How closely can Godzilla be compared to a dragon?

[Jeff-Goldblum2]

I've heard before that Godzilla can be considered a modern take on the dragon myth. Don't cite me on the exact article because it wasn't recent.

One of the points is that Godzilla has a breath weapon like a dragon. I think we all know he is generally more associated as a dinosaur because of his immediate appearance as a bipedal reptile. Although I wouldn't consider any interpretation of him being like a dragon to be particularly wrong.

The comparison gets a little muddied though when the movie series has a literal dragon in it with King Ghidorah.

What are your thoughts on the dragon comparison?

[Al Diplodocus]

I think he can easily be considered a dragon, particularly the East Asian kind, which are wingless, long, and associated with the sea and water.

Doesn't help dragon's definition has decayed a lot from its original meaning to mean "any big reptilian monster in fiction", so...

[StardustGenius]

Not really, for several reasons. He's much closer in terms of popular culture tropes to a dinosaur/prehistoric monster, than a fantasy beast like a Dragon. He's constantly constructed as a beast from another era, not a mythical creature, like say Mothra. He's a mutant. Sets him apart much better in the way of pop culture things at large. Ghidorah's a literal dragon anyway.

[Legion1979]

He's a monster.

Done.

[Spuro]

He's a monster.

Done.

Ah, but so are dragons.

[edgaguirus]

Dragons play a major role in Japanese culture, and Godzilla does have a bit of that in the fact that his name comes from a mythical sea dragon feared by people on Odo Island. Design and theme wise, Godzilla is a dinosaur and nuclear created menace. While most audiences today don't see a dragon, the influence is there.

[LSD Jellyfish]

Godzilla is not a dragon. The Odo Islanders liken him to a sea dragon, but there's a distinction between what he might be seen as by islanders, versus what other characters interpret it as+what the film makers intend. If you look at the base 1954 film+subseuqent films, you'll see that Godzilla is likened to a creautre that shouldn't exit. Non-Cannon, like that weird thing of Godzilla and it's family, portray Godzilla as an amphibious creature that is very unique and from an era long ago.

I'd check the phrasing on the Odo Island legend. What the Japanese islanders are claiming is a "dragon" in subtitles/dub might be way different than what was actually intended by the dialogue. Bear in mind that cultural interpretations of dragons vary in Japan (but not always).

[LegendZilla]

One day, I think it would be cool if they put Godzilla in a High Fantasy-setting and actually have him be one. Like an Elseworlds-type scenario.

[JAGzilla]

One day, I think it would be cool if they put Godzilla in a High Fantasy-setting and actually have him be one. Like an Elseworlds-type scenario.

You're this site's ultimate origin purist, though. How is making Godzilla a dragon in a High Fantasy setting any different from making him a plant or an interdimensional abomination?

To actually answer the thread's question, I would say Godzilla is very close to being a dragon already. Traditional pop-culture dinosaurs were/are essentially just dragons without any magic or special powers. Big reptilian monsters lurking in caves or swamps and coming out periodically to terrorize the countryside and eat people until the hero slays them. Godzilla certainly fits that basic idea in several movies. Dragons might also be godlike supernatural protectors that ward off evil, and Godzilla routinely fills that role, too. Appearance wise, dragons are variable enough that Godzilla fits right in.

[ShinGojira14]

One day, I think it would be cool if they put Godzilla in a High Fantasy-setting and actually have him be one. Like an Elseworlds-type scenario.

You're this site's ultimate origin purist, though. How is making Godzilla a dragon in a High Fantasy setting any different from making him a plant or an interdimensional abomination?

Maybe he means like he still looks like Heisei/Kiryu Saga Godzilla, it's just that his origin is that he's a wingless dragon.

[JAGzilla]

One day, I think it would be cool if they put Godzilla in a High Fantasy-setting and actually have him be one. Like an Elseworlds-type scenario.

You're this site's ultimate origin purist, though. How is making Godzilla a dragon in a High Fantasy setting any different from making him a plant or an interdimensional abomination?

Maybe he means like he still looks like Heisei/Kiryu Saga Godzilla, it's just that his origin is that he's a wingless dragon.

He always says that 'form and function' aren't enough for him, though. Godzilla's origin is just as important.

[ShinGojira14]

You're this site's ultimate origin purist, though. How is making Godzilla a dragon in a High Fantasy setting any different from making him a plant or an interdimensional abomination?

Maybe he means like he still looks like Heisei/Kiryu Saga Godzilla, it's just that his origin is that he's a wingless dragon.

He always says that 'form and function' aren't enough for him, though. Godzilla's origin is just as important.

True. Either way, I can't help but chuckle at that post.

[Al Diplodocus]

As I saod before, the definition of dragon these days is pretty loose, and basically means "any giant monster that's partially to fully reptilian", so by that definition Godzilla is a dragon.

