Godzilla is one of the most iconic giant monsters in film history. Ever since his first appearance in 1954, Godzilla has battled a long list of giant creatures and machines across over 30 films produced by the Japanese film studio Toho. But who was the very first foe that Godzilla faced on the big screen? To answer that question, we need to go all the way back to the origins of the King of the Monsters.
The Creation of Godzilla
Godzilla was created by Japanese film producer Tomoyuki Tanaka. In the early 1950s, Tanaka was looking for a new film project after several previous projects had fallen through. Around this same time, the Daigo Fukuryū Maru (Lucky Dragon 5) fishing boat was contaminated by nuclear fallout from American hydrogen bomb testing at Bikini Atoll in March 1954. This real-life event sparked widespread outrage in Japan.
Tanaka saw the angry Japanese response as the perfect inspiration for a new monster movie. Along with director Ishirō Honda and special effects artist Eiji Tsuburaya, Tanaka envisioned a gigantic prehistoric creature that was awakened and mutated by nuclear radiation. The team worked quickly to produce the first Godzilla film under the working title The Giant Monster from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Little did they know they were creating an icon that would still be going strong over 60 years later.
Godzilla’s Film Debut
The original Godzilla film was released in November 1954 in Japan under the final title Gojira. The movie opens with several mysterious shipping disasters that are initially blamed on undersea volcanoes. But witnesses spot a huge creature rising from the sea. Scientists determine this unseen beast is an ancient dinosaur species that has been awakened and mutated by H-bomb testing in the Pacific Ocean.
The monster soon comes ashore and begins rampaging through Tokyo, leaving death and destruction in its wake. The Japanese military seems helpless to stop the creature, now named Godzilla based on a Pacific island legend. While Godzilla is clearly portrayed as a threat, the film also depicts him as a victim of nuclear harm caused by humanity. This introduces the recurring theme of Godzilla serving as a dark allegory for nuclear weapons.
Godzilla vs. Oxygen Destroyer
As Godzilla continues his attack on Tokyo, a small team of scientists work desperately to find a way to stop him. The team is led by Dr. Daisuke Serizawa, who has secretly invented a powerful new doomsday weapon called the Oxygen Destroyer. Dr. Serizawa is haunted by the lethal potential of his own creation and hesitates to use it against Godzilla.
But when the situation becomes dire and Godzilla threatens to destroy the entire country, Serizawa reluctantly decides to utilize the Oxygen Destroyer. He personally delivers the weapon via a diving suit onto the seafloor in Tokyo Bay. When activated, the Oxygen Destroyer disintegrates all the oxygen molecules in the surrounding water, causing living organisms to vaporize.
Godzilla is lured directly into the targeted area and immediately succumbs to the oxygen deprivation. After rising to the surface and letting out a final defiant roar, Godzilla’s lifeless body sinks back into the depths. The threat appears to be over thanks to the deployment of the Oxygen Destroyer, but there is a tragic coda. Dr. Serizawa cannot allow his doomsday device to fall into the wrong hands, so he activates his own oxygen destroyer and perishes along with Godzilla and all remaining traces of the weapon.
The Answer Revealed
With that dramatic climax, the very first Godzilla film comes to a somber conclusion. Godzilla and Dr. Serizawa are both gone, but the themes and messages of the movie still resonate decades later. And the original question has now been answered definitively. Based on the events depicted in the inaugural Godzilla film, the first enemy who battled Godzilla was…
The Oxygen Destroyer
Yes, the Oxygen Destroyer was the first opponent that Godzilla faced in cinematic history. The Oxygen Destroyer was an incredibly lethal scientific invention, similar in ways to the destructive nuclear weapons that initially awakened Godzilla. The desperate humans only turned to the Oxygen Destroyer as a last resort when conventional military defenses failed against the rampaging monster. So while the Godzilla series would pit the King of the Monsters against a long succession of kaiju creatures and advanced weapons in sequels, it was the super-weapon created by Dr. Serizawa that proved to be Godzilla’s very first downfall.
There is an interesting irony in the fact that while nuclear radiation gave birth to Godzilla, a different scientific wonder weapon was needed to defeat him. The themes of uncontrollable science and technology gone awry were clearly established in the first Godzilla film. And the outcome reinforced the cautionary message against overreaching scientific discovery that could unleash unintended horrors. So even though it only appeared briefly in a single movie, the Oxygen Destroyer occupies an iconic place in the Godzilla mythology as the first and only entity to ever kill Godzilla outright.
Godzilla’s Return and New Foes
Of course, the death of Godzilla in the original 1954 film would not be permanent. Godzilla was such an instantly iconic movie monster that Toho Studios quickly put a sequel into production. Godzilla Raids Again premiered in 1955, featuring Godzilla battling against the new monster Anguirus. From that point on, Godzilla would return again and again to face off against a mythic array of kaiju adversaries and human-built machines.
