Gigan

Gigan (ガイガン, 'Gaigan') is a Kaiju from the Godzilla series, introduced in the 1972 film Godzilla vs. Gigan. Gigan is a monster sporting a buzzsaw weapon in his frontal abdominal region and large steel hooks for hands and feet. Gigan is sometimes considered Godzilla's most brutal and violent opponent, and has a large fan following (including Godzilla: Final Wars director Ryuhei Kitamura) despite the generally perceived low quality of its first two films. His new designs for the Millenium series was praised by many and ranked among fans as the best improvements to any monster. He is one of the most popular Godzilla villains in the films. In the Showa series, he is an alien beast, while in the Millenium series, he is portrayed as an evil entity and one of Mothra's arch nemesis.

Showa Era


In 1972, Gigan, along with King Ghidorah, left for earth. Cutting wide swaths of broken bodies, and rivers of innocent blood in their wake, the duo made their presence known on Earth. No weapon of man stood a chance against these space demons. Anything thrown at them has no effect. Men and women of the world's militaries are just cannon fodder for these behemoths. It wasn't until Godzilla and Anguirus arrived from Tokyo Harbor, that the diabolical duo met a challenge. However, with the space creatures working in perfect unison from the Nebulan's control, Godzilla and Anguirus could not prevail. Only through the assistance of mankind could the extraterrestrial titans be defeated. Realizing that they would not hold out for much longer, Gigan abandoned King Ghidora, and fled from Earth. Battered and beaten, King Ghidora later followed suit.



However, the cyborg's duty wasn't finished yet. Following in the Nebulan's footsteps, the race of an undersea people, the Seatopians, quickly launched an all out assault on the weakened earth forces with their god, Megalon. Knowing that a quick and powerful strike was the key to victory, the Kingdom of Seatopia sent out a plea for the Space Hunter M aliens to send Gigan. Answering the call, the aliens complied and the beast was sent back to Earth. However, once again, as fate would have it, the pair of Megalon and Gigan met resistance. The combined strength of Godzilla and Jet Jaguar was far more than the two creatures could handle. Gigan, realizing that defeat was steadily approaching, once again abandoned his ally, and fled from Earth. Megalon was left to hold his own, which didn't last too long.

Traveling through the voids of space, the weakened Gigan crossed paths with the Garoga. Capturing the monster, the alien race equipped Gigan with modifications, placing explosives in the clawed forearm tips. Ready for battle, the monster was parachuted back to Earth. Placing his steel clawed feet on the soft soil, the red eyed creature faced a familiar adversary: Godzilla. Again, a battle between Gigan and the King of the Monsters was fought. Even with his new abilities, Gigan was no match for Godzilla. Disposing of the cyborg, Godzilla left Gigan for dead after rescuing Zone Fighter. However, Gigan was not finished, and rose once more to fight Zone Fighter. The two battled, but the creature's previous war had taken a toll on his strength. Releasing his signature Meteor Missile Might attack, the humanoid giant destroyed the creature for good.

Millenium Era
Gigan reappeared in Godzilla: Final Wars as a giant mummified beast, having been defeated 12,000 years previous by Mothra. The colossal corpse was uncovered in Japan, and he appeared to be an enormous, avian abomination. The monster was relocated to a research lab in Tokyo, and the true identity of this relic soon became known to three humans. Two diminutive fairies, called the Shobijin, revealed to the humans that this was a monster that had battled with the guardian Mothra. Gigan, as the sinister monster was known, had fought against the peaceful protector over 10,000 years ago, and unless his dormant body was returned to his tomb, dire consequences would befall the world. The humans didn't heed the warning, and careless research of the beast continued...

Meanwhile, the deceitful extra terrestrial race known as the Xiliens had taken responsibility for the recent defeat of several dangerous monsters around the world. Their true scheme was to use the monster invasion as their first phase of domination, and when this fact came to light, the Xiliens attacked the Earth once more! During this second assault, the cybernetic organism, a weapon of the alien race, was revived and ordered to attack Tokyo; however, when Gotengo took flight to Antarctica to free Godzilla, the Xiliens ordered Gigan to follow and destroy the aerial vessel.

