Godzilla: G-Force, Explained

Godzilla

By Joshua Kristian McCoy

Published 2 days ago

Godzilla is a complicated gentleman. He has endless destructive potential and regularly shifting motivations. Humanity never knows what they're getting when the iconic kaiju steps out of the sea for another jaunt. When Godzilla isn't in the mood to defend Earth, humans need something to keep him in line. There are a lot of military organizations that try to tangle with the King of the Monsters, but only a special group, like the G-Force, can hope to stand against Godzilla.

The idea of fighting Godzilla with weapons feels a bit silly. He's practically immortal and regularly on humanity's side. Perhaps more importantly, human weapons created Godzilla. He's a living embodiment of the greatest weapon ever created. What lesson could anyone learn by watching people build an even bigger bomb to win the day? Part of the genius of Ishiro Honda's original 1954 Godzilla is the conflict behind Dr. Serizawa's solution. G-Force comes from a different era in the franchise.

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How did G-Force form?

G-Force is an international military branch concerned with defending the world from Godzilla. It originated in Godzilla's Heisei era. G-Force is the armed portion of a larger organization called the United Nations Godzilla Countermeasure Center, or U.N.G.C.C. The U.N.G.C.C. rose from the international community after the events of Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah. That film saw Godzilla become a threat to Japan again before an elaborate time travel scheme briefly replaced him with King Ghidorah. The movie canonically establishes Godzilla as an inevitability, guaranteeing that some type of human nuclear experiment will eventually result in Godzilla's creation. Godzilla wins the battle against Ghidorah and the revived Mecha-King Ghidorah, leaving Japan to wonder how they'll protect their shores from the next attack. The United Nations partnered with the Japanese government to form the U.N.G.C.C. and its G-Force branch. The U.N.G.C.C. also has a Psyonics Center and representatives of almost every scientific discipline. The group brings the world's greatest minds to their headquarters in Japan to develop a suitable solution to their Godzilla problem. G-Force has several ideas.

What did G-Force accomplish?

Before G-Force stepped in, the Japanese Self-Defense Force, or JSDF, had one primary strategy they liked to use against Godzilla. They invented several fast, agile, and heavily armed aircraft that they believed could outmaneuver and defeat Godzilla. The Super X and Super X2 seemed like good ideas at the time, but Godzilla dispatched both with ease. The G-Force attempted to create a spiritual successor to the Super X series with an armed airship called Garuda. It never saw combat because initial tests quickly proved that it would also pale in comparison to Godzilla. Subsequently, G-Force developed a new strategy. They dug up what was left of Mecha-King Ghidorah, an invention from the future. G-Force reverse-engineered Mecha-King Ghidorah to develop Mechagodzilla. G-Force's Mechagodzilla lost its first bout against Godzilla, but by combining the mech with Garuda, they created Super Mechagodzilla. The new and improved machine defeated Fire Rodan in combat, but Rodan sacrificed himself to empower Godzilla. This allowed the King of the Monsters to defeat G-Force's best invention.

G-Force reused the damaged parts of Mechagodzilla to create another giant robot. This model was called the Mobile Operations Godzilla Universal Expert Robot Aero-type, or MOGUERA. MOGUERA was a unique mole-like machine that could split into a jet called the Star Falcon and an armored tank. This mech was similarly unsuccessful, as it wandered into a fight it was unprepared for. MOGUERA encounters SpaceGodzilla, an extraterrestrial clone of Godzilla with unique psychic powers. SpaceGodzilla wrecked MOGUERA in their first encounter. G-Force repaired their second giant robot, but they learned their lesson. G-Force used MOGUERA to fight SpaceGodzilla alongside Godzilla, forcing the alien threat to retreat.

Finally, G-Force returned to the old Super X series. The Super X3 was an advanced aerial fighter armed with several unique weapons. They developed this jet to counter Godzilla's advanced radiation. Godzilla became Burning Godzilla, a state of overwhelming heat and energy that could threaten the world. The Super X3 had a laser designed to reduce a target's temperature rapidly. The Super X3 and a fleet of other cryolasers successfully reduce Burning Godzilla's apocalyptic risk. Cadmium missiles also reduce the beast's radioactivity. The Super X3 also helps to defeat Destoroyah, disabling the creature's wings so that he can't escape. G-Force provides the technology that prevents Godzilla from going supernova and potentially destroying the world.

What replaced G-Force in the Monsterverse?

The Toho Godzilla franchise has a ton of organizations dedicated to fighting Godzilla. The Monsterverse's answer to the U.N.G.C.C. is Monarch. Monarch is primarily a scientific organization dedicated to studying Titans. The group developed in the late 1940s. They prefer to avoid any form of conflict, but Monarch does have a military unit. The G-Team is a special private army that fights rogue monsters. Their work is not considerably impressive. Most fans will remember them from Godzilla: King of the Monsters, in which they primarily die in large numbers every time Ghidorah and Rodan move.

The G-Force is a fascinating narrative element in Godzilla's Heisei era. Mechagodzilla originally appeared as an alien creation, but G-Force introduced it as a human invention. It's fun to watch humanity turn every stone and try their best to compete with Godzilla. It almost never works, but it's worth the attempt.