Gyaos (Showa)
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Gyaos (ギャオス Gyaosu) is a winged kaiju who first appeared in the 1967 Daiei Gamera film Gamera vs. Gyaos.
A colossal man-eating flying monster resembling a vampire bat, Gyaos was awakened from its underground slumber in Japan's Chubu Major Fault Zone near Mount Futago by sudden volcanic activity. Gamera almost immediately appeared to confront the creature when it threatened a young boy who wandered into its lair. Possessing an aversion to sunlight and heat, Gyaos preyed upon humans and livestock at night in the countryside of Shizuoka Prefecture before moving on to the city of Nagoya. Gamera fought Gyaos yet again in a battle where both kaiju sustained major injury, but Gyaos escaped just as the Sun began to rise and regenerated its wounds. After a failed operation to exploit Gyaos' weakness to sunlight, the JSDF eventually set a forest fire near Gyaos in order to draw Gamera to its location. Gamera dueled Gyaos in a final deathmatch that ended when he dragged the bloodthirsty beast into the crater of Mount Fuji, incinerating it in the molten magma.
In the film Gamera Super Monster, the crew of the pirate spaceship Zanon utilized Gyaos as one of its monster pawns in a bid to eliminate Gamera and conquer the Earth. However, the flying menace and all of the Zanon's other monsters fell to Gamera.
Name
In Gamera vs. Gyaos, Gyaos' name comes from the onomatopoeia for its roar, according to protagonist Eiichi Kanemaru. It was commonly romanized Gaos (without a "y") prior to the release of Gamera the Guardian of the Universe. In Nisan Takahashi's initial treatment for Gamera vs. Gyaos, the monster was tentatively named Vampire, but spelled in Japanese as the nonstandard バンパイヤー (Banpaiyā) instead of バンパイア (Banpaia).[2]
Development
Two Gyaos suits were created for Gamera vs. Gyaos: one with its wings spread, and another with its wings folded. In addition to the suits, a flying prop and a life-sized model of Gyaos' foot were also constructed. The Gyaos costume with the extended wings was later used to portray Space Gyaos in Gamera vs. Guiron, along with a hand-operated puppet or Guignol and a prop. Stock footage of Gyaos from its debut film was used for the monster's role in the 1980 film Gamera Super Monster.
The extended wings Gyaos suit
The folded wings Gyaos suit
The small Gyaos flying prop
The life-sized Gyaos foot/claw model
Design
Gyaos is a bipedal winged creature somewhat resembling a bat or pterosaur which stands upright and possesses large leathery wings with three claws on each and three sharp talons on its feet. It has a flattened arrow-shaped head and a mouth filled with sharp teeth and large bright yellow eyes. It has a long tail with a sail on top of it which acts like a natural flight stabilizer. Gyaos' body is dark brown, appearing black at night, with two large orange stripes stretching across its chest and partially onto its wings.
Personality
Gyaos is a feral bloodthirsty creature which feeds upon the blood of smaller animals, most notably humans and livestock. Due to its harsh weakness to sunlight, Gyaos is nocturnal and opts to fly over villages and cities at night in order to find and catch prey. Though it is very aggressive in battle, Gyaos will retreat if it is in danger of being exposed to sunlight or fire. It typically uses the biological fog emitted from vents on its chest to protect itself and extinguish flames.
Origins
Gyaos' origins are unclear, with zoologist Dr. Aoki uncertain as to whether it is a bird or reptile, though he labels a drawing of it "Rhamphorhynchoidea Monster." Gyaos was sleeping in a deep underground cave in Japan's Chubu Major Fault Zone, though recent unusual volcanic activity across the nation roused it.
History
- Gamera vs. Gyaos (1967)
- Gamera vs. Viras (1968) [stock footage]
- Gamera vs. Guiron (1969) [stock footage]
- Gamera vs. Jiger (1970) [stock footage]
- Gamera Super Monster (1980) [stock footage]
Gamera vs. Gyaos
An ancient creature awoken by a pattern of unusual volcanic activity across Japan, Gyaos emerged from a large cavern in the mountains of Shizuoka Prefecture, first making his presence known after he attacked and killed a team of geologists by slicing their helicopter in half with his Ultrasonic Scalpel. Gyaos then continued to menace a nearby village and feasted on blood, principally that of livestock and humans.
Soon, Gamera confronted Gyaos at Nagoya, and after a battle in which Gamera's arm was seriously damaged by Gyaos's Ultrasonic Scalpel, Gyaos fled while Gamera slept in the ocean to recover from his injuries. It was soon learned that light caused Gyaos' skin to shrink, and this applied to artificial light as well, so the citizens were able to get to safety by sheltering in the light of a stadium's spotlights, which kept Gyaos at bay. Gamera soon returned to finish Gyaos off and, after a battle in the air, Gyaos cut off two of his toes to free himself from Gamera's grasp and escape. Later that morning, two local fishermen discovered Gyaos's toes, which had started to shrink under the effects of ultraviolet light from the Sun.
Returning to Shizuoka, a complex plan was put in place by the JSDF and the scientists, involving artificial blood and a rotating platform atop a hotel. It was hoped that by luring Gyaos to the blood, then rotating the platform, Gyaos would be dazed and unable to escape, eventually dying in the morning Sun. However, this plan failed when the substation powering the platform overheated. In pain, Gyaos smashed the hotel to pieces, then fired his fog to shroud himself from the Sun's light, escaping back to his cave.
Eichi, a local boy from the village, came up with a plan to set the surrounding forest on fire, in the hope that Gamera might be attracted to the flames to fight Gyaos. After Eichi's grandfather conveyed this to the team overseeing the operation against Gyaos, this plan was put into action. That night, the forest was set ablaze, and missiles were shot into the mountain to force Gyaos out. The giant monster put out the fires using his fog, but Gamera arrived just in time to begin the fight.
