Zilla 1338891 225618106 2008-07-14T16:08:28Z 76.110.180.168 {{Refimprove|date=January 2008}} {{otheruses}} {| class="infobox" style="width: 21em; font-size: 90%; text-align: left" |- ! colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | ''[[Godzilla film series]]'' character |- ! colspan="2" style="text-align:center; font-size: larger; background-color: #001; color: #ffa;" |Zilla |- | colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | [[Image:Zilla98 01.jpg|250px]] |-Zilla ! Species | Mutated [[Marine Iguana]] |- ! Alias | Godzilla |- ! Height | 60<ref name="QA">{{cite web | url = http://www.tohokingdom.com/kaiju/godzilla_us.htm | title = Godzilla [American] | work = | publisher = | accessdate = 2007-06-06}}</ref>-90<ref>[http://www.tohokingdom.com/kaiju/zilla_mill.htm Zilla [Millennium&#93;<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Meters |- ! Length | 100 Meters |- ! Weight | 500 tons<ref name="QA"/> |- ! Abilities | [[Hurricane]] breath<br>Speed<br>Burrowing<br>[[Atomic]] breath (''[[Godzilla: The Series]]'')<br>Enhanced [[Regeneration]] (''[[Godzilla: The Series]]'')<br>Enhanced [[Stamina]] (''[[Godzilla: The Series]]'')<br>[[Fire]] breath (''[[Godzilla: Final Wars]]'') |- ! Origins | [[Nuclear test]]ing in [[French Polynesia]] |- ! Relationships | Numerous Zilla offspring<br>[[Godzilla]](Counterpart)<br>Zilla Jr.(Son) |- ! Major enemies |[[Godzilla]] |- ! Controlled by | [[List of Toho alien races#Xiliens|Xiliens]]<br>Tachyons |- ! First appearance | ''[[Godzilla (1998 film)|Godzilla (1998)]]'' |- ! Created by | [[Dean Devlin]] and [[Patrick Tatopoulos]] |} {{nihongo|'''Zilla'''|ジラ|Jira}} is [[Toho Studios]]'s official name for the star of the [[1998]] [[TriStar Pictures]] [[film]] ''[[Godzilla (1998 film)|Godzilla]]''. Created from a French nuclear test, Zilla is a mutated [[iguana]]. Before Toho officially dubbed the creature Zilla, many fans, who did not care for the reimagining of Godzilla for the Centropolis film, developed several nicknames to differentiate its title character from the "original" [[Godzilla]]. These nicknames included ''American Godzilla'', ''Fraudzilla'', ''Deanzilla'' (because of writer/producer [[Dean Devlin]]), ''Trizilla'' (because of [[TriStar Pictures]]), and most popularly "GINO" or ''Gino'', an [[acronym]] for '''G'''odzilla '''I'''n '''N'''ame '''O'''nly. ===''Godzilla vs. the Gryphon''=== TriStar secured rights from Toho to produce an American Godzilla film in 1992. One of the key players in this arrangement was Henry G. Saperstein, who had brought several Godzilla films to America with his United Productions of America. TriStar originally hoped to have the film released in 1994. However, it was not until May of 1993 that Terry Rossio and Ted Elliott were asked to write a screenplay. The script was completed in November, but TriStar had yet to select a director for the film. In July of 1994, well after the originally announced release date, TriStar tapped Jan DeBont to direct the film. DeBont confessed to liking the older Godzilla films, although he stated that many of the later ones with their monster free-for-alls were a bit silly. Although he intended to keep humor in the picture, DeBont also pledged to deliver stunning effects and preserve the indomitable spirit of the Japanese Godzilla. DeBont assembled a team and had Rossio and Elliott rework the script to make it more to his liking. The revised script was ready in December of 1994. After Industrial Light and Magic turned down working on the Godzilla project, in October of 1994 it was announced that Stan Winston's Digital Domain would be doing the effects work for Godzilla, with a reported budget of around $50 million. The entire film was estimated to cost around $120 million. DeBont sent crews to construct a Japanese fishing village on the Oregon coast, filming Godzilla's attack on the Kuril Islands as the backbone for a teaser trailer. The sets were built, but filming did not occur. Sony, TriStar's parent company, panicked when they saw the massive price tag being affixed to DeBont's Godzilla project. In late