Gigan

**Gigan** (ガイガン *Gaigan*) is an alien cyborg kaiju created by Toho that first appeared in the 1972 *Godzilla* film, *Godzilla vs. Gigan*.

## Appearance

Gigan is truly a strange monster, sporting a circular saw weapon located in his frontal abdominal region, large steel hooks for hands with smaller ones for toes, spikes running down his tail, three, large fin-like spines on his back and a red cybernetic visor for an eye.

He also bears various avian characteristics, such as a 'crest' made of metal spines and a metal beak. In the Showa series, Gigan's skin was a dark green color and he possessed golden scales over several parts of his body. In *Godzilla: Final Wars*, Gigan's appearance was changed to make him appear more cybernetic. In this film, Gigan's skin is now a dark blue, his body is much thinner and more streamlined, and there are wire-like structures running across his body.

When Gigan is revived as Modified Gigan, his hook hands are replaced with double-pronged chainsaws. Gigan's new design for the Millennium series was praised by many and ranked among fans as one of the best improvements to any monster.

## Roar

Gigan's roar is a brief, electronically styled chirp. In the case of the Showa era Gigan, its roar is short, whereas *Final Wars'* incarnation was elongated slightly.

## Personality

Gigan is sometimes considered Godzilla's most brutal and violent opponent, and has a significant fan following (including *Godzilla: Final Wars* director Ryuhei Kitamura) despite the generally perceived low quality of his first two films. Gigan is shown to be very vicious and sadistic in combat, preferring to shred his opponents up close with his hook hands and buzzsaw.

However, at least in the Showa series, Gigan appears to be a bit of a coward, retreating and leaving his ally at the mercy of his enemies as soon as the tide of battle turns against him. In *Final Wars*, Gigan is shown to be somewhat incompetent, having his head easily blown off by Godzilla's atomic breath and later slicing his own head off with two razor discs intended for Mothra.

In *Godzilla Island*, 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.

## Origins

In the Showa series, Gigan is a type of space dinosaur that was transformed into a cyborg by the M Space Hunter Nebula Aliens in order to be used in their attempted invasion of Earth.

In *Godzilla: Final Wars*, Gigan is an ancient cybernetic monster that was sent to Earth by the Xiliens thousands of years ago, where he was defeated by Mothra and subsequently mummified. In the year 20XX, Gigan's mummified corpse was discovered by the Earth Defense Force, and the monster was later reactivated by X during the Xiliens' invasion.

## History

### Showa Series

#### *Godzilla vs. Gigan*

Gigan first appeared in the film *Godzilla vs. Gigan* where he was controlled by the M Space Hunter Nebula Aliens. He was sent to earth to destroy it with King Ghidorah. They attacked a city, but they were interrupted by Godzilla and Anguirus. They battled at the World Children's Land, and they nearly killed the two monsters. After the destruction of the Godzilla Tower, Gigan and King Ghidorah are released from their mind control, and the two Earth monsters drove them back into space.

#### *Godzilla vs. Megalon*

Gigan returned in *Godzilla vs. Megalon*, as he was called by the Seatopiansto help them conquer Earth. He arrived to help Megalon battle Godzilla, and they nearly killed him. Jet Jaguar attacked Gigan, but he was also defeated. The two monsters regained their strength, and they fought Gigan and Megalon off again. Gigan retreated back to space, and Megalon returned to Seatopia.

#### *Zone Fighter*

Gigan later reappeared as one of the Garogas' Terror Beasts in *Zone Fighter*. It is revealed that after he was driven into space once more by the combined efforts of Godzilla and Jet Jaguar, he was captured by the Garogas. During his last battle, his cybernetics had been heavily damaged, so the Garogas repaired him. Most notably, Gigan had trouble slowing down when in flight, and had to deploy a set of parachutes like a spacecraft.

However, the Garogas outfitted Gigan's claws with a special ability that made objects explode when he hit them with the weapons. Gigan was sent to Earth, where he battled Zone Fighter, and nearly overpowered him. However, Godzilla, who had became close friends with the Sakimori Family, and, remembering Gigan and the beating he inflicted not only on himself, but also Anguirus and Jet Jaguar, took him on in a second rematch, beating down Gigan and forcing him to retreat yet again. However, the Garogan control over Gigan remained, and they sent him into battle once again.

However, the damage Gigan sustained while fighting Godzilla hadn't been repaired, and Gigan was beaten badly by Zone. After a short battle, Zone Fighter used his Meteor Missile Might on Gigan and the alien monster wandered around whilst gushing black smoke before falling over onto his side. His visor turned off as he began uncontrollably foaming at the mouth before exploding into a massive fireball, finally defeated.

