With a franchise history that now spans 32 films ( plus 2 TV series) - and still counting! - Godzilla has gone through quite a few variations in appearance. Here's a fairly thorough run-down.
1954 (ShodaiGoji) The first, and perhaps most iconic, form of the King of the Monsters. This suit weighed over 100 lbs and reached temperatures of over 60 degrees Celsius, so portraying Godzilla was no small feat for stuntman Haruo Nakajima.
1955 (GyakushuGoji) When a second Godzilla film was greenlit, special effcts director Eiji Tsuburaya and his team went to work crafting a new Godzilla suit that would be lighter & more flexible than the hefty Shodai suit. The result lacked some of the former's imposing nature, but allowed Nakajima the freedom he needed to tussle with Katsumi Tezuka, who portrayed the monster Anguirus.
1962 (KingGoji) The second truly iconic appearance of Godzilla was in his third film, 'King Kong vs. Godzilla'. Godzilla's new look had a striking reptilian style to it, which contrasted well with the mammalian Kong. It was also Godzilla's first foray into color - not that it affected Godzilla himself much, being charcoal gray/black in coloration.
1964 (MosuGoji) The suit for 'Mothra vs. Godzilla', tailor-made to fit Haruo Nakajima's proportions, is one of the most popular and arguably best-designed suits to date. A personal favorite. The suit was used again, with minor facial modifications, in 'Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster', released the same year.
1965-66 (DaisensoGoji) Tsuburaya's team seemed to make good use of the design template from 1964. Another personal favorite, this suit gets overlooked somewhat, but I believe Haruo Nakajima perfected his performance as Godzilla between the two films this suit was featured in. This suit would also be used for water scenes in several films afterwards, to avoid damaging the newer suits.
1967 (MusukoGoji) 'Son of Godzilla' featured a bit of an oddity in the suddenly pudgy design for Godzilla, intended to resemble the final design of his adopted child, Minilla. This suit would later be used for water scenes in 'Godzilla vs. Gigan' (1972). Haruo Nakajima did not actually play Godzilla this time; Hiroshi Sekita and Seiji Onaka shared the role for the film.
1968-72 (SoshingekiGoji) 'Destroy All Monsters' was envisioned as Toho's cinematic monster climax, so a brand-new suit was produced, which went on to be featured in a total of four films - the most of any suit to date. During this time Godzilla's character became firmly established as a hero of Japan, rather than a villain; to this day this suit is perhaps the most recognizable for the Showa era of Godzilla films (1954-1975). Special Effects director Eiji Tsuburaya passed away in 1970, given ceremonial credit for 1969's 'All Monsters Attack'; and Haruo Nakajima also retired from acting after 'Godzilla vs. Gigan' (1972). Two legends/founders of the franchise bowed out with the longest-lasting suit.
1973-75 (MegaroGoji) As the Soshingeki suit began falling apart from four films' worth of abuse, a new suit was created for 1973's 'Godzilla vs. Megalon'. Shinji Takagi took on Godzilla's role for the film, with Isao Zushi and Toru Kawai filling the role in the ensuing Mechagodzilla films (and a couple episodes of the Zone Fighter TV show) before Toho ended the film series due to financial difficulties. The new, friendlier design was tweaked to look meaner again with progression between the three movies.
1978-80 (Hanna-Barbera) Godzilla's debut in animation (and the first fully American adaptation of the character) presented a recognizable, but notably distinct design, with simpler, sometimes more humanoid features and a green color scheme (rather than the typical black), as well as more literal fire breath abilities and laser vision (??). Godzilla's trademark roar was replaced with voice work by Ted Cassidy.
artist unknown - a depiction of Godzilla's transformation through the Showa (1954-75) and Heisei (1984-95)* eras. *Technically the actual Showa era of Japan did not begin until 1989 (and continues to this day), but 'The Return of Godzilla' (1984) shares direct continuity with the ensuing films; thus it is included. The later "Millennium era" is differentiated due to the change in continuity again.
1984 (84Goji) Godzilla's return to film - and to darker thematic roots - was realized by Teruyoshi Nakano, who had learned under Eiji Tsuburaya and headed the special effects for the films in the 70s. The new look for Godzilla took direct inspiration from the original 1954 suit, with more lifelike details; as well as a large animatronic version used in numerous shots. Kenpachiro Satsuma took up the mantle as suit actor from this film to the end of the series in 1995; unfortunately the 84 suit had been built to another actor's proportions, so performing proved difficult for Satsuma. The suit was also a record weight of 242 lbs, which couldn't have helped any.
1989-91 (Bio/GhidoGoji) Koichi Kawakita, the new special effects director for 'Godzilla vs. Biollante' (1989), had a brand new design realized, which would be reiterated for the rest of the Heisei series and go on to become one of Toho's favored looks for the King of the Monsters. Massive, fierce and feline, the new suit was built to fit Satsuma and further tweaked in 'Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah' (1991) to look even bigger.
1992 (BatoGoji) A new suit was built for 'Godzilla vs. Mothra: Battle for Earth', which modified the body proportions and other minor features. This trend continued for the next few films.
