Top 10 Biggest Godzilla Kill Counts
This iconic kaiju isn't afraid to incur a little collateral damage. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the Godzilla films where Big G ranks up the biggest body count.
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00:00 Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the Godzilla films where
00:15 Big G ranks up the biggest body counts.
00:27 Number 10.
00:28 116.
00:29 "The Return of Godzilla"
00:32 1984's "The Return of Godzilla" not only brought Big G back to North American
00:37 shores with its "Godzilla" 1985 edit, but the film was a notable return to some
00:43 dark and dangerous thematic territory.
00:56 This stood in stark contrast to the Showa era's largely kid-friendly approach to
01:01 kaiju monster battles.
01:16 The "Return of Godzilla" racked up a formidable body count of 116, including a number of unnamed
01:23 victims of collateral damage.
01:26 "Godzilla" also takes out the Russian warship commander, Colonel Kashirin, while
01:31 his city attacks demolish both lives and property in equal measure.
01:43 Number 9.
01:44 133.
01:45 "Godzilla Tokyo S.O.S."
01:46 "Godzilla Tokyo S.O.S." isn't a film that's mentioned often when it comes to
01:53 Big G's filmography.
01:55 This isn't necessarily due to the quality of its content; it just sort of tends to slip
02:00 through the cracks.
02:02 Modern reassessment, however, results in a surprisingly high body count.
02:14 The body of a Kamibas from Toho's 1970 film "Space Amoeba" washes up in the film,
02:21 with bite marks consistent with that of "Godzilla."
02:24 Elsewhere, Big G takes Mothra up on her offer of a heroic sacrifice, fatally blasting her
02:31 with atomic breath.
02:36 Finally, there are 131 civilians and soldiers that fall victim to the king of the monsters,
02:46 making "Godzilla Tokyo S.O.S." stand as something of a morbid dark horse entry in
02:52 Godzilla canon.
03:01 Number 8.
03:02 144.
03:03 "Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah"
03:06 There are a number of named human casualties who fall victim to the king of the monsters
03:11 in 1991's "Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah."
03:15 Both Wilson and Gran Chico of the Futurians perish, along with many others, when Godzilla
03:21 blasts their UFO.
03:32 Big G also memorably blasts Japanese Major Yasuaki Shindo to kingdom come during the kaiju's
03:39 assault on Tokyo.
03:52 There are also many other unnamed victims of these attacks, however, including 15 soldiers,
03:59 123 civilians, and a television news crew.
04:03 Godzilla also beats Mecha-King Ghidorah for good measure, resulting in a kill count of
04:08 144.
04:22 Number 7.
04:23 179.
04:24 "Ebirah – Horror of the Deep"
04:27 The films produced during the Showa era could often vary wildly in tone, as well as in terms
04:33 of their body count.
04:35 "Ebirah – Horror of the Deep," for example, probably isn't the first G-film one may
04:40 associate with human casualties.
04:49 A closer look at the film's plot, however, reveals some surprising statistics.
04:54 The entire island of Lechi is demolished by the film's end, thanks to a Godzilla attack
05:00 that sets off a self-destruct mechanism.
05:03 As a result, 175 scientists working for the Red Bamboo terrorist organization are killed.
05:10 Additionally, one particular scientist gets trampled underfoot by Big G, while Ebirah
05:17 itself gets its claws unceremoniously torn off in battle.
05:25 Oh, and there's a giant condor named Okondoru.
05:35 Let's not forget the giant condor.
05:47 Number 6.
05:49 181.
05:50 "Godzilla 2000"
05:52 The Godzilla cinematic franchise has had a rough go of it in terms of North American
05:57 distribution in the aftermath of 1999's "Godzilla 2000."
06:11 The film was the last to receive a wide release in that area until 2023 with "Godzilla -1."
06:18 The financial disappointment of "Godzilla 2000" doesn't necessarily reflect the film's
06:23 quality or body count, however, since this film racks up a relatively high number of
06:29 181.
06:35 Granted, most of these deaths are attributed to collateral damage as a result of Godzilla's
06:45 rampage.
