Godzilla ゴジラ [Dark Horse]

For countless centuries, an eons-old stone slab covered in ancient runes lay buried deep within the earth on the Japanese island of Honshu. As time marched on and human civilization progressed, the slab eventually became unearthed by a construction crew in 1940s Tokyo. Thinking it an amazing discovery, Professor Morio Yoshiwara investigated the stone. This research found that it was releasing increasing amounts of radiation. After a large, leech-like creature emerged from a hole within the slab and attacked one of his assistants, Yoshiwara began to obsess over it. This included desperately trying to find the answers to the stone's origins.

He began reading about strange phenomena taking place recently. One such incident involved the sinking of a Russian whaling ship that left twenty three crewmen dead. Despite the official statement from the Soviet government declaring that it was a collision with an American Navy submarine that caused it, the captain of the ship stuck to his original story, that a sea monster had attacked the vessel, breaking it in half with a "tremendous lashing tail or tentacle."

At last, Yoshiwara had deciphered the strange carvings on the stone slab and ran to the construction site to warn his superiors as well as the construction crew. The markings served as a warning to anyone who read them and referred to an age of monsters. The slab had been buried on Honshu thousands of years ago, long before humans had settled on the island, in order to protect the world from a race of beasts known as the "Disaster Monsters". Every three to four thousand years, the destructive creatures would wake up en masse and seek out the slab, as if somehow called to it. Yoshiwara believed that three of these beasts - Soran, Inagos, and Godzilla - had already awakened. Furthermore, he believed they were on their way towards Japan. Unfortunately, none of his peers believed his findings. In fact, he was fired for what was thought to be the ramblings of a mad man.

Much to Yoshiwara's horror, it wasn't long before his mad ramblings were proven true. In the ocean's depths, a slumbering behemoth had awoke, disturbed by the call of the slab. The creature made its way to the surface as it zeroed in on the ancient stone. Just as Yoshiwara returned home, his daughter Noriko called attention to all the locusts filling the sky. Realizing that the Disaster Monsters were nearing, Yoshiwara grabbed his wife and child and quickly moved to evacuate. But their car was held up by traffic as a chilling sight took place at the nearby docks: Thousands of sea animals, fish, mammal, crustacean, and cephalopod alike, filling the harbor with their bodies, terrified, trying to escape the ocean. Yoshiwara knew only one creature could scare the sea life this severely and directed his family to a nearby motorcycle.

With a bellowing roar, a monstrous reptile pulled itself up from the water. The beast, whose name that Yoshiwara had read in his transcriptions as Godzilla the Fire Monster, sent the gathered citizens into a panicked frenzy.

For a moment, Godzilla gazed out upon his new surroundings. No longer was he living in a familiar age of monsters such as himself, but rather an age of mankind, with the trees and mountains he once knew now replaced by towers and skyscrapers. Angry at this new world, the monster opened his jaws and let loose with a blast of superheated atomic breath, destroying several buildings in a large ball of fire. But after this initial display of fury, Godzilla remembered why he had come to this place: The slab. The call. It was close now. So very close. Moving forward, Godzilla headed towards the construction site, eager to find the stone. Eager to answer its call.

Arriving at the construction site with his family, Yoshiwara enacted a plan to lure Godzilla away from Japan. He coerced Burton Helzer, the construction foreman, to help him carry it out. Using the construction site's two helicopters, Yoshiwara would distract the monster and Helzer would take the slab away from the mainland and dump it into the Japan Trench. Saying farewell to his wife and daughter, Yoshiwara gave his life to buy Helzer the time he needed, crashing his helicopter directly into Godzilla's face. The ancient reptile was enraged; not only did the flying craft exploding in his face burn, but the other one was taking the slab away from him. The call was growing weaker!

In a fury, the monster lashed out, crushing Yoshiwara's wife to death under a mountain of rubble. But Godzilla would not be denied the slab. He began to follow Helzer's helicopter as he carried the stone away from Tokyo and out to sea. Leaving the burning city behind him, Godzilla followed Helzer's helicopter out to the open ocean. Helzer was pushing his craft to its absolute limits, but even in the water, Godzilla was still gaining on him. Helzer knew he wouldn't make it to the Japan Trench and realized he had to simply get it as far as he could before Godzilla could catch him. But Godzilla was not alone. Soran, the Thunderbird, swooped down from the sky, nearly knocking Helzer's craft out of the air. The two Disaster Monsters, normally fiercely territorial, paid each other no mind, both desperate to answer the ancient signal. Finally, the terrified Helzer released the slab, letting it drop from his helicopter and plunge into the ocean's depths. Godzilla immediately gave chase, following the call to the bottom as it sank. Soran tried to as well, diving into the waves, but its domain was the sky, not the sea, and after a certain depth it was forced to relent and return to the clouds, leaving Godzilla as the only beast still chasing the stone, disappearing into the depths.

As Godzilla followed the slab to the bottom of the sea, he left behind a burning city, filled with countless victims. One of these victims was Yoshiwara's daughter, Noriko. As she made her way out of the wreckage, she came across a stray scale from the monster that had taken her parents from her. While Godzilla was not aware of it, he had just sent the young girl down a decades-long path of research and revenge.

Over the years since that first attack on Tokyo, the call of the slab would grow weaker with each passing year, causing Godzilla's obsession with it to dwindle. Some times the monster would return to the spot where the stone was dumped into the sea, but with its enticing song no longer active, he was free to roam the world as he pleased. On occasion, he would return to Japan and cause havoc, his sheer power and ferocity earning him the title "The King of the Monsters." Eventually, a special team known as G-Force was formed. Led by Dr. Kazushi Kagaku, G-Force's goal was to study Godzilla and learn everything they possibly could about the monster, in order to better protect mankind from his wrath.

