Gamera (Heisei Trilogy)

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Gamera (Heisei Trilogy)
Gamera in Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris
Gamera in Gamera: Guardian of the Universe
Gamera in Gamera 2: Attack of Legion
Trauma Gamera in Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris
Alternate names Gamara
Subtitle(s) Guardian Deity (守護神,   Shugoshin)
Guardian Beast (守護獣,   Shugo-jū)
Guardian of the Universe
(宇宙の守護神,   Uchū no Shugoshin)
The Last Hope
(最後の希望,   Saigo no Kibō)
Species Atlantean-engineered guardian
Height 80 meters[1]
Weight 120 metric tons[1]
Other Stats Underwater Speed: 180 knots[1]
Flight Speed: Mach 3.5[1]
Shell Long Diameter: 60 meters[1]
Shell Short Diameter: 40 meters[1]
Relations Asagi Kusanagi (telepathically linked)
Allies Asagi Kusanagi
Enemies Gyaos, Legion, Iris, Barugon,G2.5 GarasharpTLH
Played by Takateru ManabeG1,
Jun SuzukiG1, Akira OhashiG2,
Hirofumi FukuzawaG3
First appearance Latest appearance
Gamera: Guardian of the Universe Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris
Roar(s)
More roars
This article covers the Gamera featured in the Heisei trilogy of films directed by Shusuke Kaneko. For the Gamera incarnations from the fourth Heisei film, Gamera the Brave, see Avant Gamera and Toto.
We commit to the cradle of time the Last Hope, Gamera. May he awaken with the Shadow of Evil, Gyaos.
„ 

— Inscription from the obelisk found on Gamera's atoll (Gamera: Guardian of the Universe)

Gamera (ガメラ,   Gamera) is a guardian kaiju that appeared in the 1995 Daiei film, Gamera: Guardian of the Universe.

Gamera was created by the ancient civilization of Atlantis thousands of years ago in order to combat their previous creation, Gyaos. Gamera wiped out most of the Gyaos, but Atlantis was completely destroyed in the battle. Gamera was sealed within an atoll and remained dormant until 1995, when three Gyaos appeared in the skies over Japan. Gamera awakened from his long sleep and traveled to Japan to destroy his ancient enemy. Gamera killed two of the Gyaos, but the JSDF interfered with his attempts to destroy the last one, which grew into the larger Super Gyaos. With the help of his human ally Asagi Kusanagi, with whom he was telepathically bonded, Gamera fought Super Gyaos in Tokyo and successfully killed it. The following year, Gamera returned to Japan to fend off Legion, a species of extraterrestrial creatures which threatened all life on Earth. Gamera destroyed the Legion's symbiotic propagation device, a giant flower, but the Mother Legion relocated her kind to Sendai. Gamera tried to reach the new flower, but the Mother Legion badly wounded him before fleeing. The flower seeded, producing a catastrophic explosion which seemingly killed Gamera. Using energy he absorbed from the Earth itself, Gamera came back to life and fought the Legion once again, destroying them once and for all. By 1999, evolved Gyaos called Hyper Gyaos began appearing in huge numbers all over the world, pushing Gamera to the brink of his strength. In addition, a young woman named Ayana Hirasaka, who blamed Gamera for the deaths of her parents in 1995, found and raised a strange demonic creature she found in a shrine and named Iris to take revenge on Gamera for her. The JSDF had become fed up with the destruction Gamera caused in his crusade against Gyaos, and turned against him. When Iris reached maturity and traveled to Kyoto, Gamera followed it there and battled it. Gamera was able to kill Iris and free Ayana from its evil influence, but was badly maimed in the battle. However, with thousands of Hyper Gyaos descending upon the city, Gamera was ready to continue his eternal struggle with his ancient foe, knowing humanity was by his side once again.

