Gigan

Gigan (Japanese: ガイガン, Hepburn: Gaigan) is a kaiju from Toho's Godzilla franchise who first appeared in Godzilla vs. Gigan. Gigan is a space monster resembling a species of reptile who turned into a cyborg by the Nebulans, Gigan is sporting a huge buzzsaw in its frontal abdominal region and large metallic hooks for hands. Gigan is considered one of Godzilla's most brutal and violent opponents, and the first kaiju in the Toho sci-fi series to make him bleed. Complex listed the character as No. 2 on its "The 15 Most Badass Kaiju Monsters of All Time" list.[4]

For the villages in Iran, see Gigan, Iran.
Gigan
Godzilla film series character
Gigan as featured in Godzilla vs. Gigan
First appearanceGodzilla vs. Gigan (1972)
Last appearanceGodzilla: Final Wars (2004)
Created byKaoru Mabuchi
Jun Fukuda
Portrayed byShōwa Series
Kenpachiro Satsuma
Millennium Series
Kazuhiro Yoshida
In-universe information
AliasFuture Monster[1]
Cyborg Monster[2]
Borodan[3]
SpeciesAlien cyborg

Overview

Gigan debuts in the 1972 film Godzilla vs. Gigan, in which Gigan and King Ghidorah are summoned to Earth by the antagonist M Space Hunter Nebula aliens, insect-like aliens who had their kind’s planet ravaged by pollution from another race, who wish to subjugate the Earth in order to create a utopia of "perfect peace". They are challenged and ultimately defeated by Godzilla and Anguirus.[5] In the 1973 film, Godzilla vs. Megalon, Gigan is again sent by the Nebulans to assist the people of Seatopia in their assault on humanity by aiding their god, Megalon, in a battle against Godzilla and Jet Jaguar. After receiving a broken arm at the hands of Jet Jaguar, Gigan retreats into space, leaving Megalon to face Godzilla and Jet Jaguar alone.[6] Gigan then makes an appearance on Toho's television series Zone Fighter in the same year. After his battle with Godzilla and Jet Jaguar, Gigan is captured in space by the Garogan army and sent back to Earth to prevent Godzilla from rescuing Zone Fighter, but he is soundly defeated by him. Left for dead, Godzilla leaves, believing that he is victorious, but Gigan revives shortly afterwards and battles Zone Fighter himself. In the final battle, Gigan is finally killed by Zone Fighter.[7]

After a 31-year absence, he returned in Godzilla: Final Wars. In this film, Gigan once fought Mothra for the fate of the Earth and ultimately was defeated. Later, his mummified body is discovered in Hokkaido and revealed to be a weapon used by the Xiliens. Gigan awakes and then creates havoc and destruction in Japan, but is sent to destroy the Gotengo in hopes of it not awakening Godzilla, but fails. Gigan does manage to bring down the Gotengo, however, and then faces off against Godzilla, but fails again. During the battle between Godzilla and Monster X at the end of the film, Mothra tries to assist Godzilla, but is intercepted by a revived Gigan (whose arms have been retrofitted with two pairs of enormous double chainsaws in place of his iconic hooks). The two engage in combat and, after briefly interrupting Godzilla and Monster X's battle, Gigan seemingly kills Mothra by firing his optic laser into her scales. Gigan turns around to aid Monster X against Godzilla, but he is decapitated by his own razor disks (fired at Mothra beforehand and reflected by the scales), and finally defeated by Mothra, her body ablaze. Mothra slammed into Gigan's headless form, and both exploded.[8]

Gigan returned in Godzilla: Project Mechagodzilla, a prequel novel to Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle, as a protagonist. Gigan is hibernating on the coast of Siberia, humanity eventually discovered him in 2044 and managed to control Gigan to be used to fight Godzilla. The first battle between Gigan and Godzilla took place in Suez, where Gigan lost his arms, and managed to lure Godzilla from North Africa to Asia. In each battle in Transcaucasia, Central Asia, and Xinjiang, Gigan lost most of his body parts, humanity then replaced it with mechanical ones, slowly turning him into a cyborg. Gigan received trust and respect from the soldiers as he saved their life during Operation Long March. Godzilla heavily damaged Gigan by crushing his wings, arms, and head during a battle in Yarkant. A year later, Gigan is deployed in Hotan. To avoid more damage, he is injected with experimental Nanometal, which allowed him to quickly heal and regrow lost parts of his body. However, Godzilla defeated Gigan with a powerful variant of his atomic breath, completely obliterate Gigan.

