Godzilla's Character Development

[MustafaDaisenso]

I think its important for Godzilla to have more expression than just "pissed-off destroyer of worlds", because that angle has been overplayed for the past dozen films. I'm hoping that Godzilla can be expressive without being overly human, and not as one-note as he's been in the last two series. I would like for Godzilla to be something more than just an animal, because he's a character, not just some rampaging monster.

What has made Godzilla an icon, and his first wave of films so enduring, I think can be attributed in part to his personification. Godzilla did have a character arc, albeit a two-dimensional one, and was executed gradually and in a fairly logical manner. Aside from that, Godzilla's quirks, like his playfulness in King Kong vs Godzilla, his clumsiness in Mothra vs Godzilla, his defiant attitude in Monster Zero and Ebirah, all adds up to make him an relatable persona, in spite of his monstrous proportions.

I think Godzilla's character has been neglected for the past 3 decades, because he's portrayed as little more than just a big radioactive dinosaur. The animalistic side of Godzilla is undeniable, but for the monster to have the same cinematic weight as the original, he's got to be distinguished from a typical dinosaur by something other than his looks.

Who knows what will give rise to this new Godzilla, but what's not to say that Godzilla's senses, and perhaps his intelligence have all been augmented in addition to his size and abilities? I hate to make this analogy, but Godzilla can be like a superhero coming to grips with his new and awesome powers, although this struggle can manifested in subtle ways.

I know that there have been discussions about Godzilla's nature in the new film, but I think this is something unique that could use more discussion. Its not about whether he'll be a good or a bad guy, but how Godzilla can be more than a special effect and help make this a moving and memorable film.

[Showa Gyaos]

This is something I'd like to see most of all. In recent movies, he's often portrayed as being just a force of nature. While I'm not against this, I'd like to see this "force" show feeling. What separates Godzilla from a tornado or an earthquake is the fact that he is a living, breathing entity.

[Black Lion]

I think it's interesting that even though the only thing he did onscreen in Gojira was destroy everything in his path, he still had a good bit of personality. Even my girlfriend who hates the movies felt sorry for him at the end when she saw him underwater.

The problem is balancing things like facial expressions and body language so that they show character, but don't make him cartoony. In Gojira, he tended to look over and ponder on things before destroying them, such as the high voltage blockade, the clock tower, and the bridges as he was leaving. This gave him an air of curiosity, like a real animal.

Being animalistic means more than just being a raging beast - realistically, animals AREN'T prone to any kind of rage or violent outbursts, that's a human trait in itself.

Animals are usually curious, cautious, and playfully ignorant - which is why we love them. Give Godzilla some traits other than being a walking tornado and he'll be a decent character.

I don't think they should give him a bunch of crazy facial expressions like a human - that would just make him look goofy. Animals don't have human facial reactions like surprise, anger, or sadness. They express these through actions and sounds.

[MustafaDaisenso]

Yeah I'm suggesting that Godzillas movements be better used towards expressing and developing his character, because in the heisei he growled and roared a lot when there wasn't anything to provoke such a response. Also body movement quirks can imbue him with a greater degree of character.

Like I think the first time Godzilla uses his ray, he should be under intense attack from either the military or one of the monsters, and after he lets loose, you see the vapor steaming from his mouth and his head motions and eyes indicate a kind of surprise, as if he seems taken aback by his powers.

I think they really ought to drive home Godzillas loneliness and isolation, like have a scene at the end after he's laid the city and the enemy monsters to waste, where he's wading out to sea and roaring to try and communicate with other members of his species, and there's just silence as Godzilla listens for an answer. If done right, that could be a really nice way to drive home the tragedy of his condition, because hes a freak without any family to go home to.

[xenotactics]

I think they really ought to drive home Godzillas loneliness and isolation, like have a scene at the end after he's laid the city and the enemy monsters to waste, where he's wading out to sea and roaring to try and communicate with other members of his species, and there's just silence as Godzilla listens for an answer. If done right, that could be a really nice way to drive home the tragedy of his condition, because hes a freak without any family to go home to.

That's really a cool idea. I disagree that Heisei's Godzilla was often growling or roaring unprovokedly. It seems that he was continuously being antagonized by something, but he did also have the most demonstratively contemplative moments of any Godzilla incarnation. If we think about the way that he explored Junior's lifeless shape to look for signs of life and how he evaluated many enemies upon meeting them (most notably Biollante and Mecha G), he actually displayed a lot of comprehension.

