Kaiju Profile: Zilla Junior · 4:43am Oct 25th, 2018
Title: the Protector of New York
Alias: Zilla, Zilla II, Mass Scale Friendly (Colonel Hicks), G-Man (Randy), Lantern Jaw, Prince of the Monsters, The Son of the Iguana That Ate New York, J.R., the American Godzilla
Theme Song: Link!
"I'll show you a Brooklyn rage!"
Stats:
Species: Mutated Marine Iguana (Amblyrhynchus cristatus)
Height: 80 meters
Weight: 30,000-45,000 tons
Length: 180 meters
Relatives:
1998 Zilla - Biological mother
Niko "Nick"/"WormGuy" Tatopoulos - Adoptive father
Faction: Terran Defender, Team H.E.A.T.
Morality: Upstanding and fun loving, Zilla is an energetic soul no matter what's happening. He might be slugging it out with a mutation one minute, and then jokingly splashing water onto onlookers and rocking boats as a practical joke. Just do not threaten the H.E.A.T. GDF team, especially his adoptive father, or any humans in general around him...
Traits: Underwater breathing, razor edged back scutes, very sharp claws and fangs, adept burrower, swimmer, and jumper
Physical Prowess:
-Strength
Zilla Junior isn't as powerful as some kaiju in his weight class in terms of brute strength, but he's no slouch and can easily lift his own body weight between his arms and head.
-Speed
Zilla is easily the fastest of the Defender kaiju in terms of ground travel speed. If in an open setting, he can easily reach speeds exceeding 480 kilometers per hour and achieve similar speeds underwater. If in looser soil, he can burrow at up to 200 kilometers per hour. He often uses a running start to tackle a foe, having the acceleration add force to his impacts to make up for a strength difference.
-Durability
Due to incubating in his egg for longer, this Zilla is far more durable than his prematurely hatched siblings or mother. While not as durable as Godzilla Junior, he easily shrugged off artillery strikes and missile impacts as a quarter grown juvenile that killed his biological parent with only light damage. As an adult, accidental hits by GDF maser units and missile launchers confirm only scratch damage and he's waded through alien vessel plasma fire without much issue aside from surface burns.
-Endurance
Unless poisoned or starving, Zilla boasts very respectable stamina and can swim at top speed for dozens of hours at a time. While not as near limitless as Godzilla, it still can take a very long time to slow this lizard down be it in travel or the thick of battle.
-Other
Zilla has extremely acute senses and the ability to detect signals or calls inaudible to humans such as tachyon pulses, travel and navigation through magnetic waves in the atmosphere, and low or high frequency noises. His vision is also precise enough to reliably see at night and in the depths of the ocean. Like some other species of lizards, Zilla can also detect pheromones and scents via a well developed Jacobson's organ on the roof of his mouth. He also is receptive to telepathic signals such as those given by his father, whom he has a link to.
Like almost all lizards and his unmutated kin, Zilla actually has a third 'eye'. Called the parietal eye, it's situated on the top of his head underneath a partially clear scale. He can't see out of it in the traditional sense, but it can distinguish temperatures as well as light and dark. This means its hard to take Zilla by surprise from above as he'd see the shadow.
Powers:
Thermonuclear Breath - Zilla can produce a powerful heat ray of similar properties to Godzilla. The differences include Zilla's beam being green in color, more flamethrower-like as opposed to a concentrated beam, and having the charge indicated by a glow traveling up his tail in a line until it reaches his gills and eyes. While lacking the concussive force or range Godzilla's beam has, it has its own advantages in that is is much quicker to charge and can be easily fired while moving.
Regeneration - While slower than Godzilla's or Xenilla's, Zilla can heal from even dire wounds if given enough time or energy. This can happen both in the midst of battle as well as at rest, with the latter being quicker and offering a more thorough heal.
Low Body Temperature - As a side effect of his mutation, Zilla seems to have the ability to cancel out his own gigantothermy on will to cool his body down. This not only helps lower metabolism to stave off hunger needs, save energy, or fight off infections, but makes him very hard to detect via thermal imaging and sensors. To enemies that track via heat this makes Zilla virtually invisible.
Burrowing - While other kaiju such as Megalon and Baragon can tunnel at just as fast or even quicker paces, Zilla is still one of the quickest. He can also use this strategically to trap or outflank an opponent or send them plummeting into a sinkhole.