December of 1994, TriStar and Jan DeBont parted company after the director refused to accept the studio's new budget restrictions. Although the script was rewritten again, this time by Donald MacPherson in May of 1995, the project was to all intents, dead. TriStar began to court Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich, the team who had just reaped huge profits with Independence Day in late 1995. By May of 1996, Devlin and Emmerich officially had the job. They agreed to bring the movie in for about half of what DeBont wanted, $65 million. ===''[[Godzilla (1998 film)]]''=== The film's opening credits play over a montage of French nuclear tests in the Pacific Ocean (which are actually historical footages of American nuclear tests), observed by various species of lizard. The nest of nearby marine iguanas is irradiated by the fallout. Years later, a Japanese fishing ship is attacked by an unseen, giant monster, and only one sailor survives. Traumatized, he is questioned in a hospital by a mysterious Frenchman (Jean Reno) as to what he saw. His only reply is, "Gojira." Another seaborne attack just by the Eastern Seaboard culminates in the eventual destruction of a fishing ship. The crew, however, survive the sinking of their boat, but it shoots up from underneath and lands with a huge splash in the surface. Dr. Niko "Nick" Tatapolous (Matthew Broderick), an NRC scientist who happened to be in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone (Ukraine) researching the effects of radiation on wildlife, is interrupted by the arrival of an agent of the U.S. State Department. He is sent to Panama, escorted by the military, to observe the wreckage of the recovered Japanese fishing ship (which had three gigantic claw marks on one side) and a set of massive dinosaur-like footprints in the grassy soil. The Frenchman is also there, observing the scene and introduces himself as an insurance agent. Aboard a military aircraft, Tatapolous identifies skin samples he recovered as belonging to an animal "unknown to science". Gojira then heads to New York City, dragging three trawlers under the sea on the way, then creating havoc in the Fulton Fish Market, before rampaging through the city. Manhattan is evacuated and the military attempt to kill the monster, first luring it out with a huge pile of fish. It takes the bait, but then shrugs off small arms fire, and is chased by three AH-64 Apache attack helicopters. They fire, only to knock the top two dozen stories off the Chrysler Building. Gojira escapes, but not before Nick realizes that the monster reproduces asexually, and is collecting food not only for itself, but also for its offspring. Nick is determined to find its nest. However, a videotape from Panama is stolen by Nick's ex-girlfriend, Audrey Timmonds (Maria Pitillo), a would-be TV journalist for news channel "WIDF." Audrey originally intended to broadcast the tape herself, but her boss broadcasted it instead and mispronounced "Gojira" as "Godzilla." The military is outraged by the broadcasting of the classified tape and Nick is thrown off the team. Nick is then kidnapped by the Frenchman who introduces himself as Philippe Roaché, an agent of the DGSE, the French Secret Service. He and his team have been keeping close watch on events, and are now ready to help clear up the mess they feel responsible for, but cannot acknowledge. The military lures it out again, into the waters of the Hudson River with three U.S. Navy nuclear submarines. Two subs fire torpedoes at Godzilla. However, through some quick evasion, Godzilla manages to have the torpedoes hit the sub Anchorage instead. One sub fires, again, and this time, Godzilla is torpedoed, and seems to be dead. Meanwhile Nick and a French team, led by Roaché, surreptitiously followed by Audrey and cameraman Victor "Animal" Palotti (Hank Azaria), track Godzilla through the subway tunnels to the Madison Square Garden, finding hundreds of eggs. They start to lay explosives, but the eggs start to hatch. The Baby Godzillas begin to look for food, and since the team smell like