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, arrived on Earth. Cutting wide swaths of broken bodies, and rivers of innocent blood in their wake, the duo made their presence known. 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 military's 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 Ghidorah, and fled from Earth. Battered and beaten, King Ghidorah 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.

Godzilla Island
In Godzilla Island episodes 31-40, when Zaguresu gets upset on the reports of her failures while reading a newspaper, a M Space Hunter Nebula Alien crawls into view and says to Zaguresu that it's here to help her conquer Godzilla Island, so the M Space Hunter Nebula Alien introduces Gigan to Zaguresu, which impressed her, and Gigan heads down to earth. When Godzilla sees Gigan, Gigan levels off and starts a scan on Godzilla, and succeeds in doing so, Gigan then prepares to leave as Torema arrives on the scene, but Gigan flies over Torema's ship, and Zaguresu was annoyed when Gigan didn't even bother to fight. Gigan then fires an arrow with a note tied onto it to Godzilla Island from space, it turns out that the note said that Gigan has challenged Godzilla to a battle at sunrise, so Godzilla heads out to battle, only to be stopped by King Caesar, who then warns Godzilla that Gigan is too strong and needs to prepare before the battle, but Godzilla roars in defiance, then Torema begs Godzilla to listen, but Godzilla marches past King Caesar refusing to listen. Godzilla finally reaches the battle site and finds Gigan waiting. The two monsters then begin to wait through the night before attacking, when the sun rises, Gigan reflects the sunlight off its claw, blinding Godzilla by the reflection. Gigan sees its opportunity and starts to charge at Godzilla, only for Godzilla to regain his sight, causing Gigan to halt its charge, and leap back to where it started attacking from. Zaguresu starts getting fustrated that Gigan isn't fighting Godzilla, so she calls out Battra, only for Gigan to fire its Cluster Beam at Battra. The M Space Hunter Nebula Alien alien then assures Zaguresu that Gigan can defeat Godzilla on its own. Godzilla and Gigan continue to face off as everyone waits in anticipation. When a landslide falls between Godzilla and Gigan, the two monsters begin to charge, but unfortunately, Godzilla goes down, much to everyone's surprise. Gigan then approaches the fallen Godzilla when Mothra suddenly appears, and attacks Gigan with her scales, then Rodan appears, picks up Godzilla, and flies away with Godzilla as Mothra follows. Gigan watches, but turns away as Godzilla escapes. At King Caesar's healing spa, Godzilla admits to King Caesar that he wasn't ready to face Gigan and should've listened in the first place. King Caesar then tells Godzilla that he needed to use powers he's never used to defeat Gigan, and can train Godzilla how to use those powers. Gigan then appears, much to Godzilla and King Caesar's surprise. However, it did not attack, but instead, enjoys the hot spa, as Godzilla and King Caesar watch. Gigan then rises out of the spa and challenges Godzilla at sunrise for the final battle, and Godzilla accepts Gigan's challenge. Before their final battle, Godzilla is seen meditating as Rodan flys by, King Caesar approaches as Godzilla continues to meditate. King Caesar taps into Godzilla's inner power, then walks away. The next day, Godzilla has reached the battlesite, and Gigan flys into positon while King Caesar's gathered all the monsters, and warns them not to interfere in Godzilla's battle with Gigan. The monsters disapprove, and King Caesar roars in defiance, causing the monsters to step back. Godzilla then closes his eyes, much to Gigan's confusion, and a green aura surrounds Godzilla, causing Gigan to step back. The green aura disappears and Godzilla opens his eyes. Godzilla suddenly fires his Radioactive Heat Ray aimlessly into the sky. Gigan sees its opportunity and charges Godzilla. In midair, the ray does a 180 and hits Gigan from behind, and everyone is shocked as to what has happened. Gigan looks back to see who attacked it, and Godzilla sees his opportunity and charges Gigan. As Gigan turns back around, Godzilla leaps in the air and strikes with a spinning tail attack, knocking Gigan down to the ground. The fallen Gigan looks up at Godzilla as the King of the Monsters looks back. Gigan soon falls unconscious, and all the monsters come to congratulate Godzilla, even Torema is happy that Godzilla was able to defeat Gigan. but Zaguresu swats the M Space Hunter Nebula Alien alien with her newspaper because the plan's failed.