Bio:
In 1998, a creature born from French nuclear testing in the South Pacific travel to Manhattan Island to nest. Originally a marine iguana who had been mutated by the radiation in its egg, the expecting mother was mistaken for Godzilla Junior due to scattered reports and blurry news footage about it being reptilian and having back spines. Able to self reproduce like many other squamates if denied a mate, she laid dozens of eggs in Madison Square Garden as a clutch but seem to react in some way to one particular egg; of when she set aside in a more remote spot. Later on the creature in the nest were destroyed by the military, with associated biologist Niko Tatopoulos double checking Madison Square Garden to see if there were any remaining eggs. Accidentally covered in embryonic fluid, he came across the isolated egg just as it hatched. Smelling the fluid on him and he being the first thing it saw, the resulting male offspring mistook him for its mother. Feeling pity on the creature for causing the death of its parent, Tatopoulos scared off before the military could find it.
Later on the creature grew and found its surrogate father and his team called H.E.A.T. (Humanitarian Environmental Analysis Team), much to the relief of all parties involved this creature proved to be far more docile and gentle around humanity. While the local military command under Colonel Hicks attacked the juvenile kaiju believing it to be a threat, the mutant lizard survived and later battled a mutated crustacean monster. After fighting off the other mutation and saving dozens of people it had taken, Hicks was content to stand down. Now able to clearly identify the creature as not the same species as Godzilla, being a lizard and not a dinosaur originally, it was dubbed 'Zilla' due to its resemblance and the initial confusion. H.E.A.T. was later incorporated into the American branch of the GDF and an inevitable meeting between the East and West was destined.
It happened when H.E.A.T. team was responding to attacks in American Guam that suggested a mutated kaiju. Following the trail to Japan, the culprit was later found to be a cobra-like monster later called Garasharp. Zilla, having followed his surrogate father, was quick to engage Garasharp in Hokkaido and pursued it across the island. That's when it turned out Garasharp had been luring the lizard back to its nest, where his larger mate was waiting. Just as Zilla was a risking getting overwhelmed by the pair, Tatopoulos got a call from a very unexpected and youthful sounding source who introduced herself as Io Shinoda of the G.P.N (Godzilla Prediction Network).
As GDF aircraft flew in to try and keep the kaiju fighting contained to the mountains, Io said simply "An old friend of mine just got done with a problem down south and is heading your way, you might want to move your boat so he can hurry."
Still fighting the giant serpents while dodging their venomous lunges, fiery breath, and sonic shockwaves, Zilla's odds substantially improved when a beam of blue plasma blasted one of the Garasharp. Still fresh off his battle with Orga, Godzilla Junior thundered in the battlefield and joined the fray. After some initial concern the to would squabble, a simple nod cast between the second-generation kaiju was all that was needed for them to stand shoulder to shoulder as a united front. After the Garasharp were destroyed, Godzilla and Zilla seem to pause and vocalize to each other. H.E.A.T. and the G.P.N. teams were very eager to document the two kaiju 'talking' to one another.
Afterwards they were seen traveling together towards Solgell Island in a way that almost made it look like Godzilla was giving Zilla a tour. After losing track of them for a week, the newspapers in New York City got the headline of a lifetime when both kaiju surfaced near Manhattan Island and circled it, this time with Zilla in the lead. After which they separated again with Godzilla swimming back to the Pacific and Zilla sticking to the Atlantic. While Zilla kept residence near Manhattan in an underwater burrow dug into the bay, he has been documented journeying across the world with H.E.A.T. team and occasionally having brief stays at the Mu Island chain.
Cooperation with the kaiju that gradually began to take up residence there led to him being classified as a member of the Terran Defender faction, undergoing excursions both on his own accord and as a subordinate role under a more senior member such as Godzilla Junior.
One notable encounter the two had was with an ancient alpha predator whom had awakened after a long hibernation and became active. After being chased with the intention of being eaten by the radiovore kaiju, Zilla headed for the Mu Islands at his father's suggestion to summon back-up as the creature called 'Gojira' was too big for him to fight alone safely. Godzilla Junior responded to the entry and fought off the intruder alongside Zilla, the ancient kaiju leaving on peaceful terms after conversing with the newbloods.
This also isn't to say Zilla hasn't racked up an impressive battle record on his own accord, fighting off not only the intrusion of a mass scale kaiju in the 'Cloverfield' incident on his own. Engaging the bizarre monster alone, Zilla successfully drove it into Manhattan harbor on his own despite its greater size, greatly reducing damage and potential causalities. He also battled across several locations in Final Wars alongside his fellow Defenders, the GDF, and native militaries. First New York against the Harvester Alien vessels, bringing down one of their massive motherships and then in Sydney Australia against Orga.
