After almost 59 years these two legendary monsters are ready to face off once again. In a battle for the ages, where one falls and the other reigns supreme.
It’s the ultimate punch-out/slap-fest of 2021!
Godzilla: King of the Monsters
And
Kong: Skull Island Protector
These two Alpha Titans will battle it out until one submits to the other.
I’ll be analyzing both combatants on a wide range of topics such as strength, speed and durability to find out who will fall in this year’s Godzilla VS Kong.
Background:
Godzilla:
Height: 120m (393.7ft)
Weight: 99,634 tons/90,386,444kg
Japanese name: Gojira
Scientific name: Titanus Gojira
Age: Over 254 million years old
An ancient life form from the Permian-period
Protector of Earth
Consumes radiation
Kong:
Height: 102.5m (336ft)
Weight: Unknown
Scientific name: Titanus Kong
Age: ≈65
Orphaned since birth
Last of his kind
Protector of Skull Island
Can speak in sign language
Strength:
Godzilla
Godzilla’s strength is insane.
In the graphic novel ‘Godzilla: Aftershock’, the prequel to ‘Godzilla: King of the Monsters’, Godzilla takes on a Titan called Titanus Jinshin-Mushi, also known as MUTO Prime. A custom-build Titan created by evolution to fight and kill the Godzilla species. In one of their fights Godzilla lifted the Titan on his back. MUTO Prime weighed 50% more than Godzilla did in 2014. In 2014 Godzilla weighed 90,000 tons. This means MUTO Prime must weigh in at 135,000 tons (135,000,000kg, 29,762,4054lbs).
For reference that’s as heavy as 900 blue whales.
That’s impressive given that this was before Godzilla’s prime in 2019 and to make it even more impressive this was when he was already weakened from the fight with MUTO Prime.
Final Strength Feat: ≈135,000 tons
Kong
While we haven’t seen Kong’s strength pushed to the max yet we can still theorize what his potential max strength could be.
In the real world Gorillas are, pound for pound, the 4th strongest animal on the planet. Being capable of lifting things 10 times their own body weight. The average Silverback Gorilla weighs 160kg and can carry a maximum weight of 1,600kg.
They can do this thanks to the large amounts of muscle concentration in their arms and upper torso. While Kong’s weight in the upcoming movie isn’t confirmed yet we can still say this applies to him given the amount of girth present in his upper body and arms.
Given this, Kong could potentially lift Godzilla from the ground and maybe even other heavyweight Titans such as Ghidorah and MUTO Prime.
Final Strength Feat: estimate ≈300,000 tons
Conclusion:
Godzilla’s feat of carrying Jinshin-Mushi is thanks to his powerful legs, not arms.
Given that Kong’s arms seem to be capable of carrying more than Godzilla’s legs this means that when carrying an object overhead Kong’s legs would also feel the weight of what his arms are carrying.
Using that logic we can conclude that Kong can carry more weight than Godzilla can.
Winner: Kong
Destructive Output
Godzilla
Godzilla is incredibly destructive and his massive weight contributes to this.
He has claws that can knock around Kong,
Teeth can sever Ghidorah’s heads,
And a tail that can smack around Titanus Jinshi-Mushi.
But despite these devastating attacks none are more destructive than his Atomic Breath.
Which was powerful enough to knockback the 141,000 ton Ghidorah.
Not only did Godzilla’s Atomic Breath knockback Ghidorah a considerable distance it also completely destroyed the Monarch facility stationed in Antarctica.
After taking some time to study the size of the Monarch Outpost, Outpost 32 Wall of Serpent, and also observing the sizes of different TNT explosions I deduced that it would take around…
(images of Outpost 32 found in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFH3fRNGmZ4&t=5s)
0.65 kiltons or 650 tons of TNT to completely destroy the outpost. I know that doesn’t sound like a lot but it is.
A 1 kiloton explosion has a diameter of 80m (262ft) and I measured the monarch facility to be around 66.5m wide and 32m tall (218ft,105ft), and according to NUKEMAP (https://nuclearsecrecy.com/nukemap/) a 0.65 kiloton explosion has a fireball radius of 70m. Now the reason I used a simulator that records nuclear explosion sizes is because the destructiveness of Godzilla’s Atomic Breath and Atomic Bombs are meant to be the same thing symbolically. Although according to some sources this version of Godzilla’s Atomic Breath can reach destructive levels of 35 kilotons while burning things at a temperature of 550,000°C.
