Godzilla has undergone many different transformations over the years, with some being massive upgrades in power capable of leveling entire cities in an instant. Godzilla’s form in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is far from the first time the best got an increase in power complete with a physical transformation. With so many different versions of Godzilla to choose from, it can be hard to determine which evolution of the King of the Monsters reigns supreme.

Of all the different Godzilla eras, the Showa series was fond of frequently giving the lumbering reptilian giant new powers at the drop of a hat, including magnetism and even flight. It was rarer that these new powers came with a physically altered form, typically coming with a shiny new official name to officialize the transformation. Across many different Godzilla incarnations, the atomic kaiju has seen a number of new forms come and go across varying levels of strength and destructive capability.

9

Godzilla Ultima

Godzilla Singular Point (2021)

Though he may be better known for stomping across the silver screen, Godzilla has also been the subject of a number of animated shows. Most recently, Godzilla Singular Point explored the idea of a Godzilla that evolved through various stages like a Pokémon, going from a fully aquatic form to an amphibious one to a more familiar terrestrial dinosaur. It isn’t until his final evolution, known in the series as Godzilla Ultima, that Godzilla finally seems recognizable as his classic atomic-breath-spitting self in the series.

Godzilla seemed to have different powers in Godzilla Singular Point depending on which form he was in, including creative new biological weaponry like blood tentacles and flammable ice vapor. However, as Godzilla Ultima, his retinue of powers is more class, although his atomic breath fires in a much wider berth, capable of incinerating an entire flock of Rodan at once. Godzilla Ultima is an impressive, but somewhat basic Godzilla form, and has a glaring critical weakness that Jet Jaguar is able to exploit in the final moments of the show.

8

Upgraded Godzilla

Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991)

Re-introducing classic Godzilla villain King Ghidorah to the 90s Godzilla series, 1991’s Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah pushed Godzilla to the brink looking for a way to defeat his powerful new three-headed foe. Still reeling from his last fight with Biollante, Godzilla finally recovers just in time to face King Ghidorah by absorbing a nuclear submarine. Not only does this help him shake off the lingering effects of the Anti-Nuclear Energy Bacteria bioweapon from the last film, but it grants him a noticeable increase in size and power.

Not only is this upgraded Godzilla able to make quick work of a foe he struggled with earlier, but he even quickly comes out on top against an upgraded version of King Ghidorah, Mecha King Ghidorah, shrugging off his beams like they were nothing. As much of a clear increase to his strength, durability, and atomic breath this form provides, Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah doesn’t give any clear metrics or stats to compare to Godzilla’s previous appearance. It also doesn’t provide any clear new abilities for Godzilla to use in battle.

7

Rodan-Powered Godzilla

Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II (1993)

A follow-up to Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah provides yet another direct upgrade to Godzilla with a new form, increasing his combat capabilities even further. Facing one of his most dangerous opponents yet, Godzilla is nearly killed by Mechagodzilla, purpose built to slay the beast by attacking a strange, previously-unknown weakness — A second brain in Godzilla’s hips. Just when it seems all hope is lost for Godzilla’s survival, the death of Rodan allows the flying kaiju’s life force to seep in to Godzilla’s second brain, reviving him with increased power, dorsal plates sparkling with energy.

Unlike Godzilla’s previous upgrade in the same Heisei continuity, Rodan’s infusion of energy into Godzilla’s body grants him a noticeable new attack in the form of a spiral atomic ray. This powerful blast is able to outright destroy Super-Mechagodzilla in one hit, indicative of the supercharged Godzilla’s newfound power thanks to Rodan. However, this upgrade seems to be for a limited time only, as Godzilla is back to his normal atomic breath by the next film in the Heisei era, Godzilla vs. Spacegodzilla.

6

Final Form Shin Godzilla

Shin Godzilla (2016)

Like Godzilla Singular Point, Shin Godzilla explored a very different interpretation of Godzilla. Rather than a conscious creature, Shin Godzilla is more of a frightened, irradiated animal, lashing out in pain as it mutates into several horrific forms. Shin Godzilla’s final evolution is by far the most destructive, capable of laying waste to an entire city with its dramatic atomic breath, followed by a laser light show of haphazard beams fired from its dorsal plates. Not only that, but Shin Godzilla’s creepy tail indicates it may be able to release smaller humanoid creatures to wreak havoc on the ground.

Compared to other Godzilla forms, Shin Godzilla is unmitigated in its sheer destructive potential, able to decimate large swathes of the human population at once than ever before. While it never fights another monster, it’s safe to say that Shin Godzilla is a walking disaster that can outdo the catastrophe of most Godzilla incarnations. However, it is ultimately incapacitated by cryogenic coagulant, meaning it lacks the defensive potential, coordination, and raw strength of more powerful Godzilla transformations.

