Virian
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Attention Earthlings! We have Gamera under our control. Until you surrender, we'll order him to continue his attacks. If you've had enough of this destruction, surrender immediately! If you resist, we cannot guarantee the lives of the two boys on our spaceship.
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— A Virian (Gamera vs. Viras) |
The Virians (バイラス人 Bairasujin, lit. "Viras People") are a race of squid-like aliens from the Planet Viras who appeared in the 1968 Daiei Gamera film Gamera vs. Viras.
Name
The Virians' Japanese name, Bairasujin (バイラス人), literally translates to "Viras People." The translation "Virians" is used in Titan Productions' English dub for Gamera vs. Viras, though the unofficial name "Virasians" is also used among fans. Trading cards from the Gamera, Gappa, Guilala Special Effects Encyclopedia series instead give them the English name Alien Viras or Alien-Viras. The leader of the Virian expedition force, who remains undisguised aboard the Viras UFO, is known as the Boss (ボス Bosu).
Development
The Virian Boss was voiced by Genzo Wakayama, while Akira Natsuki, Chikara Hashimoto, Kenji Go, Ken Nakahara, and Kenichiro Yamane portrayed the five Virians disguised as humans.
Design
Most of the time, Virians appear under human disguises to blend into society. However, they can be told apart from other humans by the fact that their eyes glow a faint yellow when they are in darker areas, as this benefits their eyesight. When their disguises are lost, all Virians resemble smaller versions of their vanguard kaiju, Viras.
History
- Gamera vs. Viras (1968)
Showa era
Gamera vs. Viras
A race of aliens looking for new planets to conquer, the Virians set their sights on Earth, as its vast quantities of atmospheric nitrogen, an element essential to their survival, made it an ideal target. An initial expedition force of Virians were sent out aboard their spaceship, which was approaching Earth, being heard but not seen. Gamera attacked the spaceship and set it on fire. Before the ship exploded, the Virians managed to send a distress signal to their home planet, and a second expedition force of Virians traveled to Earth, intending to launch a full-scale invasion. All but one of the second expedition force changed into human disguises, and later took two boy scouts named Masao and Jim hostage after learning of Gamera's love for children. This allowed them to take control of Gamera through the use of their mind control device. With Gamera under their control, the Virians commanded him to attack the Okumusashi Dam, then continue on towards Tokyo.
While exploring the UFO, Masao and Jim discovered the Virian Boss, and were tricked by him into believing he was a friendly monster that the aliens had captured, though this was just a ploy to stop the humans from continuing to snoop around, as the Boss's comrades quickly arrived and apprehended them. As Gamera continued to lay waste to Tokyo, his controllers issued humanity an ultimatum; surrender, or their hostages would be killed. Though both Masao and Jim insisted that they would sacrifice themselves so that the JSDF could destroy the UFO and end the crisis, a message from the United Nations seemingly agreed to the Virians' ultimatum. However, Mr. Shimada, the boys' scoutmaster, suggested that the duo could make Gamera disobey the aliens by reversing the polarity of the Brainwave Control Device, and a new plan was in motion.
Believing that they had succeeded in the first phase of their invasion, the aliens began preparing for the next phase, in which humanity would be annihilated. Fortunately, a distraction by the two humans sent the crew away from the controls of the Brainwave Control Device, allowing them to reverse the polarity of the device's control panel, then escaped by using the Super Catch Ray to beam them back to the ground. Realising their captives had escaped, the Virians landed and attempted to have Gamera kill them, but Gamera refused to listen, and attacked the UFO instead. The Virians made their way to the Boss, who broadcasted a message to Planet Viras, informing their race of their failure. Earth could not be captured unless Gamera was destroyed, and the ship was now preparing to leave the Earth. As the only undamaged section of the UFO attempted to fly away, Gamera knocked it down by hurling another piece of the UFO at it, which had the side effect of destroying the Brainwave Control Device attached to his neck, freeing him completely from its control.
With the UFO incapacitated, the Virian Boss commanded his comrades to shed their human disguises, which revealed that his henchmen all looked identical to him. He then proceeded to fuse himself with the others into their collective form, Viras. Ultimately, all of the Virians died as Viras after Gamera froze him in the upper atmosphere, but it is possible that more were plotting to invade in the future.
Gallery
A group of disguised Virians with illuminated eyes
The leader of the Virians in his cage, who eventually chooses to fuse together with his comrades to form Viras
The Boss addresses his comrades
The Virians shed their disguises
Trivia
- The Virians are one example of an alien race whose individuals could be considered kaiju in their own right, with another example of this being the Millennians.
References
This is a list of references for Virian. 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]
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