In 1992, Godzilla was making his way across the Pacific Ocean, on a direct course for a small island known as Kiryoku-shima. The United States Navy set up a blockade of ships to keep Godzilla from reaching the island as G-Force flew ahead in their Vertical TakeOff and Landing craft in order to warn its inhabitants. As Dr. Kagaku tried to arrange the evacuation of the island's people, Godzilla reached the blockade. The battleships opened fire, hitting the creature with every bit of firepower in their arsenal. Having had enough of the bombardment, Godzilla submerged. To the horror of its crew, the nuclear reptile emerged directly beneath one of the ships, lifting it up out of the water and breaking it in half. As the burning wreckage fell on either side of him, Godzilla unleashed his atomic ray, destroying another cruiser. Shrieking victoriously into the night sky, Godzilla had proven the winner against mankind's militaristic might.

With the Navy defeated, Godzilla made his way onward and soon stepped onto Kiryoku-shima's shores. With the villagers defenseless and unable to evacuate, all they could do is take refuge as Godzilla made his way across the island, oblivious to their plight. Slowly crossing the island, the Fire Monster came face to face with the island's shrine to their protector, an ancient oni known as Gekido-Jin. As Godzilla stared silently at the enormous statue, G-Force took the opportunity to fire a large biopsy dart into his foot. Reacting to the injection, Godzilla kicked up a mess of dirt and rocks, knocking out the island's priestess, who planned on awakening Gekido-Jin to protect her people. With her unconscious, Kogenta - a friend of Dr. Kagaku's - ran out to the statue. He called out for Gekido-Jin to rise and save the islanders from Godzilla. However, the man's shouting caught the reptile's attention. Without hesitation, Godzilla proceeded to crush Kogenta and the statue underfoot. Still angry from the biopsy dart, the monster unleashed a series of atomic blasts, further endangering the islanders.

But Kogenta had not died in vain. The ground began to split, and up from Hell itself rose the mighty oni, Gekido-Jin. Immediately the demon began to attack Godzilla, but his height barely even reached the monster's knees. Severely mismatched, the Fire Monster instantly incinerated Gekido-Jin with his radioactive breath. However, that was not the end of the oni. In fact, he began reforming his body out of the soil of Kiryoku-shima itself, and this time he was even bigger than before. But Godzilla would not allow the demon a chance to attack, demolishing his body over and over again. Knowing they had to do something, G-Force decided to sacrifice their biopsy dart, attaching its cable to the priestess' staff. Taking it to a high cliff side, the metal staff acted as a lightning rod, catching a bolt and electrifying Godzilla. With the monster distracted, Gekido-Jin was finally able to finish forming. This time the oni was nearly as large as Godzilla.

For a moment, the two titans stared each other down. Gekido-Jin attacked first, knocking Godzilla off his feet with a swipe of his war maul. Godzilla retaliated, obliterating the oni's hammer with his fiery ray. The two creatures charged and collided, grappling with one another until they stumbled off the edge of the island and plummeted into the sea below. Rising up from the waves, the beasts glared at each other before the King of the Monsters unleashed another atomic blast, destroying Gekido-Jin once again. But this time, the oni did not reform.

With Godzilla off Kiryoku-shima and its people safe, Gekido-Jin's job was done, and thus the demon reverted to his petrified form. Thinking himself the victor, Godzilla continued on across the sea, leaving the island behind.

Godzilla roamed the Pacific for a year before appearing again. Off the coast of California, the monster rose up underneath an ocean liner, breaking the vessel in half and sending its crew and cargo into the waves below. The next day, Godzilla had made it to land, rising up near a Californian beach, where National Basketball Association star Charles Barkley just so happened to be shooting a commercial.

Expecting the monster's arrival, the U.S. Air Force began their assault, but Godzilla blew their fighters out of the sky with his radioactive fire. As the monster made his way further inland and began to attack the city, Charles Barkley and a young fan named Matthew followed the creature in Barkley's car. Pulling over not too far from where Godzilla was rampaging, Barkley used a magical silver dollar coin gifted to him by Matthew to suddenly grow to a whopping three hundred feet tall. Now as big as Godzilla, Barkley knew it was up to him to stop the monster's rampage.

Initially angering Godzilla with some trash talk and bouncing his basketball off his face, Sir Charles eventually led the reptile out of the city. Leading him to the Scarfe Air Force Base, he planned to keep Godzilla distracted and away from where he could cause any more harm. With Barkley modifying a shuttle scaffold to serve as their basketball hoop, they began playing a game. Conditions were draw, with the first player to make it to fifteen points being the winner. Unfortunately, Godzilla had no problem with playing dirty. He slapped Charles across the face with his tail as he made the first basket. However, while the ancient Disaster Monster was a decent player, he was no match for Barkley's speed and skill. Eventually, he angrily blasted the basketball with his atomic ray, reducing it to molten sludge. Though Sir Charles scolded Godzilla for destroying the ball, he did see potential in the monster. He promised to help the nuclear leviathan out as he led Godzilla even further away from human civilization.

Some time later, Sir Charles had managed to relocate Godzilla to a remote canyon somewhere in Utah. To get Godzilla on his way to becoming a basketball star, Barkley had arranged to get the monster his own sneakers, basketball, and hoop. He instructed Godzilla to practice by performing a million lay-ups and informed him that he'd be checking in on him in about a hundred years. With that, the monster began to practice.