Anguirus, Rodan, King Ghidorah, Mechagodzilla and Mothra are just a few of the many monster foes that Godzilla would battle over a series spanning more than 30 films to date. But each of those later enemies had the Oxygen Destroyer to thank for paving the way as Godzilla’s first ever cinematic opponent. While Godzilla vs. Anguirus in 1955’s Godzilla Raids Again is often cited as Godzilla’s first kaiju battle, his original clash with the Oxygen Destroyer was the debut that started it all.
The Return of the Oxygen Destroyer
After its lone appearance in 1954’s Godzilla, the Oxygen Destroyer was never seen again in the Showa series of sequels from Toho that ran through the 1970s. Godzilla fought all manner of mammoth creatures and futuristic technology, but the Oxygen Destroyer itself seemed to be relegated to history. However, the device would eventually make its return decades later in the Godzilla franchise.
In 1984, a new Godzilla film titled The Return of Godzilla was released. This movie is set in a different continuity than the Showa series, functioning as a direct sequel to the original 1954 film. When Godzilla goes on a rampage once more, a Japanese scientist reveals that he has secretly replicated the formula for the Oxygen Destroyer. The weapon is detonated in an attempt to stop Godzilla, but ultimately fails to kill or even visibly harm the monster this time.
This updated version of the Oxygen Destroyer would prove far less effective than the original. But its return decades later demonstrated the lasting impact that Dr. Serizawa’s doomsday device still held in the Godzilla mythos. It remains an iconic part of the monster’s history even if it no longer could match up to the ever-growing power of the King of the Monsters.
Could the Oxygen Destroyer Defeat Other Godzilla Foes?
While the Oxygen Destroyer was groundbreaking as Godzilla’s first cinematic foe, how would it fare against some of the other kaiju that Godzilla has faced over the years? Could the Oxygen Destroyer potentially defeat monsters like King Ghidorah, Mechagodzilla or Destoroyah the way it originally killed Godzilla?
There is no definitive answer, but the Oxygen Destroyer’s potency seems dependent on specific conditions being met:
Monster | Susceptibility to Oxygen Destroyer |
---|---|
King Ghidorah | Low – as an extraterrestrial monster, his biology may differ from Earth kaiju |
Anguirus | High – another Earth dinosaur like Godzilla |
Rodan | Moderate – has some capabilities like flight that differ from Godzilla |
Mechagodzilla | None – as a robot, it does not require oxygen |
Destoroyah | Low – composed of microscopic organisms that may lack vulnerability to oxygen deprivation |
Based on this assessment, the Oxygen Destroyer seems most effective against kaiju with more conventional terrestrial biology similar to Godzilla. Creatures with more exotic extraterrestrial or extradimensional origins may possess biological properties that render them immune. And inorganic monsters and machines would have no vulnerability to the Oxygen Destroyer at all.
While it clearly worked against the 1954 Godzilla, the Oxygen Destroyer may have fared worse against some of the King of the Monster’s more powerful later foes. Many kaiju successors seem capable of withstanding conditions like complete oxygen removal that the original Godzilla could not. Still, Dr. Serizawa’s fearsome super-weapon deserves recognition for being the first to take down Godzilla where nothing else could.
Godzilla Continues the Fight
The monster Godzilla has gone on to star in over 30 live action movies to date. He remains an enduring worldwide pop culture icon over 60 years after his creation. Godzilla has continued to battle countless other monsters, aliens, and high-tech human threats across decades of cinema.
But the Oxygen Destroyer will always hold a unique place in the Godzilla mythos for being the first enemy to defeat him. While Godzilla vs. King Kong or Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla may be more famous monster clashes, his original tussle with the Oxygen Destroyer kicked off Godzilla’s cinematic legacy in thrilling fashion.
The Oxygen Destroyer set the tone for Godzilla’s long history of representing the dangers of unrestrained science and technology. And it still stands as the only countermeasure to ever eliminate Godzilla, even if he inevitably bounced back to smash many more cities. So when looking back on the long history of mayhem experienced by Tokyo, Japan and the entire world at Godzilla’s hands over 30+ blockbuster films, it all traces back to that fateful day in 1954 when Godzilla met Oxygen Destroyer.
Conclusion
Godzilla’s first ever enemy on the silver screen was Dr. Serizawa’s top-secret doomsday device, the Oxygen Destroyer. Appearing only in the original 1954 Godzilla film, the Oxygen Destroyer was uniquely able to kill Godzilla where no conventional weapons could. This immediately established it as an incredibly potent threat, though its devastating effects could not be allowed to fall into the wrong hands. The Oxygen Destroyer endures as an iconic part of Godzilla history for being the invention that enabled humans to finally defeat the unstoppable kaiju menace.
Though Godzilla would return again and again to battle countless giant beasts in sequels, the Oxygen Destroyer will always have the distinction of being the first foe to kill the King of the Monsters on film. Its return decades later demonstrated the lasting impact of the one weapon able to counter the unstoppable force of Godzilla. No matter how many bigger and badder kaiju Godzilla faces as his movies continue, his original dance of destruction with the dreaded Oxygen Destroyer still stands as an epic and unforgettable first showdown.