Since 1955's Godzilla Raids Again, nearly every Godzilla movie has featured the titular Kaiju doing battle with other monsters. Among the most famous of his enemies are King Ghidorah, Mechagodzilla, and King Kong. These foes are rightfully beloved, but some of the best Godzilla villains have never even made official appearances.

The Godzilla franchise is packed with memorable Kaiju, but there are even more enemies of the King of the Monsters who never made it to the screen. A lot can happen over the course of a film's development, and early ideas are often either scrapped or repurposed. Many of the most popular canceled Godzilla Kaiju met the latter fate, leaving fans to wonder if they wouldn't have been superior to the figures who replaced them.

10 MechaMothra Seems Like an Obviously Great Idea

• MechaMothra was intended to appear in an unmade 1993 sequel to Godzilla vs. Mothra.
• MechaMothra was conceived by Koichi Kawakita.

Debuting in her eponymous 1961 film before transitioning into a sometimes enemy, but more often ally of Godzilla, Mothra is one of the most iconic Kaiju of all time, second only to Godzilla himself among Toho's catalog of monsters. With Mechagodzilla being among Godzilla's greatest enemies, making an evil, mechanical version of the guardian of Earth for her to do battle with is a logical move. However, that's not what MechaMothra was intended to be, and that may contribute to why she never made it to screen.

Koichi Kawakita's concept for MechaMothra involved Mothra being killed at the end of 1992's MechaMothra and returning as a cyborg in a potential sequel. It's unknown if she would fight Godzilla again or if she would have assumed her traditional role as Godzilla's ally. To distinguish MechaMothra more from her previous form, she would have taken on characteristics of dragonflies.

9 Rokmutul Was Meant to Star in Godzilla's Grand Return

• Rokmutul was intended to appear in 2014's Godzilla.
• Rokmutul was conceived by Josh Nizzi and Frank Hong.

2014's Godzilla brought about a massive resurgence for the franchise, following its dormancy since 2004's Godzilla: Final Wars. Its success led directly to the production of Shin Godzilla and the MonsterVerse. While successful, critiques of the film were plentiful, and among them was the sense that Godzilla's newest enemies, the MUTOs, were underwhelming antagonists.

Rokmutul closely resembles Anguirus in appearance, fitting as he was Godzilla's first Kaiju opponent in the Showa Era. Unlike the MUTOs, who were criticized for looking too genetic, Rokmutul has a clear aesthetic, with elements of a crocodile, a Stegosaurus, and an Ankylosaurus. Rokmutual would have fought Godzilla atop Alcatraz in San Francisco.

8 Ghost Godzilla Would Have Been a More Unique Godzilla Variant

• Ghost Godzilla was intended to appear in the unmade 1995 film Godzilla vs. Ghost Godzilla.
• Ghost Godzilla was conceptualized by Shogo Tomiyama and Kazuki Omori.

With Godzilla being as powerful as he is, one of the few forms of monster that can truly challenge him are alternate versions of himself. Mechagodzilla and SpaceGodzilla have provided excellent battles for Godzilla over the decades, and the scrapped Ghost Godzilla held the potential to do the same. However, with SpaceGodzilla having debuted in 1994, it was felt that 1995 wasn't the right time for Godzilla vs. Ghost Godzilla and that it would be seen as redundant.

Ghost Godzilla would have been the angry spirit of the first Godzilla. He would have been a transparent blue spirit that lacked pupils. Multiple story concepts were written for Ghost Godzilla, formed from a collective of bioenergy, possessing Godzilla Junior, and using his power to attempt to possess the second Godzilla in one, and awoken by a disturbance of his bones and seeking to retrieve all of his missing ones in another.

7 Gigamoth is Cooler Than the Kaiju Who Replaced It

• Gigamoth was intended to appear in the canceled 1992 film Godzilla vs. Gigamoth.
• Gigamoth served as the inspiration for Battra.

Gigamoth was conceived to be a dark reflection of Mothra. This role is well known to belong to Battra, with the idea for him evolving from the original concept for Gigamoth. Based on design alone, however, Toho may have made the wrong choice, as Gigamoth is visually far cooler than their canon counterpart.

Gigamoth's primarily green color scheme and bulging red eye make them stand out among Godzilla's rogues gallery. A detailed story concept was written out for Gigamoth, with them being a mutated twin of Mothra, whose radiation drew Godzilla to them and who would have been controlled by a woman named Mana for nefarious purposes. Godzilla vs. Mothra is an outstanding film, but Godzilla vs. Gigamoth could have been equally memorable.

6 Barubaroi's Cancelation Led Directly to the Creation of One of Godzilla's Greatest Enemies

• Barubaroi was intended to appear in the unmade 1995 film Godzilla vs. Barubaroi.
• Barubaroi served as the inspiration for Destoroyah.

Godzilla vs. Destoroyah is the grand finale of the Heisei Era and is often cited as one of the best films in the franchise. Destoroyah itself has one of the most badass designs and concepts in the history of the franchise, and few fans would complain if he went on to once again serve as Godzilla's final opponent, this time in the MonsterVerse. It's doubtful Barubaroi would have had the same impact as the monster who they inspired, but that doesn't make them any less cool.

Barubaroi would have had multiple heads, with its main one resembling a whale's, and each of its other heads having the appearance of another creature, and its limbs would have been insect-like. This is representative of Barubaroi being a constantly evolving Kaiju, taking on the features of other beasts, including Godzilla. Like Destoroyah, who Barubaroi became while in development, he would have fought Godzilla Junior.

