Godzilla (Zilla Junior)

A mutated marine iguana kaiju co-created by TriStar and Toho that first appeared in the 1998 American film, GODZILLA.

Zilla was originally called Godzilla, which came from the fact that it was a remake of the real Godzilla. This same thing applies to Zilla Junior, as he was always called "Godzilla" and used his father's now-cancelled Trademark. Zilla Junior didn't have a different copyright icon from the 1998 Zilla. The "Junior" in "Godzilla Junior" (before the Zilla name change) or "Zilla Junior" (after the Zilla name change) are fanmade and were created to distinguish Zilla Junior from his father, as Zilla Junior is called "Godzilla" in the series itself.

Zilla is Toho Studio's official name for the titular creature of the 1998 film. Toho renamed the character around 2004 after TriStar's rights to the franchise expired. Shogo Tomiyama and Ryuhei Kitamura saw that the 1998 creature as a whole was owned by Toho under Toho's contract with Sony, and Sony only owned the film and the animated series, so they included Zilla in Godzilla: Final Wars and changed its name from "Godzilla" to "Zilla", saying that TriStar "took the 'God' out of 'Godzilla'," and to "prove which Godzilla was stronger."

Zilla Junior was the last surviving offspring of the Zilla from 1998. He, as well as all of his siblings, were eggs laid inside the Madison Square Garden by Zilla. Unlike his siblings, Zilla Junior survived the bombing of the Madison Square Garden and was later found by Dr. Niko Tatopoulos, who kept him safe from the military.