Development

Created during the early 1970s, when the Godzilla films had undergone a comic book-like shift both in tone and special effects and were now purely science fiction fare, budgets were greatly reduced, so Gigan was designed as both a marketing ploy for children's toys and as a completely alien creature whose design would not have necessitated the same attention to detail needed for Godzilla's previously more earthly opponents.[9]

The character was first conceived by Kaoru Mabuchi in his script Godzilla vs. the Space Monsters - Earth Defense Directive, which contained elements that would later be incorporated into Godzilla vs. Gigan, including having a mind-controlled Gigan being teamed up with King Ghidorah, though the script also included Megalon, and the mastermind behind the space monsters' actions was a living brain called Miko.[10]

The first Gigan suit was designed by illustrator Takayoshi Mizuki, modeled by suitmaker Noboyuki Yasamaru, and was worn by Kenpachiro Satsuma, who had starred as Hedorah's suit actor in Godzilla vs. Hedorah the year previously. The two initially did not get on well during filming, as Yasamaru focused more on the suit's appearance than on its practicality, at one point making the character's hand-hooks out of pure fiberglass, making lifting them almost impossible.[11] In portraying Gigan, Satsuma deliberately emphasized the character's destructive personality. For Gigan's appearance in Zone Fighter, Satsuma did not reprise the role.[12] Special effects director Teruyoshi Nakano had initially wanted to give Gigan the ability to fire a laser beam from its forehead in homage to Buddhist art depicting the Buddha sporting a halo around his head, but the idea was scrapped, as Nakano felt that the character was already powerful enough. The beam was nevertheless included in some promotional stills, along with various Godzilla video games.[13] In January 2019, director of the 2019 film Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Michael Dougherty expressed his interest in bringing back both Gigan and Biollante in future sequels of Legendary's MonsterVerse as he was quoted as saying "I wanted to do it, but if I had the opportunity to do it again, I would have Biollante. Oh, and Gigan!".

Characteristics

Gigan, as a cyborg, possesses a circular saw in his abdomen and razor-sharp hooked blades in place of hands, which the monster uses to both batter and stab his opponents. According to Zone Fighter, the tips of the hooks can also release an explosive charge on contact with an enemy (Gigan's hooks were replaced with double-bladed chainsaws after being initially defeated by Godzilla in Godzilla: Final Wars). In addition, Godzilla Island and Godzilla: Final Wars also give Gigan an optically-mounted laser and the Godzilla: Final Wars version of his eye laser was named Giganume Cluster in Godzilla: The Game. He was also equipped with jetpacks and grappling hooks. The Pipeworks trilogy gave Gigan the ability to teleport, as well. Godzilla: Final Wars also introduced Gigan's ability to shoot boomerang circular saw blades which were named Blooded Slicer in Godzilla: The Game. However, his shuriken boomerang effect turned out to be a double-edged sword, as they unintentionally ended up killing him in the climax of the film. When Gigan was modified in Godzilla: Final Wars, his hooks were replaced with two-pronged chainsaws, along with his head and neck being altered (now with longer horns and a reinforced neck piece).

Appearances

Films

Television

Video games

Literature

Music
  • Gigan (a.k.a. Zymeer) is a rapper from hip-hop group Monsta Island Czars also featured on the Take Me to Your Leader album.
  • Guitar virtuoso Buckethead wrote a song called "Gigan", as well as another named "Mecha Gigan". They appear on his 2006 albums The Elephant Man's Alarm Clock and Crime Slunk Scene, respectively, as well as in Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity there are two tracks called Gigan Rocks and Gigan Device. Each has a statue of a birdlike creature with a sharp beak, which looks similar to Gigan himself.

Cultural references

References
  1. 監修 東宝株式会社 2012, pp. 154-158.
  2. 監修 東宝株式会社 2012, p. 286.
  3. Ryfle 1998, p. 183.
  4. Josh Robertson, "The 15 Most Badass Kaiju Monsters of All Time", Complex (May 18, 2014)
  5. Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972). Directed by Jun Fukuda. Toho
  6. Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973). Directed by Jun Fukuda. Toho
  7. "By a Thread - The Roar of Godzilla!". Zone Fighter. Directed by Jun Fukuda. June 11, 1973
  8. Godzilla: Final Wars (2004). Directed by Ryūhei Kitamura. Toho
  9. Kalat, David (2010). A Critical History and Filmography of Toho's Godzilla Series (2nd ed.). Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co. pp. 115, 125. ISBN 978-0-7864-47-49-7.
  10. Ryfle 1998, p. 176.
  11. The Art of Suit Acting (2006) - Classic Media Godzilla Raids Again DVD featurette
  12. David Milner, "Kenpachiro Satsuma Interview I", Kaiju Conversations (December 1993)
  13. David Milner, "Teruyoshi Nakano Interview", Kaiju Conversations (July 1994)
Bibliography
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