Toho's Godzilla Universe - Heisei Era

Godzilla (1984)

This page presents a fictional timeline for Toho's major science fiction films from 1984 to 1998 (a body of work which is frequently referred to as Toho's "Heisei Era" films). This series of films rebooted the Godzilla franchise from the original Showa Era series (1954-77). Storylines from the following films are included in this cryptofictional history:

Heisei Godzilla Continuum

1954:Godzilla
1984: The Return of Godzilla/ゴジラ/Gojira
1989: Godzilla vs Biollante
1991: Godzilla vs King Ghidorah
1992: Godzilla vs. Mothra/Godzilla and Mothra: The Battle for Earth/ゴジラvsモスラ
1993: Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla II/ゴジラvsメカゴジラ/Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla
1994: Godzilla vs Spacegodzilla
1995: Godzilla vs Destoroyah

Rebirth of Mothra Continuum

1996: Rebirth of Mothra/モスラ/Mothra
1997: Rebirth of Mothra II/モスラ2 海底の大決戦/Mothra 2: The Battle Under the Deep Sea
1998: Rebirth of Mothra III/モスラ 3 キングギドラ来襲/Mothra 3: Invasion of King Ghidorah

Heisei Godzilla Continuum

Prehistory
12000 BC: A technologically-advanced civilization arises on Earth, which worships (and is protected by) Mothra, a giant insectoid creature. When weather-control technology causes great damage to the Earth’s environment, the planet responds by manifesting the bat-like monster Battra (“battle Mothra”), which destroys the technology of this civilization. When Battra then proceeds to attack the populace as well, Mothra fights Battra and eventually seals it in an undersea cavern. For the next 12,000 years, generations of Mothra thrive on Infant Island with two tiny, ageless girls named the Cosmos. (Godzilla vs Mothra)

War Years:
1944.02: Japanese soldiers on Lagos Island are saved from Allied capture when a dinosaur (dubbed Godzillasaurus) repels an invading force of US soldiers. In the ensuing decades, the commanding officer, Shindo, will lead Japan’s post-war economic recovery. (Godzilla vs King Ghidorah)

• 1992 New Futurian Timeline: After the Japanese depart Lagos Island, Futurian and Japanese time travellers form 2204 (and some from 1992) transport Godzillasaurus to the middle of the Bering Sea in the hopes of preventing its mutation into Godzilla in 1954 (from exposure to atom bomb testing). However, the Futurians also leave behind three small creatures named Dorats, hoping that the bomb tests will instead mutate the Dorats into a monster known as King Ghidorah. (Godzilla vs King Ghidorah)

  

  Godzilla vs King Ghidorah (1991)

Post-War Years
1954.03.01: Between 1946 and 1958, 67 nuclear bombs are detonated on the Bikini Atolls by the U.S. for testing purposes. In 1954, radiation fallout from one of these detonations causes death and disease to abound in the waters around Japan.

• Original Timeline: Radiation from atom bomb tests transforms Godzillasaurus into Godzilla. (Godzilla vs King Ghidorah)

• 1992 New Futurian Timeline: Radiation from atom bomb tests transforms the Futurians’ three Dorats into King Ghidorah. In the Bering Sea, a Russian nuclear submarine is lost. Its radioactive elements eventually mutate the newly-relocated Godzillasaurus into Godzilla. (Godzilla vs King Ghidorah)

1954.11: Several ships off the coast of Japan are destroyed. A giant creature is reported rampaging through Odo Island. A scientific expedition led by Dr. Yamane sights the creature and determines that it is a remnant from a prehistoric age reawakened by the atomic bomb testing in the Pacific, and dubs it Godzilla (after a legendary sea divinity worshipped by the island natives). Depth charges are dropped in Godzilla’s suspected domain. This results in Godzilla coming ashore the Japanese archipelago through Tokyo Bay and briefly attacking Shinagawa. The army prepares for another attack by constructing towers bearing up an electric fence (charged with 200,000 volts) around the coastline. When Godzilla soon returns once more, the electric fence is unable to hurt Godzilla in any way. The creature then employs “atomic breath” to destroy the electric towers (as well as the army artillery soon called into the battle). In the end, a large section of Tokyo is destroyed, incurring many casualties. Despite his fears for its misuse, a biochemist named Serizawa agrees to allow his secret super-weapon, the “Oxygen Destroyer”, to be deployed against Godzilla. Locating Godzilla’s precise undersea location through radiation detection, the Oxygen Destroyer is employed to destroy Godzilla (as well as instantly killing all life in the device’s effective range). In the process, Serizawa also gives up his life in order to ensure the Oxygen Destroyer’s successful operation and to bury the secret of his weapon’s destructive power forever. (Godzilla 1954)

