Godzilla Earth

"When those fleeting lives destined to die, forget their humbleness and sing praises of their glory, such will shake the very heavens and split the earth. They shall know the wrath of the divine... It's been a while, oh King of Monsters."

- Metphies, as Godzilla Earth makes itself known.

Godzilla Earth ゴジラ・アース (Gojira Āsu), also simply known as Godzilla ゴジラ (Gojira), is the first Godzilla of the Planet of the Monsters continuity, and the second Godzilla within the Toho reboot series of films.

This Godzilla made its first formal appearance in the prequel novel, Godzilla: Monster Apocalypse, where it's detailed how Godzilla arose in 2030 and proceeded to lay waste to both humanity and the planet's monster population over the course of 18 years.

It then made its second appearance in the 2017 film, Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters, where it acts as one of the primary antagonists of the film. It will appear again in the film's 2018 sequel, where it will fight Mechagodzilla.

This Godzilla also spawned Godzilla Filius, a smaller, nearly identical, cell-divided clone of itself, which acted as the primary antagonist of the 2017 film, Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters.

Name
The name "Godzilla" is a transliteration of Gojira ゴジラ, a combination of two Japanese words: gorira ゴリラ, meaning "gorilla", and kujira (鯨 or クジラ), meaning "whale".

According to the website for the film, this Godzilla's designation is officially Godzilla Earth ゴリラ・アース (Gojira Āsu). This is apparently to symbolize how Godzilla rules over, or has ruled over the planet for 20,000 years.

Design
The 2017 design of Godzilla follows in the footsteps of its 2016 predecessor by incorporating elements of past designs within its own, in this case, that of the 2014 Godzilla incarnation.

Differences in his design boil down to the being much more spiky and frayed in appearance, almost looking like a hybrid between the 2014 and 2016 designs for Godzilla's dorsal spines. The statue for this design depicts them as much more leaf-like in aesthetic, even possessing veins, further solidifying his origin from plant-based organisms. Said run all the way down to his tail.

This Godzilla also looks like he has exposed musculature over his entire body in a manner similar to the 2016 Godzilla. However, this Godzilla deviates from looking like pure muscle, and instead bears more of a likeness towards the roots of plants, with moss-like details being prevalent on his feet as well. Oddly enough, this Godzilla's foot design is biologically similar to that of a human's: featuring a similar arch between the toe and heel (or calx pads) as well as a similar toe arrangement. The leg design is overall similar to that of the Heisei era Godzilla: featuring a simple thigh and shin build, over being digitigrade. The torso resembles that of the GMK Godzilla, along with some of the 2014 Godzilla incarnation’s characteristics.

The head of this Godzilla bears more than a passing resemblance to the 2014 Godzilla, but features a much more natural, and normal shape, almost akin to that of a sea turtle when looked at head-on. Despite this, he possesses a slight underbite, with the lower jaw being marginally thicker and more built up than the upper jaw. His eyes are a low blue in coloration, and interestingly enough, this Godzilla lacks natural teeth, instead having tooth-like appendages forming from his skin. The mouth of this Godzilla also possesses an odd, unintentional smile, with the back of his lips curving upwards.

This Godzilla's skin tone is a deep green in coloration, making this the first green Godzilla since 1999's MireGoji design.

It was confirmed that this Godzilla would also exceed the already enormous size of the Godzilla from the Shin Godzilla continuity family, coming in at 300 meters, something that would be described in the film as well.



The basic concept of the design was inspired from large trees, especially sacred trees in Shintoism. Additionally, it was aimed to be a realization of imaginary creatures like dragons, not to emphasize biological reality, instead aiming for surreal aesthetics.

According to the director, Godzilla's physique was based on a sumo wrestler, depicting "a beautiful form of sumo".

On the other hand, its head was designed to be not carnivorous in appearance, this included an integration of its teeth with its jaws, along with a rather calm expression. The head was designed to be considerably small in size compared to its body.

Its expression was aimed to "be dignified like a God", with another aesthetic design choice hearkening to a philosopher of ancient Greece, with combed back hair. The protrusions on Godzilla's head were designed from a general image of the latter. Its eyes were designed to be "very gentle and calm, and not being fierce" while resembling a cat's eye, with eyelashes being added to emphasize a tender nature.

Its skin was inspired from gregarious moss plants on a surface, and its were designed on the basis of leaves from holly trees, and included vein-like lines.

Portrayal
Godzilla was portrayed through the use of CGI, much like its 2014 and 2016 counterparts.

Roar
This Godzilla shares a roar with the Millennium series' Godzilla incarnations.

