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{{Infobox Era
|era= Heisei
|name=Heisei era
|image=Godzilla Heisei poster.jpg
|othernames=Heisei period
|started=January 8, [[1989]]
|ended=April 30, [[2019]]
|firstentry=''[[The Return of Godzilla]]''<br>{{Sup|''Godzilla'' series}}''[[Rebirth of Mothra]]''<br>{{Sup|''Mothra'' series}}
|finalentry=''[[Godzilla vs. Destoroyah]]''<br>{{Sup|''Godzilla'' series}}<br>''[[Rebirth of Mothra III]]''<br>{{Sup|''Mothra'' series}}
|previous=[[Showa era]]
|next=[[Millennium series]]
}}
The '''Heisei era''' is a term used to identify the previous political era of [[Japan]]. The Heisei series is named after the political Heisei era in Japan, which started in 1989 with the ascension of Emperor Akihito to the throne and ended in 2019 with his abdication.

''Godzilla'' is the only major kaiju franchise have not followed this convention despite other franchises having similar hiatuses. Although the [[Millennium era|Millennium]] and [[MonsterVerse]] [[Godzilla (franchise)|''Godzilla'']] films were released during the political Heisei period, they are considered as separate series from the Heisei series due to having separate, distinct continuities.

==Films==
===''Godzilla'' film series===
The ''Godzilla'' Heisei era lasted from [[1984]] to [[1995]]. The ''Godzilla'' Heisei era was also nicknamed the "VS Series" {{Nihongo|VSシリーズ|Buiesu shirīzu|lit. ''Versus series''}} in Japan, due to the word VS (''Buiesu'') being featured in most of the films' titles. The Heisei era of ''Godzilla'' films follow a different continuity from the Showa films, ignoring every movie except the original [[1954]] ''[[Godzilla (1954 film)|Godzilla]]''. The Heisei Godzilla films all take place in a single timeline featuring a technologically advanced humanity combating a [[Godzilla (Heisei)|second Godzilla]] and other giant monsters, notably exploring the nature and biology of Godzilla in greater detail than previous films.
*''[[The Return of Godzilla]]''
*''[[Godzilla vs. Biollante]]''
*''[[Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah]]''
*''[[Godzilla vs. Mothra]]''
*''[[Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II]]''
*''[[Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla]]''
*''[[Godzilla vs. Destoroyah]]''

===''Mothra'' film series===
[[Mothra (Heisei)|Mothra]] received her first standalone film since [[Mothra (1961 film)|the original ''Mothra'']] in [[1996]] following the temporary close of the Godzilla series. The ''Rebirth of Mothra'' trilogy lasted from 1996 to [[1998]]. The ''Rebirth of Mothra'' films have no connection to any other existing Toho films and feature a completely original take on [[Mothra Leo|Mothra]], portrayed here as the guardian of an ancient, diminutive civilization known as the [[Elias]].
*''[[Rebirth of Mothra]]''
*''[[Rebirth of Mothra II]]''
*''[[Rebirth of Mothra III]]''

== Television ==
* ''[[Godzilla Island (TV series)|Godzilla Island]]'' (October 6, 1997)
* ''[[Godzilland]]'' (October 1, [[1992]]; November 6, 1994 (OVA))

==Monsters introduced==
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===''Godzilla'' film series===
*[[Biollante (Heisei)|Biollante]]
*[[Shockirus]]
*[[Godzillasaurus]]
*[[Mecha-King Ghidorah]]
*[[Dorat]]
*[[Battra (Heisei)|Battra]]
*[[Mechagodzilla (Heisei)|Super Mechagodzilla]]
*[[Rodan (Heisei)|Fire Rodan]]
*[[Godzilla Junior|Baby Godzilla/Little Godzilla/Godzilla Junior]]
*[[M.O.G.U.E.R.A.]]
*[[Fairy Mothra]]
*[[SpaceGodzilla (Heisei)|SpaceGodzilla]]
*[[Destoroyah (Heisei)|Destoroyah]]

