8 Best Godzilla Allies, Ranked (original) (raw)
Godzilla and Jet Jaguar shaking hands after winning a battle in Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973)
Image via Toho
Published Jul 5, 2025, 6:10 PM EDT
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The first Godzilla movie came out way back in 1954, and memorably pitted the titular monster against the human race without giving him another monster-sized opponent. A few subsequent Godzilla films would do the same, like 1984’s The Return of Godzilla, 2016’s Shin Godzilla, and 2023’s Godzilla Minus One, but usually, there’s at least one other monster in every Godzilla movie, hence why so many of them are called “Godzilla vs. [insert monster’s name here].”
Seeing Godzilla fighting other kaiju is great, but there are other times when he has monster allies, and that’s another sort of entertaining. The following characters have all teamed up with Godzilla on at least one memorable occasion, though some have also been opponents. At times, this is because of different continuities, and at other times, Godzilla and his prior enemies kiss and make up, so to speak. The most iconic Godzilla allies – temporary or otherwise – are ranked below.
8 King Caesar
First appeared in 'Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla' (1974)
King Caesar in Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974)
Image via Toho
Maybe King Caesar is a little forgotten, as far as Godzilla monsters go, but he doesn’t deserve to be. He shows up in Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, and was very much needed, considering Mechagodzilla was such an effective foe, being Godzilla’s robotic match in pretty much every way (unsurprisingly, considering his name and all).
The only other main Godzilla movie where King Caesar has made some kind of appearance was 2004’s Godzilla: Final Wars, where he fights a super-powerful iteration of Godzilla and gets defeated, because Godzilla is just that beefed-up in that movie. King Caesar steps up in Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, though, partly because Anguirus is brutally taken out of commission early on (more on that legendary Godzilla ally – and occasional opponent – in a bit).
Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla
Release Date
March 21, 1974
Runtime
84 minutes
Cast
Masaaki Daimon
Keisuke Shimizu
Kazuya Aoyama
Masahiko Shimizu
7 Minilla
First appeared in 'Son of Godzilla' (1967)
Image via Toho
The derpiest little dude in the history of the Godzilla series, Minilla doesn’t score points for being a super powerful ally or anything, but he’s here more or less out of pity. Minilla means well, even when he’s annoying, and is always by Godzilla’s side as moral support, only occasionally proving capable of doing anything physical. Guess he can kind of be a distraction for proper enemies?
Minilla first shows up in Son of Godzilla, and gets begrudgingly adopted by Godzilla, who also looked a little derpy during this era of Godzilla movies, but not nearly to the same extent as Minilla.
Anyway, he first shows up in Son of Godzilla, and gets begrudgingly adopted by Godzilla, who also looked a little derpy during this era of Godzilla movies, but not nearly to the same extent as Minilla. But then the aforementioned Godzilla: Final Wars comes around, and Minilla gets a bit of a redemption, being the one who stops Godzilla from continuing to rampage against humanity after all the other kaiju have been defeated. It’s a sweet (and wonderfully cheesy) moment, and almost makes one forgive Minilla for being the central part of the worst non-American Godzilla movie: All Monsters Attack (1969).
6 Rodan
First appearance in a 'Godzilla' film: 'Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster' (1964)
Rodan and Godzilla hanging out on Monster Island
Image via Toho
Though not as important in the overall history of monster movies as the first Godzilla, Rodan (1956) was still pretty significant. It marked the first time a monster who’d eventually be part of the series debuted in a non-Godzilla movie, and it was the first color movie for a _Godzilla_-related character, since Godzilla’s two pre-existing movies, at that point, had both been filmed in black-and-white.
Like a few other monsters released this far back in time, Rodan has been both an ally and a creature at odds with Godzilla, but it’s typically endearing when they're on the same side. And Rodan is undeniably cool, in terms of his design and powers, even if he ultimately plays second fiddle to another soon-to-be-mentioned winged kaiju who’s perhaps even more iconic as a (sometimes) teammate of Godzilla’s.
5 King Kong
First appearance in a 'Godzilla' film: 'King Kong vs. Godzilla' (1962)
So, yes, King Kong has been around for longer than Godzilla, and was his own monster before crossing over with the Godzilla series for the first time almost three decades on from his big screen debut: in 1962’s King Kong vs. Godzilla. And, as the title makes pretty plain, they were not exactly friends there, going head-to-head with one of them surprisingly emerging unambiguously victorious.
And then almost 60 years passed before they got a rematch, with a fair few King Kong movies and many Godzilla movies being released in that time. Sure, in 2021’s Godzilla vs. Kong, they're also opponents, but they do team up at the film’s end to defeat a new iteration of Mechagodzilla, and then they're also (mostly) allied during that film’s sequel, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. So, they have an on-and-off relationship of sorts, but they’ve been chummy enough for Kong to still be fairly considered a sometimes-ally.