Personality
This Godzilla is extremely hostile and violent even by monster standards, while also being highly intelligent, being able to outsmart humans. Metphies states that "Godzilla will never ever let humanity flee". Furthermore, it not only targets humanity, but also includes other monsters in its sightlines. Godzilla seemingly wants to destroy and hunt down everyone and everything in his way, either by malicious, or territorial intent.

Origins
This Godzilla, much like the one featured in Shin Godzilla, features a new, revamped origin: originating from plant-based lifeforms, he is said to be the "end result of natural selection on Earth", and has gone on to live and dominate the planet for 20,000 years.

It has been speculated that Godzilla is a plant based mutant which ingested a massive amount of metal elements during the process of its growth.

History
While other monsters have been recognized by humanity since 1999, Godzilla didn't make any formal appearance until 2030.

Prior to 2030s
Pacific regions were relatively safe to humanity in spite of Godzilla making the region its territory, as the monster never appeared.

2030
Kamoeba's corpse was found on Odo Island on May 29th, and this was the first cross between humanity and Godziila. Kyouhei Yamane, a professor of Strategic Biology named the monster Gojira after 呉爾羅, legendary dragon god of the island.

Later, an increasing number of missing vessels were reported, including a nuclear submarine of the US army. Frequent occurrences of unidentified underwater eruption-like phenomenons were reported, reports of "horizontal lighting" and "mysterious lights" gradually moving east and approaching the continent of North America were spoken of, and reports of corpses of monsters had been recorded in the Pacific Ocean. Vessels reporting the above mentioned reports also disappeared.

One night, Anguirus, along with Varan and Baragon emerged on the coasts of Los Angeles, but all were escaping out of desperate fears that were obvious even from the viewpoint of mankind. Another gigantic monster appeared and followed the three; this was the first official visual confirmation of Godzilla to humanity.

At that time, US army situated strong anti-kaiju defense lines on Los Angeles, but a charged particle beam Godzilla shot on Varan produced a powerful EMP, crushing all of the city's weaponry and electronic function.

After killing all the three monsters, Godzilla started attacking humanity, destroying Los Angles with casualties rising to 8.7 million people. Raids of bunker busters by the US army didn't affect it at all, and humanity couldn't stop but watch the monster target San Francisco and burn down the city. The US army with all its technology tried to search for Godzilla, who disappeared into the Pacific Ocean after the incident in San Francisco, but failed to locate the target due to its stealthy nature.

A video taken by Andy A. Antonio from Los Angeles became the first official footage to capture Godzilla and later became the most viewed video in history. Andy was filming to earn money for his mother, who was suffering from cancer. Andy instantly became rich for his efforts, and was able to educate his children, while also getting a ticket for the space ship Oratia to evacuate the planet with his elderly son. He was also able to receive medical treatment for severe radioactive exposure due to Godzilla's arrival and actions, and passed away two weeks after Akira Sakaki's interview with him. However, he was regretful that he wasn't able to save his mother, as she was instantly killed by a radioactive beam which hit the underground shelter she was evacuating to.

2031
Godzilla emerged and destroyed a Carrier Strike Group near Washington, and then attacked the east coast of North America again, destroying Colorado Springs even though the city was thoroughly fortified against Godzilla. The Defense Line which the US army concentrated all of its strength was easily broken, and the final operation to throw one hundred and fifty 21 kiloton nuclear bombs didn't affect it at all. During the live broadcast, the President of the US began to go insane, claimed that Godzilla was the Beast of Revelation, and put a gun into his mouth and shot himself. It then crossed the continent into the Gulf of Mexico, disappearing into the Atlantic Ocean.

The west coast was totally destroyed, and the eastern side of the nation was divided, including safer regions. Around this time, the Godzilla/Nuclear Cult formed, resulting in mass suicides using nuclear bombs and executions in inner continental regions, with death tolls counting up in the tens of thousands. This continued until the Exifs' visit.

2034
Godzilla attacked western Europe, and forced humanity to abandon Europe. Total casualties were estimated to be up to 6 million. It then disappeared into Arctic Sea.

Furthermore, other monsters in Europe fled to the east to avoid Godzilla, causing severe damages on refugees heading the same way, while damaging land and ecosystems.

2042 - 2044
This was the most intense period in terms of Godzilla's activity.

The monster appeared 8 times during a period of two years on a global scale, and total casualties were estimated to be more than 300 million. Humanity had to abandon all over the east coast of North America, northern parts of Africa, and half of the Eurasian continent.

Even though the formation of the Global Union with the Exifs and Bilusaludos dramatically improved anti-monster technologies of Earthlings, none of those were effective against Godzilla.

2045
"Operation: Great Wall" was conducted by the UNHCR to bury Godzilla alive, utilizing about 2,000 nuclear bombs, which sealed the monster under the Himalayas, and Godzilla temporarily ceased its activity.

