Godzilla Minus Zero: Every Plot Question Explained

If you have plot questions about Godzilla Minus Zero, this is the article for you. I’m going to address as many of them as I can. If you still have a question, leave a comment at the bottom of the page. I’ll answer.

Answers to Godzilla Minus Zero plot questions

How long is the time between Godzilla Minus One and Godzilla Minus Zero?

Two years. Minus One ends in  1947; Minus Zero starts in 1949.  

Why does Ghidorah start with only one head?

The original plan, according to director Takashi Yamazaki, was to start Ghidorah off in his regular, three-headed form. But he always intended the creature to evolve as the movie progressed. A colleague at Toho recommended starting with a single-head design. 

Does Aoyama have magical weather powers?

The film certainly leans into there being some kind of mystical element to her weather-reading. And this is a world that has monsters like Godzilla and Ghidorah. But, as of this point, there’s no confirmation of magical humans.

Why does Noriko wear the eye patch?

People know she was wounded during Godzilla’s attack on Ginza in Minus One. They assume there was some kind of permanent damage. She even tells her friend at the war orphanage that the eye is “beyond help.” In reality, it’s because, as she later reveals, her Godzilla cells have changed the pigmentation of her iris to gold. 

Isn’t Akiko kind of a jerk to the orphan kids?

Yeah, her saying “I wanna go home, Daddy. Can we go home now?” quite loudly in front of the kids without homes and without parents is brutal. But the point is to establish Akiko’s sense of privilege and innocence, an innocence she’ll lose by the end of the movie.

What is Akiko supposed to tell Noriko once she figures it out?

This is a continuation of Akiko being careless in front of the orphans. Shikishima asks Akiko to not get so excited when he picks her up. She asks why. And that’s when Noriko tells her to think about it then let her know. At the end of Minus Zero, Akiko doesn’t know if her parents will make it back from the fight with Ghidorah. That’s when she understands how the orphans must feel. 

Are Shikishima and Noriko the parents of Akiko?

Not biologically. In Minus One, Noriko finds Akiko as a toddler and Shikishima helps take care of them. They’re an adopted family. 

Are Shikishima and Noriko in a romantic relationship?

They weren’t in Minus One. While they definitely act like husband and wife, it still seems like their relationship is emotional rather than physical. 

So Ghidorah came from a meteorite?

Yeah. It’s a callback to Ghidorah’s debut in 1964. A meteor crashes into a mountain in Japan and scientists go to explore. Eventually, Ghidorah emerges. Minus Zero speeds things along by already having Ghidorah causing terror. 

Another difference is that in the OG, Ghidorah is in his final “King” form. Minus Zero has him start with that single head and evolve over the course of the story. 

Is Ghidorah a dragon in Godzilla Minus Zero?

Not quite. Professor Murakami shows footage of Ghidorah initially being some strange, giant amoeba-like thing that consumes animals that come near it. It feeds on a deer and then a bird. Then we see it in a chrysalis. When it emerges from the chrysalis, it has the form of a dragon and can shoot lightning. Murakami says, “You can see it has the traits of various animals.” So you see the horns from the deer, the wings from the bird, then traits from animals Murakami didn’t film/show. 

This is how Ghidorah survives the lightning strikes: it evolves to absorb the lightning. It’s also why it fires Godzilla’s atomic breath: it acquired Godzilla’s genetic makeup during the fight so could access Godzilla’s skills. 

What is the United States’s Sovian policy in Godzilla Minus Zero?

Before the team tries to ambush a sleeping Ghidorah, they meet with a government official who tells them the U.S. has given Nado’s crew multiple planes. But no pilots. The official said the U.S. is trying to quell Japan’s concerns about America’s Soviet policy. 

Minus Zero doesn’t elaborate on what the policy is, but 1949 was the year NATO formed in response to fear over Russia’s military ambition. This was at the start of what came to be known as the Cold War between the U.S. and Russia. That means America would have had a lot of military activity in the vicinity of Japan. And given the recent history between the two countries, the U.S. is trying to be friendly. 

Why are the American’s spray-painting the plane?

Part of the Cold War was that neither the U.S. nor Russia could be seen doing anything actively aggressive. Giving Japan military planes could be construed that way. Instead of asking Japan (or trusting Japan) to remove any and all American identifiers from the planes, U.S. soldiers are doing it themselves by adding Japanese iconography. 

What did the American guy mean by “maybe we’ll finally get to use it?”

The revelation here is that America was present during the final fight in Godzilla Minus One, Operation Wada Tsumi. They were prepared to drop a third atomic bomb on Japan, in order to stop Godzilla. Which makes the officer’s statement absolutely horrible. It’s what you’d expect a super villain to say. 

What happened to Professor Murakami in the past?

Murakami had traveled to Hiroshima with his family. They were in the city when the atomic bomb landed. He had gone fishing so wasn’t in the blast radius. When he returned, he found the remains of his wife, daughter, and grandson. The experience still haunts him and has created a desire for revenge against America. 

