King of the Monsters

Billy Dubose's Godzilla Costume

“I’ve been a fan since 1989 when I saw my first Godzilla film “King Kong vs Godzilla” and have not only been a Godzilla fan ever since, but always dreamed of being the guy in a Godzilla suit one day as well.

As I got more involved with the fandom online, Chris Elchesyn had made a Godzilla suit of his around 2006 or so and seeing his suit kinda inspired me to make my own after seeing his film Godzilla X The Kaiju Killer on Youtube. I was also inspired by Paul Gavin’s MechaGodzilla suit from G-fest 2005. Seeing something as huge and as impressively built as that also really motivated me to try my own thing.

For 5 years now, I’ve taken the suit to events, charity, and conventions in Chicago, IL, Atlanta GA, and Charlotte, NC. The suit itself is not comfortable in the least bit and have sometimes almost passed out from heat exhaustion and asphyxiation. Regardless, seeing the smiles on the faces of people and children who wanted photos with me was well worth all the hassles of bearing a big suit like that.”

— Billy Dubose