Showa Era

Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla (1974)

Mechagodzilla first appeared from Mount Fuji disguised as Godzilla and rampaged through the countryside. Anguirus emerged from underground and suddenly attacked it, but was brutally beaten, even having his jaw broken. Mechagodzilla then moved on to Tokyo, where it was intercepted by the real Godzilla. After a brief skirmish, Mechagodzilla shed its disguise and revealed the full extent of its weaponry. Mechagodzilla blasted Godzilla with its finger missiles and fired its laser vision at Godzilla. Godzilla countered with his atomic breath, causing the beams to lock and explode, severely damaging Mechagodzilla and badly wounding Godzilla. Mechagodzilla was called back to the Black Hole Planet 3 Aliens' base in Okinawa to be repaired. The aliens captured a human scientist, Hideto Miyajima, and forced him to repair Mechagodzilla in exchange for his daughter's life. After Mechagodzilla was completed, it was unleashed once again and sent to destroy King Caesar, an ancient guardian monster of Okinawa. Mechagodzilla dominated the battle, but before it could defeat King Caesar, Godzilla appeared once again, seeking a rematch. Godzilla and King Caesar then joined forces against Mechagodzilla, and eventually forced the mechanical monster to attempt to retreat. Godzilla called upon his newfound magnetic powers to pull Mechagodzilla toward him. Godzilla held Mechagodzilla still while King Caesar repeatedly attacked it, then twisted the machine's head off. Mechagodzilla's body then exploded along with the aliens' base, ending the invasion.

Terror of MechaGodzilla (1975)

Mechagodzilla was rebuilt by the Black Hole Planet 3 Aliens in another attempt to take over the Earth. Its wreckage was recovered in the waters off Okinawa, and the machine was rebuilt in an underground base in the Japanese countryside near Mount Miyagi. This time, the aliens recruited the help of a deranged Earthling scientist, Shinzo Mafune, for their invasion. Mafune helped the aliens to improve Mechagodzilla, and also offered them the assistance of the monster Titanosaurus, which he controlled. The aliens installed the control device for Mechagodzilla inside of Mafune's cybernetically-modified daughter, Katsura, because Mafune said that Mechagodzilla required living brain tissue to be perfect.

To show off Mechagodzilla's upgraded weaponry, Mechagodzilla was deployed in Tokyo, with Titanosaurus providing backup. Unleashing wave after wave of its eye beams, Mechagodzilla set large areas of the city on fire, and its finger missiles now had the capability to explode with such force as to throw buildings and vehicles into the air. Titanosaurus also wreaked havoc by creating gale-force winds with his tail that demolished structures with little effort. Godzilla arrived to challenge the monsters, but was outmatched. While Titanosaurus battled Godzilla head-on, Mechagodzilla blasted its organic counterpart with various weapons. Titanosaurus kicked Godzilla into a ditch, while Mechagodzilla buried him with its missiles. The humans intervened and distracted Titanosaurus with a sonic wave oscillator, allowing Godzilla to take on Mechagodzilla one-on-one. Godzilla removed Mechagodzilla's head once again, but this time the mechanical monster had a small "brain" placed in its neck, allowing it to continue to operate without its head and fire a powerful concentrated laser. However, Katsura committed suicide to stop Mechagodzilla, and the machine shut down. Godzilla seized the opportunity and threw Mechagodzilla into a ravine, then destroyed his mechanical doppelganger for good with a blast of his atomic breath. The ravine then collapsed on top of Mechagodzilla's ruins, preventing the aliens from retrieving and rebuilding Mechagodzilla again.

Heisei Era

Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla II (1993)

In 1992, the United Nations formed the United Nations Godzilla Countermeasures Center, a special branch dedicated to combating the threat posed by Godzilla. The U.N.G.C.C.'s military branch, G-Force, began construction on an anti-Godzilla machine known as Garuda. However, G-Force concluded that the Garuda's combat capabilities were too limited to be effective against Godzilla. Using Futurian technology salvaged from Mecha-King Ghidorah's central head, G-Force began construction of a much more advanced machine built in Godzilla's own image. The machine, Mechagodzilla, was finally completed in 1994. The mech would first see action when Godzilla appeared in Japan and began heading to the city of Kyoto. Mechagodzilla was launched and engaged Godzilla in the countryside. Mechagodzilla held the upper hand against its organic counterpart, knocking Godzilla to the ground with its impressive array of lasers and missiles. Mechagodzilla fired its shock anchors into Godzilla, electrocuting him and causing him to foam at the mouth. Suddenly, Godzilla emitted a shockwave of energy that caused the electrical current to be reversed and travel back up Mechagodzilla's shock anchor cables. Mechagodzilla began to short-circuit and was rendered immobile as Godzilla rose back to his feet. Godzilla charged at Mechagodzilla, knocking the machine onto its back, before continuing on to Kyoto.

