Kamacuras

Kamacuras カマキラス (Kamakirasu) is a giant praying mantis created by Toho that first appeared in the 1967 Godzilla series film, Son of Godzilla.

Name
Kamacuras' name comes from kamakiri 蟷螂, the Japanese word for "mantis."

In the original English dub of Son of Godzilla, the Kamacuras are called "Gimantis," which comes from combining "giant" and "mantis."

Son of Godzilla
When an American weather control experiment on the Solgell Island accidentally caused a radioactive storm in 1967, the island was doused in a radioactive rainstorm that caused at least three of the island’s already two-meter-long praying mantis' to mutate into 50-meter monsters. After scaring the United Nations crew for a while, the Kamacuras uncovered and attacked Minilla's egg, breaking it open and then proceeding to try and devour the young monster. Godzilla, hearing the cries of Minilla, arrived on the island and quickly killed two of the Kamacuras with his atomic breath, but one managed to escape. Later, Kumonga, the giant spider, killed the third Kamacuras in battle when he entangled it in his webbing and jabbed it with his poison stinger.

All Monsters Attack
Kamacuras makes a brief appearance in Ichiro Miki's dreams in All Monsters Attack, as a small pack of them attack Godzilla, only to be killed quickly and easily by him.

Godzilla vs. Gigan
A Kamacuras later turned up on Monster Island, living in peace with the other monsters.

Godzilla Island
Kamacuras also made an appearance in the 12th story arc of Godzilla Island. In the story, Kamacuras arrives on the island under false pretenses, claiming to have escaped from an ever-growing monster army being assembled by the Xilien aliens. However, Kamacuras is already a part of that army and has arrived to set a trap for Godzilla. Ultimately, Kamacuras fails and flees.

Godzilla: Final Wars
In the 2004 film, Godzilla: Final Wars, Kamacuras made an appearance as one of the many controlled monsters of a race of extraterrestrial beings known as the Xiliens. It attacks Paris and is soon confronted by the Eclair. The two clash, but soon, Kamacuras is teleported away by an unidentified flying object. Eventually, it is discovered that the Xiliens were controlling the monsters, who are returned to finish their rampages. The city of Paris and the Eclair are destroyed by the combined forces of the Xilien ships and Kamacuras. Then, Godzilla is released from Antarctica and he soon eliminates Gigan in Antarctica, Zilla in Sydney and Kumonga in New Guinea. Godzilla soon reaches the shores of Kanto, Japan, where the Xiliens place Kamacuras to battle against him. Ready to do battle from a nearby bridge, the structure is, however, destroyed by the tidal waves coming in front of Godzilla. Kamacuras flies off and disguises itself by matching the appearance of the hillside. Godzilla is unfazed by the trick, and fires his atomic breath at the hillside to smoke out Kamacuras. Kamacuras, left with no other choice, leaps forth, just in time to dodge Godzilla's ray, and readies itself to engage its opponent in close combat. However, Godzilla easily throws Kamacuras away, causing it to tumble backwards and fall onto an electrical transmission tower. The tower pierces through Kamacuras' exoskeleton and kills it.

Abilities
As a giant mantis, Kamacuras has all the natural abilities a normal praying mantis would have, such as flight and spiked claws. In the film Godzilla: Final Wars, Kamacuras is shown to have the power to alter its natural color, allowing Kamacuras to camouflage and blend in with its surroundings.

Filmography

 * Son of Godzilla
 * All Monsters Attack
 * Godzilla vs. Gigan (Stock Footage)
 * Godzilla Island
 * Godzilla: Final Wars

Video Game Appearances

 * Kaiju-Oh Godzilla
 * Godzilla Trading Battle
 * Godzilla: Kaiju Collection

Godzilla: Rulers of Earth
Despite not appearing in the on running comic series yet, Kamacuras was present on the massive cave mural on Infant Island, as part of the monsters of the sky.

Godzilla: Cataclysm
Kamacuras finally appears in issue #1 of the miniseries Godzilla: Cataclysm. A group of scavengers are attacked by several Kamacuras while searching the ruin of Tokyo for useful items. The Kamacuras manage to kill several members of the party before Biollante shows up and kills some of the Kamacuras with her vines.

Roar
Kamacuras' roar is actually the screech of Ebirah, only sped up.

Trivia

 * The original Kamacuras puppets, the ShodaiKama, created by Teisho Arikawa for Son of Godzilla were marionettes operated by overhead wires (the same effects were also used for the monsters Kumonga with the ShodaiKumo and the infant Minilla puppet). The effects stand out as some of the best in the Showa series.
 * Kamacuras was originally suppose to appear in the 1968 film Destroy All Monsters, but due to the other monsters hogging all the wire work Kamacuras was left out.
 * Kamacuras, Kumonga, Destoroyah and Manda were meant to be part of the Trendmasters Godzilla toy line, but the company went bankrupt beforehand. Prototypes of Kamacuras' toy exist.

Poll
Do you like Kamacuras? Yes! No. Kind of.

Kamacuras