11 Movie Monsters That Are More Powerful Than Godzilla
When it comes to overpowered movie monsters, they don't come much beefier than the O.G. kaiju Godzilla. First seen on screen in 1954, the massive prehistoric beast rose from the sea near Japan, a nation still reeling from the very recent trauma of the atomic bombs. Japan once again finds itself under threat when, after eons of dormancy, the irradiated leviathan is awakened by — and infused with — nuclear juice. A frightening creature with some seriously gnarly breath, this rampaging reptile would become one of film's most iconic and impactful pop culture figures. And, with the Japanese film "Godzilla Minus One" receiving widespread critical acclaim in 2023, it looks like he's still going strong. But is he the strongest?
Over the decades since Godzilla emerged, plenty of other memorable monsters have graced the big screen. The overpowered murder iguana that arose from the waters of the Pacific is still one of the baddest beasts in the movie monster biz, but it's always fun to see how Godzilla's stats stack up against those of other kaiju in films like "Mothra vs. Godzilla." Things get really wild when we start splicing genres to consider how our favorite sea stegosaurus would fare against some of cinema's other most overpowered monsters, from terrifying entities to animated aliens. So sharpen your dorsal plate for battle, because we're going to look into how some of our favorite movie creatures would fare against the supposed king of the monsters.
The xenomorph queen from the Alien films
Streamlined terror in a genetically superior package, the eponymous creature from the "Alien" franchise is a weaponized lifeform with a fairly sizable perk pack. As it's seen by many sci-fi fans as one of the most O.P. movie monsters going, the xenomorph's ability to weather a fight with Godzilla has been the subject of many a Reddit rabbit hole (some have even taken things a step further, conceptualizing the ultimate legendary mutation in a theoretical Xenozilla).
Part of what makes a Godzilla versus Alien smackdown so compelling is that the nature of their abilities make for more than just a point-for-point strength match. Both are highly intelligent creatures. While the xenomorph's armored exoskeleton is so durable it takes a flamethrower to knock her out, Godzilla's million-degree atomic breath and nuclear pulse would do the trick. And a xenomorph's acid blood is no match for the kaiju's battle armor. However, the xenomorph's secret weapon is her babies.
The novelization of the 1979 film "Alien" suggests that the eyeless xenomorphs have the ability to "see" by sensing electrical impulses. Given Godzilla's bulk, the almost 15-foot tall xenomorph would likely have no problem keeping tabs on the big guy. Xenomorphs are good hiders with much more agility than the dino daddy, whose stubby arms would likely struggle to swat away a few facehuggers. One chestburster later, Godzilla's been supplanted by the most metal monster of all time.
The Yautja from the Predator films
One of the things that makes the Predator such a formidable foe is the sheer will of this storied hunter. Also known as the Yautja, this aggressive race of extra-terrestrial hunters from Yautja Prime are about as badass as they come. At more than seven feet tall and several hundred pounds of pure lean muscle, these guys are so hardcore that they both hunt and worship the xenomorphs from the "Alien" franchise. But what would happen if they made Godzilla their prey?
While the raw strength of a Predator would be enough to take out just about any creature they encounter — they can easily tear a human being apart — it's really insubstantial when lined up against the pure power of Godzilla, even without his nuclear perks and razor-sharp dorsal plates. However, the Yautja's physical resilience would certainly make for an interesting fight, since Godzilla's violent tail swings and general rampaging would likely have little effect on them. It's also likely that they would withstand Godzilla's radiation longer than a human could.
What's more, the infrared and thermal imaging capabilities of a Predator's bio-mask would allow them to easily locate Godzilla from a distance. At the end of the day, the Predator is simply a monstrously tough alien warrior in a superhero suit with enough sweet tech toys to make Batman swoon. But that's what's crucial here: In the original "Godzilla" film, it's tech that initially does the king of the monsters in (specifically, Dr. Serizawa's Oxygen Destroyer), so the Yautja could MacGyver something similar to eliminate the overgrown aggro-gator.
The Nothing from The Neverending Story
Aside from friendly folks like Falkor the Luck Dragon, the Childlike Empress, and the peaceful, purple buffalo-hunting plains warrior Atreyu, "The Neverending Story" is a rather dark and sometimes terrifying children's tale (the scene in which Atreyu's horse Artax is swallowed by the Swamp of Sadness gave kids nightmares for years). While most stories aimed at children have villains with clearly-defined motivations, "The Neverending Story" has a different kind of big bad — a formless, sentient void capable of wiping entire civilizations from existence as if they were never even there to begin with.
Arising from humanity's lack of imagination, cynicism, and the pervasive apathy that inevitably comes with adulting, the Nothing is an invisible force that simply moves through a reality like a giant eraser. Would the king of the monsters be able to stand up against such an enemy? In a match between the Nothing and Godzilla, the kaiju would effectively have no usable weapons, turning him into little more than an oversized gecko with a bad temper. While Godzilla would probably quite handily defeat the Nothing's lycanthropic henchman Gmork, the Nothing could simply move in to clean up the crime scene, leaving nothing — not even a dorsal plate — as evidence.