King Kong vs. Godzilla
Release Date
August 11, 1962
Runtime
97 Minutes
Director
Ishirô Honda, Norman Tokar
Writers
Willis H. O'Brien, Shinichi Sekizawa
4 Godzilla Junior
First appeared in 'Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II' (1993)
Image via Toho
Not to be mixed up with the aforementioned Minilla, Godzilla Junior was introduced during the Heisei era, setting him apart from the Showa era’s Minilla… though Minilla was also in the Millennium era, owing to his Godzilla: Final Wars appearance. It gets confusing to explain, but makes sense if you watch all the Godzilla films and/or live and breathe everything Godzilla. It happens to the best of us.
First seen in Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II, Godzilla Junior feels like a slightly cooler (and also, initially, cuter/not as ugly) take on a baby version of Godzilla. He grows a little by the time of 1994’s Godzilla vs. Spacegodzilla, and is then appropriately kaiju-sized by the time the very intense Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995) came around. He’s used particularly memorably in that final Heisei era film, and seeing him grow over the course of a handful of films really helps further establish the surprisingly strong continuity found in this era of Godzilla movies.
3 Jet Jaguar
First appeared in 'Godzilla vs. Megalon' (1973)
Image via Toho
In Godzilla vs. Megalon, there are two other monsters important to the fight promised in the title. Megalon gets an ally in Gigan, who was in the previous year’s Godzilla vs. Gigan, while Godzilla gets a helping hand in the form of Jet Jaguar, who’s a robot that starts the film roughly the size of a human before blowing up to kaiju size when he needs to fight, you know, kaiju, because why not?
Godzilla vs. Megalon is about as silly as Godzilla movies get, but it’s also exceptionally entertaining while still retaining a certain charm, so long as you're okay with a fair bit of camp. Jet Jaguar hasn’t appeared in any other mainline Godzilla films, but that handshake he does with Godzilla at the end of their fight, after they’ve teamed up? It speaks to the bond the two have, and it’s also adorable.
Godzilla vs. Megalon
Release Date
March 17, 1973
Runtime
82 minutes
Cast
Katsuhiko Sasaki
Inventor Goro Ibuki
Yutaka Hayashi
Hiroshi Jinkawa
Hiroyuki Kawase
Rokuro 'Roku-chan' Ibuki
Kanta Mori
Japan Special Defense Forces Chief
2 Anguirus
First appeared in 'Godzilla Raids Again' (1955)
Image via Toho
Again, Anguirus was first introduced as an opponent of Godzilla’s, but proved to be an especially important one, since he was the first giant monster Godzilla ever battled (in 1955’s Godzilla Raids Again). After that, Anguirus was more likely to be on Godzilla’s side, though, and there’s something about his general demeanor and energy that makes him feel particularly loyal.
Well, there are a couple of things that point to Anguirus being a top guy. He’s shown holding a conversation with Godzilla in Godzilla vs. Gigan (complete with speech bubbles), which has to be seen to be believed, and then when Godzilla seemingly breaks his jaw in Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (it’s actually a disguised Mechagodzilla), it’s a shocking moment, partly because the two had seemed like such good friends before then. So, Anguirus rocks. And it’s easy to imagine Godzilla and him hanging out between movies, whenever there isn't some dangerous otherworldly kaiju to battle.
Godzilla Raids Again
Release Date
May 21, 1959
Runtime
82 minutes
Cast
Hiroshi Koizumi
Shoichi Tsukioka
Setsuko Wakayama
Hidemi Yamaji
Minoru Chiaki
Kôji Kobayashi
Takashi Shimura
Kyohei Yamane-hakase
1 Mothra
First appearance in a 'Godzilla' film: 'Mothra vs. Godzilla' (1964)
Image via Toho
The closest Mothra has come to feeling like a villain is in her debut solo movie, Mothra (1961), which was produced by Toho, but didn’t have Godzilla in it. One of her earliest appearances in the Godzilla series was in 1964's Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster, with the plot largely revolving around her trying to convince Godzilla and Rodan to join her in fighting the titular King Ghidorah, who’s about as far from a Godzilla ally as they come.
So, Mothra’s just about always humanity’s ally, and she’s often Godzilla’s, mostly being opposed to him when he’s being portrayed as the villain (see 2001’s Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack, where she actually teams up with Ghidorah to fight a particularly evil Godzilla). She’s a giant friendly moth, for the most part, and almost always has Godzilla’s back, so she feels like the closest thing he has to a definitive and recurring sidekick/ally.
Mothra vs. Godzilla
Release Date
April 29, 1964
Runtime
89 minutes
Cast
Akira Takarada
Ichiro "Ichi" Sakai
Yuriko Hoshi
Junko Nakanishi
Hiroshi Koizumi
Professor Shunsuke Miura