Starting with 1984's Return of Godzilla, the VS series became the first time that the Godzilla series made a conscious decision about the continuity of the films, and retconned the events of the previous sequels. Starting all over again, it ignored the previous 14 films and was a direct sequel to only the original Godzilla. Later the series introduced time travel, splitting the new series into multiple timelines, and revealing that the true divergence point between the old and new universes came well before 1955, and visited (and interfered with) events that were common to the root of all of them. I used to have separate pages for pre-branch events, up to 1991, but my decision to start including information and such from material outside the main series which is relevant to the timelines of the films has caused me to rethink this. On the movie and monster pages, each timeline gets its own logo, so there's no practical reason there. Each having its own page does mean having to repeat a lot of information, however, making it kind of seem like a waste. All things considered, though, it makes things less complicated, so for each of these VS continuity subfamily pages I'll have a link up here to the points of divergence from the other timelines.
Of the three different possible futures presented in Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, the first one, the one the Futurians are actually from, is something we're never actually shown, as by the time the film begins the first divergence point - the appearance of a UFO over Tokyo - is already happening. Everything from the previous three films in the timeline still happens in the whole VS-1 timeline, but the future of it is never actually depicted in the films. Instead, the only glimpses of 2204 we get are from the VS-2 timeline, after Godzilla has been revived and Emmy time travels to the new future. But the events of this timeline are important because they establish everything that happens in the other two branches of the VS continuity subfamily. Without the future of this timeline, the events of Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah would never have happened.
One big question I have about the timeline I'd love to see explored more than anything is... what happened to Ghidorah? The film shows us that teleporting the dinosaur was what created the 3rd generation Godzilla, and so therefore time works in the correct order despite the best efforts of humans, cause comes before effect. So that means that the Futurian clone Ghidorah was also created in 1954, right? This leaves the question of it was doing for 48 years, but in this timeline we have the even more pressing question of what the hell happened to it at all? The Futurians surely never learned about its existence, right? Because if they knew that then they would have realized trying to replace Godzilla with Ghidorah wouldn't work because they knew their Ghidorah already existed in a timeline with Godzilla in their history... right? So was it never encountered by humans? How? Did it just... leave? Did it die? I have praised this movie for its use of time travel in its plot but this is the one thing that just leaves me scratching my head. Omori was a great writer, but he had his flaws just like anyone, and this weird dangling question is an example of the kind of thing that maybe wouldn't have been left if he had 4 years to work on the script like he did for Biollante.
Superscript = These are the number of the film in the series where the information comes from, with 1 being Godzilla, 2 being Godzilla Raids Again, etc. Additional superscripts will indicate supplementary sources not present in the films themselves, which will be explained at the bottom of the page.
Bold = Below the year heading, dates and times in bold are ones that taken directly from the films. These are anchoring points used to figure out when the rest of the events take place.
Alert Level 1: Issued when any scientific, geological, meteorological, or psychological evidence, except for the physical evidence, of G's activity has been confirmed.
Alert Level 2: Issued with G's physical activity, such as voice and movement, has been confirmed.
Alert Level 3: Issued when G has appeared.
Alert Level 4: Issued when G would certainly land on a specific site in Japan.
10,008bce
An advanced ancient civilization on Earth living in peace with two ancient Mothras builds a machine capable of controlling the climate of the planet. This offends the Earth, which transforms one of the Mothras into a "Black Mothra," Battra, which destroys the machine. Battra goes even further and in its fury declares war on the civilization, and the remaining Mothra tries to stop her. Although Mothra is able to defeat Battra and lay her to rest in the Arctic Ocean, it was too late to save the civilization that created the machine.
The space monster King Ghidorah arrives on the planet Venus to destroy it an drain the life from it. It encounters opposition from an advanced civilization there. King Ghidorah ultimately succeeds in wiping out all life on the planet, but is somehow killed in the process.5, 181
1944
February 6th, 21:00 - The 23rd century time machine KIDS arrives on Lagos Island during World War II, traveling from 14:30 of July 6th, 1992. The ship contains EEE member Emmy Kano, the android M-11, and three Dorats from 2204, and the writer Kenichiro Terasawa, psychic Miki Saegusa, and Professor Hironori Mazaki from 1992. The time machine is spotted by two US military personel aboard a US battleship, one of which, Major Spielberg, is the father of Steven Spielberg. The US battleship begins shelling the island, trying to flush out the Japanese garrison stationed there.18
February 7th - US infantry invade the island and clash with the Japanese garrison led by Major Yasuaki Shindo. During the skirmish, a Godzillasaurus living on the island is disturbed, and lashes out at the troops. The US troops fire back at the dinosaur, but it wipes out the landing forces. It is injured by the US battleship firing on it and retreats back into the jungle, and the US decides to withdraw from the island. Miki Saegusa uses her psychic connection to Godzilla forged in her time to confirm the identity of the dinosaur as the 3rd generation Godzilla.18
February 14th, 18:00 - Major Shindo's garrison travels into the jungle to salute the injured Godzillasaurus before boarding a ship to return to Japan. After they leave, the time travelers teleported the dinosaur to the Bering Sea.18
18:30 - Emmy leaves the three Dorats behind on the island just before returning to 1992 on July 6th at 15:00.18
1954
March 1st, 6:45 - The US nuclear test Castle Bravo is detonated at Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands. The blast is more than twice as large as predicted at 15 megatonnes, making it the largest nuclear detonation ever unleashed by the country, and was the largest in history at the time. Fallout from the explosion fell for miles around, well outside the predicted range, causing contamination of fish and people living in nearby islands. The Japanese fishing boat Lucky Dragon No. 5 was among the victims, killing one of the crew, and sparking renewed anti-nuclear sentiment in Japan. The bomb also mutates a Godzillasaurus that was in the area into the 1st generation Godzilla,1 as well as merging and mutating the three Dorats on Lagos Island into a new, 2nd generation King Ghidorah.18
August 13th, 19:05 - The Eiko-Maru, a 7,500t freighter belonging to South Seas Shipping, loses contact at 24°N 141°2'E after being sunk by Godzilla.1
August 14th, 17:00 - Hideoto Ogata, a diver for Souther Seas Salvage, cancels a date with Emiko Yamane due to the disappearance.1
2:35 - The Bingo Maru arrives at the same location but is also sunk.1
August 15th - A helicopter and two more ships are sent out, the Kozu and Shikine11. Meanwhile, three survivors are found by a fishing boat from Odo Island, who describe the sea "exploding." The fishing boat carrying the survivors heads back towards Odo Island but is sunk before it can get there, making three in total.1
August 16th, 18:00 - Another boat, this one owned by the Odo Islander Magobei, is sunk.11
19:00 - Masaji Yamada, a survivor from the fishing boat, is discovered floating unconscious off the coast of Odo Island and brought in1.