5 Mecha-Ghidorah Deserved Further Consideration

• Mecha-Ghidorah was conceived by Yuji Kaida.
• The unused Showa Era Mecha-Ghidorah has no connection to the Heisei Era Mecha-King Ghidorah.

Since his debut in 1964's Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster, King Ghidorah has been Godzilla's greatest enemy. With its only competition for this title being Mechagodzilla, a mechanized version of Ghidorah seems like the best of both worlds. While the Heisei Era would explore this concept to a degree with its Mecha-King Ghidorah, franchise icon Yuji Kaida has a much different idea for Mecha-Ghidorah during the Showa Era.

In the Heisei Series, Mecha-King Ghidorah is nothing more than the standard King Ghidorah with mechanical enhancements. Kaida's concept for Mecha-Ghidorah appears closer to Mechagodzilla, being a fully artificial incarnation of the three-headed dragon. The multicolored eyes on each of its faces pop, and, by design, it would have been one of the most powerful Kaiju of all time.

4 The Visitor Wasn't Intended to Debut in a Film

• The Visitor was intended to appear in the 2007 video game Godzilla: Unleashed.
• The Visitor was conceptualized by Chris Chin.

The Godzilla franchise extends far beyond just feature films, with much of its most interesting lore coming from its comics and animated series. Since the release of Godzilla for the Commodore 64 in 1983, the King of the Monsters has had a constant stream of video game releases. Many of these installments are fighting games that feature various Kaiju from the films to play as, and one of these, 2007's Godzilla: Unleashed, was originally meant to include a brand-new monster.

The Visitor was visually inspired by Gigan and Orga, with it meant to be a distinctly alien Kaiju. Its claws and teeth make The Visitor appear as fearsome as any other of Godzilla's enemies and are used by it to consume gigantic space worms, and it can also shoot shock waves from its head. In its backstory, The Visitor was captured by the Vortoak and let loose on Earth to cause destruction. The Visitor would have been a ton of fun to play as, and its inclusion could have led to it having a continued presence in the franchise.

3 Berserk Would Have Been an Amazing Evolution of Mechagodzilla

• Berserk was intended to appear in the unmade 1993 film, Godzilla vs. Berserk.
• Berserk was conceived by Yutaka Izubuchi.

Mechagodzilla is easily one of the most popular Godzilla villains, rivaled only by King Ghidorah for the top spot. After making such a big splash at the end of the Showa Era, a film surrounding him clashing against Godzilla in the Heisei Era was inevitable. Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II is a classic, but fans almost got something even cooler and more unique.

Berserk would have been created by the J.S.D.F, with the intent of being a Mechagodzilla to fight against Godzilla, but with a computer virus morphing it into its final form. Berserk would have been even more powerful than Mechagodzilla and would have had a distinctly awe-inspiring design, with it assimilating other technology to become an amorphous blob of wires and metal. Later versions of Mechagodzilla may have been inspired by the concept for Berserk, with the Millenium Mechagodzilla turning against its creators after it's possessed by the spirit of the first Godzilla and the MonsterVerse Mechagodzilla being corrupted by the mind of King Ghidorah.

2 Gryphon Has All the Elements of a Classic Godzilla Enemy

• The Gryphon was intended to appear in the unmade 1994 American Godzilla film.
• The Gryphon was conceptualized by Terry Rossio and Ted Elliot.

To say that America's first attempt at a Godzilla movie in 1998 is controversial would be an understatement, but regardless of one's thoughts on the film itself, the story of the project's production is a fascinating one and involves several story concepts more interesting than any that made it into the final product. Notably, outside of Zilla himself, no other Kaiju appear in the film. This was not always the plan, and the Gryphon could have ranked among Godzilla's best villains.

The Gryphon was conceptualized because Mothra and King Ghidorah proved too expensive for TriStar to gain the right to use them. While a design was never finalized for it, it was said in a script to have the body of a puma, the wings of a bat, a hydra-headed tongue made of snakes. This design, and evolved versions of it, sound like they would have allowed the Gryphon to have a similar fitting aesthetic for a Godzilla villain, and its status as a weapon designed to annihilate the population of entire planets would have given it the hype necessary to fight the King of the Monsters in a thrilling climax.

1 Bagan Couldn't Be Stopped by His Film's Cancelation

• Bagan was intended to appear in multiple Godzilla films throughout the Heisei Era.
• Bagan makes appearances in the video games Super Godzilla for the Super Nintendo and Godzilla Movie Studio Tour for PC.

Bagan is notable both for being the Godzilla Kaiju who was canceled the most times and for being the only one to end up making official appearances. Bagan was originally conceived to appear in 1984's The Return of Godzilla and, after he was cut, attempts were made to feature him in Mothra vs. Bagan, but this film was canceled. However, Bagan went on to be the final boss of Super Godzilla for the Super Nintendo, stronger than Godzilla's more established foes, and to make an appearance in the PC title Godzilla Movie Studio Tour.

Bagan is an ancient, god-like, dragon Kaiju that once reigned over China, who fights with slashes, stars fired from his horns, and a Plasma Beam from its mouth. In Super Godzilla, aliens bring Bagan to the present and infuse him with Godzilla and King Ghidorah's cells to make him even more powerful. Bagan's armored appearance and backstory are awesome, Mothra vs. Bagan likely would have been a legendary film, had the failure of Godzilla vs. Biolante not caused it to be scrapped, and it's hard not to love that, in spite of the character's missed opportunities, he still got his time to shine.