Trivia:
-In the faction Zilla seems to get along best with similarly youthful energy ball Rodan and Raiga. While respectful towards the ancient King Caesar, Zilla did cause some the shisa some confusion when he referred to the Okinawan protector as 'Mr. Miyagi'. Evidently it was revealed Zilla was familiar with some human media through his father and H.E.A.T. member Randy Hernandez projecting movies onto the side of the H.E.A.T. warehouse.
-After his numerous deeds protecting New York, the resident kaiju magnet of the Atlantic, and humanity at large against the mutations and aliens, Zilla is very well liked across Manhattan especially. The islanders see the giant lizard as a sort of living landmark with Zilla's image being popular across souvenirs and merchandise. After fending off the Cloverfield incursion and Harvester attack upon the city, a humorous liscense plate with his likeness was sold under the label, "Manhattan - Beware of Guard Lizard".
-Zilla often refers to Godzilla Junior as 'G' or 'Boss' and on con-ventures exhibits behavior that could best be described as 'jesting', as if he's trying to get the serious minded kaiju to lighten up or laugh. Still, the two are fire hardened comrades in arms and old, close friends. After Anguirus and co-leader Mothra Lea, Zilla correctly sees himself as Godzilla's "Right hand kaiju" alongside Rodan. The only reason he wasn't present in the Dimension Tide firing upon Solgell Island's center was because he was busy getting Gorgo out of harm's way and fighting off Jiger.
-Unlike his mother, this Zilla is male and cannot reproduce asexually. While initially thought to be a result of the mutation, it's since become more widely known many lizard females can undergo parthenogenesis and reproduce a clutch of sons and daughters without mating if they can't find a male. Because of his egg's temperature, this Zilla was born a male and thus can't reproduce unless it's done the old fashion way with a female of the same or similar species.
-While able to absorb radiation like many mutant kaiju, Zilla is one of the few who still needs to eat physical food. Thankfully the high population of mutated, enlarged giant squid, fish, and occasional marine mammals helps sate him. The oddity of his base species, the marine iguana, largely being a herbivore and yet Zilla is chiefly a carnivore has caused much eyebrow-raising amongst researchers.
Omg! Yes! Am I wrong? Will he be in the story? Ah forget it no one answers.
I like it.
makes me think of cheetor from beast wars in terms of personality.
So would his pony form have a New York accent?
And now I FINALLY know how he, and Godzilla met. Thank you for revealing that little detail, because, as you might now, i’m as huge a fan of Zilla jr as I am Godzilla, himself. There’s just alot about him I love, and I try to show him as much appreciation for him as I can. That’s why he’s a main character in “The Kaiju Chronicles/of War”........even though I took it a step further, and KIIIIINDA made him my goji jr’s boyfriend.:D But based on this, and the previous blogs, would I be right in assuming he’s about to appear here? In the story? Perhaps in a flashback, or joining our heroes somehow? Whatever the answer, I know it’s gonna be epic.:D
I love the fact you are giving my design a chance in the spotlight, thanks a lot Tarb!
I recognize Zilla Jr's mother, as Godzilla 1998 was technically my first kaiju film.
*Ahem*
To answer the question of where Zilla is in the Bridge-verse, he's a major character of my side-story to the Bridge, Humanity's Stand. It is a canon side story that deals with events happening on Terra while the Bridge is going on. Unfortunately it has been... far, far too long since I have updated it, which I do plan on correcting soon, as I hope to get back onto writing the story seriously again. Until that time though, there is a good 240k words already written up for those of you who are new to it.
(Link for those interested)
If you have any questions or comments, feel free to PM me either over on FF or here on FiM. I will answer as promptly as I am able. In the mean time, feel free to start on that link that was mentioned in the profile, as it is a prequel chapter which is entirely stand alone from the rest of the story and won't spoil anything in either Bridge or Humanity's Stand. Thanks, and I hope you enjoy it.
I'll freely admit that back in the day I was among the numbers that really hated on this design and couldn't stand the 98 film. While I haven't really softened up all that much on the movie itself, I decided to give the animated series a try a couple years ago and man did that show really help Zilla grow on me. I mean, the show wasn't necessarily groundbreaking or anything, but it was far more competently done than I had expected it, and more to the point it treated Zilla with a lot more kaiju cred than the film had, upping the new Zilla's durability, strength, and giving him his own version of the atomic breath. This helped me appreciate the more unique traits the Zilla design also brought to the table, most notably his agility, burrowing, and use of tactics in his fights, which let's face it, aren't common qualities used much in kaiju battles due to the limitations on the suits used in the older movies. So yeah, I dig Zilla nowadays, although mostly as his own unique kaiju rather than any real variant on Godzilla himself.