Eventually, though, the King of the Monsters gave up on his dreams of becoming a basketball superstar and left his sneakers behind, making his way back to the sea. It was here, off the coast of California, that he was disturbed from his rest by the antics of the teenage size-changing superhero known as Hero Zero, whose true identity, David McRae, was enjoying seeing the ocean for the first time in his life. Realizing he had to get back to San Diego before anyone noticed he was gone, David flew back to shore, blasting past what he believed to be a large coral reef in the process. Unfortunately, it was no reef David had passed, but rather Godzilla's dorsal plates. Disturbed by the wake caused by Hero Zero's flight, Godzilla rose up from the surface, furious at having his slumber so rudely disrupted. Rising up beside a ship that David had passed earlier, Godzilla let out an atomic blast, destroying the vessel in a ball of flame. Having received part of a distress call from the ship before it was destroyed, the U.S. Navy intercepted the radioactive reptile on his way towards California. The cruisers opened fire, but their shells did nothing to Godzilla, who proceeded to crush the ships in his path as he continued onward.

Reaching the shore, Godzilla landed in San Diego, dangerously close to the city's famed Comic Con, where David, his father, and David's friend Billy were all enjoying the festivities. As the monster grew nearer, the convention called for everyone to evacuate. At the same time, David's mentor Zero called for him to transform and assume his maximum size. Taking to the air, David spotted Godzilla immediately and flew down to engage him. Unfortunately, Godzilla was more than willing to meet the hero's challenge, plowing through a pair of hotels in the process. Hero Zero rushed forward to try and save the buildings from falling, but Godzilla unleashed a blast of atomic fire directly in his face, sending Hero Zero flying back into a third building and demolishing it. Trying another approach, Hero Zero shrank down and began using his smaller size to his advantage, flying in close and punching Godzilla in the eye. Recoiling from the blow, Godzilla's tail smashed a nearby building, a piece of rubble from which crushed Billy to death. Infuriated, David expanded to a larger size and began pummeling Godzilla. Firing an atomic blast that Hero Zero avoided, Godzilla ended up striking and destroying the convention center. As David spotted Godzilla's dorsal fins and realized they were the "coral reef" he disturbed earlier that morning, the monstrous creature knocked him out of the sky, then stomped his clawed foot down on top of him. But David wasn't out yet, growing to full size and sending Godzilla flipping head over heels.

With Godzilla proving too powerful for Hero Zero to permanently defeat, Zero suggested an idea to David: Zero would grant him a power boost, which would allow the young hero to carry the ancient reptile out to the open ocean, where he'd be unable to inflict any further harm. Now supercharged by his mentor, Hero Zero flew down and grabbed hold of Godzilla, then sped out as far as he could over the Pacific and dropped the murderous beast back into the waves below. And it was there that Godzilla would remain for the time being. Eventually, though it was still faint, the call of the slab would catch the monster's interest once again, and so he would make his way back to the Japan Trench, floating on the surface high above the sunken stone.

It was here that G-Force, still led by Dr. Kagaku and his wife Reiko, met up with an adult Noriko Yoshiwara, who was now a brilliant scientific mind, and former construction foreman Burton Helzer. As the duo boarded G-Force's research vessel, the team was shocked to discover that Noriko had brought a missile launcher with her. In order to keep G-Force from restraining Noriko, Helzer pulled a gun on them and explained why they were doing this. He told them that while G-Force saw Godzilla as a marvelous creature to study, he and Noriko saw the monster as a walking apocalypse that had left them traumatized after the destruction he wrought back in the 1940s. Yoshiwara explained that she'd studied the Godzilla scale she found in the remains of Tokyo for her entire life, discovering the secrets to the monster's genetic structure, and had managed to devise a poison with which to end the prehistoric creature's life.

Loading the missile launcher with a large syringe filled with her toxic concoction, Noriko fired her payload, hitting its target. At first, there was no reaction, and the scientist was worried she'd failed in her lifelong goal. But Godzilla suddenly sprang to life, pulling himself upright, blood spilling from his eyes and mouth. Enraged and in pain, the bleeding monster reached down and destroyed G-Force's research boat in his claws as everyone escaped in Helzer's plane. Finally overwhelmed, Godzilla dove back into the sea, disappearing into the depths.

Godzilla was strong. His ability to regenerate and heal even the deadliest of wounds was like no other. But Noriko Yoshiwara's poison was different. It was lethal, even for a legendary Disaster Monster such as himself. If it weren't for his amazing healing abilities, the reptile would've been dead almost immediately. For nearly a year, Godzilla remained in the ocean's depths, trying to fight off the effects of Yoshiwara's toxin. Eventually, driven into a frenzy by his suffering, the monstrous beast rose up from the Pacific northwest of Vancouver, slowly making his way towards shore. Blood poured from the monster's eyes, nose, and mouth as his body continued trying to fight the deadly poison coursing through his veins. Landing in Canada, Godzilla began making his way inland, heading towards the newly constructed Fraser Dam. As the poisoned reptile continued onward, the U.S. Air Force began to attack, angering Godzilla but accomplishing little else. When G-Force arrived in their V.T.O.L., they activated their Sub-Sonic Pulse Beacon, a device designed to pacify the monster. Even through the pain Godzilla was dealing with, the Beacon seemed to be doing its job... That is, until sabotage caused it to malfunction. Enraged, Godzilla unleashed an atomic blast that sent the V.T.O.L. crashing to the ground before succumbing to disorientation and crashing through the Fraser Dam.

