King Ghidorah’s return: 6 Godzilla movies to watch before seeing Minus Zero, besides Minus One

A rival returns

In Godzilla Minus One, Godzilla’s enemy was humanity. Marketing for Godzilla Minus Zero confirms that the sequel pits him against King Ghidorah, the three-headed golden dragon who has challenged him in many films since 1964.

Earlier versions of Ghidorah can give viewers a point of comparison for the new interpretation. The article describes him as Godzilla’s greatest enemy and says later films often retained the alien origin established in his debut.

The first monster battle

Released in 1955, Godzilla Raids Again followed the 1954 film that launched the franchise. It was the first Godzilla movie to have him fight another monster, Anguirus, who was later reinvented as an ally.

The battle helped establish a direction for the series, with monster fights taking a larger role than military efforts to defeat Godzilla. Like Minus Zero, the film follows a story in which humanity had prevailed against Godzilla, only for his return to bring another kaiju confrontation.

Ghidorah’s debut

Ghidorah, Three-Headed Monster, released in 1964, introduced King Ghidorah. In the story, Mothra brings Godzilla and Rodan together to fight the dragon, marking Godzilla’s first monster team-up. The film established Ghidorah as a powerful being from outer space and laid the groundwork for his long rivalry with Godzilla. The article also points to two later films that drew on this alien identity.

Two later Ghidorah stories

Godzilla: King of the Monsters, the second film in Legendary’s Monsterverse, features eco-terrorists trying to unleash the Titans as a planetary reset. Their plan goes wrong when Ghidorah, an alien with no concern for Earth’s future, bends the other Titans to his will and forces Godzilla to intervene.

The article says modern effects helped the film match Ghidorah’s reputation as Godzilla’s biggest foe, setting a high bar for Minus Zero. It also names Godzilla: Final Wars as Toho’s most recent live-action Godzilla-versus-Ghidorah film, but gives its release year as 2024; the article’s remaining discussion ends mid-sentence.