I was wondering when you would cover the Z-Fighter. I will say that this profile is great, and Pyrus' redesign is his finest work yet, in fact, I'll go tell him that on DA.
The 1998 film, and Final Wars are the first two Godzilla movies I had ever watched in my childhood. I remember seeing the 98 film on VHS all the time.
Interesting. I do have on question, though....
.... That... doesn't seem very fast. After all, an odometer isn't very large, and the British version is likely not either.
Besides, from the way he moved in the series, I'd say it would be more accurate to drop the "milo" part, and change hour to second. He was clearly clearing at least his body length each second while burrowing in combat back then....
Oh yes! I've been waiting a long time for Zilla, Jr.'s backstory within the Bridge Universe. I like it, especially making the first Zilla female so the reproducing asexually part can be more believable. I was really looking forward to the part where Zilla and Godzilla first met. Though, I would've thought that Godzilla and Zilla were cousins in a sense.
4957701
i certainly hope so
So you'll have Zilla in a future chapter or story, outside of the spinoff in FanFiction?
Regardless, another great bio.
4957786
Hmm, true
*Boosted*
4957816
So, not having a milometer and a ruler handy, exactly how long is one, and which model of British car are you taking it from? Just so I can compare the unit of measure to one I know....
I love the fact that both Zilla and godzilla (2014) are canonically different beings.
Also I wonder if Zilla Jr. Lovingly refers to his mother as French B**ch
Nicely done as always.
Wait, Zilla fought Clover?! No that's a fight I'd like to know more about.
Also, how will Zilla be showing up here? I thought he was going to be an MC in the Humanities Stand series?
Wait a second, in Humanity’s Stand, they said several times that Zilla’s breath was burning napalm. While powerful in its own right, it’s nowhere near the league of Junior’s Atomic Breath. And since napalm is a physical substance Zilla’s body produces, he has limited shots before he has to wait for his body to make more, kind of like with snake venom. It’s a limitation Humanity’s Stand stated several times.
If I was in charge of the movie, I would have made Zilla’s species come from Komodo Dragons. I think that would make more sense than Marine Iguana.
Cool bio love seeing the animated series getting some love and it was awesome how Junior and Zilla tag teamed Gojira I know you didn't write that but still.
4957863
Napalm or not, it is still radioactive due to Zilla's origin and classified under the Thermonuclear name. I try to stick to canonical names whenever I can.
4957839
Yep. The 'Godzillas' of the Amalgam'verse are as follows in order of existence
Gojira (Legendary pictures Godzilla) - Ancient proto-Archosaur, natural kaiju species. Only one confirmed still alive, inspired Odo Island myth from historic witnesses.
'Grandfather' Godzilla (1954) - Ceratosaurid dinosaur (Godzillasaurus) that perpetuated the Odo Island myth before being mutated by Bikini Atoll tests. Later because 'Ghost Godzilla" (GMK) and then Kiryu.
Godzilla 'Senior' (1984) - Ceratosaurid dinosaur (Godzillasaurus), son of the 1954 individual. Mutated by Soviet submarine crash. Deceased as of 1995 from nuclear meltdown. Biollante and Xenilla are his genetic progeny and Godzilla Junior is adopted.
Godzilla Junior (1993) - Ceratosaurid dinosaur (Godzillasaurus), adopted son of 1984 individual. Growth accelerated by his father's meltdown and continued getting stronger due to growing up with his mutation from birth.
Zilla I (1968) - Marine iguana mutated by French Pacific nuclear testing. Deceased in 1998 after reaching final stage and journeying to Manhattan Island via anti-ship missiles.
Zilla II (1998) - Marine iguana mutated by his mother's changes being passed onto him and being exaggerated even more, making him even more powerful.
4957829
Dem typos. My apologies, I was working with 8 hours of sleep in the last 48 hours when I did this.
