Gamera

Gamera (ガメラ Gamera) is an ancient, great turtle daikaijū.
==Appearance==
Within The Great Yōkai War: Guardians: Side Story: Heian Hyakkitan, Gamera physically rivals Nue, the "False Yōkaijū" which is about 40 meters tall with unknown body length as it's quadruped. Her description generally resembles traditional appearance of the character to have deep-green massive shell, powerful arms and legs, intimidating fangs and claws, a pair of iconic elongated fangs on lower jaw. 
==Personality==
In the 2021 novelization, Gamera is rather humble and shy, describing herself a crock, and said that it is rather embarrassing that there are numerous Yōkai and humans watching her. Gamera didn't reveal her true name while she noted that she was once "also called by Yōkai and humans as Genbu", and Tarōbō described that Gamera is "Genbu but also someone else other than Genbu".
==History==
===The Great Yōkai War===
In the novelization, Gamera along with Dai-Majin was briefly mentioned by Yōkai without much details about them.
===USO MAKOTO Yōkai Hyaku Monogatari===
"Japan Yōkai Promotion Committee", whose members include Shigeru Mizuki, Natsuhiko Kyōgoku, Hiroshi Aramata, summoned "beings" to fight against evils led by Daimon and Yasunori Katō. Gamera was summoned along with many other "beings" such as Dai-Majin, Kitarō, Ittan-Momen, Maruge, Yo-kai Watch characters, Godzilla, and many other Yōkai and fictional characters.急, 廿捌 豆腐小僧、いくさを観戦する, pp.373-375急, 廿玖 世界妖怪協会、遂に敵と対峙す, p.392
===The Great Yōkai War: Guardians: Side Story: Heian Hyakkitan===
In the final battle against antagonists, Gamera, the Lord Genbu, the "God of North and Mountains there", appeared to protect Kyoto along with many other iconic Yōkai of GeGeGe no Kitarō franchise including members of Kitarō Family and others including Nurarihyon and Shu-no-Bon, except for Kitarō and Medama-Oyaji and Nezumi-Otoko and Neko-Musume who are original creations. Gamera overwhelmed the gigantic Nue who was empowered by Abe no Seimei, and helped the protagonists to fulfil their destinies. 
Yōkai also praised Gamera by singing modified versions of Gamera March and Song of Gamera, and the tumult by yōkai in the scene was described by Tarōbō as "a sports festival in the graveyard at night".Hirokazu Minemori, 2021, The Great Yōkai War: Guardians: Side Story: Heian Hyakkitan, p.234, pp.265-271, Media Works Bunko, Kadokawa
==Powers and Abilities==
Fireball: Gamera can shoot powerful fireballs from her mouth to damage Nue, and she can empower the attack by inhaling more oxygen.
Flight: Gamera can fly by emitting jets of flames from her arms and legs. She can also ram into an opponent by spinning rapidly.
Physical Prowess: Gamera is physically immensely powerful to overwhelm gigantic Nue.
Human Speech: 
Materialization: Gamera can freely switch between spiritual and physical forms. Gamera in spiritual form initially appeared from Mount Ōe, and she dematerialized after defeating Nue.
Other: Despite seeing Gamera for the first time, Yōkai and humans instantly feel that they knew her since they were young, and feel nostalgic by her appearance and abilities. 
==Legend==
The Gamera is the daikaijū from Daiei Film's series of the same name. 
Daiei Film which was at the brink of bankruptcy, was saved by the financial success of the 1965 film Gamera, the Giant Monster, resulting in the productions of Dai-Majin and Yōkai Monsters Series. The Dai-Majin initially designed to be his enemy before being re-devolped as Barugon for the 1966 film Gamera vs. Barugon, and both Dai-Majin and Yōkai Monsters Series were strongly influenced by the Gamera franchise from casting to special effects techniques.Matsunomoto, Kazuhiro (19 July 1996). The Gamera Chronicles. p.104-105. Takeshobo. ISBN 4-8124-0166-6.
In Showa period, Gamera films and films were collaboratively distributed with Dai-Majin and Yōkai films such as Yōkai Monsters Series on several occasions. 
The "First Yōkai Boom" was created by Yōkai Monsters Series and Shigeru Mizuki and Kazuo Umezu, and Daiei Film positively collaborated with Mizuki and Umezu while The "First Yōkai Boom" was actually developed as the successor of the First Kaiju Boom involving Gamera, and the kaiju medias had extensive influences on both Akuma-kun and GeGeGe no Kitarō to have heroic protagonists to battle against antagonists, appearances of gigantic characters, and so on.Gaigan Yamazaki, 2021, Genes of Kaiju within Yokai: Yokai turing into Kaiju and Kaiju turining into Yokai, Media Culture Current Contents
Within the Heisei Gamera Trilogy and its related series, Gamera was referred to as the Black Tortoise (Genbu), one of his possible inspirations, and battled against Iris to protect Kyoto in Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris. This is consistent with his role in The Great Yōkai War: Guardians: Side Story: Heian Hyakkitan, being summoned to be Kyoto's protector. One of early concepts of the trilogy by Chiaki J. Konaka and Kazuya Konaka was later adopted for Gamera the Brave and Digimon Tamers and Ultraman Tiga.