Name

Gamera's name comes from kame (カメ), the Japanese word for "turtle," and -ra, a common suffix in kaiju names. The "k" sound was most likely changed to the voiced "g" sound so that his name would not be "Camera" (カメラ,   Kamera). For the Heisei trilohy, the monster's English name was consistently spelled "Gamera," although packaging for Bandai's Gamera: High Grade gashapon figures released alongside Gamera: Guardian of the Universe misspelled it as Gamara. In the films, Gamera's name is also shown spelled in fictional Atlantean rune characters, and this spelling is used for the title card of Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris. The demonic Gamera seen by Ayana Hirasaka in her nightmares in Gamera 3 is officially known as Trauma Gamera (トラウマガメラ,   Torauma Gamera), although English-speaking fans often refer to it as Nightmare Gamera.

Gamera is given multiple subtitles for the trilogy. The poster for Gamera: Guardian of the Universe gives him the subtitle Guardian Deity (守護神,   Shugoshin), while in the film proper the Atlantean obelisk found on his atoll refers to him as the Last Hope (最後の希望,   Saigo no Kibō). The English subtitle Guardian of the Universe comes from the English title for the first film of the trilogy, which was conceived by Daiei. This subtitle was later translated to Japanese for the Japanese release of Dark Horse's Gamera: The Guardian of the Universe tie-in comic. In Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris, he is given the subtitle Guardian Beast (守護獣,   Shugo-jū).

Personality

True to his intended purpose as a guardian for the Earth, Gamera is concerned with the well-being of all life and selflessly puts himself into harm's way to defend other creatures from threats. Because he fights for the greater good of all life on Earth, Gamera is not specifically concerned with just protecting mankind and as such often unintentionally causes collateral damage during his battles, such as when he first lands in Fukuoka in Gamera: Guardian of the Universe to hunt down Gyaos. This is taken to the extreme in Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris, when Gamera finds himself overextended by the rapidly increasing worldwide Hyper Gyaos population and fights desperately and recklessly to kill two of them in Shibuya, causing major destruction to the area and killing countless civilians. Even in such situations, Gamera will deliberately take action to save individual humans if he can. Examples of Gamera protecting individual humans or groups of humans include in Gamera: Guardian of the Universe when he defends Mayumi Nagamine, Yoshinari Yonemori, and a child from a Gyaos' sonic scalpel, in Gamera 2: Attack of Legion when he holds back the Mother Legion just long enough for the helicopter carrying Asagi Kusanagi and several civilians to take off, and in Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris when he defends a boy in Shibuya from Hyper Gyaos and later when he rescues Ayana Hirasaka from Iris. Through the use of a magatama left behind by the civilization that created him, Gamera forms a telepathic bond with Asagi Kusanagi, granting him additional strength and a direct connection to humanity. Through this bond, Asagi remarks that she can read Gamera's thoughts, and repeatedly insists that he is deliberately fighting for all of mankind and other life on Earth. After Gamera is forced to sever this bond to defeat Legion, he seemingly becomes more reckless and less concerned with minimizing collateral damage, though as previously mentioned he still saves individual humans when given the opportunity.

Origins

Gamera is a guardian monster who was genetically engineered by the super-ancient civilization that spawned the myth of Atlantis. The Atlanteans are believed to have created Gamera by collecting the life energy of all life on Earth, known as "Mana," within a single vessel. When the Atlanteans' previous creation, Gyaos, went out of control and threatened to destroy their civilization, they created Gamera as a last-ditch effort to stop the creatures. While Gamera was able to eliminate most of the Gyaos and force the rest into hiding, he was too late to save Atlantis. However, in their last act the Atlanteans sealed Gamera away in an atoll with several magatama and an obelisk explaining his purpose, hoping that he would defend future generations should Gyaos reemerge and threaten the world again. In Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris, the skeletons of several Gamera-like creatures are discovered on the ocean floor. The character Kurata Shinya proposes that these were "beta versions" of Gamera; failed prototypes that were discarded once the Atlanteans successfully created Gamera himself. The 2002 Gamera vs. Barugon manga, set between the events of Gamera 2 and 3, takes this notion further and explains that the Atlanteans created several other failed prototype guardians, including Barugon, Zigra, Jiger, and Iris, in order to defeat Gyaos prior to creating Gamera. This manga however is not necessarily held to be canon. The canonical prequel graphic novel to the trilogy, Matt Frank's The Last Hope, depicts Gamera's entire origin, explaining that the Atlanteans used Mana to engineer multiple Gameras to combat the Gyaos which turned on them after defeating the Garasharp that menaced their civilization. All of the guardians were killed in the ensuing battle except for one last Gamera, who destroyed the Atlantean capital to ensure Gyaos would not return as a result of the city depleting Earth's Mana. The surviving Atlanteans then sealed Gamera within the atoll with the obelisk warning future generations about Gyaos' return.