2046
Godzilla destroyed the bedrock of the mountain range with its beam and resumed its activity. It broke through the defense line in India and kept moving, killing about 200 million people in the Eurasian continent and about 100 million in Japan. The final battle against the monster on Hamamatsu in Japan became a total loss, and included the loss of Mechagodzilla.

The global population was decreased down to about 700 million in the 16 years since Godzilla's first appearance, and humanity were totally cornered in terms of both potential habitable areas and population density. Thus, they were forced to abandon the planet even if leaving the majority behind.

2048
Latin America, the last stronghold for humanity, was finally attacked by Godzilla.

The final defense line of UNHCR was destroyed, and the HQ of the UNHCR in Rio de Janeiro was taken down as well. It then attacked the space port where crews were about to ride on "Aratrum". When the ship was about to depart, one of transporters were shot down by Godzilla's beam, and the resulting crash and explosion accidentally involved several buses, resulting in the loss of many crew members, including Akira Sakaki and his wife.

Akira himself was returning to the HQ to prevent HQ from erasing the Aratrum's data on Godzilla, alongside other monsters, claiming the remainders and descendants of humanity wouldn't need the history of loss, and put amusements in the database instead.

Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters
Godzilla Earth's seen near the beginning of the film, where he's shown devastating Earth. Humanity's efforts to nuke him are also demonstrated, as is Godzilla's survival. Godzilla eventually arrives near a port for airships, where he destroys a craft with his atomic breath, with the resulting destruction killing Haruo Sakaki's parents.

A detailed plan to destroy the monster was presented in a meeting on the Aratrum, with Haruo detailing a potential weakness in its shielding, which can be used to destroy it. Here, Godzilla's regeneration is also brought up. The idea of the monster multiplying in the time since humanity left the planet is also established. An idea that, while initially dismissed, turns out to be true.

Godzilla Earth then makes an appearance at the tail end of the film, shortly after Godzilla Filius falls. He blindsides everyone involved with the prior operation, as he appears from underneath a nearby mountain, with his very arrival destroying much of the operation's equipment. Haruo urges everyone to retreat from the titan, by any means necessary, stating he'd attempt to distract the monster while everyone flees. Godzilla utilizes his oscillatory wave to completely annihilate landing craft attempting to escape, and also uses a tail-produced shockwave to destroy much of the area in front of him.

Haruo's vehicle ends up being damaged before he can put effort into distracting the beast, and he ends up being incapacitated under rubble, before attempting to vow to kill the monster as he passes out, with Godzilla Earth not being seen past that.

Planet of the Monsters sequel
Godzilla Earth will appear in the 2018 sequel to Planet of the Monsters, where it will fight Mechagodzilla''.

Abilities
This incarnation of Godzilla is extremely devastating, and able to cause more than several hundred million casualties in the 12 to 13 years since its first appearance, ultimately destroying entire populations.

In Godzilla: Monster Apocalypse, the official prequel novelization, Godzilla's movements are said to be almost undetectable due to its body lacking emissions of electromagnetic waves; however, the electromagnetic pulses generated by usage of his atomic breath allow humanity to detect him. Godzilla also swims faster, quieter, and deeper than any submarine.

Like plants, Godzilla requires water and light as energy sources.

Godzilla's presence itself brings severe radioactive pollutants anywhere it passes by, resulting in the abandonment of affected lands by mankind. Decontamination wasn't available until Bilusaludos provided ANB (anti nuclear bacteria) technologies.

Most monsters barring Godzilla had been regarded as mutations of normal organisms and thus were able to be killed with conventional weaponry. Thus Godzilla's existence itself was a shot out of the dark, as it possessed nothing more than science fiction-like biology such as the abilities including to shoot a beam from its mouth, high stealthiness, and its durability to be immune to nuclear weapons. There was a saying that "even if fighting against monsters, we were still happy back then as long as we didn't know Godzilla".

Particle charged breath
Godzilla has the ability to breath a radioactive beam, like most of his predecessors. However, the beam is described to be highly accelerated, particle-charged, and is electronic. It is highly destructive; according to official records, this beam is capable of annihilating single cities and mountains, penetrating the Rocky mountains, melting parts of Himalayan Range, and destroying continental plates. The estimated range of the beam is approximately 30 kilometers (18.6411 miles). During the charging process of this attack, Godzilla also produces strong electromagnetic pulses.

Anyone at close range will face severe radioactive exposure, and nearby areas will be severely polluted by radioactivity, forcing humanity to abandon the area. Land pollutants were later fixed by technologies provided by Bilusaludos.