Mizuki's Mammoth Flower shares the basic concept with Juran from Ultra Q series, and Juran became the basis for the Legion Plant in Gamera 2: Attack of Legion.
Double Featuring Poster of Gamera and The Great Yōkai War.png|Double Featuring Poster of Gamera and The Great Yōkai War
Double Featuring Poster of Gamera vs Viras and Yōkai Monsters- 100 Monsters.png|Double Featuring Poster of Gamera vs Viras and Yōkai Monsters- 100 Monsters
Double Featuring Poster of Gamera vs Guiron and Yōkai Monsters- Along with Ghosts.png|Double Featuring Poster of Gamera vs Guiron and Yōkai Monsters- Along with Ghosts
Toto and Kitaro and Nurikabe at Gegege no Kitaro Chofu Nukumori Station.jpeg|The suit of Toto along with sculptures of Kitarō and Nurikabe at Gegege no Kitarō Chōfu Nukumori Station where sculptures and models of Kitarō and Gamera and Dai-Majin and Sadako Yamamura have occasionally been exhibited alongside.ゲゲゲの鬼太郎の調布ぬくもりステーションに、ガメラ、大魔神、貞子3Dが出現＼(^O^)／ 
==Trivia==
*In the 2005 film The Great Yōkai War, a man who witnessed Yomotsu-Mono refereed it to Gamera.At 1:12:05 Gamera's voice effects were also used for its roars.At 1:11:07
**Gamera's voice effects were also used for Nozuchi in the 1968 anime and Gyūki in the 1971 anime. Jiger's voice effect was also used for the latter.
*The descriptions of yōkai and humans sensing Gamera in the 2021 novelization is a reference to The Myth, the theme song of Gamera: Guardian of the Universe.
*The description of Gamera to empower her fireballs in the 2021 novelization is presumably a reference to both Gamera 2: Attack of Legion in 1996 and the 50th anniversary short film in 2015 where both incarnations of the character increased powers of Plasma Fireball and Fire Blast by deeply inhaling airs respectively.
*Several scenes in Monster Raban which became the basis for Dai-Kaijū, bear some remembrances to that of the Gamera franchize; Monster Raban and the 2006 film Gamera the Brave depict titular monsters to be placed within labs and being aided by humanity to recover original biological states with biological materials of the monsters, and Godzilla's initial appearances in Monster Raban is strikingly similar to that of Gyaos in the 1967 film Gamera vs. Gyaos although Mizuki predated the Gamera film by 9 years while Dai-Kaijū may have been inspired by the 1962 Daiei film Kujira-Gami, which also have several connections to the Gamera franchise.ASCII MEDIA WORKS, February 8th, 2014, Heisei Gamera Perfection , p.264, Kadokawa, Isbn:9784048918817. Mizuki also made Kujira-Gami to appear in the 1964 manga Kaidan: Kaeribune. 
*Gamera and Dai-Majin, along with characters from GeGeGe no Kitarō and Akuma-kun, are featured characters of Chōfu City in Tokyo, featuring these characters among various spots in the city,Deyaburō, December 06, 2024, 「調布駅」は、特撮ファンにとってガチの「聖地」だった。『ゲゲゲ』と商業施設にあふれた住みよい街, All About News as Kadokawa's studio is located in the city and Shigeru Mizuki lived there. Notably Gamera and Kitarō Family have been featured with occasional collaborations occurred in events. In 2017, official mascot character of the city, Gachora based on Gamera, was created.「映画のまち調布」応援キャラクター
*Iris, the main antagonist of the 1999 film Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris, was also mentioned in USO MAKOTO Yōkai Hyaku Monogatari although it didn't make a direct appearance. 
*Mizuki's designs of Perorigon/Bichigon and Kibungo notably the abdomen might have been influenced by Showa incarnations of Gamera. This is further supported by the fact that Perorigon's abdomen was specially altered in the later released live-action drama, similar to the alias of Dai-Kaijū, the Whale God, which was only used in Hakaba Kitarō era.
*Depictions of Gamera in the 2021 novelization bear several similarities to that of Nue in the 2007 anime while the turtle goddess fought against Nue; both Gamera and Nue intentionally didn't reveal their true names and others referred to them with more well-known aliases, they are noble and powerful, but are also humble and shy to usually avoid to appear in front of general Yōkai and humans intentionally, and they appeared in Kyoto in the Heian Period to save the city and inhabitants including Yōkai. Both of them were also depicted to be rather different from previous images of the characters; Gamera to be a female and an actual god, Nue to be a Qilin-like, heroic creature. 
*The 2021 Gamera is the second incarnation of the character to be a god after the "Black Tortoise" (Genbu) who appeared in the 2015 novelization Holy Beast War Chronicle: White Shadow (聖獣戦記 白い影, Seijū Senki - Shiroi Kage) and also possesses spiritual powers such as presumed materialization, empowering humans, and time manipulation.Shinichiro Inoue, 2015, Holy Beast War Chronicle: White Shadow, p.294-305, 怪獣文藝の逆襲, Kadokawa
==External Links==
* Gamera on Wikipedia
* Gamera on Gamera Wiki
* Gamera on Wikizilla
==References==
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