Gamera's History
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.
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.
In 1997, 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 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, Mother Legion easily withstood the JSDF's onslaught and destroyed their forces with her Microwave Shell as she travelled south through the Kanto region towards her target. Asagi insisted that Gamera was still alive and would not let the Legion win, and travelled 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 travelled to Ashikaga in Tochigi Prefecture, 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.
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 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, however, 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 after her dead pet cat 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 to be 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 the stump of his 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.
