So I think that it is the same minilla in both movies. We know that Godzilla can live for a long time, like, a REALLY long time. So they would probably age slower as a result. So while minilla did get taller in the 32 years, that doesn’t mean he’s grown up, like how a toddler isn’t grown up. As for the smoke rings, I have no clue for that one.

I have 2 theories: 1- Minilla hatched prematurely thanks to the experiments and the Kamakerus attacks, and that's why his body can't mature normally leaving him in his permanent state. 2- Minilla belongs to a relative species but not the exact same as Godzilla's making him more like a "Dwarf Godzilla" or "Pygmy Godzilla"

Definitely the theory that 70’s Godzilla is actually Minilla. It explains why he is more friendly towards humans in these films since he had a more positive experience with them as a child.

Total head canon but I always assumed that manilla only used the atomic breath so much in son of Godzilla due to being a life or death situation and was able to use it more frequently. This due to the fact that he didn’t always use the atomic breath near the latter half (primarily during his duel with kamacuras) and post 67 he wasn’t in as much danger and was able to develop his smoke ring into a more reliable weapon in absence of a consistent breath.

I have a bit of a dark theory as to why Minilla doesn't look a whole lot like Godzilla. in Son of Godzilla, the Kamacuras broke open the egg to eat it's contents, meaning that Minilla wasn't properly hatched and didn't have enough time to fully develop before birth. This would explain why Minilla looks different from Godzilla and also why he doesn't grow into an adult Godzilla by the events of Destroy all Monsters. It makes Minilla a much more tragic and sympathetic character, and also makes his relationship with Godzilla very heartwarming. Godzilla still chooses to love and take care of his son despite him not being able to grow up to be exactly like him.

What I think personally is this: After Son of Godzilla, Godzilla raised Minilla to fend for himself out in the wild. And after a few years, Minilla was ready to go out on his own in the wild, kinda explaining how Godzilla didn't appear after '67 until Hedorah appeared. Then 30 years later, Godzilla finds another Minilla egg and raises it on his own as he did with Minilla just before the humans move him to Monster Land

This was fun to think about, but at the end of the day I think it comes down to toho not really paying much attention to continuity and timelines. Destroy all Monsters was intended to be the final movie of the series, so they threw in all their monsters and just went ape, timeline be damned which causes issues later on as they never really intended for any films post DAM. Minilla using smoke rings again is most likely because that was the attack he was associated with. As much as I love these movies, it is probably best to not think too hard about the details, after all, much of the showa era was meant to be largely children's entertainment and young kids usually aren't the most discerning audience.

Plot twist: minilla just liked the smoke ring attack so he used it in destroy all monsters (he knows how to do the beam but got bored of it)

I mean like you said, he is Godzilla's adoptive son, meaning he doesn't have to look like him per se. Also I figured the smoke ring was kept just for uniqueness. Cool video idea though! I never thought about it at all.

In my mind I always thought the reason minilla stayed the exact same was because Godzilla’s species takes a long time to reach maturity but I can’t wait to see more Godzilla theories

I like to think in my own headcanon that the Godzilla in Godzilla Vs. Megalon, Godzilla Vs. MechaGodzilla and Terror of MechaGodzilla is the grown-up Minilla and that those films are set after Destroy All Monsters. I know this isn't actually true but it's a fun little thing to think about lol

I've always thought that Minilla's appearance not changing between films could have something to do with how he hatched prematurely, due to Kamacurus breaking his egg open. That Godzilla life cycle picture you showed doesn't have a picture that correlates with Minilla's appearance when he first hatches. So we could assume that this form is not meant to be outside an egg, causing Minilla's development to be slower or stunted.

My theory: it’s pretty much just your final theory except the Godzilla from Godzilla raids again as an old Godzilla. That’s why he started rampaging year after year. He knew he was gonna pas eventually and wanted to go all out and let his name be known. Then once he found minilla he taught him how to be king of the monsters. At the end of son of Godzilla Godzilla freezes with minilla. In my opinion this is where Godzilla dies and minilla is with him for his last moments. Then from Godzilla vs Hedorah onward it’s a grown up minilla and then in destroy all monsters It’s minilla who adopted a newborn Godzilla.

