Gigan

Gigan (ガイガン, Gaigan) is an alien cyborg created by Toho that first appeared in the 1972 Godzilla film, Godzilla vs. Gigan.

Appearance
Gigan is truly a strange monster, sporting a circular saw weapon located in his frontal abdominal region and large steel hooks for hands with smaller ones for feet. Gigan is sometimes considered Godzilla's most brutal and violent opponent, and has a significant fan following (including Godzilla: Final Wars director Ryuhei Kitamura) despite the generally perceived low quality of his first two films. His new design for the Millennium series was praised by many and ranked among fans as one of the best improvements to any monster.

Godzilla vs. Gigan
Gigan first appeared in the film Godzilla vs. Gigan where he was controlled by the M Space Hunter Nebula Aliens. He was sent to earth to destroy it with King Ghidorah. They attacked a city, but they were interrupted by Godzilla and Anguirus. They battled at the World Children's Land, and they nearly killed the two monsters. After the destruction of the Godzilla Tower, Gigan and King Ghidorah are released from their mind control, and the two Earth monsters drove them back into space.

Godzilla vs. Megalon
Gigan returned in Godzilla vs. Megalon, as he was called by the Seatopians to help them conquer Earth. He arrived to help Megalon battle Godzilla, and they nearly killed him. Jet Jaguar attacked Gigan, but he was also defeated. The two monsters regained their strength, and they fought Gigan and Megalon off again. Gigan retreated back to space, and Megalon returned to Seatopia.

Zone Fighter
Gigan later returned as a special guest star in the TV series Zone Fighter. In the series, is revealed that, after the events of Godzilla Vs. Megalon, the weakened Gigan crossed paths with the Garoga. Capturing the monster, the alien race equipped Gigan with modifications, namely having his claws cause explosions each time he hit something with them. After gaining these upgrades, the Garoga sent him back to Earth to fight Zone Fighter. Upon his return, Gigan found Godzilla and they fought. Even with his new abilities, Gigan was no match for Godzilla. Godzilla then left Gigan for dead after rescuing Zone Fighter. However, Gigan was not finished yet, and he rose once more to fight Zone Fighter. Gigan's previous fight with Godzilla proved to have taken its toll on him, and Zone Fighter soon had the upper hand. Zone Fighter then unleashed his Meteor Missile Might Attack on Gigan and killed him.

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 frustrated 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 flies 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 battle site, and Gigan flies into position 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 Destoroyah 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. Destoroyah then tries to fly away, but Gigan shoots him down with the Cluster Beam, and Godzilla finishes Destoroyah 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 Destoroyah 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.

Godzilla: Final Wars
Gigan returned in Godzilla: Final Wars, were he was first seen as a mummified monster from his battle with Mothra. He was awoken by the Xiliens to help them conquer the Earth. He chased the Gotengo to Antarctica to stop them from awakening Godzilla. He nearly destroyed the ship, but he was blasted by one of Godzilla's nuclear beams. He battled Godzilla until he got his head destroyed by his beam. However, the Xiliens repaired him and released him to fight alongside Monster X.

Modified Gigan
Modified Gigan (改造ガイガン, Kaizō Gaigan) was Gigan's second form in Godzilla: Final Wars, where he is rebuilt with a different head and chainsaws instead of hooks. He was released to battle Mothra, and temporarily defeated her. He attempted to help Monster X in his battle with Godzilla, but he was attacked by Mothra. He shot his blades at Mothra, but they flew past her. He nearly killed Mothra with his beam, but his blades flew at him and cut his head off. Mothra slammed into him, causing him to explode and die.

Hooked Appendages
Gigan's forelimbs sport a pair of large metal hooks in place of hands which he can use these to batter and stab an opponent. 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, instead of hooks Gigan's forearms ended in scythe like blades, the undersides of which were each equipped with dual grappling hooks which Gigan could use to bind an enemy and then drag them straight into his buzzsaw. Following his initial defeat by the recently awakened Godzilla, the blades were replaced with double-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 made of an unknown alien alloy; granting it considerable durability and sharpness. In his first appearance, Gigan's saw was able to draw blood on both Godzilla and Anguirus. In Final Wars it was even able to lacerate the hull of the Gotengo. A favored tactic of Gigan is to use his powers of flight along with his buzzsaw in hit and run attacks, slashing his opponent as he races by them.

Laser
In addition to his melee weapons, Showa era Gigan was depicted as having an beam aperture set into his forehead just above his visor. Official art would frequently depict him as firing a laser from this device although he was never shown to actually do so on film (possibly 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 for Godzilla vs. Gigan, after Godzilla heaves a rock at Gigan's face, the laser device in Gigan's forehead gives off a quick flash of light, possibly short-circuiting. In video games, Gigan's laser was featured in Godzilla: Monster of Monsters for the NES as well as later being used in 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 atomic breath.

Gigan's eye laser, though prominently depicted on posters for Godzilla vs. Gigan, was never used onscreen until Godzilla: Final Wars. It was, however, featured in the video games Godzilla: Monster of Monsters, Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee, and Godzilla: Save the Earth.

In Godzilla: Final Wars, Gigan's laser blast was finally revealed on screen, though it had been heavily altered from the original concept. Rather than being fired from a forehead laser device (the aperture had been replaced with a non-faceted ruby gem), it was instead fired from Gigan's eye itself. It also was no longer a traditional laser, but a large energy blast that-in a manner similar to a cluster bomb-would split into smaller explosive bolts of energy upon entering close range of a target, saturating the target in multiple hits simultaneously. The eye beam has been officially titled the "Cluster Light Beam", and while featured in the video games, unlike its film counterpart the beam scatters the instant it leaves Gigan's eye, has a limited range, and is referred to as "Shotgun Blast".

