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 cybernetic monster sporting a buzzsaw weapon in its frontal abdominal region and large steel hooks for hands. 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. It's 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 cyborg, while in the Millenium series, he is portrayed as an evil, god-like entity and Mothra's main foe.



Showa Era
Summoned to Earth by the Nebula M Spacehunters (or Nebulans), Gigan was paired with King Ghidorah to destroy Tokyo. They were challenged by Godzilla

and Anguirus

,and after a long fight the two space monsters were driven away. During the fight, Gigan slashed Godzilla and Anguirus with his buzz-saw. This broke Godzilla's skin and caused him to bleed. This is the first time in the series that Godzilla was made to bleed, a feat only repeated by MechaGodzilla.

A year later, Gigan was sent by the Nebulans to assist the Seatopians in their assault on humannity by aiding the beetle-like kaiju Megalon in a battle against Godzilla and the robot Jet Jaguar. Gigan abandoned Megalon when the fight turned against them, and flew back into space.

In the live action series Zone Fighter, Gigan was forced to fight for the Garoga aliens against both Godzilla and Zone Fighter. Gigan was first pummelled by Godzilla once again, then battled the great superhero Zone Fighter. Gigan finally met his match though, and was destroyed by Zone fighter's explosive Meteor Missile Might attack.

Millenium Era
Gigan reappeared in Godzilla: Final Wars as a giant mummified cyborg, having been defeated 12,000 years previous by Mothra. Revived by the Xilians to commence their global invasion, Gigan traveled to the South Pole to destroy the Gotengo but wound up battling the newly-awakened Godzilla. Gigan ensnared Godzilla with grappling cables from its blade hands pulling the monster king towards the chain-saw in gigans chest believing it would slice him in half, but that never happend as godzilla shot the titans head off with his radioactive beam. Gigan is not green skined and with gold plating/wings like in the showa series. In the Millenium series but is mostly black plating and with red wings.

Later, when Mothra arrived to assist Godzilla against Monster X, a repaired and upgraded Gigan arrived to battle the ancient opponent. Gigan had its scythes replaced with dual-chainsaws and been enabled to fire razor-discs from its chest. Using these chainsaw hands to slice off part of Mothra's wing, Gigan apparently triumphed against its foe, and double-teamed with Monster X against Godzilla. When Mothra attacked again, Gigan fired two discs at her, whose targeting systems were disorientated via Mothra's golden energy scales; when they missed, Gigan fired its eye beam, setting Mothra ablaze and apparently killing her. As Gigan struck a victory pose, ironically the razor discs boomeranged back, decapitating the cyborg. Gigan remained alive, but the flaming Mothra dove down, body-slamming it and engulfing them both in a large explosion. In the credits it shows that Mothra had survived somehow.

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 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 teleporation 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.

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. ''

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 travelling for some time, this cluster laser is also short ranged and is called a "shotgun blast".

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 it had flown over Godzilla and slashed Godzilla's shoulder with its buzzsaw and later stabbed Godzilla in the head with its hammer-claw hands, causing blood to run down his face. In Godzilla vs. Gigan, Gigan reved up his buzzsaw and Anguirus ran right into it with no common sense. Godzilla bled again in Gigan stock footage used in Godzilla vs. Megalon. Through Eiji Tsuburaya's tenure as head of Toho's special effects department (which lasted until his death in 1970), he had purposely avoided visible bloodshed during monster clashes; Godzilla's injuries at the hands of Gigan, directed by Teruyoshi Nakano, were a significant and controversial break from Tsuburaya's techniques.


 * 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.


 * The character ponygon from Zatch Bell has a toy that is similar in appearance to Gigan.


 * Gigan is one of the many monsters who didn't return for the Heisei era (1984-1995).


 * Despite being a villain and as an evil enemy, he is extremely popular among Godzilla fans.
 * 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.)

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: Final Wars Gigan04_2-hr.jpg(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.