Zigra

Zigra ReiwaShowa land formShowa swimming form Alternate names Jigura, Jigra, Zigura Subtitle(s) Deep Sea Monster (深海怪獣,   Shinkai Kaijū) Species Alien fish; alien biological weaponDH Height Showa: 80 meters Reiwa: 110 meters on land Length Reiwa: 130 meters (without tail) Weight Showa: 75 metric tons Reiwa: 2,000 metric tons Forms Aquatic, terrestrial Place(s) of emergence Planet Zigra, 4th Planet of the Object Number 105 System Controlled by ZanonGSM Relations Lom Phlizium (owner)DH Enemies Gamera Created by Nisan Takahashi Played by Keiichi Noda (voice) First appearance Latest appearance Gamera vs. Zigra GAMERA -Rebirth- Roar(s) Showa: More roars

Zigra (ジグラ,   Jigura) is an alien fish kaiju who first appeared in the 1971 Daiei Gamera film Gamera vs. Zigra.

An alien hailing from a planet where his fish-like race preyed on human-like land creatures, Zigra traveled to Earth in his spaceship with the intent of enslaving the human race and raising them as cattle. He took mental control of a woman named Chikako Sugawara, forcing her to act as his agent, X1. When Chikako was freed from his hypnosis and Gamera continuously interfered with his plans, Zigra emerged from his UFO and attempted to battle the heroic turtle kaiju. While Zigra had an advantage over Gamera underwater, he was outmatched once the battle moved to land and was ultimately destroyed. Zigra returned, though depicted entirely through stock footage, in the 1980 film Gamera Super Monster, this time as a pawn of the crew of the pirate spaceship Zanon. Though he has not reappeared in a film since, Zigra has made appearances in various non-film media, including Dark Horse's Gamera comic series. He is also one of the five kaiju Gamera will face in the upcoming animated Netflix series GAMERA -Rebirth-.

Development

In GAMERA -Rebirth- Zigra was intentionally designed to have a well-developed upper body and a slim lower body.

Design

Zigra in general resembles both a goblin shark and a swordfish, possessing a silvery gray hide and a pointed nose. His aquatic form has him postured like a shark, while his terrestrial form has him standing upright on legs that are not present in his aquatic configuration. His head has a pointed snout that continues onward to form a fin-like crest that juts out from behind his head. Zigra possesses a beak with several teeth along its edges, as well as red eyes with slit-pupils. He has a whale-like texture on his underside and wide pectoral fins with sharp, metallic ridges, shaped like a shark's. From his back protrudes similar metallic ridges to those on his fins, traveling down his body until his tail fin. His tail fin is shaped similarly to a shark's, but the bottom half of the caudal fin splits into two instead of one. In his aquatic form, Zigra has metallic pelvic fins, which are replaced by legs in his terrestrial form.

In GAMERA -Rebirth-, Zigra appears to resemble a ray or skate. Additionally, he appears to have clawed feet, rather than the sleek, boot-like feet of the Showa design.

Origins

Zigra hailed from a distant planet where ocean-dwelling beings fed on creatures of the land. Eventually, his planet's oceans were polluted to the point of no return, prompting Zigra to search for a new home elsewhere in the galaxy. After finding Earth, Zigra intended on enslaving the human race to serve as his food source.

In Dark Horse's Gamera comic series, Zigra is instead a biological weapon from the planet Broomark which escaped to Earth and took refuge in the Pacific Ocean.

In GAMERA -Rebirth-, Zigra's eggs were discovered in the coastal water of Rapa Nui.

History

• Gamera vs. Zigra (1971)
• Gamera Super Monster (1980) [stock footage]
• GAMERA -Rebirth- (TV 2023)

Showa era

Gamera vs. Zigra

Zigra in Gamera vs. Zigra

After his planet's seas were polluted beyond salvation, Zigra searched the cosmos for a new home with habitable oceans before eventually finding Earth. Prior to his arrival, Zigra's spaceship attacked a base on the Moon and abducted astronaut Chikako Sugawara before entering Earth's atmosphere and submerging underwater.

Having witnessed the spacecraft, Drs. Tom Wallace and Yosuke Ishikawa attempted to investigate along with their children Helen and Kenichi, only to be abducted and teleported within the ship. As Zigra loomed overhead, Sugawara greeted the captives, having been brainwashed into becoming Zigra's slave. Sugawara explained Zigra's origins and demanded that the people of Earth surrender themselves to his rule, as Zigra believed humans were unfit to remain in charge after observing the polluting of Earth's oceans. Secretly, Zigra was actually intending on enslaving the human race and raising them like cattle to feed himself. After the group escaped the ship, Zigra ordered Sugawara to find them, believing they knew too much of the ship's secrets. Zigra also destroyed everything the JSDF threw at him from within his ship, proving to be unstoppable.

