Of the many many enemies of Godzilla, only a few are outstanding enough to leave a lasting mark on the Godzilla franchise. In this article, we count down the 20 best enemies of Godzilla, Throughout its nearly seven decades of history, the universe of Godzilla has spawned some of the most threatening fiction monsters of all time. Some Kaiju monsters became friends with the King of the Monsters, but most challenged Godzilla for the crown. Since Godzilla’s first appearance in 1954, he fought innumerable other deadly creatures of different shapes and sizes.
However, not all Godzilla enemies were born equal. The better ones possess astonishing powers that set them apart from their peers and make them iconic in their own right. Some of them even managed to stand toe to toe with the towering beast and came close to finishing Godzilla off. From nightmarish extraterrestrial beings to giant flying predators, in this list, we count down the 20 best enemies of Godzilla. Ready G-Fans? Here we go!
20 Best Enemies of Godzilla
20/20. Megalon
A cross between a few different insects like the Japanese rhinoceros beetle, grasshopper, and mole cricket, this Kaiju is 55 meters and weighs 40,000 metric tons. The monster bug’s main ranged attack is the Killer Beast Light Ray, a yellow lightning beam that is released out of the horn on its head. The other ranged assault is the Geothermal Napalm Bullets which are small red grenade-like explosive devices that could be fired from the mouth. Megalon has drill hands. With these hands, Megalon can dig underground at the unbelievable speed of Mach 2. These hands are of course extremely useful in hand combat. He can also use his wings to fly at Mach 3 and cause hurricane winds. This winged attack can level buildings with wind speeds reaching 1,000 meters per second.
19/20. Kumonga
Kumonga first appeared in the 1967 movie Son of Godzilla where she fought Godzilla. However, in the following year’s film Destroy All Monsters she helped Godzilla defeat Ghidorah. She is a mutated spider-like kaiju that owns a poisonous stinger that she can project from her mouth. This venom is so powerful that it killed Kamacuras, the giant mantis kaiju, instantly. As an arachnid, Kumonga has eight legs, each with three expressed joints in the Showa series and only two joints in the Millennium series. It is not clear whether her gigantic size is caused by the radiation storms on Solgell Island, where she lived, or whether she was always 45 meters tall. Kumoonga showed to be able to withstand multiple hits from Godzilla’s Atomic Breath, which is impressive.
18/20. Megaguirus
50 meters in length, weighing 12,000 tons, Megaguirus started as thousands of smaller insect-like Meganula. Ultimately, the Meganula swarm turned into this queen Meganulon kaiju, which is something like a flying scorpion. Aside from Mothra, Meganula is the fastest Kaiju on this list, able to fly at Mach 4. Even when motionless she can accelerate so fast that she vanishes into a blur instantly. This allows her to easily surprise an opponent. Her vicious tail-stinger is so powerful she was able to puncture Godzilla’s hide and absorb his energy and return it in an energy blast. She could survive one of Godzilla’s Atomic breaths that can destroy a mountain. So, we guess this says a lot about her.
17/20. Anguirus
The first monster that Godzilla ever faced as a protagonist, Angurius first appeared in 1955. Over the years he became a fan-favorite towards the Fanbase, probably because he took the role of the underdog and fought a lot of monsters much more powerful than him, like King Ghidorah, Mechagodzilla, and Gigan. Even though he was no match for these titans, his fighting spirit made fans always route for him. Although Anguirus started as Godzilla’s enemy, he later became Godzilla’s most trusted ally and has helped him in battle countless times. Also, aside from Godzilla, Anguirus has one of the franchise’s greatest roars, which we love!
16/20. Manda
Manda first appeared as the main antagonist in the 1963 movie Atragon. He is the Guardian of the underwater kingdom of Mu that prevented anyone from visiting the lost kingdom or escaping it. He is an underwater dragon. Although most of his abilities are not known, we do know that he can use constriction to subdue his prey and can apply millions of pounds of force to do so. He is also really fast underwater and has supersonic wave cannons, Manda has never fought against Godzilla at all in a movie, but a deleted scene from Destroy All Monsters shows Manda fighting Godzilla.
15/20. King Caesar
First appearing in Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla 1974 Godzilla film, this kaiju is an ancient Shisa titan who could only be awoken from a mythical statue. The only way to awaken him from his deep sleep is by singing to him an ancient song passed down through generations from the Azumi royal family of Okinawa. King Caesar stands 100 meters tall and weighs 55.000 metric tons. Thanks to the technique called Prism Eye he can absorb beams fired at him in one eye to shoot them back from the other. He is also arguably the most agile fully-terrestrial Kaiju, with almost human-level combat abilities. Caesar and Godzilla were friends at first, but they had a pretty good fight once Final Wars happen.
