Godzilla (Heisei)

The Third Generation Godzilla (三代目ゴジラ Sandaime Gojira) is a kaiju who first appeared in the 1984 Godzilla film The Return of Godzilla. He is the third film incarnation of the character. The Heisei Godzilla does not retain the heroic personality of the Showa Godzilla, but instead returns to the villainous persona of the original Godzilla. However, while the 1954 Godzilla appeared actively vengeful towards humanity, the Heisei Godzilla is initially portrayed as a sympathetic and tragic being who is simply lost in human civilization and trying to survive, causing destruction as a consequence. As the Heisei series progressed, Godzilla began actively causing destruction more often and was portrayed as the primary villain of several films. In Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II, Godzilla began transitioning into an anti-hero character, and once again raised an infant member of his species as his son, this time named Godzilla Junior. In the last two films of the Heisei series, Godzilla battled against monsters that were much more malevolent than himself, SpaceGodzilla and Destoroyah, while the human character Miki Saegusa insisted that Godzilla was actually an intelligent being with human-like sentiments. This is shown in Godzilla vs. Destoroyah, where Godzilla displays visible grief when his adopted son is killed by Destoroyah.