate the info. If Biollante showed us the equivalent of a "Severe Weather Advisory", then Ethan's idea would be like the Fujita Scale assessment after the tornado blows through. It probably wouldn't advance the plot much, but as a nifty detail to make the universe feel a little more authentic, it's gold.

[Living Corpse]

Yeah, it'd be cool to see something like that. The most we ever got was in ROG when they mention the 1954 incident caused damages in the billions and the start of Bio where the reporter is showing off the aftermath of the lumbering reactor.

[Cimmerian Dragon]

Sigh...this is just reminding me of how much I preferred the tone of G '84 and Bio more than anything that's come since.

[JVM]

How exactly would this effect the films?

[Cimmerian Dragon]

^ In the same way the wardrobe does. It may not affect the plot much, but done well it could give the world of the film a bit more character. Shit, all you'd use it for is to have some military figure or newscaster spout off when relating an incident, or predicting the likelihood of catastrophic damage by an approaching monster.

If the giant condor is coming, you get H1 ranking and stay in your homes. If Ghidorah is on they way, they predict and H4 and everybody immediately gets the hell out of the city, or into underground shelters, or whatever.

[menschenjaeger]

^ ooohhhh - how about a K rating?

[Living Corpse]

^ ooohhhh - how about a K rating?

I'm sensing a joke here but not quit grasping it.

[Shadow]

All units we have a H4- repeat H4-, some one is watching GINO for the first and is likely to break down afterword, please respond.
I like this level system, nice work OP.

[NSZ]

I've had an idea like this, only instead of the destruction caused, it was for the monsters themselves.

D1: The weakest of the weak, able to be harmed by hand held weapons. (Yog Trio)
D2: Monsters that are weak in the grand scheme of things, but are able to withstand more punishment than D1s. (Baragon)
D3: Monsters that can hold out against conventional weaponry, but can't cause tremendous amounts of damage before being driven off. (Varan, Anguirus)
D4: Monsters that can handle the majority of whatever's thrown at them. Can cause mass amounts of damage, but don't go out of their way to do so. (Godzilla, Rodan)
D5: Planet killers, the worst of the worst. Can really only be harmed and/or killed by other monsters. (King Ghidorah)