fish, they become inevitable targets. After failing to contain the infants and losing several members of the team, the remaining four of them take refuge in a TV broadcast booth. Knowing that the Baby Godzillas will eventually force humanity into extinction if they escape, Nick, Audrey, and Animal alert the authorities, who order an immediate strike by a trio of F/A-18 Hornets. The four escape just before the building is destroyed, only for an extremely enraged Godzilla (who managed to survive the assault in the river) to emerge from the wreckage. The four make a getaway in a taxicab, and lure it to the Brooklyn Bridge where it becomes entangled in the steel suspension cables, and is an easy target for the fighters. After it is hit by twelve missiles, it screams in pain and falls to the ground, its heart beating slowly until it breathes its last breath. As Nick, Audrey and Animal reconcile, Roaché quietly walks off with the videotape and calls Nick to tell him he will return it after "certain information" has been removed, and disappears into the night. All seems well until we see in the smoking ruins of the Garden, a single egg has survived and hatches... ===''[[Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack]]''=== Zilla is mentioned briefly in the prologue of ''GMK'', where it is suggested that American scientists had mistaken it for the original Godzilla. ===''[[Godzilla: Final Wars]]''=== [[Image:Zillavsgodzilla.PNG|320px|thumb|right|Godzilla fights Zilla in Sydney, Australia.]] Zilla did not appear on the silver screen again until six years later, appearing in ''Godzilla: Final Wars'' and finally taking an official place in the ranks of Toho's [[kaiju]] and being re-named "Zilla" to differentiate it from the Toho Godzilla. [[Ryuhei Kitamura]], the director of ''Final Wars'', who is fluent in English, chose this name because he thought the American film "Took the ''God'' out of ''Godzilla''." {{Fact|date=January 2008}} Under Xilian control, Zilla attacks [[Sydney]], [[Australia]], and later battles Godzilla there. He charges at Godzilla and jumps over his atomic breath, but is sent flying by a tail swipe from Godzilla into the [[Sydney Opera House]], where a second blast of Godzilla's ray destroys both Zilla and the famous structure. The fight itself lasts 13 seconds, giving Zilla the record of the shortest battle in ''Final Wars'', and one of the shortest defeats in any Godzilla film. Zilla is the only monster in ''Final Wars'' realized completely through [[Computer-generated imagery|CGI]] instead of [[suitmation]]. Zilla is suggested to eat two people in his initial attack on Sydney, something few other Toho kaiju have done. Though disputed, it appears as if Zilla possesses a breath weapon, as the film shows a crowd of people running until they are all blown away by a wall of [[fire]] which precedes the appearance of the monster walking into camera view. In an interview, the director of Final Wars confirmed this and stated that Zilla was emitting an acid fire from its stomach. ''Godzilla: Final Wars'' references the 1998 ''Godzilla'' movie when Zilla is defeated. The Controller, in the Japanese version, says "I knew that tuna-eating lizard was not up to much", a reference to the American creature's diet of fish in ''Godzilla''. In the American version, he calls Zilla a "tuna-head". ==''[[Godzilla: The Series]]''== [[Image:Gd78.jpg|thumb|250px|left||Zilla, as he appeared in ''[[Godzilla: The Series]]''. Here he is depicted in the title sequence by sitting on top of the [[Empire State Building]].]] In 1998, ''Godzilla: The Series'', a [[Saturday morning cartoon]] not to be confused with the original series from [[Hanna-Barbera]], continued the story of Zilla's surviving offspring from the 1998 film in a role reminiscent of the Japanese films of the late [[Shōwa era]]. The series revolves around the only surviving offspring of the first Zilla seen in the climax of the [[1998]] film. After the original monster was killed, Niko "Nick" Tatapolous the [[NRC]] scientist who first studied Zilla convinces the military to conduct