Gigan (Godzilla Island)

**Gigan** is a minor antagonist turned supporting anti-hero in the 1995 Japanese series *Godzilla Island*.

An adaptation of the villainous cyborg alien from the *Godzilla* film series, this version is not a brutal sadist like the original, being a much more honorable take on the antagonist.

First appearing as an enforcer of the M. Space Hunter Nebula Aliens sent by them to fight Godzilla on the power-hungry Zagres' behalf, Gigan proved himself a great foe to the King of the Monsters and, after his defeat, would spend the remainder of his appearances in the series as an ally to Godzilla, while still longing for a rematch duel with him.

He appears as the main antagonist of the titular Story 5 and returns as a supporting ally in Story 12 and the deuteragonist of Story 16.

## What Makes Him Magnificent?

* Unlike his original version, who was extremely sadistic, underhanded and somewhat cowardly, this version is collected, dignified, honorable and a great opponent even in an honest fight, acting more like a martial artist than a brutal thug.
* He shares every bit of the Evil is Cool even his original counterpart had, being a giant cyborg Kaiju full of blades and lasers.
* He is a very powerful and skilled fighter thanks to both his mechanical enhancements and his sheer skill, being a collected martial artist who even meditates while training. It's to the point where even King Caesar advises the prideful Godzilla to not duel him, knowing from the start that Gigan is too strong.
* Upon meeting Godzilla, he first uses his scanners to take a picture of him, thus learning about his opponent before fighting him.
* He uses an arrow note to challenge Godzilla to a duel at sunrise. Come the duel, the two patiently await for the sun to come out, by which point Gigan shows some combat pragmatism by reflecting the sunshine on his claws to blind Godzilla and try to attack him. When Godzilla quickly regains his sight, Gigan and him go back to facing one another in a long, tense stand-off, until they finally charge at one another and Gigan is the victor, having slashes Godzilla. If Mothra and Rodan didn't come to the rescue, Gigan would've killed Godzilla right there and then.
	+ While the aforementioned scene of blinding Godzilla may look like underhandedness typical of the original Gigan, here it's a brief one instance rather than his modus operandi.
* During the duel, Zagres sends Battra to fight Godzilla alongside him, Gigan kills Battra to keep it a duel. By comparison, the original Gigan almost never fought on his own and was prone to cowardly fleeing once his comrade was defeated.
* He honorably allows Rodan to carry the defeated Godzilla away to heal.
* He finds the Hot Springs Godzilla is resting in with King Caesar and, instead of attacking them, just takes a warm bath himself, showing he won't attack people outside of established duels. He then challenges Godzilla to a second duel, one that he only loses because Godzilla trained so much he became able to defy physics by bending his beam by 180 degrees, something Gigan couldn't have seen coming.
* He faces his defeat with dignity, looking Godzilla, the victor, in the eyes and quietly and gracefully passing out.
* He comes to respect Godzilla as a worthy fighter to the point where he even allies himself with the King of the Monsters and even saves him from Megalon and Destroyah and helps him defeat and imprison them.
* He trains intensively to one day have an honorable rematch with Godzilla, while refusing to side with either the good guardians of Monster Island or the evil aliens longing to conquer it.
* He is tricked by Dororin, who shape-shifts into Godzilla and attacks him mid-meditation, but it's perfectly reasonable for him to fall for such a trick, especially if he didn't know shape-shifters like Dororin existed, and he later has the last laugh when he defeats the alien.
* Listens to M.O.G.U.E.R.A. and stops his misguided duel with Godzilla (in which no hit is even landing due to both fighters being too good) and helps in defeating Dororin, saving Godzilla's friends. He is even the one who strikes the killing blow to the shape-shifter.
* He leaves Monster Island for good on good terms, leaving one final message.
* While initially an enforcer for the M. Aliens, he is clearly doing his own thing, as proven by how his patient stand off with Godzilla irritates Zagres.
* He has some entertaining factors to his character, such as how much samurai-like he is or how he is a giant cyborg with blades for hands and built-in lasers, yet apparently can write notes on paper and then send it via arrow.
* Despite the sheer comedic tone of the show, he is a character who is treated as very dignified and a genuine threat all other characters fear, with very few comedic scenes.

## What Makes Him a Baddie?

* He starts out as an enforcer of the M. Space Hunter Nebula Aliens who, while in an honorable duel, attempts to kill Godzilla for the side of evil.
* Even as a redeemed ally, he can be ruthless towards him and Godzilla's shared enemies:
	+ He attacks Megalon, uses his lasers on a *fleeing* Destroyah and then him and Godzilla trap both in a cave by collapsing boulders over the entrance with their combined blasts.
	+ He defeats Dororin and, when his true form emerges and tries to flee, Gigan slices it to pieces.

## Trivia

* This is the only version of Gigan to be a Magnificent Baddie. This is especially surprising since the original, mainstream incarnation of the Kaiju is anything but, being a brutal sadist with a lot of Kick the Dog moments and even a cowardly streak, abandoning his allies when the going gets tough, with this version pretty much managing to qualify by being a *very* loose adaptation of the character, with some aspects of him being outright opposite to his portrayal in the original films.