Being that Godzilla is a mutated dinosaur of some kind, it's pretty much assumed the lifespan of such a monster is extensively prolonged to say the least. Minilla, being the son, or "Adopted" son of Godzilla (I prefer to think he's Godzilla's offspring), would no doubt have a long lifespan, and would in turn have a very much extended adolescence as a result. Which would explain his appearance being rather unchanged in the 1999 time frame of DAM. With the smoke rings, I think the very child like mentality of Minilla probably just doesn't concern himself all that much with learning that feat. As he comes across much more curious, and playful, rather than focused and determined based off his Showa appearances. It's evident Godzilla wants Minilla to master using the atomic ray, while Minilla's mindset is more like, "I'll get around to it. I got plenty of time. I'm hungry. Where's that cute human girl with the Joe Namath throwing arm at?"

When you say "They're the same species but not the same genetically, after all, not all frogs or spiders are born the same." Are you talking about natural variation within a species (like one person being taller than another) or are you equating entire orders of organisms with a single species? I don't want to nitpick (heck, I'm watching a video about the life cycle of movie monsters; nitpicking is in my nature) but I'm not sure where you were headed with that. Anyways, I kinda like the idea that late-Showa Godzilla was a mature Minilla. Was the second Godzilla from Godzilla Raids Again, presumably the adoptive parent in Son of Godzilla - specifically mentioned to be a young Godzilla? But at the same time, I can see how 1999 Minilla could be the same as 1967 Minilla, grown just a little. Some animals are ready to head off on their own after about a year, but when you start to get into the megafauna range an animal's lifespan, including it's childhood, gets stretched out a bit. Elephants and whales take about a decade to mature, or longer. Discoveries and research suggest that bowhead whales could live close to 300 years. When you're dealing with creatures an order of magnitude larger than that, with their own mutated biology, I can see Minilla taking a century or so to get to full size, and still have plenty of years left over. That's obviously not what happened in the Heisei series, but like you say, that's it's own thing. Lastly, I commented on a recent vid how Godzooky was at least well-designed. This might be flogging a dead horse, but strewth, you can not say the same thing about Minilla. That costume makes me feel queasy every time I look at it.

I’ve had this theory based on the lore continuity of the Showa era. That being Minilla from SoG IS the Godzilla found in Destroy All Monsters.

Interesting theories! As far as Minilla's size goes, outside of one shot in Son of Godzilla, Godzilla was played by a different, taller than Haruo Nakajima, In DAM, Nakajima was back in a new Godzilla suit and the Minillia suit from the previous year was the same.

I never really thought about this, very interesting thoughts man!

Your use of the Dino Crisis save station music perked my ears when I heard it.

I do like the newer Godzilla movies but In the 90s I grew up on the older ones from the 60s and 70s those were the ones my parents and grandparents bought me probably just fond memories and just captures my imagination a little more!

I sometimes remember about a headcannon that I thought about, this video made me remember it. I like to think that the Minilla from '67 went then to USA and became the Hanna Barbera Godzilla, which would explain why he is closer to green than coal-black in skin color and is very friendly with humans; then there is the '99 Minilla, who I believe that first: is an actual brother to the first Minilla, now HB Godzilla, and second: in a point or another in the timeline, grew not-so-much mature enough to have his own son, Godzooky, but since he ('99 Minilla) wasn't phisically ready to have a son, it explains why Godzooky is so different from a normal Godzilla specimen. So then, since his brother was much more mature and powerful than him, '99 Minilla decided to take Godzooky to USA to be protected by HB Godzilla. I like this theory of mine because it somehow explains why Godzooky is said to be HB Godzilla's nephew, instead of son.

