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| Species: | Giant Crustacean |
| Height: | Showa: 50 Meters Millennium: 50 Meters |
| Length: | Showa: 60 Meters Millennium: 100 Meters |
| Weight: | Showa: 23,000 Metric Tons Millennium: 50,000 Metric Tons |
| Appearances: | Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (1966) Destroy All Monsters (1969) Godzilla: Final Wars (2004) |
Summary
Ebirah (Ebira) is a giant crustacean kaiju who first appeared in the 1966 Toho Godzilla series film, Ebirah, Horror of the Deep.
Ebirah was the primary monster antagonist in Ebirah, Horror of the Deep, a huge crustacean mutated by nuclear waste produced by the Red Bamboo's activities on Letchi Island. Ebirah patrolled the island's waters, destroying any watercraft that tried to enter or leave the island, except for the Red Bamboo's ships, which released a yellow juice that repelled him. When Godzilla was awakened from his slumber in a cave on the island, Ebirah battled him twice, losing both times. In their second battle, Godzilla removed both of Ebirah's claws and forced him to retreat to the ocean depths. Ebirah made a stock footage appearance in All Monsters Attack, where he battled Godzilla on Monster Island within the dreams of Ichiro Miki. Ebirah returned 35 years later for the final entry in the Millennium series, Godzilla: Final Wars, in which he was a mind-controlled pawn of the Xiliens. Ebirah was initially defeated by the Earth Defense Force's mutant soldiers at Tokai, and was deployed again to assist Hedorah against Godzilla in Tokyo Bay.
Name
Ebirah's name is derived from the Japanese word ebi, referring to several types of crustacean such as lobsters, shrimp, and crayfish. The "-ra" part of Ebirah's name is a common suffix for kaiju names. The Ebirah featured in Godzilla: Final Wars is denoted as Ebirah (2nd Generation) (Ebira Nidaime) in the book Godzilla Dictionary [New Edition].
Design
Ebirah generally looks like a giant lobster or shrimp. His body is red all throughout, and he has one pincer that is bigger than the other one. He also has two antennae and a giant nose-like shell piece. Ebirah additionally has multiple legs and multiple segments in his body, leading up to a normal lobster tail. In Ebirah, Horror of the Deep specifically, Ebirah's body is wide and his body segments are not very pronounced, his right claw is more massive than the left one, he has crustacean whiskers, eyes on stalks, and about six legs. Ebirah also has big eyebrows and spikes on its back, as well as fairly long scythe-like pointy crest, and seems to have a mouth like Mothra's, in that it is flipped on its side.
In Godzilla: Final Wars, Ebirah has a large goblin nose-like crest, one claw that is much longer than the other, eight large legs, and 16-20 spikes along his length. Ebirah's eyes are set into the head and he has crustacean-like antennae and mouth. Ebirah's underside is a very dark red, almost brown color. The body segments are clearly distinguished and separated, making it more closely resemble real-life crustaceans.
Personality
Ebirah is an extraordinarily violent and aggressive creature, destroying any watercraft which come within his vicinity and often preying on fleeing humans by skewering them with his claw and eating them whole. Ebirah defends the waters around Letchi Island vigilantly, something the Red Bamboo exploit to prevent intruders from reaching the island. Only using a yellow juice processed from one of the island's fruits can the Red Bamboo safely bypass Ebirah. Ebirah's aggressiveness causes him to challenge the larger and stronger Godzilla on two occasions. This proves to be his undoing, as Godzilla defeats him in both instances and brutally maims him in their second encounter. During their battles, Ebirah exhibits extensive body language as he seemingly tries to both intimidate and mock Godzilla.
In Godzilla: Final Wars, Ebirah acts only under the mind control of the Xiliens, who direct him to attack Tokai and later battle alongside Hedorah against Godzilla.
Origin
Ebirah was a crustacean that was mutated to colossal size by the nuclear waste produced by the Red Bamboo's operations on Letchi Island. The Red Bamboo used Ebirah's presence to their advantage, keeping him in the island's waters to prevent any ships from entering or leaving. The Red Bamboo released a yellow juice from their own ships that repelled Ebirah, allowing them to enter or leave the island's waters at their leisure.
History
Showa Era
Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (1966)
While sailing the stolen yacht the Yahlen through the South Seas in order to find his lost brother Yata, young Ryota and his shipmates found themselves caught in a storm in which Ebirah's massive claw rose from the sea and crushed the yacht. The four men escaped and washed ashore on the seemingly-deserted Letchi Island, but as they explored they witnessed members of the Red Bamboo terrorist organization unloading a shipment of slaves abducted from Infant Island onto a dock. Some of the prisoners attempted to escape, and all but two were killed by a machine gunner. The Red Bamboo captain Ryui allowed the survivors to steal a boat and try to escape so that the other prisoners could witness their ultimate security measure. Ebirah rose from the sea and smashed the boat with his claw. As the two men tried to swim away, Ebirah impaled them on his claw and shoved them into his mouth before submerging once more. Ryui warned the islanders that the same fate awaited them if they managed to escape the island. In the confusion, one of the prisoners, Dayo, managed to escape and encountered Ryota and the others. They fled from a party of Red Bamboo soldiers and hid in a cave overlooking the ocean. Inside, they discovered Godzilla hibernating. When attempts to battle the Red Bamboo themselves resulted in one of them being captured and Ryota being carried off by a balloon, the remaining three decided to awaken Godzilla to handle the Red Bamboo for them. Using a sword as a makeshift lightning rod, the group tied a copper wire to it and strung it down to Godzilla. When a storm neared the island, a bolt of lightning struck the sword and successfully awakened Godzilla.
