Gigan


Gigan is a kaiju from Toho's Godzilla franchise who first appeared in Godzilla vs. Gigan. Gigan is a space monster resembling a species of reptile who turned into a cyborg by the nebulans, Gigan is sporting a huge buzzsaw in its frontal abdominal region and large metallic hooks for hands. Gigan is considered one of Godzilla's most brutal and violent opponents, and the first kaiju in the Toho sci-fi series to make him bleed. Complex listed the character as No. 2 on its "The 15 Most Badass Kaiju Monsters of All Time" list.

Overview

Gigan debuts in the 1972 film Godzilla vs. Gigan, in which Gigan and King Ghidorah are summoned to Earth by the antagonist M Space Hunter Nebula aliens, insect-like aliens who had their kind’s planet ravaged by pollution from another race, who wish to subjugate the Earth in order to create a utopia of "perfect peace". They are challenged and ultimately defeated by Godzilla and Anguirus. In the 1973 film, Godzilla vs. Megalon, Gigan is again sent by the Nebulans to assist the people of Seatopia in their assault on humanity by aiding their god, Megalon, in a battle against Godzilla and Jet Jaguar. After receiving a broken arm at the hands of Jet Jaguar, Gigan retreats into space, leaving Megalon to face Godzilla and Jet Jaguar alone. Gigan then makes an appearance on Toho's television series Zone Fighter in the same year. After his battle with Godzilla and Jet Jaguar, Gigan is captured in space by the Garogan army and sent back to Earth to prevent Godzilla from rescuing Zone Fighter, but he is soundly defeated by him. Left for dead, Godzilla leaves, believing that he is victorious, but Gigan revives shortly afterwards and battles Zone Fighter himself. In the final battle, Gigan is finally killed by Zone Fighter.
After a 31-year absence, he returned in . In this film, Gigan once fought Mothra for the fate of the Earth and ultimately was defeated. Later, his mummified body is discovered in Hokkaido and revealed to be a weapon used by the Xiliens. Gigan awakes and then creates havoc and destruction in Japan, but is sent to destroy the Gotengo in hopes of it not awakening Godzilla, but fails. Gigan does manage to bring down the Gotengo, however, and then faces off against Godzilla, but fails again. During the battle between Godzilla and Monster X at the end of the film, Mothra tries to assist Godzilla, but is intercepted by a revived Gigan. The two engage in combat and, after briefly interrupting Godzilla and Monster X's battle, Gigan seemingly kills Mothra by firing his optic laser into her scales. Gigan turns around to aid Monster X against Godzilla, but he is decapitated by his own razor disks, and finally defeated by Mothra, her body ablaze. Mothra slammed into Gigan's headless form, and both exploded.
Gigan returned again in GODZILLA: Project MechaGodzilla, for the first time as a protagonist. Gigan was a monster captured and modified by the Bilosoludo. It was then sent to fight Godzilla, and was damaged. It was repaired with nanometal, allowing it to regenerate damage. After more fights with Godzilla, Gigan was eventually fully replaced with nanometal. Upon realizing that Gigan was regenerating, Godzilla used its atomic heat beam to completely annihilate Gigan.

Development

Created during the early 1970s, when the Godzilla films had undergone a comic book-like shift both in tone and special effects and were now purely science fiction fare, budgets were greatly reduced, so Gigan was designed as both a marketing ploy for children's toys and as a completely alien creature whose design would not have necessitated the same attention to detail needed for Godzilla's previously more earthly opponents.
The character was first conceived by Kaoru Mabuchi in his script Godzilla vs. the Space Monsters - Earth Defense Directive, which contained elements that would later be incorporated into Godzilla vs. Gigan, including having a mind-controlled Gigan being teamed up with King Ghidorah, though the script also included Megalon, and the mastermind behind the space monsters' actions was a living brain called Miko.
The first Gigan suit was designed by illustrator Takayoshi Mizuki, modeled by suitmaker Noboyuki Yasamaru, and was worn by Kenpachiro Satsuma, who had starred as Hedorah's suit actor in Godzilla vs. Hedorah the year previously. The two initially did not get on well during filming, as Yasamaru focused more on the suit's appearance than on its practicality, at one point making the character's hand-hooks out of pure fiberglass, making lifting them almost impossible. In portraying Gigan, Satsuma deliberately emphasized the character's destructive personality. For Gigan's appearance in Zone Fighter, Satsuma did not reprise the role. Special effects director Teruyoshi Nakano had initially wanted to give Gigan the ability to fire a laser beam from its forehead in homage to Buddhist art depicting the Buddha sporting a halo around his head, but the idea was scrapped, as Nakano felt that the character was already powerful enough. The beam was nevertheless included in some promotional stills, along with various Godzilla video games.
In January 2019, director of the 2019 film , Michael Dougherty expressed his interest in bringing back both Gigan and Biollante in future sequels of Legendary's MonsterVerse as he was quoted as saying "I wanted to do it, but if I had the opportunity to do it again, I would have Biollante. Oh, and Gigan!".

Characteristics

Gigan, as a cyborg, possesses a circular saw in his abdomen and razor-sharp hooked blades in place of hands, which the monster uses to both batter and stab his opponents. According to Zone Fighter, the tips of the hooks can also release an explosive charge on contact with an enemy. In addition, Godzilla Island and Godzilla: Final Wars also give Gigan an optically-mounted laser and the Godzilla: Final Wars version of his eye laser was named Giganume Cluster in . He was also equipped with jetpacks and grappling hooks. The Pipeworks trilogy gave Gigan the ability to teleport, as well. Godzilla: Final Wars also introduced Gigan's ability to shoot boomerang circular saw blades which were named Blooded Slicer in Godzilla: The Game. However, his shuriken boomerang effect turned out to be a double-edged sword, as they unintentionally ended up killing him in the climax of the film. When Gigan was modified in Godzilla: Final Wars, his hooks were replaced with two-pronged chainsaws, along with his head and neck being altered.

Appearances

Films