Gigan reappears in episodes 117-118 when Godzilla is getting a beat down from Destroyah and Megalon. At first it would seem like Gigan is helping the two monsters against Godzilla, but as it turns out, Gigan is actually helping Godzilla when Gigan knocks down Megalon. Destroyah then tries to fly away, but Gigan shoots him down with the Cluster Beam, and Godzilla finishes Destroyah off with a spinning tail attack, knocking him down. Godzilla and Gigan then drag the two monsters into a cave, and use their respective beam attacks to close in the cave on Destroyah and Megalon. Godzilla and Gigan then look at each other, and Gigan flies off while Godzilla goes back to Godzilla Island to help fight-off against Mecha-King Ghidorah.

Gigan once again reappears in episodes 169-178 when Misato goes on an expedition to Matango Island in her ship, Gigan is seen training by throwing rocks up in the air and slicing them in two, so Misato then reports this back to the G-Guard Commander. Landes sends Camero to ask if Gigan would like to join them in conquering Godzilla Island, but Gigan is uninterested and flies off. The Giant Dark Emperor appears in space to yell at Landes, but she cries and he gives her a new monster, Dororin, to send out on earth. Dororin then crashes on Matango Island, shape-shifts himself into Godzilla, and smashes a rock on Gigan's head while Gigan was meditating. Then he shape-shifts into Gigan itself, and flies off. Misato also arrives on Matango Island because Lucas got an alert, and Gigan tells her Godzilla attacked it, and Gigan flies to Godzilla Island to fight Godzilla. Meanwhile back in Godzilla Island, Dororin, while disguised as Gigan, smashes a rock on Godzilla's head. The G-Guard Commander radios Misato, and tells her that Gigan is here, but she tells him she's with Gigan. Soon enough, the real Gigan comes and fights Godzilla. So far, neither monsters are falling or getting hit by blows that brought them down in previous battles. The battle continues despite Misato getting upset, and also the fact that the G-Guard Commander is piloting MechaGodzilla to fight Dororin to protect G-Guard Base. Godzilla refuses to stop fighting to help fight Dororin. But then Moguera, piloted by Nao, comes in-between Godzilla and Gigan and tells Godzilla to help fight-off against Dororin, so Godzilla decides to go because his friends are more important than his battle honor, and Gigan follows. While Misato uses the computer and gets a clue on how to beat Dororin, Godzilla comes in and blasts Dororin with his Radioactive Heat Ray and takes over the fight, but Dororin grabs him from behind. Then Gigan comes in and attacks Dororin. And then Fire Fighter Jet Jaguar, piloted by Misato, comes in and uses its fire hose, melting the shape-shifting monster away, the spirit then flies up to the air, only for Gigan to smash it with its claw and finally, Gigan flies away, but not before it fires an arrow with a note tied onto it to ground from space.

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. Mothra charged Gigan while she was covered in fire and caused his entire body to erupt into flames. Gigan burst into pieces, and this frightful foe was finally finished.

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
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 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.

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

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

Godzilla Unleashed
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."

Comics
Gigan is set to appear in Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters, an ongoing comic published by IDW.

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.gif
 * 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.)
 * According to the German release of Godzilla vs Gigan, Gigan was possibly created by Dr. Frankenstein.
 * Gigan was the first robotic monster to fight Godzilla.
 * In Godzilla Island, Gigan is the only space monster to ever have been an ally of Godzilla.
 * Gigan bears a resemblance to Guilala.
 * In the Showa Era, Gigan was the third space monster to battle Godzilla
 * In the Ultraman Mebius series there is a monster called Dinozaur who has Gigan's roar.
 * Gigan is referenced in the game Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity. His name appears in two racing tracks, Gigan Rocks and Gigan Device.

Roar
left|290px|Gigan's roars from 1972.right|290px|Gigan's roars from 2004.