7 Most Powerful Kaiju That Aren’t Godzilla

Throughout 70 or so years of kaiju cinema, some have proved to be stronger than others. At the top of the heap, both in terms of popularity and pure power, is, of course, Godzilla. With a devastating atomic ray, a height that extends about 400 feet (depending which era of films you’re watching), and a massive tail, he steamrolls cities. Over the years, other parts of the world have tried to come up with kaiju that could give Godzilla a run for his intimidation money, e.g. Gorgo, Reptilicus, and Yongary, Monster from the Deep. None of them came close in terms of finding the same audience just as none of the title monsters felt like they would last more than eight consecutive seconds going head-to-head with the Big-G.

We left off inorganic kaiju, though, so no Mechagodzilla or Mechani-Kong here. Furthermore, Gamera just missed the cut, which might prove to be a controversial decision, and he certainly is tough with his thick shell and fire breath, but these other monsters have certain edges over him and, really, over Godzilla, as well.

7) Guilala

Does Guilala look like a space chicken with ridiculously thick limbs? Sure, but like his film as a whole, The X from Outer Space, he’s pretty underrated. And pretty powerful at that. When it comes to kaiju action, The X from Outer Space gives the ’60s Godzilla movies a run for their city destruction money.

Guilala was created by spores shot by a UFO which were subsequently brought back down to Earth. When one of those spores is exposed to acid, it develops into the kaiju. Once he is fully developed, Guilala comes equipped with quite a few assets. For a guy with such awkwardly bulky limbs, he can move rather quickly, and that’s before he turns himself into a flying orb which, like with Rodan’s supersonic speed, causes damage to buildings it’s flying over. The monster can also absorb nuclear energy as well as electrical energy, rendering many of Earthlings’ defenses useless. Top all that off with his ability to spew fireballs and Guilala is formidable.

Stream The X from Outer Space on HBO Max.

6) Mega-Kaiju

While Pacific Rim Uprising misses Guillermo del Toro in the director’s chair, it does have a few things going for it. Namely, more interesting protagonists and Cailee Spaeny in her first movie (it’s essentially her first acting performance, though one would never know it).

But, for the most part, it suffers from weak writing and action sequences that are mostly robot on robot smash-em-ups, making it feel like another Transformers movie. That is until Charlie Day’s Dr. Newton Geiszler unleashes the Mega-Kaiju, which is a combination of one Category V kaiju, Raijin, and two Category IVs, Shrikethorn and Hakuja. Thusly, it inherits all of those monsters’ abilities and physical assets, e.g. Shrikethorn’s spikes and Raijin’s exploitation of stored kinetic energy.

Stream Pacific Rim: Uprising on YouTube TV.

5) SpaceGodzilla

A likely contender for the main villain of the upcoming Godzilla x Kong: Supernova, SpaceGodzilla showed that the Heisei era was really trying to give Godzilla some seemingly undefeatable adversaries as it closed out its seven-film run (Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla was the penultimate installment of those seven). He is Godzilla’s equal in every way, but also comes equipped with some abilities the Big-G doesn’t possess. In fact, it took both Godzilla and humanity’s mechanized, kaiju-sized MOGUERA to take him down.

As physically strong as Godzilla is, SpaceGodzilla is just as much so. As thick as Godzilla’s hide is, so too is SpaceGodzilla’s. Furthermore, while Godzilla has atomic breath, SpaceGodzilla has a Crona Beam (basically a more winding but equally powerful version). What he has that Godzilla does not is a way to deflect his Earthly counterpart’s beam. Specifically, a Photon Reactive Shield, which appears like the crystals that poke from SpaceGodzilla’s shoulders. Also, SpaceGodzilla can fly. Godzilla cannot.

4) Iris

One of the best Gamera movies, Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris capped the franchise’s Heisei trilogy the way that Godzilla vs. Destoroyah capped off Godzilla’s films of the same era: with a monster that evolves its way through multiple forms. The difference is that Iris is only really an intimidating kaiju when it reaches its third and final stage.

Once Iris hits that fourth stage its tentacles are tipped with spears and each of those tentacles can shoot out a laser beam (Ultrasonic Scalpel beam) tough enough to cut through Gamera’s shell. Iris can also fly at an incredible speed and shields itself with an Anti-Plasma Field so Gamera can barely get a shot in with his fireball breath.

Stream Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris on Prime Video.

3) King Ghidorah

If you factor in his mechanized version, King Ghidorah is one of the few kaiju who have actually beaten Godzilla. But, even when he didn’t get the mechanical upgrade, he has always given the Big-G a tough fight.

King Ghidorah is pretty bulky, so if he’s flying and hits Godzilla, Godzilla is going to fall. But it’s not just Ghidorah’s size that makes him such a formidable opponent, as he, of course, also has three heads, each of which spews a Gravity Beam (essentially a lightning bolt). This lets Ghidorah fight multiple enemies at once, which tends to be the case. In fact, there’s an argument to be made that Ghidorah only ever loses because he’s facing stacked odds. In Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster he fought Godzilla, Mothra, and Rodan. In Invasion of Astro-Monster he again fought Godzilla and Rodan. In Destroy All Monsters he basically faced every monster Toho had come up with up to that point. The fights may have been more even in Godzilla vs. Gigan and Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, but it still says a lot that those films’ fights were so long.

Stream Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah on HBO Max.

2) Gigan

If SpaceGodzilla doesn’t end up in Supernova, Gigan should. After debuting in Godzilla vs. Gigan (one of the Shōwa era’s most thoroughly entertaining entries), he had his intimidation level sullied a bit in the goofy Godzilla vs. Megalon, but he’s still an intimidating opponent.

With massive hooks for hands and a chainsaw on his belly (not to mention a pointy, metal beak and a laser that comes out from above his one eye), fellow kaiju aren’t safe around Gigan when they’re near or far. He even got an upgrade in Godzilla Final Wars. Specifically, he can now fire little homing blades out of his chest and his above-eye laser is turned into a big laser from his eye which then effectively acts as a shotgun blast. Worse yet for his opponents, Gigan can fly, so you can’t get away from him.

Stream Godzilla vs. Gigan on HBO Max.

1) Destoroyah

Destoroyah is an interesting kaiju not just because his narrative has a way of circling back to the events of the original Gojira, but also because he has multiple forms and, even when he’s just a little crab, he’s a pretty nasty-looking fella. That would be his Micro and Crawl forms, which then turn into a six-legged (six-pincered, really) Juvenile.

The Juvenile is intimidating, but mostly against regular soldiers (in a sequence strongly reminiscent of Aliens). It’s when he turns into the Aggregate Form, with two extra-long pincer claws extending from its shoulder area. And, while this version gets a boost in the power of its Micro-Oxygen beam (and the ability to fly), it’s nothing compared to its massive Perfect Form. Standing about 400 feet tall, it doesn’t just rival Godzilla, it beats him in every way. Were Godzilla not already dying in the events of Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (which granted him a more powerful atomic ray), Destoroyah would have won.

Stream Godzilla vs. Destoroyah for free with ads on The Roku Channel.

Which kaiju would you most like to see take on Godzilla in the Monsterverse? Let us know in the comments.

Ranking Godzilla’s Heisei Era