Godzilla first appeared in the 1954 Japanese film Godzilla, produced by Toho, and the character's roar became one of the most recognisable sounds in monster cinema. The distinctive cry helped define the kaiju genre as the films expanded into a long running franchise across Japan and Hollywood. Short clips of the roar later circulated on soundboards and in meme edits, where creators borrow its sense of scale for much smaller, funnier subjects. It remains popular because the sound alone signals a giant threat arriving.