Giant Condor
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The Giant Condor (大コンドル Ōkondoru) is a giant bird kaiju who first appeared in the 1966 Toho Godzilla film Ebirah, Horror of the Deep. The creature later appeared through stock footage as the Giant Eagle (大ワシ Ōwashi) in the 1969 Godzilla film All Monsters Attack.
A giant bird mutated by the nuclear runoff produced by the Red Bamboo on Letchi Island, the Giant Condor attacked Godzilla after the latter had fought off a squadron of Red Bamboo fighter jets. The creature was no match for the King of the Monsters, who quickly set it ablaze with his atomic breath and sent it plummeting into the ocean. A Giant Eagle appeared in the dreams of young Ichiro Miki, in which it fought Godzilla on Monster Island but met the same fate as the Giant Condor. Though the Condor has not often appeared since then, several were mentioned in passing in the novel GODZILLA: Project Mechagodzilla.
Name
This monster has two different names for its two appearances: Giant Condor (大コンドル Ōkondoru) in Ebirah, Horror of the Deep and Giant Eagle (大ワシ Ōwashi) in All Monsters Attack. It is actually called the "Giant Eagle" by Ichiro in the Japanese dialogue for All Monsters Attack, but goes unnamed in the English dub.
Development
In 1966, Toho partnered with Rankin-Bass to produce a live-action film version of The King Kong Show, with Shinichi Sekizawa writing the script for Operation Robinson Crusoe: King Kong vs. Ebirah. According to the book Japanese SFX and Fantasy Movies, he created the Giant Condor as a homage to the Pteranodon seen in the original King Kong.[4] Though it may be coincidence, Kong also battled an oversized condor in at least one episode of the cartoon. Rankin-Bass rejected the script, but since Toho had already started making the sets and props, they simply swapped Kong for Godzilla and carried on, resulting in Ebirah, Horror of the Deep.
The Condor was portrayed using a remodeled Rodan prop which appeared in Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster and Invasion of Astro-Monster, following its use as the monster Litra in Tsuburaya Productions' Ultra Q.[5][6] The modifications were likely performed by Toho's then-chief modeler, Teizo Toshimitsu.[6] The Giant Condor reappeared in All Monsters Attack as the Giant Eagle, though no new footage was shot of the monster.
Origins
While the Giant Condor's origins are not disclosed during the events of Ebirah, Horror of the Deep, Tomoyuki Tanaka states in his 1984 book Definitive Edition Godzilla Introduction that the Condor was a bird native to Letchi Island which was mutated into a monster by the Red Bamboo's nuclear wastewater, similar to Ebirah.[2] It is unknown whether the Giant Condor was employed as a defense by the Red Bamboo, or simply attacked Godzilla of its own free will.
History
- Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (1966)
- All Monsters Attack (1969) [stock footage; as Giant Eagle]
Showa era
Ebirah, Horror of the Deep
As Dayo made her escape from a sleeping Godzilla, the Giant Condor suddenly soared overhead. She cried out to alert the King of the Monsters just before the bird descended on him. After a fierce scuffle, Godzilla set it ablaze with his atomic breath, and it plummeted into the ocean below.
All Monsters Attack
In the dreams of Ichiro Miki, Godzilla was wandering around his home of Monster Island only to be attacked by the Giant Eagle. Godzilla fought briefly with the avian monster, but killed it with a blast of its atomic breath and sent its burnt corpse falling into the ocean.
Abilities
Flight
The Giant Condor is capable of flight at speeds of up to Mach 1.[7]
Physical capabilities
While not exhibiting any uncanny abilities during his brief encounter with Godzilla, the Giant Condor was shown to fight tooth-and-nail using its sharp beak and talons.
Weaknesses
The Giant Condor was not shown to be particularly resilient, being easily repelled by Godzilla and dispatched with a single blast of his atomic breath.
Video games
- Godzilla Defense Force (2019) - Android and iOS [game files only; never implemented][8]
Books
GODZILLA: Project Mechagodzilla
The Giant Condor inhabited North Africa and preyed upon United Earth soldiers that participated in "Operation: Long March."[9]
Gallery
- Main article: Giant Condor/Gallery.
Roar
The Giant Condor's shrieking screech was reused for some of Minilla's vocalizations in Son of Godzilla, Destroy All Monsters, and All Monsters Attack, as well as the flying monkeys in the 1982 OVA The Wizard of Oz.
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Trivia
- The Giant Condor is one of five minor Showa era monsters to have received an official toy. The others are the Giant Lizard, the Giant Octopus, the Giant Sea Serpent, and Mysterious Bones of Infant Island.[10]
- Godzilla's battle with the Giant Condor is one of the shortest battles in the Godzilla series, along with Godzilla's battle with Zilla in Godzilla Final Wars.
- Sprite assets for the Giant Condor can be found in the game files for Godzilla Defense Force, although it cannot currently be encountered in the game itself.[11]
Video
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Notes
- ↑ While the majority of sources list the Giant Condor and Giant Eagle's lengths as 15 meters, some including the 2014 publications Godzilla Completely Deciphered (p. 103) and Godzilla Dictionary [New Edition] (p. 54), and the 2016 publication Shin Godzilla Walker: The New Legend of the King of the Monsters (p. 59) instead list a length of 20 meters. Additionally, the 1972 publication Kaiju Kaijin Complete Works 1: Godzilla (p. 128) and Godzilla 1954-1999 Super Complete Works (p. 113) place the Giant Condor's length at 35 meters.
- ↑ While the majority of sources list the Giant Condor and Giant Eagle's wingspans as 25 meters, some including the 2014 publications Godzilla Completely Deciphered (p. 103) and Godzilla Dictionary [New Edition] (p. 54) instead list a wingspan of 45 meters, while the 1972 publication Kaiju Kaijin Complete Works 1: Godzilla (p. 128) gives a wingspan of 75 meters. Godzilla 1954-1999 Super Complete Works (p. 135) gives Giant Eagle specifically a 35 meter wingspan.
- ↑ While the majority of sources list the Giant Condor and Giant Eagle's weights as 2,000 metric tons, some including the 2014 publications Godzilla Completely Deciphered (p. 103) and Godzilla Dictionary [New Edition] (p. 54), and the 2016 publication Shin Godzilla Walker: The New Legend of the King of the Monsters (p. 59) instead list a weight of 600 metric tons. Additionally, Definitive Edition Godzilla Introduction (p. 83) and Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah Monster Complete Works (p. 73) place the Giant Condor's weight at 20 metric tons and 2,100 metric tons, respectively.
References
This is a list of references for Giant Condor. 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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