# Could we kill something like Godzilla? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 27, 2014, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-kill-something-like-godzilla/682371 "2014-02-27T01:34:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2014, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-kill-something-like-godzilla/682371/41 "2014-02-28T14:19:29Z")
Or a lot of little ones. Let’s be honest here. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2014, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-kill-something-like-godzilla/682371/42 "2014-02-28T14:23:25Z")
At least we won’t have to speak softly then. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2014, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-kill-something-like-godzilla/682371/43 "2014-02-28T14:31:35Z")
Well, with the G-man doing all that yelling who can hear anyway? Might as well use the cover. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2014, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-kill-something-like-godzilla/682371/44 "2014-02-28T14:56:24Z")
The problem is not just killing it, but killing it in a way it won’t fall on you when it dies. We’ll have to lure it back into the ocean, where a bunch of nuclear subs are waiting with plenty of torpedoes. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2014, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-kill-something-like-godzilla/682371/45 "2014-02-28T15:31:37Z")
They tried that in the 1998 (?) movie and Godzilla just squished the sub. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2014, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-kill-something-like-godzilla/682371/46 "2014-02-28T17:15:40Z")
Don’t blame me, I voted for stronger cube-square law regulation. These assholes on Fox News think if we let monsters get gigantic and run amok they’ll magically create jobs. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2014, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-kill-something-like-godzilla/682371/47 "2014-02-28T17:40:08Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > They tried that in the 1998 (?) movie and Godzilla just squished the sub. See? That movie broke something important in my brain, because I have zero memory of that. Or a lot of the movie actually. Can’t we just upload a virus into Godzilla using an old MacBook? ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2014, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-kill-something-like-godzilla/682371/48 "2014-02-28T18:09:27Z")
Did you all learn nothing from the _Alien_ franchise? In real life, the government would not set out to kill Godzilla; rather, it would sacrifice any number of troops to try to capture it, in order to build an army of Godzilla-enhanced super-soldiers. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2014, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-kill-something-like-godzilla/682371/49 "2014-02-28T18:17:15Z")
> [@Johnny\_Angel](#): > > Don’t blame me, I voted for stronger cube-square law regulation. These assholes on Fox News think if we let monsters get gigantic and run amok they’ll magically create jobs. They work for (re)construction companies. And doesn’t that explain why the Japanese government is always propping up the construction industry? It’s really kaiju repairs! They just don’t want to admit it! ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2014, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-kill-something-like-godzilla/682371/50 "2014-02-28T18:17:17Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > See? That movie broke something important in my brain, because I have zero memory of that. Or a lot of the movie actually. I wish I could block out that movie too. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2014, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-kill-something-like-godzilla/682371/51 "2014-03-01T01:15:20Z")
Godzilla meets Cthulhu. Who wins? Cthulhu ain’t Bambi. ---
**Author:** ![slowlearner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@slowlearner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slowlearner)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2014, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-kill-something-like-godzilla/682371/52 "2014-03-01T01:18:45Z")
I read a Godzilla comic book in the 60’s in which he/she was attacked with a thermonuclear Polaris missile. Being hungry, he/she tried to eat it. The blast did no damage but G was _very annoyed_ by it. In the original movie that hot Japanese scientist couple kill him/her with a device that depletes the oxygen in the ocean where he/she is hanging out. It has always intrigued me that, less than a generation after Tokyo was incinerated by American B-29 Superfortresses there was a Japanese movie about an unstoppable monster attacking and burning Tokyo. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2014, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-kill-something-like-godzilla/682371/53 "2014-03-01T01:46:45Z")
> [@marshmallow](#): > > A tower of flesh that big would be blown apart and turned to hamburger. But that’s fighting the movie’s hypothetical. A monster that large couldn’t move without\*\* magic. \*\*… Bold mine Magic or significantly advanced technology, which may be indistinguishable from each other. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2014, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-kill-something-like-godzilla/682371/54 "2014-03-01T02:37:21Z")
