Minilla

Minilla (ミニラ, Minira), also referred to as Minya or Milla, is a monster from the Godzilla Showa series of films and is the first of several young Godzillas in the series. He first appeared on Sogell Island in Son of Godzilla and also appeared in Destroy All Monsters, All Monsters Attack and Godzilla: Final Wars.

Showa History
The son of the infamous Godzilla, Minilla resembles a smaller, pudgy version of his father. His snout is slightly upturned and his eyes are larger and placed further forward on his head, giving him a more human-like appearance. The fins on his back are small and unformed, and he also lacks the charcoal gray coloration of his father. His coloring is a light gray. Minilla was born on Sogell Island, when his egg was cracked open by a group of Kamacuras. One can assume that since Minilla was born premature, his appearance is not that of a full offspring of Godzilla, and that Godzilla had to train his radioactive technique. The giant mantises might have killed him had Godzilla not arrived to protect him. Godzilla proceeded to train his son and defended him against further attacks from the Kamacuras. Together the father and son defeated the giant spider Kumonga. There was a point in the battle where Godzilla was going to be killed by Kumonga, but Minilla saved him, gaining Godzilla's respect as his son. Godzilla and Minilla were placed in hibernation when a group of scientists completed a weather experiment, resulting in the freezing of Solgell. The monsters revived when the snow melted, and eventually relocated to Monster Island, as seen in stock footage used in Godzilla vs. Gigan.

Years later, near the turn of the century, Minilla fought King Ghidorah at Mount Fuji along with his father and the other kaiju of Monster Island as part of the effort to defeat the Kilaak invasion. He then returned to his home, where he remains to this day.

Godzilla's exact relationship to Minilla has never been clarified. It is uncertain whether he was of a derelict egg of the same or a similar species or if Godzilla was somehow Minilla's biological parent; (human character dialogue might suggest that Godzilla had been to Sogell Island prior to the events of Son of Godzilla).



Godzilla: Final Wars
Minilla had a small role in the movie Godzilla: Final Wars. He is encountered by the young boy Kenta while Kenta and his grandfather are hunting in the forest. Minya joins the two in their truck, where they drive to Mt. Fuji to witness Godzilla's battle with Anguirus, Rodan, and King Caesar. Upon witnessing this battle, Minilla's height springs up to 45 meters. Minilla appears again at the end of the film, where he convinces Godzilla to leave the crew of the Gotengo alone. He then departs into the ocean with Godzilla.He has the ability to breath the smoke rings ( he only does it once, before he grows.), and breathed full atomic breath before departing at the end.

Appearance
Minilla is much more friendly with humans than any of his contemporaries, and once appeared in the dreams of a troubled boy in order to give an example of how to deal with bullying and other childhood issues. He is also very playful, enjoying such games as kicking large boulders and jumping over or riding on his father's tail. While he is usually fearful of other monsters, he occasionally shows courage when defending his human friends, although more often than not he is outmatched by other kaiju.

He is most notable for his ability to breathe radioactive smoke rings, though he did learn to use a true radioactive ray in Son of Godzilla. Minilla also has the ability to communicate with his father over great distances by broadcasting a brainwave pattern over radio frequencies. This ability interferes with other radio transmissions in its vicinity. In Godzilla's Revenge Minilla is depicted as having the ability to shrink down to human size, and could also talk. This was originally meant to be indicative of the fantasy element of this film, in which Minilla only appears in the dreams of a young boy. This power is depicted again in the film Godzilla: Final Wars.

Minilla reappeared in a slightly altered form in Godzilla: Final Wars which, as part of the Millennium series, was not directly connected to any of his previous appearances. His role, however, was unchanged; very human-friendly, especially towards children. He also interceded on behalf of humanity to Godzilla, prompting Godzilla to end his war with the human race. His Japanese name, Minira is a combination of Mini and Gojira (Japanese name for Godzilla), thus he is referred to as a "miniature Godzilla".



Powers/Abilities
Minilla's main weapon is atomic smoke rings, though he can fire an atomic ray like his father it is much more energy consuming for him unlike his father thus he does not use it as often. Once hatched, he was able to send a signal to summon Godzilla from the ocean depths. This signal has the ability to disrupt other forms of electrical transmission such as radar and radio. In Final Wars, he was shown firing an atomic ray at the very end of the film.

Continuity
After the Showa series, another Baby Godzilla is born in the Heisei series. Within the course of three years, this baby matured into a miniature Godzilla. This brings up questions about the difference between Minilla and Godzilla Jr., as Minilla is still a baby by Destroy All Monsters, which apparently takes place near the turn of the 21st century, 32 years after it was born. One explanation could be that Minilla, having been born prematurely, had its natural growth stunted, thus preventing it from maturing at a "normal" rate. A lack of further exposure to radiation also means that Minilla did not change greatly in size or appearance (such exposure to further radiation was shown to greatly change the size and appearance of Godzilla in the Heisei series). If exposed to more radioactivity, it is quite possible that Minilla might mutate further, as such high levels of radiation might offset it's stunted growth. In the case of Baby Godzilla, however, it continued to absorb radiation even after it's birth, from the exposure to Godzilla's radioactivity on Birth island (causing it to become Little Godzilla) to absorbing the left-over radiation from Birth island's destruction (mutating him further into Godzilla Junior). Another possibility of Minya not growing by 1999 could be that this is a new Minya, and his father is the one from Son of Godzilla. There could even be a few more Minillas in-between, but it is unknown.

Trivia

 * An evil clone of Minilla (brand new costume) appeared in episode 46 of the 1973 show Ike Greenman.
 * Minilla is sometimes confused with Godzooky, a similar character from the 1978 animated Hanna-Barbera series The Godzilla Power hour.