Godzilla (Japanese: ゴジラ, Hepburn: Gojira), or sometimes known as Heisei Godzilla (Japanese: 平成ゴジラ, Hepburn: Heisei Gojira) is the main protagonist of Heisei era of the Godzilla franchise.
When Godzilla vs. Biollante had been released, Godzilla at the time was commonly called the New Godzilla (Japanese: 新ゴジラ, Hepburn: Shin Gojira). This name would be used to dub Godzilla Junior's adult form in Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995).
For Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II, the Baby Godzilla's species is named "Godzillasaurus", a combination of "Godzilla" and the suffix -saurus, derived from the Greek term "saûros", meaning "lizard" in English. Although the term for this species was used for the pre-irradiated version of Godzilla in Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991), but this was never mentioned in the film.
In Godzilla vs. Destoroyah, after absorbing massive amounts of radiation, Godzilla reaches a burning state causing his body to slowly melt down. Although its mostly known as Burning Godzilla (Japanese: バーニングゴジラ, Hepburn: Bāningu Gojira), some concept art, refers to this form of Godzilla is referred to as Red Godzilla (Japanese: 赤きゴジラ, Hepburn: Akaki Gojira). The 1998 video game Godzilla: Trading Battle instead give this form the name Rampage Godzilla (暴走ゴジラ Bōsō Gojira).
Throughout the Heisei era, Godzilla's appearance is mostly consistent throughout his film appearances, although his initial design in The Return of Godzilla looks noticeably different from subsequent designs. These designs were nicknamed "84Goji", "BioGoji", "GhidoGoji", "BatoGoji", "RadoGoji", "MogeGoji" and "DesuGoji".
Godzilla was revived in 1984 for the film The Return of Godzilla, this time reverting to the more menacing appearance of his debut, as opposed to the friendlier appearance used at the end of the original series. The 84Goji was made to closely resemble the original suit: Godzilla again posessed four digits on his toes instead of three, his fangs and ears reappeared and his dorsal fins were made large again, too. The tail was longer, and the eyes featured more white areas in them.
The suit weighed in at 242 pounds, much more than the Godzilla suits used in the 1970s, which weighed about 88 pounds. Kenpachiro Satsuma became Godzilla's suitmation actor for The Return of Godzilla, and would reprise the role for the rest of the Heisei series, ending with Godzilla vs. Destoroyah in 1995.
Though most of the Godzilla footage in the film is of this suit and the water suit made from the same mold, it was the animatronic Godzilla, referred to as a "Cybot", that earned the most publicity before the film's release. Standing 16 feet tall and weighing 1.2 tons, the Cybot Godzilla cost $475,000 to build. The Cybot was primarily used for close-up shots of Godzilla in the film, which could become obvious due to its head not matching that of the suit.
Toho also built a full-size, crane-operated model of Godzilla's foot. Almost all shots of it were deleted from the American edit of the film, Godzilla 1985. Due to problems with the mechanisms in the suit's eyes, Godzilla's eyes sometimes face away from each other, giving a somewhat comical appearance which wasn't intended by Toho. This is particularly apparent during close-ups of the suit, most notably during a scene where Godzilla stares down the Super X after rising back to his feet. After production wrapped, Toho put it on display in multiple film festivals around Japan. The Cybot Godzilla's head was exhibited as recently as 2004, 20 years after the release of The Return of Godzilla.
In 1989, Godzilla was given a whole new look yet again, an overall design which would set the trend for the rest of Godzilla's suits featured in the Heisei era. To convey a feeling of mass and power, the head was reduced and the neck elongated. The face was also changed and appeared to be more feline in appearance. Significant musculature was added, particularly around the chest and thigh area. The irises were enlarged to fill most of the eye sockets, projecting the impression of mammalian cunning. The fangs were eliminated once again, but Godzilla's teeth were increased to include a double row of sharp teeth in both the upper and lower jaws. The lateral dorsal plates were also enlarged almost to the size of the center row. Just like the previous suit, this one also weighed 242 pounds, but this time the suit was actually built to fit suit actor Kenpachiro Satsuma, making it much easier for the actor to move. A second suit used in filming water scenes was also built, weighing 176 pounds.