Final Force Feat: 0.65 Kilotons of TNT/550,000°C
Kong
Unlike Godzilla, Kong only has one reliable way of outputting a tremendous amount of force, his fists. But just because he only has his fists doesn’t mean he can’t output a tremendous amount of force, he is a Titan after all and these guys are usually city destroyers.
I mean look at Rodan, he can destroy entire towns just by flying over them.
Meanwhile Kong can cause earthquakes just by punching the ground.
In a Chinese poster released that contains stats for both combatants it is revealed that Kong’s punch can strike at a force of 4.2 on the Richter Scale.
The highest value for earthquake strength the Richter Scale can measure is 9.
For context a magnitude 8 earthquake is the kind of earthquake that devastated San Francisco in 1906. These earthquakes cause lots of death and destruction. In comparison a magnitude 4 earthquake would only cause damage around its epicenter. It’s strength is more-or-less comparable to a small fission bomb or 60,000 kg of dynamite (side note: dynamite & TNT are not the same thing, dynamite is also stronger than TNT).
Although these quakes are noticeable they’re not powerful enough to affect most buildings, there’s a reason 4.0 to 4.9 earthquakes are sometimes called “light earthquakes”.
It is possible that Kong can punch harder than this if he puts his weight into the punch.
Final Force Feat: >60,000kg of dynamite (0.3KT or 300 Tons of TNT)
Conclusion:
I don’t think it takes a genius to recognize the sheer gap in power here. One is capable of making an earthquake that causes ceilings to rip and the other is capable of blowing up a large metal base. If a 4.2 magnitude earthquake won’t phase most common buildings then it sure won’t do anything to a giant facility that can contain Titan body parts.
Winner: Godzilla
Bite Effectiveness
Before you get confused, bite effectiveness is not the same as bite force or strength, rather it’s which Titan’s bite is better suited for wounding or damaging the other’s body.
Godzilla
Godzila’s jaw is square-like, similar to that of a t-rex.
T Rex Skeleton Clipart – Dinosaur Skull
This sort of shape suggests that Godzilla’s jaw structure is rigid making them inflexible and more stiff, which allows for extra stability in the jaw. A rigid jaw structure can output a stronger bite force than a flexible jaw structure as it can resist more force.
Godzilla’s bite has been able inflict massive pain on both the MUTOs and Ghidorah so going by that it should have a powerful grip to it.
Kong
Kong’s mouth structure is comparable to that of a gorilla. Gorillas, believe it or not, possess one of the strongest bite forces in the world. Ranking in the top five they possess a bit force of 1,300 psi, double that of a lion.
Kong also has sharp canines in his mouth which provide a small surface area for a large amount of pressure to be inflicted during a bite.
Conclusion
Godzilla’s bite is suited for gripping and dealing massive amounts of pressure which is distributed by the area of his jaw.
Kong’s bite is more suited for piercing through the distribution of large amounts of pressure through small surface areas.
So whose bite is more likely to hurt the other?
Well, given the fact that Godzilla has survived Ghidorah chomping down on his neck before chokeslamming him to the ground once I’d say Kong’s bite wouldn’t make a dent in Godzilla’s armour. Ghidorah himself possesses a mean set of canines like Kong and his jaw structure is quite square too meaning that his bite is probably stronger than Kong’s.
Kong possesses no bodily armour so he has nothing defending him from Godzilla’s brutal bite.
Winner: Godzilla
Mobility
Mobility is a broad term so I’ll be splitting it into four different categories. Those categories being:
- Top Speed
- Agility
- Reaction Speed
- Stamina
Winning one of these subcategories is worth 1 point and at the end I’ll tally them up to see who, out of the 4, has the most points.
Top Speed
Godzilla
Godzilla has two top speeds, one on land and one in the water. First, land.
Now… as expected from a massive hulking lizard, Godzilla isn’t really that fast of a runner. Sure, we see him charging towards Ghidorah during the fight in Boston in ‘Godzilla: King of the Monsters’, but that was after being supercharged by a nuclear warhead.
The fastest we see him charging in ‘base form’ is when he charges towards Ghidorah in Antarctica earlier in the movie.
