- Anti-Climax Boss: Cyber-Godzilla is treated as the Leviathan Aliens' ultimate weapon for their quest to conquer the world, and his first action was chasing after Nick and Craven to showcase his new threat level. But by part 3 of Monster Wars, Godzilla easily beats the radioactive corpse out of him, and not once did Cyber-Godzilla land any hits on his son, then is quickly finished off.
- Alternative Character Interpretation:
- Was Nick actually serious about placing Mendel in charge of HEAT or was he just joking?
- After Cyber-Godzilla briefly regains his normal eye color, did he want to be put out of his misery? There's a part where after Cyber-Godzilla has his orange eyes, he gives his son a soft roar, and the protagonist Godzilla ferociously attacks him, indicating that he is willing to oblige before the aliens regain control.
- Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: Randy having warped but otherwise totally accurate visions of what happened to the two smugglers after being stung by a scorpion (and not even a mutant one that was somehow connected to Ts-eh-Go or the Second Wave) in "Where Is Thy Sting?"
- Character Rerailment: Though he has a bit more in common with the Hanna Barbera Godzilla, this Godzilla is much more closer to his Toho counterpart instead of his father who was a Cowardly Lion who could get shot down.
- Common Knowledge:
- It is often claimed that because the show was better handled and better received as a Godzilla product than its film predecessor, Toho officially recognized and honored the show's incarnation as a true member of the Godzilla lineup, dubbing him "Godzilla Jr." while his father is merely "Zilla" because he took the God out of Godzilla. However, Toho has never officially said anything like this, the show's incarnation of Godzilla does not possess any trademark unique to it proclaiming as much, "Godzilla Jr." is already taken by the Heisei movie series, and Godzilla's father from the 1998 film is only called Zilla in Japanese works so it's essentially just having two different trademarks for different versions of the same creature concept in different continuities. They said the show was a redeeming factor for the film as a concept in their official YouTube channel.
- The aliens in "Leviathan" and "Monster Wars" are sometimes referred to by fans as Tachyon aliens. They're unnamed in the show itself, but according to supplementary material they're called Leviathan Aliens (if they have any name they call themselves, it never comes up). Tachyons referred specifically to the faster-than-light particles they used to communicate (the concept was common
in older science-fiction media, mostly due to its futuristic-sounding name), not the aliens themselves.
- Complete Monster: Cameron Winter takes control of Godzilla and makes him destroy properties so he can collect insurance money, even making Godzilla attack a military base and endanger the lives of 500 soldiers. Defeated by H.E.A.T., Cameron returns for revenge and creates a giant monster called the Chameleon to have it attack humans and frame Godzilla for the attacks, before having the Chameleon defeat and kill Godzilla so Cameron can be seen as a hero for creating the thing that kills Godzilla. Foiled again, Cameron breaks three men out of prison and equips them with battle mechs to kill Godzilla, ordering them to also attack H.E.A.T. and the military when they get in the way. Though the hunters are defeated, Cameron denies any connection with them and claims they stole his mechs and attacked Godzilla on their own.
- Ensemble Dark Horse:
- N.I.G.E.L. is quite popular, with him being a genuinely hilarious Comic Relief voiced by a pre-SpongeBob Tom Kenny.
- Several of the recurring or one-off kaiju are very popular, such as C-Rex (for being the Starter Villain of the series), Komodithrax (for being Godzilla's Temporary Love Interest), and King Cobra (just for having a cool design).
- Then, of course, there's Monique, for obvious reasons.
- Fan Nickname: This one's nickname is "Toonzilla." "Junior" is also used, but "Zilla, Jr." when having to differentiate from "Godzilla, Jr.", and from his father (frequently referred to as "Zilla" by fans).
- Fan-Preferred Couple: The fandom may not be huge compared to other fandoms, but Nick and Elsie is considered to have more chemistry than Nick and Audrey or Mendel and Elsie by several who watch the show, likely due to Audrey being The Scrappy of the original movie and being Demoted to Extra here.
- Germans Love David Hasselhoff: The series, unlike the film it preceded from, is well-loved in Japan to the point that even Toho loves the series.
- Harsher in Hindsight:
- From the episode "Future Shock", Randy's line of "Who's been playing dominoes with the World Trade Center?" is rather harsh in a post-9/11 world. It's almost as bad is seeing Sears/Willis Tower crumbling down in an almost identical fashion in "Metamorphosis".
- The episode "S.C.A.L.E." treats the idea of terrorists willing to bring widespread death and destruction much more laxly than any media (never mind media with children as its intended audience) in the post-9/11 world would certainly allow. The antagonist at the end, despite having plans that surely would have led to hundreds, if not thousands of deaths, is even allowed to release a document that she explicitly says will help spread their cause and is given a filmed interview with the media after being arrested.
- And speaking of S.C.A.L.E., their endgame is eerily similar to the plot of Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019) where they intend to release the monsters from their imprisonment, which in no doubt would cause a massive global-scale destruction as seen in Monster Wars three-parter to the point that Godzilla was needed to intervene before more destruction happens. Luckily, King Ghidorah doesn't exist in this universe so there's a sigh of relief. Unless you consider Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack! part of this universe, but with an eviler undead Godzilla instead of Ghidorah.