06:46 There are only two named characters to receive on-screen damage by Godzilla – Crisis Control
06:52 Intelligence founder Mitsuo Katagiri and the monster, Orga.
07:05 Number 5.
07:06 211.
07:07 "Godzilla vs. Mothra"
07:10 There were a number of films produced during Godzilla's Heisei era that served as sequels
07:15 – of sorts – to the events that took place during 1991's "Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah."
07:31 Godzilla vs. Mothra was one of those films, and pitted the King of the Monsters against
07:37 the Queen of Infant Island for another kaiju battle matchup.
07:42 Spoiler alert, Godzilla doesn't win, although he does take down a male divine moth named
07:48 Bhadra, with a fatal bite to the neck.
08:00 Aside from this, "Godzilla vs. Mothra" also chalks up 36 soldiers and approximately
08:06 174 citizens that run afoul of all the chaos surrounding each attack.
08:21 Number 4.
08:22 226.
08:23 "Shin Godzilla"
08:25 The image and creature design of Godzilla received a welcome upgrade with 2016's "Shin
08:32 Godzilla," and with this came a whole new set of deadly abilities.
08:37 That said, it's Godzilla's atomic breath that serves as the biggest dealer of death
08:42 in the film.
08:49 The King of the Monsters annihilates four named characters on screen with this attack.
08:54 These include Cabinet Secretary Rando Yaguchi, Prime Minister Seiji Okoji, Tank Captain Ikeda,
09:02 and Defense Minister Reiko Hanamori.
09:10 Elsewhere, the carnage of "Shin Godzilla's" rampage is without prejudice or mercy, indiscriminately
09:20 killing soldiers, civilians, and families along the way.
09:32 Number 3.
09:34 441.
09:35 "Invasion of Astro Monster"
09:38 We don't normally attempt to rationalize exactly how many individuals might happen
09:43 to be within a structure after Godzilla blows it up.
09:46 Yet, this is exactly what we must do if we're to properly analyze how many meet their maker
09:52 during 1965's "Invasion of Astro Monster."
10:08 Godzilla and Rodan effectively share grisly credit on this film, since an approximate
10:13 total of 371 civilians and 45 soldiers die after Godzilla and Rodan fall under alien
10:21 mind control.
10:33 These aliens, the Exilians, also receive their comeuppance by the film's end, however,
10:39 with 25 of their numbers biting the dust.
10:52 Number 2.
10:54 5,979.
10:55 "Godzilla vs. Kong"
10:59 Comic book movie fans will likely recall the controversy both Marvel and DC faced in terms
11:04 of the collateral damage associated with their CGI superhero battles.
11:09 This, for better or worse, didn't seem to affect 2021's "Godzilla vs. Kong," which,
11:16 well, it features a lot of that kind of stuff.
11:24 Sure, there are a number of unnamed extras that we see get the smackdown by Godzilla,
11:34 both from the United States Air Force as well as from Apex Cybernetics.
11:47 Beyond this, however, there are over 5,900 Navy men and women who fall during Godzilla's
11:54 attacks.
11:55 Additionally, 69 citizens of Hong Kong die as Godzilla enters the area, preparing for
12:01 his battle with King Kong.
12:27 Number 1.
12:28 Approximately 22,223,287.
12:31 "Destroy All Monsters"
12:36 This 1968 film may have been titled "Destroy All Monsters," but it's the people who
12:42 are actually decimated by the end credits.
12:46 That's because the alien race known as the Kilaks take over some of the world's most
12:51 dangerous monsters, and set them on a course for total destruction.
13:07 Fans have estimated that Godzilla alone is responsible for the deaths of 90,300,000 people
13:14 during his attack on New York City, although this number stands in contrast to lower urban
13:26 population data from around this time.
13:30 Setting this number aside, "Destroy All Monsters" still dwarfs nearly every other
13:34 Godzilla film, with over 2 million dead during a shared Tokyo attack between Big G, Rodan,
13:41 Mothra and Manda.
13:51 Did any of these entries surprise you?
13:53 Let us know in those comments below!
14:11 [Outro]
14:22 [BLANK_AUDIO]