Godzilla: King of the Monsters (TV Series)



Godzilla: King of the Monsters (advertised as Toho's Godzilla King of the Monsters) is an American animated science-fiction action television series based on the Godzilla film franchise. It is also the third television series made about the famous movie monster. The series follows the King of the Monsters as he wreaks havoc and does battle with classic foes from the films as well as entirely new monsters exclusive to the show, all the while a team called Monarch, studies the creatures to try and better understand them.

While it is an American-made production, the show is actually a joint cooperation between Disney and Toho Studios, the Japan-based company that owns the rights to Godzilla. Disney CEO Bob Iger stated in an interview that their intention with this show was to "be as faithful as possible to the Japanese franchise" and "introduce Godzilla to a whole new generation of children.", stating, "It's a long-running franchise that is beloved by millions. We want to make sure we treat that legacy with the utmost respect." It is expected to premiere sometime in 2015 on Disney XD. Although it features elements from some of the movies, such as the Monarch organization of the 2014 American reboot, it is not in continuity with that film or any of the other Godzilla films.

This is a major departure from Disney's usual family-friendly nature, as this show contains tons of mayhem, destruction, and brutal monster fights, making it one of Disney's most violent shows since Gargoyles.

Plot
Official Synopsis on Disney.com:

In 1954, a giant prehistoric reptile was awakened from the testing of nuclear weapons. The creature was called, "Gojira" by the Japanese that suffered its wrath when it laid waste to the city of Tokyo, causing untold destruction.

Fast Forward to 61 years later, in 2015, the carnage brought on terrible day was long forgotten. However, humankind shall soon be reminded of it, as the ancient reptile has now returned to wreak havoc on mankind once again. He is a terrifying force of nature. The King of the Monsters. He is...Godzilla!

HUMANS
Dr. Rick Edwards (voiced by Stephen Blum) The leader of the team called Monarch, that specializes in studying giant monsters and figuring out how to keep mankind safe from these gigantic beasts. He is very serious in his work and he was the one who convinced the United Nations to keep Godzilla alive, as he is the only one who stands a chance against monster threats. Rick's last name is a nod to the director of the 2014 American reboot, Gareth Edwards.

Stephen Grant (voiced by Jess Harnell) Rick Edwards' colleauge and the man in charge of studying Godzilla himself. Even though he's supposed to research giant monsters, he is quite cowardly and does not like getting up close and personal with them, even though his job will sometimes require it. He also is a serious neatfreak, who does not like anyone messing with his lab equipment.

Sarah Dreyfuss (voiced by Jamie Chung) - She is the team's engineer. She has a wry, sarcastic sense of humor.

General Steele (voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson) - The leader of the military force. He is the show's comic relief and initially aquaintanced with the Monarch team, but they later become allies. General Steele does not trust Godzilla and questions Monarch's methods of using the beast to dispatch monster threats, as he believes Godzilla could turn on humanity again at any time.

Dr. Hamada Shirigami (voiced by Ian Zeiring) - A brilliant scientist and one of Rick's closest friends. He is a somewhat impulsive, but well-meaning man. He was the man responsible for Forumla G, a serum made by mixing Godzilla's regenerative cells with healing plants. He hoped to use it to help amputees regain lost limbs.

Erika Shirigami (voiced by Victoria Justice) - Dr. Shirigami's daughter. She works for her father in his lab, but one day after a terrorist attack leaves her critically injured, her dad gives Erika a formula to save her life. But, it ends up backfiring as it transforms her into the monstrous Godzilla-plant hybrid, Biollante, whenever she gets angry.

Monsters
Godzilla - The King of All Monsters, Godzilla is a radioactive dinosaur that became this way after being mutated by atomic weapons testing in 1954. In 2015, he returned from slumber to wreak havoc on Seattle, WA. Since then, however, as more monsters have begun rising up and threatening his existence, Godzilla now works to protect the Earth, his home, from destruction. Godzilla has a variety of abilities: Rapid regeneration, incredible physical strength, a hide that man-made weapons cannot penetrate, and most famous of all, his trademark ability: The Atomic Breath, a concentrated blast of blue atomic energy that he shoots from his mouth that can decimate an entire city block. Though he despises humankind at the start of the series, he becomes more tolerant of it as the series goes on, becoming its reluctant protector.