- And thirdly, while it's a homage to Godzilla movies where Cyber-Godzilla attacks Japan, this won't be the last time an undead Godzilla will come back from the dead and starts his rampage again.
- And via Word of God for Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla, it's by extension not the last time Godzilla will fight the Cybernetically-augmented corpse of their parent.
- Hilarious in Hindsight:
- This Sony Pictures-produced series features a monster named the Crackler. Sony would later purchase the streaming service Crackle and owned it for 10 years.
- The plot of "Future Shock" is basically Reign of Fire with some Time Travel thrown in.
- Also, the next time Sony Pictures Television created an animated series with dragons and other bizarre creatures (about a year after this one), it was pretty much the antithesis of this show...
- Speaking of Godzilla references, in one arc the original 'Zilla, from the film, is resurrected and is used to fight against the new Godzilla. Funnily enough, that's pretty much the origin of Kiryu. Supplementary materials imply that the Godzilla of the Kiryu duology is the son of the original Godzilla, which is the relationship the protagonist Godzilla has with Cyber-Godzilla.
- "An Early Frost" has a group of soldiers tracking down the Chameleon, only to be ambushed by it when it is revealed to have camouflage abilities. The same thing happens to the Asset Containment Unit sent to recapture the Indominus Rex in Jurassic World.
- "Shafted" feature Mae Whitman and Robbie Rist as the voice of two siblings, the two would later star in Nickelodeon's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012).
- The Gameboy Color adaptation of "Monster Wars" differs from the animated series in that Godzilla is never put under mind control and instead battles his way through the other mutations one at a time, who remain under the Leviathan aliens' control, which is pretty much the entire plot of Godzilla: Final Wars.
- A group of Eco-Terrorists attempting to release several monsters from their imprisonment, and H.E.A.T and Godzilla has to prevent the monsters from escaping? 20 years later, the exact thing happens, but with King Ghidorah.
- In the third episode, as Godzilla and another monster are fighting each other, the military decides to shoot a new experimental weapon at the two of them and hope it takes them both out, but it ends up taking out only Godzilla, leaving him in a near-death state, while not harming the other monster at all due to some unforeseen biological quirk. This exact scenario would also play out in Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019), with both scenes taking place in Mexican territory to boot.
- The show predicted the use of AI generated images in a scene where Randy in "The Ballad of Gens Du Marais" tried to make a logo for the team by scanning images into a computer, and expecting it to do all the work. The output for both attempts is a mess of barely legible images, and Monique slams Randy's idea by saying "Art comes from within, it cannot be programmed," eerily mirroring the discourse surrounding AI generators and the art world in 2023. It's only when Randy takes "a shot the old fashion way" on pencil and paper that gets actual approval from Elsie, Mendel, and Monique - the letters "H.E.A.T." under a silhouette of Godzilla's head.
- Improved Second Attempt: The series is loved by Godzilla fans for portraying this incarnation of the 1998 American Godzilla as faithful as the Japanese Godzilla which includes his combat abilities and the ability to use an Atomic Breath. It helps that the crew who made the show were huge Godzilla fans.
- Just Here for Godzilla: The reason why this show was made. Considered better than the film nonetheless as this entire page tells you.
- More Popular Spin-Off: The series gets a warmer reception from Godzilla fans than the 1998 film it ties in with due to this incarnation of Godzilla being more like the Japanese monster despite having the parent Zilla's appearance.
- Older Than They Think: Several:
- The Millennium Godzillas have a specific bellow that seems to be a new roar made for Godzilla 2000 and onwards. It actually originated here in "The Winter of Our Discontent" when Cameron Winter made Godzilla go crazy and has him attack the military base, and he roars this specific bellow.
- The Legendary Godzilla's spines and eyes light up as he charges and releases his atomic breath, something this version of the character introduced, and quite likely a nod to both continuities having similar depictions of Godzilla.
- The debate about whether the Robo-Yeti counts as an offensive or defensive weapon (and thus whether it violates Japan's constitution) is also present in Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla. Likewise, the concept of a Mechagodzilla being built from the remains of the original Godzilla and then being used to fight a successor, is a major plot point in the Kiryu films, and also originated here.
- Skeetra, a mutated mosquito who can absorb and then return fire with various other monsters' energy weapons has a very similar powerset to the antagonistic monster in Godzilla vs. Megaguirus .
- The Millennium Godzillas have a specific bellow
- The Problem with Licensed Games: The Game Boy Color game Godzilla: The Series and its sequel, Monster Wars, looked good and were accurate to the show, but suffered from having very slow and repetitive gameplay, something that was not helped at all by the total lack of music outside of the title screens and every boss battle being exactly the same (Godzilla and the boss stand in place on opposite sides of the screen and shoot projectiles at each other).
- Rescued from the Scrappy Heap:
- Did this to the original movie... sort of. The movie is still considered not good, but it made the characters from the film, and Zilla, Jr. himself, much improved from the original form, and powerful enough that they could call it Godzilla again, fixing his Meaningful Name as "God incarnate". Toho themselves agreed with the assessment that the cartoon redeemed the 1998 concept.
