Different versions and looks of Godzilla

I like the original 1954 version and #16 through 27. Although, #17, #23, and #24 though #27 have aspects that I don't like. I thought, however, in certain shots during the movie, the one in Godzilla vs. Destroyah was pretty much the meanest looking one. The one in Godzilla 2000 was a pretty mean looking one too.

Godzilla vs desotroyah just has that: Hows I going mother fuckers? Look to it.

I'm a big fan of the Heisei look, especially the 1991 and Burning Godzilla suits. I also really dig the G2K/GxM suits as well as the suit from the GxMG series. 

my faverite is godzilla 2000

Definitely KiryuGoji.

I can't choose just one but I do prefer Godzilla to look more Reptilian, so my favorite suit is from Tokyo SOS. I also admire Bio-Goji, Shodai-Goji, and King-Goji.

My favorites are the original  Godzilla (1954), the 1975 G, the 1985 G, the 1995 G, the 2000 G, and the 2004 G

My favorites are the original  Godzilla (1954), the 1975 G, the 1985 G, the 1995 G, the 2000 G, and the 2004 G

My favorites are the original  Godzilla (1954), the 1975 G, the 1985 G, the 1995 G, the 2000 G, and the 2004 G

final wars is my favorite

Here's my highlights of the series

!954: The gold standard of course. The only issue was the hand puppet for close-ups looked absurd

1962: More reptilian looking and has a great profile, though the 3/4 and head-on looks goofy

1964: Brilliant design, sleek and full of malice

1989: The popular incarnation of Godzilla. Somewhat feline head denotes cunning and the suit paired with the animatronic gave the creature life unseen in previous films

1999: Finally a green Godzilla. Again, he feels like a reptile like KingGoji, and the redish-purple spines gives him a lot more flash.

I like the Millenium look of the Big G, particularly in Godzilla 2000, Mechagodzilla and Tokyo SOS. Especially his sharper spikes, gives him more of an menacing look.

Although for my absolute favorite, I will say the Heisei-era design in vs Destroyah, with Godzilla glowing and giving off steam, that looked awesome.

I hated the FW look

my top 3

1.godzilla tokyo sos 

2.final wars 

3. 2000

gozilla 1975 (terror of mechagodzilla) probably because they made the suit have those shiny big eyes that make him look cute.

Godzilla vs Biollante and Godzilla 2000

My favorite is the 2014 one.  My least favorite was Zilla.

Here check out my website page it has a ll the variations of suits used in Godzilla movies .....

Godzilla Suits

My personal opinion is:

Best Showa Series Godzilla - "Mothra vs Godzilla" (1964)

Best Heisei Series Godzilla - "Godzilla vs Biollante" (1989)

Best Millennium Series Godzilla - "Godzilla Against MechaGodzilla (2002)

And the worst Godzilla of all time - "Son of Godzilla" (1967)

 My favorite Godzilla suits in each series:

Showa-Godzilla vs Mothra

Heisei-Return of Godzilla

Millennium-GMK

Present - Shin Godzilla

worst - Son Of Godzilla

I always get a kick out of these ancient threads being revived.

^ LOL You and me both. My OP is from when the forums ran using BBcode, I clearly need to update this. Hahaha

I never really understood how Godzilla was able to change his shape in the films' universes.

RiseUp,
He's generally the same shape, height, etc. He just looks different from movie to movie depending on the director's vision and needs of the particular production.

It's no different from Batman looking like Michael Keaton in two movies and then Val Kilmer in a third. Or Bruce Banner looking like Edward Norton in The Incredible Hulk and then Mark Ruffalo in The Avengers.

I was kinda looking for an in-universe explanation.

There is no in-universe explanation. His changing appearance is dictated only by out-of-universe factors. As far as the characters within the films are concerned, he still looks exactly the same as he always has from film to film.

So, answer me this, G-Fan history buffs.

There have been many different designs throughout each series, but for the ones that have connected continuity, Showa specifically, was there a different suit each time there was a major design shift? I ask because the start of this era had VERY different designs from the end of this period of films.

Also, when it comes to the similar but subtle different suit designs, was it the same suit changed up, or did they keep making suits? Just curious is all.

TheGMan123,
A lot of what your asking depends on the suit. August Ragone has explained that one of the reasons so many Godzilla suits in the Showa era had wildly different designs was because Eiji Tsuburaya liked to change things up. He was never married to one design. (His death in 1970 may explain why the 1968 SoshingekiGoji suit was used until it was literally falling apart in 1972. Had he lived longer, I think it likely he would've shelved it earlier.)

But there's also the fact that the Showa series suits, built by Teizo Toshimitsu and Nobuyuki Yasumaru, did not use molds. So they couldn't recreate the same exact design even if they tried. They didn't have molds to save the individual designs.

