Minilla (ミニラ, Minira) is the first son of Godzilla and as such first appeared in the Showa film Son of Godzilla.
Etymology
His Japanese name, Minira is a combination of Mini and Gojira (Japanese name for Godzilla), thus he is referred to as a "miniature Godzilla".
Family
Godzilla's exact relationship to Minilla has never been clarified. It is uncertain whether he was of a derelict egg of the same or a similar species or if Godzilla was somehow Minilla's biological parent; (human character dialogue might suggest that Godzilla had been to Sogell Island prior to the events of Son of Godzilla). This may open a debate about Godzilla's gender though Toho has publicly identified it as male. As the first of a few baby Godzillas to be featured in the film series', it is sometimes common for audiences to consider all of the babies to be versions of Minilla. The most common of these cases of mistaken identity is Godzilla's adopted son, Little Godzilla a.k.a.; Godzilla Junior. This is most likely due to the fact that Godzilla Junior is the only baby version of Godzilla featured during the Heisei series, in the last three films of the Heisei series of Godzilla films.
Description
The son of the famous Godzilla, Minilla resembles a smaller, pudgy version of his father. His snout is slightly upturned and his eyes are larger and placed further forward on his head, giving him a more human-like appearance. The dorsal fins on his back are small and unformed, and he also lacks the charcoal grey color of his father. His coloring is green with lighter shading over the front of his stomach.
Features
- Height 1.6-20 metres
- Weight 0.2-3200 tons
History
Minilla was born on Sogell Island, when his egg was prematurely cracked open by a group of mutant giant praying mantis' called Kamacuras. Godzilla soon arrived, killed two of the Kamacuras, and rescued Minilla. Godzilla proceeded to train Minilla and defended him against further attacks from the final Kamacuras, showing that his father started to very much love him. Together they defeated the giant spider Kumonga. Godzilla and Minilla were placed in hibernation when a group of scientists completed a weather experiment, resulting in the freezing of their island. The mutant dinosaurs revived when the snow melted, and eventually relocated to Monster Island, as seen via stock footage in Godzilla vs. Gigan.
In Destroy All Monsters (which takes place in 1999), Minilla, Godzilla and many other Earth monsters live on a new island called Monsterland. Together they battled the three-headed space dragon King Ghidorah at Mt. Fuji. They killed Ghidorah and saved planet Earth. After that, Minilla and the other monsters returned to Monsterland.
Minilla reappeared in a slightly altered form in Godzilla: Final Wars which, as part of the Millennium series, was not directly connected to any of his previous appearances. Minilla is found by Kenta and his grandfather. Later on, Kenta's grandfather drove to Mt.Fuji (with Minilla in the trunk) and watches Godzilla defeat King Caesar, Rodan, and Anguirus. After the fight, Minilla grew 20 meters (an ability of his) and later, Minilla interceded on behalf of humanity to Godzilla, prompting Godzilla to end his war with the human race.
Powers
Minilla's main weapon is atomic smoke rings, though when his tail is stepped on, he can fire an atomic ray like his father. In Son of Godzilla, he could do this more often after his tail was stomped once. In Final Wars, he was shown firing an atomic ray at the very end of the film. Minilla is also shown to have the ability to increase or decrease his size in films like Godzilla's Revenge and Godzilla: Final Wars, much similar to another infamous kaiju: the size-altering robot Jet Jaguar.
Film appearances
- Son of Godzilla
- Destroy All Monsters
- All Monsters Attack
- Godzilla vs. Gigan (Stock footage)
- Godzilla: Final Wars
Art/Fiction
Minilla's only video game appearance to date has been on the Sega Dreamcast game Godzilla Generations. A secret character that is unlocked after completing the game with the American Godzilla, Minilla is the shortest of the playable characters and also the weakest in terms of defense. His speed is average, and his breath weapon, atomic smoke rings, is not very powerful, as several uses are required to defeat even the Super X.
Minilla also appears in Godzilla, a 1990 GameBoy puzzler. In the game, he is trapped in a large maze. He awaits for his father, Godzilla, to save him. However, the only point in which Minilla is seen here is during the ending sequence.