Can Godzilla Die? [4 Times He Did]

Godzilla is one of the most famous characters around the world, and with King Kong, certainly the most famous monster character in the history of cinema. Godzilla has been around for more than 70 years now and has appeared in more than 30 movies. This goes to show that the character is quite resilient, but can Godzilla actually die?

Godzilla has died a total of four times in the movies, with three of them being the original, Japanese Godzilla, and one being the 1998 iteration of the character from the American remake. It seems that Godzilla can die, but he always seems to come back in some way.

In this article, we are going to explore the movies in which Godzilla died. As said, the monster has appeared in more than 30 movies and he has not died in many of them, which will enable us to clearly analyze the whole issue and give you a precise answer.

Can Godzilla Die?

Resilient as he is, Godzilla seems to be one of the toughest characters in cinema history. He has fought incredibly strong opponents and survived (although not without help from his allies), and was subjected to different weapons from the humans that attacked him. Seeing how he’s been around for more than 70 years, this naturally raises the question – can Godzilla die?

Well, on a general level – it seems that he cannot. Sure, he is not omnipotent and it definitely doesn’t seem like he’s immortal in the sense that he will live forever, but it doesn’t look like he can be killed, at least not permanently. Godzilla has died in the movies; it happened four times.

The first three deaths happened in the Japanese movies and concern the original Godzilla, while the last situation concerns the American version of Godzilla from the unsuccessful 1998 movie.

So, he has died but cannot die, how does that make sense? Well, the mere fact that the Japanese Godzilla has died three times while coming back every time goes to show how resilient Godzilla is and that is why we conclude that he can and cannot die. Now, let us examine his four deaths in more detail.

Four Times Godzilla Died

In this section, we are going to deal with Godzilla’s four deaths in the movies in more detail.

Godzilla (1954)

Strange events take place off the coast of the island of Odo – a number of ships are shipwrecked and burned down. The few survivors are unable to provide any specific information.

Only the inhabitants of the island of Odo think they know the reason for the incident: according to their story, the legendary monster Godzilla searches for food on land when he can no longer find any fish in the sea. Only human sacrifice could appease him. At night Godzilla rises from the sea and devastates the island.

The Godzilla goes ashore again and cannot be stopped by military fire or high-voltage cables on its way to Tokyo. Panic breaks out, Godzilla devastates Tokyo, mainly by setting it on fire with his atomic heat ray.

When Emiko sees the devastation and misery, she can’t help but tell Ogata about Serizawa’s invention. Both are now trying to convince Serizawa to use the Oxygen Destroyer. At first, he is reluctant, but gives in when he sees TV pictures of the misery caused by Godzilla.

A ship with Emiko, Ogata, Serizawa Professor Yamane and press on board goes to Godzilla’s whereabouts. Ogata and Serizawa descend to activate the Oxygen Destroyer, which only bones remain after Godzilla’s deployment.

While Ogata reappears, Serizawa stays downstairs, sends Ogata a radio message that he should be happy with Emiko, and cuts his oxygen cable.

Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II (1993)

1992: A few months after the clash between Mothra, Godzilla and Battra, a large egg is found on Adona Island. Dr. Kazuma Aoki (inventor of an anti-Godzilla flying ship called Garuda) and Dr. Azusa Gojo analyze the egg but the giant pterosaur Rodan attacks the base camp to protect the egg, which he believes contains his brother. Shortly thereafter, Godzilla himself emerges from the water and apparently takes out Rodan.

The egg is brought to Japan, but Godzilla, however, is looking for the baby, and heads straight for the factory where the dinosaur is analyzed. The UNGCC (United Nation Godzilla Countermeasures Center) then mobilized their latest creation: Mechagodzilla, a robot with the features of the king of monsters (his head descended from the robotic head of Mecha King Ghidorah from the film Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, recovered from the sea). Meanwhile, Rodan awakens.

Godzilla returns to the attack against his robotic counterpart, and Miki, a young medium, is forced to identify the part of the body where the sacral brain resides. Mechagodzilla and Garuda at one point merge, creating Super Mechagodzilla which, by means of an electric discharge, manages to destroy the sacral brain.

Godzilla is dead, but Rodan sacrifices himself by donating a large amount of energy to the King of the Monsters, who completely reinvigorated and furious at Rodan’s death destroys the opponent (while sparing Miki) with a spiral ray (a very powerful red ray born from the union of the ray of Fire Rodan and that of Godzilla) and goes off to sea with his adopted son.

Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995)

Birth Island has disappeared. Godzilla attacks Hong Kong and it is evident that something is clearly wrong with him – his body is heated and in the chest area resembles a lava clot. Later, analyzing this, scientists come to the conclusion that the heart of the monster is a nuclear reactor, and it went out of order; somehow, the recent catastrophe affected this.

To prevent further overheating and, as a result, a nuclear explosion, the Japanese government sends a specially equipped Super X-3 aircraft with a freezer weapon to attack and cool the monster.

In parallel with this, a species of living creatures was discovered that lived on Earth 2.5 billion years ago; these are microscopic creatures comparable to bacteria, but improper handling of micro-oxygen leads to the degeneration of microorganisms into many monsters the size of large animals.

The Japanese armed forces fight with them with varying success and, as a result, the creatures are united into a single giant monster Destoroyah, which also absorbed micro-oxygen weapons. Godzilla would later end up fighting Destoroyah, but he dies dramatically in an unequal battle with the final form of the Destoroyah.

The older Godzilla, overcoming the pain of loss and overheating of his huge body, destroys the Destoroyah several times in a row, but he miraculously resurrects the same number of times.

When Godzilla defeats the Destoroyah, his temperature reaches 1192 degrees and Godzilla ultimately melts at 1200 degrees. Super X-3 controls decay, minimizing damage to the city.

After the melting of Godzilla, a lot of radiation should have been released (which the heroes repeatedly mention during the film), and immediately after the death of Godzilla the father, one of the heroines is surprised to note that all the radiation has been absorbed.

Godzilla (1998)

French nuclear tests caused iguana eggs to mutate on islands in the Pacific Ocean. A Japanese fishing vessel is later attacked and sunk in the area. The only surviving crew member is interrogated by the French secret service, but the traumatized sailor utters only one word: Godzilla. A little later, the monster appears on the New York fish market. After some destruction, it disappears and New York is evacuated.

Since the military underestimates Godzilla’s size and strength, the monster escapes, causing high losses among the soldiers. Tatopoulos found out from a blood sample that the lizard was pregnant and warns the military.

While the American military is only on the hunt for Godzilla and can finally apparently kill him, the French and Tatopoulos, secretly pursued by Audrey and a cameraman, search for the nest. They follow Godzilla’s destruction in the city and eventually find the eggs in Madison Square Garden.

However, the explosives brought along are not enough to blow up all the eggs and the young begin to hatch. The chance to blow up is not used and you try to lock the building and leave. With the help of the transmission system in the stadium, the military is informed via television.

At the last second, the protagonists can leave the building and all the young animals are killed by the explosion of the rockets. Godzilla survived the military attack and finds his dead boys. It blames humans for the tragedy. The lizard pursues them across Manhattan and is lured onto the Brooklyn Bridge.

There he gets caught in the wire ropes and is killed by fighter jets. Tatopoulus and Audrey finally get together and since Tatopoulus promises her the story exclusive, her dream of journalism will finally come true. Meanwhile, Roche disappears unseen. In the end, it turns out that at least one of the young survived.