6 Greatest Comebacks In Godzilla's Monster Fights

Published Jul 21, 2026, 7:00 PM EDT Nicholas Raymond is an author and journalist based out of Alabama, where he proudly roots for the Alabama Crimson Tide football team. A graduate of the University of Montevallo, he has a degree in mass communication with a concentration in journalism. Sign in to your ScreenRant account True to his title as King of the Monsters, Godzilla has triumphed over a long list of powerful kaiju challengers, some more than once. And a few of these were overwhelming victories; once it became a one-on-one fight, Godzilla unforgettably defeated the female MUTO in one blow, a move now remembered as the Kiss of Death. Others were battles that were intense despite Godzilla being in control for most of the fight. However, that's not to say it's always been smooth sailing for Godzilla. Many of his most memorable victories are special in part because of the adversity that he had to overcome to win. Whether it was due to the amazing power of a particular villain in the franchise or circumstances simply not being in his favor, Godzilla has found himself in some precarious situations over the years. Quite a few were fights were defeat looked imminent. But as a testament to his fighting prowess, Godzilla has been known to take a severe beating that would have killed a lesser monster, and find a way to win regardless. Across multiple franchises, Godzilla has achieved several miraculous comebacks, winning hard-fought battles that easily could have gone the other way. 6 Godzilla: King Of The Monsters In the first half of Godzilla: King of the Monsters, it might have been difficult to believe that it would take a comeback for Godzilla to defeat Ghidorah. In the Antarctica battle, Godzilla seemed to have the upper hand against Ghidorah, who ultimately retreated. The rematch saw Godzilla defeat Ghidorah soundly in the ocean. But the third and final battle between the ancient Monsterverse rivals in Boston nearly culminated in Godzilla's death at Monster Zero's hands. The difference-maker in this showdown was the moment where Ghidorah bit into the electrical gird. Doing so supercharged the three-headed Titan, granting him an advantage over Godzilla he didn't possess in their first two battles. After dropping Godzilla from the sky, Ghidorah was on the precipice of accomplishing his goals, but a last-minute sacrifice from Mothra handed Godzilla the Monsterverse version of his Burning Form, which proved to be too much for Ghidorah to handle. 5 Terror Of Mechagodzilla The odds were stacked against Godzilla in 1975's Terror of Mechagodzilla, which ended in a two-on-one battle. Rather than just contend with Mechagodzilla, Godzilla had to fight both him and Titanosaurus, a peaceful, aquatic monster mind-controlled by the film's alien villains. Outnumbered, Godzilla struggled to stand up to their combined blows, which was understandable considering that it took a team-up with King Caesar for him to beat Mechagodzilla in the previous entry, Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla. The movie carried a great underdog vibe, giving the sense that Godzilla was fighting with his back against the wall through most of the battle. But thanks to some timely intervention from the human protagonists, Titanosaurus was distracted just long enough for Godzilla to gain an edge and take down both of his opponents. Godzilla defeating not one, but two, powerful kaiju made it one of the most entertaining monster battles of Godzilla's Showa series. 4 Godzilla Vs. Mechagodzilla II Terror of Mechagodzilla wasn't the last time Godzilla needed a miracle to beat his robotic counterpart. He found himself in dire straits again during their next meeting 16 years later in the Heisei era film, Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II. This time around, Godzilla was shown to be physically superior to Mechagodzilla; he would have won the battle without help, had it not been for a secret weapon designed by the humans. Using a harpoon-like weapon, Mechagodzilla pierced Godzilla's second brain, leaving him paralyzed. This completely turned the tide of battle, and suddenly put Mechagodzilla in a position to win. But Rodan, who had his own reasons for wanting Godzilla to win, brought the King of the Monsters back into the fight by sharing the last of his energy. Having absorbed some of Rodan's fiery essence, Godzilla acquired a new iteration of his atomic breath, the atomic heat ray. Armed with the atomic heat ray, Godzilla was able to easily overpower the mechanized kaiju in a beam clash before destroying him for good. Thanks to Rodan's selfless act, Godzilla secured his third win against Mechagodzilla. 