The Godzilla franchise celebrates its 70th anniversary this year. Nothing can last that long without a constant stream of ideas. Godzilla spent many of his years fighting one unstoppable giant monster after another. Without innovation, the series surely would have stalled by now. One of the fun additional ideas shared among several entries is an enhanced version of Godzilla that becomes a threat to the world rather than just the city. Burning Godzilla is likely the best representative of that concept.
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire made waves with its initial trailers. One of the strangest elements in the previews was Godzilla’s new appearance. Having seen the film, his new pink crystals appear to be a temporary power boost that he undertook to settle an old score with Kong. Filmmakers compared his pink form to Goku’s Kaioken technique from Dragon Ball Z. Taking inspiration from Dragon Ball is likely an excellent direction for future sequels.
Burning Godzilla in the Heisei Era
Burning Godzilla is a new level of power that the King of the Monsters obtained in Godzilla vs. Destoroyah. That 1995 film ended the Heisei era with a bang. The previous entry, Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla, ended with Godzilla absorbing cosmic energy from his titular foe. The newfound boost enhanced his Atomic Breath, arming him with the Burn Spiral Heat Ray. As the follow-up begins, Godzilla awakens on Baas Island, where a sudden nuclear reaction in his heart catalyzes hidden uranium deposits. This reaction causes a massive, fiery explosion, which seems to sink the island and destroy Godzilla and his son. Both kaiju survived their spontaneous combustion, but the exposure to unique radiation changed them. Godzilla Junior, who goes by a different name in each film appearance, evolves into a larger, more powerful form. Godzilla does the same, emerging suddenly in Hong Kong with newfound nuclear might.
Burning Godzilla has glowing, orange, lava-like rashes across his chest, thighs, and abdomen. His dorsal spines become bright orange. Cracks in his armored exterior reveal either lava or blood. His eyes, which are usually brown or gold, glow bright red. The film opts to explain Godzilla’s new form through a student named Kenkichi Yamane. Yamane assesses Godzilla’s immense temperature and excessive radiation, determining that he will soon overwhelm his own resistance and explode. He further theorizes that the resulting cataclysm will end all life on Earth. He helps the Japanese government arrange a weapon to delay this process, but it only changes the stakes. Burning Godzilla will eventually reach 1,200 degrees Celsius (2,192 Fahrenheit), melt through the Earth’s crust, and destroy the world. Godzilla uses his immense energy to defeat Destoroyah, but Yamane’s invention returns to prevent the worst-case scenario. Godzilla doesn’t burn through the Earth, but his radiation bathes Tokyo. Godzilla Junior saves the city by absorbing his father’s life essence, evolving into Rebirth Godzilla, and standing to take his father’s place.
Burning Godzilla in the Monsterverse
The Burning Godzilla concept emerges again in Godzilla: King of the Monsters. It is, unfortunately, missing its implications. The Heisei era depicted Burning Godzilla as an apocalyptic conclusion for decades of development. He fought Destoroyah, one of the most villainous kaiju in the franchise, but Godzilla remained the primary threat. The Monsterverse uses him in a far less interesting capacity. Its explanation is far better, however. King of the Monsters sees Godzilla fight King Ghidorah and Rodan. His lone ally in this conflict is Mothra, his mighty flying insect queen. Ghidorah and Rodan take an early lead in the film’s final battle, but Mothra has a trump card. After defeating Rodan, Mothra flies at Ghidorah, allowing the dragon to kill her with his gravity beams. Mothra’s glowing dust energy flows into Godzilla, causing his body to develop lava-like cracks. He becomes Burning Godzilla through Mothra’s sacrifice.
The Monsterverse’s Burning Godzilla is almost entirely orange. Rather than localized rashes, he seems to leak active fire from every inch of his body. The film depicts his new form altering the surrounding temperature, causing nearby metal to melt as he passes by. After losing the first few rounds against Ghidorah and Rodan, Burning Godzilla exhibits a massive increase in power. He emits massive nuclear pulses in the shape of Mothra’s wings, quickly disintegrating two of Ghidorah’s three heads. Godzilla unleashed the last of his power in an explosion that killed Ghidorah and ruined most of Boston. He emerges from the wreckage in his traditional form, seemingly no longer able to summon Burning Godzilla.
While both Burning Godzillas only existed in a single film, Heisei’s take on the concept remained more engaging. The classic heroic sacrifice fits Mothra well, but Burning Godzilla quickly becomes a Super Saiyan-esque turn. The Heisei era turned it into an elevation of stakes, forcing humans to occupy multiple sides of the conflict. It’s a fascinating element of the Godzilla character, but the Monsterverse has new ways of increasing the King’s power. Burning Godzilla burns bright, but he doesn’t seem to stick around long.
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