He was also in Ginza when Godzilla attacked. Seeing Godzilla’s raw power, Murakami started dreaming about one day bringing the monster to New York City and letting the United States see what it’s like to experience catastrophe. 

Why isn’t Shikishima initially going to fly?

As Nado explains, he didn’t want to ask Shikishima because Shikishima already played the hero and risked his life to defeat Godzilla in Minus One. He’s earned not having to risk his life again, especially when he has Noriko and Akiko. That’s why, initially, he’s only going to consult the pilots who will fly the mission.

So why does Shikishima decide to fly?

Because he realizes the other pilots need him, that the mission needs him. Minus Zero has this motif about duty, which carries over from Minus One. Minus One was critical of mindlessly following orders. That’s why it starts with Shikishima abandoning a kamikaze mission. If he had completed his mission, sacrificing himself for nothing, then who would have been there to defeat Godzilla? Minus One showed people fighting Godzilla not because it was their duty but because it was the right thing to do. Minus Zero reprises this idea. 

When Shikishima sees how nervous the other pilots are, he flies to support them. We’ll see Noriko make the same choice a little later. 

How did Noriko survive her wounds from Godzilla’s attack on Ginza?

Noriko was partially burned by Godzilla’s atomic breath. Apparently that transfers some of Godzilla’s cells to the person. There were a number of people infected with the cells. All of them developed growths then eventually succumbed to the complications caused by mixing genetic material. Noriko has handled it better than everyone else. In the short term, that meant all of her wounds from Ginza healed, allowing her to survive what would have been lights out for anyone else. In the long term, the Godzilla cells will continue to transform her body. It seems like from her eye and the scales forming that she would, if she survived long enough, actually turn into a new Godzilla-like creature. 

Why didn’t the bomb go off properly during the first Ghidorah mission?

Some people think America gave Nado a faulty bomb, on purpose. But I assume the point here is that the American talked up how great the bomb is only for it to fail to work. It’s supposed to show that American arrogance exceeds their craftsmanship. However, this was also an era when technology still had a lot of flaws. Guns jammed more often, equipment broke more often, bombs failed to combust. 

This was, specifically, a fuel-air bomb where first an aerosol explodes in a cloud and then a secondary combustion ignites the cloud. In Minus Zero, the aerosol deploys, but the combustion fails. Which is why Shikishima and the other pilots use their missiles to ignite the aerosol manually. 

What is a Narukami rod?

This is what they drop into Ghidorah to cause the lightning strikes. Narukami isn’t a person but one of the names of Shinto’s God of Thunder, Raijin. “Naru” is a word for rumbling. And Kami means god. So Thunder God. 

So they’re essentially using mythology to say this is a rod that will attract lightning strikes. The typical lightning rod is grounded, meaning it actively disperses the electricity, preventing any harm or damage. But these rods aren’t because the goal is to electrocute Ghidorah. 

How does Ghidorah survive the electrocution?

It’s an alien being. That’s explanation enough. But it’s established that Ghidorah adapts and evolves. So it’s possible that its body quickly learned to feed off the lightning as a way to counter what would have been a deadly amount of voltage. That would also explain why Ghidorah spends the rest of the film following lightning storms like a hippie follows a Phish tour. 

The evolution that follows seems to be Ghidorah’s way of repairing the damage. The skin was scorched, so it gets new skin. It had massive damage to the neck and head, so it gets two more heads. The wings burned, so it gets bigger wings. Etc. 

Ghidorah has anti-gravity powers? 

Again, Ghidorah is an alien lifeform. Anything is possible! But, yeah, Ghidorah’s “lightning attacks” from its very, very first appearance were called gravity beams. Yamazaki said despite the beams having that name, none of the previous movies ever showed them really manipulating gravity. So, he specifically wanted to show Ghidorah having an actual gravity/anti-gravity attack. 

Why does Godzilla suddenly come back?

The Minus franchise hasn’t established any concept that Godzilla is a protector or has a sense for other monsters. In the American Monsterverse films, Godzilla is an apex predator who actively wants to defend his territory. Maybe Yamazaki borrowed somewhat from that concept? 

To be clear, this is a different question than the team using the resonance device to guide Godzilla to Ghidorah. As far as we know, Godzilla had been 100% dormant since Minus One, only resurfacing after Ghidorah became the three-headed monster. So why resurface at all unless it’s in response to Ghidorah?

How many lives were lost in the first Ghidorah operation?

Around 800. 

Do resonance wave amplifiers exist? Are they based on anything real?

Murakami’s device in Minus Zero is purely fictional. With that said, animals do produce sounds that humans can’t hear. Human hearing spans sounds that hit between 20 and 20,000 hertz. Tigers, I just found out, can emit a growl that’s only 18 hertz. That’s below what a human could hear but audible for TWO MILES to animals who can hear those lower frequencies. 

So it’s possible to create a machine that could make sounds that animals hear and recognize. But that doesn’t mean all the nearby birds would lose their minds trying to get into a building. Or that Godzilla would just mindlessly follow a plane for dozens of miles. 

