Godzilla: King of the Magnets? The Big-G's 5 wildest powers

Knowing that Godzilla blasts an atomic ray from his mouth rather than "breathes fire" is pretty much the "Frankenstein is the creator's name" of the kaiju world. The King of the Monsters is a formidable beast, able to defeat both city skylines and rival kaiju alike, and his signature ability is a big part of why he's so strong.

However, in addition to that atomic ray and his ability to heal from even the most grievous of injuries that manage to get past his invulnerable skin, Godzilla has also displayed some, ah, more unexpected powers over the years.

Here are five of the more unusual abilities that the King of the Monsters has used in one movie or another (and it usually is just "one movie," because most of these came out of nowhere and were never used again).

Godzilla gets his power from nuclear radiation, that much is clear. But, the second series of Godzilla movies from the '80s and '90s (known as the Heisei era) played pretty fast and loose with how that radioactive energy worked.

In Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, Godzilla defeats the Pterodactyl-like kaiju Rodan by blasting him with atomic breath, but rather than kill Rodan, the radiation transforms the flying monster into a more powerful form. Later in the film, after Mechagodzilla has seemingly killed Godzilla and brought Rodan to death's door, Rodan somehow transfers that energy back to Godzilla, reviving him.

In Godzilla vs. Destoroyah, Godzilla does the same thing to Godzilla Jr. when it looks like the little guy is dead. Now, compared to some of the other powers on this list, transferring energy isn't that outrageous, but being able to just squirt out your 'life force' and give it to another kaiju is certainly more abstract than an atomic blast.

Credit: Toho

Godzilla wasn't exactly Professor X, but the Heisei era movies make it clear that he has some sort of physic ability.

A young woman with telepathic powers named Miki Saegusa appears in six of the Heisei movies, making her by far the human character with the most appearances in the entire Godzilla franchise. She eventually uses her abilities to try to combat and communicate with Godzilla as part of the United Nations Godzilla Countermeasures Center, but Godzilla's own mental abilities are too powerful for her to control him for any length of time.

Godzilla is also believed to be able to telepathically communicate with Godzilla Jr.

Although Godzilla initially was weak to electricity, he turned that into a strength in a shocking turn of events.

In Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, Godzilla managed to absorb a tremendous amount of electricity and give himself a magnetic charge. The force of his magnetism was so strong that it made high-tension towers stick to his body and pulled Mechagodzilla into close-combat range when the robotic kaiju tried to flee.

Despite being instrumental in defeating Mechagodzilla, Godzilla did not turn himself into a magnet again when Mechagodzilla returned in the subsequent movie, making the power a truly bizarre one-off.

In Godzilla vs. Megalon, Godzilla and his new friend, the size-changing robot Jet Jaguar, team up to fight two evil kaiju. During the fight, Jet Jaguar restrains Megalon so Godzilla can back up, get a running start, and then slide against the seemingly frictionless ground on his tail so he can kick Megalon square in the chest.

One of two things is happening in this highly GIF-able moment: Either the filmmakers just dragged an empty Godzilla suit on wires with no concern about how ridiculous or fake it looked in what's probably the nadir of the Godzilla franchise, or Godzilla is more powerful than the laws of physics. You decide.

But, then again, floating weightlessly on one's tail is nothing if you've previously shown the ability to fly.

In Godzilla vs. Hedorah, which came out two years before Megalon, Godzilla shows that he's the King of the Monsters on the land, in the sea, and in the air — well, sort of.

During Godzilla's fight with Hedorah, the Smog Monster transforms into its saucer-like appearance and tries to fly away. Godzilla won't allow Hedorah to retreat, though, and so he turns around and starts blasting his atomic breath. Eventually, the force of his breath propels all 20,000 tons of monster into the air, and he curls up his tail so that he can fly, backward, with zero turbulence, after Hedorah. Godzilla never displayed the ability to fly in any of the movies again.

It's perhaps worth noting that Godzilla made his first and only flight during the time when another rival studio's kaiju, Gamera, was threatening Godzilla's popularity. Gamera movies were cheaper-looking than Godzilla movies of the time (no small feat), and the giant turtle was a friend to children and able to fly by shooting jets of fire out of his arm and leg holes.

A couple of decades later, an updated, more-serious version of Gamera would suddenly display the ability to absorb energy with the bloody stump of his arm and shape it into a flaming prosthetic for himself, so what I'm saying is that all the good kaiju have some bizarre powers.