Gabara
From Wikizilla
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| Gabara | |
| Height | 58 meters |
| Mass | 25,300 tons |
| Abilities | Electric bolts and "power horn" |
| First Appearance | All Monsters Attack |
Gabara (ガバラ, 'Gabara') is a fictional kaiju (giant monster) featured in the 1969 Japanese tokusatsu film All Monsters Attack, the tenth Godzilla film to be produced by Toho, which would later be brought to the US under the title Godzilla's Revenge. Gabara is the primary antagonist of the film.
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Characater Statistics
- Height: 58 meters (190 feet)
- Mass: 23,000 metric tons (25,300 tons)
- First Appearance: All Monsters Attack (1969)
- Other Appearances: Go! Greenman Episode 14 Greenman vs. Gabara (1973)
Abilities
Electric bolts generated from its arms and 'power horn', of which Gabara can then electrify anything or anyone it touches.
First Appearance In All Monsters Attack
Just as All Monsters Attack is one of the more distinctive entries in the Godzilla canon, then it seems that Gabara exists entirely inside the dreams of lead child character Inchiro, making Gabara very unique amongst the other Toho-made monsters.
In the context of the film, Gabara is a resident of Inchiro's imaginary Monster Island, and a constant tormentor to the much smaller Minilla, inspired by Inchiro's own real life problems with bullies around his neighborhood. After receiving combat training from his father Godzilla, and extra assistance from the human protagonist, Minilla does successfully challenge the bully. Finally, Gabara was confronted by Godzilla himself, given a sound thrashing, and sent to lick his wounds deep in the jungles of Monster Island.
Although not based on any real animal (living or extinct), Gabara is very similar to (and more then likely based on) the Oni of Japanese mythology and folklore, as his costume design is very reminiscent to these demonic ogre / troll-like beings, further mixing the turquois scales of a reptile with orange, cat-like fur. He also has three horns on his head, again much like the Oni, whose horns varied between one-to-three on average. Its roar sounds like mocking laughter, along with Gabara's ability to electrocute things on contact, as seen with Minilla, and later in battle with Godzilla. And again, possibly refereeing to Oni lore, as they too were sometimes associated with the natural forces of lighting and thunder.
Despite the film's overuse of stock footage, Gabara was the only original monsters created for the film, along with newly filmed fight scenes and effects.
Gabara in Go! Greenman
The character did not make any further appearances in the Godzilla film franchise, but did make a 'guest spot' in the fourteenth episode of the short Kyodai (giant superhero) television series Ike! Greenman (Go! Greenman). However, despite this, it's unclear if this means Gabara exists outside of Ichiro's dreams, that Greenman's adventures take place within them, or if the two are totally unrelated. The best way to view this situation is similar to Godzilla's appearances on Zone Fighter...only more obscure.
Trivia
- Within the context of the film, Gabara is a representation within the dreams of Ichiro, the main character, of a schoolyard bully of the same name. Similarly, Ichiro is represented by Minilla, Godzilla's son. After Godzilla defends his offspring in Ichiro's dreams, Ichiro is able to overcome his fears and confront the real Gabara.
- Despite humorous comparisons to a bipedal cat with car engine problems (the audio commentary for Classic Media's 2008 DVD release of the film), Gabara is probably an imaginative take on the Oni, an ogre-like race in Japanese mythology with demonic features, such as one-or-more horns on top of the head, and (usually) blue or red colored skinned. The Oni is also sometimes associated with the elemental forces of lighting and thunder, hence Gabara's own electrical abilities. Confirmed Kaiju that ARE Oni can often be seen in the ongoing Ultraman franchise, with characters like Oni-On, from episode 27 of Ultraman Leo, and Sukunaoni from episode 16 of Ultraman Tiga. Oni are major mainstays in Japanese culture, and are often depicted in fantasy films and TV series beyond the Kaiju Eiga genre, including American produced projects like the 2006 animated movie Hellboy: Sword of Storms.
- Gabara is the most-frequently appearing character in the Toho Kingdom.com Media cartoons created by Miles Hiffmoff. Gabara only appeared like he did in the film All Monsters Attack in the Season 1 Episode Gabara X Minila: Class Bully S.O.S., his first appearance where he was bullying Minila by using his finger or feet to kick or tap Minila when they were writing a test in class. At the end, Minila fired his giant neon atomic breath at Gabara, and it is revealed in the Season 3 Episode "Romantic Evening" that Gabara from the episode is the same Gabara. In all episodes after Gabara X Minila: CB S.O.S. he wears a hood that parodies Voldemort from the Harry Potter series. He is also good friends with Monster X. He is always using his left hand to point at something, and he only realized this when a fan sent him a fan-drawn mail where it shows Gabara pointing at something. Gabara often is cranky, complains a lot, and seems to hate every type of movie released in the 2000s.
- In a 1990's Monstervision commercial for Turner Network Television (TNT), which used Godzilla film footage with Blue Oyster Cult's related song in a music video like fashion, Gabara is incorrectly referred to as 'Baragon'.