Briefly dealing with another military blockade, Godzilla ignored their firepower until a new arrival made its presence known. Descending from the sky, the golden mech known as Cybersaur prepared to finish Godzilla off. The machine immediately opened fire, launching every weapon it had at the King of the Monsters. But while Godzilla was poisoned and suffering, he was still very much capable of defending himself. A single shot from the monster's radioactive ray drained a good deal of power from Cybersaur's shields. In return, the machine's Captain ordered even more energy from their defenses be diverted to the weapons systems. Unfortunately, this left Cybersaur vulnerable to a swipe from Godzilla's tail, causing consoles in the cockpit to explode, killing the Captain. Godzilla followed his tail swipe up with another atomic beam, blasting Cybersaur off its feet and sending it crashing to the ground. To add insult to injury, Godzilla gave his beaten foe a solid kick to the head as he walked past, leaving Cybersaur behind as he continued on through Canada.

As Godzilla moved on, he grew closer to Lake Harrison, where the Canadian military had set up a line of defense. The military had filled the lake with tankers full of flammable chemicals, and as soon as the monster's foot hit the water, they ignited the lake, engulfing Godzilla in an inferno. As the beast roared out among the flames, the military opened fire with tanks and fighter jets. Moving forward and out of the lake, Godzilla began to fight back, blasting a jet out of the sky.

Suddenly, an energy blast at Godzilla's feet caught his attention. Cybersaur landed, fully repaired, recharged, and ready for round two. Immediately, Godzilla retaliated with his atomic breath, but this time the mech's shields held stronger than ever. Bringing its weapon systems online, Cybersaur opened fire. Hitting Godzilla with everything in its arsenal, the poisoned monster was knocked off his feet. As the reptile slowly began to pull himself back up, charging his atomic breath, the Cybersaur crew activated the G-Buster, an enormous gun that emerged from the machine's chest. Godzilla had no chance to retaliate before the G-Buster fired a devastating energy blast directly into his mouth. Godzilla hit the ground hard, unmoving. Between Yoshiwara's unrelenting poison and the sheer power of Cybersaur's assault, the saurian's body had simply given out. Godzilla had at last received enough punishment to put him down. Some time later, Dr. Kagaku reported that the monster hadn't shown a heartbeat in over an hour.

Godzilla, it seemed, was dead.

The United States military and G-Force soon built a makeshift base around the monster's body. Dubbing it Camp Godzilla, the area was setup to examine the giant monster. As they continued their studies, they discovered that the beast was only on death's door but hadn't actually passed through, as his heartbeat was extremely slow, but still present.

Elsewhere, Professor Yoshiwara had begun hearing about the effects of Godzilla's toxic blood on the environment and the people unlucky enough to come into contact with it, directly or otherwise. Noriko realized that she'd been so wrapped up in getting her revenge that she'd gotten countless innocents killed with her poison. Not only that but with Godzilla still alive there was always the chance it would somehow continue to spread. In a twist of fate, Noriko realized there was only one thing to do.

What no one on Earth knew, however, was that when he had been seemingly slain by Cybersaur, Godzilla let out with a death scream that had pierced the heavens and traveled up through the cosmos themselves. The sound was noticed by the unparalleled ears of an alien predator soaring through the infinite void. The creature, which would come to be known as Bagorah, was in need of sustenance and made his way to the source of the promising sound.

Making his way to Earth, Bagorah engaged Cybersaur in battle. The space creature overwhelmed and defeated the golden mech, leaving just a powerless Godzilla on the battlefield. Just then, though, Noriko loaded her missile launcher with the antidote to her lethal poison. Firing it at Godzilla, the missle struck the beast. Meanwhile, looking up from his fallen metallic foe, Bagorah noticed the comatose monster nearby. The space creature decided Godzilla would make a far better meal, advancing on its new prey. But just as the enormous bat made his way over and landed on Godzilla's body, the reptile's eyes snapped open.

Gripping Bagorah by the throat, Godzilla roared in fury, letting the creature know that the King of the Monsters was no mere prey.

Getting back to his feet, Godzilla challenged Bagorah, ready to pulverize the space monster for daring to feast upon him. When the crimson bat unleashed his sonic waves at Godzilla, the Fire Monster prepared to retaliate in kind with his atomic breath... Only to discover that he had yet to fully heal from his severe poisoning. His internal systems were weakened, unable to produce their usual nuclear blast, robbing Godzilla of his greatest weapon. Moments later, the Air Force arrived, engaging Bagorah in an attempt to lure the creature out over the Pacific. The creature quickly demolished the fighters and turned, heading into Vancouver. Godzilla, refusing to allow his would-be devourer to escape, followed close behind.

As Godzilla entered the city, Bagorah decided to try once again to make a meal out of the reptile. Swooping in from behind, the bat sank his fangs into Godzilla's neck. The ominous glow of Godzilla's dorsal plates distracted Bagorah enough to cause him to let go. However, his main weapon was still too weak to function. Godzilla improvised, though, grabbing a bus and smashing it into Bagorah's mouth. As the two titans continued their battle, Godzilla pushed a building over towards Bagorah, only for the bat to shatter it to pieces with a sonic scream before it could hit him.

Once again, Godzilla's fins began to glow, but this time the predator ignored it, having seen nothing come of the display. Unfortunately for the red beast, Godzilla had finally recovered enough of his strength. Opening his maw, the King of the Monsters unleashed a nuclear beam. The raw nailed Bagorah directly in the chest, sending him crashing into the Alex Fraser Bridge.