[Dust_pan]

One of the biggest problems I had with IDW's Kingdom of Monsters comics was that Godzilla was portrayed as a mindless vicious killer with no personality or goal. He would just destroy buildings and fight monsters for the hell of it. And that was all he did. The artist even gave him an evil grin and blank soulless eyes to emphasize it. It isn't cool to turn Godzilla into a mindless beast like that. It's just boring and a total disregard to what Godzilla was like in the original films.

I don't care if Godzilla is a hero, anti-hero, or villain in this movie. Just please give him a likable personality and a believable motive for the destruction he causes.

[Godzillasaurus]

I'd say get him to react more physiologically to the military, or another monster, have him growl and grunt when provoked, or even add things like gutteral laughter at times, I just want to see the king have more personality again and not just be a big gun.

Laughter? That won't work out one bit for this movie.

[JGAR]

Well from seeing Man Of Steel last night, I look forward to Godzilla being somewhat a homeless being with no family trying to live into today's world, acting lonely and outdated because (until maybe he meets Rodan or Anguirus later on) he is the last Dinosaur and the last of his species, trying to adapt and ''update'' to the newer natural resources and environment. Another thing that I'm not sure how you guys will feel about, is that if Legendary makes this a trilogy, I want Godzilla to start in this one young, not a kid but maybe a bit older than Godzilla Jr. in Godzilla VS Destroyah, that way we can see how he progresses throughout each movie and seeing him maturing and aging.

[Dust_pan]

I'd say get him to react more physiologically to the military, or another monster, have him growl and grunt when provoked, or even add things like gutteral laughter at times, I just want to see the king have more personality again and not just be a big gun.

Laughter? That won't work out one bit for this movie.

Why? Because you think Americans won't take it seriously?

[Godzilla165]

The movie should have a scene near the end where Godzilla is seen resting at the bottom of the ocean, along with powerful music to set the tone just like in Gojira. Every sea animal/organism stays far away from him, and we see that Godzilla is truly alone and is far past his time. He still needs to be a raging beast of destruction and death, but make him like 2k Godzilla was at the very end of Godzilla 2000 where we see that Godzilla has more than one side to him.

[Destoroyah of Worlds]

Even the 1998 Godzilla was a character who expressed curiosity and strong parental instinct.

I don't think we'll have an issue here. Gareth knows Godzilla has all these layers and has made comments on it.

I would love if they made this Godzilla stare and wonder a little before he's provoked into attacking. Have him react to other monsters. They ought to shift him from a terrifying force of destruction to an anti-hero and the human characters need to learn not to provoke him.

[Tyrant_Lizard_King]

Whatever character Godzilla has I want to be extremely subtle. I want the lead characters to slowly notice more and more over the course of the film and make comment on it, preferably in the closing scene watching Godzilla wade off into the sunset or something. Though in the first half I would definitely want it to seem like he's a mindless nuclear powered death machine.

[Dust_pan]

Eeeh. Mindless death machine is a bit too much for me. I always saw Godzilla as a grumpy animal rather than a mindless killer, even in the films that featured him as an antagonist.

[MustafaDaisenso]

Eeeh. Mindless death machine is a bit too much for me. I always saw Godzilla as a grumpy animal rather than a mindless killer, even in the films that featured him as an antagonist.

Yeah I always picture Godzilla are more frightened and enraged than just a wanton killing machine. Remember, he's a mutation, a victim of man's ignorance sent to punish them for their sins, if you will. At the end of the day, he may be victorious over man and monsters, but he has no family, no home to return to (for now), and thats his tragedy.

He's just too big and too strong, but that is both his curse and his blessing. I want them to develop Godzilla from being destructive and violent to a more experienced, almost noble creature. Sure he can still be scary, but Godzilla has to be well defined enough to evoke genuine sympathy.

[Tyrant_Lizard_King]

Eeeh. Mindless death machine is a bit too much for me. I always saw Godzilla as a grumpy animal rather than a mindless killer, even in the films that featured him as an antagonist.

Sorry I was quoting from a review I once read.

The way I've always seen it the entire Earth is Godzilla's territory. As long as we leave him and his territory well enough alone he'll be more or less content to leave us be but if you somehow incur his wrath he wont hesitate to wipe us of the face of the earth. G2K and the early Heisei films (85 and Biollante in particular) perfectly capture what I feel to be the perfect portrayals of what Godzilla should be like as a character. Animalistic but with a slight sense that there's more going on in his head than meets the eye. I also really think that conclusion is something that the human characters really need to slowly take notice of over the course of the film.

[LegendZilla]

Both the 70's and GMK versions are two extremes.