And that’s not even a charge, more of a fast walk. So given his size at best I can say he moves at a speed of 30mph.
Swimming speed is a different story.
Since Godzilla is an aquatic Titan his body is built to swim faster.
According to Monarch, an organization dedicated to studying and learning about these Titans, Godzilla can reach a top swimming speed of 40 knots (48 mph). This is supported by the fact that in the ‘Godzilla (2014)’ movie there’s a scene where the U.S navy is following Godzilla and when he dips below the surface of the water a navy member says that Godzilla’s speed is at
“33 knots and picking up speed.”
Final Speed Feat: estimate ≈30mph/38km/h (land),
40knots/74km/h (water)
Kong
Kong hasn’t shown to be running a lot in the recent trailers, the only time we do see him running is in the 2017 helicopter skirmish scene from ‘Kong: Skull Island’. However, given his more human-like stance it is possible that he is capable of reaching top speeds higher than Godzilla. There are no official stats for top speed for Kong so I’ll leave an estimate I made based on the helicopter skirmish scene.
Final Speed Feat: estimate ≈93mph/150km/h
Conclusion
So Godzilla has two top speeds while Kong has only one.
Now for most people they would think this means Godzilla wins however top speed isn’t all about having a high speed, it’s also about reaching that top speed or in other words acceleration. Comparing Godzilla’s upright theropod-like structure to Kong’s human-like structure it’s easy to say that Kong would have an easier time reaching his top speed as his body allows for easier quick movement bursts. Godzilla’s two top speeds allowed him to tie with Kong’s potentially higher land top speed but Kong’s higher potential acceleration gives him the edge in this sub-category.
Winner: Kong
Agility
Godzilla
Godzilla’s massive body requires that he makes use of a tail to act as a counter balance. This is so that he doesn’t fall over when trying to move and turn. However this large mass and size means that Godzilla can’t easily turn around. While he technically can turn around fast on the spot, as we see him do this as he mercilessly impales the male MUTO against a skyscraper in ‘Godzilla (2014)’ with his tail, his size doesn’t allow him to turn quickly while moving.
Meaning he has a terrible turning radius while running.
Kong
As mentioned twice before we don’t know how heavy Kong is, but what we do know is that he is most likely lighter than Godzilla. This, coupled with his human-like stance, means that Kong doesn’t require a tail to keep himself balanced when moving around and it also means that he is free to perform a wide range of different movement actions.
This includes:
- jumping
- turning on a dime
- and of course, climbing.
Conclusion:
I don’t need to say much for this one. We’ve seen Kong jump and climb which shows his superior agility when compared to Godzilla, who we’ve never seen jump or climb (at least this version of the Big G). The winner for this sub-category is Kong.
Winner: Kong
Reaction Speed & Reflexes
Godzilla
Godzilla may be large, bulky and not very agile but he is no slouch in reaction speed. He was able to react to the male MUTO attempting to flank him, which resulted in the MUTO getting impaled against a skyscraper.
He’s also fought the Shinomura, another MUTO kaiju, who, like the male MUTO, was able to out speed Godzilla. While the MUTO’s flight speeds are undetermined it’s not unreasonable to think that they can fly at the speeds close to that of sound. Rodan, another kaiju capable of flight, can keep up with the USS Argo and a squadron of fighter jets which were probably flying anywhere between subsonic to the actual speed of sound since no sound barriers were broken during the flight chase. While the MUTOs are much larger than Rodan, making them have a theoretically slower flight speed, it still would be close to sound if ever.
Final Reaction Speed: ≈Subsonic-Sonic speeds
Kong
As of now we’re only able to observe Kong’s reaction speed through the various trailers for GvK. In the first trailer we see Kong leap off of an aircraft carrier to avoid Godzilla’s Atomic Breath.
The Atomic Breath managed to reach the clouds in a matter of a few seconds. If we low ball this by saying that the clouds are, at the lowest, 6,500ft away from the ground and the Atomic Breath took 3 seconds to make it there from sea level that means that the Atomic Breath was travelling at a speed of 0.66km/s or almost twice the speed of sound.
Final Reaction Speed Feat: Supersonic- 0.66km/h
Conclusion
It is 100% possible that these two Titans have similar reaction speeds. However, while we can only theorize on Godzilla’s reaction speed we can calculate Kong’s reaction speed. This gives us a more reliable result to fall back on and makes it easier to conclude who wins this category.
