TheMonsterverseis full of epic Titan battles, but not all of them are crafted with the same level of creativity or ferociousness. Now spanning two TV shows andfive Monsterverse movies, Legendary Pictures and Toho’s Godzilla continuity has created some of the best kaiju fights ever put to screen in the modern age. That being said, there is a clear hierarchy to which giant monster battles are the most enjoyable to watch, with some being easily outclassed by others.
There are several obvious pieces of criteria by which the Monsterverse’s fights can be ranked.The duration, environment, number of Titans present, and level of fight choreography are all fine points to consider, with the best Monsterverse battles getting creative with all of these aspects. Above all else, a properly satisfying finishing move will get the highest of marks. Of course, it goes without saying thatthe Monsterverse’s many off-screen fightswon’t be up for consideration for the best in the franchise, being only disappointing cutaways or background pieces of news footage.
15Godzilla Vs. Tiamat
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire
Barely above the level of an off-screen fight is Godzilla’s battle with the Titan Tiamat in the frigid waters of the Arctic.Looking to secure his dominance of the surface world, Godzilla seeks out more and more power, including a mysterious pink energy apparently harnessed by the previously-unmentioned Titan Tiamat. An eel-like leviathan living in an icy lair, Godzilla swims to the Arctic to face Tiamat on her home turf.
12 Classic Monsters Godzilla & Kong Can Fight In The Next Monsterverse Movie
Godzilla and Kong have put down some major threats in the Monsterverse, but there are still plenty of possible threats for them to take on together.
This fight barely registers as a proper monster battle, being over before it even really begins.Though Tiamat makes an attempt to strangle Godzilla by coiling herself around him, the King of the Monsters quickly summons his nuclear breath, blasting her to pieces that slowly float up to the ocean’s surface. Not only is Godzilla and Tiamat’s supposed fight to the death tragically short, but the majority of it isn’t even clearly shown on-camera. How exactlyGodzilla achieves his new formthrough absorbing Tiamat’s power also remains a mystery.
14Godzilla Vs. The Ion Dragon
Monarch: Legacy of Monsters
Being an Apple TV+ streaming exclusive, it’s not a surprise thatMonarch: Legacy of Monstersis quite lean on actual monster battles compared to the movies.The majority of the series' runtime is focused on the boots-on-the-ground human plotline,which haphazardly runs underfoot from Titan menaces like the Ion Dragon, the antagonistic new Titan introduced by the show.
While the battle looks almost as good as anything in the movies, it’s quite short-lived, with Godzilla lazily tossing the Ion Dragon aside and into another rift.
The Ion Dragon gets its comeuppance the instant Godzilla meets it in combat, walking through an open rift.While the battle looks almost as good as anything in the movies, it’s quite short-lived, with Godzilla lazily tossing the Ion Dragon aside and into another rift. Still, at least the battle shows off the new monster’s unique abilities, such as a spiked prehensile tail, agile wings, and a nasty-looking oozing breath weapon it manages to land on Godzilla’s hide.
13Kong Vs. Kraken
Skull Island
Not to be confused with Kong’s debut in the Monsterverse, the movieKong: Skull Island,the prequel animated seriesSkull Islandgoes further in-detail with Kong’s origins through the lens of another group of survivors who find themselves stranded on the mysterious isle in the 90s. Again,likeMoncarch: Legacy of Monsters,the human characters and their own close calls with monsters is the main point of focus here.However, the series does feature one prominent Titan vs. Titan battle as Kong enters a re-match with an old nemesis, the Kraken sea monster.
The Kraken is a wonderfully unique aquatic design for a creature, having multiple different types of tentacles, crushing claws, and bioelectric powers that all make for a fearsome opponent. While this fight’s choreography is quite good, it’s let down by the series' awkward animation, which doesn’t do justice to Kong or his opponent.It’s a shame this fight was wasted in the underdeveloped spin-off series rather than being included in a big-budget Monsterverse movie.
12Godzilla Vs. King Ghidorah In The Sea
Godzilla: King of the Monsters
The second battle withGodzilla’s hated nemesis, King Ghidorah,inGodzilla: King of the Monstersmight be the weakest monster battle of the film, but represents a huge step up in quality in Monsterverse fights as a whole.In this brief scuffle, Godzilla takes on Monster Zero in his home turf, the ocean, using his aquatic abilities against the flying invasive species. Shortly after King Ghidorah makes short work of Rodan off-screen, Godzilla resurfaces to take another crack at taking down his new rival.
In the water, Godzilla is in his natural element, while the massive and awkward body of King Ghidorah struggles to mount any sort of defense. Amazingly,Godzilla manages to actually rip off one of King Ghidorah’s heads, landing a seemingly decisive strike on the alien beast.Sadly, before a victor can be declared, the humans take the chance to hit both monsters with the experimental Oxygen Destroyer weapon, cutting the fight short. Just as this battle begins to get interesting, human intervention allows King Ghidorah to escape, growing back his severed head.
11Godzilla Vs. King Ghidorah In Antarctica
As cool as Godzilla and King Ghidorah’s second battle is, the two’s first confrontation in Antartica outclasses it.As King Ghidorah emerges from deep within his icy imprisonment, he begins wreaking havoc on the Monarch base, presenting one of the most threatening Titans the world had ever seen. Luckily, Godzilla soon appears to test his mettle against his fellow apex predator.
