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Hello, everyone! It's been a long time since I've posted a text deviation, so I wanted to talk about the thing I like most about the Godzilla franchise: Godzilla's portrayal as a hero, which this post's title does a pretty good job at describing.

In my opinion, Godzilla has much greater longevity and popularity as a hero because, obviously, he's the titular character. If Godzilla is the villain, and he dies, then there's no franchise without him. It's over. Time to move on to something else and that's the last thing Toho (and Legendary) would want if it is to make a profit out of one of most popular characters in cinema. By portraying Godzilla as a villain and then killing him, you're essentially proving that the main premise of your franchise (a giant radioactive lizard) is inherently inferior to its most mundane element (humans). Seriously, who goes to watch a Godzilla movie saying "Gee, I can't wait to see the humans."?

Second, the MonsterVerse has proven that Godzilla can work as a hero through the simple and effective way of character development. In the 2014 film, Godzilla is an anti-hero whose biggest concern is protecting the balance of nature. He has no quarrel against humanity but he won't shed a few tears if hundreds, possibly thousands, die if it means stopping the MUTOs. This changes mildly in King of the Monsters, where Godzilla acknowledges that Dr. Serizawa sacrificed his life to save him, so it's safe to assume that Godzilla understands the concept of gratitude. The epilogue digs deeper into Godzilla's better nature by showing news reports of Godzilla defending human settlements from rogue Titans.

Godzilla vs Kong continues Big G's character developent through his relationship with Kong. While the fights between Godzilla and Kong are brutal and bring the Eighth Wonder of the World to death's door, Godzilla is more than happy to spare him as long as Kong acknowledges Godzilla's authority as Alpha of the Titans. By the end of the movie, Kong does acknowledge Godzilla as King of the Monsters and departs to the Hollow Earth and Godzilla accepts his decision, not out of pragmatism but out of a noble sentiment. Kong saved Godzilla's life so it's only fair that Godzilla returns the favor.

And finally, Godzilla needs to be portrayed as a hero in order to have audiences sympathize with and get behind him and to prevent his movies from becoming to depressing to watch. TV Tropes has a trope for stories in which both sides involved in the main conflict are equally unlikeable or the heroes' efforts ultimately amount to nothing and the universe still sucks. I have to ask: if Godzilla is a bad guy whose only redeeming quality is that fights enemies even worse than he is, then why bother watching?

Well, that's all I have for you this time. Now, it's your turn to tell what do you think about this? Do you prefer Godzilla as a hero or as a villain? This meant to be friendly discussion, so please be polite and argue your points in a civilized manner. We're all Godzilla fans here, we just see things differently. So leave your comments below, thanks for your time and stay safe out there.

Description
Hello, everyone! It's been a long time since I've posted a text deviation, so I wanted to talk about the thing I like most about the Godzilla franchise: Godzilla's portrayal as a hero, which this post's title does a pretty good job at describing.

In my opinion, Godzilla has much greater longevity and popularity as a hero because, obviously, he's the titular character. If Godzilla is the villain, and he dies, then there's no franchise without him. It's over. Time to move on to something else and that's the last thing Toho (and Legendary) would want if it is to make a profit out of one of most popular characters in cinema. By portraying Godzilla as a villain and then killing him, you're essentially proving that the main premise of your franchise (a giant radioactive lizard) is inherently inferior to its most mundane element (humans). Seriously, who goes to watch a Godzilla movie saying "Gee, I can't wait to see the humans."?

Second, the MonsterVerse has proven that Godzilla can work as a hero through the simple and effective way of character development. In the 2014 film, Godzilla is an anti-hero whose biggest concern is protecting the balance of nature. He has no quarrel against humanity but he won't shed a few tears if hundreds, possibly thousands, die if it means stopping the MUTOs. This changes mildly in King of the Monsters, where Godzilla acknowledges that Dr. Serizawa sacrificed his life to save him, so it's safe to assume that Godzilla understands the concept of gratitude. The epilogue digs deeper into Godzilla's better nature by showing news reports of Godzilla defending human settlements from rogue Titans.

Godzilla vs Kong continues Big G's character developent through his relationship with Kong. While the fights between Godzilla and Kong are brutal and bring the Eighth Wonder of the World to death's door, Godzilla is more than happy to spare him as long as Kong acknowledges Godzilla's authority as Alpha of the Titans. By the end of the movie, Kong does acknowledge Godzilla as King of the Monsters and departs to the Hollow Earth and Godzilla accepts his decision, not out of pragmatism but out of a noble sentiment. Kong saved Godzilla's life so it's only fair that Godzilla returns the favor.

And finally, Godzilla needs to be portrayed as a hero in order to have audiences sympathize with and get behind him and to prevent his movies from becoming to depressing to watch. TV Tropes has a trope for stories in which both sides involved in the main conflict are equally unlikeable or the heroes' efforts ultimately amount to nothing and the universe still sucks. I have to ask: if Godzilla is a bad guy whose only redeeming quality is that fights enemies even worse than he is, then why bother watching?

Well, that's all I have for you this time. Now, it's your turn to tell what do you think about this? Do you prefer Godzilla as a hero or as a villain? This meant to be friendly discussion, so please be polite and argue your points in a civilized manner. We're all Godzilla fans here, we just see things differently. So leave your comments below, thanks for your time and stay safe out there.