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| Species: | Giant Mutated Praying Mantis |
| Height: | Showa: 50 Meters Millennium: 40 Meters |
| Length: | Showa: 65 Meters Millennium: 90 Meters |
| Weight: | Showa: 2,800 Metric Tons Millennium: 20,000 Metric Tons |
| Appearances: | Son of Godzilla (1967) All Monsters Attack (1969) Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972) Godzilla: Final Wars (2004) |
Summary
Kamacuras (Kamakirasu) is a praying mantis kaiju who first appeared in the 1967 Toho Godzilla film, Son of Godzilla.
The result of native giant praying mantises being mutated by United Nations weather-controlling experiments on Sollgel Island, three Kamacuras unearthed Minilla's egg and forced the infant to hatch prematurely, attracting the attention of Godzilla. Godzilla killed two of the Kamacuras, while the surviving one continued to stalk the island's human inhabitants. Eventually, the last Kamacuras was captured and killed by an even more deadly predator, the giant spider Kumonga. The Kamacuras reappeared in All Monsters Attack, where they inhabited Monster Island within the dreams of Ichiro Miki. Kamacuras' next appearance would come 35 years later in Godzilla: Final Wars, where a single individual was under the control of the Xiliens and sent to attack Paris. Kamacuras would later battle Godzilla in Kanto, Japan, only to be easily defeated. Kamacuras also exists in the world of the GODZILLA anime trilogy, in which it was the first kaiju to menace humanity, attacking New York City in 1999.
Name
Kamacuras's name comes from kamakiri, the Japanese word for "mantis." In-universe, they are given this name by reporter Goro Maki. Kamacuras' unmutated state is simply referred to as the Giant Praying Mantis (Ōkamakiri).
In both Frontier Enterprises' international English dub and Titan Productions' U.S. English dub for Son of Godzilla, the Kamacuras are called Gimantis, a portmanteau of "giant" and "mantis." Toho eventually trademarked "Kamacuras" as the monsters' official English name, and this name has since replaced "Gimantis" in English-language media. "Kamacuras" was used in the English dub for All Monsters Attack and has been used ever since. The Kamacuras featured in Godzilla: Final Wars has been denoted Kamacuras (2nd Generation).
Design
Kamacuras is a gigantic praying mantis, characterized by its large sickle-shaped claws and round orange eyes. In the Showa series, Kamacuras' body is reddish-brown and its skin has a rough, bumpy texture. Kamacuras has antennae protruding from its forehead and a row of spikes running from the top of its head down its back. Kamacuras' mouth consists of upper and lower jaws flanked by moving mandibles which are covered in large reddish-orange bristles. Kamacuras wings extend from the top of its abdomen and move up and down like a bellows, enabling it to fly. The top side of its wings are brown like the rest of its body, while the interior membranes are a lighter orange color. The monster's underbelly is covered in dark brown hair, while the bottom of its abdomen is hairless and orange, with a ridged texture. Kamacuras' right arm is sharp and pointed like a spear, while its left claw is larger and shaped like a sickle. The Showa Kamacuras is 50 meters tall, the same height as Godzilla at the time.
In Godzilla: Final Wars, Kamacuras retains the Showa incarnation's large, round, orange eyes and the row of spikes running down its back. However, its skin is now light green with a smooth texture, while the insides of its claws and the bottom of its feet are light reddish-brown. The segments in its body are more visible and its body has a clearly-defined exoskeleton. Rather than jutting forth from its forehead like in the Showa series, Kamacuras' antennae point upward from the top of its head. The spikes on its head are not centered, but rather are located in a row above each eye. The creature's mouth is completely redesigned, with the mandibles flanking its upper and lower jaws reduced to small but sharp tooth-like spikes. It also has a set of approximately four fangs protruding downward from its upper jaw. Kamacuras has four separate wings rather than two individual wings. The larger pair of wings which conceals the other while Kamacuras is not in flight is green like the rest of the monster's body, while the secondary pair is clear. The most noteworthy distinction between the Millennium and Showa Kamacuras is the former's claws, which are both sickle shaped rather than one being a sickle and the other a spear. This stems from a decision by designer Shinji Nishikawa, who designed Kamacuras with two sickles to enable it to strike Anguirus in his "Anguirus Ball" state during a scene that was cut from the finished film. The Millennium Kamacuras is shorter and lighter than its Showa counterpart, and is not even half the height of Godzilla in the film.