1984.12: Thirty years after his 1954 attack, Godzilla has somehow regenerated himself (an ability granted by his unique radiation-borne “G-cells”). He surfaces and begins attacking nuclear power plants in Japan in order to feed on their energy. In one instance, he also destroys a Soviet submarine, prompting the Soviets to prepare a satellite-launched nuclear missile to be used on Godzilla if necessary. However, the Japanese government opposes such a drastic weapon to be deployed on the mainland. Meanwhile, a scientist named Hayashida discovers that Godzilla is attracted to the Earth’s magnetic field, and theorizes that it may be possible to develop an electronic transmitter to lure Godzilla away from Japan. While Hayashida works on his device, Godzilla attacks Tokyo. Fortunately, the JSDF’s Super X flying fortress is able to bring down Godzilla with anti-nuclear cadmium shells. However, when a Soviet nuclear missile is accidentally detonated above Tokyo, the electromagnetic fallout revives Godzilla. Eventually Hayashida completes his magnetic transmitter and uses it to lure Godzilla into Mt. Mihara’s volcanic crater where an eruption is triggered with explosive charges, consuming Godzilla. (Godzilla 1984)

Godzilla vs Biollante (1989)

Immediately after this incident, the US-based Bio-Major corporation and the nation of Saradia compete against each other in order to collect samples of Godzilla’s G-cells for study. A genetic botanist named Dr. Shiragami is hired by the Saradian government to study the regenerative properties of the captured G-cells (the Saradians hope to develop a sturdy, desert-surviving form of grain, intended to help them create a farming industry). During a power struggle between Bio-Major agents and a Saradian agent, Shiragami’s daughter Erika is killed. Shiragami somehow preserves Erika’s genes (and partial consciousness) in some roses. (Godzilla vs Biollante)

1989.12: Signs of Godzilla are detected inside Mt. Mihara. The JSDF prepare for his return by developing a new flying tank, the Super X2, which is armed with reflective armor (a “Fire Mirror”) which can absorb and then redirect Godzilla’s atomic breath. At the Okouchi foundation, a young geneticist named Dr. Kirishima studies preserved G-cells in order to develop an Anti-Nuclear Energy Bacteria (ANEB) which can be used to consume nuclear waste and radiation. At the same time, Shiragami secretly uses G-cells to mutate his Erika-spliced roses, hoping to give the last remnants of his slain daughter some sort of immortality. This eventually results in a giant, mobile plant monster (dubbed Biollante), which takes root in nearby Lake Ashi. After Godzilla emerges from Mt. Mihara, he responds to Biollante’s call and goes to Lake Ashi to confront it. Biollante is then apparently destroyed by Godzilla’s atomic breath, and its remaining spores float into the sky. When Godzilla next heads towards Osaka, a psychic girl named Miki Saegusa attempts to halt his advance mentally - unfortunately, her mind is no match for Godzilla’s will and she faints. In Osaka, the JSDF fires Kirishima’s ANEB-filled missiles at Godzilla, but the creature turns out to be too cold-blooded for the ANEB to be effective. The military then tries to lure Godzilla into a microwave field (originally designed to control weather) in order to heat up his body temperature. During this operation, Biollante floats down from the sky and then reemerges from the ground in a much larger form than before. Although Biollante is again reduces to space-borne particles in the ensuing battle, Godzilla’s body temperature is forced to rise and after a brief moment of weakness (caused by the now-activated ANEB), he heads out to sea, seemingly mortally wounded. (Godzilla vs Biollante)

The spores of Biollante eventually reach deep space where they are sucked into a black hole. They later re-emerge from a white hole, now transformed into a mutated, crystalline version of Godzilla, later dubbed Space Godzilla. Space Godzilla heads towards Earth intent on destruction. (Godzilla vs. Space Godzilla)