August 17th - The fishing boats of Odo Island return to shore empty handed. The reporter Hagiwara travels to Odo Island and interviews Masaji and a village elder. The elder tells him of the island's legendary monster Godzilla, that in the past there were sacrifices used to appease the monster when fishing was bad, and Masaji says the reason for the sinking ships is a giant creature. That night, said legendary creature comes ashore on Odo Island and goes through the village, killing Masaji and his mother in the process, leaving Masaji's brother Shinkichi an orphan.1
August 18th - A group from Odo Island gives a report National Diet, including Hagiwara. In addition to the losses, they report the appearance of the monster. The paleontologist Dr. Kyohei Yamane gives closing remarks where he intends to head to the island to conduct research.1
August 19th - The investigation of Odo Island discovers radioactive contamination, a trilobite, giant footprints, and finally Godzilla himself, peering over a mountain.1
August 20th - Dr. Yamane debriefs the National Diet on his hypothesis of Godzilla's origin. He suggests the creature is a type of Jurassic marine animal that partially re-adapted to land during the Cretaceous period. Further, Godzilla seems to be adapted to deep sea environments based on sediment samples, explaining why it has been undocumented by science until now. The presence of strontium-90 in soil samples as well as radioactivity in Godzilla's wake directly ties his appearance to nuclear testing. This sparks a fight among the Diet about whether to make the information public, due to concerns over panic and potential damage to foreign relations.1
August 20th to 25th - Dr. Yamane adopts the orphaned Shinkichi.22
August 25th - The Disaster Response Center is established.1
August 26th, 4:00 - Godzilla sinks the 530t oil tanker Sakae Maru, the 17th such ship attacked.11
10:00 - A fleet of 10 Tacoma-class patrol frigates leave port.1
10:17 - The fleet reaches the designated area between 138° to 138°7'E and 33° to 33°8'N and begins dropping depth charges, attempting to destroy Godzilla.1
20:00 - Passengers aboard the pleasure cruise ship Tachibana Maru witness Godzilla rising from Tokyo Bay for a moment before swimming away.1
August 27th - The Disaster Response Center calls on Dr. Yamane for advice in dealing with Godzilla, but not only does he not have any advice on how to deal with a monster that's already survived a hydrogen bomb, but he disagrees with attempts to kill Godzilla in the first place, pointing out how valuable he is as a specimen for study given his ability to do so.1
August 28th - As the new paper comes off the presses containing the details of Dr. Yamanae's statements, Hagiwara's editor asks him to seek out an interview with Dr. Daisuke Serizawa, a colleague of Dr. Yamane who is engaged to his daughter, Emiko. He is initially turned away, and so asks Emiko to help him, which she does, but he doesn't get anywhere. Afterwards, Dr. Serizawa shows Emiko what he's currently working on under the promise that she not share it with anyone. This leads to a demonstration of the Oxygen Destroyer, which vaporizes a tank full of fish in moments. That night, Godzilla surfaces in Tokyo Bay and briefly rampages through Shinagawa before heading back out to sea.1
August 29th - The morning after, a meeting with researchers from around the world devise a plan to build an enormous electrical barrier, 30m high and 50m deep, around the perimeter of Tokyo Bay.1
August 30th to September 20th - The electric barrier is constructed.1
September 20th, 16:30 - Godzilla is spotted 15 miles northeast of Kannonzaki headed northwest.1
17:40 - Godzilla is spotted out at sea changing course northeast, zigzaging up the bay.11 Residents of Minato, Shinagawa, and Ota wards are ordered to evacuate.1
19:30 - Ogata makes a series of shitty decisions just before Godzilla surfaces. Godzilla walks through the barrier, melting towers with his atomic breath, and moves onto the rest of the city. The JSDF assault the monster with battalions of tanks and jets, but none of them make a scratch. Godzilla demolishes a large portion of the city, leaving Minato, Chuo, and Chiyoda wards a sea of flames. The death toll is staggering and those that survive the destruction are contaminated by Godzilla's radiation.1 Among the victims of Godzilla's rampage are the parents of Makoto Hayashida.16
September 21st - While volunteering to help the victims in the aftermath, Emiko is horrified after seeing firsthand the toll Godzilla has taken. She is convinced to break her silence on Dr. Serizawa's Oxygen Destroyer when she realizes it may be the only thing that can stop Godzilla. After telling Ogata, the two of them confront Dr. Serizawa, and eventually convince him to use the device as a weapon against Godzilla. The only condition is that it will never be used again.1
September 22nd - With everything in order, Ogata, Emiko, Dr. Yamane, and Dr. Serizawa sail out on the Shikine Maru to Godzilla's resting place, out in Tokyo Bay midway between Kawasaki and Kisarazu.1, 22 Ogata and Dr. Serizawa dive down to Godzilla and Dr. Serizawa activates the Oxygen Destroyer, but once he does he cuts his cord, preventing those topside from pulling him back up. In this way he sacrifices himself to ensure that the Oxygen Destroyer can never be used again, taking Godzilla with him.1
1977
April 25th - The remains of a basking shark are dredged up by the Japanese fishing vessel Zuiyo Maru off the east coast of New Zealand. Unable to recognize the remains for what they are in their badly decomposed state, the crew reports that they've found the body of a plesiosaur, which the press calls "New Nessie."