a search for any eggs that may have survived. Nick offers his assistance, and ends up falling into a small cavern containing [[amniotic fluid]] and one large egg. The egg immediately hatches, though the infant does not attack, and escapes by burrowing to safety. Nick's wish to capture and study the infant is met with opposition by the military who wish to destroy it. With the help of Dr. Mendel Craven, Elsie Chapman, and Randy Hernandez, Nick sets a trap for the infant. Unfortunately, the trap was designed for something the size of a human; the hatchling had gone through a rapid growth spurt and is now 35 feet tall. He quickly destroys the trap and snatches up Nick. Before he can kill Nick, however, the "Zilla" detects the scent of his own kind on Nick and releases him. Nick realizes that the infant had imprinted on him, believing him to be his parent. Over the next few weeks, HEAT studies Zilla. They realize that he is [[sterile]]. Unfortunately, Monique Dupre, a French secret agent assigned to monitor HEAT's activities, tip off the military, who immediately attack and apparently kill Zilla. HEAT have no time to mourn, as they have to go to Jamaica to investigate reports of people being attacked. They get ring side seats as giant [[squid]]s attack the HEAT Seeker, but Zilla, who had survived, grown fully to 180 feet tall, and followed HEAT, quickly deals with the squids. Not long after, HEAT discovers that another creature was responsible for the attacks, a giant, mutant, [[tar]]-eating [[crustacean]] called Crustaceous Rex (or "C-Rex"). After an intense fight, Zilla manages to collapse a cliff on top of C-Rex, apparently killing it (since it returned in the three-parter "Monster Wars," it seems the mutant was only buried and managed to escape). Major Hicks, an army commander and recurring character in the series, is persuaded by Nick that having "at least one mutation" on the side of humanity is a good thing, and orders his men to stand down and let Zilla remain free. ==Powers and abilities== ===Zilla/Cyber-Zilla & ''Final Wars'' Zilla=== For the 1998 Centropolis film, the attempt was made to interpret Godzilla more realistically than had ever been done before - to see him as an animal, and not as something else entirely. Built like a [[theropod]] dinosaur with his body held horizontally on long legs, Zilla has a rectangular box-shaped head with a thick lower jaw - a "proud chin" - and long powerful arms similar to those of a [[spinosaurid]]. The characteristic [[maple leaf]] dorsal fins of the [[Toho]] [[Godzilla]] are instead rows of large curved dorsal spikes that begin at the back of the head and continue down the length of the body and whip-like tail, growing larger on the back with the two largest fins on the shoulders. Originally, Zilla was not to have any sort of breath weapon in the 1998 film, but an angry fan petition forced Emmerich and Devlin to include one in their screenplay. Since Zilla is such a large animal, whenever he roars, a blast of powerful wind blasts out of his mouth. This breath weapon has many fan-created names, but in the script and the DVD audio commentary it's called POWER BREATH. Twice in the film it gives off the illusion that Zilla is breathing fire. The first time, he uses his Power Breath near two burning vehicles and the second time he roars near two vehicles that crash into each other, causing an explosion. In ''Final Wars'', Zilla uses what appears to be a form of fire breath; its director states that it is a form of burning acid from Zilla's stomach. Zilla lacks the Toho Godzilla's strength, fast regenerative abilities and near-impenetrable hide, as proved by its death in the original film, but it is faster and more agile, being capable of running at 480 kilometers per hour<ref name="QA"/>, outrunning several [[helicopter]]s in one instance. In ''Final Wars'' Zilla, Toho's version of the creature, showed the ability to make fast enormous leaps, demonstrated when he jumped over Godzilla's atomic ray to attack. Zilla is also not as aggressive or combative and only acts aggressively when