While Gamera heavily resembles a giant turtle, special effects director Shinji Higuchi explained in an interview that turtles do not actually exist in the universe of the trilogy, and as such no one recognizes Gamera as one, only calling him a "monster." A few oversights of this detail still make it into the trilogy however, namely Yoshinari Yonemori calls Gamera a "giant turtle" in the first film while in Gamera 3 the topography of the ocean floor where the skeletons of the beta Gameras are located is compared to "turtle shells." Gamera 3 also makes a connection between Gamera and East Asian mythology, suggesting that he is the Black Tortoise, one of the four guardian spirits held to protect the city of Kyoto. This would however also seem to overlook the notion that turtles and tortoises do not exist in the universe of the trilogy.

History

Gamera: Guardian of the Universe

While transporting plutonium off the coast of the Philippines, the Japanese freight ship Kairyu-Maru ran aground on a floating atoll, narrowly avoiding a disastrous radiation leak. The atoll then mysteriously floated away, prompting a joint investigation between Yawata General Insurance and the Japanese maritime authority to locate it. The investigation party, led by insurance investigator Naoya Kusanagi and Coast Guard officer Yoshinari Yonemori, finally discovered the atoll and investigated it. They found numerous magatama scattered about, along with a stone obelisk which they unearthed. When Yonemori touched the obelisk, he noticed that it was unusually warm and could hear a faint heartbeat. Suddenly, the obelisk shattered and the atoll split open. Yonemori was knocked into the sea, and could see a gigantic figure swim out of the collapsing atoll. Noticing that the creature was swimming directly toward Fukuoka, Yonemori quickly boarded a helicopter and flew to the city to warn the JSDF. When he arrived, he found the JSDF already undertaking an operation to trap three giant man-eating bird-like creatures inside the Fukuoka Dome. When the creatures finally arrived, two were successfully sedated and caged, while the third escaped through the still-open roof. As the creature flew toward the open ocean, the sea monster rose from the waves and smacked it with his hand, sending the creature crashing into a refinery which exploded and killed it. The monster then came ashore and made his way to the Fukuoka Dome, alerting the two caged winged creatures. They escaped from their cages utilizing their supersonic scalpel beams and flew away. The monster then jettisoned into the sky and began spinning like a flying saucer before soaring away into the night sky.

Yonemori visited Kusanagi at his home to discuss recent events. Kusanagi revealed that the magatama found on the atoll were composed of an unknown metal, which he believed could be the mythical orichalcum described in Plato's writings on Atlantis. While Atlantis was said to exist in the Atlantic Ocean, Kusanagi explained that the Atlantis myth may have been grounded in fact and simply spread across different cultures under different names. Furthermore, the rune characters on the obelisk matched those of ancient peoples of Japan, and were successfully translated. They spoke of "the Last Hope, Gamera," and expressed a desire that he awaken along with the "Shadow of Evil, Gyaos." If the giant monster that came from the atoll was Gamera, they realized, the flying creatures must be Gyaos. Yonemori allowed Kusanagi's daughter Asagi to keep one of the magatama, which began to glow when she touched it. Analysis of Gyaos' DNA showed that they possessed only two chromosomes, which were perfect in every way and could have only been the result of genetic engineering. Gyaos must have turned on the ancient civilization which created them, who created Gamera in return in order to stop them. To make matters worse, Gyaos had the potential to reproduce asexually, which could prove disastrous. When Gyaos was sighted in a Japanese village, Dr. Mayumi Nagamine traveled there to investigate. She found the village under attack, and attempted to help a young boy cross a bridge to safety. Yonemori arrived to help her, and as they crossed the bridge a Gyaos swooped down to try and eat them, only for a fireball to narrowly miss striking the creature. Gamera emerged from the forest, and promptly killed the Gyaos with another fireball. However, the last Gyaos flew overhead and fired its supersonic scalpel at the humans on the bridge, only for Gamera to block it with his hand. Gyaos fled, with Gamera giving chase. This proved to Nagamine, Yonemori, and Kusanagi that Gamera was on their side, but unfortunately the Japanese government deemed him the greater threat and insisted on capturing the last Gyaos alive. Gamera was shot down over Mount Fuji by the JGSDF while chasing Gyaos, then assaulted by tanks. Asagi felt strangely drawn to Gamera, and insisted that a cab driver take her to the scene of the battle. As she watched Gamera being struck by artillery, Asagi began to develop injuries corresponding to his. She begged Gamera to flee as Gyaos flew overhead and fired its supersonic scalpel at him. Gamera seemed to heed Asagi's warning, as he soon took flight and fled back to the ocean. Asagi collapsed and was brought to a hospital. Yonemori and Nagamine believed that the magatama Asagi had touched had granted her the role of Gamera's priestess, and psychically connected the two of them. Kusanagi was hesitant to believe this at first, but finally came to accept it. While Asagi slept in her bed, Gamera rested on the ocean floor, his injuries gradually healing.