1992.07: “Futurians” from the year 2204 arrive in Japan and falsely claim that they intend to help Japan avoid a future in which Godzilla has destroyed Japan. After befriending the psychic Miki Saegusa (as well as a scientist named Mazake and a writer named Terasawa), they depart for Lagos Island in 1944 intending to relocate Godzillasaurus so that he never becomes Godzilla. In reality, the Futurians plan to remove Godzilla as a threat to a monster named King Ghidorah (whose seeds they will plant in 1944). After the Futurian time shuttle returns from 1944, King Ghidorah appears and attacks Japan under the Futurians’ orders. In the Bering Sea, Godzilla (whose 1944 relocation had failed to prevent his eventual exposure to radioactivity) destroys a Japanese nuclear sub, and its released radioactivity causes him to overcome his ANEB vulnerability and grow even larger. Godzilla then confronts King Ghidorah in Hokkaido and sends its ravaged body to the bottom of the sea (after which he also destroys the Futurians’ time travel saucer). With Godzilla himself again a danger to Japan, a surviving Japanese Futurian named Emmy heads back to 2204 in her shuttle in order to bring back a restored King Ghidorah. In a few hours, Emmy returns in Mecha-King Ghidorah, which she controls from a chamber on the cyborg dragon’s chest. After a fierce battle, Mecha-King Ghidorah uses cables to lift and then drop Godzilla into the sea. Emmy then escapes back into her future time of 2204 in her time shuttle. (Godzilla vs King Ghidorah)

At some point in the 20th century, Battra is charged with guarding the Earth from a huge meteor which will strike the Earth sometime in the far future. (Godzilla vs Mothra)

Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla II (1993)

1992: An organization named the U.N.G.C.C. (United Nations Godzilla Countermeasures Center) is established to develop means of combatting Godzilla. The military branch, G-Force, first develops the Garuda, a fighter craft which is an upgrade to the Super X2. However, it not deployed. After the acquisition of the remains of Mecha-King Ghidorah, the future technology of the salvaged cyborg parts is used to begin the development of a bipedal machine monster named Mechagodzilla, which will eventually be completed in 1994. (Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla)

Godzilla Vs Mothra (1992)

1993: When a huge meteor hits the sea near the Ogasawara Islands, Godzilla awakes from his hibernation in a deep-sea trench. Additionally, a Mothra egg is exposed to the air on Infant Island, which is also being developed (strip-mined) by the Marutomo Corporation. Thirdly, the meteor’s impact causes the bat-like monster Battra to emerge (in a larval form) and attack Nagoya. While the Marutomo Corporation transports the Mothra egg to Japan, Godzilla attacks the barge, just as a larval Mothra emerges from the egg. Battra soon arrives on the scene and after a three-way battle Godzilla and Battra fall into an undersea lava flow. Later, the Cosmos (two small girls from Infant Island) are kidnapped by Marutomo agents, prompting the Mothra larva to attack Tokyo in search of them. After the JSDF attacks her, Mothra forms a cocoon around herself at the National Diet Building. While Mothra undergoes her metamorphosis, Godzilla reappears at Mount Fuji (having followed an underground lava flow to that outlet) and soon attacks Tokyo. When Battra (now in its imago form) arrives from the sea and attacks Yokohama, Mothra emerges from her cocoon as well and engages Battra in battle. Battra repels Mothra’s attacks, but is then in turn injured when Godzilla arrives and attacks. Mothra and Battra then decide to join forces and together they carry Godzilla out to sea. However, before Godzilla falls into the depths, he kills Battra with his atomic breath. Finally, Mothra and the rescued Cosmos fly out into outer space, in the hopes of deflecting the meteor (possibly Space Godzilla or Gorath) which Battra had originally been tasked to handle. (Godzilla vs Mothra)

