For almost 70 years, the entireGodzillafranchise featured some of the most powerful and imposing kaiju ever created in its genre: from evil creatures from outer space,likeKing Ghidorah, to graceful guardians of the earth, like Mothra. And there’s also Godzilla himself, of course, who had to face and defeat many of these strong monsters.
But there’s another side to the coin because not all kaiju are created equal. After all, this is a long-running movie franchise with many different incarnations of Godzilla, who occasionally ends up facing some really weak and fragile monsters whose power levels leave a lot to be desired. And these are some of the most infamous culprits.
Updated on July 5, by Julián Fernández Loyarte:The Godzilla franchise has introduced a lot of different monsters of varying strength throughout the years, meaning that there were many other weak kaiju who were initially left out of this list. Not to mention that a few new films have been released ever since the original version of the article. As a result, three new entries were added: Anguirus, Godzilla’s iconic friend who doesn’t have the best battle record, Tiamat, the serpentine titan that Godzilla was forced to kill in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire and Scylla, the crustacean monster that first appeared in Godzilla: King of the Monsters and who later fought Godzilla at the very beginning of Godzilla x Kong.
Godzilla’s Best Buddy Took Some Rough Beatings
Despite being one of Godzilla’s most loyal alliesand one of the most popular kaiju in the entire franchise,Anguirussadly doesn’t have the best record when it comes to battling. For starters, the original version of this armored monster was defeated by Godzilla right in the middle ofGodzilla Raids Again, so he was not even part of his own movie’s climax.
Things didn’t get any better for Anguirus in subsequent movies, likeDestroy All Monsters,Godzilla vs. Gigan,andGodzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, where he got beaten up so badly that he even managed to visibly bleed. Even the admittedly menacing version of this monster fromGodzilla: Singular Pointwas defeated by humans who were controlling a prototype version of Jet Jaguar. Nevertheless, Anguirus is still beloved by most fans, which goes to show how unique and charismatic this kaiju truly is.
In theGodzillafranchise, it is not very common for a character that was introduced in the comics to later appear in a mainline movie. But this is exactly what happened with the titanic sea serpent known asTiamat, who was the antagonist of the comic Godzilla Dominion and later had a brief role inGodzilla x Kong: The New Empire.But her disappointing performance in this film was very divisive among fans.
Tiamat was hiding in her arctic lair as the final obstacle between Godzilla and the large stockpile of energy she was guarding. This battle was really promising but, sadly, she was defeated and killed by the King of the Monsters in just a few seconds. Tiamat may have had a solid design and the love of most Monsterverse fans, but none of that changed how weak she ultimately was.
It Was Killed Off-Screen
Kamoebasfirst appeared in the 1970 film,Space Amoeba, where it was introduced as a mutated giant turtle that fought another kaiju known asGanimes. While it didn’t seem like it was particularly weak, it was not very impressive either. And Kamoebas' reputation would only get worsein its next appearance, inGodzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.
In this brief cameo, a dead Kamoebas washes ashore on the beach with wounds on its neck, which were supposedly caused by Godzilla. Despite its unique origin and intimidating design, Kamoebas was so weak that it was used as fodder to make Godzilla look stronger. The worst part is that viewers didn’t even get to see their battle.
Not Worthy Of The “Godzilla” Name
The 1998 American version ofGodzillais controversial among fans for many reasons, one of which is the monster itself. This new take on Godzilla didn’t look like the iconic King of the Monsters, didn’t have the classic atomic breath, and was even taken down by a bunch of regular missiles. This was especially disappointing, seeing as no previous iteration of the character was ever defeated by conventional weaponry.
This version of Godzilla was so lame that it was renamedZillawhen it reappeared in the Japanese film,Godzilla: Final Wars. On this occasion, it got to face the original Godzilla, which promised to be an interesting clash… until Godzilla defeated Zilla with a blast of his atomic breath, something that barely took him 30 seconds to accomplish.
