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 cybernetic space monster sporting a buzzsaw weapon in its frontal abdominal region and large metallic hooks for hands. Gigan is considered Godzilla's most brutal and violent opponent, being the first monster in the Toho sci-fi series to cause Godzilla to visibly bleed.

Film and television descriptions

Gigan's first appearance was in the 1972 film Godzilla vs. Gigan. In the film, Gigan is summoned to earth by the antagonist Nebula M Space Hunter aliens where he was paired with the three-headed space dragon King Ghidorah to destroy Tokyo. They were challenged by Godzilla and Anguirus, and after a long fight the two space monsters were driven away.

In the 1973 film, Godzilla vs. Megalon, Gigan was sent by the antagonist Nebulans to assist the people of Seatopia in their assault on humanity by aiding their god, Megalon, in a battle against Godzilla and the robot Jet Jaguar. After receiving a broken arm at the hands of Jet Jaguar, Gigan fled to space, leaving his erstwhile ally Megalon to face Godzilla and Jet Jaguar alone. This is the second time Gigan has abandoned an ally.

Also in 1973, Gigan made an appearance on Toho's television series Zone Fighter. After his battle with Godzilla and Jet Jaguar, Gigan was captured in space by the Garoga 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 he is victorious, but Gigan revives shortly afterwards and battles Zone Fighter himself. In the final battle, Gigan is seemingly killed by Zone Fighter.

Gigan's latest appearance was in the 2004 Millennium film, Godzilla: Final Wars, where he is one of the main antagonists for Godzilla to fight. Long ago, Gigan once fought Mothra for the fate of the earth and ultimately was defeated. Years later his mummified body is discovered and is revealed to be a weapon used by the Xiliens. Gigan awakens and causes havoc and destruction in Japan, but is then sent to destroy the Gotengo in hopes of not awakening Godzilla. Although Gigan does manage to bring down the Gotengo, Gigan then faces off against Godzilla and is seemingly killed when Godzilla blows his head off with his atomic ray. During the climactic battle between Godzilla and Monster X, Mothra arrives to assist Godzilla but is intercepted by a revived Gigan, whose arms have been retrofitted with enormous chainsaws in place of his iconic blades. Mothra and Gigan resume their ancient rivalry and after a long battle that briefly interrupts Godzilla and Monster X's battle, Gigan is killed by a kamikaze attack from the flaming, grievously wounded Mothra.

Powers and abilities

• Hammer Hooks

Gigan possesses razor-sharp hooked blades in place of hands which the monster uses to both batter and stab his opponents. 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, Gigan's arms were replaced with chainsaws after being initially defeated by Godzilla.

• Antigravity flight

Gigan has a trio of retractable wings which is capable of allowing Gigan to fly at speeds of up to Mach 3. 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. In Godzilla: Final Wars, the antigravity flight was replaced by jetpacks, presumably to give Gigan more of a robotic feel.

• Teleportation

In the Atari game trilogy, Gigan has the ability to teleport in a flash.

• Buzzsaw

Gigan has a buzzsaw built into his abdominal area. It is of considerable durability and effectiveness as it was sharp enough to cause severe epidermal damage to Godzilla and Anguirus (being the first weapon shown to breach Godzilla's skin and actually draw blood) and brought down a weakened Gotengo.

• Grappling cables

In Godzilla: Final Wars, Gigan was able to fire two hooked grappling cables from beneath both of his hand blades which he used to snag onto his opponents and reel them into range of his deadly buzzsaw.

• Razor discs

The upgraded Final Wars Gigan was able to fire two razor sharp disks from just above his buzzsaw. Mothra however dodged them and simultaneously released her reflective powder, which caused them to malfunction and boomerang back towards Gigan who was promptly decapitated for the second time.

• Eye beam

Also in Final Wars, Gigan could fire a red beam from his eye that scattered into a shot-gun like blast of energy. This ability, along with the ability to fire a focused red eye beam a greater distance, was present in Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee and its subsequent two sequels. Gigan can be seen firing his eye beam in poster artwork for Godzilla vs. Gigan and Godzilla vs. Megalon, however he never used this ability in the Showa films.

Appearances in other media

• Gigan appeared as a villain in the 1988 Nintendo game Godzilla: Monster of Monsters!
• Gigan also appeared in the 1998 PlayStation game Godzilla Trading Battle.
• Gigan was originally considered to be a playable character in Godzilla: Domination! but was canceled because of budgetary reasons.
• The Showa Gigan is a playable character in Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee, and Godzilla: Save the Earth. His Showa form is exclusive to the PlayStation 2 version of Godzilla: Unleashed. The Millennium version is exclusive in the Wii version of Godzilla: Unleashed.
• Gigan appeared in The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy movie, living on Monster Island.
• Gigan is also a rapper featured on the Take Me to Your Leader album.
• The character Ponygon from Zatch Bell has a toy that is similar in appearance to Gigan.
• 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.
• In Marc Cerasini's Godzilla at World's End, Gigan is one of six genetically engineered monsters created to destroy mankind.
• In the video game 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.
• In the anime Negima!? a robotic chupacabra is featured that looks similar to Gigan.