As the alien creature tried to wrench itself free from the wreckage, Godzilla hit him with another atomic blast. The King of the Monsters watched as Bagorah flew off into the distance, crashing down into the cold ocean depths. Letting out a roar of victory, Godzilla turned and began wading out into the open sea. In its wake it left a demolished Vancouver behind.

Not too long after his fight with Bagorah, Godzilla landed in Washington and made his way to Camas. G-Force had no idea what the monster was doing so far inland, but Colonel Cameron of the United States military planned on taking action before Godzilla could reach Portland. Despite Dr. Kagaku's protests, Cameron revealed Cybersaur's replacement: The All-Terraintula, a massive mechanical spider.

Immediately, the newly unveiled mech went on the attack, opening fire with its Anti-Godzilla Cannon, blasting the reptile in the back. Enraged, Godzilla returned fire with his atomic breath, but the All-Terraintula was able to harmlessly absorb the blast thanks to its Anti-Godzilla-Beam Plating. Now supercharged by Godzilla's own ray, the All-Terraintula unleashed a thunderous beam that blasted the radioactive beast onto his back. Pulling himself up, Godzilla fired another ray, only to be blown off his feet by a second supercharged beam. Getting back up, the reptile charged, but the purple mech sprung backwards with its eight legs, getting itself a safe distance away. Unable to close the distance between himself and his foe quick enough on foot, the creature lashed out with his tail, striking the All-Terraintula and sending it skidding into a building. Unfortunately, while this knocked the machine for a loop, it also set Godzilla up for the mech's Super-Tranq. The All-Terraintula fired the missile into the monster's hip, delivering an enormous amount of cadmium and artificial curare.

Before the radioactive titan had a chance to retaliate, a group of extraterrestrial game hunters known as the Dianii - who had landed their ship as they observed the fight between Godzilla and the All-Terraintula - emerged from their vessel, intent on claiming saurian monster as their next trophy. Pulling out a large cannon they called the Mega-Zooka, the aliens casually decimated the All-Terraintula with a single shot, engulfing it in flames. Godzilla stared at the strange new arrivals, but before he could take any action, the effects of the Super-Tranq began to take hold. Growing increasingly woozy, Godzilla passed out completely, toppling over onto the pavement.

At first the Dianii were disappointed in the Monster King's drugged state and briefly considered seeking out different game, but ultimately they decided to revive the reptile so the rookie among them could gain some practice in killing such beasts. One of the Dianii returned to their ship and emerged with a large device he referred to as a Shock Rod. Applying it to the unconscious monster, the alien proceeded to pump millions of volts of electricity into his body. The device was successful in reviving Godzilla, but the Dianii decided to rile him up in the process and continued shocking him. This proved to be a severe mistake, as Godzilla rose up and clamped his jaws down on the alien, shaking him like a ragdoll and tossing him against the pavement. Confused by the small creature he just flung away, Godzilla unleashed his atomic ray... only for harmless blue smoke to emerge from his mouth instead. Watching from afar, G-Force realized that the radioactive flame within Godzilla had been extinguished by the All-Terraintula's Super-Tranq, meaning that the beast would be unable to utilize his ray for some time. His main weapon gone once again, Godzilla improvised, rushing forward and crushing the wounded Dianii to death underfoot. With one alien dead, Godzilla turned and began heading back towards Portland, with the rest of the Dianii crew following close behind.

As Godzilla entered the city, he had no idea the Dianii were preparing their assault. One of them, the Bowmaster, opened fire with his trusty bow and arrows. Before the King of the Monsters could even react, he'd been turned into a living pincushion by the alien, having been struck with no less than twenty three arrows. Pained and enraged, Godzilla began to chase after the Bowmaster, only for the Dianii to lead the monster into a trap. In quick succession, Godzilla had his ankles tied together, was enshrouded in an electrical net, and had a spear plunged into his chest. Grabbing the leg of the Dianii Spearmaster, Godzilla smashed him against the pavement, then rolled over on top of him, crushing the hunter dead with his enormous weight.

Getting to his feet, Godzilla was about to stomp the Rookie alien to death, when the Warrior suddenly grabbed his tail and began tugging the atomic titan backwards. The largest and strongest of the Dianii, the Warrior was still helpless as Godzilla brought his tail up, then slammed it against the pavement. This broke the alien's legs, but Godzilla continued the assault by fatally swatting him into a nearby building. Furiously, Godzilla began to chase after the three remaining Dianii. The Bowmaster instructed the Rookie to get their Captain to safety as he distracted Godzilla. Nailing the reptile with another arrow, the Bowmaster was slain when Godzilla retaliated by toppling a skyscraper directly on top of him. It was then that the Dianii's craft arrived, hovering high overhead. Unfortunately, the vessel was not there to rescue its crew, as it had been taken over by the Aliens from the Third Planet from the Black Hole. The alien invaders intended on using its firepower to slay Godzilla and eventually conquer the Earth.