Eventually, Gamera arrived and engaged the ship underwater before destroying it, freeing Zigra, who quickly grew abnormally large due to the difference of Earth's water pressure compared to that of his home planet's. Gamera brought the battle to land, but Zigra adapted to the change in environment by developing legs and continuing the fight. Zigra quickly overpowered Gamera with his beam and paralyzed him, sending him sinking back in the water. Zigra then addressed the people of Earth once more, threatening to wipe them out if they did not submit to him and allow him control over their seas.

Hoping to revive Gamera, Drs. Wallace and Ishikawa descended to the ocean floor within a bathysphere (alongside Helen and Kenichi, who also secretly boarded the vessel), though their actions drew Zigra's attention, prompting him to attack and disable the bathysphere. While the group was able to learn of Zigra's susceptibility to light in the process, Zigra nevertheless gave humanity an ultimatum - surrender to him or he would destroy the vessel. World leaders attempted to surrender, but Sugawara, who had since been freed from Zigra's control, warned of Zigra's true intentions of using the human race for food. In response, the group turned the bathysphere's lights up even higher in the hopes of blinding Zigra, though he was able to stop them by paralyzing them with his beams.

Shortly thereafter, a lightning strike revived Gamera, who managed to rescue the bathysphere and return it to the surface before challenging Zigra to a rematch underwater. Zigra attempted to unleash his paralyzing rays on Gamera once again, but Gamera retreated into his shell whenever they were used. Though his beam attacks were now rendered useless, Zigra was able to shred into Gamera's skin using his fins and pointed nose. The injured Gamera soon brought the fight back to the surface. During the battle, Gamera threw a large rock at Zigra which became wedged on his sharp snout, weighing his head down and effectively incapacitating him. As Zigra flailed about helplessly, Gamera further humiliated the alien shark by playing his own theme song on Zigra's dorsal fins like a xylophone. Soon after, Gamera spewed his fire breath on Zigra, incinerating him and ending his threat to humanity for good.

Gamera Super Monster

Alongside the rest of Gamera's past opponents, the pirate spaceship Zanon released Zigra within the Pacific Ocean in efforts to stop the heroic turtle. However, Gamera brought Zigra to the surface and soon defeated him by burning him to death.

Reiwa era

GAMERA -Rebirth-

Zigra will be one of the five kaiju fought by Gamera in the summer of 1989, along with Gyaos, Jiger, Guiron, and Viras.

Abilities

Movement

When in its land form, Zigra can fall flat on its stomach and use its fins as wings to fly through the air, usually to dive into the nearest available body of water. It can also use its legs to jump great distances, up to 200 meters. In GAMERA -Rebirth-, Zigra can trigger a supercavitation with a super-vibration and plasma energy and air bubbles to accelerate itself, and is able to swim extremely fast.

Land Adaptation

When out of the water, Zigra can convert its underside into legs and stand, achieving a "land form." Inversely, it can also transition back into its aquatic form.

Light Beams

Zigra fires its Cell Activity Suspension Beam in Gamera vs. Zigra

Zigra has three separate sack-like organs located in the back of its head which are each able to produce a different form of light ray. These include an orange-colored Cell Activity Suspension Beam (細胞活動停止光線,   Saibō Katsudō Teishi Kōsen) fired from the third eye on its forehead which is capable of halting human cell activity, a green Fourth Dimensional Beam (四次元光線,   Yojigen Kōsen) which can transfer matter, and a red Earthquake-Inducing Beam (地震誘発光線,   Jishin Yūhatsu Kōsen) that can cause massive explosions and devastating earthquakes. Zigra also possesses a tricolored beam attack, named the Tri-Color Ray Blast exclusive to Gamera.

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  Zigra fires its Fourth Dimensional Beam while in its spaceship

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  Zigra fires its Earthquake-Inducing Beam while in its spaceship

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  Zigra fires its tricolored beam in a dream sequence in Gamera

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Liquid Shot

Zigra in GAMERA -Rebirth- fires multiple shells of micro metallic particles called Liquid Shot (液状弾,   Ekijōdan) to attack targets from afar.

Clone Rocket

According to a Gamera vs. Zigra poster, Zigra could launch a nuclear missile called "Clone Rocket" (分身ロケット,   bunshin roketto) from his mouth. This missile is shaped like Zigra, looking like a miniature version of him.

Physical Attacks

Zigra slices Gamera with its fins in Gamera vs. Zigra

With the exception of its aforementioned light beam attacks, Zigra relies almost entirely on its razor sharp teeth and fins. Its dorsal fins, referred to as Poison Fin Zoringen Dorsal Fins (毒びれゾーリンゲン背びれ,   Dokubire Zōringen Sebire), are immensely sharp cutting tools, said to be able to rip Gamera's body to shreds and cut oil tankers clean in half. Its teeth are also sharp enough to tear apart a YS-12 airliner. In its land form, Zigra gains the ability to slap opponents with its fins or jab them with spikes.