Freddy Krueger from A Nightmare on Elm Street
If we're going on personality alone, Freddy Krueger beats Godzilla right out of the gate. Yes, Freddy's a psycho killer who takes entirely too much pleasure in tormenting teens via their dreams, but he does it with a lot of style — style that even Godzilla's glowstick spine can't hold a candle to. While Godzilla's kills are something to behold if you enjoy a flashy VFX showcase, they tend to be pretty straightforward. Whether the doom dragon is vomiting radioactive laser beams or busting out his radioactive Riverdance, his attacks all generally fall somewhere in the area of "smashy-smashy" and "big boom." Freddy, on the other hand, brings a little flair to the job, with some of the most creative kills in the murder market.
Of course, in a straight-up comparison of physical stats, Krueger's razor-sharp nails are no match for the pure bulk and nuclear sizzle of the spicy leviathan. However, here's where things get interesting in a Freddy versus Godzilla showdown: The disfigured serial killer's abilities are practically limitless in the dream world. Think reality-warping, omniscience, and telekinesis, not to mention seemingly unlimited strength. At the end of the day, a little nuclear radiation is nothing to a dream demon. The trick is that he'd have to catch Godzilla in a catnap. At that point, Freddy could easily transform the dream world into a liquid nitrogen wonderland, flash-freezing his foe into a prehistoric popsicle like they did in "Shin Godzilla."
Pazuzu from the Exorcist
Pazuzu, the antagonist of "The Exorcist," has affinities for priests, pea soup, and petty vandalism. That's not a great start when it comes to fighting Godzilla, but if the two were ever to end up in a battle, the ancient demonic entity would likely come out on top, and here's why. Pazuzu has been at this whole demon thing for a long time, which means he's had many years to hone his skills and drills. In fact, he's one of the few movie monsters that potentially predates Godzilla as an ostensibly immortal and timeless being.
As a spiritual entity, Pazuzu is invulnerable to just about anything the mortal realm can throw at him. If the physical form he is inhabiting comes under attack, he can simply weasel his way into the next human or beast that comes along and then rinse and repeat. Once inside a being, the ancient villain has a whole arsenal of demonic tricks at his disposal. He can levitate, making him a worthy adversary for Godzilla should the lizard choose to use his powerful breath like a jetpack as he did in "Godzilla Vs. Hedorah."
As those who have seen "The Exorcist" know, Old Patzy also has telekinetic abilities that can move matter. Sure, shaking a bed around isn't going to intimidate the king of the monsters, but this ability opens up a whole host of potential. If he put his mind to it, he could literally move mountains, which just so happen to be one of the few things on Earth that could crush Godzilla. And, if push came to shove and nothing else worked, Pazuzu could just possess the beast and call it a day.
The sandworms from Dune
There are plenty of monstrous mega-worms in sci-fi and horror, like the ominous sand burrower from "Star Wars," the snazzy-looking Saturnian sandworms of "Beetlejuice," and the Graboids from "Tremors." But none are more elegantly monstrous than Shai-Hulud, the great sandworms of the "Dune" universe that the Fremen revere as a sacred embodiment of the One God. When pitted against Godzilla, Shai-Hulud would fare better than most movie monsters — growing to hundreds of meters in length, these desert behemoths far outmatch Godzilla in terms of size.
Aside from environmental pollution or degradation, Shai-Hulud are practically impossible to kill, with seriously heavy nukes being one of the few things that could potentially do them in. While Godzilla does pack some pretty gnarly nuclear power, none of his abilities would be enough to take out a single sandworm in one punch. The best he could hope for would be to knock out part of a sandworm, but, since they're worms, the remaining worm segments could probably keep going and eventually regenerate. With the sandworm's desert stealth advantage, these no-no noodles could easily get the drop on Godzilla on their home turf, particularly once he's nuked it down from king size into a whole bunch of fun-sized worms.
Stitch from Lilo & Stitch
Experiment 626 might look like a kawaii space koala, but, like Nibbler from "Futurama," Stitch's cute facade hides a fierce, superintelligent alien. Unlike Godzilla, whose superpowers are a byproduct of an environmental disaster, Stitch was intentionally created by self-proclaimed evil genius Dr. Jumba with one purpose in mind — to destroy everything, leaving chaos in his wake. Even though he turns out to be a total sweetheart after learning the beauty of "ohana," Stitch still possesses all abilities that make him a potential destroyer of worlds. He comes with built-in nightvision, and, as Dr. Jumba puts it, Stitch is "bulletproof, fireproof, and can think faster than a supercomputer."