This incarnation's atomic breath takes on the form of a thin, focused beam, almost like the atomic breath attacks of the Legendary Godzilla and Shin Godzilla, but there are notable differences in terms of charging up said ability aesthetically. They include things such as the visible electric nature of the creature's overall body and fins rather than vivid luminescence, the generation of a force field in front of the snout rather than discharging of energy from inside of its mouth, while also lacking the need to open its mouth wide to discharge its atomic powers.

Plasma Cutter
Concentrating powerful plasma from its fins, Godzilla sparks its tail and produces plasma blade extending for 600 meters and reduces anything it touches to ash.

Electromagnetic shockwave
During its use of tail plasma blade, a single swipe of its tail, surpassing the speed of sound, produces a powerful electromagnetic wave along with a shock wave that wipe out vast areas surrounding Godzilla.

Oscillatory wave
Its roar can literally shake air and produce powerful shockwaves with high oscillatory frequency, destroying targets with resonance phenomena. Despite being sound and shock wave, it has directivity and is powerful enough to bring severe destruction on humanity's fleets.

Like when it shoots its radioactive beam, its back fins are charged with electricity when it begins to use this attack.

Electromagnetic pulse
Much like the MUTOs from Godzilla, this incarnation of Godzilla is able to generate and discharge an EMP when shooting its iconic beam. This ability is passed onto the Servum.

Godzilla's EMP is strong enough to destroy any normal electronics including cars and shelters instantly, and even specialized electronics for military usages will stop functioning at close range. Bilusaludos later provided technologies to improve anti-EMP functions of humanity.

Electromagnetic shield
The body cells of Godzilla function like the coils of magnets, enabling him to produce strong electromagnetic fields, absorb electromagnetic waves, and produce an "Asymmetric Permeable Shield" under the skin by using electromagnetic nanomaterials.

Instant tissue regeneration
Multi-layered, physaliformed skin enables Godzilla to regenerate new skins near instantly, even if older skin is incinerated or becomes plasma due to several hundred, or even several thousands nuclear bombings, making Godzilla essentially immune to human weapons.

Lack of skeletal frame
In this continuity Godzilla can perform muscle exercise like an animal without a skeleton.

Metallic tissue
Much like the Servum, Godzilla's body tissue is integrated with metallic muscle fibers, which not only serve to channel his EMP, but to also support his massive weight.

This along with its origin and relatively light weight, compared to its size are speculated to be based on natures of carbon fiber; compared to iron, it is one forth the weight, ten times stronger, seven times more in specific modulus, and can outperform in abrasion resistance, thermal resistance, electrical conduction property, and so on

Lack of thermal radiation
Like plants, Godzilla's body temperature is next to nothing, and absorption of electromagnetic waves by its tissue enables Godzilla to be undetectable by these means.

These traits make Godzilla almost undetectable in normal circumstances unlike other monsters, and even sonar's ineffective underwater.

Electromagnetic underwater booster
Humanity speculated that Godzilla may possess a electromagnetic booster due to its non-ordinary swimming capability including quiescence and speed which stopped submarines from being able to keep up with it.

Terraforming
The entire ecosystem and environment of Earth after 20,000 years was changed, remade by Godzilla in humanity's 20,000 year absence. This includes plants that now produce EMP-like functioning pollen, containing Godzilla's DNA.

Trivia

 * The concept of this incarnation of Godzilla originating from plant-based organisms, is remarkably similar to the origin of Biollante who, coincidentally, possesses G-Cells.
 * The concept of parts of humanity to regard monster as the Beasts of Revelation and form cults is similar to that of Pacific Rim.
 * Curiously, this incarnation of Godzilla possesses blue eyes, but the statue made to promote the design instead features green eyes.
 * This incarnation of Godzilla is the largest incarnation of the monster yet, coming in at 300 meters, or 984.25 feet tall. This dwarfs even Shin Godzilla's incarnation of the monster, and the Marvel incarnation, the former being 118.5 meters (approximately 389 feet) tall, and the latter being 184 meters (about 603 feet) tall.
 * The concept idea for Godzilla to change ecosystems and environments completely is akin to works by the same scriptwriter of this film such as Kamen Rider Gaimu and Saya no Uta.
 * Many fans pointed out similarities of this incarnation of Godzilla with Death Saurer and King Gojuras from the ZOIDS series, especially with the former; being a metallic organism, DNA divided smaller beings inherit its power, rather calm eyes, towering size, small head compared to body, particle charged beam that can annihilate cities in a blink of an eye, and bringing total destruction on a planetary scale.
 * In the official novelization, when US army bombed Godzilla with bunker busters, there was a comment by a soldier noting the ineffectiveness of the weapons against the monster and saying it's not a matter of angle. This line is a possible reference to that in 2001 film Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack.

Films

 * Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters

Novels

 * Godzilla: Monster Apocalypse