Godzilla's true "Arch Enemy"

Most fans hail King Ghidorah as Godzilla's arcenemy or his "arch nemesis," but really is that true? I personally don't think so. He's been in the most movies (6, not including the alteration in Final Wars), yes, but otherwise what has he done to prove his worth or worthiness to bear that title?

Let's take a look shall we?

Ghidorah: The Three Headed Monster - Ghidorah's first appearance in the Showa era, and what was the result? He fought Godzilla, Mothra, and Rodan. The end result: He lost, while causing almost no damage to Godzilla beyond scorching a sensitive area.

Godzilla vs. Monster Zero - He fought Godzilla and Rodan on Planet X. The result, he lost, causing no damage to Godzilla or Rodan whatsoever. You could argue that he was being controlled, but he still got driven away. He fought them again later in the same movie while not under alien control, and he was once again driven off the planet while Godzilla and Rodan are presumed alive and well (seeing as how they both made it to future movies). So the final result, he lost twice in the same movie and cause little to no damage to either Godzilla nor Rodan.

Destroy All Monsters - He fought all of Earth's monsters and got his ass kicked, only really causing damage to Anguirus by stomping on his spiky shell and shoving him into the ground. The end result, he lost without causing damage to anyone beyond some discomfort to Anguirus.

Godzilla vs Gigan - Ghidorah's final appearance in the Showa era. Fought Godzilla and Anguirus alongside his ally Gigan. The end result? He lost. Gigan caused Godzilla's forehead to bleed and split his shoulder, but other than that what did Ghidorah do? Close to nothing to Godzilla beyond pushing him around a few times. But he still lost and didn't do nearly as much damage as Gigan did.

Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah - First and only Heisei appearance, and the result: he lost twice. The first round, he got his center head blown off and his wings shot out. The only damage caused to Godzilla, discomfort by stomping on him and trying to choke him. Second round vs. Mecha King Ghidorah. Final result: Dead. Not just beaten. This time, Godzilla killed him outright in the end of the film. Damage done to Godzilla in this engagement? Made a building fall on him. That's it.

GMK - Ghidorah's final true appearance as I don't count Kaizer Ghidorah in the line up of true "King Ghidorah" incarnations. Final result, he lost. He did finally make Godzilla bleed though! One tiny scratch on his neck was all he did. But his first round against Godzilla: Lost. Second engagement: Lost. Final attempt with the kamikazi run: Killed himself to stop Godzilla from moving. Final level of damage: a tiny scratch to the neck. Did it help in Godzilla's ultimate destruction? Yes. Was it the direct cause? No. All that scratch did was change the temperature of Godzilla's skin which gave the human inside Godzilla a target to use the missile on. The lack of scales was a weak point, but if you look closely you can see Godzilla's scales around the scratch being blown away during the explosion from the missile/torpedo thing. Did the scratch help? Yes. Was it essential? No. The missile blew away Godzilla's tough outer skin just as easily as it would have if the scratch was not there in the first place. So the ultimate final result is still: He lost.

Six movies, not a single true victory for King Ghidorah against Godzilla. Not one. GMK, Ghidorah gave the humans a helping hand, but what truly destroyed Godzilla's body in that movie was a combination of his own hatred for humanity and his own power. Ghidorah's actions were ultimately inconsequential, as the missile/torpedo would have caused a gaping hole in Godzilla's neck regardless of whether the scratch was there or not.

So who is Godzilla's true archnemesis/arch enemy? Which enemy caused more damage to Godzilla in his first appearance than Ghidorah did throughout the entire Toho franchise? Only a few monsters fit that bill, but only one of them boasts the best record against Godzilla.

Drum roll please!!

..... Mechagodzilla!

Yep, you all should have seen this one coming. Mechagodzilla has one of, if not the best win/loss record against Godzilla throughout the Toho franchise. Mothra is one of the other contendors.

Mechagodzilla's first appearance in the Showa era boasts a technical victory for him in his first fight with Godzilla in the city, and a loss later in the movie. But what's the difference between Mechagodzilla and Ghidorah's record? Mechagodzilla dominated the fight in every single movie save one: Terror of Mechagodzilla. Every single movie he was in he dominated the fights so long as everything ran smoothly with his electronics, and ultimately it was a combination of arrogance and electronic error which changed the result.

Let's break down Mechagodzilla now!

Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla - First fight, knocks Godzilla into the water after his eye beams meet Godzilla's atomic breath. The result: Godzilla loses a giant pool of blood and Mechagodzilla walks away with minor techinical issues. In all technicality, becuase Mechagodzilla was able to get back up immedately to make it back to base while Godzilla lost god knows how many gallons of blood, I count that as a technical win for Mecahgodzilla. Their second fight in the movie caused how much damage? Several mini fountains of blood shooting from Godzilla's neck. A bash to Godzilla's face during a fly-by which caused a stream of blood from his mouth and nose. The missiles embedded in his chest before Godzilla activated his magnetic power.

Final result: One win, one loss. But he dominated the fights until Godzilla's Deus Ex Machina power gave him the victory.

Terror of Mechagodzilla - Ultimate result: He lost. However, once again, during the parts where he and Godzilla fought, he was either dominating the fight or letting Titanosaurus hog the stage. All in all, not MechaG's best movie.

Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II - During the first fight with Godzilla, he lost. However, as always he dominated most of the fight knocking Godzilla down several times and proving to be more than a match for the Big G. Had Godzilla not been able to reverse the electric flow, it's up in the air as to who would have ultimatly won that fight. During their second engagement, he lost, but by technicality. Fire Rodan's sacrifice is the only thing that saved Godzilla from being killed.

Did ya hear what I just said? Fire Rodan's sacrifice was the ONLY thing that kept Godzilla from being killed.

Mechagodzilla should have killed Godzilla in this movie, but because they can't have Godzilla being killed off they forced the result in Godzilla's favor by ditching Rodan at the last moment. Had Fire Rodan not been there, Godzilla would have been killed. Also, Mechagodzilla caused the most damage to Godzilla that any other Toho Kaiju has caused to him before or since. He destroyed one of Godzilla's major organs, his secondary brain no less! No other Toho Kaiju can say that they've caused this kind of damage, either external or internal, to Godzilla. Mechagodzilla is the only one who came this close to killing him.

Godzilla against Mechagodzilla - First fight ended in a draw with neither of them actually winning or losing. During their second fight, Kiryu dominated the fight to the very end save for that one moment when he was knocked to the ground and temporarily out of action. But his sword spiked Godzilla's arm, and the absolute zero cannon tore away a good section of Godzilla's chest. Had Kiryu hit Godzilla dead on out of the water, that attack would have turned Godzilla into a pile of snowflakes just like the buildings in the absolute zero cannon's demonstration video. Final result: he won their second fight even though he sustained heavy damage. Godzilla was ultimately the one who retreated, and Kiyru remained the reason he had to do so.

Tokyo S.O.S - First fight with Godzilla, he loses and has to undergo repairs. However, during the second fight, he drills a hole in Godzilla's stomach and flies him out to sea. Final result, one loss and one victory (though it's more personal for Kiryu than it is a technical one for humanity). Still, a win is a win.

So who sounds more like they deserve the title "Godzilla's Arch Enemy?" To me, the monster who appeared in only one less movie, but who caused the most damage to Godzilla than any other including one instance where he could have killed Godzilla outright, Mechagodzilla wins by a landslide.

I love Ghidorah, but he's so overrated as a Godzilla foe that it's laughable. Comparing their records, it's not even a choice. There's only one option, and that's Mechagodzilla. Ghidorah looks cool, but that's all he was ever good for: looking cool.