Crucially, Stitch also has the ability to move objects thousands of times his own size. That means that, despite his miniscule muscle mass, he would certainly stand a fighting chance against Godzilla. As a lab-grown critter with some pretty hardcore biotech, Stitch would fare pretty well against the kaiju's nuclear attacks. In fact, he treats fiery explosions like a day at the spa — he crashed a gasoline tanker into a volcano and then decided to DIY his own Uber to space by igniting the whole thing and riding it up to Gantu's ship. Fortunately for Godzilla, Stitch would probably just subdue him before enrolling him in Lilo's ohana rehabilitation program for out-of-pocket monsters.
Pennywise from It
A grudge match between Godzilla and Stephen King's timeless trickster Pennywise would be a close one, but there's a good chance the overpowered space carnie would come out on top. A self-proclaimed "eater of worlds" with a particular taste for children, "It" is a god-like, primordial being from a void outside of time and space. Rather than seeking power, fame, or worship, the semi-retired super-being simply pops up every 27 years to use his sizable supernatural skill set to snack on suburban kids.
Many of Pennywise's most hardcore flexes would be wasted on Godzilla, since they tend to be pretty cerebral in nature, things like shapeshifting into a long-dead relative. Godzilla might be pretty sharp for a kaiju, but he's still basically a giant iguana, and it's hard to imagine Pennywise's mind games would make much of a dent in his lizard psyche. However, Pennywise is an immortal being and the only thing capable of defeating him in the film series is the Derry kids' name-calling — something Godzilla probably isn't capable of doing. Pair that invulnerability with Pennywise's matter manipulation, telekinesis, and super strength, and he could easily take down the nuclear dino.
Jean Jacket from Nope
It looks kind of like an ambitious art project straight out of Burning Man or an AI-generated hot air balloon, but the alien antagonist from "Nope" is actually a giant bloodthirsty space jellyfish. This movie monster spends its time LARPing as a cloud when it isn't feeding on victims. Nicknamed Jean Jacket after the equestrian protagonists' childhood horse, this terrifying prokaryote is actually a pretty solid opponent for a kaiju, since its size and intelligence seem to be comparable. Technically, Jean Jacket might even be able to pass itself off as a kaiju.
Since Jean Jacket interferes with electronics, it's very possible that the creature would shut down Godzilla's atomic abilities that rely on electromagnetic force to charge, giving it a better chance in a battle. Of course, it's unlikely that Jean Jacket could just eat Godzilla like he does with everything else — his size makes him too big for the sentient parade float's mouth and Jean Jacket lacks the ability to take smaller bites. However, what Jean Jacket could do is grab onto the lizard like a suckermouth catfish and deposit him in space, where the frozen vacuum would make quick work of the beast.
The Beldam (aka the Other Mother) from Coraline
The Beldam is a parasitic interdimensional grifter who will cosplay as a button-eyed version of your mother in an effort to lure you into a pocket universe and eternally enslave your soul. While it's hard to say if Godzilla has a soul to steal, the Beldam — or the Other Mother — is certainly powerful enough to give the beast a run for his money. A supernatural, witchy creature, the Beldam is highly skilled at disguising herself. Underneath her projected exterior, her true form is a metallic, skeletal spider figure with sewing needles for hands. Godzilla may be intimidating, but this is truly the stuff of nightmares.
Since her powers of disguise seem to rely upon her intended victim's perception, it's unlikely that Godzilla would see her as anything other than her true form. But that doesn't make this overpowered house elf any less of a threat to Godzilla. If she could lure Godzilla into her Other World, she'd win the fight for sure, since the Other Mother is effectively omniscient in her home reality. But even if she couldn't lure him to his fate, the Other Mother has other tricks up her sleeve — like creating golems to do her bidding. Since the only way to defeat her is to trap her in the pocket universe, Godzilla's atomic tantrums would likely just buy her time to create more Other minions.
The Blob from The Blob
The Blob is a lo-fi movie monster — kind of like a cross between strawberry jam and that ever-growing snake from a '90s Nokia. But, while it might not look like much, it's that tendency to underestimate this amorphous Jell-O shot that gets folks in trouble. If you come into contact with the Blob, then you become a part of it. The classic movie monster digests flesh when it touches it and quickly assimilates it into its mass, meaning that, technically, it can grow to a limitless size. Just imagine what the Blob would look like if it managed to absorb a beast the size of Godzilla! But is this possible?
One thing that makes the Blob a truly formidable movie monster is that it doesn't have to be huge to get you — it just needs a spot to latch onto. After it's done that, it can start slowly digesting your vulnerable flesh. Like Godzilla, the Blob is vulnerable to extreme cold, but this super slime is electricity and fire-resistant, which means our overgrown alligator wouldn't be able to harm it with its supercharged burps. To claim victory, all the Blob would have to do is pose as a wad of old Juicy Fruit and latch on.