This doesn't mean some suits weren't updated. For example, the head of 1973's MegaroGoji suit was tweaked once for Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla and then again in Terror of MechaGodzilla. Although it's the same suit, it was adjusted for the more serious atmosphere of Megalon's follow-ups:

Now when the Heisei series came along, molds started being used by the new suit maker Tomomi Kobayashi. Although the Heisei movies had five different suits (two of which were heavily updated) the design remained more consistent due to the use of molds.

Additionally, Koichi Kawakita was less interested in playing with Godzilla's design. (Obviously Godzilla's look changed between The Return of Godzilla and Godzilla vs. Biollante, but Koichi Kawakita didn't take over the special effects for the series until the latter film.) According to Ed Godziszewski, "This was his [Kawakita's] Godzilla. So he wanted to keep the basic design the same."

As a result of the more consistent design, the 1989 BioGoji was updated into the 1991 GhidoGoji (and also used for half of 1992's Godzilla vs. Mothra). The 1992 BatoGoji was built from scratch and later used for the battle against Rodan in Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla II. And of course the 1993 RadoGoji suit was also built from the ground up. (The upper half of the RadoGoji was later updated into a version of the DesuGoji used for water scenes only.)

The 1994 MogeGoji was the last suit built from scratch in the Heisei series. It was later heavily updated into the DesuGoji for Godzilla vs. Destoroyah. The crew for these movies would decide whether or not they should build a new suit depending on animatronic advancements/innovations or simply if the current suit was too worn to be used for the entire production.

All of these suits were completed from molds, but because new mechanical components within the latter suits needed more space it would inadvertently change the design's shape. One excellent comparison is when you look at the profile of the 1989 suit with the 1993 costume. Same design, same molds, different suit with different mechanical components inside:

There were some adjustments made on purpose--Such as the eye color, the ribbed neck or a different combination of dorsal plates. Otherwise the pieces were largely the same.

The Millennium series made a more conscious effort to change Godzilla's look since it was an anthology series. By that time Shinichi Wakasa, who was responsible for Rodan (93), MechaGodzilla (93), SpaceGodzilla and Destoroyah suits/puppets, was building Godzilla. (With the exception of GMK.) Molds were used for almost every suit sans the Final Wars costume which he claims to have "sculpted" himself.

I've heard an entirely new costume was made for Megaguirus, despite how new the suit was in Godzilla 2000. I'm not sure I believe that, but it's possible since the molds were available. Obviously the '02 and '03 costumes were new suits, but the bodies were made from molds of the '99/'00 costumes.

It's also worth noting that new suits would often not be used for water sequences in the Showa series. Water ruined these costumes which is why the 1965 suit was used for water sequences in Son of Godzilla, Destroy All Monsters and Godzilla vs. Hedorah--Yet when Godzilla came on land it was a different suit. After the 1965 suit was doused in sludge by Hedorah, the 1967 Son of Godzilla costume was used for Godzilla vs. Gigan's swimming shots. Promotional suits, not built to be used onscreen, would take over this task in the MechaGodzilla movies.

In the latter two series a secondary water suit, much closer to the dry land costumes, would be built specifically for shots in the big pool. The Heisei series had it easy--Sometimes they would just use "dry land" costumes from the prior film if they had a new suit for the current production.

Hopefully that gives you some idea as to how they did things.

^ Excellent insight into the hows and whys of the design changes throughout the films. That actually explains quite a bit.

Directed toward the original question, it was relatively rare for a suit in the earlier part of the Showa series to receive primary use in multiple films, so usually every major design shift signified a new suit. MosuGoji was used for both Mothra vs. Godzilla and Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster, but its head was replaced between films. The DaisensoGoji suit was used in Invasion of Astro-Monster and Ebirah, Horror of the Deep, but since its head was on loan to Tsuburaya Productions for use as the monster Jirass in Ultraman, Toho had to construct an imperfect replica of its head to film many scenes in its second film appearance. The original DaisensoGoji head is still used in Ebirah, but the lower-quality replica head gets a fair deal of screentime too. I think the replica head is still on the DaisensoGoji for its use as the "stunt suit" in Son of Godzilla and Godzilla vs. Hedorah. SoshingekiGoji was used for four films with minimal alteration, but it's always stuck out to me how its eyes seem to face sideways in Godzilla vs. Hedorah specifically. The MegaroGoji suit, depicted in the diagram Gman posted, had its head changed between films, and is otherwise the same suit. It was also the suit used in Zone Fighter, and looks mostly identical to how it did in Godzilla vs. Megalon.

That's just the best description of suit alterations in the Showa era I can come up with. Gman perfectly analyzed the suit changes throughout the Heisei and Millennium eras.