Avant Gamera

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Gamera Incarnations
Gamera (Heisei Trilogy)
Avant Gamera
Toto
Avant Gamera
Avant Gamera in Gamera the Brave
Species Giant turtle
Height 35 meters[1]
Length 55 meters[1]
Weight 1,200 metric tons[1]
Relations Toto (reincarnation)
Enemies Original Gyaos
Played by Toshinori Sasaki
First appearance Gamera the Brave

Avant Gamera (アヴァンガメラ,   Avan Gamera) is a giant turtle kaiju that appeared in the 2006 Kadokawa film, Gamera the Brave.

A huge turtle, Gamera suddenly appeared in the fishing village of Shima in 1973 to save its inhabitants from a flock of man-eating bat-like creatures called Gyaos. Gamera found himself outnumbered and outmatched and was forced to self-destruct in order to eliminate the Gyaos and defend the village. Despite seemingly sacrificing his own life, Gamera actually expelled his energy and allowed himself to be reincarnated through an egg 33 years later. When the reincarnation of Gamera hatched, he was raised by a young boy named Toru Aizawa, who named him "Toto."

Name

To distinguish this version of Gamera from his reincarnation, he is designated "Avant Gamera," referring to his status as the "original" Gamera.

Design

Avant Gamera possesses light brown skin, in stark contrast to the greenish-blue skin of previous incarnations of the character. Gamera's head is relatively large, as are his eyes which are green. Gamera's teeth are very small, save for the two gigantic tusks on his lower jaw. These tusks jut out noticeably from Gamera's mouth. Avant Gamera has a noticeable overbite, with his lower jaw not extending forward very far. His arms and legs are covered in spikes, while his hands and feet each possess five digits with long claws. Gamera's shell is composed of ridged plates which extend partially beyond the width of his body.

Personality

Avant Gamera is a benevolent creature, who selflessly intervened to defend citizens of Shima village from a Gyaos attack, even going so far as to sacrifice his own life to stop the monsters.

Origins

Avant Gamera's origins are shrouded in mystery, as he simply appeared in 1973 with no prior sightings and promptly disappeared after self-destructing. He is noted to resemble a gigantic turtle, but the specifics of what kind of creature he is remain a mystery.

History

Gamera the Brave

Avant Gamera in Gamera the Brave

In 1973, the Japanese fishing village of Shima came under attack by a flock of four giant man-eating winged creatures called Gyaos. The inhabitants tried fleeing to safety, and it looked as if their village would be destroyed by the creatures. However, Gamera suddenly appeared from the nearby forest and killed one of the Gyaos with a fireball. The remaining three promptly attacked Gamera, striking him with their supersonic scalpel and knocking him to the ground. The Gyaos set upon the downed Gamera, biting and tearing off his flesh. Gamera began to glow bright red and generate intense heat. Just as the Gyaos realized what was about to happen, Gamera self-destructed, killing himself and all three Gyaos in a fiery explosion. However, Gamera's sacrifice had saved Shima, and the villagers rejoiced.

Following Gamera's sacrifice, strange red pearls were discovered around the village, which became a popular tourist item and helped boost Shima's local economy and put it on the map. Since many believed the pearls were connected to Gamera somehow, it was believed he had saved Shima in more ways than one. The Japanese government formed a task force for the investigation of monsters in the wake of Gamera's battle with Gyaos, and began gathering these pearls over the ensuing decades. By 2006, the monster task force was on the verge of being shut down due to a lack of any monster activity since 1973. However, Toru Aizawa, the son of a man who had actually witnessed Gamera's battle with Gyaos as a boy, discovered a turtle egg atop a mysterious red rock on a small island near Shima. Toru raised the turtle which hatched from the egg, naming it Toto. As the turtle grew rapidly and demonstrated unusual abilities such as flight and the ability to breathe fire, it became clear that Toto was actually the reincarnation of Gamera. Toto defended Shima from Zedus, a sea monster mutated by feeding on corpses of Gyaos, but was seriously injured in the battle. The government captured Toto and infused him with the energy extracted from the pearls the original Gamera had left behind, helping him grow larger and fight Zedus in a second battle in Nagoya. Toto finally triumphed over Zedus after absorbing the stone on which his egg had been found, and the new Gamera flew off over the horizon.

Abilities

Fireball Ejection

Avant Gamera can spit fireballs, which are highly incendiary and deadly toward other monsters. This ability, known as Fireball Ejection (火球噴射), was utilized to kill one Gyaos during Gamera's 1973 battle against the creatures.

Fireball Ejection Suicide

File:Fireball Ejection Suicide.gif
Gamera uses Fireball Ejection Suicide to eliminate the Gyaos.

When overwhelmed in combat and left with no other option, Gamera can call upon an ability known as Fireball Ejection Suicide (火球噴射自爆). Gamera overloads his internal furnace with fireballs until he begins to glow bright red and finally explodes, destroying everything in close proximity. Gamera used Fireball Ejection Suicide when overwhelmed by a flock of Gyaos, successfully destroying all three of them along with himself.

Reincarnation

Toto, the reincarnation of Gamera, hatches from his egg.

Fireball Ejection Suicide is not the end of Gamera's life however, as in the act of exploding he releases his internal energy which is then collected in numerous red pearls. After 33 years, Gamera was reincarnated through an egg which appeared atop an ornate red stone. This egg hatched into a turtle which was named "Toto" and raised by Toru Aizawa, and quickly grew into Gamera. Toto's growth was not complete until he had reabsorbed all of the energy Avant Gamera had released, which was accomplished by a transfusion of energy extracted from the red pearls followed by Toto consuming the rock on which his egg was found.

Comics

Gamera 2006: Hard Link

Avant Gamera in Gamera 2006: Hard Link

In the tie-in manga for Gamera the Brave, Avant Gamera's battle against the Gyaos in 1973 is gone more into detail within the "Special Link" chapter.

After arriving to defend the village of Shima, Gamera was attacked by four Gyaos' supersonic scalpels. Gamera killed a first Gyaos with a point-blank fireball and then stomped on its head. The three remaining Gyaos kept firing at Gamera, but Gamera retracted into his shell and charged up a fireball which he launched at one of the Gyaos. Another Gyaos flew in and bit Gamera's arm, but Gamera threw it to the ground and killed it with a fireball. The two remaining Gyaos hovered about, and Gamera fired another fireball at them. From the smoke, one Gyaos flewtoward Gamera and unleashed a flurry of beams. Gamera punches it to the ground,but the Gyaos continued its onslaught of beams just as the other Gyaos flew toward Gamera. Gamera began spurting blood, and the two Gyaos feasted on Gamera's entrails. Gamera, acknowledging he had been defeated, triggered his Fireball Ejection Suicide, killing himself along with both Gyaos

Trivia

References

This is a list of references for Avant Gamera. These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: [1]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Gamera the Brave Super Complete Works. Shogakukan. 20 May 2006. p. 29. ISBN 4091051081.