Mechagodzilla was brought back to G-Force headquarters for repairs, which were expected to take several weeks. After being transferred to parking duty after failing to appear to pilot Mechagodzilla, Kazuma Aoki pulled aside Mechagodzilla's lead engineer, Leo Asimov. Kazuma proposed a plan to modify the Garuda and allow it to be more useful against Godzilla in combat. When Asimov asked what they would do with Mechagodzilla, Kazuma revealed a proposal to combine the Garuda and Mechagodzilla into a single, more powerful machine. Asimov agreed, and both mechs were modified. Meanwhile, G-Force was formulating a new plan to kill Godzilla. They had learned that Godzilla possessed a secondary brain in his hip that controlled lower body function due to BabyGodzilla, an infant Godzillasaurus in G-Force's custody, possessing the same structure. G-Force planned to use BabyGodzilla as bait to lure Godzilla to the Ogasawara Islands, then have Mechagodzilla use its shock anchor cables to destroy Godzilla's second brain and paralyze him, then finally kill him with its arsenal of weapons. Preparations were made, and BabyGodzilla was airlifted to the Ogasawara Islands along with his human surrogate mother, Azusa Gojo. En route, the canister holding them was captured by Fire Rodan, who touched down in Makuhari and tried to break the canister open.

Mechagodzilla was quickly deployed to attack Rodan and save Baby and Azusa. Mechagodzilla arrived and confronted Rodan, who fought back with his newly-acquired uranium heat beam. Aoki arrived in the Garuda shortly after to back up Mechagodzilla, distracting Rodan with its laser beams while Mechagodzilla charged its plasma grenade. Rodan took to the sky and rammed the Garuda, causing it to crash into a building. Mechagodzilla used its plasma grenade to blast Rodan into a skyscraper, then approached him. Rodan sprang back up and used his beak to knock out Mechagodzilla's right eye. Mechagodzilla fired the plasma grenade again, shredding Rodan's chest and sending him flying into a nearby building. With Rodan seemingly dead, Godzilla suddenly appeared from the ocean, roaring and challenging Mechagodzilla to battle once again. Mechagodzilla turned to face Godzilla and fired its mega buster beam at him. Godzilla countered with his atomic breath, causing the beams to lock and explode. Mechagodzilla was disabled by the explosion, allowing Godzilla to charge and attack it up close. Godzilla easily overpowered Mechagodzilla, slamming it onto the ground and stomping on its head. The Garuda regained flight and fired at Godzilla, allowing Mechagodzilla to get back up. The Garuda then flew onto Mechagodzilla's back and combined with it.

The Garuda attached itself to Mechagodzilla's back, forming Super Mechagodzilla (Sūpā Mekagojira). More powerful than ever before, Super Mechagodzilla took flight and unleashed its payload of laser beams onto Godzilla, knocking him to the ground. As Godzilla staggered to his feet, Super Mechagodzilla fired paralyzer missiles at Godzilla then launched its shock anchor cables into his hip. Mechagodzilla then began to discharge electricity through the cables, shattering Godzilla's secondary brain and sending him falling headfirst to the ground. With Godzilla paralyzed, it appeared Super Mechagodzilla would be victorious. As Super Mechagodzilla prepared to finish Godzilla, BabyGodzilla broke free of the canister holding him and roared out, getting the attention of the mortally-wounded Rodan. Rodan took flight and flew near Godzilla, prompting Super Mechagodzilla to shoot him down with its mega buster. Rodan fell onto Godzilla, and it appeared the two monsters would die together. However, Rodan began transferring his life force into Godzilla, regenerating his secondary brain and revitalizing him. As Rodan faded away into nothing, Godzilla rose to his feet and roared, giving off huge amounts of heat. The intensity of the heat caused Super Mechagodzilla's synthetic diamond armor plate to melt. Godzilla fired his new spiral red atomic breath at Super Mechagodzilla, staggering it back and causing severe damage. Super Mechagodzilla fired back with its mega buster, engaging in another beam lock. This time, Godzilla's beam overpowered Mechagodzilla's, causing it to fall backward into a building. Godzilla proceeded to fire his spiral beam at Mechagodzilla until the mech's head was blasted off and its entire body erupted in flames. Godzilla roared victoriously and went to find BabyGodzilla. Despite Mechagodzilla's computer claiming that no crew survived its destruction, all of its pilots survived the explosion. Mechagodzilla's pilots looked on from afar as Godzilla and his newly-adopted son waded out to sea together, remarking that life always triumphs over artificial life.