July 28th - An article in the magazine New Scientist goes over why it's just the remains of a basking shark. This, of course, goes ignored by the public.
A soviet nuclear sub sinks in the Bering Sea, killing 10 and mutating the Godzillasaurus teleported there in the 1940's into the 3rd generation Godzilla.182
1985
March 19th - An eruption on on Daikoku Island awakens the 3rd generation Godzilla.16
June 19th - The Yahata Maru has an encounter with Godzilla, and numerous Shockirus attack the crew members.16
June 20th - The drifting Yahata Maru is discovered by reporter Goro Maki, along with a Shockirus and the single survivor, Hiroshi Okumura. Okumura reveals that there was a much larger monster than the giant sea louse before being picked up by the coast guard.16
June 21st - Both Maki and Okumura find difficulty getting anyone to believe them, but after Dr. Makoto Hayashida visits Okumura in a police hospital with pictures of Godzilla, Okumura confirms he saw the same monster. Maki, meanwhile, heads to the main office to discover the editor won't run his story because the Prime Minister has ordered a news blackout on the reappearance of Godzilla to avoid a panic. The editor gives him the contact information for Dr. Hayashida, however, so that he can continue his investigation before the story goes to press.16
June 22nd - While interviewing Dr. Hayashida, Maki meets Okumura's little sister, Naoko, who works at the lab, and is told even she isn't aware that Okumura survived because of the blackout. That night, Maki approaches Naoko after her shift and reveals to her that her brother is alive, where he is, and that he's seen Godzilla. He uses the reunion of the two as a photo op, which the siblings don't seem to care for. Meanwhile, out in the Pacific Ocean, Godzilla sinks a Soviet nuclear submarine.16
June 23rd - As tensions between the US and USSR reach a fever pitch, a Japanese surveillance plane catches photos of the area where the submarine sank, revealing the true culprit to be Godzilla. Prime Minister Mitamura lifts the media blackout and a press event is held afterwards revealing the return of Godzilla.16
June 25th - At a defense meeting regarding Godzilla, the existence of the Super X is disclosed. It's said to be a flying fortress, constructed in secret in defense of the capital, which carries, among other weapons, cadmium missiles designed to control radiactive materials.16
June 26th - Godzilla attacks and feeds off of the Mihama nuclear power plant, but is drawn away by something affecting his magnetoception, as well as a flock of birds.16
June 27th - Dr. Hayashida concludes that Godzilla has the same sense of magnetoception as birds, and sends Okumura to visit the geologist Minami to test the plasuibility of an induced eruption of Mt. Mihara.16
June 28th - The tests seem to be successful and Hayashida and Minami develop a plan to lure Godzilla to Mt. Mihara with a magnetic signal and induce an eruption.16
June 29th - The two present the plan to the government, and while the response from most is lukewarm at best, the Prime Minister gives the project the green light.16
June 30th - The US and USSR both send a special envoy to Japan each with the same message, that their countries have both made the decision to use a nuclear weapon against Godzilla, which they ask the Prime Minister to allow. After deliberation, the answer is ultimately no, much to the dismay of both countries. That night, Colonel Kashirin of the USSR deactivates the controls of the Soviet nuclear attack satellite housed in the ship Balashevo at Harumi Wharf.16
July 1st, 5:20 - Godzilla is spotted at sea heading towards Tokyo Bay.16
22:27 - Godzilla surfaces in Tokyo Bay, damaging the Balashevo. He is fired upon by JSDF forces, including a squadron of fighter jets and an array of tanks, missile launchers, and self-propelled howitzers at Harumi Wharf, but none of them leave a scratch and he obliterates the lot of them with his atomic breath.16
22:28 - Colonel Kashirin attempts to stop an accidental launch, but dies trying, leaving 4 minutes left until the launch of a nuclear missile. Godzilla moves onto land and plows through the Chuo ward of Tokyo.16
22:32 - As Godzilla enters Chiyoda ward, the Soviet nuclear attack satellite launches its missile, which will impact in Shinjuku in 30 minutes.16
22:33 - Godzilla passes through Nagatacho in Chiyoda, moving overhead of the Prime Minister's bunker, causing the lights to flicker. In the USSR, the accidental launch is confirmed and a call is made to the Japanese foreign minister Emori.16
22:34 - Emori conveys the information about the launch to Prime Minister Mitamura, who asks the Americans to try to incercept the missile and issues a plan to order citizens still in Shinjuku to evacuate underground.16
22:34 to 22:42 - Godzilla enters Shinjuku where the JSDF deploys the new N1-00 high power laser beam cars, units 1 and 2, which open fire on the monster. They are completely ineffective. The Super X finally launches and uses its cadmium missiles against Godzilla.16
22:42 - The orbit of the Soviet missile is calculated just as Godzilla collapses from the effect of the cadmium missiles, and the order is given publically to those still in Shinjuku to evacuate underground.16
22:56 - The US launch an interceptor missile from Kaneda air force base in Okinawa, which will reach the Soviet missile right over Shinjuku in the stratosphere.16
22:56 to 23:02 - Dr. Hayashida is airlifted to Izu Oshima by helicopter by Okumura.16
23:02 - The US and USSR missiles collide, turning the sky red and creating a kind of nuclear storm that revives Godzilla.
