ThroughoutGodzilla’s 70-year history, he has been shown emerging from multiple different home territories, but perhaps the most famous of his homes is Monster Island, which he has historically shared with many other kaiju. Some of those monstershaven’t appeared in a Godzilla movie in over 50 years, but during the latter stages of the Showa Era, a number of Godzilla’s friends and foes were loosely contained on the island. While the location was never specified, it was allegedly in the Pacific Ocean somewhere, in an equatorial climate.
While Monsterland was first introduced in 1968’sDestroy All Monsters, stock footage of kaiju in Monsterland from that movie was reused later in the Showa Era movies, presented as footage from Monster Island.Monster Island even appeared inMonarch: Legacy of Monsters, albeit under a different true name, and with decidedly fewer kaiju present. Regardless of how it has been presented on the screen, the concept of a monster-infested island has been an essential part of Godzilla’s ongoing lore.
The Best Godzilla Movie Of Each Decade Since The Franchise Began In 1954
Godzilla has had a long history on the silver screen, and while his filmography can be a bit uneven, every decade has had at least one true classic.
12Giant Condor/Giant Eagle
The Unnamed, Obscure Bird Bothered Godzilla Momentarily
The kaiju commonly referred to as “Giant Condor” is exactly what the name indicates: just an over-sized predatory bird. It’s difficult to consider him a kaiju in the same vein as Godzilla, Mothra, or Rodan, because he’s far smaller and barely registers as a threat to Godzilla. Its first appearance was inEbirah, Horror of the Deep, in which it flew at Godzilla on the beach of Letchi Island, where the movie largely takes place, and pestered him briefly before being blasted out of the sky by his atomic breath.
The monster is reused inAll Monsters Attackbut relabeled as “Giant Eagle”, and suffers a nearly identical fate. However, the encounter this time is framed as taking place on Monster Island as opposed to the aforementioned Letchi Island, so technically Giant Condor was one of the Monster Island kaiju in canon.
11Manda
The Serpentine Kaiju Has Been An Ally Of Godzilla
Manda first appeared in one of Toho’s movies that was not part of the Godzilla franchise: the sci-fi fantasy adventureAtragon. He appeared inDestroy All Monstersas one of the Monsterland kaiju that gathers at the base of Mount Fuji to destroy the Kilaak base once they are freed from the Kilaaks' mind control. While many of those monsters went on to battle King Ghidorah in a massive team effort, Manda sat out the fight alongside Varan and Baragon.
1954–1975
15
1984–1995
7
1999–2004
6
2016-present
5
Shin Godzilla
Godzilla Minus One
Stock footage of Manda fromDestroy All Monsterswas reused inAll Monsters Attack, and he was presented as one of the monsters that lived on Monster Island with Godzilla and the others. While the events on Monster Island fromAll Monsters Attacktechnically occurred in the dreams of Ichiro Miki, it’s typically accepted that the monsters he dreamed about do in fact live on Monster Island, so in a roundabout way, Manda counts.
10Gorosaurus
The Former King Kong Villain Once Aided Godzilla In Battle
Like Manda, the tyrannosaurus-like Gorosaurus first appeared in a Toho movie outside the Godzilla franchise. He was an early antagonist for King Kong in 1967’sKing Kong Escapes, and suffered a broken jaw at King Kong’s hands. A new iteration of Gorosaurus appeared inDestroy All Monsters, and like Manda, he was one of the monsters under Kilaak control. Once the hold was broken on all the monsters, Gorosaurus was part of the main monster assault on King Ghidorah, and actually delivered a brutal drop-kick to the three-headed dragon that cemented the Monsterland allies' victory.
Whether due to continuity oversight or intentional distinction, Monster Island has historically been considered different from Monsterland.
As was the case for many of the monsters that appeared inAll Monsters Attack, Gorosaurus technically appeared on Monster Island in the dreams of Ichiro Miki, but only using stock footage from his appearance inDestroy All Monsters. Whether due to continuity oversight or intentional distinction, Monster Island has historically been considered different from Monsterland, which was the unknown geographical territory where Godzilla and his fellow monsters roamed freely shown inDestroy All Monsters.
9Ebirah
The Massive Lobster Lives In The Sea Around The Island
Ebirah was the primary antagonist of Godzilla inEbirah, Horror of the Deep, which again takes place not on Mosnter Island, but on Letchi Island. He made two other appearances in the Godzilla movie franchise, once inAll Monsters Attackin a somewhat silly but entertaining rock fight with Godzilla, and once many years later inGodzilla: Final Wars, where he is embarrasingly dispatched by a group of mutant superhumans. Technically, he never sets foot on Monster Island duringAll Monsters Attack, but he is shown living in the sea there and fighting Godzilla on the beach.
