If it were to happen in real life, the thought of being on a boat, only to see Godzilla standing directly in the path of the vessel, right there in the middle of the ocean, would have to be among the most terrifying moments one could experience. Until you start thinking about it. “Surely,” you say, “as big as Godzilla is, the ocean is pretty damn deep. What the dickens is he standing on?” Now Shirley may not know exactly, but if the average depth of the ocean is, say, 12,080 feet (fun fact: it is), that would be substantially deeper than Godzilla is tall. So what exactly is Godzilla, King of the Monsters standing on?
There’s a Plausible Explanation for Godzilla’s Ability to Stand in the Ocean

While Godzilla rising out of the ocean is a franchise staple, this is especially evident in 2023’s Godzilla Minus One. The film brought Godzilla back to its roots, restoring the primal viciousness and horror of his early Toho years in a critically lauded, box-office success. Godzilla Minus One made Godzilla almost disturbingly real, yet many of the scenes where confrontations with the kaiju occur take place in the middle of the ocean, where he’s clearly seen standing straight up in the water numerous times. It should be impossible.
It’s clearly not, but the reason Godzilla can do this may be simpler than we think. In a scene where the group is trying to create a plan to defeat Godzilla, naval engineer Kenji Noda (Keong Sim) suggests using ships to attach Freon tanks to Godzilla in the middle of the ocean. Once the tanks surround the beast, the Freon is released, leading to an immense number of bubbles, causing Godzilla to sink.
How, you may ask? Well, the water becomes less dense than the object inside of it – in this case, Godzilla – through a process called aeration, which causes buoyant objects to sink. Cutting through the scientific gobbledy-gook, the takeaway here is that Godzilla is buoyant, suggesting the presence of an organ called a swim bladder. It’s a real thing found in bony fish like trout and marlin, and is a plausible explanation as to how Godzilla keeps from floating upward or sinking.
The Implausible Explanations for Godzilla Standing in the Ocean are More Fun

The swim bladder may be the plausible explanation, but it doesn’t mean it’s perfect. It would still require effort on Godzilla’s part to prevent himself from bobbing about or tipping over. How awkward would it be if he was ready to unleash his atomic breath on a fishing boat, only to go face-first into the Pacific, prompting prank calls from Mothra and Rodan about being a Weeble? Pretty darn awkward, by gum.

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Besides, it’s boring, like Star Trek: The Motion Picture-level boring. Certainly not like how a Facebook user suggested in 2019 that Godzilla is able to stand in the ocean. In a post titled “The Problem with Godzilla,” the artist shared several images he created showing Godzilla, in no particular order: standing on a large pile of garbage, a nimbus cloud, an underwater mountain or an iceberg; wearing tall platform heels; having really long legs; a friendly whale; or a forklift.
Why stop there? Trying to create outlandish scenarios that allow for Godzilla to stand up in the ocean is an exercise in a little thing Spongebob Squarepants would call F.U.N.! He could be wearing those inflatable arm floaties babies wear around his feet. Maybe he hunted for Red October, and found it. His legs and tails could be moving a hundred miles a minute. Perhaps Godzilla was inspired by Blazing Saddles, and has perpetual atomic farting keeping him afloat. No, wait – that gets into the whole aeration thing. Only smellier. Or, hear me out, Godzilla uses the Force, like Yoda. Heck, maybe he is Yoda, like a variant Yoda! Star Wars Episode III 1/2: Godzilla v. The Empire has a nice ring to it. Kathleen Kennedy, we’ll talk.
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Godzilla Minus One

Release Date

December 1, 2023

Runtime

125 Minutes

Director

Takashi Yamazaki

Writers

Takashi Yamazaki