[18] During the production of the 1998 film, special effects artist Patrick Tatopoulos was contacted by director Roland Emmerich and asked to create a new design for the Godzilla character.

[20] Godzilla was originally conceived by special effects director Eiji Tsubaraya, special effects designers Akira Wantanabe and Teizo Toshimitsu and producer Tomoyuki Tanaka as a robust, erect-standing, plantigrade reptilian sea monster, played by an actor in a rubber-latex full-body suit.

Based on the instructions Emmerich gave him, Tatopoulos reimagined it as a lean, digitigrade bipedal iguana that stood with its back and tail parallel to the ground, rendered via computer animation.

[21] The monster's distinctive facial features include a prominent lantern jaw, inspired by the fictional tiger Shere Khan from Disney's animated adaptation of The Jungle Book.

[24] Kurt Carley portrayed the suitmation sequences for the adult Godzilla in the 1998 film[1] while voice actor Frank Welker, foley artist Gary A. Hecker, and the film's sound designer Scott Martin Gershin provided additional vocals for both Godzilla and its offspring.

[25][26][2] Upon pending approval for the design, at the time, Shōgo Tomiyama commented on the new look, saying "It was so different we realized we couldn't make small adjustments.

"[27] Though TriStar's Godzilla was referred to by the film's characters as a "he", Patrick Tatopoulos stated on a DVD audio commentary that the effects crew sculpted female genitalia into the CG model of the creature.

[28] In the 1998 film and animated series, TriStar's Godzilla is portrayed as a territorial, piscivorous, 180 feet (54.86 m) tall[29][30] mutated lizard.

Atypical of Toho's giant monster characters, TriStar's Godzilla is not immune to conventional weaponry, and instead relies on its cunning and athleticism to outflank its enemies.

[38] These sentiments were echoed by veteran Godzilla suit actors Haruo Nakajima and Kenpachiro Satsuma, and by Shusuke Kaneko, director of the '90s Gamera films.

"[44] The animated version of the character was more positively received than its live-action predecessor, due to being closer in line with the spirit of Toho's Godzilla, possessing the ability to breathe atomic fire, battle monsters, and withstand attacks.

TriStar originally planned to produce a trilogy,[49] and Tab Murphy was commissioned by Emmerich and Devlin to write a story treatment for Godzilla 2.

[51][52] In 2024, the children's web series Godziban introduced a bright pink female Zilla character named "Zillala" as a co-host for its Go!