Godzilla Vs… Zorah Magdaros from MONSTER HUNTER: Who Would Win?
Over the years, Godzilla has fought his way through a rogues gallery of kaiju large enough to give even the most veteran of superheroes pause. Not a single monster from the depths of Toho’s back catalog has ever had a reason to feel safe, and even one cursory glance at just about any random clip from Final Wars could make any strange beast sweat. That said, there’s an entire galaxy of enormous opponents just waiting to throw down with the King of the Monsters, so why don’t we take a look at how some of them might square up?
Before we get into his first opponent however, let’s establish some ground rules. Having such a long and storied history, Godzilla’s seen more than his fair share of evolutions. With over 30 mainline entries, two animated series, three anime films, two American reboots, and a whole host of comic books and video games under his gargantuan belt, I think it’s important to establish a baseline version of the character. Which Godzilla are we talking about here?
First of all, his size. When he debuted in the 1954 original film, he was only 50 meters tall. While he would stay that way for the next 30 or so years, a major growth spurt followed when we hit the Heisei era in the 80s. From then until now he’d fluctuate from 80 to 100, back down to 60, back up to 100, and all the way up to 119.8 meters tall. For the sake of argument, let’s just put him at 100m. It’s not quite as big as the current Legendary version, but it’s still twice the size that he was in the original Showa era.
Now when it comes to his abilities and general fighting prowess, you know more or less what the deal is. He’s incredibly durable and (save for some rare exceptions) human weaponry cannot harm him. He’s amphibious and can breathe both underwater and on land. He’s a scrapper and has no issue with wrestling his opponents to submission up close, but he’s definitely got a very viable long-range attack as well. His atomic breath is his defining weapon and it’s iconic for a reason. As for all of the weird one-off tricks that he’s pulled over the years, I’m not going to consider them. That means no “burning Godzilla” form ala Godzilla Vs Destroyah or King of the Monsters. He can’t fly, even though there’s that one scene where he kind of does in Godzilla Vs Hedorah. We’re just going with his “base kit” here.
Now, for his opponent. To kick things off we’re bringing in an Elder Dragon of colossal proportions from the Monster Hunter franchise, Zorah Magdaros.
Zorah Magdaros is a massive semi-aquatic turtle-like Elder Dragon that debuted in Monster Hunter: World. You encounter it several times throughout the game as you attempt to stop it from triggering a cataclysmic event and wiping out all life on the continent. It’s far too big to fight head-on, so these encounters have you putting the greatsword or hunting horn aside for ballistas and cannons. Even with the added firepower, ZM is essentially a walking volcano covered in a hard rocky shell, so the most you can hope for is to simply divert it off its course.
According to official information from Capcom, Zorah Magdaros is roughly 258 meters in size, though what exactly “size” means is a little vague. Regardless of whether that refers to length or height, big ZM doesn’t have an exceptionally long tale, so the numbers wouldn’t be that different. Either way, that’s a fair bit larger than Godzilla. As previously stated, it’s covered in a thick rocky shell, making it incredibly durable, though it does have several “Magmacore” weak points on its head and shell. It can also retreat inside of said shell like a turtle because of course it can. Additionally, there are a whole swarm of Pterodactyl-like creatures called Barnos that follow this guy around.
With all of this to consider, how might the battle shape up? Well, Magdaros is a bit of an unstoppable force. It doesn’t really care about anything around it and just keeps marching to its destination, even if that means going straight through a continent. With Godzilla (understandably) being none too pleased with the idea of some big jerk carving a molten hole through his front yard, he’d definitely be ready to throw down.
Up close, Magdaros has the advantage. Godzilla would attempt wrestle it to the ground, and while he’s easily the more agile fighter, there’s just no competing with the sheer bulk of ZM. Punches and kicks won’t do anything to break through that shell, and this isn’t to mention the heat and smoke radiating from Magdaros. He is a walking volcano, after all. If Godzilla did manage to pick ZM up and throw it, then it would simply retreat into its shell and minimize any damage taken. All that Godzilla might manage do actually accomplish up close is to rile up the swarm of Barnos that follow ZM around.
Now, these creatures are no more than a nuisance to him, being only a little larger than a human being. Still, when in the middle of a fight with a much larger opponent they can act as a distraction that Godzilla doesn’t need. With the close range game being a bit of a lost cause, it’s time to break out the big guns. Taking a few steps back, Godzilla would resort to his atomic breath, and this is where he gets the clear advantage. Simply put, Zorah Magdaros does not have an answer to this attack. He has clearly visible exposed weak points which would be no problem to hit with a huge beam, and if Godzilla gets some distance between them then I do not see ZM closing that gap. He’s just too slow.
The other nail in the coffin here, is that Zorah Magdaros manages to get dealt damage in the game by human weapons, something that Godzilla rarely finds himself concerned with. Not only that, but those human weapons are primitive in comparison to the planes and tanks that Godzilla shrugs off regularly. With this point of comparison in the back of my mind, I have no reason to believe that Godzilla’s atomic breath wouldn’t just absolutely obliterate the Scorching Mountain Dragon.
And that’s that. Godzilla vs Zorah Magdaros of the Monster Hunter franchise comes down to Godzilla winning through the range and sheer power of his atomic breath. I’d say that’s a pretty fitting conclusion to the first of these fights. The only great tragedy here is that Godzilla is far too large to wear any of the armor sets that can be crafted from its hide. Oh well, can’t win ‘em all.
Which creatures do you think would make a worthy opponent for the Big G in future “Godzilla Vs” articles? Let us know in the comments below or on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram!
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