14/20. Orga
Orga is an alien mutated version of Godzilla, having absorbed his DNA. He then became a hulking monstrosity having the King of the Monster’s strength and enhanced regenerative abilities. His titanic size made it possible for Orga to SWALLOW Godzilla whole. However, this allowed Godzilla to do the obvious and destroy Orga from the inside out. This hunchbacked monster also has gigantic, three-claw arms that he uses to walk weirdly, like a gorilla.
13/20. Gigan
Gigan first appeared in Godzilla vs Gigan film, also known as Godzilla on Monster Island. In this film, he was controlled by the M Space Hunter Nebula Aliens who planned to use him in their attempted invasion of Earth. Towering at a height of 379 feet and weighing 60,000 tons, this cybernetic space monster has a buzz saw built into his stomach area that is shown to be able to draw blood even from Godzilla. His arms are a pair of curved blades and he shoots lasers out of its forehead. Along with his Antigravity flight ability that allows him to fly at speeds of up to Mach 3, Gigan makes a very tough opponent. Gigan is probably Godzilla’s most violent rival, as he is vicious and sadistic in combat, using his hook hands and buzzsaw to shred his enemies to pieces.
12/20. Monster X
The umpteenth incarnation of Godzilla’s arch-enemy. In his humanoid form, which is Monster X, he weighs 60.000 tons and stands 120 meters tall. In his ultimate and true form, Kaizer Ghidorah, he gains 40.000 tons and 20 meters-plus two heads, a pair of wings, and a quadrupedal draconic body. Like every other Ghidorah, he mostly uses Gravity Beams as a means to fend off the opponents. Beams in the Kaizer Ghidorah form are stronger and with actual “gravity bending” properties. Also, in that state he can drain foes of their energy, as it did to Godzilla, nearly killing him. Monster X has two tails, bony outgrowths on its back and it feeds off of energy given to it by its Xiliens masters. He has survived getting blasted by Godzilla’s Atomic Breath point-blank in the face, and even shrugs the attack off. He put Godzilla to his knees which does not happen very often! With all these incredible abilities, Megalon is certainly an interesting enemy of Godzilla and a force to be reckoned with.
11/20. Titanosaurus
This aquatic dinosaur kaiju had great battles in the series. He was powerful enough to match Godzilla. Strong enough to lift the King of Monsters with only his mouth in Terror of Mechagodzilla. As lethal underwater as on land, Titanosaurus can release a powerful green-colored sonic wave from his mouth. He can also whip up hurricane winds from his tail, so powerful that they blew Godzilla many yards away. It’s a pity Titanosaurus never got his title treatment because he stole the show in the 1975’s Terror of Mechagodzilla.
10/20. Mechagodzilla
First appearing in the 1974 film Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, Mechagodzilla is an extraterrestrial villain that confronts Godzilla. It’s a walking robot with gripping claws, missiles, and all kinds of weapons. Mecha G had many incarnations. For example, in the Showa era, Mechagodzilla was created by the Blackhole planet 3 aliens, who are Simian-Like Aliens who wanted to conquer Earth, since their planet was being ripped apart by a Blackhole
In the Heisei era, Mechagodzilla was built by G-Force, a highly advanced division of the Japanese Self-defense force, to protect Japan from Godzilla. Mechagodzilla has a tail drill that can slice through an opponent. It is equipped with crane-like rotor claws that can cut through flesh while grappling. Its lower jaws have a set of buzzsaws that enables it to bite down on an opponent and use the saws to cut down the flesh. It has Missile Launchers mounted on its shoulders that can shoot a barrage of powerful missiles.
9/20. Hedorah
Hedorah is an extraterrestrial smog monster from the Dark Gas Nebula. He arrived on Earth and grew to a gigantic size by feeding on humanity’s pollution. It is one of the most dangerous kaiju ever created, being toxic enough to reduce entire populations to skeletons in seconds just by flying over them. Just touching it was enough to severely sear Godzilla’s hand! He blinded Godzilla during battle as well and was well-protected due to his constant evolutionary stages. He even withstood being blasted by Godzilla’s atomic breath point-blank. However, since Hedorah’s entire body relies on constant moisture to survive, Godzilla used his Atomic Breath and a device constructed by humanity to dry him out to the point of extinction. Hedorah did manage to scar half of Godzilla’s face though.
