We saw took a look back at Godzilla: The Series and Godzilla 1998 and like other film to animated sequels there are some changes with the characters and they don’t usually look like their actor counterparts to save some money. So let’s take a look at some of the characters the show had to offer.
Godzilla (Zilla) Jr.: Since the Godzilla was killed in the film (and later revived in the show) they had to bring in a new Godzilla and it’s easily explained by having one of the baby Zilla eggs survive, which is actually a cliffhanger ending the movie had and the show resolves. Nick goes to check that there aren’t any eggs left and finds this one egg hatching, the baby Godzilla thinks Nick is his mother and a loving relationship is formed.
Dr. Nick Tatopoulos: The shy scientist from the movie learned a lot during the experience with Godzilla since his personality is much different. He is now a leader who forms the HEAT Seekers (Humanitarian Environmental Analysis Team) to mainly deal with other mutations that may have been caused by the event or similar events that caused Godzilla. Nick’s love interest from the movie appears in the show on various episodes and their relationship is always seen as rocky, especially with Elsie who is always flirting with Nick.
Dr. Elsie Chapman: A character that had a very minor role in the movie and made you wonder why she was even introduced. Well that is until you realize she is a main character in the cartoon and redeems her role in the first movie. In the movie and in the show she is always flirting with Nick and she is much older than him, oh my!. She also seems to have a thing for Craven but she tries not to show it. Her role is supposedly studying the behavior of Godzilla but like the other members of HEAT it doesn’t really matter what their real purpose is since they all just end up in random adventures.
Dr. Mendel Craven: Like Elsie his inclusion in the movie was somewhat odd since he had no role in it but he’s luckily used in the show making his introduction not seem wasted. He’s the brains of the group even though most of the team already have doctorates anyway. He is also given the coward role of the group but it’s not done to make him look totally pathetic at least, I mean his fear is more than reasonable with the crap the team dealt with. He of course has a crush on Elsie but is afraid to tell her, go figure.
NIGEL: The Next millennium Intelligence Gathering Electronic Liaison; A robot created by Craven, he’s often hacked by Randy to have different personalities and he is destroyed in every episode which was done as a homage to Kenny from South Park, for this alone he’s gets a pass.
Randy Hernandez: The first original member created just for the animated series and to add racial diversity to the cast. He is a smart hacker and the team needs him for whatever reason. He is the goofball of the team but like Craven it isn’t accentuated to the extent that he is a caricature of himself. He’s definitely a bit too in your face with his hipness and trying to be cool but its not too bad and he absolutely loves the G-Man. I’m guessing he’s supposed to be the character most kids could relate to as well. He has a crush and constantly tries to hit on Monique. He is always bothering Craven but he’s shown that he really appreciates his friendship and considers him a close friend, a little too close. In fact it wouldn’t surprise me if he actually liked Craven but I’m probably thinking too much into this.
Monique Dupre: The badass of the team from the French secret service, only instead of using Philippe they went with her to add another girl to the group. And it’s a great decision since I never liked Philippe in the movie though he is fairly bad ass in his few appearances in the show. She is there to “control” and take care of the mutations the French government caused. It is the French that of course are paying for all of the above equipment that HEAT uses. She is the serious one in the group and the only one that can fight and do sneaky stuff which sadly she doesn’t do too often. She also is always turning down Randy’s advances, poor guy can’t catch a break. Monique is just awesome, I would learn French for her.
That’s the cast of Godzilla the Series, would’ve been cool to have seen a live action version of these guys but alas life is life. Make sure to check out our Godzilla section for more Godzilla 1998 and big kaiju fun.