23:03 to 23:59 - Now out of cadmium shells, Godzilla and the Super X have a more stand up fight, with Godzilla eventually overwhelming the flying fortress, and dropping a building on it.16 At some point during this battle, the parents of the 12 year old psychic girl Miki Saegusa are killed in the destruction.171 After reaching Mt. Mihara on Izu Ohima, Dr. Hayashida begins broadcasting the signal to attract Godzilla, which successfully draws Godzilla away from Shinjuku.16 In the aftermath of the attack, multiple groups of different nationalities attempt to obtain a tissue tample from Godzilla. The Japanese are successful, but an American team is wiped out by the Saradian agent SSS7, who ships the cells out by sea.17
July 2nd, 0:00 to 4:35 - Godzilla travels to Izu Oshima and up to the mouth of Mt. Mihara.16
4:35 - Godzilla is swallowed by the induced eruption of Mt. Mihara.16
17:00 - A Saradian Oil Corporation ship leaves Osaka carrying the G-Cells obtained by SSS7.17
July 13th - Dr. Genshiro Shiragami, an expat Japanese living in Saradia, is awoken in the very early morning about the imminent arrival of the cells, which will have to be put on ice as soon as they arrive at the lab he is working for. He heads there joined by his daughter Erika, but while talking with the director, the research lab is blown up by a bomb planted by the American corporation Biomajor, simultaneously destroying the tissue samples and killing Erika Shiragami. At some point, the doctor splices some of Erika with a rose, which grows into a rose bush he keeps with him over the next 5 years.17
1990
July 7th - The now 17 year old Miki Saegusa dreams about Godzilla's return.17
July 11th - A few children at the Japan Psyonics Center begin having dreams about Godzilla.17
July 13th - Now back living in Japan, Dr. Shiragami contacts an old friend of Erika's, Asuka Okouchi, who now works at the Japan Psyonics Center, to ask if it's possible to hear the voice of a rose. Asuka brings Miki to attempt communicating with the rose bush, to no success. That night, all of the children of the Psyonics Center dream of Godzilla.17
July 14th - Miki asks the other children of the Psyonics Center to draw what they dreamt of last night, and all show Asuka the image of Godzilla in the midst of a sea of flames (except for one try hard who drew him emerging from the volcano). Asuka brings this to the Godzilla Unit of the Special Disaster Research Council, headed by Colonel Goro Gondo. Gondo calls Major Sho Kuroki, who sets up a subsequent investigation.17
July 15th, 10:30 - A helicopter flyby of Mt. Mihara with Miki using her powers confirms that Godzilla is awake.17
12:00 - Colonel Gondo and Major Kuroki bring this to the attention of the Prime Minister, and go through some of proposals to counter Godzilla, one of which is A.N.E.B., or Anti-Nuclear Energy Bacteria, a planned genetically engineered bacteria that could digest nuclear materials.17
July 16th - Colonel Gondo and Major Kuroki approach Dr. Kazuto Kirishima of the Tsukuba Bioengineering Laboratory which developed the idea, based on similar oil eating bacteria created in the United States, in order to clean up nuclear waste and accidents, and not as a weapon. Major Kuroki is convinced of the effectiveness of the idea, but Dr. Kirishima tells him he can't make it without access to the genetic material from Godzilla, which is held by the Okouchi Foundation.17
July 17th - Major Kuroki approaches Dr. Shiragami, who refuses to work with Godzilla cells after he lost his daughter because of it. Asuka's father, however, Seigo Okouchi, head of the Okouchi Foundation, fully agrees with the use of the Godzilla cells in order to create the bacteria. Dr. Kirishima protests this, pointing out the ramifications of such a thing, but Okouchi insists that it's important to have a weapon that can keep them safe from Godzilla. That night, an eruption of Mt. Mihara causes tremors which nearly kills Dr. Shiragami's rose bush.17
July 18th - In desperation to keep Erika alive through the rose bush, Dr. Shiragami calls Okouchi and agrees to work on the bacteria, but on the condition that he be able to keep the Godzilla cells in his lab for 7 days, which Okouchi agrees to. After learning of this, Dr. Kirishima reluctantly agrees to work with Dr. Shiragami on producing the A.N.E.B..17
July 19th to 25th - Dr. Shiragami keeps the Godzilla cells in his lab, and uses them to splice with his Erika rose bush, giving birth to what will soon become Biollante.17
July 26th to 28th - Dr. Shiragami and Dr. Kirishima begin working on the bacteria despite Kirishima's continued protests. Another flyby over Mt. Mihara gives visual confirmation that Godzilla is moving within the volcano. Major Kuroki and Colonel Gondo check on the production of the Super X2, the successor to the original which uses a new weapon, the fire mirror, made of artificial diamond, which can reflect Godzilla's rays back at it even more powerfully.17
July 29th - Dr. Shiragami and Dr. Kirishima successfully create the A.N.E.B.. Meanwhile, that night at Dr. Shiragami's lab, two Biomajor agents and SSS7 attempt to steal the plans for the bacteria, but are attacked by Biollante's vines, and one of the Biomajor agents is killed.17
July 30th, 13:00 - Miki draws a giant rose based on a psychic vision, and insists it is somewhere in Lake Ashi.17
14:00 - A fax to the Japanese government from "Alien," actually Biomajor, threatens to release Godzilla from Mt. Mihara if they do not hand over the A.N.E.B.. To prove they're serious, they set off a warning explosion at the volcano, 24 hours before the deadline. The government agrees to the demands.