8/20. King Kong
King Kong first appeared in a Godzilla movie in the 1962 “King Kong vs. Godzilla” film. The King Kong that was presented in this movie was with a weight of 10.000 tons, 45 meters in height, and electrokinesis. During the fight Kong even tried to jam an entire tree down Godzilla’s throat. In the Godzilla vs. Kong 2021, movie Kong stands at 102 meters and weighs about half of Godzilla’s weight. Kong’s 2021 rematch against Godzilla ended in a draw when the two iconic creatures finally set aside their differences to take down a new version of Mechagodzilla. In this fight, Kong didn’t have electrical powers though.
7/20. Biollante
Biollante is one of the only two female monsters on this list, besides the Queen of the Monsters Mothra. She was genetically engineered by a geneticist who combined Godzilla’s DNA with the DNA of his dead daughter and injected it into a ROSE. The plant grew into its first form and took on Godzilla, but failed. She disappeared into the skies above and then later came down and fought Godzilla once more. This time she attacked Godzilla and held him off no matter what he threw at her. She got blasted with his Atomic Breath several times and she took on his nuclear pulse. Godzilla did not even defeat Biollante! He retreated into the ocean due to his temperature spiking because of a bacteria he was injected with earlier taking effect. Biollante’s size alone makes her one of the heaviest and largest kaiju in the franchise weighing a staggering 200,000 metric tons. She is one of the few monsters that remained undefeated over Godzilla.
6/20. SpaceGodzilla
SpaceGodzilla appeared solely in the film Godzilla vs SpaceGodzilla. SpaceGodzilla is an evil clone of Godzilla originating from outer space. The most official explanation is that somehow samples of Godzilla’s genetic material were cast into space and mutated into a crystalline life form after being swallowed up by a supernova and a black hole. His abilities and strengths include telekinesis, the ability to summon crystals and use them in creative ways such as missiles and traps, mind control to some degree, flight, a beam from his mouth, and a force field. As everybody knows, he has gigantic crystals that sit on each of his shoulders and they can generate a Gravity Tornado that is capable of lifting objects as well as himself in the air. The crystals also continuously give him power and he is shown to be able to unleash bolts of energy from them. Using his psychic abilities Spacegodzilla could manipulate a force field to protect itself from Godzilla’s atomic breath. He can also fire what is called a Corona Beam from his mouth while he is flying midair.
5/20. Mothra
Mothra, sometimes referred to as the Queen of Monsters, was Godzilla’s enemy when they first met in 1964. In this initial encounter, Godzilla was threatening her larva babies and like any good mother, Mothra defended them with all she had. Mothra held Godzilla off as best she could but his Atomic Ray did the damage. She fell and laid on her egg. That was where her Larva took over, hunted down Gozilla, and took him down. However, over the years they have developed a close relationship of sorts of mutual respect and honor. Mothra even sacrificed herself a few times for her King. Still, no matter how many times she dies she will always return to take down any threat to humanity. She has many powers! She can create hurricane winds from her wings. Has a defensive pressure field capable of deflecting attacks She can also divide herself into smaller clones to perform multiple tasks at once or even divide so small it can enter an enemy’s bloodstream to destroy an enemy on a cellular level:
4/20. Void Ghidorah
Void Ghidorah, also known as Planet Eater Ghidorah, is a dragon who travels through dimensions and eats planets. He can appear as a long serpent through black holes or portals. This monster came very close to killing Godzilla Earth, the strongest Godzilla of them all, before being sabotaged. It has already killed numerous other Godzillas (and destroyed the planets they inhabited). Although Godzilla Earth did beat him, he only pushed him back into his portals.
Void Ghidorah has many powers! He is an extra-dimensional creature from outside our normal space-time continuum. As such, its body can phase out of synch with our reality, so that physical and blast attacks just pass through King Gidorah’s body without effect.
However, Void Gidorah can choose parts of him to phase into our reality and become solid, such as his teeth or claws when making physical attacks. During the fight against Godzilla, he showed to have Reality Bending abilities when he bent Godzilla’s atomic breath attacks away from his body. He can also summon massively powerful electrical blasts and can charge his teeth or claws to electrocute an opponent when he strikes them. All these abilities and much more earn him a spot on our top 20 best enemies of Godzilla list.
