Godzilla Nuclear Pulse Attack Explained (& Where It Came From)

What was the attack that Godzilla used to destroy King Ghidorah at the end of Godzilla: King of the Monsters? Though its name is never mentioned in the movie, Godzilla fans may recognize it as a nuclear pulse, a powerful but rarely used attack that Godzilla has employed in the past.

Though Godzilla nearly killed Ghidorah in their second battle in Godzilla: King of the Monsters, the titular monster was pushed to his limit in their final showdown. Up against a super-charged King Ghidorah, Godzilla was badly wounded after being dropped from the sky. Defeat appeared imminent, but some help from Mothra gave him a second chance. After giving what was left of her life force to Godzilla, Mothra died, and Godzilla entered into his burning form. As “Burning Godzilla”, he was easily able to defeat King Ghidorah.

However, he didn’t achieve victory by traditional means, either with his atomic breath or through close combat. Instead, he bombarded him with a gigantic wave of radioactive energy that exploded from Godzilla’s body and enveloped Ghidorah. The second blast was so powerful that it caused Ghidorah’s body to rapidly deteriorate into dust. This attack is called a nuclear pulse. When hitting an opponent with an atomic breath isn’t enough, Godzilla can resort to a nuclear pulse, which causes energy to emit from his body in all directions. This way, Godzilla can take out anything that’s in the immediate vicinity.

Though this is the first time the MonsterVerse’s Godzilla has hit an enemy with a nuclear pulse on-screen, he has used it before in Toho’s films, specifically a handful of movies from the 1990s and Godzilla 2000. The nuclear pulse first appeared in 1989’s Godzilla vs. Biollante, and was utilized again in Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah,Godzilla vs. Mothra, and more. In most instances, the nuclear pulse is so visually different from the MonsterVerse version of the attack that it may be hard to see the resemblance. The difference is largely attributed to the quality of modern CGI. The energy that radiates from his body in the 1990s films doesn’t typically lead to a spectacular explosion, but its function is the same.

Godzilla’s nuclear pulse in King of the Monsters (and how he chose to use it) is reminiscent of the final act of Godzilla 2000. When Orga was trying to absorb Godzilla’s energy, Godzilla allowed him to continue, and fired up a nuclear pulse to destroy him. This means that King of the Monsters isn’t the first movie to have Godzilla deliver the finishing blow with a nuclear pulse. Regardless, King of the Monsters still gave it an impressive upgrade and even layered it with a silhouette of Mothra’s wings. An attack as powerful and visually unique as  nuclear pulse seemed like a fitting way to bring the epic clash between Godzilla and Ghidorah to an end.

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