Gigan (ガイガン Gaigan?) of the Godzilla Island continuity is a daikaiju created by Toho that first appeared in the 1997 series Godzilla Island.
Name[]
Gigan's name follows the established convention of the character, a combination of naisu gai (ナイスガイ), the Japanese words for "nice guy", which was a nickname for actor Yujiro Ishihara, and the word for "goose" (雁 gan?).[1]
Design[]
Appearance[]
Gigan retains his Godzilla vs. Gigan design, albeit portrayed through an action figure.
Roar[]
Gigan's roar is a brief, electronically styled chirp.
Personality[]
Gigan seems to share his vicious and violent personality with past incarnations. However, in the series, Gigan actually becomes an ally of Godzilla after being defeated by him, and assists him and the other residents of Godzilla Island in fighting off invading monsters. This is the first and only time Gigan has been depicted in a benevolent light.
History[]
Story 5[]
In episodes 31-40, when Zaguresu gets upset on the reports of her failures while reading a newspaper, an 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 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. However, Zaguresu swats the M Space Hunter Nebula Alien with her newspaper because the plan's failed.
Story 12[]
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 the island to help fight-off against Mecha-King Ghidorah.
Story 16[]
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 at 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 at the 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 monster is falling nor 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.
Trivia[]
- Gigan is the only ally of Godzilla to not be an earth monster.
List of appearances[]
References[]
- ↑ All Toho Monsters Pictorial Book (4th Edition). Yosensha. 4 September 2016. ISBN: 978-4-8003-0362-2.