The setting and cinematography of these fight allows for some breathtaking shots, such as Ghidorah’s first flexing of his wings amid the Antarctic snowstorm, showing off just how much a threat he is.The moment King Ghidorah dodges Godzilla’s nuclear breath and strikes back with his own triple gravity beam drives home just how experienced of a fighter the beast was prior to coming to Earth.Sadly, this sequence is held back by a mostly human perspective, keeping large chunks of the action from being clear due to obscuring weather and shaky cam.
10Godzilla Vs. Scylla
Godzilla’s brief scuffle with the original Monsterverse Titan Scylla might not be the lengthiest or most well-choreographed action scene. That being said, the sheer spectacle it manages to deliver on in a short amount of time more than makes up for its shortcomings. InGodzilla x Kong: The New Empire,it’s explained that Godzilla has been maintaining his grip on the surface world as King of the Monsters, occasionally taking down uppity Titans like Scylla who step out of line.
Previously seen bowing down to Godzilla inGodzilla: King of the Monsters,Scylla’s arthropod body and tentacles make for quite a striking profile. However,Godzilla easily takes her down, stabbing her with her own limbs and firing his atomic breath to produce a fantastic shower of green blood.The cherry on top of the fight is Godzilla curling up like a cat and falling asleep in the Roman colosseum shortly afterward. Even if it’s a quick one, Scylla’s brief skirmish with Godzilla is a great thesis statement of his strength as a Titan.
9Kong Vs. Skar King
Getting into the truly noteworthy battles,Kong’s first confrontation withthe insidious Skar KinginGodzilla x Kong: The New Empireshows off just how well the Monsterverse can characterize inhuman protagonists.After discovering Skar King’s lair, Kong challenges him to a public duel, clearly presenting himself as a contender for Skar King’s throne. Skar King is a unique kaiju villain in that the majority of his power comes socially, holding leverage over the apes via his control of the frost Titan Shimo.
That’s not to say that the Skar King is a slouch in combat, utilizing his long reach, slinky, agile frame, and spine whip to their full advantage. However, up against Kong’s sheer brute strength and brutality, he ultimately stands little chance, forcing him to sheepishly retract the duel and call forth Shimo to dispose of the interloper.This contest of strength may be fairly one-sided, but it at least sets up the characterization for both Kong and Skar King quite brilliantly while still making use of the latter’s unique fighting style.
8Godzilla Vs. Kong Over The Ocean
Godzilla vs. Kong
King Ghidorah isn’t the only opponent Godzilla attempts to leverage his dominance in the sea against, as he intercepts a Monarch battlegroup containing a ship hauling none other than Kong himself.Fearful of Godzilla’s approach, Kong wakes up, scanning the water for trouble and leaping from boat to boat. It soon finds him as Godzilla breaches the surface, kicking off the first round of the film’s promised title fight.
Using an aircraft carrier as a platform, Kong holds his own in a drag-down slugfest against Godzilla, leveraging his simian fists. However,he’s no match for Godzilla’s atomic breath, though he’s able to demonstrate his superior intelligence and instincts by dodging it at the last second.Of course, Kong barely escapes with his life when the fight goes to the open ocean, nearly drowning in Godzilla’s clutches. This fight has no satisfying conclusion and presents some difficulties in the consistency of Godzilla and Kong’s size, but is still an entertaining bout.
7Kong Vs. The Giant Skullcrawler
Kong: Skull Island
The events ofKong: Skull Islandonce again focus more on the humans inhabiting the dangerous locale than it does on Kong himself, with the majority of the flora and fauna easily bowing down to Kong’s might.The glaring exception are the cave-dwelling Skullcrawlers, who kill the most humans of Skull Island’s food chain of hostile wildlife.
A particularly big Skullcrawler specimen faces off against Kong in the final showdown of the film, presenting a gripping action scene.
Here, Kong leverages his simian intelligence to use a massive ship chain and propellor blade as a makeshift flail, later wrapping it around his fist to form a sort of kunckleduster. However,the best part of this battle is easily Kong’s finishing move on the creature,in which he reaches into its throat and messily rips out its G.I. tract from the inside out. If only the Skullscrawler was a more noteworthy enemy, this fight could’ve been rated even higher.
6Kong Vs. Apes
Thinking himself to be the sole surviving member of his race, the moment Kong comes across others of his kind in the Hollow Earth is a big, emotional reveal inGodzilla x Kong: The New Empire.This beat is made all the more disheartening due to their immediate hostility towards him, quickly registering him as a threat to the Skar King’s supremacy.It’s here that the Monsterverse establishes that Kong is especially strong even for a member of his race, taking on multiple foes at the same time.
It’s great to see the conflicted emotions Kong has during this fight, not wanting to hurt the only other members of his species he’s ever met while still needing to defend himself.This internal conflict, told through body language alone, is juxtaposed in the fight by one of themost ridiculous moments in the Monsterverseever, in which Kong wields the infant ape Suko like a pair of nunchucks, batting aside the other apes with his flailing body. Getting closer to the best Monsterverse fight, this battle is only outclassed by the biggest action finales in the series.