Thanks for the video! I do have one correction to make though. Destroy All Monsters taking place in the year 1999 is only present in the English language versions of the movie. In the original Japanese version of the movie, the year is never stated; and it is said to take place near the end of the 20th century. I heard that prop newspapers to be used in the movie were reportedly printed with the year 1994, although this can't be seen at any point on-screen. As for if this is the same Minilla or not, I'm going to say yes and chalk up the lack of change is due to Showa continuity being loose, the people behind the movie trying to get in as many kaiju and still trying to keep them recognizable to the audience, and the implications of the time skip escaping the producers at the time of filming and if they did realize that Minilla should logically be more adult-like, it was too late to change anything. Maybe the time skip wasn't quite as drastic originally, but that detail got change later and Minilla's design could be a left over aspect of that concept. Reasons for Minilla not changing so much can be pretty dark. You have the possibility of the second Showa Godzilla dying with Minilla growing up to take his place, but that just leads me to ask, "What killed him?" Godzilla spontaneously dropping dead or fighting some unseen foe that was so great, it accomplished what King Ghidorah, Hedorah, and MechaGodzilla couldn't achieve sounds contrived. There's also the explanation that Minilla is a dwarf or has some sort of medical condition that keeps his body from achieving a full adult form. Other explanations include Godzilla species just grow incredibly slowly or that Minilla is in an adult body in Destroy All Monsters, and he's actually a creature that just happens to resemble a young Godzilla. A theory that I just thought of would be that perhaps while the containment facilities on Monsterland were being developed, Godzilla and the other kaiju were captured and put into cryogenic stasis. Monsterland took decades to be developed and when it was finally done, the kaiju were finally released. That's an explanation with a lighter tone. However, as I was composing this comment, a thought occurred to me. What happened to the Shobijin and Infant Island? I don't think they would take to kindly for their guardian monster to be taken away from them. Now that I think about it, I can't recall mention or any mention of them at all in Destroy All Monsters. Mothra is treated as just another kaiju. The only explanation that I can think as to why this is the case would be that the Shobijin and all the inhabitants of Infant Island are dead and gone. Maybe some of the darker theories about the fates of certain kaiju have more viability to them than I originally thought.

I always thought of it as being due to Godzilla’s species grow over a long period of time, due to the fact that Kaiju can live for a long time, so the Minilla in Destroy All Monsters is most likely more a teenager, who mastered his smoke rings over time

I would like to think that after Son of Godzilla, Godzilla retired. And Minilla would appear in Godzilla vs Hedorah, as Godzilla. The reason Minilla may have aged so quickly from Son of Godzilla to Godzilla vs Hedorah, may be due to Minilla somehow getting radiation, which caused him to grow quicker. I mean, Ebirah was just a lobster until he got radiation grew to the size of Godzilla, so it would make sense. And it would also explain how Godzilla was more goofier in the 70s compared to the 60s.

I've always been in the "DAM Godzilla is Minilla grown up" camp, and have even come around to the idea that the '70s Godzilla movies actually take place in the 2000s not the 1970s. Never heard anyone suggest '70s Godzilla was adult Minilla AND that they take place in the 1970s before, though. That's a new one!

Great video man you should do more of these like the theory that in G98 the godzilla killed in the Hudson and the 1 killed on the bridge are 2 different animals and were mates?

This is the kind of content I live for.

I still just assume that its the same Minilla in both films. Taking only the Showa Era into account, we don't know how long Godzilla's species can live or how long it takes them to grow. We can't use real reptiles as a comparison as no matter the phylogenetic relation Kaiju biology would have to be doing some absurd things when it comes to their development. Assuming it is the same Minilla thirty years later and he's only doubled his height (roughly) that still means he's gained multiple thousands of tonnes in mass which is mind-boggling in ways only nerding out about Giant Monsters can reveal. In the end there are too many variables and too many unknowns here.

I appreciate this deep dive.

Well this was an awesome video

In the 90s I had a Godzilla guidebook that said Godzilla had 2 children. I can not remember the book title but the tagline was "Who is 300ft tall, green and breathes fire? If you Said Godzilla thats why you need this book."

This is so interesting. Reasons why I love the Showa series

This video may be about if there were two Minillas, this really got me thinking about how many Anguirus and Rodans there have been at this rate.

you should do more Godzilla theories. One that could be interesting (Although it really isn't Godzilla related) is how two Kongs exist in the Showa continuity, one from King Kong vs Godzilla and and the one from King Kong escapes

That's what I was Questioning.

Though for the last theory, Godzilla from the 70’s seems much kinder and gentler than ever before (to humans especially), matching Minilla’s: personality. And Godzilla doesn’t have to die due to natural causes, maybe he died in battle.

Personally I think that the Godzilla in son of Godzilla was a lot older than we know and was beginning to slowly die and died in between son of Godzilla and Godzilla vs hedorah because of old age, the venom that kumonga injected in his eye and being a lot weaker in that film Then in between 1967 to 1971 like you said minilla grew up to be the new Godzilla and found a new minilla to raise

If Minilla did become the Godzilla of the 70s, that would explain why the Godzilla at that time was more of a good guy….after all, Godzilla in destroy all monsters only attacked cities when he was under alien control.