1994: A giant egg and some Pteranodon fossils are discovered on Adonoa Island in the Bering Sea. When a scientific research team investigates, they witness a great battle between a colossal, radiation-mutated Pteranodon-like creature (dubbed Rodan) and Godzilla. Amidst the chaos, the scientists escape with the egg back to Kyoto. After Godzilla defeats Rodan, he heads towards Japan in pursuit. In Kyoto, Miki Saegusa and the scientists at G-Force witness a baby Godzillasaurus emerge from the egg. When Godzilla finally arrives, the G-Force attacks him with Mechagodzilla, but Godzilla overloads the mechanical behemoth’s circuits and renders it useless. After he fails to locate “Baby”, Godzilla eventually returns to the ocean. Back on Adonoa Island, Rodan metamorphosizes into “Fire Rodan”, a more powerful incarnation of itself. Meanwhile, the G-Force devise a plan to use Baby as a lure to draw Godzilla out and then destroy him with Mechagodzilla. While airlifting Baby out in a metal container, Fire Rodan attacks it. Fortunately, the creature is defeated by Mechagodzilla and G-Force's Garuda. When Godzilla then appears, the G-Force bring him down using their G-Crusher strategy (targeting his vulnerable second brain). When Baby then calls out to the weakened Fire Rodan, Rodan then in turn flies to Godzilla and passes on its remaining life energy to him. Re-empowered, Godzilla destroys Mechagodzilla, after which he leads Baby back to the sea with him. (Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla)

Godzilla vs Spacegodzilla (1994)

1995: After Mothra fails to divert Space Godzilla from its approach towards Earth, she sends a psychic message (in the form of a small “Fairy Mothra”) to Miki Saegusa, warning her of the threat approaching Earth. Shortly afterwards, a NASA Interplanetary Research Vessel is destroyed when it encounters Space Godzilla in the asteroid belt. A new anti-Godzilla mecha-craft called MOGUERA (Mobile Operations Godzilla Universal Expert Robot Aero-type) is sent to intercept Space Godzilla but is easily defeated by the cosmic beast. At the same time, Godzilla visits his child “Little Godzilla” on Birth Island. There, Miki Saegusa works with “Project T” in an attempt to psychically control Godzilla with a psionic amplifier. In short order, Space Godzilla lands on Birth Osland, along with several of its crystal meteorites. Space Godzilla imprisons Little Godzilla in crystals and then attacks Godzilla. After absorbing all of the energy from the island, Space Godzilla takes off for Fukuoka, leaving behind an injured Godzilla. Space Godzilla then creates a crystal fortress in Fukuoka, and feeds on the city’s energy to empower itself (using Fukuoka Tower as a focusing lens). Godzilla and the G-Force’s Moguera eventually work as a team in order to destroy Space Godzilla’s sources of power (the crystal meteors and Fukuoka Tower). After Godzilla finally destroys Space Godzilla, he heads back to Birth Island where a now free Little Godzilla awaits him. (Godzilla vs. Space Godzilla)

Godzilla vs Destoroyah (1995)

1996: A radioactive eruption on (and destruction of) Birth Island mutates Little Godzilla into an even larger creature, soon dubbed Godzilla Junior. This explosion also initiates an internal chain reaction in Godzilla’s body which scientists believe will ultimately end in an apocalyptic, world-destroying explosion. At the same time in Tokyo Bay, Precambrian-era life forms (preserved in suspended animation) are exposed to remnants of Dr Serizawa’s oxygen destroyer weapon (originally detonated in 1954). These creatures, dubbed Destoroyah, begin to evolve into larger and larger forms, until they emerges on the mainland (initially as a hive entity) and begins attacking the populace. The anti-Godzilla G-Force decide to telepathically lure Godzilla Junior into a confrontation with Destoroyah, hoping that Godzilla will come to his ward’s aid, and that Destoroyah and Godzilla will neutralize each other. In the meantime, the Super X3 flying fortress fires anti-nuclear cadmium charges into Godzilla’s body, causing Godzilla to head towards a meltdown (instead of an explosion). Later, Godzilla Junior encounters Destoroyah in Narita, and is mortally injured. When Godzilla finally arrives, he eventually defeats Destoroyah (with the help of the JSDF forces), after which he then undergoes his final meltdown, and dissipates into a radioactive cloud. Fortunately, Godzilla Junior absorbs all of Godzilla’s excess radioactivity and transforms into a new Godzilla. (Godzilla Vs Destoroyah)

2204: In the 23rd century, Japan has become the world’s leading superpower. A multi-national resistance organization (the Futurians) decides to use a time-travel ship to go back in time to destroy Godzilla before he is born so that Japan can be conquered by the Futurians themselves. A Futurian team departs to 1992 with three creatures named Dorats (with which they will use to give birth to King Ghidorah in 1944). Later, a peace-keeping group led by Emmy Kano recovers King Ghidorah’s damaged, hibernating form at the bottom of the sea and turns it into a cyborg. Emmy then heads back to 1992 to defeat Godzilla with Mecha-King Ghidorah. (Godzilla vs King Ghidorah)