- Nick is much better received as The Protagonist in this series than in the movie proper. Helps that he gets actually awesome moments, has character development and isn't just an awkward character that really annoyed people.
- The original monster, as was stated previously, was not popular. He gets brought back from the dead as an alien-controlled cyborg monster, in one of the most memorable stories in the series.
- Salvaged Story: A major criticism of the live-action film is that the titular character was Godzilla In Name Only. Here, Zilla Jr. ends up being Truer to the Text, having the atomic breath and more of a personality, as well as each episode involving him fighting a different Kaiju, like most actual Godzilla films.
- The Scrappy: Audrey is just as disliked here as she was in the movie. Probably doesn't help that she doesn't seem to have learned her lesson and to top it off comes across as really clingy and selfish. Thankfully, she's at least Demoted to Extra and absent for most episodes.
- Spiritual Successor:
- The series has quite a bit in common with The Godzilla Power Hour: a team of scientists travelling around the world on a Cool Ship (bonus points for the Heat-Seeker having a hydrofoil mode for high-speed travel, just like the Calico) who can summon Godzilla with an audio signal, a heroic Godzilla that heavily deviates from standard depictions of the character (both in appearance and abilities), and a Monster of the Week format that pits Godzilla against all manners of giant monsters.
- Alienators: Evolution Continues could be considered as one to this series, with a specialized team fending off the Genus, an alien Monster of the Week species whose character designs are quite similar to the mutations of this show.
- Strangled by the Red String: Many fans wonder what Nick even sees in Audrey at all and why he continues to put up with her. The relationship has been criticized as feeling very forced. And while not as criticized as Audrey and Nick, there are several in the fandom who have criticized the Relationship Upgrade for Mendel and Elsie. It has been argued that while not as bad as Audrey and Nick, their relationship is almost just as forced.
- Surprisingly Improved Sequel: The animated series fixed a number of the main criticisms leveled against Godzilla's portrayal in the 1998 film, giving him Atomic Breath, showing him in combat with other monsters, and giving him a lot more personality than just being a big instinctual animal. Most fans consider it a worthy television adaptation of the character, which is more than can be said about the movie it spun-off from.
- They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character:
- A notable issue some fans have is that the kaiju that show up in the series usually die in their first episode and the ones that survive are quickly Demoted to Extra.
- Cameron Winter was the show's only real recurring villain, even though plenty of others like the Techno-Sentient, Alexandra Springer from "S.C.A.L.E." and Colonel Tarrington from "Where Is Thy Sting?" easily could have been brought back for additional stories (Tarrington's episode even ended with him ordering the creation of a "Third Wave" of Mutant Scorpions).
- They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot:
- It was mentioned in "What Dreams May Come" that human mutations were possible, but the show never featured any or even brought the subject up again (unless you count Randy's vision of mutant scorpion soldiers in "Where Is Thy Sting?")
- Due to the show's general lack of continuity, aside from some monsters returning as cameos, numerous Sequel Hook ideas for episodes are never touched on again (there's only one Sequel Episode in the entire series, the three-part "Monster Wars" arc, which is a direct followup to "Leviathan"). This includes the development of a "Third Wave" of scorpion mutates at the end of "Where is Thy Sting", the military contracts Cameron Winters to build more Lizard Slayer-type weapons at the end of "Lizard Season", the Fire Monster escaping again at the end of "Ring of Fire", and Craven helping Dr. Ifukube the Robo-Yeti to defend Japan against further possible mutates at the end of "Competition".
- Ugly Cute: Junior himself, especially as a baby◊ and when he figures out that Nick is "dad" during his juvenile stage. Partly it's the look, partly it's the surprised noise the great lizard makes.
- Values Dissonance: The episode "S.C.A.L.E." treats the titular doomsday terrorist organization, that explicitly want to cause mass destruction and large-scale human death, much more laxly than any modern media would ever portray, due to being produced a few years before 9/11, when terrorism started to hit a little too close to reality, rather than being relegated to works of light-hearted fantasy. Even the idea that the organization's leader would be cleared of all charges after making a widely televised threat and directly interfering with a military operation is utterly ridiculous to current viewers, never mind being allowed an interview with the press and the release of her manifesto which she opens hopes will radicalize more followers after attempting to bring about the extinction of the human race.
- What Do You Mean, It's for Kids?: The series has an incredible amount of violence compared to the film, such as the lead monster dismembering various kaiju, melting some of them, and even burning one alive. You have to wonder what the FCC thinks about this. It also showed military characters using guns that had the looks of real life guns (despite some Off-Model issues) during a time when Family-Friendly Firearms was the norm for most US animation. And in the second episode, Animal flat out calls some soldiers "stormtroopers" to their faces, though the "Stormtroopers" comment might have simply been a Star Wars reference.
- The Woobie: Sydney Walker, the man who inadvertently creates the Crackler, in "What Dreams May Come". By the end of the episode you'll wanna give the poor guy a hug.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/YMMV/GodzillaTheSeries
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