severely provoked and will usually flee, as opposed to the Toho Godzilla who is a vicious fighter and more than willing to destroy anything in its path and would aggressively fight anything until he has killed and/or destroyed it. In the animated series, aliens called the Tachyons find the original Zilla and resurrect him as Cyber-Zilla. As Cyber-Zilla, it possesses numerous new weapons, such as a sonic emitter, eight dorsal fin missile launchers, and Atomic Flame Breath like his son, but with a blue color. Metal parts replaced most of Cyber-Zilla's body including a cybernetic right arm and a strange metal "helmet" for the cyborg's head. Cyber-Zilla's roar was also changed to a more metallic sound. When he becomes a cyborg his skin changes from grey to brown and his back plates change from blue to grey. The color change is most likely indicating decay, since he became a cyborg several years after he had originally died. ===Zilla (the series)=== Zilla's only surviving son who appears briefly at the end of the 1998 [[Godzilla (1998 film)|American ''Godzilla'']] and the star of ''[[Godzilla: The Series]]'', differs from his parent in many ways. He is the same size as his parent and is extremely fast and maneuverable. He also possesses many of the Toho Godzilla's notable abilities, including a fast healing factor, a much tougher hide, and the ability to fire a concentrated blast of radiation from his mouth, which is green in color and resembles a [[flamethrower]]. His dorsal fins, neck frills glow blue and his eyes flash yellow (in some episodes red) just before he uses it. Unlike his parent, who was asexual, this Zilla is [[sterile]]. In one episode he falls in love with a mutated [[komodo dragon]], named Komodithrax. Sadly, Komodithrax and the giant egg she laid (Komodithrax could fertilize her own eggs) die at the end of the episode. Zilla is also much more aggressive than his parent; rather than fleeing from an attack, he will usually, like the Toho Godzilla, fight or destroy his attackers. He is intelligent, and shows the ability to make moral decisions, shown in the episode "Deadloch" where he fights against the [[Loch Ness monster]], then later aids her in recovering her stolen baby. This Zilla also shows some planning and strategy in his fighting style, though this can be abandoned for sheer savagery and straightforward attacking if he is angered enough. He has even shown to have sense of [[humor]], as in the climax of one episode of the series he splashed members of the HEAT team with water in a playful fashion. When the Tachyons invaded in the Monster Wars three-parter episode, he showed that he was slightly more resistant to [[mind control]] than other mutations. This Zilla has been given nicknames in order to differentiate him from the original [[Godzilla]]; these names have been ''Toonzilla'' and ''Zilla Junior''. Because of the series, Zilla Jr. has gained mainly positive respect, despite the negatives from the movie. ===Baby Zillas=== The Baby Zillas are the offspring of Zilla. The first Zilla asexually laid over two-hundred eggs in [[Madison Square Garden]]. When they hatched, they fed on fish that their parent had left for them. When they ran out of fish to eat, they began hunting for other sources of food. They also began eating humans who smelled like fish. All the Baby Zillas were killed by a missile strike to the Garden, except for one. He appeared briefly at the end of the 1998 film and later starred in ''Godzilla: The Series''. The Baby Zillas were fast and agile, like their parent, and Tatopolous said that they were all asexual and were "born pregnant". For reasons not explained, the Zilla from ''Godzilla: The Series'' is [[sterile]]. ===Reproduction=== Zilla reproduces through [[asexual reproduction]]; a trait which is not uncommon with some [[reptile]]s. In the 1998 film, Nick Tatopolous states all the Zillas were "born pregnant". However, the last baby Zilla, which appeared briefly at the end of the 1998 film and would later star in ''Godzilla: The Series'' as an adult, is [[sterile]] (possibly due to a birth