Ultimately, the resonance wave amplifier is a bit of fantastic pseudoscience. Some of the best movies rely on fantastic pseudoscience. 

Why does Noriko get off the train?

Noriko had been far away from the destruction in Matsumoto. She had obviously heard about it but seeing it is very different. When the family reaches the city and she sees exactly what Ghidorah has done, how similar it is to what Godzilla did to Ginza in Minus One, she feels she must go to the local hospital and help out and be there for others the way others took care of her. 

Remember how we talked about Shikishima deciding to fly with the pilots because of the human element? It’s the same thing here for Noriko. When the destruction was imaginary, she could convince herself it was okay to run away from helping with the resonance wave amplifier. Once the destruction is literal, she becomes aware of what needs to be done. Instead of helping out of duty, she helps because she truly wants to be of service. 

This is made clear during the argument she has with Shikishima. He says he thought they agreed to keep living for Akiko. And Noriko says yes, but Japan is full of little girls just like Akiko and that this is for them. Again, not because government officials asked her to help but because she wants to protect the kids. 

Is Professor Murakami crazy? Was Godzilla attacking New York City a dream?

Murakami has a goal of getting revenge on the United States by using the resonance wave amplifier to force Godzilla to New York City. He imagines the blast Godzilla would unleash. Clearly, Murakami’s grief gets the better of him sometimes. It’s strange because if you remove this one scene, then he seems completely normal and keen on executing the strategy to defeat Ghidorah. But there’s one scene that turns him into this cartoon anime villain. It’s strange. I like the idea, but the execution doesn’t really work for me. 

Why is Ghidorah following storms?

It seems after the team tried to electrocute Ghidorah, the creature acquired a taste for high 

voltage. 

Why do they leave Akiko at the orphanage?

It doesn’t seem they have a lot of friends who are equipped to take care of children. Noriko’s friend works at the orphanage, so that’s where they leave Akiko.

How did Godzilla get to Ghidorah so quickly?

The logistics get a bit goofy. We see Ghidorah about to wreck the humans trying to keep it distracted until Godzilla arrives. Then we see Godzilla’s still off in the water. And then, all of a sudden, Godzilla’s not only on land but really close and no one heard or noticed. 

Why does Shikishima fire the rocket?

Aoyama had told him to fire in 30 seconds. He didn’t know Nado was on the ground, near Ghidorah. 

“The rest…I leave to you.”

Nado’s final words get at the idea of passing the torch. He’s from an older, pre-war generation. Same with Murakami. Historically in Japan, younger people were supposed to listen to the wisdom of their elders. But this is an instance where an elder defers to the young characters. We’ll see the same thing happen later with Akiko. What I’m trying to say is that Nado’s passing is another example of the Minus franchise’s progressive POV when it comes to Japanese culture. 

Why does Aoyama lie to Shikishima about Nado’s death?

Shikishima asks if Nado died in the rocket explosion. He did. But Aoyama, via the radio, tells Shikishima that Ghidorah was the one who killed Nado. Technically, she’s right. None of them would be there, doing this, if it wasn’t for Ghidorah. But, really, she’s just trying to spare Shikishima the grief and guilt that would plague him. 

What happened to Ghidorah?

It’s weird that the movie doesn’t show Ghidorah’s destruction. Both monsters gear up to fire atomic breath at one another. Ghidorah recently learned the trick by doing its alien thing and gaining some of Godzilla’s powers. Except Godzilla fires his blast mere moments before Ghidorah unleashes its own. 

We can see the blue of the blast shining through Ghidorah’s chest. Then the camera cuts to a really wide view and almost immediately there’s an explosion. The implication is that Ghidorah disintegrates from the strength of the blast. But. We don’t actually see anything like that. Honestly, it feels a little anticlimactic and a missed opportunity for an awesome visual. 

Who attacks Godzilla after the fight? Why do they stop? Why does Aoyama whisper “Get away”?

So the entire plan was that Ghidorah would beat Godzilla or Godzilla would beat Ghidorah. Then the military would finish the winner. Since Godzilla is the last monster standing, the American military opens fire. But then suddenly stops. 

We don’t get an explanation. We hear on the radio that they want to talk to Nado. Then Aoyama explains that new orders came through to stop firing on Godzilla. The new order is to “protect Godzilla and all associated parties.” The “all associated parties” refers to Noriko. It seems the U.S. military knows of her G-cells and wants to take her in. That’s why Aoyama whispers, “Get away.” 

We know the U.S. is in conflict with Russia. In real life, they were worried about Russian nuclear capabilities. The military probably wants to keep Godzilla and “all associated parties” alive to see if they can study it and create a weapon that would put an end to the Cold War before it really got started. 

Is Godzilla a good guy in Minus Zero?

It seemed to know its job was to defeat Ghidorah. After that, it doesn’t even bother to get revenge on the humans. G just heads back to the water.