Flamethrower
In the video game Godzilla: Battle Legends and the Godzilla arcade game, Gigan has the ability to spew flames from his mouth. Also, it has been mentioned in Godzilla Movie Studio Tour that this ability is a normal ability Gigan has always had.

Miscellaneous
After being repaired and upgraded following his initial fight with Godzilla in Godzilla: Final Wars, Gigan displayed the ability to fire guided razor discs from two hidden slots in his upper torso which were able to boomerang back for a second attempt if they initially missed their target. Doing so however is risky as if they missed the target once again, Gigan would find himself right in the path of his own attack; which ultimately was what killed him. Gigan was also able to use his scorpion-like tail to aid him in melee combat.

Filmography

 * Godzilla vs. Gigan
 * Godzilla vs. Megalon
 * Zone Fighter (Episode 11: In the Twinkling of an Eye: The Roar of Godzilla!)
 * Godzilla Island
 * Godzilla: Final Wars

Video Game Appearances

 * Godzilla: Monster of Monsters
 * Kaiju-Oh Godzilla
 * Battle Soccer
 * Godzilla (Arcade)
 * Godzilla: Monster War
 * Godzilla: Giant Monster March
 * Godzilla: Archipelago Shock
 * Godzilla: Battle Legends
 * Godzilla Generations
 * Godzilla Trading Battle
 * Godzilla: Domination! (Scrapped)
 * Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee
 * Godzilla: Save the Earth
 * CR Godzilla 3S-T Battle
 * Godzilla: Unleashed (Wii and PlayStation 2)
 * Godzilla Unleashed: Double Smash
 * Godzilla On Monster Island
 * Godzilla: The Game

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

Godzilla: Unleashed
Gigan's Godzilla: Unleashed bio differs slightly in the Wii and PS2 versions in the sense that the latter has contains a different closing sentence.

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. In addition, Gigan has the ability to teleport short distances to confuse and outflank his opponents."

Godzilla: The Game
Modified Gigan appears in Godzilla: The Game.

Godzilla: Legends
Gigan makes a small cameo in Godzilla: Legends #1. When Dr. Anders is commenting on how Anguirus has lost every time he has fought another, Gigan's arm can be seen in one of the flash back panels, slicing Anguirus across the face.

Godzilla: The Half-Century War
Gigan appears in The Half-Century War #5. In this issue, Gigan and King Ghidorah arrive on Earth and wreak havoc. The AMF builds the Dimension Tide and lures the space monsters to Antarctica, hoping to trap them in an artificial black hole. Godzilla and Kiryu arrive and temporarily join forces to battle the space monsters. Eventually, Gigan is defeated and banished into the black hole along with King Ghidorah.

Godzilla: Ongoing
Gigan appears in Godzilla: Ongoing as one of the space monsters that attack Earth. In issue #10, Gigan battles Rodan and Anguirus in Hong Kong. Gigan's visor is shattered in the battle, rendering him blind. Gigan's fate is left unknown.

Godzilla: Rulers of Earth
In Rulers of Earth #1, Gigan erupted from underground in Arizona, and instantly fought Kumonga. After getting trapped in the 's webbing, Gigan faked defeat until Kumonga got close. Using his abdomen saw, Gigan severed one of Kumonga's legs, and freed himself from the web. Using his laser, Gigan set the whole valley on fire and left to be upgraded by the Cryog aliens.

Gigan later appeared with the FinalGigan design in Rulers of Earth #5 to fight Godzilla and M.O.G.U.E.R.A. with the help of Orga. M.O.G.U.E.R.A. was disabled by the alien. Orga couldn't be controlled by the Cryog, though, and went on a rampage but was destroyed, leaving Gigan to deal with Godzilla. Jet Jaguar came in soon afterwards and Gigan was soon defeated by Godzilla and Jet Jaguar.

In Rulers of Earth #17, Gigan is deployed to defend the Cryogs' ship from his former ally, SpaceGodzilla. Gigan and SpaceGodzilla prove to be almost equally matched, but SpaceGodzilla uses his mastery of crystals to shred Gigan's sails and tears off his arm, leaving the cyborg floating helplessly in space.

In Other Languages

 * German: Monster Zero (2004)
 * Russian: Гайган
 * Chinese: 盖刚

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.
 * The Xiliens must have sent Gigan to the Earth millions of years prior to the events of Godzilla: Final Wars, if the Mothra legends are true. It could be that Gigan was created by the Xiliens and is from Planet X.
 * Gigan was portrayed, both in Godzilla vs. Gigan and Godzilla vs. Megalon, by Kenpachiro Satsuma, who had previously played Hedorah, and would go on to play Godzilla himself for all seven Heisei films.
 * 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 ally of Godzilla to not be an earth monster.
 * Gigan was the third space monster to battle Godzilla.
 * Gigan's act of making both Godzilla and Anguirus bleed in Godzilla vs. Gigan would later be replicated by MechaGodzilla in Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla.
 * In the Ultraman Mebius series, there is a monster called Dinozaur who has Gigan's roar.
 * Gigan's design is similar to that of the Ultraman monster, Dorako.
 * Gigan is referenced in the game Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity. His name appears in two racing tracks, Gigan Rocks and Gigan Device.
 * Gigan's ability to fire off shurikens in Godzilla: Final Wars is very similar to Guiron's secondary attack, where he can fire four shurikens from indents in the side of his head.
 * In Godzilla: Rulers of Earth, Gigan appears in his Showa design in Issue #1 and is later upgraded to his Millennium design in Issue #6.
 * The Ultraman Ace choju, Chameleking, has a saw in his stomach like Gigan, but it is never used in combat.

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

Gigan