My theory is that by Godzilla vs. Megalon, Minilla, along with several other creatures on Monster Island, survived the destruction of the island and was forced to go into hiding. He would eventually be found and put onto Monsterland, where he finally reunited with his father.

This reminds me of the old Universal Mummy movies. Each sequel said that the previous movie had taken place decades earlier, and if you actually do the math, the final entry would end up taking place in the then far off future of the 1970s.

A theory I could think of being where Minilla is a subspecies of Godzilla's species It does make his relationship with Godzilla interesting and heart-warming as though despite not sharing the exact same species Godzilla chooses to care and love for his son

I’m your 700 like

The theory we're Minilla is the grown up one later in the series makes sense because after son of Godzilla Godzilla is more of protector of earth and humanity than just a big rampaging monster

Minya is the love child between Godzilla and Mothra in a lavra state.

The Gojira species ages very slowly, for hundreds of thousands of years they can still be in their prime, this simply means they would age a lot slower than other animals we know of. So, it would make sense that Minilla wouldn't look too different after such a short period of time. Also, some versions of Godzilla can cycle through their different beam/atomic attacks, so Minilla could be doing it here. Minilla being a child could very well make it dumb enough to believe the rings would be more effective against Ghidorah, rather than its atomic breath.

I believe that possibly the Godzilla in Destroy all Monsters is Manilla fully grown and the older Godzilla passed away sometime between this movie and Terror of Mechagodzilla. And like his father he also found and adopted a infant version of his species.

Minilla is unironically one of my favorite kaiju

Things that keep me up at night.

That photo you showed from what Godzilla looks like with age. The Godzilla from the 70s does look like the young Godzilla from the photo you showed.

Well Godzilla is millions of years old in the showa Era so even though minilla is 32 years old in 1999 he would still be in infantry and maybe from the radiation on the other (not monster island) gave him his atomic breath poers and after it frozen the radiation inside him did too only leaving his smoke rings

Just like the HALLOWEEN movies, I think showa era all had some of there own alternate timelines with different Godzilla suits. Less of a headache. Lol

I have something called the 3 Godzilla timeline. 1. Gojira 2. Godzilla Raids Again-Son of Godzilla (Skip All Monsters Attack-Godzilla vs Megalon, these were more "Superhero Godzilla" movies) 3. Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla-Destroy All Monsters

I feel like the Godzilla species ages differently and and that it takes a long time for them to mature into full adults which is why he doesn’t look all that different.

I'm going to have to agree that Minilla was a fully-grown Godzilla in GVH ( I meant Godzilla VS Hedorah ) because since Godzilla was different I think Godzilla was too old or in his final stage and passed away so I guess Minilla has grown like Jr in the Heisei era, IK they are to different eras, but the big G might have done the same thing in the Showa era.

My Head canon is that Minilla is the Godzilla we see in Godzilla vs Megalon and on, and the Original, who was shown extensively wounded by his fight with Gigan,(spurred on my the suits deterioration IRL) and head back to the Island where he passes away in the earthquake.

I think I believed on your third theory because it makes sense that Godzilla( from son of Godzilla) had died and minilla(from son of Godzilla) had grown up and became the next Godzilla that’s now a protector of the universe instead of a engine of destruction

an unlikely reason that minilla’s atomic breath was replaced with smoke rings is that minilla didn’t have much practice with his combat. this applies to all of us humans, if we don’t practice things for a long time, we start forgetting the skill. however this is very unlikely, just a thought.

Manilla got Captain Americaed at the end of Son so that is probably the original intention. I personally believe that Monster Land was constructed around them in their slumber. As to where he is in Gigan and Megalon idk that's some retro canon maybe he's still sleeping or he's out and about. I do think he just ages slower because reptile/Kaiju logic and his smoke rings are an extra attack. It's my personal head canon that Godzilla in the Mechagodzilla duology is minilla after the second passed away or at least retired after his final Duel with Hedorah.

Kumonga is one of my 20 favorite kaiju.