15:00 - Biollante in her giant rose form is discovered in Lake Ashi.17
July 31st, 14:00 - Dr. Kirishima and Colonel Gondo arrive to hand the A.N.E.B. over to the surviving Biomajor agent, but are ambushed by SSS7, who kills the Biomajor agent and steals the A.N.E.B.. Not knowing how to disable the explosives, Godzilla is released from Mt. Mihara.17
14:00 to 20:00 - Godzilla leaves Oshima Island and begins heading up the Uraga channel, destroying a JSDF naval fleet that attempts to stop its advance. The Super X2 is deployed from the air field in Kisarazu to intercept Godzilla, and with the fire mirror successfully deters Godzilla from landing, causing him to head west. Despite this, Major Kuroki orders to have the airports shut down under the ruse of still fighting the monster in the channel, in order to prevent the Saradian agent from getting away with the A.N.E.B.. Biollante calls out to Godzilla, causing him to change direction and head towards Odawara. The Super X2 attempts to prevent him from landing again, but the fire mirror suffers damage from the repeated ray blasts and is forced to retreat.17
20:00 - Godzilla surfaces in Odawara and heads towards Lake Ashi, where he encounters Biollante, drawn there by some sort of connection between the two monsters. The monsters battle, with Biollante being affected abnormally by Godzilla's ray, burning up, and disappating into spores which travel into the sky.17
August 1st, 19:00 - After struggling to locate Godzilla again, Major Kuroki asks Asuka if Miki can locate him.17
August 2nd, 6:00 to 19:30 - Miki locates Godzilla 100km off Hamamatsu. Major Kuroki examines the nearest power plants and proposes Godzilla will head for Nagoya and travel on land from there to one of the plants near Wakasa Bay, and so deploys a naval fleet and the Super X2 to that location. Godzilla instead appears on the complete opposite side of the Kii peninsula, heading in the direction of Osaka. Because the fleet will never make it in time, Major Kuroki decides to have Osaka evacuated and mobilize ground troops to Wakasa to intercept Godzilla, and uses Miki again to try and psychically stall Godzilla's advance at the construction site of the Kansai international airport. This has some success, and a few ships make it to the Kii channel in time, but by then Godzilla is too close to Osaka to open fire. Before Godzilla lands, Dr. Kirishima and Colonel Gondo are able to take back the A.N.E.B. from the Saradia oil company's office in Osaka.17
19:30 - As Godzilla rampages through Osaka, Colonel Gondo's team sets up the position to ambush Godzilla with the A.N.E.B. dose as Osaka business park. Major Kuroki uses the Super X2 to lure Godzilla to this point, but it is destroyed in the process when it is forced to use the damaged fire mirror to draw him in the last bit of the way.17
August 3rd, 0:00 - Godzilla enters the Tanba highlands.17
9:30 - After 14 hours the bacteria still hasn't seemed to work. Dr. Kirishima suggests it may have something to do with his body temperature.17
9:30 to 23:59 - Major Kuroki deploys the experimental M6000 T.C. system in Godzilla's path with the intent of raising his temperature. Miki draws another psychic premonition, this time of Biollante in orbit above the Earth in the form of a giant rose.17
August 4th, 0:00 to 4:40 - Godzilla reaches the mountains outside Takahama heading towards the power plant and enters the TC field, being attacked by a JSDF ground force that includes new MBT-MB92 maser cannons. Godzilla eliminates the first defense line and continues to the power plant, seemingly immune to A.N.E.B.. Biollante's spores rain down from the sky, transforming into a far larger and more monstrous form. Biollante battles Godzilla again, this time with Godzilla sulking off on into the sea as he begins feeling the effects of A.N.E.B., while Biollante returns to the sky, with the spirit of Erika bidding farewell.17
4:40 to 5:40 - With orders to assassinate Dr. Shiragami to ensure that no more A.N.E.B. is ever produced, SSS7 shoots the doctor just after he swears to never create anymore anwyas. Dr. Kirishima chases the agent down, and he is killed after a struggle when Major Kuroki activates one of the T.C. mines.17
1991
Due to the reappearance of Godzilla, development of A.N.E.B., and other uncertain factors, the USSR never dissolves completely. Additionally, unlike our timeline, the Japanese asset bubble continues to grow well into 1992.18
July 4th - The Teiyo Group, a large Japanese corporation birthed from the post-war economic miracle, at this point in time is so large it even harbors para-military submarines in Southeast Asian waters. Its founder, Yasuaki Shindo, is interviewed by the writer Kenichiro Terasawa on his experiences during World War II with the dinosaur he believes became Godzilla.18
August to December - The book is published as The Birth of Godzilla, which makes the assumption there is only a single Godzilla that was the result of the mutation of the Godzillasaurus on Lagos Island from the Castle Bravo test on Bikini Atoll. The book isn't very successful, likely owing to Godzilla's death due to the infection with A.N.E.B. later in the year.18
2001-2100
The destablization of the cold war conflicts in the aftermath of Godzilla and A.N.E.B. eventually result in the complete banning and dismantling of all nuclear weapons. Japan's wealth continues growing, surpassing the US as the richest nation on Earth. New technologies develop, such as 3D holographic image broadcasting. The United Nations gives way to a new international body, the Earth Union Organization. African and South American countries lag behind even more drastically, and Japan begins to become a kind of financially colonial hyperpower, buying both continents. This creates conflict between the new "second empire" of Japan and the EUO, but because of Japan's financial dominance and the lack of any war technology capable of competing, there's nothing much it can do.18
2101-2200
The US, USSR, and China are no longer superpowers, having been eclipsed by Japan. During this century, time machines are invented that can travel both forwards and backwards in time.18
2201-2204