### *Godzilla Island*

#### Story 5

In *Godzilla Island* episodes 31-40, when Zaguresu gets upset on the reports of her failures while reading a newspaper, a 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 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. but Zaguresu swats the M Space Hunter Nebula Alien 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 Godzilla 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 on 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 in Godzilla 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 monsters are falling or 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.

### Millennium Series

#### *Godzilla: Final Wars*

Gigan returned in *Godzilla: Final Wars*, where he was discovered as a mummified monster in Hokkaido by the Earth Defense Force. According to the Shobijin, Gigan invaded the Earth thousands of years ago, but was defeated by Mothra. Gigan was awakened by the Xiliens to help them conquer the Earth. He chased the Gotengo to Antarctica to stop it from awakening Godzilla. He nearly destroyed the ship, but he was blasted by one of Godzilla's nuclear beams. Gigan battled Godzilla, trapping him in barbed wire and pulling him toward his buzzsaw. However, Godzilla fired his atomic breath at Gigan's head, decapitating him and causing him to fall to the ground.

##### Modified Gigan

**Modified Gigan** (改造ガイガン *Kaizō Gaigan*) was Gigan's second form in*Godzilla: Final Wars*, where he is rebuilt with a different head and chainsaws instead of hooks after being decapitated in his earlier battle with Godzilla. Gigan was released by X to battle Mothra, and seemingly defeated her after slicing off part of her wing. Gigan then attempted to help Monster X in his battle with Godzilla, slicing him in the chest while Monster X held him still. Mothra flew into the battle and knocked Monster X and Gigan over. Gigan shot his blades at Mothra, but she dodged them. Gigan then blasted Mothra with his laser beam, causing her to burst into flames. Gigan struck a victory pose, but his razor discs flew back and sliced his head off. Gigan wandered around blindly after his head was severed until Mothra, now on fire, flew into him, causing him to explode and die.

## Abilities

### Antigravity flight

Gigan is capable of flying at speeds of up to Mach 3 while in Earth's atmosphere. However, in the realm of space, the cybernetic assassin Gigan is capable of flight at millions of times faster than light by encasing himself in a diamond. 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. Oddly enough, Gigan lacks his flying ability in the *Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee*, *Godzilla: Save the Earth*, and *Godzilla: Unleashed* video games, though he is clearly seen flying in the opening cinematic sequence of *Godzilla: Save the Earth*. Another mode of movement that Gigan utilizes is his teleportation ability, only seen in the video games.

### Buzzsaw

Gigan has a buzzsaw built into his abdominal area made of an unknown alien alloy; granting it considerable durability and sharpness. In his first appearance, Gigan's saw was able to draw blood from both Godzilla and Anguirus. In *Godzilla: Final Wars*, it was even able to lacerate the hull of the Gotengo. A favored tactic of Gigan is to use his powers of flight along with his buzzsaw in hit and run attacks, slashing his opponent as he races by them.

### Flamethrower

In the video game *Godzilla: Battle Legends* and the *Godzilla* arcade game, Gigan has the ability to spew flames from his mouth. Although this ability has never been used in a film, *Godzilla Movie Studio Tour* confirmed that it is a normal ability Gigan has always had.

### Hooked appendages

Gigan's forelimbs sport a pair of large metal hooks in place of hands which he can use these to batter and stab an opponent. 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*, instead of hooks Gigan's forearms ended in scythe like blades, the undersides of which were each equipped with dual grappling hooks which Gigan could use to bind an enemy and then drag them straight into his buzzsaw.  Following his initial defeat by the recently awakened Godzilla, the blades were replaced with double-pronged chainsaws.

### Laser

In addition to his melee weapons, Showa era Gigan was depicted as having an beam aperture set into his forehead just above his visor. Official art would frequently depict him as firing a laser from this device although he was never shown to actually do so on film (because special effects director Teruyoshi Nakano felt this ability doesn't fit with Gigan's character). However, in a battle sequence for Godzilla vs. Gigan, after Godzilla heaves a rock at Gigan's face, the laser device in Gigan's forehead gives off a quick flash of light, possibly short-circuiting. In video games, Gigan's laser was featured in *Godzilla: Monster of Monsters* for the NES as well as later being used in *Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee*, *Godzilla: Save the Earth*, and *Godzilla: Unleashed*. According to the info located on the back of Gigan's Trendmasters collectible card, Gigan's forehead laser is actually an atomic energy weapon, similar to Godzilla's own atomic breath.

