Every Ancient Godzilla Battle Confirmed In MonsterVerse

The MonsterVerse’s Godzilla fought in several epic battles during ancient times. Cave paintings and MonsterVerse tie-in material have made it clear that Godzilla had already seen his fair share of fighting long before his clash with the MUTOs in 2014. Though the King of the Monsters has spent much of his time in hibernation, he was active at numerous points in the Earth’s history.

Godzilla exists in a world populated by Titans who have lived for thousands – if not millions – of years. Like the others, Godzilla has experienced the rise and fall of an untold number of civilizations, including at least that one that worshipped him as a god. Considering all the years he’s been alive and the wide range of Titan species in the MonsterVerse, there’s no telling how many times Godzilla has been in a fight with another monster. Given his status as an alpha, there’s no doubt that Godzilla has had to fend off a long list of formidable challengers to keep his crown as King of the Monsters. There could be dozens of Titans that Monarch will never know about simply because they were vanquished by Godzilla.

Much of the events that transpired in Godzilla’s long life will unfortunately never be known. However, prequel comics, ancient legends passed down by the Iwi tribe, and cave paintings seen in the films have shed light on at least some of the battles that Godzilla participated in thousands of years ago. Here’s every Godzilla battle confirmed to take place in the MonsterVerse’s ancient history.

Godzilla vs. A Kong Ancestor

Godzilla vs. Kong prequel graphic novel Godzilla: Dominion explored Godzilla’s connection with one of Kong’s ancestors. According to the comic, Godzilla regarded this particular ape as his “rival”. It was explained in the story that they once came to blows. Apparently, their fight had a surprising result. While Godzilla was able to beat the modern-day Kong, he didn’t fare so well against his original rival, who drove the Titan out of his lair. A few years after Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Godzilla went looking for him, only to find his skeletal remains at the end of the story. It was implied that the Kong ancestor was killed by a serpent-like Titan named Tiamat. As for why Godzilla lost to the ape in the first place, it’s been speculated that this fight happened so far back in the MonsterVerse’s history that Godzilla may have been an inexperienced adolescent at the time.

Godzilla and Kong’s Titan War

Godzilla’s defeat at the hands of the Kong ancestor isn’t the extent of his history with the ape’s species. Long ago, a Titan War broke out between Godzilla and Kong’s kind in the hidden Hollow Earth world. It was stated in the Godzilla vs. Kong novelization that it all started when the Kongs banded together with the Iwi tribe to drive out Godzilla, who they agreed was an “evil” beast and a threat to their societies. Presumably, it was during the original Titan War that the Kongs acquired some of Godzilla’s dorsal fins and used them to make axes capable of hurting him.

Cave paintings in Godzilla vs. Kong’s opening credits point to additional Titans getting involved in the fight. It looks like both Mothra and the Skullcrawlers had a hand in the fighting. And keeping in mind Mothra’s symbiotic relationship with Godzilla and the Skullcrawlers’ history as Kong’s hated enemies, it stands to reason that both were on Godzilla’s side. The Iwi legends recall that it was Godzilla that ultimately prevailed. The defeat that the Kongs suffered in the Titan War is the reason they abandoned their home and relocated to Skull Island.

Godzilla vs. Shinomura

Godzilla: Awakening, a graphic novel that served as a prequel, illustrated a brief encounter between Godzilla and a member of the Shinomura species that occurred 250 million years ago. In the MonsterVerse, the Shinomura are giant insect monsters that travel in colonies. They also possess the capability to form a singular, collective entity. One of their kind was abruptly attacked by Godzilla, who obliterated it with his atomic breath. When they returned in the modern era, Godzilla pursued them again. His interest in fighting the Shinomura in the MonsterVerse suggests that he considers them to be his prey.

Godzilla vs. the MUTOs

While a specific historical battle with the MUTOs hasn’t been detailed in the MonsterVerse, Godzilla did confirm the MUTOs to be among the Titan’s natural enemies, which means that he’s most likely fought them on various occasions in the MonsterVerse’s history. Based on Godzilla’s age, it’s hard to imagine that his fight with them in the 2014 film wasn’t the first time he’s come across these creatures, who are responsible for killing at least one member of Godzilla’s species. Dagon, the Godzilla ancestor whose skeleton was found in the Philippines, was killed by MUTO Prime.

Godzilla, Rodan, and Mothra vs. Ghidorah

Artwork on the walls of Godzilla’s underwater city in King of the Monsters depict a three-on-one Titan showdown. On one side is Ghidorah, with Rodan, Godzilla, and Mothra all lined up together. The impression given by the drawing is that the three teamed up. This hidden Easter egg all but confirms that though Godzilla and Rodan weren’t allies in King of the Monsters, they have worked together in the past. An earlier attempt by Ghidorah to terraform the planet could have motivated Godzilla to rally the Titans to protect the Earth. Regardless of the reason for their collision, the fight is essentially a recreation of a classic Toho battle from Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster. In the original 1964 movie, Mothra convinced Godzilla and Rodan to help drive off King Ghidorah, who was trying to conquer the world.

Godzilla vs. Ghidorah

The MonsterVerse fight mentioned above is different from the one that was alluded to in King of the Monsters, which happened in Antarctica. The murals can’t be the same one, since no one could have witnessed their fight in the icy wasteland. That being said, its result has been confirmed by director Michael Dougherty, who has spoken about the circumstances that led to Ghidorah being found frozen. Godzilla defeated Ghidorah there centuries ago. Mark theorized in the Godzilla vs. Kong novelization that their encounter was connected in some way to Antarctica’s Hollow Earth entrance, which is near the site where Ghidorah’s body was discovered by Monarch. That raises the possibility that Ghidorah was either leaving or entering the Hollow Earth tunnel when he was confronted – and subsequently taken down – by Godzilla.

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