1993 (RadoGoji) With each new Heisei film and suit, Godzilla began to appear more and more massive. Personally, I find this aesthetic became unappealing and ungainly-looking, the sheer bulk of the suit(s) seeming to hinder mobility and performance of actor Satsuma.
1994 (MogeGoji) The trend of the bulky Heisei Godzilla continued and nearly peaked with this suit, which Toho chose as their default representation of Godzilla in recent years.
1995 (DesuGoji - Burning Godzilla) Godzilla's radical form change in 'Godzilla vs. Destroyah' meant stark new features were added to the design, removing portions of the Moge suit to include light bulbs and steam generators, which emitted toxic fumes that caused Satsuma to frequently pass out. This design has gone on to become another incredibly popular one among the fandom.
1998 (AmeriGoji?) Although the TriStar Godzilla is not without its supporters, this largely unpopular redesign of the classic monster was a victim of a misguided creative team. Designer Patrick Tatopoulos was instructed by Director Roland Emmerich to make Godzilla lean and fast; Toho's design criterion for their trademark character ended up largely ignored, or even outright defied, resulting in a monster that only ever so vaguely resembles the iconic King of the Monsters. This incarnation gained some redemption through the animated TV series that followed, which was much better received by audiences.
1999-2000 (MireGoji) When it became clear TriStar would not pursue their own series further, Toho chose to strike the iron while it was hot and start making their own Godzilla films again. 'Godzilla 2000' featured a brand new creative team led by Shinichi Wakasa, who designed a radical, modern look for Godzilla that was hard-edged and aggressive. Tsutomu Kitagawa took the mantle as suit actor. While the design took some cues from the more reptillian suit in 1962, MireGoji is unique for being the only suit actually colored green. the suit was used again, and recolored a lighter green, for 'Godzilla vs Megaguirus' the next year.
art by Yuji Kaida - select Godzillas from the Showa, Heisei and Millennium eras.
2001 (SokogeckiGoji) Director Shusuke Kaneko brought in yet another special effects team for his film, 'Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack'. The new suit, portrayed by Misuho Yoshida, is the tallest to date; and despite some proportional issues, was a highly mobile and fearsome-looking representation of Godzilla, calling back to the aesthetics of the 50s & 60s films.
2002-03 (KiryuGoji)Shinichi Wakasa's effects team and suit actor Tsutomu Kitagawa returned for the Kiryu (Mechagodzilla) saga, restoring the spiker look of the Mire suit, but with a more modest approach. This more draconic design resembled the 90s suits in overall posture - and, regrettably, flexibility, appearing somwhat stiff on film.
2004 (FinalGoji) A whole slew of new monster suits were designed for 'Godzilla: Final Wars', meant to be a DAM-style sendoff to the new Godzilla series, and Godzilla himself was given a sleek makeover that appeared to apply the Heisei & Millennium aesthetics to a 60s/70s physique, making for prime monster action and suit performance. Sadly, this would be the last time Godzilla would be realized through traditional man-in-suit effects for the foreseeable future.
2014 (LegenGoji?) When American studio Legendary Pictures brought Godzilla to life on the big screen again, it was, unsurprisingly, through modern CGI methods; however, unlike the 1998 version, the creative team behind director Gareth Edwards' film presented a beautifully realized monster that retained many of the core recognizable design elements for Godzilla, while also bringing in a level of lifelike detail that made Godzilla seem a real as he ever has been. Certain features have been controversial among fans, but I think LegenGoji is one of the best-realized Godzilla designs yet. It will be interesting to see whether or not this design gets tweaked for Legendary's upcoming sequels.
2016 (ShinGoji) If fans thought 2014 was controversial, however, they were not prepared for what was brewing in Japan. Director team Hideaki Anno (Evangelion) and Shinji Higuchi (SFX, Gamera Trilogy) brought in illustrator Mahiro Maeda and sculptor Takayuki Takeya to create what is one of the most startling reimaginings of Godzilla yet. ShinGoji takes the classic Godzilla looks and ramps its features up to 11: extra rows of spikes; aberrant growing claws & toes; glowing, rocky skin texture (based on a goya squash, but reminiscent of the "keloid scars" texture of the 1954 suit), and even stranger things. Surprisingly, this Godzilla is rendered once again in CGI (though a large puppet was produced, but ultimatlely unused, for certain scenes), despite being a lower-budget Japanese production. Thankfully, the film pulls off most of its effects quite well; and this monolithic monster, though unconventional, is yet another excellently realized incarnation of Godzilla.
another (stylized) selection of Godzilla faces. Can you recognize them all now?
2017 (AniGoji) With another (animated) film comes another redesign. 'Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters' presents yet another radical interpretation of Godzilla; aged, mountainous and muscular, with a bodily structure said to resemble plants and metal fibers. Time will tell how this design will hold up; the film is currently airing in Japan now, and is scheduled to hit Netflix worldwide next year! Keep your eyes peeled, GODZILLA IS COMING AGAIN!!!
art by Hamish Steele - one last Godzilla family ensemble. Godzilla lives on!