Comparing and ranking every iteration of Godzilla is no easy task. The first thing we had to do was determine which Kaiju would qualify for consideration, ultimately deciding that we would only focus on versions of Goji that have appeared in movies, and that each version would be assessed by their individual continuity. This meant no television Godzillas or Godzilla off-shoots (Space Godzilla, Mechagodzilla, Godzilla Jr., etc.) would be included, and multiple forms of one Godzilla would be assessed as one character.
As for the actual ranking, we didn’t want to just measure them in terms of physical power — otherwise, Godzilla Earth would nab the top spot (and that just doesn’t feel right). And while we could’ve focused solely on narrative quality, plenty of so-so “Godzilla” movies are saved by their depiction of the titular beast. Indeed, there are innumerable qualities by which we could have judged these Kaiju, each one leading to a different list if judged alone.
We did our best to rank them based on a combination of attributes, primarily the specific characteristics that made each iteration of Godzilla memorable (power, design, impact, etc.). This methodology — along with some minor temperature-checking from fan communities online — led us to this ranking.