The Teiyo Group is now the largest megacorp on the planet. A political called the Equal Environmentalists of Earth arises opposed to Japan's monopoly over the planet. A discovery is made of the corpse of the huge monster King Ghidorah on Venus. Tissue taken from the monster is used in developing genetically engineered designer pets called "Dorats."18, 181
2204
Three members of the E3, Wilson, Glenchico, and Emmy Kano, steal the time machine MOTHER, with the secondary time ship KIDS on board, aided by the androids M101, M101, and M11. They bring with them three Dorats, and plan to go back in time to 1992, pick up key individuals who can help confirm the hypothesis that Godzilla is the mutated Lagos Island dinosaur, and teleport him to the Bering Sea under a ruse of erasing him from history because in the future Godzilla renders the island nation uninhabitable and Japan as a country ceases to exist. The true intent however is to put the three Dorats on the island in an attempt to recreate King Ghidorah, so that they will have a monster they can control and use to prevent Japan from becoming the hyperpower it is in the present. Emmy's understanding of the mission seems unclear, given that she's complicit in the creation of the new King Ghidorah, but she seems to believe that the monster will only be used as a warning or threat.18, 181
Sources
Times for sunset, sunrise, and the like use the calculations from the website SunCalc. I'm not providing sources here for real world historical events because it's rather pointless, since they're objective facts, all viable sources about them will have the same data for the date. Anything outside of the facts is my own editorializing which I don't need a source for.
1 - Godzilla. The time of Eiko Maru's sinking is given right at the start. We're never explicitly told it's 1954, but the movie is clearly contemporary, not just from the fashion, the look of Tokyo, the vehicles, etc., but also from the fact that this movie is a direct response to the Lucky Dragon No. 5 incident and directly references it in the dialogue. So it's at least August 1954 at the earliest, and it can't be August 1955 because newspapers in Raids Again show us January of Showa 30. Not that this is in doubt, but if you for whatever reason needed more proof, the calendars in Ogata's office match up with August of 1954, and perhaps most glaringly obvious, the entire rest of the totality of the Godzilla multimedia franchise puts the events of this film in 1954. After a clear time jump we're given the times for the depth charge assault, but not the date, and after another time jump we're told Godzilla is sighted at 16:30, but again not the date.
11 - The first novelization, which is actually based on the radio drama that played before the theatrical release, combined with an earlier draft of the script. The info here comes from a fan translation of the novel which you can read for yourself here. All of the dates and times that appear in the finished film are the same in this version, but there are additional times as well. Whether these extra details are from Shigeru's story, the draft, or the radio drama I can't say, but they were very helpful in figuring out the length of the two time skips.
In this version, the day of Hagiwara's interview with Dr. Serizawa, him showing Emiko the Oxygen Destroyer, and Godzilla's first landfall in Tokyo is called a Saturday. Because there is a clear time jump between the Diet fight and the headlines noting that the number of sunken ships has risen to 17(!), and because the 20th was a Friday, it must be later than the 21st. While this puts the day where Godzilla spooks the party boat (named the Tachibana Maru here) on a Wednesday night, which you would think would be a thing you'd save for the weekend, there's really no other interpretation here that makes sense. The papers about Dr. Yamane's statements are brand new on the 28th, so they happened the previous day, and the reason he's even being talked to in the first place is because of the reaction to Godzilla's appearance.
The other big time skip in the film is during the period where the electric barrier is being built. In the original story this was a more protracted event, with their being tension related to whether the barrier would be built in time for Godzilla's next appearance, or even whether he would appear again at all and the whole thing wasn't just be a waste of money. I remember a commentary track talking about this before and I'm fairly certain the time span they gave was something like two weeks. This version does help, but it's not as helpful as I would have liked, because it merely mentions it being "day 20," and I don't know if that means it's the 20th day of construction or the 20th of the month, or something else. Maybe it's a translation error? At any rate, if the soonest they could start construction is the 30th, then the 20th day would be September 18th anwyas, so I went with 20th because "20th day of the month" sounds far more natural to me than "20th day of construction" without context and the two are so close it barely matters.
5 - Ghidorah, the Three Headed Monster. Princess Salno's Venusian memories tell us King Ghidorah appeared on Venus 5,000 years ago. This is obviously meant to be approximate, but 5,000 years before 1965 is astronomical year -3035, or 3036bce, or 4985BP if you wanna get real fancy.
16 - Return of Godzilla. In one set of fan subtitles, during the press conference when Godzilla's return is disclosed, it's said that the Yahata Maru encountered Godzilla on the "19th of this month." I've no clue if this is an accurate translation - and it may not be given that I've seen this in no other subtitles - but it's all I have to work with, so I'm taking it. For reasons I explain under the Biollante entry, I'm calling the month in question June. The eruption on Daikoku Island is said to occur three months prior. There is also a visible clock on the wall in the PM's bunker that reads 5:20 when Godzilla is spotted heading towards Tokyo, and later reads 22:42 when the orbit of the Soviet missile is calculated, so we know the earlier time means 5 in the morning. When Godzilla falls into Mt. Mihara the clock reads 4:35, meaning the Prime Minister has been up for over 24 hours at that point.
