- Do not confuse with Condor.
The Giant Condor (大コンドル Ookondoru?, lit. Large Condor), also known as the Giant Eagle (大ワシ Oowashi?, lit. Large Eagle), is a giant bird kaiju created by Toho that first appeared in the 1966 Godzilla film, Ebirah, Horror of the Deep.
Name
According to Toho's Godzilla.jp website, the monster has two different names for its two appearances: Giant Condor (大コンドル Ookondoru?, lit. Large Condor) in Ebirah, Horror of the Deep and Giant Eagle (大ワシ Oowashi?, lit. Large Eagle) in All Monsters Attack.
Roar
The creature's call is like that of an average bird, with nothing unique added onto its sound profile.
Origins
The Giant Condor's origins are unknown. It is possible that the Giant Condor is a type of giant prehistoric bird or that it was mutated by the radiation given off by the Red Bamboo's nuclear weapons facilities on Letchi Island. It is also unknown whether the Giant Condor was employed as a defense by the Red Bamboo, or simply attacked Godzilla of its own free will.
History
Ebirah, Horror of the Deep
The Giant Condor battling Godzilla in Ebirah, Horror of the Deep
The Giant Condor appeared from the skies above Letchi Island and briefly grappled with Godzilla, but proved to be little more than a nuisance to the King of the Monsters, who roasted it with his atomic breath and caused its burnt corpse to plummet into the ocean below.
All Monsters Attack
In the dreams of Ichiro Miki, Godzilla was wandering around his home of Monster Island only to be attacked by the Giant Eagle. Godzilla fought briefly with the avian monster, but killed it with a blast of his atomic breath and sent its burnt corpse falling into the ocean.
Abilities
Talons
The Giant Condor was able to use it's talons to claw at Godzilla, proving to be pretty effective.
Beak
Along with it's talons, the Giant Condor uses it's beak to try and puncture Godzilla.
Flight
Being a large species of bird, the Giant Condor can fly, at up to speeds of mach 1.
Weaknesses
Durability
The Giant Condor is one of the first monsters in the series to die to a single blast of Atomic Breath.
Trivia
- The Giant Condor was meant to be an opponent for King Kong, who was featured in the screenplay for the unmade film Operation Robinson Crusoe: King Kong vs. Ebirah, which ultimately became Ebirah, Horror of the Deep. King Kong was replaced with Godzilla during production due to problems with Rankin/Bass, the company who provided Toho with the rights to Kong.
- The Giant Condor's shrieking screech was reused for some of Minilla's vocalizations in Son of Godzilla, Destroy All Monsters, and All Monsters Attack.
- The Giant Condor is one of the four minor Showa era monsters, who include the Giant Lizard, the Giant Octopus, the Giant Condor, the Giant Sea Serpent, and Mystery Bones of Infant Island, to have received an official toy.[1] The others are the Giant Octopus, Mystery Bones of Infant Island and the Giant Sea Serpent.
- Godzilla's battle with the Giant Condor is one of the shortest battles in the Godzilla series, along with Godzilla's battle with Zilla in Godzilla: Final Wars.
- The puppet used to portray the Giant Condor is actually a heavily-redesigned and altered Rodan puppet from Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster and Invasion of Astro-Monster, having been altered multiple times by Tsuburaya Productions to portray the monsters Litra and Larugeus in the series Ultra Q, then sent back to Toho and redesigned again.
List of appearances
Films
- Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (First appearance)
- All Monsters Attack (Stock Footage, as Giant Eagle)