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Rebirth of Mothra Continuum

The Rebirth of Mothra 1-3 (1996-98)

Millions of years in the past: A space monster named Desghidorah lays waste to Mars. Afterwards, it arrives on Earth where it is confronted by Earth’s protector, the legendary insectoid Mothra (who also protects the Elias, a race of small humanoids). Mothra successfuly defeats Desghidorah and seals it underground. (Rebirth of Mothra)

130 Million BC: King Ghidorah (likely a descendant of Desghidorah), causes the extinction of the dinosaurs. (Rebirth of Mothra 3)

• 2nd Timeline: Mothra Leo arrives from 1998 in his Light Speed form and destroys King Ghidorah, after which he goes into a cocooned hibernation until 1998. Unfortunately, a piece of King Ghidorah (his tail) also survives, and similarly goes into hibernation until 1998. (Rebirth of Mothra 3)

11,000 BC: The kingdom of Nilai-Kanai (also known as Mu) creates an anti-pollution monster named Dagahra. Unfortunately, Dagahra produces swarms of poisonous starfish (named Barem) which cause more harm than good. Eventually, a devastated Nilai-Kanai and a now-satiated Dagahra are soon drawn to the bottom of the ocean by an earthquake. (Rebirth of Mothra 2)

1996: When Desghidorah is freed from his underground prison by unwitting loggers, he is opposed by an aged Mothra. Although Mothra eventually perishes from this battle, her egg hatches Mothra Leo, a larva which quickly transforms into his imago form. Mothra Leo soon overcomes Desghidorah and forces it back into its underground prison. (Rebirth of Mothra)

1997: Due to rampant pollution of the sea, Dagahra reawakens and begins producing swarms of lethal, red starfish (Barem), which attack fishermen off the coast of Japan. Dagahra also soon appears and goes on a rampage on Ishigaki Island. Meanwhile, Mothra’s Elias friends (Shobijin) help several children discover the sunken pyramid of Nilai-Kanai, and together they raise the pyramid back to the surface. Dagahra soon attacks the pyramid (which retaliates with its own beam defenses). The Shobijin summon Mothra Leo and he engages Dagahra in a fierce aerial battle. Ghogo, a small creature created by the Nilai-Kania, transforms Mothra Leo into Rainbow Mothra, giving him additional powers with which to fight Dagahra and resist the swarms of Barem. The fight eventually takes the combatants underwater where Rainbow Mothra transforms into Aqua Mothra. Aqua Mothra soon transforms again into a swarm of small Mothras, which enter Dagahra’s body and attack from within. In the end, Rainbow Mothra drops a defeated Dagahra on top of the Nilai-Kanai pyramid and both sink back under the waves. A last hologram from Nilai-Kanai warns the humans that the future is in their hands. (Rebirth of Mothra 2)

1998: A meteor lands in Katsuyama. King Ghidorah soon emerges and goes on a rampage and begins imprisoning children in a strange dome. The Elias summon Rainbow Mothra, but King Ghidorah defeats him. Strengthened by the Elias named Moll, Rainbow Mothra transfrms into Light Speed Mothra and travels back in time to 130 Million BC, when King Ghidorah was less powerful. After a cutting off one of his tails, Mothra drops King Ghidorah into the volcanic Mount Fuji. Weakened from the battle, she goes into a cocoon hibernation (with the help of three prehistoric Mothra larva arrive and who spray silk over him). In the present, King Ghidorah promptly fades away. However, only a short time later, another King Ghidorah appears, apparently regenerated from the tail Mothra had severed from the first King Ghidorah back in prehistoric times. The new King Ghidorah begins kidnapping children again. Fortunately, Mothra’s cocoon created during his prehistoric journey also hatches, from which emerges Armor Mothra. This enhanced Mothra then uses his powers to utterly destroy King Ghidorah. (Rebirth of Mothra 3)

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Toho's Godzilla series continued in 1999 with the Modern Era (Millennium Series).

(All poster art copyright Toho Studio Co., Ltd.)