I love the third theory it makes a lot of since

I Think Godzilla Also Started With Smoke Rings Like Minilla, And As We Know From The First Godzilla Film, Godzillas Can Live Like Over A Million Years. And I Think That Godzilla’s Parents Left Him And He Was Adopted By Another Godzilla Who Taught Him How To Fight. So Minilla’s Mother And Father Left Him For Another Godzilla To Raise Him. I Also Think That Kaiju Can Evolve Their Weak Attacks Into Stronger Attacks Over The Years.

I think if manilla was spending time away from godzilla for about 30 years, he would probably not grow as much because he doesn't have radiation pouring on him at all times. But that's just my theory

I kind of like the theory of Godzilla being Minilla all grown up from Hedorah onwards. But I feel maybe Godzilla didn't die of old age but maybe in a fight with another kaiju? I also like to think grown up Minilla would raise another young Godzilla like his father did.

Here is a thought, at the end of Son of Godzilla they freeze the island, it could be possible that minilla being so young was not able to surive the extrem cold and died.

Godzilla's little baby son was never named, except in 'Godzilla's Revenge' which was a kid's dream, and not a real monster movie.

I kinda do think that it is the same character as it would probably take years for minilla to get to to full size and him being the one to kill Ghidorah at the end of DAM would be a good ending it his story arc of maturing, if there was more films to Explore this

Even though it’s unlikely, I love the idea of Minilla being the godzilla from vs Hedorah onwards, I just think it’s cute that the 55 Godzilla raised his son to keep protecting earth

I like the idea that manila grew up. It makes a lot of sense. Who knows how old Godzilla was in raids again.

The most likely reasons are that Toho was very loose with continuity back then because they could get away with it - there was no internet and home media was more scarce, so they didn't get called out for continuity flubs as often back then. These days, you make the tiniest mistake between entries of a franchise and the whole world dog piles you. As for the smoke rings, my guess is that when they made Destroy All Monsters, they decided that letting Minilla use a full heat beam would've been too boring and unoriginal, and the smoke rings were his thing/trademark, so they reverted to that and just made it more powerful. I must admit, though, I never considered any of the in-canon theories in this vid before, and they're all interesting. Nice work.

I feel that the Minilla becomes Godzilla theory could be true. See Minilla has a short almost non-existent snout, and the Goji and the 70s has a short snout, So maybe they are born with no snout, then the grow one a bit, then in the point of there life where the ‘55 Goji was is where their snout is at max length, and finally it gets shorter again near the end of their life. But thats only one reason of which I have no more. It would also be interesting to know that my favorite Showa Godzilla movie, (GVMG) isn’t really Godzilla but instead grown up Minilla VS MG. But i’m probably way off.

We don’t really know for sure how old either of the two adult Godzilla’s were in the 50’s. Hell they could very well be centuries or even several millennia years old by the time the Castle Bravo tests awakened/mutated them. Kaiju have a habit of being preternatural freaks of nature even without outside aids like radiation, so there’s really nothing precluding Godzilla’s species taking a looooooooong ass time to develop. Godzilla II may well could’ve been his species’ equivalent of a teenager, but at the same time could’ve been several thousand or even millions of years old.

personally i think toho intended for it to be the same minilla and just said "screw the details" but as for in story explanations aside from being a mutant animal minilla was also a premature hatching keep in mind his egg was smashed open by the kamacuras rather than hatching on it's own so between those reasons he is pretty much guaranteed to be deformed and ageing weird along with probably being a different breed from godzilla like how a chihuahua and a great dane are both dogs

Very interesting question. Maybe it's a different one or the same one

My personal headcanon is that the Godzilla who appeared in '55 died after his fight with Hedorah and that the Godzill that appears in vs. Gigan is an adult Minilla.

I think the Godzilla species just takes alot longer to fully mature and that Minilla prefers to use rings instead of lasers.

The minilla grows up to Godzilla theory makes sense because minilla is goofy and remember Godzilla in the 70s was also goofy like flying and dropkick and hand shack and more

I personally think theory 3 is true because it explains Godzilla’s appearance in son of Godzilla, and minilla’s smoke rings on destroy all monsters

It's the same Minilla from both Son of Godzilla & Destroy all Monsters. The second Minilla didn't appear until Godzilla Final Wars

The Godzilla dies at the end of Son of Godzilla theory explains why Godzilla from then on is so child like in 1971-1974 and he's maturing after he fought Mechagodzilla

Oh my.