When the Gotengo arrived at the very bottom of the Earth, Gigan began to unleash his full fury on the battleship. The Gotengo was bombarded with attacks and after being severely damaged by Gigan's abdominal buzzsaw, was finally forced to the ground. It did, however, manage to fire its missiles at the base that held Godzilla. Right before Gigan was about to finish the Gotengo, an atomic ray blasted into his flesh, sending the contemptible creature to the ground. The king of the monsters had risen from his forty-year hibernation, and was ready for a battle! Gigan took to the air and retaliated with his powerful cluster beam. Godzilla was slightly fazed by the attack, and Gigan proceeded to alight on the ground. The malevolent cyborg raised his arms towards the King of the Monsters and released a pair of long metal cables from special compartments. As the reprehensible, robotic terror wrapped his cables around the nuclear menace and began to real him in, Gigan's abdominal buzz saw began to spin violently, and it appeared as though Godzilla would soon meet a bloody fate. However, Godzilla saw the potential threat; and his dorsal fins light up...a single atomic ray decapitated Gigan, and the hateful horror fell to the ground. Godzilla roared in victory and began to follow Gotengo back to Tokyo, unaware that the creature lying behind him was not completely defeated... Following his decapitation in Antarctica, Gigan was repaired and his arsenal was enhanced. It was time for the Xiliens to send this cybernetic leviathan back into battle. Luckily for humankind, Gigan's ancient enemy, Mothra, arrived to assist Godzilla in his fight against Monster X. However, upon the sudden appearance of the newly modified Gigan, Mothra switched her attention to this new foe. A fierce skirmish ensued, but soon, even the majestic monster soon began to lose the upper hand, and she began to retreat. Gigan followed and used his chainsaw-like appendage to lop off the bottom of Mothra's wing, sending her plummeting to the ground, unconscious.

Convinced that his opponent was down for the count, Gigan raced over to assist Monster X in his fight against Godzilla. Monster X held the King of the Monsters, as the sadistic cyborg began to use his chainsaws to slice into Godzilla's pectoral region. The tables were turned, however, when Godzilla managed to lure Gigan into cutting Monster X. Suddenly, Mothra reentered the fray and slammed both of the evil incarnates to the ground. Gigan and Mothra fought furiously once more! This time, Gigan unleashed his spinning disks, but the agile arthropod dodged the deadly blades and released her powder scales to interfere with the electronics. The disks began to boomerang back toward Gigan, as Mothra was struck by her enemy's cluster beam. She erupted into a glowing blaze of crimson fire, as Gigan's razor disks struck his neck. For a moment, it appeared to have done no damage whatsoever. As the cyborg turned to finish the job, his head toppled to the ground. A conflagrant Mothra charged Gigan and caused his entire body to erupt into flames. Gigan burst into pieces, and this frightful foe was finally finished.

Powers and Abilities
Hooked Appendages Gigan's forelimbs sport a pair of large metal hooks in place of hands. Gigan can use these to batter an opponent, and to stab. In his appearance on the television series Zone Fighter, the tips of the hooks can release an explosive charge on contact with an enemy. In Godzilla: Final Wars, they are large blades instead of hooks, and the said blades are later on replaced with two-pronged chainsaws.

Antigravity Flight

Gigan is capable of flying at speeds of up to Mach 3 while in Earth's atmosphere. However, in the realm of space, the cybernetic assassin Gigan is capable of flight at speeds of Mach 400 by encasing himself in a diamond.This normally assists in interstellar travel and is utilized very little, if at all, during battle situations. When it is used in battle, however, Gigan will often use it to engage in aerial slams to continuously topple his opponents without giving them a chance to counter, or even get up. Oddly enough, Gigan lacks his flying ability in the Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee, Godzilla: Save the Earth, and Godzilla: Unleashed. video games, though he is clearly seen flying in the opening cinema sequence of Save the Earth. Another mode of movement that Gigan utilizes is his teleportation ability, only seen in the video games.

Buzzsaw

Gigan has a buzzsaw built into his abdominal area. The unknown alien alloy is of considerable durability and effectiveness as it was strong enough and sharp enough to cause severe epidermal damage and cause Godzilla to spurt blood and Anguirus too; the weapon was also shown to be powerful enough to damage the hull of the Gotengo.

Laser

In Gigan's numerous Showa appearances in TV shows and films, he had a laser gun device located in his forehead. Official box art for his film appearances illustrated a laser beam being fired from his forehead, though the ability was never seen on screen for reasons not entirely known (though possibly it was a result of budget limits/cutbacks and/or lack of time; the illustrations could also have been done for effect).However, in a battle sequence in Godzilla vs. Gigan, after Godzilla heaves a rock at Gigan's face, the laser gun device in Gigan's forehead gives off a quick flash of light, possibly short-circuiting. Gigan's eye laser is used in the games Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee Godzilla: Save the Earth and ''Godzilla: Unleashed. ''According to the info located on the back of Gigan's Trendmasters collectible card, Gigan's forehead laser is actually an atomic energy weapon, similar to Godzilla's own nuclear breath.

In Godzilla: Final Wars (2004), Gigan's laser blast was finally revealed on screen, though it had been heavily altered from the original version. The new one no longer fired from a forehead laser device (the laser device had been replaced with a non-faceted ruby gem), but instead fired from Gigan's eye itself. It also was no longer a traditional laser, but a large beam that separated into multiple lasers like a shotgun blast and were highly-explosive upon impact. The eye beam has been officially titled the "Cluster Light Beam", and can effectively hit many parts of an opponents body. this beam is also shown in the video games, but unlike it's film counterpart the beam is scattered the instant it leaves Gigan's eye, not traveling for some time, this cluster laser is also short ranged and is called a "shotgun blast".