The Dianii ship immediately opened fire, blasting Godzilla off his feet with devastating energy bursts. The assault was relentless, pinning down the King of the Monsters and destroying the surrounding area. It wasn't until the Rookie, the last remaining member of the Dianii party, threw the reactivated All-Terraintula towards Godzilla that the monster stood a chance. Crushing the mech within his hands, Godzilla ruptured its storage pods, releasing and absorbing the nuclear energy the machine had stolen from him in their earlier fight. With his atomic powers fully recharged, Godzilla released a powerful radioactive blast from his mouth. Unfortunately, the Dianii ship's shields were able to withstand the blast and continued to fire at the reptile. It wasn't until the ship's shields were sabotaged and deactivated that Godzilla was able to land a blow with his atomic ray, crippling the ship. Getting to his feet, Godzilla unleashed another nuclear blast that completely destroyed the Dianii ship and the Black Hole Aliens inside, reducing Portland to a sea of fire in the process. Victorious after a long, exhausting struggle, Godzilla turned and headed back out to sea.

Some time later, Godzilla made his way back down into California, attacking Orange County's Smile World USA theme park. G-Force was close behind in their V.T.O.L., preparing Dr. Kagaku's newest invention: The Proton Generator. As Godzilla rampaged through the park down below, the cannon-like device began firing proton-plasma beams at the monster, which Kazushi hoped would drive him away in a manner similar to insect repellent. Unfortunately, the Generator's beams seemed to have no effect on Godzilla other than make him angrier. But before G-Force could come up with a back up plan, a strange yellow glow began to envelop the monster... and within seconds, he was gone!

As the rest of the world began to celebrate the apparent demise of Godzilla, back at G-Force headquarters, Dr. Kagaku wasn't as quick to join in the festivities. The Proton Generator wasn't even designed to kill Godzilla, let alone vaporize him. When the other members of G-Force asked him what he thought had happened to Godzilla, Kazushi put forth his own theory: His old doctrinal advisor Professor Elmer Mason, who had seemingly gone mad while attempting to make time travel possible, had perfected his time machine and was planning on using Godzilla to steal riches from throughout history! Unfortunately, Kazushi's theory was completely correct. Professor Mason had indeed transported the King of the Monsters to Pompeii, 79 A.D., prior to the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. As the monster rampaged through the city and sent its citizens into a panic, Mason and his men made their way through, ransacking and stealing any valuables they could get their hands on. Once they'd stripped the city of its riches, Mason, his forces, and Godzilla disappeared into time just as Mount Vesuvius erupted, annihilating Pompeii and covering their tracks.

Heading to England in 1588, Mason set Godzilla up to intercept Philip II of Spain's Spanish Armada. The monster did exactly as Mason had planned, rising up in front of the ships and opening fire with his atomic ray. As the Fire Monster laid waste to the convoy, Mason's forces quickly gathered the gold, weapons, uniforms, and other such artifacts falling into the sea. Soon, with enough destruction caused and enough valuables collected, Mason withdrew his forces once again, with Godzilla disappearing from the ocean.

Waking up in a cave deep beneath the ground hundreds of years in the future, Godzilla became enraged at the continuous displacement. Lashing out with his tail, the nuclear beast demolished the enclosure he found himself in. Unfortunately, as the monster was now in 1906 far under San Francisco, his fury became the cause of the city's infamous earthquake. The seismic disruption inflicted massive damage to the area and resulted in immense loss of life.

Before he knew it, though, the King of the Monsters was teleported through time once again. This time he ended up in the middle of a massive iceberg in 1912, the same one destined to sink the RMS Titanic. Time traveling as well, G-Force members Také and Kino arrived on the ill-fated ship. Armed with an upgraded version of Kazushi's Proton Generator, they were ready to try and drive Godzilla away. Breaking free from the iceberg, the monster advanced on the Titanic, growing angrier each time the duo zapped him with the Generator.

Professor Mason, however, was unable to enjoy the carnage. His time machine was remotely hijacked and he was abducted to the year 2299 by Snibor and Vrdez, a duo of big game hunters and game show hosts. They desired Mason's assistance in collecting exotic animals from the past that were now extinct. In exchange for this service they were willing to give over high tech weapons of their time period.

As Godzilla finished destroying the Titanic, ripping a 300 foot gash in its side with his tail, Mason recalled the monster again. The beast was once more sent to 1906 San Francisco. As Godzilla rampaged through the Bay Area, Mason and his crew raided the San Francisco Zoo. Amid the chaos, the time travelers stole a large amount of animals as was requested before returning to 2299.

Keeping Godzilla stored in a perpetual time loop between 1906 and 1912, Mason eventually released the beast upon Harmony Cluster Nine, Snibor and Vrdez's domain. The mad man watched with glee as the people of the future, genetically programmed to be pacifists, were unable to defend themselves. Unopposed, the monster began demolishing their city. With the citizens defenseless and the future of humanity at stake, G-Force arrived and began chasing Mason down. Cornered, Mason held the team at gunpoint and told them he'd simply escape to another time period and continue with his scheme, as he held all the cards. Fortunately, Godzilla cut the professor's plans short. Chomping down on the platform Mason was on, the creature swallowed him and his time machine whole. As Mason had hit the device's button just before he was devoured, Godzilla suddenly disappeared from Harmony Cluster Nine and into the time stream once again. This time, G-Force had no possible idea where the monster could be, and considered simply leaving him alone, hoping that mankind had seen the last of him.

Back in the present day, three months after dealing with Professor Mason and his time travel scheme, G-Force followed satellite heat signatures of a large creature to San Javier. Pinpointed on a small island in Peru, they believed that they had finally tracked down Godzilla. Arriving and speaking to survivors of a devastated village, the group learned that a giant monster had indeed emerged from the sea and set fire to their homes. However, G-Force was confused, as this behavior was out of character for Godzilla. There was no radioactivity on the island and the villagers couldn't possibly have done anything to anger the beast.