In Gamera's absence, the last Gyaos was able to feed and grow unchecked, finally evolving into the 85 meter Super Gyaos. The winged creature flew to Tokyo, where it fed on the helpless populace. It fell dormant by daybreak, and the JSDF attempted a surprise assault against Gyaos, knowing it possessed an aversion to light. However, Dr. Nagamine pointed out that Super Gyaos had developed shield plates over its eyes, and it was able to evade the JSDF's missile strikes. Some of the guided missiles hit the Tokyo Tower, causing it to break in half. Gyaos then made its nest on the Tower's ruined observation deck. Kusanagi and Asagi soon arrived at the JSDF's base camp in Tokyo, and explained that Asagi could sense Gamera was coming. True to her prediction, Gamera emerged from underground and blasted Gyaos' nest with a plasma fireball, setting ablaze and causing its eggs to splatter on the ground below. Gyaos took flight with Gamera in pursuit, and the two monsters began a midair dogfight across Tokyo. Gamera was shot down by Gyaos, and the two monsters began a tooth-and-claw battle in the streets. Gamera extended his elbow claw and sliced Gyaos' leg, then knocked his foe into a building. Gamera took flight while Gyaos chased after him, with both monsters reaching the upper atmosphere. Gamera bit down on Gyaos' leg and began to free-fall back to Earth. Unable to free itself from Gamera's grip, Gyaos severed its own foot with its supersonic scalpel to escape. Gamera crashed into a refinery, and was consumed in a fiery explosion. Just as Gyaos seemed victorious, Asagi clutched her magatama and clasped hands with her father. All of the fire was absorbed by Gamera, who stared down Super Gyaos for a final showdown. Gyaos charged its supersonic scalpel, but before it could fire it Gamera breathed an incredibly strong plasma fireball which decapitated Gyaos. Gyaos' headless corpse fell backward and exploded, leaving Gamera triumphant. Gamera looked at Asagi before returning to the ocean. Asagi remarked that she was no longer able to read Gamera's thoughts. Dr. Nagamine said it was likely that more Gyaos eggs had survived, and that Gamera might not be there to save mankind next time. Asagi replied that she was sure Gamera would come again.

