Top 5 Godzilla Villains: Number 5

Written by Stu Cooper

With the upcoming release of Godzilla I figured I would countdown my top 5 favorite Godzilla villains. As a life long Godzilla fan, I love thinking about this kind of stuff. The villains in the Godzilla franchise are often what makes the films so memorable. It was always amazing seeing Godzilla mow down a city, but introduce some weird alien monster and you have an extra added bit of entertainment. Over the course of 5 days, leading up to the release of the new Godzilla film, I will be counting down. Today I start with number 5...GIGAN!

GIGAN first appeared in "Godzilla vs. Gigan" in 1972. "Godzilla vs. Gigan" is considered one of the worst entries in the Godzilla series, mostly due to it's slow pacing and bad effects. I on the other hand, love this film. I am slightly biased because as a child my local Blockbuster only had two godzilla films, "Godzilla 1985" and "Godzilla vs. Gigan". I grew to love Gigan and Ghidorah because of this. In the film, Gigan is sent to earth, along with King Ghidorah. The monsters are used as tools of destruction for yet another alien takeover on earth. This time the attackers are weird cockroaches that live inside human skin, and did I mention they live in a giant statue of Godzilla?!

Gigan then later appeared in "Godzilla vs. Megalon" in 1973. Gigan appeared to help Megalon try and defeat Godzilla. This film is also considered one of the weaker entries and I don't really remember much about Gigan's role in the film other than the fact that it was small. Gigan would not appear in another Godzilla film until 2004's epic monster rumble "Godzilla: Final Wars". In that film he actually sported a brand new look and ended up being the most intimidating monster in the movie. Fans reacted positively to the makeover and many consider Final Wars to be the perfect final entry to the TOHO Godzilla series. It's unclear if we will ever see Gigan again, but if the new Godzilla film is successful then anything is possible. Gigan did appear one other time, on a show called "Zone Fighter" in which he fought the star monster of the show. I just recently discovered that series so that is something I may have to revisit on here. Gigan has also appeared in a number of Godzilla video games. I remember him most in the NES lost gem "Godzilla". He was one of the bosses, which was great for me as a kid since he was one of the few monsters I was familiar with at a young age.

Gigan comes in at number 5 and it's because of his unique look, deadly weaponry, and frequent appearances in the Godzilla universe. The guy has a chainsaw in his chest and hooks for arms. Do you really need to think about how badass that is? Gigan is a deadly combination of awesomeness. Check back tomorrow to see what monster comes in at number four! At the end of the countdown I will be posting a review of the NEW Godzilla film!