Millennium Era

Godzilla Against MechaGodzilla (2002)

Although the original Godzilla had been killed in 1954 by the Oxygen Destroyer, Japan still found itself under attack from other monsters such as Mothra and Gaira over the decades. When a second Godzilla landed in Tateyama in 1999, this was the last straw. The Anti-Megalosaurus Force (AMF) division of the Japanese Xenomorph Self-Defense Force (JXSDF) proposed to dredge up the skeleton of the first Godzilla from the ocean and use it as a skeletal framework for constructing a mechanical Godzilla to combat the new Godzilla.

The plan was executed, with cloned DNA from the bones inserted into the quasi-organic computer controls, intended to take over subconscious motor control functions for the crew. By 2003, the Mechagodzilla, nicknamed Kiryu, was ready. Kiryu was unleashed when Godzilla surfaced at Hakkeijima, but when the cyborg faced off against Godzilla, something horrific happened: the cyborg's own memories of when he was Godzilla were reawakened by the modern Godzilla's own roars. Kiryu broke free of his pilot, Akane Yashiro, and proceeded to trash Yokohama, ignoring attempts at manual override. Godzilla left the city and headed back to the ocean, with Kiryu continuing his rampage until his fuel ran out.

The Japanese public was not amused. Hastily recalled, Kiryu received quite a few weapon upgrades in addition to new computer control software routines. When Godzilla appeared in Tokyo a few days later, both branches of the JSDF tried stopping him without the mecha's help, but it was useless. With Akane at the mecha's control again, Kiryu was sent out.

The second battle went well until Kiryu's receiver was damaged. Akane wanted to enter Kiryu and repair it herself despite orders against it. She then piloted the cyborg directly from the control room in his skull, carrying Godzilla out into Tokyo Bay once more. Akane tried to destroy Godzilla with Kiryu's ultimate weapon, the Absolute Zero Cannon, but the fight ended in a draw. Godzilla went back to the sea, though not before suffering a horribly shredded chest, and Kiryu was taken back to AMF headquarters after suffering a destroyed right arm, a damaged Absolute Zero Cannon, and empty powercells.

Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. (2002)

In 2004, Akane was sent to America for further flight training. Taking her place in case Godzilla appeared was Akiba. Kiryu underwent heavy repairs, having his Absolute Zero Cannon replaced with a triple Hyper Maser Cannon and a collapsible drill installed in his hand. After a year of modifications, the Modified Type-3 Kiryu (3式機龍改 San-Shiki-Kiryū Aratame) was nearly completed.

Mothra's twin fairies, the Shobijin, appeared to warn Japan. They claimed that building Kiryu using the bones of the Godzilla that appeared in 1954 was a violation of the natural order of things, attracting the current Godzilla. The twins further claimed that Mothra would gladly take Kiryu's place in protecting Japan if they agreed to dismantle Kiryu, and if they declined, Mothra would be forced to attack Japan. Since Kiryu had been built partially to defend against a second attack from Mothra herself, the Japanese government declined.

But when Godzilla appeared in Tokyo once again, Mothra voluntarily engaged him, and Prime Minister Hayato Igarashi was shamed into aiding her. Kiryu flew into battle again. Despite the team up, the current adult Mothra was killed and Kiryu's transmitter damaged once again. Just like Akane before him, Kiryu's chief engineer Yoshito Chujo entered Kiryu for repairs, but remained inside the mech during the battle after Godzilla's beam had accidentally struck both of the hatch doors, damaging and jamming them.

Teaming up with the newly-hatched twin Mothra larvae, Kiryu was able to use his drill in his right arm to injure Godzilla's chest even more, eventually reaching and tearing up his insides. While Godzilla screamed in pain, Kiryu fired his Triple Hyper Maser and Maser Cannons at Godzilla, making Godzilla's roar trigger another flashback in Kiryu which was directly channeled to Yoshito. Godzilla was then wrapped up by the twin Mothra larvae's silk. Unable to fight, Godzilla dropped to the ground, allowing Kiryu to win the battle. After being ordered to finish Godzilla, Kiryu broke free of Akiba's control. Instead of finishing his battle, he merely subdued Godzilla, carrying him out to sea. After releasing Yoshito to safety, Kiryu displayed a message saying "Sayonara Yoshito" on a computer monitor, then plunged into the depths with his organic counterpart, allowing himself to finally rest in peace, while ensuring Godzilla would survive.

Trivia