Gyaos, (pronounced Gao-ss or Guy-os in the UK special edition DVD) is the name of several monsters from Daiei's Gamera film series, introduced in their 1967 production Gamera vs. Gyaos and one of Gamera's most famous opponents. It is the only Gamera foe to appear in each of the Showa, Heisei, and Millennium Gamera eras.
Gyaos resembles a giant vampire bat creature, with a flattened, arrow shaped head, leathery wings with three claws on each, taloned feet and a flat tail. It is reddish brown in both incarnations. The Gyaos in Gamera: Guardian of the Universe had a more streamlined appearance, with larger wings and a longer neck, as well as red eyes after its evolution in Tokyo.
In Gamera vs. Gyaos, Gyaos appeared in Japan from a large cavern, and feasted on blood - principally that of livestock and human beings. Soon, Gamera confronted Gyaos, and after a battle, Gyaos was forced to flee and Gamera was forced into the ocean to recover. It is soon learned that light causes Gyaos' skin to shrink, so the light of the city stadium of Nagoya kept Gyaos at bay. Gamera soon returned to finish Gyaos off and, after a battle in the air, Gyaos cut off his own foot to escape from the sun.
The protagonists developed a plan to place artificial blood on a rooftop in Nagoya. The plan was to keep Gyaos drinking the blood for so long that the sun would come up and kill him. But Gyaos proved more cunning than originally thought and used a strange fog attack to protect himself from the sun. The next plan was to lure Gamera to Gyaos' lair in the forest by setting the forest alight. Gyaos used his fog attack to put out the flames, but Gamera arrived and eventually defeated Gyaos by throwing the beast into a volcano.
Gamera vs. Guiron
A silver Space Gyaos (in reality the repainted suit from Gamera vs Gyaos) appeared briefly in Gamera vs. Guiron, a victim of Gamera's titular opponent. A swarm of Space Gyaos had attacked the planet Terra, an undiscovered planet in our solar system, being kept at bay only by the Terrans' guardian monster Guiron. After Gamera had killed Guiron, the planet was seemingly abandoned to the Gyaos. The Space Gyaos possessed similar abilities to their counterpart on planet Earth, however, the most notable difference was that direct exposure to sunlight had no adverse effect on the Space Gyaos
A transformed Gamera-sized Gyaos called Super Gyaos that only appeared in Guardian of the Universe
In 1995 Gyaos was revived with Gamera for the first Heisei era Gamera film, Gamera: Guardian of the Universe, which follows a story similar to the one above. In this the Gyaos were reimagined as creations of the ancient Atlantis civilization designed as weapons. However, the asexual Gyaos (referred to as the Shadow of Evil) reproduced out of control and destroyed their creators. As a last ditch defense, they created Gamera, who eliminated the Gyaos, although not in time to save his creators. However, clutches of Gyaos eggs survived and one clutch hatched in the modern world. After killing and eating all the inhabitants of Himigami Island and attacking the mainland, the Gyaos were lured to a domed stadium in Tokyo. Gamera, sensing his ancient foe, awoke as well and made his way to Tokyo. Gamera attempted to stop the Gyaos, killing two, but was hindered by the misguided military, who considered him to be the greater threat. Eventually Gamera killed the last Gyaos, which had nested in Tokyo and grown to a height of 85 meters, after a long and vicious battle. This Gamera size Gyaos is often referred to as the Super Gyaos. The Super Gyaos would also appear in flashback scenes in Gamera 3, and would eventually be revealed as the real killer of Ayana's parents.
Gamera 2: Advent of Legion
The Gyaos do not appear in Gamera 2, but they are mentioned and are the subject of a book.
Dark Horse Gamera Comic Series
During the short comics series Dark Horse did for Gamera. The Gyaos that appears in the first two comics as Gamera's main opponent was a clone of the one from Gamera: Guardian of the Universe, created by an evil genius. Once Gamera defeated it, the scientist collected the DNA and used it to create more monsters. The only one that survived a lab accident was Gamera's final opponent in the comic series: the Heisei Viras.