Following the creature's trail, G-Force came across a large tunnel heading straight down into the ground. As Také and Kino descended into the tunnel, hoping to locate whatever this new monster was, Godzilla rose up from the sea. As the King of the Monsters bellowed, he quickly found himself under assault by the Peruvian Air Force. The nuclear leviathan made short work of the jets, blowing them out of the sky with his atomic ray.

Sensing another creature, Godzilla dove down into the sea and began burrowing through the edge of San Javier, digging directly towards one of the monster's tunnels. Breaking through, the ocean flooded the burrow, forcing the monster - nicknamed Burtannus by G-Force - out of hiding. Suddenly bursting up from the waves, Burtannus caught Godzilla off guard, sinking her spiked beak into his arm, drawing blood. Furious, Godzilla retaliated in kind, lunging forward and sinking his teeth into Burtannus' throat. Contemplating the blood now staining his fangs, Godzilla followed up with a blast of atomic breath directly into Burtannus' face. But the armored reptile was by no means helpless and she released a powerful electrical current from her horn, severely shocking the Monster King. Before Godzilla could recuperate, his opponent slammed her large tail against his head. The force of the strike disoriented the King of the Monsters, knocking him into the waves.

Getting back to his feet, Godzilla decided that between his Burtannus' strength and the annoying buzzing of the Air Force's planes, he'd had enough conflict for one day. Turning around, the nuclear monster headed back out into the open sea.

Some time later, Godzilla began to approach one of the Society Islands. As the monster reached land, G-Force was close behind with a new plan to subdue the creature. By utilizing large nervous system suppressors designed by Dr. Kagaku, G-Force would be able to literally shock Godzilla into unconsciousness. Unfortunately, the only way to use the devices would be to attach the system's electrodes to Godzilla's skull, just behind his ears, which was the dangerous mission Také and Kino found themselves assigned. After a chaotic attempt at attaching themselves to Godzilla and a long and perilous journey up his body, Také and Kino finally attached the electrodes to the spots Kazushi specified. With the electrodes successfully in place, Kazushi activated them, shocking Godzilla's skull. Though the Monster King tried to fight it, the voltage was too strong, and the saurian collapsed to the ground, unconscious. Unfortunately, the impact of Godzilla's body hitting the ground caused an eruption to trigger in the island's volcano. As lava fired high into the sky, some of it rained down on the monster, the searing heat instantly waking him. Furious as he woke, Godzilla scratched the electrodes off his head, then fired an atomic blast at the volcano that ceased the eruption. With no further use for the island, Godzilla headed onward, leaping into the sea and leaving its devastated inhabitants behind.

Godzilla eventually ended up in Sydney, Australia. Resting on the shores of Manly Beach, the creature stood relatively motionless. Though the Australian military had tanks on the scene, ready to open fire if need be, they held back for the time being at G-Force's recommendation.

As Godzilla stood peacefully at the ocean's edge, Také reported that a satellite scan revealed something big heading directly towards them. The new creature arrived quickly and rose up out of the water, revealing itself to be a massive, bipedal crustacean. This new monster and Godzilla stared each other down briefly. The peaceful state of Manly Beach was about to be shortlived...

The monstrous crustacean went on the attack first, blasting Godzilla in the face with green beams from its eyes. The watery menace then followed that up with a powerful blow from its largest claw, knocking the King of the Monsters off his feet. The sea monster's offensive prowess was fierce, withstanding a blast of Godzilla's atomic breath before sending the saurian crashing through the Sydney Opera House.

The two monsters kept fighting, with the crustaceous creature forcing Godzilla back through the city. Swiping at the monster with his tail, Godzilla followed up with another radioactive blast, knocking it to the ground. Before the creature could recover, Godzilla grabbed a nearby monorail train, lashing it down on his opponent's head. In retaliation, the sea monster got closer and closer to Godzilla, firing its eye beams into the reptile's face. What the mutant crab didn't realize, however, was that the King of the Monsters had taken hold of its right arm. With all his strength, Godzilla wrenched the monster's limb out of its socket. Fatally wounded, the crustacean collapsed to the ground and bled to death as Godzilla announced his victory with a mighty roar. Turning away from his fallen foe, Godzilla left Sydney behind and stepped out into the waves, returning to the open ocean.

An unknown amount of time later, Godzilla was asleep at the bottom of a deep sea trench. As the giant slumbered, the shifting of the tectonic plates beneath him caused his unconscious form to plummet into the unending depths below.

Suddenly, Godzilla woke on the water's surface. Rising up from the waves, the monster found himself in a strangely familiar setting. Making his way to shore, the King of the Monsters was greeted by a herd of alamosaurus as the long-necked animals enjoyed the water. Godzilla's size sent the titanic creatures scurrying as he ventured onward, exploring this increasingly familiar land he found himself in. This place was home, a home he had not been to in many millions of years. There was no mankind here. No militaries. No G-Force. This was the age of the Disaster Monsters, an age that Godzilla had left behind so very long ago. Unfortunately, even though mankind was no longer present, there were still pests to deal with; A pair of hungry tyrannosaurus rexes attempted to make the monster their lunch, only for the radioactive giant to swat them aside with his powerful tail.

