Kaijū Menagerie

NAME:
Gyaos (ギャオス Gyaosu)

FIRST APPEARS IN:
Gamera vs. Gyaos, 1967

DESIGN FEATURES:
– triangular head
– tiny mouth (also triangular)
– wings
– hammerhead-esque eye placement

SKILLS AND QUIRKS:
– unable to turn head
– flying
– asexual self-reproduction (Heisei era)
– regeneration (Shōwa era)
– ultraviolet light allergy
– sonic mouth beam
– emits a fog to douse flames and block out the sun
– eating people

MONSTER SOUNDS:

Gyaos is Gamera’s most recognisable foe, if only because he/it has appeared in each era – Shōwa, Heisei and Millenium – albeit in different forms. With Gamera vs. Gyaos, Gyaos became Gamera’s second adversary and a worthy followup to Barugon. While certainly a more restrained kaijū in comparison to its predecessor, Gyaos nonetheless brings the goods.

Comparisons to Toho’s Rodan may be made, but the designs of the two Shōwa monsters are very different. Rodan has more of a classic pterodactyl look, whereas Gyaos, like many Gamera monsters of the period, is more squat and cartoonish. Cartoonish looks aside, the Shōwa era Gyaos is a vicious bastard, eating several humans throughout the film and nearly slicing Gamera’s arm off with its sonic beam.

Gyaos would be reinvented for Gamera’s excellent Heisei run starting with the first entry, Gamera: Guardian of the Universe (1995). The film begins with multiple Gyaos monsters and ends with a showdown between Gamera and a remaining Super Gyaos. Gyaos is altered somewhat in this updated version. The design essentials remain mostly the same, but Gyaos is rougher round the edges, exceptionally gnarlier and nastier. Gyaos would appear in flashbacks in the third Heisei film and is important to the overall story. The last time Gyaos was seen on the big screen was a cameo appearance in the sole Millennium era effort Gamera the Brave (2006).

The Heisei films are the best the Gamera series has to offer, but I prefer Gyaos in his original Shōwa form. Despite Gamera vs. Gyaos being lampooned in Mystery Science Theater 3000 (along with practically every other Gamera film), the film is solid kaijū fun, and this is mostly because of Gyaos. The failed plans the humans employ to dispatch Gyaos are rather hilarious. (It’s especially funny that every single plan is suggested to them by a child.) In one particularly amazing moment, a vat of synthetic blood to attract the human-hungry Gyaos is placed on top of a building. When he lands and begins to slurp down the goods, the top of the building starts to rotate in a mad attempt to make him dizzy.

But of course, only Gamera has the skills to do away with Gyaos. While they don’t quite hold the weight of Godzilla going up against archenemies like King Ghidorah and Mechagodzilla, Gamera’s battles with Gyaos in both Shōwa and Heisei films are incredibly enjoyable. Oh and Gyaos can also grow body parts back.