Winner: Kong
Stamina
Godzilla
Godzilla has an insane amount of stamina.
In the ‘Godzilla (2014)’ movie he swam all the way from Hawaii to the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco in order to hunt down the MUTO couple. He did this, presumably, without any breaks and at a steady 74-ish km/h speed, which is impressive given that the distance between these two points is around 3,758km or 2335 miles. As if that wasn’t enough by the time he arrived at San Francisco he showed no signs of exhaustion.
By the time he finished brawling with the MUTO couple, during which he received pain from both the military, the MUTO’s stabs and grabs and being rammed into a few buildings, the sun was soon to rise in a few hours. Which means he kept up this fight overnight.
And this was Godzilla before the release of ‘King of the Monsters’. He definitely has way more stamina now then he did during his screen time in the 2014 movie.
Final Endurance Time: ≈2 days 9 hours
Kong
Before his fight with the Skull Devil Kong was weakened by a Napalm explosion, after which he was briefly able to defend himself before later taking the creature on properly. The final fight between the two lasted for around 5 ½ minutes and after the fight Kong departed, showing no signs of exhaustion. It is likely that now he’s all grown up he’ll be able to keep up a fight for much longer now, possibly more than his father. Kong’s father fought off multiple Skull Crawlers at once and now Kong is larger than his dad. So theoretically he can keep up a fight for much longer than just 5 minutes.
Final Endurance Time: unknown possibly ½ an hour at least
Conclusion
Even if we don’t know Kong’s max stamina it’s not going to matter in the end regardless since Godzilla was able to keep himself active nonstop for more than 2 days straight. And he fought through the night taking beating after beating without showing signs of backing down. So in the end this is an easy win for Godzilla
Winner: Godzilla
- Top Speed: Kong
- Agility: Kong
- Reaction Speed: Kong
- Stamina/Endurance: Godzilla
Kong-3, Godzilla 1
Winner of Mobility: Kong
Terrain Compatibility
Essentially, terrain compatibility is the range of locations an entity can move around and operate in effectively.
Godzilla
Godzilla has fought many other Titans in various locations such as cities (he fought the MUTOs in San Francisco and Ghidorah in Boston), glaciers (he fought Ghidorah in Antarctica) and even oceans (took on MUTO Prime and Ghidorah underwater). Godzilla has also travelled through the Hollow Earth although it is unknown whether or not he’s actually fought down there. We do know he’s at least acquainted to it like most other Titans would be.
Locations: Oceans, Cities, Glaciers, the Hollow Earth
Kong
So far Kong has only been acquainted with two different locations, Skull Island and the Hollow Earth. Skull Island possesses large mountains as part of its terrain so it is possible that Kong could use the large buildings in cityscapes the same way he uses the mountains in Skull Island, a way to traverse the land.
Locations: Skull Island, the Hollow Earth, potentially Cities
Conclusion
Godzilla’s many years of experience has allowed him to become more adequate with a wider range of terrain compared to Kong. This means that wherever they end up fighting Godzilla will mostly likely have the edge, especially in any body of water. From the trailers we see Godzilla and Kong facing off in two different settings, Hong Kong and the ocean.
While both Titans have, more-or-less, homefield advantage in these settings Godzilla’s wider range of familiar locations gives him more control over how the fight ends.
Winner: Godzilla
Durability
Godzilla
Godzilla has always been known as an indestructible force of nature and that title always carries through each and every version of the Big G… well most versions (lookin’ at you Zilla).
This version of Godzilla is one of the more tanky ones as he has survived some pretty nasty stuff.
For starters in the ‘Godzilla (2014)’ movie it is mentioned that the U.S tried to kill him by dropping an atomic bomb on him at Bikini Atoll during Operation Castle in an attempt to kill him.
Castle Bravo, the bomb dropped during the operation had a high yield to it, about 15 megatons of TNT.
Castle Bravo wasn’t the only nuke dropped on Godzilla, he’s had tons dropped on him by both the U.S and Soviet Union so he can clearly take the force of multiple atomic warheads.
However, nukes weren’t the only bomb the U.S military tried to drop on Godzilla.