But even though Godzilla felt at home here, there was also an unease that tugged at him. A sense of wrongness. The reptile's suspicions were correct, as he was not the only new arrival to this prehistoric world. A massive, blood red predator had also recently arrived, treating this ancient land as its own feeding ground. Seeking not only sustenance, but also challenge, this stranger swooped down and attacked Godzilla from behind, sinking its claws into his flesh and knocking him to the ground. The King of the Monsters immediately retaliated, firing his atomic ray down the stranger's throat. But the crimson beast seemed to barely even notice the blast and continued its assault, with both monsters completely oblivious to the massive meteor hurtling down from space. The Stranger's claws raked the Fire Monster's flesh, who responded with another burst of atomic breath, exploding against the predator's armor-like hide.

The meteor hit the Earth with cataclysmic impact, a massive shockwave blasting out in all directions, devastating and reshaping the world. As the land began to warp and shift all around the two warring titans, the Stranger realized it was time to abandon this world and spread its wings, taking to the sky. Godzilla, unaware of the rapidly-approaching doom, reached out and snatched the Stranger's tail, trying to keep the beast in place so they could finish their fight. But the blood red beast was too strong, causing the tip of its tail to rip off and remain in Godzilla's hand. Unfortunately, the Stranger had taken too long to begin its escape and was caught in the shockwave, instantly vaporized. The ground underneath Godzilla cracked and gave way, once again sending the nuclear leviathan plummeting down into the dark depths of the planet.

Opening his eyes, Godzilla awoke at the bottom of the sea. He was back in the familiar waters he had fallen asleep in. The King of the Monsters was once again in the modern world of mankind and their advanced technological weapons.

Rising up from his slumber, the King of the Monsters realized that the prehistoric world he had journeyed to, including the long-forgotten flora and fauna, was nothing more than a mere dream. His battle with the ravenous Stranger was simply part of a vision in his mind of a world long past...

...that is until he found the tip of the predator's tail, still clutched tightly within his clawed hand.

• In Godzilla King of the Monsters (1987), as drawn by Steve Bissette and Ron Randall, Godzilla's appearance was far more stylized, with a long neck, long, spindly arms, and scraggly, misshapen dorsal plates. Starting with the Godzilla Color Special, however, Dark Horse began portraying the monster as a far more on-model Heisei Godzilla, which would remain the case for the rest of the run.
• Just like his fellow Disaster Monsters, Soran and Inagos, Godzilla is known by another name in Professor Yoshiwara's translations: The Fire Monster. This is also a reference to the 1957 North American title for Godzilla Raids Again (1955) as Gigantis the Fire Monster.
• The panel of Godzilla rising up from the sea in the Godzilla Color Special, drawn by Arthur "Art" Adams, was later repurposed and became the cover for the final draft of the script for Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995). For the cover, the surrounding ocean was edited out and Godzilla was altered to be holding the Oxygen Destroyer in his claws.
• In the Godzilla Color Special, Godzilla is said to be swimming at 30 knots during his fight with the United States Navy, though it isn't clarified whether this is the creature's top speed or not.
• While discussing Godzilla in the Godzilla Color Special, Dr. Kagaku says "You didn't see what Godzilla did to Tokyo last year, or to Osaka two years before." While he is clearly referencing two unseen events in the Dark Horse universe, given the release date of the comic (1992) and the specific events and their timeline, this also seems to be a vague allusion to the events of Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991) and Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989).
• Kogenta in the Godzilla Color Special and Professor Mason in Godzilla King of the Monsters #12 are the only human beings shown to be intentionally singled out and killed by Godzilla.
• In his basketball game against Charles Barkley, Godzilla was only able to score two points.
• According to Sir Charles Barkley, Godzilla's sneaker size is 13,000 EEE.
• When the All-Terraintula fires its Super-Tranq at Godzilla, the spot the missile hits - the rear of the monster's left hip, near the spine - is the same location as that of Godzilla's secondary brain as shown in Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II (1993).
• In the A Decade of Dark Horse #4 short story "The Origins of a Species," when discussing Godzilla's prehistoric origins and how sightings of him may have begun mankind's legends of sea monsters, (in-universe) centuries old artwork is shown, portraying a slightly inaccurate Godzilla. The art gives him a wider snout and small, fin-like ears, causing him to noticeably resemble the titular monster from the 1961 film Gorgo.
• Also in "The Origins of a Species," Dr. Kagaku states that a scientist named Dr. Yogami discovered a living trilobite within one of Godzilla's footprints, which is clearly intended as a stand-in for, and reference to, Dr. Yamane (played by Takashi Shimura) doing the same in Godzilla (1954).
• There are technically two other Godzillas from Dark Horse Comics, though they are both completely unrelated to the version of the monster seen in the main line of comics running from 1987 to 1996 (as well as each other).
  
  The first of these comes from the series simply titled Godzilla (later retitled Terror of Godzilla when re-released under the "Dark Horse Classics" banner), which was merely a reprinting and translation of Kazuhisa Iwata's manga adaptation of The Return of Godzilla (1984). As in the film it's based on, this Godzilla destroys Tokyo and battles the Super X before being lured to his apparent demise in Mt. Mihara.
  
  The second originates from a short story known as "Godzilla's Day" which was first printed in Dark Horse Presents #106 and later reprinted in the collection Godzilla: Age of Monsters. Written by Ed Brubaker, it was a more comedic tale involving Godzilla repeatedly invading Osaka and 'attacking' buildings with strange, spiky surfaces. Though these attacks are initially believed to be malicious in nature, it is eventually realized by a small boy named Tetsuo that the monster is merely wanting to use the spiky buildings as scratching posts to help shed dead skin. The government constructs a fifty story scratching post far outside of Osaka for Godzilla to use, which he does happily, saving the city from any further wrath.