3/20. Rodan
Rodan first appeared in the 1956 Toho Motion Picture Company, Rodan – his very own stand-alone film. Only later did he start fighting with Godzilla and soon serve the purpose and befriended Godzilla? He became more and more of an ally to Godzilla. That is, until the Millenium series where was mind-washed by aliens and attacked Godzilla.
In the Monsterverse, Rodan is bio-volcanic. He possesses an internal volcanic combustion system, which gives him Pyrokinetic abilities. That means that he has psychic abilities to create, extinguish and manipulate fire by the use of the mind. Even though he has much larger wings Rodan has a skeletal structure that is very similar to that of a pteranodon reptile and thus yet he is capable of flight. And he can fly at supersonic speeds, causing anything in his path to be wiped out in an instant.
Rodan also has geothermal armor that allows him to withstand tremendous amounts of heat and that includes Godzilla’s Atomic Breath. Rodan also has what is called a sonic thunderclap. What that is is that Rodan’s massive wings are powerful enough to create a sonic thunderclap that can level an entire city as he flies overhead. This Monsterverse Rodan is impressive!
2/20.Destroyah
Destroyah is one of the most dangerous Godzilla enemies ever, sometimes referred to as Godzilla’s ultimate foe. He stands 120 meters in height, weighs 80,000 metric tons, and has a 210 meters wingspan. Among his absurd amount of destructive weapons are his laser horn, the ability to change form, and chest beam. Destoroyah also has incredible toughness, a frightening inner mouth like the Xenomorph, and enough strength to pick Godzilla up with his tail. However, what makes Destroyah so terrifying is his ability to control the Oxygen Destroyer, one of the most dangerous weapons in the Godzilla verse that targets and splits oxygen molecules. This primary weapon called Micro-Oxygen Beam is fired from Destroyah’s mouth and vaporizes anything organic. It is also capable of penetrating most metals.
Besides that, Destoryah has shown the ability to rapidly evolve and grow stronger. He transitioned from a single-celled organism into a giant star-busting Kaiju in less than several days. He even continued to grow stronger during the fight with Godzilla which the two kept evolving until their final clash.
Destroyah’s amazing abilities were best demonstrated when he fought and even overwhelmed Burning Godzilla whose meltdown would have caused the earth to explode in a supernova.
Now that’s something!
1/20. King Ghidorah
He usually gets his supremacy from his flight, three heads, each with a beam weapon, size, and resilience. He usually can withstand Godzilla’s Atomic Breath and still fight back. He is so powerful that In Destroy All Monsters, it took all of Earth’s kaiju to destroy him. Though Godzilla usually manages to win at the end against Ghidorah, it is usually by the skin of his teeth. Although Ghidorah is given the title of KING, there is one planet where he is not king and that is planet Earth. Godzilla is the only obstacle in his way to claiming the Earth as his own, destroying everything.
Ghidorah has gotten close multiple times but always fails to take down Godzilla because he has allies that know that Ghidorah is not from this world and he needs to be stopped at all costs.
Let’s hope things stay that way!
Who is Godzilla’s arch-enemy?
Godzilla had innumerable enemies throughout the years. But there is one enemy who remains the most ubiquitous, wicked, and powerful. One monster that was DESIGNED to be Godzilla’s arch-enemy! This monster is, of course, the big golden dragon King Ghidorah. Out of all of Godzilla’s opponents, King Ghidorah has had the most recurring film appearances as an enemy.
Also, King Ghidorah has made numerous appearances in other Godzilla media, such as always being an enemy in Godzilla comics novels, the Godzilla Island TV series, and video games, and even appearing as the main villain in the 3rd entry of the Rebirth of Mothra trilogy.
Godzilla and King Ghidorah have fought in 9 films, and never once allied with each other. Mechagodzilla, for example, has fought Godzilla in only 5 films, and Mothra only 4, being allied with Godzilla in 4 films as well.
Godzilla and King Ghidorah have been bitter rivals since their very first meeting in the Showa series with Ghidorah the Three-Headed Monster back in 1964.
Ever since they have been battling for dominance for the king of the Monsters. King Ghidorah’s sole purpose is to end the planet Earth, either to appease the aliens that control him or to simply eliminate his competition. Godzilla, one of the greatest Guardians of the Earth, is completely against that, and as such, he is Ghidorah’s ultimate enemy.
So, the answer to the question of who Godzilla’s arch-enemy is King Ghidorah!