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Weaknesses

Due to originally living in the dark ocean depths of its homeworld, Zigra is extremely weak to light, namely that of the sun. It is also greatly susceptible to fire.

Video games

• Gamera: The Time Adventure (1995) - Bandai Playdia
• CR Gamera (2009) - Pachinko
• Gamera: Battle (2012) - GREE, Mobage

Comics

• Gamera vs. Zigra (1971)
• Gamera the Giant Monster (1994-1995)
• Gamera the Giant Monster 7: Gamera vs. Zigra (1995)
• Gamera the Giant Monster 8: Gamera vs. 6 Great Monsters (1995)
• Gamera #2-3 (1996)
• Gamera vs. Barugon: Comic Version (2003)

Gamera the Giant Monster

Zigra alongside Gamera's past foes in Gamera the Giant Monster

Zigra was among Gamera's many past foes who were combined into a single hybrid kaiju dubbed Powered Gyaos.

Gamera

Zigra in Gamera

Issue #2

Zigra was a a biological weapon from the alien planet of Broomark, that belonged to someone called "Lom Phlizium." Zigra was noted in its documentation to become unpredictable when startled. Unfortunately, it managed to escape and take refuge on the planet Earth, where it slept in the Pacific Ocean. However, a nuclear test by the French military roused Zigra from its slumber, and enticed it to attack. Zigra attacked a ship and cut its hull with its body, before shooting down approaching attack planes with its Tri-Color Ray Blast. It went back in the water for another attack, but as it leaped up it was hit by a fireball from Gamera. Briefly startled, Zigra watched as Gamera flew around for another attack, but with one blast of the Tri-Color beam, its assailant fell from the sky and began to sink to the ocean floor. All of this occurred while bioweapon retrieval specialist Freena was fast approaching to return Zigra to Broomark.

Issue #3

Just before Gamera hit the seafloor, an approaching submarine sent by the French hit him in the head with a torpedo, angering and awakening the beast. Gamera then blasted to the surface of the water and into the air faster than Zigra could react. Gamera bit Zigra's throat, and flew the injured monster across the ocean to the Pacific Ring of Fire, where he dropped the wounded Zigra into an active volcano west of Java, effectively killing it, much to Freena's dismay.

However, Zigra lived on in the nightmares of a Mr. Lutz, who had been onboard one of the attacked battleships. In the dream, Gamera had been killed, not by the drowning, but because of his magic amulet being broken, however his having done this had removed the Earth's only hope of defeating Zigra, and as such he had doomed the human race. Before he could really react to this news, Zigra hit him and Asagi Kusanagi with its Tri-Color Ray Blast, incinerating them both.

Gamera vs. Barugon: Comic Version

Zigra (top left) alongside Jiger, Iris, and Barugon in Kadokawa's Gamera vs. Barugon: Comic Version

Seen in a vision an explorer is subjected to inside a secret Atlantean ruin the original Barugon's skeleton was entombed in, Zigra was among the precursors to Gamera, a creation of the Atlanteans meant to combat the Gyaos.

Books

• Friends: Gamera the Brave (2006)

Friends: Gamera the Brave

G Zigra appeared along with other "G monsters" who were created by taking in Gyaos' DNA. The G monsters fought with Gamera as well as with each other. In their final battle, they were led by Zedus.

Gallery

Main article: Zigra/Gallery.

Roar

Zigra's roars are modified Gyaos roars.

Zigra's roars

Trivia

• Zigra's design, along with that of Guilala, influenced the design of Legion from Gamera 2: Attack of Legion.ｃ
• Zigra's manta ray-esque design in GAMERA -Rebirth- harkens back to several pieces of concept art for the character's original appearance. It also shares several similarities in design with the Gyaos-Rays in Gamera 2000 and the Aquatic Gyaos in the 1999 comic Gamera Gaiden Ver.2.5 (ガメラ外伝Ver2.5).
• Zigra's head makes a brief appearance in Pacific Rim Uprising, during the scene where Hermann Gottlieb examines PPDC records in search of a match for the image Mako Mori transmitted.
• The version of Zigra in GAMERA -Rebirth- is tied with Zedus as the second-heaviest kaiju in the Gamera franchise, at 2,000 metric tons, surpassed only by the 3,000 metric ton Legion Plant.
• During their stock footage battle in Gamera Super Monster, Gamera plays a new, simple tune when hitting Zigra's back instead of the "Gamera March".

References

This is a list of references for Zigra. 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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