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===''Mothra'' film series===
*[[Mothra Leo]]
*[[Desghidorah]]
*[[Dagahra]]
*[[Barem]]
*[[Ghogo]]
*[[Garu Garu]]
*[[King Ghidorah (Rebirth of Mothra)|Cretaceous King Ghidorah]]
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==Trivia==
*Technically, ''[[The Return of Godzilla]]'' was released during the [[Showa era]] rather than the Heisei era but is considered part of the Heisei series due to being the beginning of a new series and sharing continuity with the Heisei films that followed it.
*No ''Godzilla'' monster introduced in the Heisei series reappeared in the Millennium era, with the exception of the adult Godzilla Junior appearing through stock footage in the opening of ''[[Godzilla: Final Wars]]''.
*''Godzilla'' monsters from this period were generally very large; much larger than monsters from the Showa era. Most of Godzilla's opponents were at least 20 meters taller than him.
*The Heisei era set several records in various statistics for Toho's kaiju at the time; some of these records have been surpassed by later films, while others remain current.
**SpaceGodzilla's flying form and Biollante's final form are the heaviest kaiju on record respectively, not counting [[Bagan]] from the video game ''[[Super Godzilla]]''.
**The 1991 incarnation of [[King Ghidorah (Heisei)|King Ghidorah]] is the tallest version of King Ghidorah, as well as the tallest Toho kaiju, along with Bagan.
**Prior to ''[[Shin Godzilla]]'', the incarnations of Godzilla from 1991 to 1995 were the tallest versions of him to appear in a film produced by Toho.
**Destoroyah is the oldest kaiju on record, being from the Precambrian era.
*This is the second era to have a series in a complete continuity. The first being the Showa era, while the Millennium era only had separated continuities throughout most films.
*In this era, almost all the monsters Godzilla faces can fly, the sole exception being Biollante, who is still able to travel through the air in the form of energy spores.
*All of the Heisei Godzilla films from ''The Return of Godzilla'' to ''[[Godzilla vs. Mothra]]'' end with Godzilla falling or being dropped into a natural object of some sort; a [[Mount Mihara|volcano]] in ''The Return of Godzilla'' and the ocean in the other three films.
*The origins of almost all of the monsters in the ''Godzilla'' Heisei era are directly linked to Godzilla in some way: all of the monsters were spawned from Godzilla's DNA or from circumstances in which he was directly involved. For the former, this applies to Biollante and SpaceGodzilla, while Destoroyah was a byproduct of the [[Oxygen Destroyer]], the weapon that killed the original Godzilla.
***Battra and Mecha-King Ghidorah, while not based physically or genetically on Godzilla, cannot be considered original monsters either as their physical appearances are inspired by Mothra and Ghidorah, respectively.
*All of Mothra's adversaries in the ''Rebirth of Mothra'' trilogy are flying, draconic beasts, two of which are extraterrestrial hydra ([[Desghidorah]] and King Ghidorah), while [[Dagahra]] is a genetic creation.
*The Heisei era of ''Godzilla'' films introduced a filming technique where shots of the set were blended into footage of cities from ground level. While this did provide an ability to save money in building massive sets and also was an easy way to introduce a sense of scale, it meant that in many scenes people can be seen casually walking or even driving vehicles while the {{Kaiju}} rampages nearby. This is especially evident in some of the [[Haneda Airport]] scenes in ''Godzilla vs. Destoroyah'', where a [[Boeing 747]] that belongs to [[wikipedia:All Nippon Airways|ANA]] can actually be seen ''taxiing'' towards the runway whilst Destoroyah flies into the air, pulling Godzilla along.<ref>[[:File:Destoroyah_pulls_Godzilla_along_the_ground.gif|Destoroyah pulls Godzilla along the ground]]</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Eras and series}}
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