A puppet was also created of Godzilla's head, neck and shoulders, used in close-up shots.
In Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, this suit was given a more massive and muscular body, a more vicious and menacing face and a larger chest area.
The build of the BatoGoji suit was thinner than the BioGoji suit, which gave this costume a sleek, sturdy but less powerful image than the previous 1990s vintage Godzilla suits. For the BatoGoji, the arrangement of the dorsal plates was changed and the largest plate was located in the middle of the back. The legs were less bulky than the legs of the BioGoji suit. The arms were jointed with more flexibility at the biceps. The face was essentially the same as the BioGoji suit, though the BatoGoji suit featured new attributes: a smaller, flat forehead, golden eyes and a thick neck with pronounced ribbing. The golden eyes made the face of the BatoGoji look more expressive than the BioGoji suit, yet also compromised the more realistic, animal-like expression of the latter suits. The size of the teeth also appeared smaller than the BioGoji suit. The BatoGoji suit also included a new feature; by means of an electronic device the head could tilt up or down independently of the body.
The BatoGoji suit was also used in Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II, specifically for the battle with Rodan at Adonoa Island, although several close-ups of the 1993 RadoGoji suit were intercut during this sequence, for several scenes of Godzilla's initial rampage through Japan, and when Godzilla wades into the ocean at the finale.
Additionally, the 1992 BatoGoji suit was employed for water scenes in Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla. Since this suit would only be seen from the waist up, the legs were cut off at the knees and the tail was removed. The tail was manipulated underwater by means of a lever-like device.
Though similar in appearance to the previous BatoGoji, the RadoGoji suit was bulkier, particularly in profile, while the head appeared to be wider than the BioGoji and BatoGoji suits. The shoulders on the latter suit appeared to be smaller. The legs of the RadoGoji suit are slimmer, while the tail is more moveable. As with the BatoGoji suit, the head of the RadoGoji could tilt independently of the body. During the movie's climax after Godzilla is revived by Rodan's life force, the suit was covered in gold glitter and the white tips of the dorsal plates were made translucent yellow in color.
In Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla, the 1993 RadoGoji suit was used for Godzilla's entrance and exit at Baas Island, and when SpaceGodzilla levitates Godzilla and hurls him into a building. In one scene, which is cut out, the tail tip of the suit fell off during the water scenes.
The 1993 RadoGoji suit was again employed for water scenes in Godzilla vs. Destoroyah. This time, the suit was modified to match the critical mass appearance of the main filming suit, DesuGoji. Since the costume would only be seen waist-deep in the water, the legs and tail were removed, as was previously done with the 1992 BatoGoji suit for Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla.
The MogeGoji suit features a stocky, triangular build, broad shoulders and heavy legs, the neck of the MogeGoji was wide at the shoulders and featured much less pronounced ribbing. The face of this suit is basically the same as the BatoGoji and RadoGoji suits. However, the eyes of the MogeGoji suit appeared bigger than those of the previous suits, while the white areas of the eyes become more pronounced, thus giving this suit a slightly less menacing expression than its predecessors. The MogeGoji suit was the first suit to be equipped with a mechanical device to move the head in different directions, instead of just up and down. This was also the first suit to employ a ventilation system to cool the suit down to help the actor within.
The 1994 MogeGoji suit was employed again for Godzilla vs. Destoroyah. To create the critical mass appearance of Godzilla for this movie, sections of the costume were removed and approximately 200 tiny red, orange and yellow light bulbs were inserted. These areas were then covered with semi-transparent vinyl plates. The suit was also fitted with a mechanism that allowed steam to pour from various parts of Godzilla's body. The eyes were also modified to glow electronically. When enhanced with computer graphics, these changes to the 1994 MogeGoji suit made the image of Godzilla reaching critical mass appear very convincing. Incidentally, Godzilla actor, Kenpachiro Satsuma, reported that the steam generated from the costume was pure carbon monoxide and that it caused him to faint several times during filming. The suit was used to portray the adult Godzilla Junior after he is revived at the end of the film, but it had the light bulbs turned off.