5

Evolved Godzilla

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024)

The latest on-screen transformation to be undergone by the King of the Monsters, Godzilla’s evolved form is a force to be reckoned with in Legendary’s Monsterverse. Seemingly sensing the conflict to come, Godzilla prepares by taking on the Titan Tiamat, absorbing the energy from her lair to ascend to a new evolved form. Now bearing dorsal plates glowing with pink energy and being slightly more humanoid in stature, Godzilla’s evolved form is said to be 20 times more powerful than his previous appearance.

As much as Evolved Godzilla is hyped up, he doesn’t seem to be especially more dangerous in his fight with Shimo, still somewhat struggling against the ice giant. This could be a testament to Shimo’s power more than anything else, as Evolved Godzilla is able to match her physical strength despite a significant size disadvantage. While Evolved Godzilla still needs more impressive feats, the simple truth of outputting 20 times the energy of Legendary Godzilla’s already staggering atomic power isn’t to be discounted.

4

Keizer Energy Godzilla

Godzilla: Final Wars (2004)

The epic finale of Toho’s Milennium series, the version of Godzilla presented in Godzilla: Final Wars is one of the most powerful yet. Taking on hordes of other monsters by himself, Godzilla’s combat IQ, destructive force, and physical strength are all seemingly at their peak, with his spiral heat ray even destroying a moon-sized asteroid. When Godzilla is infused with Keizer energy towards the end of the film, his strength further increases exponentially, able to overpower the ferocious Monster X and even its evolved form, Keizer Ghidorah.

The alien Keizer energy gives Godzilla’s already top fighting form in Godzilla: Final Wars a significant energy upgrade, allowing him to shock Keizer Ghidorah with a mere touch, swing him about like a toy, and vaporize him with a devastating spiral heat ray. All this is on top of Godzilla’s already peak fighting form in the film, defeating eight monsters back to back before even receiving the transformation. As powerful as a Keizer-empowered Godzilla is, however, he still lacks the raw area of effect damage of the most powerful Godzilla forms.

3

Burning Godzilla

Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995)

Godzilla vs. Destoroyah sees Godzilla go out with a bang with one of his most fearsome forms ever conceived for the screen. Explaining that Godzilla’s heart works like a nuclear reactor and is nearing meltdown, Godzilla enters Godzilla vs. Destoroyah slowly succumbing to his burning form, characterized by a white-hot glow of red cracks on his chest and dorsal plates signifying the intense heat and nuclear energy hemorrhaging from his body. Not only does this form kill the mighty Destoroyah, but it nearly destroys the Earth itself.

In his burning form, Godzilla is capable of reaching temperatures of 1200 degrees, utilizing a new nuclear pulse attack to unleash an apocalyptic wave of nuclear energy in a massive explosion. Godzilla’s signature spiral heat ray also gets a power-up in this state, becoming infinitely stronger with every use. Unfortunately, the burning form is akin to a terminal disease for Godzilla, meaning that given enough time, even Godzilla can’t withstand the unfathomable temperatures of his internal nuclear meltdown.

2

Monsterverse Burning Godzilla

Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019)

The Monsterverse brought back Godzilla’s burning form in a big way with 2019’s Godzilla: King of the Monsters. After being nearly killed by King Ghidorah, Godzilla gets a power-up thanks to the combination of a point-blank nuclear detonation and Mothra’s life force, allowing him to return to his burning form for the first time in the Monsterverse. Once again able to use his nuclear pulse with an impressive blast radius, the radiating power of the new burning Godzilla decisively overwhelms King Ghidorah with its raw thermonuclear output.

Compared to the original burning form, the Monsterverse incarnation is even hotter, reaching an astounding 1,500,000 degrees Celsius and melting steel structures into liquid just by standing near them. Importantly, it also doesn’t kill Godzilla to be in this form, thanks to the protection of Mothra’s soothing energy. While Godzilla may survive being in one of his most powerful on-screen forms yet, it is still ultimately a temporary power-up.

1

Godzilla Earth

GODZILLA: Planet of the Monsters (2017)

A little-known animated film trilogy starting with GODZILLA: Planet of the Monsters features by far the most powerful Godzilla transformation ever depicted. The film takes place in a far future in which Godzilla has ran humanity off the planet, forcing them to find refuge among the stars. Upon returning after 20,000 years, the human race comes face to face with an evolved beast known as Godzilla Earth, a planet-dominating life form against which they have no hope of defeating.

Dwarfing any other Godzilla incarnation by far, Godzilla Earth is nearly the size of a mountain range, weighing 100,000 metric tons and hovering around 300 meters tall. Easily the most terrifying Godzilla incarnation ever described, Godzilla Earth has a new attacks — The Super Oscillatory Wave, a burst of sound capable of instantly vaporizing any and all solid matter, and the Plasma Cutter, a wide-reaching slash of energy emanating from Godzilla’s tail. GODZILLA: Planet of the Monsters explains the dangers of leaving Godzilla to evolve on his own with by far his strongest transformation ever.