Though Gyaos's Ultrasonic Scalpel was unable to cut into Gamera's shell, it made light work of exposed areas of his body, and it seemed at one point as if Gamera was going to die after Gyaos lacerated his limbs and tail with the beam, causing the giant turtle to weaken. After Gyaos repeatedly picked up and hurled Gamera at the ground, Gamera recovered his strength and valiantly fought back, knocking Gyaos down by flying into him, then biting into his neck and shoulder to restrain him. With Gyaos unable to escape, Gamera took to the air, and carried Gyaos to the crater of Mount Fuji, still smoking from its recent eruption. As Gamera pulled Gyaos into the crater, the monster tried one last futile attempt to escape, firing his Ultrasonic Scalpel as the Sun rose, but this attempt was in vain, and Gyaos finally died.
Gamera vs. Guiron
After being brought to the planet Terra by a UFO, young boys Akio and Tom witnessed the arrival of a Space Gyaos. They observed the monster's resemblance to the Gyaos of Earth, though noted that this one was a different color. Later, when the Terrans Florbella and Barbella interrogated Tom about Gamera, he cited the monster's rescue of Eiichi Kanemaru from Gyaos as proof of his benevolence towards children.
Gamera Super Monster
The pirate spaceship Zanon unleashed Gyaos to destroy humanity, then sent it to prevent Gamera from interfering with its plans to conquer Earth. However, Gamera destroyed Gyaos by dragging it into the crater of a volcano.
Abilities
Flight
Gyaos is an agile flier and can reach a speed of Mach 3.5.
Wind gusts
Gyaos can generate powerful wind gusts which blow away buildings and tanks by flapping its wings.
Ultrasonic Scalpel
Gyaos' signature ability is the Ultrasonic Scalpel (超音波メス Chōonpa Mesu) it fires from its mouth, a 3-million-hertz blast of ultrasound. This attack takes the form of a thin yellow beam which can slice apart objects with incredible precision. Gyaos' spine was bifurcated at the neck, acting as a tuning fork that allowed it to fire the Ultrasonic Scalpel at the cost of not being able to turn its head sideways. The Ultrasonic Scalpel can slice cleanly through aircraft and buildings as well as Gamera's flesh, and is even used by Gyaos to sever its own foot in order to escape Gamera's grasp.
Regeneration
Gyaos has an impressive regenerative ability, allowing it to completely regrow the toes it lost during its fight with Gamera in Nagoya in less than an hour, although this process appears to be quite painful.
Fog
Gyaos is able to emit a fog-like gas from vents on its chest to obscure the sun and douse flames. The gas leaves a pale yellow powder on objects like a fire extinguisher, and can also prevent Gamera from using his flame jets to fly. In anatomical illustrations, this fog had been described as poisonous to stun enemies.[3]
Poison
Several anatomical illustrations note that Gyaos could emit poisonous liquids from its claws and poisonous powders from its chest.
Jets
An anatomical illustration notes that Gyaos could emit jets from its legs.[4]
Electricity
An anatomical illustration notes that Gyaos could store and emit electricity from its legs.[4]
Weaknesses
Gyaos possesses an aversion to sunlight, and as such can only be active at night. This weakness extended to the point that exposure to sunlight could injure Gyaos by causing its flesh to dry out and shrivel up. Gyaos also appeared to shun artificial light, as during his raid on Nagoya, he avoided areas that were lit artificially, allowing citizens to safely shelter in a stadium with lighting provided by its spotlights.
Gyaos is critically vulnerable to extreme heat, and Gamera kills Gyaos by dragging it into the mouth of Mount Fuji, where a combination of the morning sunlight and the volcano's still smouldering crater spelled its doom.
The source of Gyaos' Ultrasonic Scalpel beam is its forked-shaped throat, but this prevents it from turning its head sideways.
Video games
- Gamera: The Time Adventure (1995) - Bandai Playdia
- Gamera Battle (2012) - GREE, Mobage
- Monster Gear (2015) - Android, iOS
- Godzilla Battle Line (2021; added in 2024) - Android, iOS, PC
Gamera: The Time Adventure
Gyaos appears in the third level of Gamera: The Time Adventure. Like all monsters in the game, Gyaos is depicted exclusively through stock film footage as the player revisits key moments in Gamera's history. As such, Gamera fights Gyaos and later defeats it by dragging it into a volcano.
Spacetime controller Ayako reporting on Gyaos in Gamera: The Time Adventure
Monster Gear
Gyaos appears in the "Gamera vs. Mon Gear" collaboration event. Costumes and weapons based on Gyaos are also featured.
Gyaos in Monster Gear
Gyaos costume in Monster Gear
Godzilla Battle Line
- Stars: ★★★★
- Energy cost: 5
- Attack speed: 2.6 seconds
- Target: Leader/Ground/Aerial/Facility
- Movement speed: 18
- Search range: 70
- Reach: 60
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Artwork
Comics
- Gamera vs. Gyaos (1967)
- Gamera vs. Viras (1968) [flashback]
- Gamera the Giant Monster 2: Gamera vs. Gyaos (1995)
- Gamera the Giant Monster 4: Gamera vs. Viras (1995) [flashback]
- Gamera the Giant Monster 5: Gamera vs. Guiron (1995) [flashback]
- Gamera the Giant Monster 8: Gamera vs. 6 Great Monsters (1995)
Gallery
- Main article: Gyaos/Gallery.
Roar
Gyaos' roar was later altered for the Return of Ultraman kaiju Arstron, and also reused for a giant snake in the 1968 Daiei film The Snake Girl and the Silver-Haired Witch.
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References
This is a list of references for Gyaos (Showa). 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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