Any of these fan theories are interesting to ponder about until Toho confirms something. If Minilla was the Godzilla of the 70s films then maybe the monster's intro scene🌅 in Godzilla vs. Hedorah was him as adult. Perhaps it was either Minilla grown up ready to "fight his own battles" or it was the same Godzilla becoming Earth's guardian(or least Japan😆).

When he said Minilla might be dead, I instantly got creepy pasta vibes.

I personnally always imagined that Minilla stayed frozen in the ice after son of godzilla, while godzilla managed to escape, and for some reason, chosed to leave him there, either because he choosed to abondon him, or because he was safer being in hibernation in a deserted island. Minilla only woke up after many years and didn't grew that much, and was taken to monster island. Though I didn't think of the stock footage in godzilla vs gigan.

something im guessing: the 1955 goji (raids again) is a subadult godzilla, so he's fully grown in son of godzilla

Ok, how about this: Godzilla coming out of the iceberg in 1962 is not the same Godzilla buried under the ice in 1955 because they are different in design, it sounds silly but I thought the same logic , like the author of this video.

Could be the same Minilla. When there where so many adult Kaijus around why would Minilla use his full potential to fight?

My theory is that the 70s movies happens before SOG. When Godzilla and Minilla were hibernating, they probably slept for 30 years before being captured and taken to Monster Island. Probably not possible but I tried

Minilla grew into gvshedorah godzilla and 1955-1969 is retired and just relaxing on monster island or in the sea. 1955-1999 (G raids again to DAM)is 44 years worth of monster battles, even the best need to rest.

Here's my theory that Godzilla in the second movie right after Godzilla 1954 is just a teenager so he is in his teenage years still until Godzilla vs. Kong arrived so after a decade and Son of Godzilla is like in the far distance like controlling weather like snow and ice yeah that actually is way in the future like Pauline the 1990 Vanden 19rr Pauline 2075 still probably Godzilla is still around during that time but passed away years later and then Manila grew up to adult during Godzilla versus Hedorah and the destroy all monster one is Manila all grown up crazy another one there's my theory I don't care if you disagree

Something random to clarify is showa Godzilla isn’t actually a dinosaur. It’s made evident in the first film that the species is an aquatic reptile of some kind. Also regarding the lifespan isn’t it generally commonly accepted knowledge that most versions of Godzilla have the ability to live at least into their thousands?

we should just make a gigantic paper check and force godzilla to write his name on it for child support payments.

Well, what about the possibility that these creatures MATURE VERY SLOWLY?

I know I'm late to the party, but I personally think that all the Showa Minillas are the same and this is just a "baby Yoda" situation. Godzilla is supposed to be an ancient creature awoken by nuclear testing, but there's no on-screen evidence that shows exactly how ancient he actually is. For all we know, Gojiras live for 20,000 years if they don't hibernate. If something like that is the case, we also have no idea how long their adolescent lifetimes are. As for smoke rings vs. atomic breath, it might just be easier for Minilla to produce rings. Again, we never got confirmation on whether or not Gojiras are even supposed to do that in the first place. I assume, much like how the Heisei Godzilla can use his atomic ray or turn that same energy into a nuclear pulse, Minilla can do both, but just chooses one over the other.

I think Minilla died in Godzilla vs Megalon. And then in Destroy All Monsters Godzilla adopted another young Godzilla

The Godzillaverse is complicated.

Maybe Minya died at the end of Son Of Godzilla when the snow started coming and didn't make it because of the cold. Or perhaps it was Godzilla that died from the cold, using the last bit of his strength to keep his son alive with his body heat.

Maybe minilla still young in destroy all monsters is because godzilla species have been shown to be around millions of years so maybe they have slow ageing.

my theory is that showa godzilla did show some intelligence so i think minilla still knows his atomic breath however he used his atomic breath to make his smoke ring even deadlier and could still be improving it

And we thought Goten and Trunks aged slowly 💀

I think Godzilla species have a much longer aging process than most animals it would probably take around 3 or 4 decades for a Godzilla to reach adult part of there lives and when the grow to around 70 or maybe even 80 years old they probably pass down the king of the monster to there son/daughter so that maybe how Godzilla lives happen