Gamera 2: Attack of the Legion

One year after Gamera defeated Gyaos, an alien species called the Symbiotic Legion planted a gigantic Pod in the city of Sapporo, which threatened to launch its seed into outer space and spread the species to other planets, taking out the city in the process. Gamera surfaced from the Sanriku coast and flew to Sapporo, touching down near the Legion Plant. Gamera breathed in the highly concentrated oxygen around the plant and used it to form a powerful high plasma fireball which he fired at the plant. He then approached the plant and uprooted it, then obliterated it with a second fireball. Enraged, countless Soldier Legion swarmed over Gamera, bringing him to the ground. However, the Legion were distracted by a nearby electrical transformer, which enabled Gamera to fly back into the ocean. When the Legion erected a second Pod in Sendai, Gamera flew to the city to stop it before it seeded. However, he was knocked out of the sky when the gigantic claws of the Mother Legion burst from the ground and struck him. Mother Legion revealed herself and battled Gamera to buy time for her colony's plant to seed. Gamera held back Mother Legion from the two nearby helicopters that were evacuating civilians from the city, one of which was carrying Asagi. Mother Legion stabbed Gamera through his shell multiple times with her claws before the second chopper was finally able to take off safely. Legion blasted off part of Gamera's shell with her Microwave Shell beam fired from her horn, then burrowed back underground leaving Gamera badly injured. Undeterred, Gamera made his way to the Legion Plant and uprooted it. Realizing he was too late to stop it from firing its seed, Gamera threw himself in front of the plant's flower, taking the full force of an explosion which leveled the majority of Sendai. Sendai was reduced to a crater, with Gamera sitting motionless and seemingly dead in the center.

Without Gamera to stop the Legion, the JSDF was forced to set up a defense line to prevent the creatures from reaching Tokyo. However, the Mother Legion easily withstood the JSDF's onslaught and destroyed their forces with her Microwave Shell. Asagi insisted that Gamera was still alive and would not let the Legion win, and traveled to the ruins of Sendai with Sapporo Science Center curator Midori Honami. There, they saw many other people who had gathered to pray for Gamera's return. As if answering those prayers, energy began to swirl above Gamera, taking the form of a magatama before flowing into his body. Gamera was revived as Asagi's magatama shattered in her hand, severing her psychic connection to him. Gamera took flight and headed to the outskirts of Tokyo, where the JSDF was in a desperate struggle with the Legion. Gamera landed in front of Mother Legion and bombarded her with plasma fireballs, all of which she blocked with her Interference Wave Claws. He then tried to fight her, but was again overpowered. The JSDF began to support Gamera, opening fire on Mother Legion and severing several of her claws, disabling her ability to block incoming attacks. Meanwhile, an NTT engineer named Obitsu was able to prevent the Soldier Legion swarm from affecting the battle by luring them to a power substation where they were eradicated by missile strikes. Gamera grabbed Mother Legion's horn and with all of his strength was able to tear it off. Mother Legion roared and collapsed to the ground, but her eyes suddenly turned red and she stood right back up. Mother Legion fired red strands of energy from where her horn once was, piercing through Gamera's body. As Mother Legion broke through the last defense line before Tokyo, Gamera summoned a huge amount of glowing energy into his body. The plastron of his shell opened and from it he fired a huge beam of plasma which incinerated Mother Legion, ending the Legion's threat to mankind. Gamera victoriously soared into the sky while the JSDF looked on and celebrated the victory they achieved with the help of Gamera. In the aftermath, Honami noted that Gamera was not specifically protecting humanity but rather all life on Earth, and hoped that mankind would never do anything to make Gamera its enemy.

Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris

By 1999, clutches of Gyaos eggs began to hatch all over the world, giving rise to huge numbers of larger evolved Hyper Gyaos. In addition, a graveyard of what appeared to be Gamera skeletons was discovered on the ocean floor off the coast of Japan. Gamera began to hunt down the Hyper Gyaos across the globe, tracking two of them down into Shibuya. Gamera struck one Gyaos with a high plasma fireball, causing it to crash into a railway station below. Gamera landed and approached the maimed creature, then executed it with a second fireball, causing an explosion that damaged the surrounding area. When the second Gyaos flew overhead and attacked, Gamera began recklessly launching fireballs to attempt to kill it, causing major damage throughout Shibuya. The Gyaos fired its supersonic scalpel, which nearly hit a little boy before Gamera shielded him with his hand. Multiple plasma fireballs connected with Gyaos in rapid succession, causing it to explode and rain chunks of burning flesh onto the terrified citizens below. In his desperate attempt to kill two Hyper Gyaos, Gamera caused thousands of casualties in Shibuya. In the aftermath of the disaster, Mayumi Nagamine met with Asagi Kusanagi, who had been studying abroad over the last three years to try and understand Gamera and the civilization that created him now that her bond with him was severed. She explained to Dr. Nagamine that she had learned of a concept called Mana, which was the energy of all living things on Earth. She explained that Gamera drew power from Mana, and had depleted a huge amount of it to revive himself and destroy the Mother Legion. Conversely, Gyaos thrived in environments where Mana was low, explaining why they had suddenly reappeared in force and why Gamera was so desperate to stop them. Even though she could no longer read Gamera's thoughts, Asagi still believed Gamera was on humanity's side and trusted him to do the right thing. The Japanese government did not feel the same way, and designated Gamera as the JSDF's primary target.