[LegendZilla]

^Making him an actual dragon would at least be better than making him a plant-based creature. That and treat him as an actual character with agency and personality. Don't just make him an obstacle for the heroes to defeat. He will be a neutral force of nature capable of becoming good or evil depending on circumstance. Thematically Godzilla in a high fantasy-based setting could incorporate the folly of man angle (i.e war and environmental destruction) that the character has been associated with from the very start. All you need to do is substitute nuclear weapons with some form of dark magic and I'd say it's a go.

You could also have MG be a creation of the dwarves instead of humans or aliens. While mining for ore to make him, the dwarven miners could stumble across an egg containing an offspring of Godzilla. If they were to bring in Biollante, have her be the creation of alchemists casting a magic spell using Godzilla's blood.

[JAGzilla]

^Making him an actual dragon would at least be better than making him a plant-based creature. That and treat him as an actual character with agency and personality. Don't just make him an obstacle for the heroes to defeat. He will be a neutral force of nature capable of becoming good or evil depending on circumstance. Thematically Godzilla in a high fantasy-based setting could incorporate the folly of man angle (i.e war and environmental destruction) that the character has been associated with from the very start. All you need to do is substitute nuclear weapons with some form of dark magic and I'd say it's a go.

You could also have MG be a creation of the dwarves instead of humans or aliens. While mining for ore to make him, the dwarven miners could stumble across an egg containing an offspring of Godzilla. If they were to bring in Biollante, have her be the creation of alchemists casting a magic spell using Godzilla's blood.

Fair enough. I actually really like the idea of Mechagodzilla being a dwarf-made golem-type thing. I'd pay to see that in action.

[LegendZilla]

^Making him an actual dragon would at least be better than making him a plant-based creature. That and treat him as an actual character with agency and personality. Don't just make him an obstacle for the heroes to defeat. He will be a neutral force of nature capable of becoming good or evil depending on circumstance. Thematically Godzilla in a high fantasy-based setting could incorporate the folly of man angle (i.e war and environmental destruction) that the character has been associated with from the very start. All you need to do is substitute nuclear weapons with some form of dark magic and I'd say it's a go.

You could also have MG be a creation of the dwarves instead of humans or aliens. While mining for ore to make him, the dwarven miners could stumble across an egg containing an offspring of Godzilla. If they were to bring in Biollante, have her be the creation of alchemists casting a magic spell using Godzilla's blood.

Fair enough. I actually really like the idea of Mechagodzilla being a dwarf-made golem-type thing. I'd pay to see that in action.

Speaking of golems, why not bring in King Ceasar?

[JAGzilla]

Yeah, Seesar would also fit right in.

[edgaguirus]

We have the beginnings of a story here.

[Desghidorah]

Let's bear in mind that the word dragon in and of itself has been applied to a vast array of mythical and real creatures that are only really united by the common features of being at least vaguely reptilian. Some of the mythical creatures called dragons have virtually no consistency between themselves other than that. Some are snake-like, some are turtle-like, some are blatantly metaphysical or supernatural in the context of their stories whereas others are treated as entirely mundane animals. An English Wyvern and Japanese Ryu might both be called dragons because they are reptilian to some extent or another, but they have about as much in common as a French Werewolf and Okinawan Shisa on account of them both being at least somewhat canine.

Looking at the Old Testament, one finds the words translated into English as dragon came from a myriad of sources. A lot of them were using the Hebrew word that is now known to more directly translate as either crocodile or snake, perfectly mundane animals, depending on the context and specific use. Other times it was being purely metaphorical, such as talking about cruel and tyrannical kings by comparing them to a monster or feared predator.

So if we were really splitting hairs here, anything that looks snake or crocodile like would technically count as a dragon. If you showed a medieval person a Nile crocodile or monitor lizard, they would immediately identify it as a dragon because that's just what the word meant at the time. Similar terminology exists in the modern day where the Mandarin word for alligator contains the word dragon, with other instances also in Japanese for the words for dinosaur. This kind of also means that the Komodo dragon is not just extra flare on the name, it literally is a dragon in the classic sense of the term.

Getting back into the modern usage, I think Godzilla fits the terminology just fine. In some legends dragons with fantastic abilities were seen as supernatural and magical entities, and in others they were completely normal, if extremely unusual animals.

And on the basis of dragons that are more decidedly supernatural in their abilities, many of those times they have powers because those powers symbolically tied up to something. They represent often fantastic and possibly destructive forces. Storms, fire, lightning, the ocean itself, and more. The people in ancient times the most destructive thing they could think of was probably natural disasters like earthquakes, wildfires, and lightning strikes. In the 1950s especially, the most destructive thing people could think of was the atomic bomb.

So why wouldn't they modern interpretation of one of these metaphoric destroyer dragons have the powers of what was the modern image of destruction?

So in total summary, I think Godzilla fits the description of a dragon just fine.

[edgaguirus]

Add to that we have Titans with names like Leviathan and Tiamat. These two are dragon or dragon like creatures, which proves that any large reptilian being can be associated with dragons.