Flamethrower

In the video game Godzilla: Battle Legends, Gigan has the ability to spew flames from his mouth. This has been the only time when Gigan has been shown to have this ability.

Miscellaneous Abilities/Powers

The upgraded version of the Godzilla: Final Wars incarnation of the killer cyborg Gigan has other powers, including: the ability to fire two razor discs from his upper torso which have can home in on targets, unless there is interference from an external source(e.g. Mothra's anti-circuitry powder scales). The upgraded Gigan can also use his scorpion-like tail to aid him in melee combat.

Godzilla Unleashed Bio
Height: 95 meters Weight: 47,000 tons

"Gigan is the vanguard of the Alien Invaders. He is the finest fighting monster the Vortaak have at their command. Gigan is a cyborg infused with Vortaak technology designed to augment his powerful natural combat abilities. This latest upgrade makes him faster, stronger, and more ferocious than ever. Gigan projects powerful alien energy from his single eye to engage opponents at range, though with quick footwork and lightning-fast edged attacks he is clearly designed with close combat in mind."

Trivia

 * Gigan was the first monster to cause Godzilla and Anguirus to visibly bleed. In Godzilla vs. Gigan he had flown over Godzilla and slashed Godzilla's shoulder with his buzzsaw and later stabbed him in the head with his hammer-claw hands, causing blood to run down his face.
 * Gigan's eye laser, though prominently depicted on posters for Godzilla vs. Gigan, was never used on screen until Godzilla: Final Wars. However, in a battle sequence in Godzilla vs. Gigan, after Godzilla heaves a rock at Gigan's face, the laser gun device in Gigan's forehead gives off a quick flash of light, possibly short-circuiting. Stock footage of this scene was used in Godzilla vs. Megalon (footage was shot for the original film but was later cut out), It was, however, featured in the video games Godzilla: Monster of Monsters, Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee, and Godzilla: Save the Earth.
 * Gigan is one of several monsters who did not return in the Heisei era.
 * Gigan was portrayed, both in Godzilla vs Gigan and Godzilla vs Megalon, by Kengo Nakiyama, who had previously played Hedorah and would go on to play Godzilla himself for all seven Heisei films (Note: By this time, he had changed his name to Kenpachiro Satsuma.)
 * Gigan bears a resemblance to Guilala.
 * Gigan was the first robotic monster to fight Godzilla.

Filmography

 * Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972) 1 loss


 * Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973) 1 loss


 * Zone Fighter (1973) (Episode 11: In the Twinkling of an Eye: The Roar of Godzilla!)
 * Godzilla Island (1997-1998)


 * Godzilla: Final Wars (2004) 2 losses

Apperances in other media

 * Gigan appears as a villain in the 1988 Nintendo game Godzilla: Monster of Monsters!


 * Gigan once fought Toho's televised superhero Zone Fighter.

Showa
Probably one of the most original, if not THE most original kaiju of the 1970s, the cyborg kaiju Gigan burst into the Godzilla series in 1972's Godzilla vs. Gigan. Hook-like hammer claw hands/feet... a single, glowing red eye... a tooth-lined beak... three membranous dorsal wings... buzzsaw abdomen... Gigan is one of the craziest and most interesting looking kaiju Toho has ever created and was portrayed by a young Kenpachiro Satsuma. Besides his design, Gigan also sports a unique color scheme. Ghidorah-like golden scales cover areas or Gigan’s body, neck, and tail, while a green color is his main skin color, covering his arms, legs, head, and areas of his body/neck. His fin-like spines are also a golden color, but are smooth, not scaled. His hammer claw hands/feet, beak, and horns are all bone-white in color. A second Gigan suit was created and used in 1973's Godzilla vs. Megalon. However, this time around the suit was made thinner, less bulky, the horn on the head was less pointed, and the buzzasaw didn't move (being made up of static pieces). This suit also had different sized back fins, a more sad eye visor and beak, scales running up the back/sides of the neck, and longer legs compared to the original version. This new suit was also used in the episode of Zone Fighter that Gigan appeared in.

Millennium
One of several classic kaiju brought back and revamped for Godzilla’s 50th anniversary film in 2004, Godzilla: Final Wars, Gigan returned after a 31 year absence from the big screen with a leaner, meaner look. The suit is a very radical redesign of the classic 1972-1973 suit, but still manages to keep the ol’ cyborg’s spirit intact. The color of the suit has also changed for GFW, the majority of the body is now black (or dark blue) with silver/metallic highlights for the claws and horns, the fin-like spines are now red, but the old single-eye still has its eerie red glow. As for some of Gigan’s features, the chainsaw in the abdomen is not as predominant or as noticeable as it was back in the 70’s and the beak appears to be a bit shorter than it used to be. Over all the 2004 version of Gigan looks very sleek, very mean, and ready to rip his opponents to shreds!