In the meantime, other parties had begun to plot against Gamera. Ayana Hirasaka, a high school student in the village of Minami Asuka in Nara Prefecture, blamed Gamera for the death of her parents during his battle with Super Gyaos in Tokyo four years earlier. In a shrine within the village said to house the demon called the Ryuseicho, Ayana discovered a strange creature that hatched from a stone egg, as well as a black magatama which psychically bonded her to it. She named the creature Iris and vowed to raise it to take revenge on Gamera for her. Iris escaped from the shrine and began feeding on animals in the forest, growing in size and then attempting to fuse itself with Ayana. While Ayana's classmate Tatsunari Moribe rescued her from the fusion, Iris proceeded to go on a rampage through the village, killing half of its inhabitants including Ayana's adoptive family. Nagamine and her old ally Tsutomu Osako traveled to the village in the aftermath of the rampage and recovered tissue samples from Iris, which lab testing showed contained DNA identical to Gyaos prior to the fusion and completely new mutated DNA after. Nagamine determined that the creature must be a mutation of Gyaos, which caught the attention of Cabinet Secretary Mito Asakura and computer programmer Shinya Kurata, both of whom were of the belief that Gamera needed to die in order to save the world from human civilization and that Iris may be the key to killing him. They took Ayana from the hospital and brought her to a shrine in Kyoto, where Asakura tried to find a way to control Iris, believing herself a descendant of the Atlanteans. When Nagamine and Asagi learned about this, they traveled to Kyoto to recover Ayana and try to leave the city with her. They confronted Kurata, who argued that Gyaos existed as a means of population control and that Gamera stood in the way of that. He also discussed the Gamera skeletons that were recently discovered, suggesting they were "beta versions" of Gamera that the Atlanteans created before Gamera himself, who was a living vessel they infused with Mana. Kurata believed that although Gamera was no longer psychically linked to Asagi, he was still connected to humanity, which was his weakness. Nagamine and Asagi took Ayana from the shrine and brought her to Kyoto Station, accompanied by Kurata and Asakura. However, travel was halted by a typhoon that was descending on the city.

The JSDF located Iris in the forest and attacked it, but their platoon was wiped out. Iris took flight and began heading toward Ayana in Kyoto, with the JASDF giving chase. As fighter jets pursued Iris through the air, they were interrupted by the arrival of Gamera. Gamera engaged in a dogfight with Iris, spinning like a sawblade and slicing into his enemy with his shell. Iris countered by firing a supersonic scalpel from its tentacles, drawing blood from Gamera. The order was given for the JSDF to switch its target from Iris to Gamera, and Gamera was promptly shot down. Iris descended into Kyoto unimpeded, preparing to reunite with Ayana. Gamera flew toward Iris and spat fireballs at it, which Iris deflected with its tentacles, setting the surrounding city ablaze. Gamera landed and faced off with Iris, their battle slowly making its way to the Kyoto Station. Ayana looked on from the station and commanded Iris to kill Gamera. Iris impaled Gamera with one of its arm blades, while Asagi begged Ayana to stop. Asakura grabbed Asagi's magatama and attempted to command Iris herself, but she was killed once both monsters crashed through the wall of the station. Kurata too was killed by falling debris, while Nagamine became trapped under a fallen girder. Iris knocked Gamera to the ground where he lay bleeding profusely from the gaping hole in his body. With its foe seemingly defeated, Iris approached Ayana. Moribe reached the station and tried to stop Iris, but the creature threw him aside with its tentacle then forcibly absorbed Ayana into its chest. Ayana saw Iris' rampage in the village from its point of view, and was horrified at what her hatred had unleashed. Just as things seemed hopeless, Gamera plunged his hand into Iris' chest and pulled Ayana free. Enraged, Iris impaled Gamera's hand with one of its arm blades and pinned it against the wall. Gamera watched as Iris drained his blood and began to form copies of his plasma fireballs. Left with no other option, Gamera severed his trapped hand with a plasma fireball, then absorbed Iris' fireballs with his stump arm, forming a fiery fist which he punched directly into Iris' chest wound. Iris shrieked in agony before its entire body exploded, blowing the roof and walls off of the station. Gamera walked over Iris' crushed carcass and set Ayana down gently. Nagamine attempted to resuscitate her, but to no avail. As Asagi looked desperately up at Gamera, he let out a loud roar after which Ayana suddenly regained consciousness. Ayana asked why Gamera would save her, while Moribe ran to her and comforted her. Ayana began to sob and beg forgiveness for what she had done. Gamera turned around and began to walk out of the station. As he did so, a swarm of thousands of Hyper Gyaos began to descend upon Japan, prompting the JSDF to officially change their target from Gamera to Gyaos. As Gamera marched out into the burning city, Nagamine asked Asagi if she could read Gamera's thoughts. While she couldn't, Asagi said she still understood that Gamera would continue to fight, even if alone. Nagamine replied that Gamera wasn't alone as Gamera prepared to face down the Gyaos swarm, with humanity ready to fight by his side once again.

