Monster Discussion #32: Gigan (Showa)

[hammysammy59]

Despite the limitations Fukuda had to work around, I feel like Showa Gigan was pulled off fabulously. He looks great, he's incredibly strange and orignal, and he has one of the most developed personalities out of Toho's entire monster stable. And no lie, he creeped me out when I was little.

As an adult though, he totally looks like a hilarious chicken-fish-cyborg from outer space. Which really just makes him even more fun and iconic. Whenever I'd play as Gigan in Destroy All Monsters Melee at home, my sister would start making chicken noises which eventually sort of morphed into an unofficial theme song for Gigan consisting of chicken noises. Good times.

[Shadow]

One of my personal favorites, great design but poorly excuted in the movies he was in, like SpaceGodzilla. I love being Gigan in Save The Earth and GU because he's really fun.

[edgaguirus]

Whenever I'd play as Gigan in Destroy All Monsters Melee at home, my sister would start making chicken noises which eventually sort of morphed into an unofficial theme song for Gigan consisting of chicken noises. Good times.

The chicken dance would go well with that.

[Destroyer]

Ah, Gigan. My personal favorite. This guy is like the mass murderer of the Godzilla world, he seems to really enjoy making the monsters bleed. This monster is just insane, and you gotta love the design. TOHO should have used him more. I like the Final Wars design, not comparable to the classic look, but still cool. I nicknamed him the 'cyborg chicken from outer space.'

[Biogoji89]

Pretty cool looking.One of my favorite Showa characters.Though the 1973 suit wasn't as good but still cool.

[Living Corpse]

Gigan is pretty cool. Hell he even get's the best death in Zone Fighter.

[Chris55]

Gigan is pretty cool. Hell he even get's the best death in Zone Fighter.

I never saw that

[Living Corpse]

Here you go.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xc8mgc ... shortfilms

[Destroyer]

Here you go.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xc8mgc ... shortfilms

Such a fun fight.

[Shadow]

Here you go.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xc8mgc ... shortfilms

Put up one hell of a fight though, never saw a Zone Fighter episode till now.

[Living Corpse]

Put up a hell of a fight indeed. Zone Fighter and the monsters he fight are just as heavy as Heisei monsters and yet Godzilla, Gigan and King Ghidorah are able to throw them around and pick them up despite being much lighter.

In short, Showa Gigan, Showa Godzilla and Showa King Ghidorah are much stronger physically then they look. I don't think we saw the limit they can bench press, maybe pretty close to their limit but never their actual limit.

[zilla103192]

I mentioned this on the FB page, thought I'd bump this thread to say it here too.

Anyone think it would be possible for Gigan to of been a Ghidorah before his cyborgification?

I mean, the gold scales, and the fins look awfully similar to chopped Ghidorah wings too.

I think the thought of the aliens taking either a dead Ghidorah, or even over powering a live one and converting him into Gigan is a pretty cool idea.

Or maybe, they took the body of Ghidorah from DAM and built him into Gigan and transported it back in time or something...

[Goji]

Japanese sources explain that Gigan could have been "manufactured" using parts of dinosaurs, though the King Ghidorah theory is just that; a theory. A cool thought, regardless.

[ghidorasauras]

gigan's kickass. Although he looks a little fat...

[Rody]

1972 Gigan does look a little baggy in the belly, but I wouldn't call him fat.

1973 Gigan looks like his main body is a couple of sizes too large.

[Godzillaprime05]

I always thought he was kinda mysterious considering other then the roaches controlling him, nothing else about his background is given.

[kaiju115]

In truth I actually like the Showa Gigan more the millennium version, I also really like the Uchusen art design, being sort of cross between the Showa and Millennium version. I think it would be awesome to Gigan like this in future Godzilla movies.

[Wrinkledlion X]

Gigan is best monster. I love him because he's basically the biggest asshole in the kaiju world. He's not a terrifying god of destruction like Ghidorah, or a grotesque abomination like Hedorah—he's just a bully, and one with an inexplicably flamboyant design.

I had a picture book called "Who's Afraid of Godzilla?" when I was younger, and it featured Megalon and Gigan as the resident bullies of Monster Island, which is a role that suits them beautifully. I've always thought that Godzilla could use a decent cartoon series, and I think Gigan and Megalon would make a great recurring pair of villains. Gigan would be fast, clever, and a bit of a coward, while Megalon would be dumb muscle, lost without Gigan. (I imagine Gigan would probably abandon him pretty frequently.)

I love the look of Gigan in Final War, but it is a little much... I wouldn't want him that ornate in subsequent movies. They captured his personality pretty well, though, even if his battles were too short—but I guess that problem plagued every monster in the movie.

[kaiju115]

I used to have that book along with Godzilla vs Gigan and the Smog Monster, Good Old Days.

[Rody]

I still have it. Great artwork by Bob Eggleton.