Godzilla (TriStar)

Godzilla (ゴジラ Gojira) is a giant monster that appeared in the 1998 TriStar Pictures film GODZILLA. It is the first incarnation of Godzilla to appear in an American-made film and the fourth onscreen incarnation of the character overall. The TriStar Godzilla is very different from previous incarnations of the character, being a mutated iguana rather than a prehistoric creature. His appearance is more reminiscent of modern reconstructions of theropod dinosaurs, and he lacks some of Godzilla's most well-known traits, such as atomic breath and immunity to conventional weaponry. Instead, this Godzilla relies on his speed and animalistic cunning to evade attackers and ambush them rather than fight them head-on. This Godzilla was ultimately killed at the end of his debut film, but one of his asexually-produced offspring survived and grew into the next Godzilla in Godzilla: The Series, an animated sequel to the 1998 film. This Godzilla's carcass was eventually salvaged by the Leviathan Aliens and converted into a cyborg dubbed Cyber Godzilla as part of the aliens' plan to use monsters to overtake the Earth. The TriStar Godzilla became particularly controversial among the fanbase due to his departure from previous versions of the character, and Toho themselves responded to this controversy in the film Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack in the form of dialogue mentioning a monster similar to Godzilla recently attacking New York City, though Japanese experts doubt it is Godzilla. When TriStar's rights to the character expired in 2003, Toho assumed ownership of the TriStar Godzilla and reintroduced it as a new character called "Zilla" in the film Godzilla: Final Wars, who has itself since been featured in other Godzilla media licensed by Toho.