Protagonist

Character Role Analysis

Ogata and Dr. Serizawa

A protagonist is the character you can get behind and hope will succeed in his or her conflict with the antagonist. Godzilla has a lot of characters in conflict with the titular beastie, like all of Japan. But Ogata and Dr. Serizawa ultimately share the protagonist responsibilities.

Ogata wants to defeat Godzilla to protect the people of Japan, specifically his lady-love, Emiko. We totally get that, and we want him to succeed, but as a sailor, he lacks the capacity to take on a fire-breathing, building-stomping dinosaur from the depths. It's just not in the cards.

Enter Dr. Serizawa. Dr. Serizawa also wants to defeat the monster and save Japan, and unlike Ogata, he has the ability with his Oxygen Destroyer. But he's morally conflicted for fear that using the technology will unleash a power more terrifying and destructive than even Godzilla.

In the end, the two team up to take on Godzilla and...well, no spoilers here. That's what the "What's Up with the Ending?" section is for.