Tools of Characterization

Characterization in Godzilla

Actions

There's a time for thinking and then there's a time for action. When a building-sized lizard with atomic breath is barreling down on you, that's a time for action—or at the very least running.

Yeah, we'd recommend running.

Godzilla looks more favorably upon characters that act, especially for the sake of others, than those who think and debate action. The Diet committee, for example, looks incompetent with its endless debating. Sure, its members fiercely argued their points, yet the debating never yields solutions.

Likewise, Yamane's heart is certainly in the right place with his desire to study Godzilla to learn the secret of its radiation resistance. However, the longer Godzilla is not dealt with, the more people die.

In contrast, we have characters like Emiko and Ogata. Emiko is an action-oriented character, helping to study Godzilla and later providing relief to the injured at the field hospital. She chooses to break her promise to Serizawa, which in turn leads Ogata to act. He goes to Serizawa to ask for the Oxygen Destroyer, so he can defeat Godzilla.

Ultimately, the actions of Emiko and Ogata influence Serizawa, who goes from self-reflective to man-of-action. Using the Oxygen Destroyer, Serizawa ends Godzilla's rampage and saves the day. The Diet committee, one presumes, is still debating the issue.

Occupation

The characterization of whether to act or not to act ties directly into occupation. Put simply: professionals are thinkers but not doers, while blue collar works and soldiers are all about getting stuff done.

Serizawa and Yamane are our go-to examples here. Both are scientists who spend large portions of the film pondering pensive prospects. As we've already mentioned, Serizawa has the key to destroying Godzilla but spends his time worrying about the consequences. Meanwhile, Yamane is brought aboard to help the military create a plan of defense, but he provides no actionable ideas. He simply wants to study the monster.

And did we mention the politicians? Fat lot of good they did anyone.

Ogata is our blue-collar man of action. A worker at a shipping company, he's the one that stirs the professionals like Serizawa and Yamane to action. There's also the police, firefighters, and military personnel shown during Godzilla's rampage. Although they lack names, they're the first responders to the crisis, and it is only natural to think favorably of their attempts to help others.

Type of Being

Obvious, right? Godzilla isn't human. He can't be reasoned with, can't be bought, can't be bribed.

The creature's an unbridled natural disaster mixed with a nuclear bomb, with its destruction dial cranked up to eleven. It's not a villain in the mustache-twirling, out-to-take-over-the-world sense. Instead, it displays a type of senseless violence that represents nature at its most terrifying. The only way to stop it is to kill it.

Then there are the humans. None of the humans in the film are really looked upon badly. They're all clearly victims of a problem larger than themselves. Yamane and Serizawa may not be helping to solve the problem while they imitate their favorite Rodin sculpture, but their inaction is still understandable. It's a big problem, and they have reasons for doing (or not doing) as they do (or don't do).

In the end, it really is about a nation of people coming together to overcome an incredible crisis, and everyone plays their part. Yes, even the politicians.