The King of the Monsters immediately tried to leave the island, but was met by Ebirah who guarded the nearby waters. Realizing he had to go through Ebirah, Godzilla began tossing boulders at the giant crustacean. However, Ebirah was easily able to catch and toss back the projectiles with his claw, and the two kaiju engaged in a rock-throwing fight. Finally, Godzilla charged into the water to fight Ebirah hand-to-hand. While Godzilla was the stronger of the two, Ebirah was in his element and succeeded in dragging Godzilla under the surface. Godzilla fought himself free and eventually caused Ebirah to retreat by firing his atomic breath into the water, boiling his foe alive. Rather than pursue, Godzilla went back ashore on Letchi Island to rest on a cliff. Nita, the castaway who had been captured by the Red Bamboo, found himself imprisoned alongside the Infant Islanders. They told him that they were forced to process a yellow fruit found on the island into a juice that repelled Ebirah. This way, the Red Bamboo were able to come and go at their leisure while anyone else venturing to or from the island was attacked by Ebirah. This gave Nita the idea to use the fruit's leaves to produce a false yellow juice, which the other prisoners quickly put into action. The Red Bamboo's attempts to fight Godzilla backfired and led the enraged kaiju to destroy their base. The Red Bamboo command members activated the island's self-destruct and absconded with the newest batch of yellow juice as they fled the island in a ship. However, the juice which the ship released was Nita's placebo liquid and the boat was promptly sunk by Ebirah, putting an end to the Red Bamboo.
Alerted to Ebirah's presence, Godzilla entered the sea to confront the crustacean kaiju once again. Godzilla and Ebirah exchanged blows, before Ebirah once more dragged Godzilla below the surf. Using a rock from the sea floor, Godzilla bashed Ebirah's head until his enemy released him and allowed him to resurface. The kaiju clashed once more with their heads above the water, Godzilla finally using his superior strength to bite and tear off one of Ebirah's claws. As Ebirah reeled in agony, Godzilla proceeded to rip off his other claw, forcing the maimed Ebirah to swim off in defeat.
Ebirah appeared in the sea near Monster Island alongside the Giant Eagle in Ichiro's dream. He fought Godzilla briefly, and retreated back into the water after Godzilla defeated him.
Millennium Era
Ebirah was one of the many kaiju under the control of the Xiliens when they invaded Earth in 20XX. He destroyed a factory near Tokai. The JSDF tried to destroy Ebirah, but the immense crustacean was too powerful, knocking over buildings in order to destroy tanks and resisting weaponry with its durable exoskeleton. The Earth Defense Force's mutant soldiers were then called to stop the monster. The mutants successfully defeated Ebirah with specialized hand-held Maser Cannons and were about to kill him before he was suddenly teleported away. The Xiliens then revealed themselves to the people of Earth and claimed that they destroyed the monsters to save humanity. However, the EDF soon discovered that the monsters were controlled by the Xiliens, who aimed to conquer the planet. The Gotengo then freed Godzilla from Antarctica so he could fight the controlled kaiju. The plan was a success and Godzilla successfully defeated most of the kaiju as he made his way to Japan. Ebirah and Hedorah were sent to destroy Godzilla in Tokyo Bay. However, Godzilla blasted them out of the water with his atomic breath and the duo crashed into a building, with Ebirah accidentally piercing Hedorah's eye with his pincer. Godzilla then emerged from the waves and fired another blast of atomic breath, destroying both Ebirah and Hedorah.
Trivia
- Ebirah was Toho's first crustacean kaiju. Others that followed included Ganimes and Destoroyah.
- Several publicity photos for Ebirah, Horror of the Deep depict Godzilla lifting and throwing Ebirah over his head, though this never takes place in the film. A publicity photo for Godzilla: Final Wars also depicts the same situation. This is referenced in the comic Godzilla: Rulers of Earth, in which Godzilla tosses Ebirah over his head as the two monsters come ashore in Sao Paulo.
- In Godzilla: Final Wars, Ebirah is nearly killed by Ozaki and the other mutants' Maser Rifles, making Ebirah one of the few monsters to be defeated by humanity without the use of vehicles, superweapons like the Oxygen Destroyer, or other monsters.
