Godzilla Ultima: Anime's Wildly Powerful King Of The Monsters, Explained
There's no question that Godzilla is one of the most iconic monsters in all of cinematic history, as the King of Monsters has terrorized millions of fans worldwide ever since his first appearance in the 1954 epic kaiju film "Godzilla." Over the years, Godzilla has appeared in various films, television series, comic books, and video games — often shifting dramatically between different levels of power in each appearance. While there are certainly plenty of instances where Godzilla appears as a friendly (even goofy) hero protecting Earth from outside invaders, there are also plenty of appearances in which he's portrayed as an apocalyptic force of global destruction.
One of the most powerful versions of Godzilla we've ever seen appears in the Netflix anime series "Godzilla Singular Point," which introduces fans to a ludicrously overpowered version of the iconic kaiju that threatens to destroy the entire planet. This version of Godzilla is known as Singular Point Godzilla and later as Godzilla Ultima, and it has a unique origin story and an absurd new set of abilities that separate it from previous incarnations of the character. Here's everything you need to know about Godzilla Ultima.
Godzilla Ultima is a singularity, arriving on Earth from a separate dimension
The "Godzilla Singular Point" anime series leaves much of Godzilla Ultima's origin story shrouded in mystery, with the massive kaiju simply appearing beneath the ocean and subsequently landing in Tokyo. However, we know from the "Godzilla Singular Point" novelization that this version of Godzilla is a physical extension of an extradimensional entity that has the desire to destroy universes –- one that arrived on Earth to destroy the planet.
More than that, Godzilla Ultima and all other kaiju arrived on Earth through a gravitational singularity, and their true home resides in a separate universe. This complex backstory (which is unlike any previous incarnation of the monster) is hinted at within "Godzilla Singular Point" through the existence of "Archetypes" — transdimensional red particles that often appear as crystals or dust. These are found in the biological makeup of all kaiju.
On Earth, these Archetypes can be mined from mysterious mineral deposits known as "Singular Points," and it's revealed later in the series that Godzilla himself is actually a Singular Point and emits an enormous amount of Archetypes in the form of "Red Dust." The immense cloud of Red Dust Archetype that Godzilla Ultima releases actually terraform the Earth as the creature lumbers through Tokyo, creating mysterious new plants that seem to bend time and space.
Like Shin Godzilla, Godzilla Ultima adapts to each new environment and challenge
While Godzilla Ultima's interdimensional powers are perhaps the most terrifying aspect of this version of the King of Monsters (transforming the iconic kaiju into a Lovecraftian horror from across time and space), it's also worth noting that the creature possesses an unnatural level of adaptability while on Earth. Godzilla Ultima is able to evolve and change forms with each new environment it enters.
These powers are very similar to those of the Godzilla depicted in 2016's Shin Godzilla, which began as an aquatic lifeform and adapted to walk on land. In "Godzilla Singular Point," we're first introduced to the titular monster as a red-orange aquatic monster named Godzilla Aquatilis, which grows legs and transforms into the Godzilla Amphibia after reaching Tokyo and then wraps itself in a cocoon for transformation into the stunted but upright Godzilla Terrestris. In Episode 10, "Encipher," a bombing run by the Japanese military is able to subdue Terrestris for a brief moment, only for the creature to evolve once more into its next form -– Godzilla Ultima, standing at 100+ meters tall and being more powerful than all of its previous forms combined.
Although Godzilla Ultima was eventually defeated when Jet Jaguar used an Archetype known as an Orthogonal Diagonalizer, there's no telling how many new types of evolution this monster might have undergone if given enough time. As such, it's possible that Godzilla Singular Point could achieve limitless power through evolution, even if this doesn't happen on the series.
Looks can be deceiving
Godzilla Ultima's unique transdimensional powers and near-limitless potential make it one of the strongest and most terrifying versions of Godzilla that we've ever seen before, though it still incorporates several key powers and designs from previous incarnations of the character.
Godzilla Ultima appears as an enormous dinosaur-like creature with massive legs, a spine of glowing blue fins shaped like maple leaves, and a thick scaly hide that is remarkably similar to the original 1954 Godzilla design. Most distinct about Ultima's design is its enormous maw, which stretches impossibly wide like a snake unhinging its jaw and is filled with multiple rows of teeth. Although Godzilla Ultima shares several aspects of its design with previous incarnations of the famous kaiju (particularly its scales and glowing blue spine) it's worth noting that the creature actually has a clear desire for the destruction of the entire planet.
Where some incarnations of Godzilla, like the ones featured in 1968's "Destroy All Monsters," "2004's "Godzilla: Final Wars," and the American "Godzilla: King of the Monsters," are shown to be the inherent defenders of Earth from outside forces, Godzilla Ultima is an invading force of annihilation, sent to carry out the will of the mysterious interdimensional force that it belongs too. Despite how familiar the design of this new Godzilla might seem, Godzilla Ultima is a much more sinister, much more terrible creature than any of the Earth-born Godzillas we've met in the past.
Godzilla Ultima has a unique set of powers
Similar to the way that this extra-dimensional monster looks like previous versions of Godzilla, it also incorporates several of the King of Monsters' most iconic powers and abilities. Most obvious of these is its blue atomic breath, which is signaled beforehand by the glow of its spine and by a ring of glowing blue circles that appear in front of its mouth. The "Godzilla Singular Point" novelization distinguishes this power from other forms of atomic breath used by Godzilla, revealing that the "breath" is actually a Closed Timelike Curve that brings together multiple laser beams from the future into a much stronger one.
Ultima and its previous forms (Aquatilis, Amphibia, and Terrestris) are also shown to have a wide variety of Archetype-related abilities, unlike anything we've seen from previous Godzillas. These include a flammable ice breath used by Amphibia (which sits at -20 degrees Celsius and ignites in a massive explosion to freeze Godzilla in a cocoon) and a series of "blood tentacles" that whip out from wounds in Terrestris' back.
These unique abilities are not replicated in any previous Godzilla media and serve as a further reminder that Godzilla Ultima is one of the strangest iterations of the creature that we've ever seen before. Although Ultima might share a few design similarities with previous Godzilla installments (and even mimics the evolutionary abilities of Shin Godzilla), this version of the iconic monster is actually a terrifying, extradimensional horror that ranks as one of the most powerful Godzillas of all time.