History shows again and again How nature points up the folly of men ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2014, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-kill-something-like-godzilla/682371/55 "2014-03-01T02:53:05Z")
As I recall, the rule for nuking Cthulhu is something like “he reforms in 1d4 rounds, except now he’s angry and radioactive.” > [@Interrobang](#): > > Now, something like Yog-Sothoth, there’s no way we could touch it. Actually given that it produces offspring with human women, the problem is that we’d really like for it to stop touching us. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2014, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-kill-something-like-godzilla/682371/56 "2014-03-01T11:35:45Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > Did you all learn nothing from the _Alien_ franchise? . We learned that if you use the nuclear option, you need to use an orbital launching platform. Otherwise you just can’t be sure you’ll nail the sucker. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2014, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-kill-something-like-godzilla/682371/57 "2014-03-01T13:38:09Z")
The new US Navy Railgun leaps to mind, if a hardened steel penetrator was used. Skull-buster, for certain. ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2014, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-kill-something-like-godzilla/682371/58 "2014-03-01T15:40:34Z")
> [@Johnny\_Angel](#): > > You people are overcomplicating this. I have already worked out the fool-proof plan for taking out any giant monster, the SRA plan. Three Points: > > **S** - Submarine (injectable) > **R** - Ripley > **A** - Apple laptop with virus installed > > As you can see, no objection can be raised to this plan, because of the square-cube law. That is, as we’ve learned from our most advanced Creation Science, as long as there’s one thing we can’t explain, we can pick and choose among everything else what we want to believe is true because it’s all up in the air. This is why when the zombie apocalypse comes, and the second law of thermodynamics is out the window for some reason, there also stands no impediment to making it rain magic ninja stars that phase through everything but the brains of the undead. _Quod erat dēmōnstrandum_. _mike drop_ \ I find your ideas intriguing and wish to subscribe to your newsletter. IF Godzilla exists, then it possesses physical qualities that appear to be either some uber-tech from … aliens? ancient civilizations? Tony Stark? or it is just magic. The thing is something like 328 feet tall and 60,000 tons. With several attack modes, the most notable - atomic breath, the quintessential radioactive heat ray, Godzilla can devastate large swathes of cityscapes. He is apparently able to withstand an atomic bomb attack and actually lives off of radiation. I’d love this card in my Magic deck. So, he can’t be killed by conventional weapons or atomic weapons. He doesn’t eat and can live submerged in sea water indefinitely. Perhaps lasers at his eyes to blind him (temporarily) then bait him into a pit and trap him there. Entombing him in magma (or concrete as noted upthread) would merely cause him to go into hibernation. Sequel anyone? But, if you have him trapped, then what? He’s too heavy to lift to orbit. Maybe throwing him into a subduction zone? In his magma overshoes? Maybe a deep trench. Active volcano is tempting, but that just inevitably ends up with a new eruption with an irritated Godzilla showing up just in time for … yes another movie. Maybe we should find Cthulhu and see what he thinks we should do. ---
**Author:** ![wembley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ba0ec/32.png) [@wembley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wembley)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2014, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-kill-something-like-godzilla/682371/59 "2014-03-04T20:46:07Z")
I did some work on the counter-giant-monster issue some years back. DU penetrators aren’t very useful - very small diameter (about 20mm for an Abrams round), no payload and they don’t go as far through flesh as you might expect. Too geared up for going through steel and turning it into lethal fragments. Current bunker busters are not designed to hit moving targets. By far the best option would be weapons designed to take out large, heavily-armored moving targets – eg battleships. Large naval artillery would be perfect. I think you’ll find this is why HMS Belfast is permanently moored by Tower Bridge in London. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2014, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-kill-something-like-godzilla/682371/60 "2014-03-04T21:23:24Z")
> [@wembley](#): > > I think you’ll find this is why HMS Belfast is permanently moored by Tower Bridge in London. The British Government is expecting Godzilla to attack [Scratchwood Services](https://web.archive.org/web/20070619004805/http://hmsbelfast.iwm.org.uk/server/show/ConWebDoc.705/viewPage/7)?? :eek: ?? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-kill-something-like-godzilla/682371.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-kill-something-like-godzilla/682371.md?page=4)