Gamera 3: Revenge of Irys
The newly evolved Gyaos, Hyper Gyaos, that appeared in Revenge of Irys
The Gyaos returned in a new, evolved form known as the Hyper Gyaos in Gamera 3: Awakening of Irys, after Gamera's Mana blast, used to destroy Legion in Gamera 2: Advent of Legion, drained the earth's energy, creating the right conditions for more Gyaos to hatch in different locations throughout the world, such as the Philippines. Early in the film, Gamera battles a pair of Hyper Gyaos in the Shibuya district of Tokyo, killing them but also killing and injuring as many as fifteen to twenty thousand civilians. After Gamera defeated Irys (itself theorised to be a Gyaos mutation or evolution) in Kyoto, thousands of Gyaos swarmed towards Japan, intent on killing Gamera once and for all.
Gamera 4: The Truth
A one of-a-kind Gyaos that was the strongest of his kind. He made his appearance in "Gamera 4: The Truth".
This movie was the "UNOFFICIAL" ending for the Gamera Heisei Era.
The film begins with the SDF ordered to fly and attack the hundreds of Gyaos
creatures that flying around in the sky from "Gamera 3: Revenge of Irys" As the Air Force doesn't have a chance, Gamera flies and now has 2 fire arms! Gamera attacks and destroys some of the Gyaos creatures, but he is outnumbered.
In a last chance effort, Gamera goes into his shell and spins faster and faster creating an air whirlpool, capturing all but 5 of the Gyaos! Gamera opens the stomach section of his shell and destroys them all with a huge fire exhaust used during Gamera 2: Attack of Legion in Sendai. The remaining Gyaos attack Gamera's opened section with their laser rays, except out of no where, a larger, white, 6th Gyaos creature appears and destroys all of what Gamera has left. This is the Albino Gyaos and Gamera falls down to the sea coast and dies.
Albino Gyaos is much smarter and goes after the detective after he takes a bath in his apartment, but apparently doesn't kill him. Albino Gyaos attacks Yokohama and the destroyed Gamera regenerates just in time to take him on! The battle ensues and Gamera destroys Albino Gyaos, but then Gamera attacks the humans and Yokohama until he explodes! It ends with a radio broadcast informing us that Japan is safe and all the creatures are gone. At the end of the movie, it is revealed that there are several Gamera eggs found in the crater Gamera created when he exploded.
The Gyaos also appear in the most recent Gamera film, Gamera The Brave. This appearance marks Gyaos the only kaiju other than Gamera to appear in the Showa, Heisei and Millennium series of kaiju films in some shape or form.
Other Appearances
Gyaos also appeared in the short-lived Gamera comic series by Dark Horse. It was the initial foe faced by Gamera, and from whose DNA helped spawn the creature Viras.
The Neo Gyaos Fighting Gamera in "Gamera 2000".
A new species of Gyaos is introduced in the Video Game "Gamera 2000". This Gyaos resembles a two-headed version of Super Gyaos.
Another species of Gyaos called Tera Gyaos was introduced in a game on Toho Kingdom called Gamera vs. Barugon, where Gamera fights the monster.
Powers and abilities
In both incarnations the Gyaos have been shown to be astonishingly capable flyers, able to fly incredibly fast and perform agile aerial maneuvers with ease. Also, both Showa and Heisei versions have been able to spit an amazingly precise beam from its mouth, which is actually created by the Gyaos' supersonic scream, apparently able to resonate at 3 million hertz. Although they are nocturnal the Gyaos can overcome the sun - emitting a fog-like gas to obscure the sun and douse flames, while the Heisei version simply hyper-evolved itself to gain protective lenses over its eyes. Interestingly, the Space Gyaos in Gamera vs. Guiron seems to have no such aversion to sunlight: logical, given that it would be impossible for a space creature to avoid sun and star light. The Showa version also has a regenerative ability, as it was able to regrow its severed foot after only an hour. The Heisei version showed several evolutions: it was asexual and could reproduce on its own. While not shown to be regenerative, the Super Gyaos is immensely physically tough, able to easily shrug off missile attacks, and even survive orbital re-entry.
Albino Gyaos creates a sonic shield that disables Gamera's fireball
Millennium
A pack of Gyaos attacking Gamera
Gyaos dying in flames
Roar
Trivia
The Super Gyaos in Gamera: Guardian of the Universe is actually the first suitmation monster in a kaiju eiga film to be played by a woman, Yumi Kanayama.
The production team of the Heisei Gamera trilogy decided on Gyaos as an opponent as they believed that Gyaos was Gamera's most famous foe, having appeared in at least four of the Showa Gamera films.