In ‘Godzilla: King of the Monsters’ the U.S military dropped a weapon that is as old as Godzilla himself, the rightfully feared Oxygen Destroyer.
Essentially what this weapon does is isolate oxygen molecules before splitting them and eventually liquefying them. Any organism trapped in this thing’s blast (which has a 2 mile radius) will suffocate from lack of oxygen before being disintegrated to bones.
Godzilla however didn’t suffer either of those two fates. He just got badly injured to the point where he had to retreat back to his underwater temple to heal.
But that isn’t even his most impressive durability feat. There is one more that this Godzilla possess…
In the graphic novel ‘Godzilla: Awakening’ Godzilla is shown to have been directly stuck by the meteor that caused the Permian-Triassic Extinction, the largest mass extinction event in history.
So we can safely say his durability is around country-level at the least.
Final Durability Feat: City-level (15MT) – Country-level explosion
Kong
Unlike Godzilla Kong doesn’t possess any scaly armour for protection but that doesn’t mean he lacks in durability. In one of the TV Spots for ‘Godzilla Vs Kong’ Kong blocks Godzilla’s Atomic Breath (0:19) with his arm.
Since we already guessed Godzilla’s Atomic Breath to be around 0.65 kilotons of TNT that means Kong is able to, at the most, tank a force of 0.65 kilotons of TNT. This is an even more impressive feat when you take into consideration that Ghidorah was blasted a fair distance back by a less concentrated atomic blast in ‘Godzilla: King of the Monsters’.
Ghidorah weighs 141,000 tons, way more than Kong should weigh yet Kong seems to be unfazed by the more concentrated blast. While I do expect to see his fur and skin suffer from that attack it’s still an impressive durability feat given that he possesses no bodily armour whatsoever.
Final Durability Feat: Large Town-level
Conclusion
Even if Kong could survive a hit from Godzilla’s Atomic Breath it is unlikely he can survive a hit from a literal atomic bomb, or a hit from a blast that can suffocate most living creatures, or a blast that spanned the area of certain countries. It’s just very unlikely that, in terms of physical punishment, Kong can beat Godzilla in this category.
Winner: Godzilla
Intelligence
(combat intelligence)
Godzilla:
Godzilla has been alive for many years and as a result has acquired a vast amount of combat knowledge. In his 2014 film he baited the male MUTO into drawing closer to him before ambushing him with a powerful tail strike after being flanked by him multiple times (this is the third time I’m talking about that feat). In his 2019 film he took advantage of his aquatic nature by ambushing Ghidorah and dragging him into the ocean. Godzilla clearly has an advanced capability of picking up on enemy attack patterns and exploiting them to his benefit.
Kong
While Kong doesn’t possess anywhere near the levels of combat experience that Godzilla has he still has high levels of intelligence. As a great ape (or closely related to one by the looks of it) Kong would have a greater brain to body size ratio, which allows him to perform complex tasks such as using tools or the environment to his advantage in a fight.
Conclusion
Godzilla has way more combat knowledge than Kong does, allowing him to adapt to any sort of fight he comes across.
Kong has a higher general intelligence, which allows him to perform complex tasks that could potentially benefit him in a fight.
So who wins?
Well, given that we have one old man with a smaller brain and one young man with a bigger brain it’s pretty fair to say that the experience would cancel out the intelligence. This is the battlefield after all so combat intelligence is more important than overall intelligence. Still, overall intelligence allows one to be creative and improvise on the go.
These two traits effectively cancel each other out and 1-1=0 so that means that both Titans are tied in this category.
Winner: Tie
Arsenal
Godzilla
- Amphibious Nature: possess gills and other aquatic traits that allow him to live underwater
- Atomic Breath: concentrated beam of radiation that can destroy large buildings and knockback entities heavier than himself
- Bio-Atomic Nature: emits a radioactive signature
- Radiation Absorption: can heal and regain strength and stamina by absorbing radiation either from the Earth’s core or from other radiation sources
- Energy Absorption: absorbed Mothra’s lifeforce to become stronger
- Strong sense of hearing: heard the MUTO’s mating call from miles away
- Nuclear Pulse: releases a pulse of radioactive energy from his body. An injured Godzilla from the ‘Godzilla: Aftershock’ novel used this move to launch the 135,000 ton MUTO Prime flying into the air.