Abilities

Body Mechanisms

  • Cells: Because of his superior ability to regenerate, Gamera can recover quickly even when wounded
  • Shell: Compared to his Showa counterpart its defensive abilities have fallen. It can withstand Gyaos' ultrasonic scalpel, but could not completely withstand the missile assault from the Japanese SDF, resulting in him being knocked from the sky. Legion was also able to damage it with its attacks.
  • Power: Gamera possesses superhuman strength, with physical strength alone Gamera was able to tear off Legion's nose horn.
  • Gamera's Brain: Gamera's semicircular canal was developed to withstand his rotation, even in disk flight his eyes and brain are unaffected by the rapid spinning. Gamera was also made to be very intelligent.
  • Telepathy Brain: Gamera was created to communicate with people using the jewels left behind by the ancient civilization. With these he could sense Asagi Kusanagi's spirit.
  • Thermal Energy Conversion reactor (Plasma Conversion Furnace): Gamera's blood can absorb heat, flames, high voltage current and nuclear fuel. These energies are converted into electrons, protons and atomic nuclei and stored as plasma energy to be used. Life energy from the Earth, Mana, can be converted as well. The power of the total release of Plasma is unknown.
  • Elbow Claw: Sharp nails on both elbows, they are strong enough to tear into the flesh of Gyaos. In 2 they could also damage Legion who lost her Egg Chambers to them. Originally they were tucked away inside the body, in the second movie they were always out by default and in the third movie they had two tips for extra damage.
  • Chromosomal Manipulation: Like the Gyaos of the Heisei era, Gamera could manipulate his own genetic structure to adapt to his environments. Although his mass never change, his appearance altered over the course of the three movies as his body evolved for combat.

Techniques

  • Hard Slap: Hand Strikes mainly used in dog fights.
  • Lashing Claw: An attack to tear into the flesh of the opponent using his sharp claws. Used to take Ayana out of Iris' body.
  • Break Fang: A bite attack using sharp fangs and a strong jaw. The grip is so secure Gyaos had to cut of its own leg to free it self.
  • Shell Cutter: A body attack using the rotating shell and the shell's sharp edges, used against Iris.
  • Plasma Fireball: Gamera's special move, in the throat oxygen and plasma energy from the body's chamber are combine and compressed together. The condensed energy is ejected from the mouth as a fireball with a Ultra Discharge phenomenon.
  • High Plasma: A plasma fireball shot at an output of at least 120% its normal power. It was used in the first movie after absorbing fire from the explosion in the oil refinery and in the second after inhaling the oxygen rich atmosphere. The second instance showcased Gamera's lung power as his inhale created hurricane force winds.
  • Ultimate Plasma: Gamera summons energy from the Earth, mana, and absorbs it into his body, pushing the limits of his Plasma Furnace to the point that Gamera's Plastron (the covering on his stomach) opens and the energy is expelled outward. It is said it can only be used once during Gamera's lifetime, whether this is because of the strain on his body or the effects on the Earth is unknown. Due to the large amount of mana absorbed the technique has adverse affects on the global ecosystem resulting in the outbreaks of Gyaos worldwide.
  • Vanishing Fist: A one-shot technique used against Iris, Gamera absorbed the plasma Iris fired and used the stump of the hand he blew off to create a fist of plasma by manipulating the energy.