3 Godzilla: Final Wars Godzilla plowed through the likes of Anguirus, Rodan, King Caesar, Hedorah, Ebirah, and Kamacuras in Godzilla: Final Wars, yet the monster appeared to be outmatched when it came time for the final battle against the transformed state of Monster X, Keizer Ghidorah. Godzilla had beaten Monster X, but as Keizer Ghidorah, the creature had surpassed Godzilla's power. This was on display when Godzilla lost a beam clash, a rare occurrence in the franchise. Losing the beam clash to Keizer Ghidorah proved disastrous, as it resulted in the villain bombarding his downed opponent with more blasts and suspending him in the air with his gravity beams, essentially torturing Godzilla. At this point in the fight, Godzilla had been rendered helpless. But after receiving a burst of "Keizer" energy from one of the film's human protagonists, Godzilla had enough strength to best Keizer Ghidorah with limited difficulty. Blasting him off into his space with his atomic heat ray completed a thrilling comeback for Godzilla. 2 Godzilla Vs. SpaceGodzilla Another time Godzilla was up against an enemy stronger than him was in the penultimate installment of the Heisei series, Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla. With his immense strength, energy attacks, and telekinesis abilities, SpaceGodzilla came across as an extremely versatile threat, and one whose power was matched only by his viciousness. He kidnapped Baby Godzilla, which Godzilla was powerless to stop. When Godzilla battled him again, SpaceGodzilla continued to hold the upper hand. The trajectory of the fight only changed when Godzilla partnered with Mogeura, who destroyed the crystals that helped power SpaceGodzilla. WIth his enemy weakened, Godzilla was able to finish the fight from there. Given the struggles Godzilla endured beating him, SpaceGodzilla belongs in the same conversation as Destoroyah and King Ghidorah when debating who the strongest Godzilla villain is. 1 Godzilla Vs. Gigan Godzilla vs. Gigan delivered a surprising franchise first when it pitted Godzilla and Anguirus against Ghidorah and Gigan. Making his debut in the film, Gigan used the saw on his stomach and his hook-shaped blades to hand Godzilla a truly brutal beatdown. Even though the film was part of the more kid-friendly era of Godzilla movies, Godzilla vs. Gigan held nothing back in respect to the monster action, letting Gigan slice away at Godzilla's body and in turn, becoming the first monster in the history of the series to make Godzilla bleed. Godzilla experienced several excruciating minutes where he was cut, punched, slammed to the ground, and even kicked multiple times while he was down. And yet, Godzilla still got back up, and alongside Anguirus, he mustered enough strength to drive off both Gigan and Ghidorah. His win against Gigan, in spite of all the pain inflicted upon him in that one fight, cemented its status as one of the greatest fights in Godzilla's movies. Movie(s) Godzilla, Godzilla 2, Godzilla 3, Shin Godzilla, Godzilla, Godzilla, Godzilla vs. Kong, Godzilla Minus One, Mothra vs. Godzilla, Godzilla Vs King Kong, Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S., godzilla: monster planet, Godzilla vs. Gigan, Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, Godzilla: Final Wars, King Kong vs. Godzilla, Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II, Godzilla: The Showa Era Films, Godzilla vs. Biollante TV Show(s) Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Video Game(s) Godzilla, Super Godzilla, Godzilla (1990), Godzilla: Unleashed, Godzilla: Monster War, Godzilla: Battle Legends, Godzilla: Save The Earth, Godzilla: Monster of Monsters!, Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee First Film Godzilla Cast Akira Takarada, Momoko Kôchi, Akihiko Hirata, Takashi Shimura, Anna Sawai, Kiersey Clemons, Ren Watabe, Kurt Russell, Wyatt Russell Created by Tomoyuki Tanaka, Akira Watanabe