Zilla

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Zilla, formerly known as Godzilla, is a film monster originating from the 1998 film Godzilla, released by TriStar Pictures. It was initially created as a reimagining of Toho's Godzilla but was later re-branded as a separate character. Patrick Tatopoulos designed it after iguanas with a slim theropod appearance rather than the thick, bipedal designs of Toho's Godzilla. TriStar's Godzilla, both the film and character, were negatively received by fans and critics. In 2004, it was featured in Toho's Godzilla: Final Wars as "Zilla". Afterwards, Toho trademarked new incarnations as Zilla, with only the iterations from the 1998 film and animated series retaining the Godzilla copyright/trademark.

TriStar's Godzilla has only made two film appearances in Godzilla and Godzilla: Final Wars and was vaguely referenced in Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack. A trilogy of films were originally planned, and a treatment by Tab Murphy for Godzilla 2 was written, but the project was abandoned due to the poor reception of the 1998 film and TriStar let their license to Godzilla expire in 2003. An animated television series, Godzilla: The Series, was produced instead and served as a sequel to the 1998 film. It featured the surviving offspring from the 1998 film as the new Godzilla, as well as a reanimated cyborg version of its parent, named "Cyber-Godzilla".

For the video games Godzilla: Save the Earth and Godzilla: Unleashed, developer Simon Strange decided not to include Zilla due to the character's unpopularity among fans. Strange received criticism from fans for not including Zilla in Godzilla: Unleashed.