As I'm sure you can imagine, any instance of a timer in a film is infuriating and difficult to justify. It's no different here. Godzilla damages the Balashevo's controls at about 58 minutes and 10 seconds into the film, followed by his "battle" with the JGSDF at Harumi wharf happening in real time, followed by Colonel Kashirin trying to stop the countdown which on the first frame we can see it reads 3 minutes and 52 seconds! Given that we don't see the missile finally launch until Godzilla has reached Shinjuku and lost against the Super X, that means the next frame we see the countdown, which is at 6 seconds at 72 minutes and 40 seconds into the film, implies the preceeding 13 minutes and 4 seconds of movie time somehow equates to 3 minutes and 46 seconds of real time. Given that most of this run time was spent on Godzilla's rampage and battles with the JSDF, this is obviously impossible.
And that's obviously not the real timeline, because the announcement to head underground is made just after Godzilla falls, and while those scenes are intercut around Godzilla's eventual collapse, I don't believe the the film is trying to tell us that Godzilla just stood there in a daze for 3 minutes like a Mortal Kombat character waiting for a fatality, clearly the conversation about the evacuation occurred prior to this. How long before then is trickier, but we later see a countdown to the interception of the missile start at 6 minutes and 3 seconds. Assuming exactly 30 minutes is the time until the Soviet missile reaches Shinjuku, this suggests that by the time Godzilla has fallen, the evacuation to the subways is announced, and the interceptor missile is launched, 23 minutes and 57 seconds have passed since the Prime Minister was informed of the missile's launch. Based on the time between Godzilla damages the Balashevo and the time we see the countdown, we can infer that the countdown started at 5 minutes, meaning that the total length of time from the battle with the JGSDF at Harumi Wharf to the launch of the interceptor missile covers approximately 30 minutes of real time portrayed in just under 18 and a half minutes movie time, which is a little better.
However, we are forced to interpret the series of events shown in the film to be out of order in real time in order to make this work. Since at the time the countdown would have ended in run time has Godzilla still playing with trains in Chiyoda, and allowing a little wiggle room to get from the launch being noticed by the USSR to calling Japan to the aide giving this information to the prime minister, my interpretation is this: The missile launches while is in Yurakucho, and in the time it takes for him to reach Nagatacho, the USSR become aware of the situation, and phone Japan. If you notice in the film, when the information is related to the PM, we never see the screen and what they're reacting too, and they're all braced for something. My theory is that this is immediately after Godzilla passes overhead in Nagatacho and the power has just flickered. This gives plenty of time for Godzilla to enter Shinjuku and encounter the N1-00's and Super X, but it does also mean that it takes the Americans something like 20 minutes to launch the missile. Personally I'm okay with this, as given the complicated math involved, it would seem more strange that the missile was launched immediately afterwards, and we can't think that the Americans launched their missile too soon or else what would be the point of telling people to head underground in the first place?
Finally, the only time we're shown during the missile crisis is 22:42, which doesn't give us any info on the current time left until impact because that scene shows us just the calculation of the orbit of the missile, which is just before Godzilla falls. This makes it hard to tell how much time actually passes between Godzilla passing through Nagatacho and being subdued by the cadmium. But given the monster's size, speed, and the sheer amount of ground he would have had to cover to reach that far in only a few minutes, I can't imagine it took him very long to get to Shinjuku. Add to that the complete ineffectiveness of the N1-00 units and the immediate success of the Super X, and the actual "battle" that takes place in Shinjuku would barely take any time at all, plus there's the impetus to tell people to evacuate as soon as possible. If my theory about the PM getting the call from Russia just after Godzilla passes overhead is correct, then with the amount of movie time that passes between that scene and the successful shelling of Godzilla - just prior to what I'm interpreting as an out of continuity flash backwards, so we can ignore the amount of movie time those scenes take up - is about 8 minutes. Asumming exactly 30 minutes pass from launch to interception, and giving a couple minutes from the launch to reaching the PM's ears, that makes 22:42 t minus 20 minutes, putting the launch at 22:32 and the detonation at 23:02.
17 - Godzilla vs. Biollante. The Godzilla Memorial Lounge restaurant gives the year Godzilla returned as 1985, which matches the envelope prop of Dr. Kirishima's invitation to Massachusetts, which was mailed 5 years later and reads 1990. The fax from "Alien" states that the deadline is Tuesday the 31st, which can only be one month in the entire year, July. This isn't noted in any subtitled versions I've seen, but again, it's the best we get, so I'm taking it, plus it's consistent with the rest of the VS series mostly taking place in July and early August. A news anchor mentions that Godzilla entered the Tanba highlands at midnight, and during the conversation between Major Kuroki and Dr. Kirishima its said 14 hours have passed since Godzilla was infected with A.N.E.B..
Given that it's an intertitle that tells us 5 years pass between the morning Erika dies and Miki trying to talk to roses, not a person, we should assume that it is actually at least 1,826.25 days later. Going off the 19th for the previous film, there are no clear time jumps, so we should be able to assume the number of days we see pass in the film is the same number of days that actually do. This would make Godzilla's previous attack on Tokyo the night of July 1st assuming the 19th mentioned was in June. According to this site, sea travel between Osaka and Saudi Arabia (the real life analog of Saradia) at 24 knots (the maximum speed of a cargo ship, apparently) takes about 11 days. Allowing some wiggle room for the fact that Saradia is fictional, if the ship leaves the following day on the 2nd, then it could be in Saradia as early as the 13th, making the time jump exactly 5 years to the day.
171 - This information comes from the second comic adaptation of the film, Godzilla 1990. I believe the idea was present in a previous draft, too. Either way, it explains why Asuka basically seems to act as Miki's guardian.
