Editorials
Go, Go, Notzilla! 6 of the Most Memorable ‘Godzilla’ Knock-Offs in TV History
No matter how much the corporate rights holders might try to keep a story or a character to themselves, once an idea reaches critical mass, it ultimately belongs to the people. From parodies to legally distinct alternatives, truly universal ideas will resurface again and again in the hands of other creators, regardless of any legal limitations. If you need a concrete example of this, look no further than Godzilla!
Our favorite atomic dinosaur has stomped his way into the hearts and minds of millions of people despite the fact that only a relatively small fraction of fans have actually gone out of their way to experience official Gojira-related media, with a lot of folks actually becoming aware of the monster through cultural osmosis.
In celebration of Godzilla making another official appearance on TV courtesy of the latest season of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, today we’d like to highlight six of the most memorable Notzillas in television history. After all, while these loving knock-offs may not be official representations of Toho’s iconic creation – they’ll always be a part of the monster’s massive cultural footprint.
As usual, this list is purely based on personal opinion, but don’t forget to comment below with your own favorite Godzilla knock-offs if you think we missed a particularly fun one.
With that out of the way, onto the list!
6. Gatorella – The A-Team
The A-Team was never meant to be a serious show, but some moments in the long-running series are definitely wackier than others. Case in point: Season 4’s Where is the Monster When You Need Him? – an hour-long parody of overseas filmmaking where Hannibal is set to star in a monster movie as the titular “Gatorella”.
Presented to viewers as a mutant alligator hybrid (albeit with surprisingly complex character motivations), it’s clear from the get-go that Gatorella is supposed to be an off-brand Godzilla despite its cyclopean face. Of course, the only reason this lovable knock-off ranks so low on this list is the fact that the episode appears to be borrowing just as much from Universal Horror pictures like The Creature From the Black Lagoon as it is from Japanese Kaiju movies!
5. Lizardo – The Real Ghostbusters
From Samhain to Cthulhu himself, The Real Ghostbusters had more than their fair share of memorable villains. However, one stand-out episode had the group face off against a trio of fictional Kaijus from the 1960s who had been brought to life (or is it unlife?) by a freak accident involving VHS tapes.
While the episode is an obvious love letter to Godzilla, with the reptilian Lizardo being said to have been featured in over 12 monster movies and serving as a mascot of sorts for Japan, his design is actually unique enough for the monster to continue showing up in the background of future Ghostbusters media for years to come.
4. Shagzilla – What’s New, Scooby Doo?
This might sound a little blasphemous, but I actually have more nostalgia for Cartoon Network’s 2002 reboot, What’s New, Scooby Doo? than I have for the original show. I was at the perfect age to enjoy this slightly less spooky spin on the Scooby Gang back when it was first coming out, and that Barenaked Ladies theme song will live on in my head until the end of time.
However, being generally less horror-centric doesn’t necessarily mean that the revamped show skimped on the monsters, and one memorable creature that was inevitably revealed to just be a scam artist in disguise was none other than Shagzilla! A kaiju-sized reptilian monster meant to look like Shaggy after ingesting a cursed pizza, the villain was later unmasked as a vengeful professor piloting a giant robot.
3. Empty Tank Zilla – PTT Performa Gold Commercial
This bizarre gas station commercial from Thailand takes the same approach as UltraQ/Gomess by simply gluing horns onto an obvious Godzilla suit and calling it a legally distinct monster, but the absurdist humor on display here makes it clear that the creators knew exactly what they were doing with this hilarious example of a Notzilla.
While many fans originally saw this strange ad as an online meme usually shared without context, over the years, it’s become popular enough among Kaiju enthusiasts that I’d argue it’s just as iconic as the official (but no less bizarre) commercials where Godzilla promotes everything from Snickers to Nike shoes.
2. Jirahs – Ultraman
Bringing over-the-top Kaiju battles to the small screen is no small feat, so I’ve always admired the ingenuity behind the Ultraman team when it came to designing new threats for the show. Of course, the low budget and rushed schedules meant that not every monster could be completely unique, and one of the most iconic creatures on this list is precisely the result of the showrunners attempting to recycle an old Godzilla suit.