4957753
I concur. While I never hated the 1998 film per say, I did go through a brief phase of disliking it but soon came around both from appreciating it for its own merits and the animated series. The fact the show used a lot of content present in earlier drafts for the film and its unmade sequel made it pretty clear to me almost everything fans hated about the 1998 film was squarely due to Devlin and Emmerich commanding the production to such a degree. These were the same guys who bold-faced-lied about the final design and egg plot when both were leaked from merchandise and all but insulted the original filmmakers. Which given it was directly after Tanaka passed away and Tsuburaya was deceased, doesn't sit well with me. The TV show team you could tell were fans of the Toho series and "Got" Godzilla, from the boosted abilities to the numerous mutations that were expys of Toho kaiju. Using the best of the 1998 creature's design and abilities, while bringing it back to roots.
4957726
No problemo my friend! Your work is fantastic and I wanted to be sure to give links back to your pages to give you some press
4957801
Always like to use some IRL biology when I can. As for them being cousins, they aren't related by blood or species but nominally consider each other honorary family. They've been friends for most of their lives so they get along well. Genetically Zilla is a squamate, more specifically a lizard, whereas Godzilla is an archosaur, more specifically a dinosaur. So different reptile family tree branches. Zilla is genetically closer to Manda (as Manda is derived from a snake) and Varan (as Varan is derived from a monitor lizard) as well as normal snakes and other lizards. Godzilla is genetically closer to Raiga (same species) and Gorgo & Orka (as they're crocodilians) as well as birds, pterosaurs, and normal crocodilians.
A lot of people give the zilla kaiju hate. Both for the poor 1998 movie and because how generally weak they are but honestly the kaiju breed as a whole is actually pretty damn powerful if you let it. The sheer breeding power is stupidly dangerous even if a single zilla can be killed by godzilla in all of 2 seconds, hundred is a serious threat. Add in the occassional tougher Male and you've suddenly got an end of the world kaiju in the making.
4957917
Ahhhhh, I see. I can get behind that. Honestly and personally, I like that you put some IRL sciences in the story, especially when it comes to the kaijus' backstories. It's really interesting.
Now, I would imagine currently in the story with Godzilla, Jr., Mothra Lea, Anguirus, and Rodan in Equestria, Zilla, Jr. has taken temporary command of the Defender faction with like Gamara being an adviser to him.
4957939
Actually, it's the other way around.
The kid also stands as one of the few Kaiju that can reproduce. He impregnated Komodithrax, a female Komodo dragon mutant.
So does this mean our boy is gonna be featured in a chapter or spin off soon? If so HYYYYYYYYYPEEEEEEEEEEE
Nice.
And also, Clover is now canon to the Bridge.
Also love how much New York loves the big guy.
4957956
No, he didn't impregnate Komodothirax. He merely became the stepfather to her unborn child.
Is he really 60m?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbFILj44OX0
In the Zilla and Godzilla jr vs Gojira fight, I persenaly would have made Gojira an adolt Minilla/Minya, but that's just MY version of him. YOURS is still a GREAT adaptation of G.2014 though. keep up the good work Tarb :)
You forgot one thing, Tarb
"Zilla Jr. has a tendency to burst into uncontrollable laughter (and give to everyone nearby the impression of an earthquake) when he hears the phrase "That's a lot of fish". He absolutely refuses to explain why."
The only kaiju I was familiar with before running into you and your fic. I'm glad we're going to see him in action.
Makes me wonder what kind of personality he'd have if he appeared in Equestria.
4957998
His mom was about 60 meters. He's a fair bit bigger at 80 meters in this setting.
4958084
And that's 80 meters in the stance pictured. If fully teared up he's closer to 90
4957983
Unhatched
4958089
Unhatched, but Zilla was still just the stepfather.
This is a surprise. I was expecting that a bio for this fellow was going to show up at a much later date. Also, nice to see that Garasharp and Clover are part of bridge canon.
4957915
And you did a marvelous job with that.
Nicely done as always! So I'm guessing Zilla will be showing up soon?
4958084
Thanks for the info :D
Apparently that's an unmade Gamera monster, and to think that for a moment, I thought it was a Pokemon reference.
4958619
Yep. I merged it with the Animated Series' giant mutant cobra.
4958637
Garasharp, I chose you!
And another thing I have on my mind out of curiosity. If a squamate female can birth a son with parthenogenesis, then can Destroyah, who could also technically reproduce via parthenogenesis, birth a son without doing it the old fashion way?
4958639
In theory yes, but she's have to choose to do so and might only work in her kaiju form. Also they can produce daughters as well. Basically what happens is the mother replicates and splits her own genome, then recombines it. This can be done to various degrees to do everything from make exact duplicates of the mother like what Destroyah did, or genetically distinct sons and daughters. Destroyah might only be able to duplicate herself and make a daughter.
4958645
Alright thanks, Tarb.