Comics

Gamera: The Guardian of the Universe

Isssue #1

One year after defeating Super Gyaos, Gamera was sleeping in the ocean as a shark swam toward his closed eye. However, sensing a Gyaos attack, Gamera awoke, scaring away the shark, and flew up from the ocean to Guanajota, Mexico. Upon locating Gyaos, Gamera flew up behind the beast and blasted it with a fireball. The creature turned around to face its aggressor and returned fire. Gyaos then sprang on Gamera, and knocked him to the ground. Gamera however, was able to use one of his tusks to stab Gyaos' shin, which caused it to retreat long enough for Gamera to stand back up as the frightened people fled the ruined city.

Isssue #2

Gyaos charged at Gamera with a headbutt, but Gamera grabbed Gyaos' shoulders and lead it into a roll that Gamera used to slam Gyaos into the water. Gyaos managed to get back up, but it then saw Gamera blasting through the air toward it. Gamera tackled Gyaos so that it fell backwards into a tanker ship in the harbor, and then blasted upward and spat his fire blast at Gyaos, igniting the oil in the tanker and bringing the entire Guanajota harbor to a boil. Gamera sustained the blast on the harbor, and the helpless Gyaos clone was effectively obliterated. With his job done, Gamera then turned around and began flying out over the Pacific Ocean. While flying, Gamera became aware of the alien Zigra attacking an envoy of French warships, and took action against it. Gamera blasted Zigra with a fireball, and began to speed toward it for an attack, but Zigra hit Gamera with its Tri-Color Ray Blast, and Gamera was incapacitated and began to sink into the ocean.

Isssue #3

Before Gamera hit the bottom, a French submarine fired at his head, causing him to wake up and to wake up mad. Gamera burst through the surface of the water faster than Zigra could react, and bit the beast in its throat. Gamera then flew away with the helpless Zigra in his jaws. When Gamera reached the Pacific Ring of Fire, He dropped Zigra into an active volcano. Later, in Paris, France Gamera flew in under the command of Dr. Greta karbone, who held the Atlantean magatama, and through Viras' command could use it to control Gamera. Gamera then began to fly into planes and missiles and other types of fire in order to defend Viras during its destruction of the city.

Isssue #4

Gamera continued to defend Viras, and flew headfirst into a fighter jet, the impact from which caused Gamera to bleed from his mouth. Gamera willingly threw himself into the onslaught of incoming fire until Karbone was separated from the Magatama. Then, with his shell smoking from his defenselessly having sustained endless attacks, he turned around in the air and prepared to blast fire at Viras. However, Viras shot its electric ray at him, and the weakened Gamera went down. He began to try to crawl toward his adversary, but was too drained to continue. However a man by the name of Gusano, out of love for the possessed Karbone, tore out an alien spaceship thruster that was about to explode, and threw it at Gamera, warning him that the fire he needed to survive was as dangerous and all-consuming as Gusano's love for Karbone had been. Gusano died in the explosion, but it proved to be just what Gamera needed. Reinvigorated, Gamera picked up a building and threw it at Viras, despite its attacks. Gamera then bit one of Viras' tentacles and with one flip of his head, sent the beast flying. It landed on one of the steeples of the Cathedral of Notre Dame. With the day won, Gamera flew away.

Gamera vs. Barugon

Gamera appears in the Gamera vs. Barugon manga, which takes place between the events of Gamera 2: Attack of Legion and Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris. The comic serves as a retelling of Gamera vs. Barugon to incorporate it into the Heisei timeline.


This is a list of references for Gamera (Heisei Trilogy). 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]