A repainted Toho suit featuring a hastily-glued-on frill, Jirahs looks like Godzilla wearing a cheap disguise – and that’s precisely why he remains one of the most beloved monsters in Tokusatsu history, though UltraQ’s equally absurd Gomess also deserves a shout-out!
1. Reptar – Rugrats
Hands-down the most recognizable Notzilla on this list, Nickelodeon’s Reptar is so iconic that he was actually the subject of a lawsuit between Toho and the creators of the show. In fact, this legal drama is the main reason why the fan-favorite dinosaur has since taken a backseat in the Rugrats franchise, with the producers not wanting to step on the actual Godzilla’s gigantic toes with their cartoony antics.
Nevertheless, Reptar remains one of the channel’s most beloved creations, and watching the Rugrats babies freak out whenever they see their favorite monster is an undeniably relatable memory for all of us kaiju fans who got hooked on the genre early on!
Judging from the unprecedented box office success of Kane Parsons’ Backrooms adaptation, you’ve likely already seen the liminal horror hit that managed to make audiences afraid of empty hallways and bad wallpaper. And now that so many of us have already entered the yellow labyrinth (some of us more than once), the time has come to discuss the spoiler-filled details that make the movie so fascinating in the first place.
And if there’s one element here that makes the Backrooms movie stand out from any previous lore/mythology, it has to be the genius addition of the Still Life entities. Warped recreations of real people that somehow wandered into the Complex, these misremembered creatures are responsible for some of the most disturbing imagery of 2026 – as well as laugh-out-loud memes created by one of the film’s very own concept artists.
However, true to Parsons’ word that the movie would rely heavily on practical effects, each of these distorted monsters was brought to life by real actors under heavy layers of makeup and prosthetics (with the occasional splash of CGI enhancements). While Anora and If I Had Legs I’d Kick You actress Ivy Wolk wasn’t among these performers, despite what Letterboxd might have you believe, the creature cast did benefit from veteran players with plenty of genre experience.
For starters, Alien: Romulus alumni Robert Bobroczkyi (who previously brought that film’s horrific Offspring to life during its most memorable sequence) plays the flick’s main antagonist, the Still Life version of Captain Clark. And though there was some obvious CGI involved in making the character’s peg-leg and nightmarish face more believable, Bobroczkyi’s monstrous performance and his natural 7’7″ frame helped to make that final chase sequence a clear highlight among this year’s genre offerings.
The film’s Texas-Chain-Saw-inspired “dinner” scene also features a freaky collection of less-aggressive Still Life creatures in the form of the Bearded Man, the Red-Headed Woman and, strangest of them all, the cheekily named “Archibald Leland Sutter Still Life” (who earned this title among fans and crewmembers as a reference to his apparent affinity for lamps).
While this was the first major horror outing for both Patrick Baynham (The Bearded Man) and Dana Mahmood (Archibald), Rhiannon Roberts has worked as a stunt performer in everything from Yellowjackets to HBO’s The Last of Us adaptation – which is probably why The Red-Headed Woman is the most active out of Clark’s impromptu “family.” That being said, the Archibald Leland Sutter Still Life is my personal favorite of the bunch simply because his anachronistic outfit suggests that the Backrooms phenomenon might be a lot older than the Async Foundation. I also love how hard he tries to be helpful with that little light of his!
That might be it for the Still Life entities, but I think horror fans will also be pleased to hear that the film’s Found Footage prologue stars none other than Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City star Avan Jogia as Naren Warne – and American Mary herself Katharine Isabelle also shows up in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo at Mary’s house party towards the middle of the story (though I have a feeling that she originally had a bigger part that was likely cut for time).
At the end of the day, Parsons’ Backrooms may have been an auteur-driven project motivated by the young director’s unique take on the classic creepypasta, but film has always been a collective artform, so it’s fun to see just how many talented performers it takes to bring this kind of supernatural nightmare to life in a way that connects with so many people.
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