8Gabara
The Mutant Amphibian Bullied Godzilla’s Son
Gabara is among the Godzilla franchise’s most-maligned monsters, as he only appeared once in what amounted to an annoying bully role. The mutant amphibian harassed Godzilla’s far smaller young son Minilla, hitting him with electrified punches and other classictokusatsufight moves. He exclusively appears inAll Monsters Attackin the dreams of Ichiro Miki, but in those dreams he is a resident of Monster Island. Godzilla absolutely thrashes him later in the movie in one of the more satisfying beatdowns in the franchise, if only because it gets Gabara off the screen.
7Kamacuras
Kamacuras first appeared in 1967’sSon of Godzillaon Sollgel Island, which is an earlier iteration of Monster Island in the same way Monsterland was inDestroy All Monsters. There were originally three Kamacuras, and they were responsible for Minilla hatching early (which is supposedly why he looks different and lacks his father’s powers at first). Godzilla kills two of them before Kumonga, the giant spider kaiju, kills the third. They reappear inAll Monsters Attack, where one of them chases Ichiro Miki. They make another Showa Era appearance inGodzilla vs. Gigan, shown living in peace on Monster Island.
6Kumonga
The Enormous Spider Has Been Both An Enemy And An Ally To Godzilla
Like Kamacuras, Kumonga first appeared on Sollgel Island inSon of Godzilla. He acted as the movie’s final villain in fact, as Minilla finally learned Godzilla’s full atomic breath and the duo set Kumonga on fire to defeat him. He was also part of the cadre of Monsterland monsters that took on King Ghidorah inDestroy All Monsters, and appeared in Ichiro Miki’s dreams of Monster Island inAll Monsters Attack. He also appeared as a Monster Island monster inGodzilla vs. Gigan, and would go on to make one final appearance duringGodzilla: Final Wars.
5Minilla
Godzilla’s Unimpressive Son Called Monster Island His Home
Minilla is one of the main characters on Monster Island inAll Monsters Attack, as he befriends the boy Ichiro Miki (again, in his dreams) and is even capable of speaking. Prior to that, he fought alongside his father against King Ghidorah inDestroy All Monsters, and even delivered the final blow against the evil space monster with one of his smoke rings. Minilla continued to live on Monster Island throughGodzilla vs. Gigan, mirroring the narrative of Kamacuras and Kumonga, until making his final appearance inGodzilla: Final Wars, where he befriended a young boy once again.
4Anguirus
Godzilla’s Long-Time Ally Settled On Monster Island
Anguirus actually began as Godzilla’s first kaiju enemy, battling him to the death inGodzilla Raids Again, the rushed sequel to the 1954 original. Anguirus and Godzilla are actually the only two monsters who are shown living on Monster Island aside from stock footage or the dreams of Ichirio Miki. Throughout the rest of the Showa Era, Anguirus is the faithful friend and ally of Godzilla, and helps him go toe-to-toe against some of the fiercest enemies in Godzilla’s rogues' gallery.
10 Most Horrifying Godzilla Movies
As the world’s most famous movie monster, Godzilla has his roots in horror, a genre that his movies have revisited time and again over the decades.
While Monster Island has on occasion been presented as a place where kaiju are “kept” as opposed to a place where they choose to live, Anguirus and Godzilla never seemed to have much issue with leaving the island. As a burrowing monster, Anguirus is capable of entering the Earth at one point and appearing in another, as opposed to swimming across the ocean. InGodzilla vs. Megalon, Anguirus is shown falling into a fissure on Monster Island that resulted as part of an earthquake, and resurfaces elsewhere inGodzilla vs. Mechagodzillabefore burrowing his way to Japan.
3Rodan
Rodan first appeared in his own solo Toho movie just two years after Godzilla debuted in 1956, giving him one of the longest cinematic histories of any on-screen kaiju. When he and Godzilla first clashed inGhidorah, the Three-Headed Monster, they were bitter enemies who required convincing from Mothra to team up against the world’s greater threat. From that point on in the Showa Era, Rodan acted as an ally to Godzilla, assisting him in battle multiple times before eventually settling on Monster Island by the events ofGodzilla vs. Gigan.
