Godzilla has crossed paths with some powerful kaiju in nearly 70 years of the Godzilla franchise’s time on the big screen, but he has ultimately reigned supreme thanks to a varied arsenal of powerful attacks. Godzilla’s powers and abilities have changed with every new iteration of the massive monster that hits the big screen, although some have remained a consistent part of how he defends – and sometimes attacks – Earth. While his strength, durability, and surprising speed are all valuable assets in his battles with other monsters and humanity’s armed forces, Godzilla’s ability to do damage to his enemies is his most important feature.
Godzilla’s attacks have understandably gotten stronger as filmmaking techniques have advanced, as increasingly impressive displays of power have become possible with every Godzilla movie and TV show. The 50-meter monster that stomped Tokyo into ashes in 1954 has evolved into the impossibly large and glowing iterations seen in Godzilla vs. Kong and Shin Godzilla, and his attacks have evolved along with his size. From his impressive tail whip to a massively destructive heat ray, the strongest of Godzilla’s attacks make him a threatening force to be reckoned with for other powerful kaiju and species.
10 Metal Manipulation
Not all of Godzilla’s attacks come with a valid explanation. In 1974’s Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, Big G and his newest ally King Caesar were being thoroughly hammered by Mechagodzilla’s endless supply of laser beams and missiles, to the point where Godzilla was literally a bloody mess. Energized by a powerful lightning storm, Godzilla prevented Mechagodzilla from fleeing by turning himself into a giant magnet, pulling the metal monster to his body, and brutally tearing his head off. Electricity had been a weakness for Godzilla up to this point, as seen in King Kong vs. Godzilla, but in this specific instance, he used it to his advantage.
9 Claw Slash & Basic Bite
As awe-inspiring as Godzilla’s energy-based attacks are, his physical attacks can be just as devastating when it comes to hand-to-hand combat. Godzilla is covered with sharp edges, and he’s used them to great effect against some of his less powerful foes. The best example occurs in the climax of Godzilla vs. Kong, in which Godzilla finally puts Kong down following a vicious bite on the arm, which Godzilla uses to throw Kong into a building, dislocating his shoulder. The final nail in the coffin for Kong was Godzilla savagely slashing his chest to ribbons with his long, powerful front claws.
8 Tail Whip
A common feature in every iteration of Godzilla has been his long and massive tail. His tail has repeatedly been shown to be both flexible and strong, and on many occasions Godzilla has used it as a whip to topple buildings and knock over enemies. Occasionally, the tail has acted as a target for his enemies, as both King Kong and Mothra have given their best effort to grab Godzilla by the tail – to little effect. Godzilla’s most lethal tail whip can be seen in 2014’s Godzilla, in which Godzilla whips the male villain MUTO out of the sky and into a building, impaling and killing him.
7 Tail-Sliding Dropkick
The most famous example of the campy battles that defined the latter stages of Godzilla’s Showa era occurs in 1973’s Godzilla vs. Megalon. In his final team-up with the size-shifting robot Jet Jaguar, a running Godzilla leaps into a lengthy slide (seemingly balancing on his tail) to deliver a perfect dropkick to the beetle-like Megalon. While Godzilla never broke out this maneuver again, it was essentially the knock-out blow on Megalon, cementing its position as one of Godzilla’s most destructive physical attacks.
6 Atomic Breath
Godzilla’s defining attack has been his atomic breath ever since he first used it in 1954’s Godzilla. In his original appearance, the atomic breath takes the form of a radioactive vapor, almost mist-like in quality. Each iteration of Godzilla has had a slightly different visual representation for its atomic breath, and its destructive capability has also varied from movie to movie. As time has worn on, Godzilla’s atomic breath has grown more intense and concentrated, shifting from a loose burst of blue flame in the early Showa era to laser-like, ultra-accurate and focused blast in the Millennium and Reiwa Godzilla movie timelines.