18 - Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah. All of the bold dates and times for 1944 come from the onboard computer of KIDS. Also, as in all other media about the future written before 1992, Emmy tells us that as of the 22nd century, the USSR still exists. This is unsurprising because, well, no one outside the USSR had any reason to think it would. My dad, a boomer, one time told me, of the cold war, "I thought it would never end." Writing for the film began in late 1990 and the finished film was released in theaters on December 14th, still before the official dissolution of the USSR. What exactly changed in this timeline to alter this is unknown, because of course it wasn't intentional alternate history, just an assumption. Consequently, I leave it ambiguous, but I'm certain Godzilla's reappearance and the development of A.N.E.B. have something to do with it.
The information we're given about the future of the timeline Emmy comes from is given here, but there are never any exact dates, the Futurians only place things by century. I'm assuming that Ghidorah is discovered (see below) in 2204 based on the fact that it was meant to be the original cold open, but that doesn't give a whole lot of time for the development and popularization of the Dorats, so idunno. The comment about the nuclear ban being the result of the destabilizing cold war is conjectural, but supported by like, using your brain. Regardless of why the USSR didn't dissolve, a post-Godzilla and post-A.N.E.B. world will force the nuclear powers to show their true colors. In the other timelines Godzilla's continued existence complicates things, but here, here Godzilla is nothing more than a specimen and Dr. Shiragami wasn't the only one that knew how to make the bacteria, do you really think that battle is over? Additionally, my understanding of the bubble from the Showa 60's isn't the best because I'm not an economist, but I don't see how being the only nation on the planet to develop the level of technology needed to fight Godzilla would hurt the economy. So the cold war is still happening with a new major wrench thrown into the equation, and the richest nation on Earth has access to all of the best technology for fighting nuclear powered aggressors... and Emmy tells us that nuclear weapons are banned in the 21st century. These things are not coincidences. Therefore the assumption is that the cold war continued because of A.N.E.B., but Japan became the third major player since they could effectively neutralize any nuclear power, and this stalemate resulted in the ban. A.N.E.B. was then probably used in the subsequent destruction of nuclear weapons, and it's probably a well established part of the Earth's biosphere by the 23rd century, because you'd think illegal nuclear weapons would be a hell of a lot easier to make than time travel clone monsters, right? So there must be a reason that nuclear weapons not only no longer exist, but can't exist in the E3's time.
181 - An earlier draft of the film had the cold open be the discovery of King Ghidorah's body on Venus, this being the original, 1st generation monster, rather than the body of the new King Ghidorah in the Sea of Okhotsk. The story behind this being cut seems to be that Omori originally wanted aliens to be the villains, but Shogo Tomiyama didn't think it sounded believable... y'know, as oppossed to time travel and giant radioactive monsters. Sure. So this opening scene was written in instead, but it still wasn't good enough for Tomiyama I guess. How a mere mortal man is capable of the level of cognitive dissonance required to say aliens are too unbelievable for a time travel monster movie, I don't know, but that's what's written in the runes. Regardless, a draft that still had this scene was used as the basis for the novelization. While it's not unreasonable to assume that Dorats could have been created from scratch, the lack of any connection to the original King Ghidorah in a film that draws an explicit branching timeline connection to the previous Godzilla continuity, it sticks out like a sore thumb and needs to be addressed. The fact that the 1st generation King Ghidorah is dead in this timeline actually means the VS continuity subfamily diverged earlier than the Futurian time meddling in 1944, which has the interesting effect of creating several possible "ghost timelines" we never see in the films. For example, if Ghidorah died in the past, but the Futurians never time meddled, we still get the second Godzilla in 1955, but Ghidorah never shows up 10 years after, and since Ghidorah is the key to Godzilla's character arc... what happens then? Or what about the other way around, where the Lagos Godzillasaurus is teleported, but King Ghidorah never dies on Venus and still appears in 1965? How do people deal with that?
182 - The year the sub sank isn't stated in the film, and although it must have been on the newspaper prop, we can't see it framed well enough to see. The first Soviet nuclear sub was built in 1958, but that still leaves a 17 year window. Of the three real world nuclear subs that sank during this time, not a single one went down in the Bering Sea, so there's nothing for us there. The famous Sci-Fi Japan article that almost single-handedly stomped out the idiocy of people who thought the Futurians actually DID erase Godzilla from history (despite everyone remembering him) is as far as I know the first place a more specific time frame of "late 1970's" was given. This puts it in the Showa 50's which is thematically appropriate because this is covers the stretch of time during which the 3rd generation Godzilla was created in real life, with the many different writers pitching wild stories and the slow 6 year development cycle of what eventually became Return of Godzilla. I couldn't tell you where this period came from, but when there is a lack of knowledge I latch onto the best I can get, and this is that. I put it as 1978 here because that's the year the first drafts that led to Return (the Bride of Godzilla drafts by Shuichi Nagahara) were written. As for why I speculate at all and don't just leave it at 1975-1979? Well... because the film brings up New Nessie, which would create a formatting issue to have both 1975-1979 and 1977 on the timeline. And that irritates me, so I'd rather just leave a footnote here stating that placing the events in 1978 is conjectural and not actually from the film itself, than to mess up the presentation of the timeline. Yes that's a little silly but it's my webzone and I'm leaving these annotations down here for a reason.
22 - Godzilla vs. Destroyah. It's made explicit here that the reason Shinkichi hangs around the Yamane household is because he was adopted by Dr. Yamane after he was orphaned. Incidents in the construction site of the Tokyo Bay Aqua Line are said to happen in the same spot the original Godzilla was killed, making it between Kawasaki and Kisarazu.
