Monster Discussion #32: Gigan (Showa)

[Godzillian]

tfw Gigan's laser was never used in the film

[edgaguirus]

It's useful information despite the varying details. I'd known about the forehead laser for years, but wasn't aware they intended him to have a heat beam. The Gigan we could have gotten would have been armed to the teeth.

[Ligerzilla2014]

Wow, just knocked Gigan into my top 5 Kaiju. I'm a bit disappointed that they backed out on the third-eye bit as I think that would have given Gigan a very cool mystical touch to complement his overarching alien feel.

[Killswitch]

I loved the cutaways, but I thought it was overkill regarding the weapons. I've been slowly working on a Godzilla vs Megalon reboot, and you get to see the Gigan species transformed into cyborgs. I have my own vision of what the creature looked like before all the mods, but I wish Toho would release a "before" picture.

[DrBreakfastMachine]

Gigan, Mechagodzilla and Ghidorah are probably my three favorite monsters from the whole series.

Gigan in particular is awesome because of his unique design, interesting and unpredictable array of weapons, and memorable personality. Ken Satsuma really went above and beyond in his performance. The way he just shows up on Earth whenever there's a good fight to be had, teases and taunts his opponents, tries and fails to outwit them, then retreats and leaves his allies behind every time makes him one of the most well-developed and interesting kaiju out there.

Final Wars Gigan is awful though. They took an awesome creation and made him into a dull, robotic goon for Godzilla and Mothra to beat up just like every other dull, robotic goon in that movie. No personality, no presence, and a really lame redesign that makes him look like soemthing H. R. Giger vomited onto a coloring book page in elementary school.

[Killswitch]

Final Wars Gigan is awful, just like the entire film. Toho has their own style of Sci-Fi, the 60's Showa style was very unique. I saw no need to add Matrix & Alien elements into the film. Its a pile of sh*t IMO.

Gigan was a robotic goon. There was no organic feel to him. Toho certainly missed the boat.

[Beef Bigshot]

Final Wars Gigan is awful, just like the entire film. Toho has their own style of Sci-Fi, the 60's Showa style was very unique. I saw no need to add Matrix & Alien elements into the film. Its a pile of sh*t IMO.

Gigan was a robotic goon. There was no organic feel to him. Toho certainly missed the boat.

the lack of observational skill, it hurts!

[Bonekil]

Love gigan. He's my favorite monster besides godzilla. And he's an alien cyborg, if anyone knows

[Dr. Professor]

Welcome to the forums, Bonekil! Gigan is a pretty kick ass (and kind of creepy) villain. Except in Godzilla vs. Megalon. They really toned down his creepyness in that film.

[Dust_pan]

Gigan is a unique and memorable kaiju in all three of his appearances. But I personally thought he was best in GvM. His personality was at its funnest in that film, like a jackass punk or bully. And he and Megalon had great chemistry together.

[Irys X]

Never heard any monster relationship described as "having chemistry," but I like it.

[edgaguirus]

They made the perfect pair. They both have unique arms.

[Killswitch]

Final Wars Gigan is awful, just like the entire film. Toho has their own style of Sci-Fi, the 60's Showa style was very unique. I saw no need to add Matrix & Alien elements into the film. Its a pile of sh*t IMO.

Gigan was a robotic goon. There was no organic feel to him. Toho certainly missed the boat.

Uh...did you miss the part where he's a cyborg?

Final Wars Gigan didn't look, act or move like a cyborg. He lacked that organic element that makes a cyborg a cyborg.

[Godzillian]

Did anyone else like the idea of Gigan having one arm that was a mace or ball and chain? I thought it was a pretty cool idea and would've made him super unique.

[edgaguirus]

A chain and mace arm would have been interesting, but the hammer claws worked just fine.

[Bonekil]

I just love the way gigan looks, and what he does. The final wars version sucked in my opinion, and in godzilla vs. gigan at first, pretty much beat the crap out of him, like when he made godzilla bleed from the shoulder and how he pounded his forhead with his hooks. And also sliced anguirus' face, though he was an idiot doing that. Overall, I just love how he's ruthless and cool at the same time.

[Just Plain Dan]

Where it's this version or the FW version, one phrase sums up Gigan for me: What's not to love?

[skuzzy-punk-kid]

Welcome to the forums, Bonekil! Gigan is a pretty kick ass (and kind of creepy) villain. Except in Godzilla vs. Megalon. They really toned down his creepyness in that film.

I noticed a change in proportions in Gigan in Godzilla vs. Megalon. Gigan's neck seemed longer in Godzilla vs. Gigan, whereas in the follow-up movie his neck seemed slightly shorter, thinner, and his head seemed bigger. His cyclopic eye in the second movie seemed to droop down and away whereas in his first movie, his eye swept away and up; giving him a more angry expression.

Body-wise, GvM Gigan seemed to have a longer and stiffer torso than GvG Gigan. There might be a few more discrepancies, but these are the few I was readily able to spot.

[Lain Of The Wired]

I remember somewhere actually explaining what that weird flash coming from Gigan's forehead was after he was smacked in the head with that boulder... anyone have a link?

[Gothicserpent]

My favorite Godzilla villain. He's full of personality and was a formidable opponent for the King of The Monsters in his two appearances.

I just have to wonder, where does the machinery begin and the organics end?