In *Godzilla: Final Wars*, Gigan's laser blast was finally revealed on screen, though it had been heavily altered from the original concept. Rather than being fired from a forehead laser device (the aperture had been replaced with a non-faceted ruby gem), it was instead fired from Gigan's eye itself. It also was no longer a traditional laser, but a large energy blast that-in a manner similar to a cluster bomb-would split into smaller explosive bolts of energy upon entering close range of a target, saturating the target in multiple hits simultaneously. The eye beam has been officially titled the "Cluster Light Beam," and while featured in the video games, unlike its film counterpart the beam scatters the instant it leaves Gigan's eye, has a limited range, and is referred to as "Shotgun Blast." In *Godzilla: The Game*, Modified Gigan's laser beam is called "Giganume Cluster."

### Razor discs

After being repaired and upgraded following his initial fight with Godzilla in *Godzilla: Final Wars*, Gigan displayed the ability to fire guided razor discs from two hidden slots in his upper torso which were able to boomerang back for a second attempt if they initially missed their target. Doing so however is risky as if they missed the target once again, Gigan would find himself right in the path of his own attack; which ultimately was what killed him.

In the 2014 *Godzilla* game, Gigan's razor disc attack is called "Blooded Slicer." He also possesses a more powerful version called "Surging Wave Blooded Slicer".

### Scorpion-like tail

Gigan was also able to use his scorpion-like tail to aid him in melee combat.

## In other languages

* German: Monster Zero (2004)
* Russian: Гайган
* Chinese: 盖刚 (Gài gāng), 吉岡 (Jígāng),
* Spanish: Galien (1972-1973)

## Trivia

* Gigan was the first monster to cause Godzilla and Anguirus to visibly bleed. In *Godzilla vs. Gigan* he had flown over Godzilla and slashed Godzilla's shoulder with his buzzsaw and later stabbed him in the head with his hammer-claw hands, causing blood to run down his face. Fake Godzilla and MechaGodzilla in *Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla* would later continue this.
* The Xiliens must have sent Gigan to the Earth millions of years prior to the events of *Godzilla: Final Wars*, if the Mothra legends are true.
* Gigan was portrayed, both in *Godzilla vs. Gigan* and *Godzilla vs. Megalon*, by Kenpachiro Satsuma, who had previously played Hedorah, and would go on to play Godzilla himself for all seven Heisei films.
* According to the German release of *Godzilla vs. Gigan*, Gigan was possibly created by Dr. Frankenstein.
* In *Godzilla Island*, Gigan is the only ally of Godzilla to not be an earth monster.
* In the *Ultraman Mebius* series, there is a monster called Dinozaur who uses Gigan's roar.
* Gigan's design is similar to that of the *Ultraman* monster, Dorako.
* Gigan is referenced in the game *Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity*. His name appears in two racing tracks, Gigan Rocks and Gigan Device.
* Gigan's ability to fire off shurikens in *Godzilla: Final Wars* is very similar to Guiron's secondary attack, where he can fire four shurikens from indents in the side of his head.
* In *Godzilla: Rulers of Earth*, Gigan appears in his Showa design in Issue #1 and is later upgraded to his Millennium design in Issue #5.
* The *Ultraman Ace* choju, Chameleking, has a saw in his stomach like Gigan, but it is never used in combat.

## List of appearances

### Films

* *Godzilla vs. Gigan* (First appearance)
* *Godzilla vs. Megalon*
* *Godzilla: Final Wars*

### Television series

* *Zone Fighter* (Episode 11: *In the Twinkling of an Eye: The Roar of Godzilla!*)
* *Adventure! Godzilland* (Animated segments)
* *Recommend! Godzilland*
* *Godzilla Island*

### Video games

* *Godzilla: Monster of Monsters*
* *Godzilla, King of the Monsters*
* *Battle Soccer: Champion of the Field*
* *Godzilla*(Arcade)
* *Godzilla: Monster War*
* *Godzilla: Giant Monster March*
* *Godzilla: Archipelago Shock*
* *Godzilla: Battle Legends*
* *Godzilla: Heart-Pounding Monster Island!!*
* *Godzilla Movie Studio Tour*
* *Godzilla: Trading Battle*
* *Godzilla Generations*
* *Godzilla: Domination!* (Scrapped)
* *Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee*
* *Godzilla: Save the Earth*
* *CR Godzilla 3S-T Battle*
* *Godzilla: Unleashed* (Wii and PlayStation 2)
* *Godzilla Unleashed: Double Smash*
* *CR Godzilla: Descent of the Destruction God*
* *Godzilla On Monster Island*
* *Godzilla*(2014 video game)
* *Godzilla: Kaiju Collection*

### Comics

* *Godzilla vs. Megalon*(comic adaptation)
* *Godzilla, King of the Monsters*(Kodansya)
* *Godzilla: Legends*
* *Godzilla: The Half-Century War*
* *Godzilla: Ongoing*
* *Godzilla: Rulers of Earth*
* *Godzilla: Rage Across Time*