The greatest kaiju in the history of monster movies is Godzilla, who made his name in the Japanese kaiju genre and eventually became incredibly popular in the West. Of course, while we do know that Godzilla is the GOAT of all monsters, one of the things that people know is that the Godzilla we see in the many Japanese and American movies was never the original Godzilla because this Godzilla came from a long line of creatures that are similar to it. Of course, that means that the Godzillas that came before Godzilla had to reproduce. But how exactly does Godzilla reproduce?
Godzilla doesn’t have an exact sex
Of course, there’s no doubt that Godzilla is one of the greatest monsters in the history of monster movies and is probably the greatest of all time when it comes to gigantic monsters. But while Godzilla is often referred to as a male member of his species, the thing that needs to be addressed is his actual gender.
In Japanese, Godzilla is often referred to using gender-neutral pronouns. However, the problem is that the English translation of the Japanese films translates the gender-neutral Japanese pronouns to “he,” thus allowing Western audiences and non-Japanese speaking fans to think that Godzilla is actually male. Nevertheless, the thing is that there was never a time when the Japanese referred to Godzilla as female. But it is also worth noting that Godzilla is also called the King of Monsters in Japanese, thus giving more reasons for fans to believe that he is actually male.
Ever since the 50s, Godzilla was referred to as male, even in different English-language media, such as cartoons. In fact, in the MonsterVerse, it was specifically mentioned that Godzilla was male. The Legendary Pictures version of Godzilla even has a masculine appearance, suggesting that the Big G in the MonsterVerse is male.
The thing is that there were versions of Godzilla who actually reproduced, thus opening the belief that he could actually be female. In fact, Godzilla has had sons in the different Japanese versions of the monster, suggesting that he could actually be female because there was never another female version of Godzilla that the gigantic monster could have reproduced. Specifically, Godzilla Junior is often referred to as Godzilla’s “son.”
But it is also worth noting that Godzilla Junior was not Big G’s biological son but was actually another member of his series that he adopted. This explains why Godzilla Junior exists despite the fact that the Japanese Godzilla was often referred to as a male member of its species.
The problem, however, is that there have been far too many versions of Godzilla. In 1998, the American version of Godzilla, who is often referred to as “Zilla” by most fans, was described as male but was capable of laying eggs. This allowed the characters in the storyline to think that the Godzilla in this movie was actually female.
Despite the fact that different versions of Godzilla may have different sexes, the thing that needs to be remembered is that Godzilla is often referred to as a male monster instead of a female one. As such, it would be better to refer to Big G as a “he” instead of as a “she” due to the fact that, in most cases, he is often portrayed as a male member of his species.
Godzilla can reproduce asexually
As mentioned, Godzilla is often portrayed as a male member of its species instead of a female one. The sex may be ambiguous at best, but the thing that is quite confusing is Godzilla’s manner of reproduction. After all, it would be confusing if Godzilla was capable of reproducing despite the fact that he is male in most versions.
Of course, in the 1998 American version of Godzilla, Zilla was actually capable of asexual reproduction, and that explains why it was able to lay eggs. But this Godzilla was not the same Godzilla that we often see in Japanese movies. In fact, Legendary Pictures changed the American perception of Big G by using the classic “fat” Godzilla in the 2014 ‘Godzilla’ movie that became part of the MonsterVerse.
In the MonsterVerse, it was never specifically mentioned how Godzilla is able to reproduce. Of course, we know that there were other members of Godzilla’s species roaming the planet, as Godzilla’s species were ancient enemies of Kong’s species. As such, it is possible that there were female Godzillas that existed in the past and that male Godzillas sexually reproduced with them. If that’s the case, the current MonsterVerse Godzilla may be the last of its kind and would be unable to reproduce due to the lack of a female counterpart.
Nevertheless, in the animated Godzilla Earth storyline, the Godzilla in that movie was able to reproduce through the process of cell division. The existence of Godzilla was able to affect the surrounding ecosystem, thus allowing its cells to produce versions of itself. This explains why there was a smaller version of Godzilla (called Godzilla Filius) during the earlier part of the movie trilogy and why the flying dragon-like creatures in the trilogy were described as the “offspring” of Godzilla.
A similar concept was used in the Shin Godzilla movie, wherein Godzilla continuously evolved. The final evolution of Godzilla involved dividing its cells and “giving birth” to smaller versions of itself that would also follow the same evolution that Shin Godzilla went through during the movie. As such, Shin Godzilla is also capable of asexual reproduction in the form of cell division.
So, while the MonsterVerse version or even the original versions of Godzilla were not able to fully explain how this monster is able to reproduce, the newer versions of Big G suggest that he is actually capable of asexual reproduction, not in the form of egg-laying but in the form of cell division. Of course, we aren’t sure if Legendary Pictures would use this same concept in the MonsterVerse, but the possibility is still up in the air.
