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| Gamera (1980) | |
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| Subtitle | Space Monster (宇宙怪獣 Uchū Kaijū?) Super Monster |
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| Height | 60 meters[1] |
| Weight | 80 metric tons[1] |
| Controlled by | Virasians (Temporarily)GvV, Zanon (Temporarily)GSM |
| First appearance | Gamera: Super Monster |
| Latest appearance | Manga Boys Special Edition: Gamera |
| Allies | Children of Earth |
| Enemies | Barugon, Gyaos, Viras, Guiron, Jiger, Zigra, Zanon |
- For the suits used for filming, see UchuGame.
The Second Gamera (二代目ガメラ Nidaime Gamera?), or simply The Showa Gamera (昭和ガメラ Shōwa Gamera?), is a giant turtle kaiju who first appeared in the 1980 Daiei film, Gamera: Super Monster and later in the manga Manga Boys Special Edition: Gamera.
Gamera seemingly perished in 1980, when he flew into the spaceship of the evil space criminal Zanon, sacrificing his life to save Earth from Zanon's villainy. However, he was artificially revived and reborn with a new form.
Name[]
Gamera's name comes from the Japanese word kame (カメ?), meaning "turtle," and ra (ラ?), a common suffix in kaiju names. The "k-" sound may have been changed to "g-" in order to prevent his name from sounding like "camera."
Appearance[]
- Main article: UchuGame
Gamera is a giant turtle with dark green skin. Gamera sometimes walks on all fours like a real turtle but prefers to walk upright on his hind legs like a human. Gamera uses his forelimbs like human arms, and possesses five opposable digits on each hand. Gamera has a large rounded head with a pointed snout. Unlike real modern-day turtles, Gamera's mouth is full of teeth, along with two large tusks on his lower jaw that protrude upward from his mouth. Gamera has large, gentle-looking eyes that are usually white or yellow in color, which sometimes glows. Gamera's torso is surrounded by a large, round shell. The underbelly of Gamera's shell is flat with a brick-like texture, while its back is dome-shaped with ridges and spikes. Gamera has a long and thick tail that he drags on the ground behind him.
Personality[]
This incarnation of Gamera is even more heroic than the Showa Gamera, as he only attacked humanity temporarily due to the mind-controlling by Zanon.
Origins[]
History[]
Gamera: Super Monster[]
Gamera in Gamera: Super Monster
As the intergalactic criminal Zanon approached Earth with his powerful spaceship, a young boy on Earth purchased a pet turtle from a local pet store. Believing the turtle would be happier in the wild, the boy let his turtle go into the ocean. Miraculously, the turtle transformed into Gamera and prepared to stop Zanon's plan. Zanon sent his agent Giruge to sabotage the Spacewomen's attempts to stop him, while deploying an army of mind-controlled monsters to kill Gamera. Gamera took on and defeated Zanon's monsters: Gyaos, Zigra, Viras, Jiger, Guiron and Barugon, while Giruge betrayed Zanon and sacrificed herself to stop him. Gamera then flew into space and collided with Zanon's ship, sacrificing himself to destroy it.
Abilities[]
Flight[]
Gamera in flight
Gamera's most unique ability is his capacity to fly. Gamera retracts his head, limbs and tail into his shell, then jets of flame shoot out of its arm and leg holes. Gamera begins to spin rapidly, then takes flight. While flying, Gamera, can extend his head and arms and fly in a straight line without spinning. Gamera's maximum flight speed is Mach 3, and he is able to fly both within Earth's atmosphere and in the vacuum of space. While spinning, Gamera can remain low to the ground and spin into an enemy as a method of attack.
Thermal energy[]
Gamera breathes fire at Zigra.
Gamera feeds on fire, electricity, lava, coal, oil, and nuclear material, all of which contribute to his ability to generate thermal energy, which he uses to sustain his bodily functions, propel himself into the air, or spit a stream of fire from his mouth. He is also able to draw energy from Barugon's Rainbow Death Ray. Gamera stores liquid fuel that he consumes such as petroleum in an organ called the Oil Bag (石油袋 Sekiyu-bukuro?). Solid materials that Gamera eats such as coal are stored in his Coal Bag (石炭袋 Sekitan-bukuro?) before being sent to his High Temperature Furnace (高熱炉 Kōnetsu-ro?), in which any forms of fuel Gamera ingests including petroleum, coal, fire, magma, missiles, and uranium are gathered and burned. After this, the burned materials are sent to Gamera's Thermal Energy Conversion Intestine (熱エネルギー変換腸 Netsu Enerugī Henkan Chō?), which as its name suggests converts them into thermal energy. This energy powers Gamera's Heat Energy Heart (熱エネルギー心臓 Netsu Enerugī Shinzō?), which works the same way as other creatures' hearts but due to being powered by thermal energy it possesses extraordinary power.
Physical strength[]
Thanks to his High Fever Muscles (高熱筋肉 Kōnetsu Kin'niku?), Gamera possesses muscular strength 10,000 times greater than that of a human. In addition, his muscles can withstand higher temperatures better than any conventional metal and are extremely durable. Gamera's immense strength allows him to overpower his enemies in physical combat and lift, throw, or drag them.
Durability[]
Due to his incredibly dense body tissues, Gamera is immune to all conventional weaponry, while his shell protects him from most attacks from other monsters. However, the underbelly of his shell is not as resilient, and can be penetrated by enemy attacks, such as the pointed tip of Viras' head. Guiron was able to penetrate the top of Gamera's shell by repeatedly stabbing the same spot with his head. Gamera is also resistant to extreme heat, and can submerge himself in molten magma without sustaining any injury. Gamera also possesses a healing factor, which allows him to survive his first encounters with opponents then return to fight them again. When seriously injured, Gamera can enter a brief state of hibernation, which will allow him to almost completely heal all of his major injuries in a short period of time. Gamera is unharmed by Barugon's Rainbow Death Ray, and even feeds on its energy.
Amphibiousness[]
Gamera is able to breathe underwater and on land. While underwater, Gamera can swim at a speed of 50 knots. He also demonstrates the ability to breathe in a vacuum for an extended period of time, shown in the instances where he flies through space.
Intelligence[]
Gamera is very intelligent for a kaiju, let alone a reptile. He often prefers to retreat after his first encounter with an enemy where he learns its strengths and weaknesses, then return with a specific strategy in mind to defeat it. Gamera responds to human speech, particularly distress calls from children. In Gamera vs. Guiron, Gamera is able to repair a spaceship by welding it back together with his fire breath.
Weaknesses[]
Gamera's greatest weakness is to cold. Gamera was temporarily immobilized in his debut film when he was bombarded by the JSDF's special cadmium freezing bombs. The monster Barugon froze Gamera solid for several hours with the chilling liquid it sprayed from its tongue. The underbelly of Gamera's shell is also susceptible to attack. In Gamera vs. Jiger, Gamera was rendered completely comatose when Jiger infected him with her parasitic offspring. Some enemies have exploited Gamera's allegiance to children to gain leverage against him or lure him into a trap by kidnapping or threatening children.
Filmography[]
- Gamera vs. Barugon (1966)
- Gamera vs. Gyaos (1967)
- Gamera vs. Viras (1968)
- Gamera vs. Guiron (1969)
- Gamera vs. Jiger (1970)
- Gamera vs. Zigra (1971)
- Gamera: Super Monster (1980)
Trivia[]
- According to Gamera.jp, the Showa Gamera's favorite foods are oil, coal, high voltage electricity, missiles, and nuclear power. His least favorite foods are carrots and onions.[1]
References[]
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