Shinomura - Shinomura are parasitic kaiju that behave with an ant-colony mentality. They are massive, winged, dragon-like monsters with blue scales and black wings. They also resemble scorpions and have multiple eyes. They lay underground, dormant for millions of years until they were awakened by environmental damage caused by humans. Shinomura is derived from the Japanese term, "shi no mure", which means, "swarm of death."

Anguirus - Anguirus is a giant mutated ankylosaurus-like creature. Anguirus may be one of the smallest monsters, but he's NO pushover. He is one of the fastest monsters known and he has a powerful bite force. He can curl up into a spiked ball and roll towards his enemies, plowing into them and cutting their flesh.

Rodan - A giant mutated pterandon. Rodan is one of the few Kaiju that can fly. What he may lack in sheer physical prowess, he makes up for in incredible speed. He can fly at supersonic speeds, which can leave slower-moving monsters, even Godzilla, at his mercy. His deadliest weapon is his uranium heat beam. It is very similar to Godzilla's atomic breath.

MechaGodzilla - A giant robot built to look like Godzilla with the intention of framing him for destroying cities. He starts off wearing a Godzilla skin (which is an homage to Godzilla vs MechaGodzilla, but then his skin ends up getting completely torn apart by military fire, revealing his true form). Once his true form was revealed, MechaGodzilla is armed to the teeth with missiles on his fingers, shoulders, knees and chest. He also has plasma machine guns, dual miniguns, one on each arm, plasma swords also on each arm and his ultimate weapon on his belly button - The Absolute Zero Cannon!

Giant Vermin - Originally just regular pests and vermin, such as rats, mice, wasps, and snakes. But, after eating a strange substance, they grow into huge monsters.

Gigan - Huge creatures that were created by an alien race known as the Krillyons. They are mass-produced, and designed specifically only for war, destruction, and conquest. The Gigans typically have single eyes that fire destructive lasers and they have either knives, mechancial claws, or chainsaws for hands.

Ebirah - A giant mutated lobster. Enough said.

Biollante - A huge Godzilla/plant hybrid creature. While it is a fearsome entity, it's true identity is only the daughter of Dr. Hamada Shirigami, Erika Shirigami. After a attempt to save his daughter's life goes wrong, it results in her transforming into a monstrous hybrid of Godzilla and plant whenever she gets angry in any way. Biollante is actually 30 meters taller than Godzilla, using her sheer size to overpower the King of the Monsters, and even being able to lift him up with her vines and throw him. She can also shoot an acid breath from her mouth which melts anything it comes in contact with. She also 4 quadroped legs that are actually roots that she uses to lift herself off the ground to move faster when needed.

Gargantuas - 2 gigantic bigfoot-like creatures that are constantly quarreling. One is called Sanda, a brown-furred gargantua, who is docile, kind and peaceful towards humans, because he was raised by them when he was only a baby. He resides in the Japanese mountains thousands of miles away from the city. The other is Gaira, a green-furred Gargantua, who does not share Sanda's compassion towards humans, as he is violent, monstrous, and savage. He lives in the sea. After the events of the episode, Sanda is actually quite on good terms with Godzilla, but Gaira is not.

Trivia

 * Dr. Rick Edward's last name is a nod to Gareth Edwards, a British director known for directing the 2014 American Godzilla remake.
 * Dr. Hamada Shirigami's first name is a reference to Hiro Hamada from the 2014 film, Big Hero 6.
 * In the show, Godzilla destroyed Tokyo and then went into hiding until 2015. In the original 1954 film, Godzilla was killed by the Oxygen Destroyer, a weapon just as powerful as him, but another Godzilla took his place.
 * The Storm Bird from the film Hope is expected to make an appearance as a monster for Godzilla to fight in the episode "The Perfect Storm".
 * The Storm Bird's size was increased significantly for the episode. In the episode, he is around 250 feet tall, which is close to Godzilla's height. In Hope, he is only around 70 feet tall.
 * In the series, Erika Shirigami transforms into Biollante after her father uses a serum to try and save her from death. However, in her original appearance in Godzilla vs Biollante, Erika does end up dying in the terrorist attack and her father mixes her DNA with Godzilla's and a plant's to keep a part of her alive, resulting in Biollante's creation.
 * This is the first true action series Disney has done since Gargoyles.