defect). In one episode he falls in love with a mutant [[komodo dragon]] named Komodithrax. She had the ability to fertilize her own eggs, thus laying a giant egg all by herself. Zilla and Komodithrax begin to raise a family, Zilla being the egg's surrogate father. Sadly, both Komodithrax and the giant egg fall into a deep chasm and die at the end of the episode. In ''Final Wars'', Zilla (Toho's version) never laid eggs or had any sort of urge to reproduce, his motivation for attacking Sydney, Australia being alien mind controled rather than searching for a nest site; so it's unknown if he reproduces the same way as his American counterpart. ==Filmography== * ''[[Godzilla (1998 film)|Godzilla (1998)]]'' * ''[[Godzilla: The Series]]'' * ''[[Godzilla: Final Wars]]'' ==Other appearances== Zilla made an appearance in a 2006 [[Doritos]] commercial, in which he picks up a truck of Doritos and shakes chips into his mouth. In another Doritos commercial, he devours a spicy variant of Doritos, roars in pain, and dives into the Hudson River. Both were meant to parody the bait scene in the 1998 movie. At the time of the release of the 1998 movie, he made several commercials for [[Taco Bell]], crossing paths with the [[Taco Bell chihuahua]]. He also made an appearance in ''[[Armageddon (film)|Armageddon]]'' alongside other Godzilla toys during the opening sequence in New York, when a little dog attacked the Godzilla toys on sale. This was a friendly jab at the other big special effects movie of that summer, the [[Roland Emmerich]] American version of ''Godzilla'', which was released a month and a half earlier. In the ''[[Robot Chicken]]'' episode "[[That Hurts Me]]", the segment "Godzilla Remade Again" featured [[Dean Devlin]] and [[Roland Emmerich]] remaking ''Godzilla'' once more; the segment goes on to show a scene of Baby Zillas attacking, only to begin inexplicably roller skating and dancing in a rink. When the studio head bemoans the fact that he trusted Devlin and Emmerich to make a decent Godzilla film, for the second time, and that they instead have produced an unmarketable pile of crap, for the second time, Devlin and Emmerich give each other a high-five. Zilla's roar is uttered by a garden snake in the very beginning of the [[Camp Lazlo]] episode "Snake eyes." ===Video games=== "Godzilla-USA" (Zilla) was a playable character in ''Godzilla Generations'' for the [[Sega Dreamcast]]. Unlocked after finishing the game with "Godzilla 1954", he is the fastest of the playable characters. His roar restores less health than the other Godzillas, but he is a bit tougher to compensate. His breath weapon is a powerful blast of air; while the shortest-ranged, it has the longest duration, able to take down the [[Super X]] in one blast and the Super X-II and Super X-III with two blasts if timed right. His special attack is a fast run that crushes and smashes everything he runs over and into. He doesn't take damage while charging and it lasts a fair amount of time. "Godzilla '98" (Zilla) also appeared in ''[[Godzilla Trading Battle]]'' for the [[PlayStation]]. For [[Gameboy Color]], the game Godzilla: The Series, and it's sequel Godzilla: The Series - Monster Wars featured Zilla. ==References== {{reflist}} == External links == * [http://www.godzillashrine.com/ The Godzilla Shrine] *{{ref|god}} [http://www.monsterzero.us/editorials/editorials.php?catID=Nws&subCatID=15&contentID=524 Godzilla vs. Zilla] * [[wikiasite:godzilla:Zilla|''Zilla'']] on [[wikiasite:godzilla|''Godzilla Wiki'' (godzilla.wikia.com)]] * [http://www.sfxman.com/public_html/cgi-bin/pass/godzilla.htm/ The Making of Godzilla] * [http://www.tohokingdom.com/kaiju/zilla_mill.htm/ Toho Kingdom] {{Toho Kaijū}} [[Category:Godzilla characters]] [[Category:Fictional characters who can move at superhuman speeds]] [[Category:Fictional characters with superhuman strength]] [[Category:Supervillains]] [[Category:Fictional lizards]] [[Category:Fictional mutants]] [[Category:film characters]] [[Category:Mothra characters]] [[Category:Kaiju]] [[de:Zilla]] [[es:Zilla (kaiju)]] [[pt:Zilla]] [[zh:吉拉]]