- Thermonuclear Nature (Burning Godzilla): Godzilla overloads causing him to heat up and melt everything around him in a 10 meter radius (including metal and concrete). His nuclear pulse at this state melts Ghidorah away at a temperature of 1,500,000 degrees Celsius.
Kong
- Climbing
- Sign Language
- Strong sense of hearing: heard a Sker Buffalo struggling under a helicopter
- Strong sense of sight: could see two people standing on a cliff in the dead of night
- Dexterity: used a tree as a bat and a boat propeller as a grappling hook.
- Battle Axe: can absorb Godzilla’s Atomic Breath and unleash it for a powerful attack (2:15)
Conclusion
A lot of Godzilla’s special abilities are range based allowing him to control most of the space in the battlefield. Meanwhile Kong seems to possess more utility/close-range based abilities that are synonymous with those of a gorilla or other great apes. While Kong’s Battle Axe does have the capability of canceling out Godzilla’s Atomic Breath it does nothing against his nuclear pulse and radiation absorption. We have seen in the past, in previous Godzilla films, that Godzilla can be brought down if absorbs too much radiation but considering Godzilla took a 15 megaton nuke and survived it seems quite unlikely that Kong would be able to overcome Godzilla’s absorption, even with his Battle Axe.
Winner: Godzilla
Fighting Styles
Godzilla
Godzilla’s fighting style is ruthless and relentless. Similar to that of a bear Godzilla uses his powerful forearms to grab opponents and slam them around before biting down on them with his powerful jaw.
In summary, he grabs and breaks the closest body part next to him.
Combine this aggressiveness with his many years of combat knowledge and Godzilla is capable of not only breaking an opponent physically but also mentally.
Godzilla fights to the death and when he’s knocked down he just gets back up, stares his opponent in the eye and telepathically tells them “I can do this all day” Steve Rogers style.
This kind of fighting style is sure to have the physiological effect of scaring most opponents into submission.
Kong
Armed with high intelligence and dexterity it’s no surprise Kong fights with more finesse than Godzilla does. Using his arms to throw around and space his opponents Kong uses strategy to wait for an opening before striking with his powerful punches or tools. This controlled approach to combat can allow him to retreat and prolong a fight until it sways into his favor.
Conclusion
This is like comparing a berserker to an aggressive fencer. There are a lot of factors that determine how this battle will play out, some of those factors include our previous categories. Godzilla could simply go all out on Kong, giving him no opening to take advantage of. Meanwhile Kong could very well use his intelligence to find a more strategic approach to Godzilla. Godzilla, though, could use his advanced skill of picking up on enemy attack patterns to lure Kong in before punishing him.
However, given Godzilla’s advantage of durability and stamina over Kong it’s unlikely that Kong will be able to prologue the fight long enough for him to find an opening before Godzilla wears him down.
Winner: Godzilla
Final Tally
Let’s tally up the scores!
Strength– Kong
Destructive Output– Godzilla
Bite Effectiveness– Godzilla
Mobility– Kong
- Top Speed– Kong
- Agility– Kong
- Reaction Speed & Reflexes– Kong
- Stamina– Godzilla
Terrain Compatibility– Godzilla
Durability– Godzilla
Intelligence (combat intelligence)– Tie
Arsenal– Godzilla
Fighting Style– Godzilla
Final Tally–
Godzilla-8 Kong-5
Final Words
In the end of the day Godzilla and Kong may just be two giant monsters fighting but they are more than that, they are two pop culture icons who are fighting. Each of them carrying a legacy of films on their shoulders.
Kong birthed the giant monster genre of films. Godzilla is a product of that genre and with the help of ‘King Kong Vs Godzilla’ he pushed forward the genre’s success with movie after movie.
These two are rivals in every sense, the original King of the Monsters and the one that came around and took his crown. They are the founding fathers of the giant monster genre.
And even though Godzilla has a better chance of winning in the end (if you exclude plot armour from both characters of course) this will be a close fight.
Kong is going to be the toughest foe this version of Godzilla has to face. With superior speed and agility along with a fighting style of finesse and intelligence Godzilla’s gonna have a difficult time taking Kong down. But from the conclusions I’ve come up with I can say that Godzilla still has the higher chance of keeping his crown.
Winner: Godzilla
All hail the King of the Monsters