Godzilla’s traditional blue atomic breath is typically accompanied by a similar blue glow in his dorsal spikes, and later versions of Godzilla have exuded a glow from the majority of their body and eyes. Some versions of the mighty kaiju have also been able to “charge up” their atomic breath, concentrating it to different levels as needed. For example, in Godzilla vs. Kong, Godzilla is able to blast out short bursts as he attempts to hit Kong as he flees through Honk Kong, but takes time to charge up for one continuous mega burst when he’s attempting to blast all the way down to the Hollow Earth.
5 Atomic Rays
2016’s Shin Godzilla featured one of the most distinctive iterations of Godzilla to date, including a unique set of powers. Shin Godzilla is able to produce some of the most destructive atomic breath ever seen in live action, which is impressive enough on its own. However, the constantly-evolving kaiju is also able to blast atomic rays out of various parts of his body for maximum carnage. As a defense mechanism, Shin Godzilla can fire concentrated purple beams out of his dorsal spikes, and can even fire them out of his prehensile tail, allowing him to attack multiple targets at once.
4 Nuclear Pulse
The glowing red version of the mighty monster known as “Burning Godzilla” is a result of a disequilibrium in Godzilla’s system. As essentially a walking nuclear reactor, Godzilla has often begun to melt down as a reactor might. The first instance occurred in 1995’s Godzilla vs. Destoroyah, and ultimately resulted in Godzilla’s death – but not before he used the incredible amount of excess radiation to destroy the final remnants of his enemy. More recently, in 2019’s Godzilla: King of the Monsters, thanks to an assist from Mothra, a supercharged Godzilla voluntarily expels multiple nuclear pulses from his body that completely destroy King Ghidorah along with most of Boston.
3 Spiral Heat Ray
Godzilla’s average atomic breath is certainly powerful, but, on multiple occasions, the king of monsters has kicked it up a notch. One of the most distinct versions is the spiral heat ray, a variation of his atomic breath that is far more concentrated and destructive. The ultra-focused beam that Godzilla blasts from his mouth is accompanied by electricity along his dorsal spikes and a spiral of excess energy surrounding the main beam. First used in 1991’s Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, Godzilla busts out the big guns when his average atomic breath has little effect on his archenemy. Godzilla’s spiral heat ray power, on the other hand, decimates King Ghidorah’s middle head.
2 Burning Spiral Heat Ray
As Godzilla’s enemies became more powerful during the Heisei era, Godzilla’s attacks increased in intensity. Godzilla unleashed a red, intense version of the spiral heat ray on multiple occasions to damage his three most powerful foes: Super Mechagodzilla, SpaceGodzilla and Destoroyah. The aptly-named burning spiral heat ray is not something that Godzilla can typically produce on his own; like the nuclear pulse, Godzilla often needs assistance or a nuclear meltdown to make this attack possible.
For example, in 1993’s Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II, Godzilla is able to absorb Fire Rodan’s life energy to produce the ultra-hot blast. In 1994’s Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla, Godzilla absorbs cast-off cosmic energy from SpaceGodzilla’s destroyed shoulder crystals to deliver the burning spiral heat ray to finish off his enemy. In Godzilla vs. Destoroyah, he is only able to deliver the blast when his internal nuclear meltdown reaches its apex. In that instance, the power of the blast increases infinitely each time Godzilla uses it, which explains why it’s able to severely damage Destoroyah when Godzilla’s other attacks failed.
1 Burning G Spark Heat Ray
What is widely considered to be the most powerful attack Godzilla has ever used fittingly comes in 2004’s Godzilla: Final Wars, Toho’s final Godzilla film from the Millennium era. The final enemy that Godzilla battles with is the mysterious Monster X, which transforms into Keizer Ghidorah, an ultra-powerful version of Godzilla’s infamous nemesis. After their clash, Godzilla destroys Keizer Ghidorah once and for all by throwing him into the air and blasting him with the Burning G Spark Heat Ray. This attack shockingly pushes his enemy all the way into space, resulting in a massive explosion that can be seen from Earth. For this reason, the Burning G Spark Heat Ray is doubtlessly his strongest attack seen in the Godzilla franchise.