She Was Killed In The First 5 Minutes Of The Movie
WhenKing Ghidorahawakened a bunch of titans during the events ofGodzilla: King of the Monsters,Scyllawas one of the new creatures that immediately began destroying the world. However, despite her mythological name and impressive design, this monster really didn’t cause much destruction.And things didn’t get much better inGodzilla x Kong: The New Empire.
Scylla can be seen wreaking havoc on Rome at the beginning of the most recent movie in the Monsterverse but she is immediately defeated and killed by Godzilla himself. Scylla’s role in this movie was both to star in an epic action scene during the opening and to establish how strong Godzilla is, nothing more and nothing less.
7Minilla
It would normally be quite exaggerated to expect a lot of power from an infant monster, butMinillawas the adoptive son of the King of the Monsters himself, andGodzilla tried his hardest to train the young kaiju in the only way he knew. However, Minilla ended up being a disappointment in most of his appearances, even if he could use a less powerful version of the iconic atomic breath.
In bothSon of GodzillaandAll Monsters Attack, Minilla is constantly pummeled by other kaiju, like Kamacuras, Kumonga, or Gabara. That said, he eventually got used to firing his weaker atomic breath and used it efficiently against King Ghidorah and Gabara.
A Disappointing Guardian
InGodzilla, Mothra, and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack, the kaiju known asBaragonwas brought back from the Showa era. However, this time, the monster was portrayed as one of the three guardians who had to stand up against the new evil Godzilla that was revived by the restless souls of the people who died during World War 2.
This was an interesting premise and a promising comeback for this once-forgotten monster, but Baragon sadly didn’t live up to the hype. Despite all of its best efforts and useful burrowing abilities, it didn’t take much for Godzilla to defeat it, mainly because of how small Baragon was in comparison. After a brutal pummeling and an atomic breath to the face, the feeble guardian exploded into pieces.
Numbers Only Matter If The Monsters Are Actually Strong
The creativity of the kaiju in this franchise varies a lot. Some are unique and impressive, and others are just boring giant versions of existing real-world animals.This is the case ofKamacuras, who are just a bunch of gigantic praying mantises with no special powers.
InSon of Godzilla, a swarm of Kamacuras attempt to attack Godzilla and Minilla, only to be disposed of by the King of the Monsters with no problems, since they were particularly vulnerable to his atomic breath. Many years later, a single Kamacuras appeared inGodzilla: Final Wars; despite its blinding speed, the monster quickly died when Godzilla impaled it on a transmission tower.
King Kong’s Weakest Opponent
Following in the tradition of kaiju who are just giant animals, there was also theGiant Octopus, who first appeared in 1962’sKing Kong vs. Godzilla. As its name says, it’s just a big octopus with no special powers. It didn’t even destroy much of the island nor kill many villagers during its brief rampage.
While its sticky tentacles were a bit tricky forKing Kong,the giant ape managed to defeat it fairly quickly, and this encounter was later referenced inKong: Skull Islandwhen Kong fought (and ate) the Mire Squid similarly. At the end of the day, the Giant Octopus will always be remembered, mostly because the crew ofKing Kong vs. Godzillacooked and ate some of the octopi that were used to portray this monster.
A Pathetic Bully Living Inside A Dream
Gabarais one of the strangest monsters in theGodzillafranchise. This bizarre cross between an ogre and a cat only exists within the dreams ofIchiro Miki, and it’s pretty much a monstrous ruffian who represents the boy’s real-life bullies (and also his kidnappers).All Monsters Attackis a very weird movie.
Despite his size and his impressive electric punch, Gabara had issues fighting against Minilla, and he was obviously no match for Godzilla himself. However, the King of the Monsters lets his son finish the fight, who eventually manages to defeat his own bully thanks to his quick thinking and his atomic breath. That’s right; Gabara is a kaiju so weak that he is mainly defeated by Minilla.
