It’s a rare occurrence, but there have been situations in the Godzilla franchise where the humans actually got the best of the kaiju. Typically, Godzilla is regarded as a force so powerful that the human characters in the movies have little hope of stopping his rampages. For that reason, it’s usually his fellow monsters – and not the military – who provide the biggest challenges to the pop culture icon.

Battles between humanity and Godzilla goes back to his theatrical debut in 1954. But, they’re primarily not the focus of most Godzilla stories. More often than not, their fighting takes a backseat to other problems. Sometimes, the humans deem Godzilla the lesser of two evils and decide to help him. But when Godzilla isn’t busy playing the hero, their efforts tend to be centered on beating him. In the past, they’ve had some near-victories, such as the time...