Gamera: Mutating or still growing?

[Darkness]

After recently rewatching the Gamera Trilogy, something occurred to me. In Gamera Guardian of the Universe, Gamera has a much more friendly appearance, yet by Gamera 3, he looks intimidating as hell. Gamera 2 is a bit of a mix. Anywho, my question here is that do you think something may have influenced Gamera's drastic physical changes over the years? Possibly the consumption of mana? Or maybe his body just naturally changed over time? Or there's the whole "They just wanted to make a new suit" explanation, but that's not very creative. Anyone else have any thoughts?

[HayesAJones]

The change of his physical appearance mirrors that of his personality. The darker and more destructive he became in his quest to wipe out the Gyaos, the darker and more intimidating he looked. It was probably an artistic choice by the filmmakers.

[Darkness]

The change of his physical appearance mirrors that of his personality. The darker and more destructive he became in his quest to wipe out the Gyaos, the darker and more intimidating he looked. It was probably an artistic choice by the filmmakers.

I figured that may be the case also. He seemed to become less caring for human life by the time the third film came around.

[Legionmaster]

The change of his physical appearance mirrors that of his personality. The darker and more destructive he became in his quest to wipe out the Gyaos, the darker and more intimidating he looked. It was probably an artistic choice by the filmmakers.

Not only Shelly's personality, but the overall tone of the films. They grow progressively darker, and the suit change mirrors that. Also look at how the Gyaos design changes between G1 and G3 too. The Hyper Gyaos are almost black, and much more menacing than the Super Gyaos. Irys, as a Gyaos evolution, is par more manipulative and vampiric than the Gyaos ever were. Legion functions as a midpoint, a terrible destructive power that is focused on one goal: survival. It nukes a city.

[HayesAJones]

The change of his physical appearance mirrors that of his personality. The darker and more destructive he became in his quest to wipe out the Gyaos, the darker and more intimidating he looked. It was probably an artistic choice by the filmmakers.

Not only Shelly's personality, but the overall tone of the films. They grow progressively darker, and the suit change mirrors that. Also look at how the Gyaos design changes between G1 and G3 too. The Hyper Gyaos are almost black, and much more menacing than the Super Gyaos. Irys, as a Gyaos evolution, is par more manipulative and vampiric than the Gyaos ever were. Legion functions as a midpoint, a terrible destructive power that is focused on one goal: survival. It nukes a city.

You're right. Not only does Gamera change, but so does everything around him. So why does he looks so much more intimidating as the series progressed? To match the evolving attitude of the films he was in.

[GotengoXGodzilla]

I think that there is a definite reason for why the suits change over time. And I agree with LGM, that the tone of the film is one of the main contributing factors. Gamera 1 wasn't all in our faces about the tone of the film, and seemed more like a throwback to the Showa films (with a bigger budget and more advanced special effects). Gamera 3, however, was very dark and serious about its tone, and Gamera's appearance reflected that perfectly. Gamera 2 was somewhere in between all of that.

[Showa Gyaos]

The change of his physical appearance mirrors that of his personality. The darker and more destructive he became in his quest to wipe out the Gyaos, the darker and more intimidating he looked. It was a poor choice by the filmmakers.

Fixed.

Regardless, I must agree with the statement I just quoted. However, I feel that it was not necessary.

[KaijuSapian]

It's like his body was adapting to destroy the Gyaos.

I think that could serve as an explanation. I mean both Gyaos and Gamera were created to be creatures which could constantly change and adapt, so I'd say it's possible this may be what happened to Gamera. After he defeated Legion, he spent three years fighting newly bred, and more powerful Gyaos all around the globe, and in G3 he was shown defeating those Hyper Gyaos with much less effort than when he defeated Super Gyaos. It seems he adapted to be a much competent fighting force.

[miguelnuva]

Gamera started at low power by Gamera 3 he's at his full power.

[TitanoGoji16]

By G3 he could fire three fireballs in a row when in G1 he had to struggle to fire one

He shot off three fireballs while chasing Gyaos at the end of GOTU.

[Primevalgodzilla V2]

Gamera simply grew stronger and more experienced over time. Also, after Gamera defeated such a colossal juggernaut like Legion, simply meant that went the Gyaos returned there was no way they'd be a reasonable threat anymore.

[HayesAJones]

I always took it as adaptation, like how the Gyaos were constantly changing. Much less drastic of course, but still. They were made by the same civilization after all.

So, yeah, I guess that would be mutation. Guided mutation, I guess.

[therealmccoy]

I think a better term might be "evolution". Maybe. Mutation and growing are a set thing; of course it's not consistent, but if it's a question of specifically growing or mutating, it doesn't guarantee that he will grow or mutate properly to be able to handle the Gyaos. So I think the better word would be that he evolves.

[therealmccoy]

That's one fast evolution.

Well, from 1995-1999 is four years, which is plenty of time to evolve for a growing turtle.

And G3 is my favorite design too.

[therealmccoy]

Nobody pulls off the giant monster mowhawk like G3. Nobody.

[HayesAJones]

Gigan and Titanosaurus are top contenders as well.

Man, there are a lot of monsters with mohawks!

[Shadow]

I love his design in G3, but not sure how he got to what he is.

[TitanoGoji16]

I prefer the G2 design best. It's not as "EXTREME!" as Gamera '99 but it's not as friendly-looking as Gamera '95. It's a nice medium.

[kaijukurt]

So....a bigger mohawk with age? Awesome.

[TokyoVigilante]

I enjoy the G3 look in the context of the story; but as a "go to" design, it's so drastically out of character it is silly. G2 is the ultimate look for the character, IMHO. It always seemed to me that he had reached full maturity by G2, but his disconnection from Asagi/manipulation of mana caused the mutation.