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This is what happens in the climax of Godzilla, when a reluctant scientist, Professor Serizawa, uses a new super weapon that destroys all the oxygen in water and kills Godzilla in Tokyo Bay. Serizawa is a wounded veteran of the Second World War, missing one eye, and does not want the world to possess another terrible weapon like this. He decides to destroy all the records of his research and then dies in Tokyo Bay with Godzilla after placing his oxygen destroyer near the monster. By the standards of 1954, the special effects in the film were quite advanced, and the actor wearing the Godzilla costume had the best role, although the monster looked quite impressive when it breathed out radioactive fire all over the models of Tokyo. A young Aaron Burr also had an early role in this film as an American reporter covering the Godzilla story as the creature goes on a rampage.

At the beginning of the film, a ship is destroyed in a mysterious explosion and a salvage team is sent to investigate, but their ship is also blown up. On Odo Island, three survivors from these ships report that a giant monster was responsible, while fishermen report that they are unable to catch anything. This is when an old man first mentions the name of Godzilla, an ancient Japanese legend about a dinosaur that lives in the ocean. That same night, during a typhoon, Godzilla actually comes ashore and destroys some houses, and a scientific team is sent from Tokyo to investigate. They discover that Godzilla is a radioactive monster that has been disturbed by the recent hydrogen bomb tests in the Pacific, and has already destroyed a number of ships in retaliation. Although the Japanese navy drops depth charges on the monster, conventional weapons do not seem to have much effect, which is when the scientists turn to Professor Serizawa.

At first the scientist denies that he has created a new weapon, but the truth is that he does not want the world to know about it since it could cause the extinction of all life on earth. He shows his fiance Emiko what it can do, by testing a small sample in a fish tank and turning every living thing into a skeleton. Emiko is horrified and agrees to say nothing about the weapon, although shortly afterward Godzilla comes ashore twice and destroys Tokyo. With the city in ruins and Godzilla still sitting at the bottom of Tokyo Bay, Serizawa agrees that the weapon must be used, but he makes sure that he will die with it. He goes to the bottom of Tokyo Bay in a diving suit and places the device near Godzilla, but then cuts his own air hose and remains in place when it detonates. Godzilla is reduced to a skeleton and sinks to the bottom of the bay, although he returned many times in the sequels.