Personality
Kamacuras has been consistently portrayed as a villain throughout all of its media appearances.
In the Showa series, Kamacuras is extremely aggressive and hostile to other creatures. Even before being mutated, the giant mantises tended to wander near the scientists' outpost on Sollgel Island and were implied to be dangerous to humans. Almost immediately after their mutation, the Kamacuras forcibly unearth and break open Minilla's egg, then proceed to toy with and beat the infant rather than simply eat him. When Godzilla arrives to save Minilla, the Kamacuras refuse to back down and attack him, with the last one retreating only after both of its comrades are killed. This lone Kamacuras continues to stalk and harass the scientists, and even goes out of its way to attack Saeko Matsumiya as she is gathering herbs. When Minilla tries to save her, Kamacuras seems to mock and taunt the weaker monster before ruthlessly attacking him. It also demonstrates cowardice when it immediately retreats once Godzilla arrives. The Kamacuras that appear in Ichiro Miki's dream in All Monsters Attack display the same behavior, with one Kamacuras pursuing Ichiro through the jungle. According to Godzilla vs. Gigan, at least one Kamacuras is living in harmony with the other monsters of Monster Island by 1972.
In Godzilla: Final Wars, Kamacuras acts only under the control of the Xiliens, who command it to attack Paris and later to try to fight Godzilla.
Origin
In Son of Godzilla, Kamacuras originated as a species of two-meter-long praying mantises native to Sollgel Island. When a United Nations-sanctioned weather experiment conducted on the island went awry, the resulting heatwave and radiation storm mutated the monsters into the 50 meter kaiju known as Kamacuras. Only three Kamacuras are seen on the island and all three are eventually killed, but at least one other Kamacuras was captured and relocated to Monster Island by 1972.
In Godzilla: Final Wars, Kamacuras is one of the monsters controlled by the Xiliens. Only one Kamacuras is ever seen, and no details about its origin are ever discussed in the film. However, the film's theater program states that Kamacuras is a mutated Japanese giant mantis.
History
Showa Era
A group of scientists working for the United Nations established a research outpost on the remote Sollgel Island to carry out "Operation Sherbet," an experiment to try and artificially alter the climate and thus allow for crops to be grown in once-infertile lands and potentially solve world hunger. The members of the operation soon learned that the forests of the island were inhabited by huge human-sized praying mantises which were active at night. The men learned to stay out of the jungle at night lest they risk being attacked by one of the mantises. One night after reporter Goro Maki arrived on the island to cover the story, he heard the hiss of one of the mantises from outside the camp and tried to approach. The other men immediately warned him of the danger and opened fire on the mantis with their rifles before it made its way back into the jungle. The next day, the team members carried out the first trial run of their climate-altering experiment. However, they received radio interference from somewhere on the island, delaying the detonation of the Radioactivity Sonde, producing the opposite intended effect and triggering a massive heatwave on the island. This man-made heatwave included storms of boiling radioactive rain that ravaged the island. The rain had a different effect on the mantises though, mutating them into 50 meter kaiju that Maki dubbed "Kamacuras." Three Kamacuras gathered around a large mound on the island and began to dig it up with their claws, eventually unearthing a colossal egg. The Kamacuras wasted no time in breaking open the egg with their claws, forcibly hatching Minilla, an infant member of Godzilla's species whose brainwave patterns had produced the earlier radio interference. The Kamacuras toyed with the helpless infant, smacking him around with their claws and stomping on him. Fortunately, Minilla's distress calls drew Godzilla to the island, who promptly confronted the Kamacuras to rescue Minilla. The three insect kaiju attacked Godzilla in tandem, but their combined might was not enough to overcome Godzilla's raw strength. Godzilla burned one of the Kamacuras alive with his atomic breath, and dismembered another by repeatedly slamming it on the ground before incinerating the carcass with his atomic breath. Realizing it was outmatched, the surviving Kamacuras took flight and escaped. While no match for Godzilla, the Kamacuras continued to menace the humans, stalking them as they tried to repair one of the telecommunication towers on the island and at one point attacking their camp. The team members took refuge in a cave inhabited by Saeko Matsumiya, the daughter of an archaeologist who once lived on the island. When Saeko went outside one day to gather herbs, Kamacuras appeared and threatened her. As she tried to flee, Saeko lost her footing and collapsed, after which Kamacuras approached. However, Saeko had managed to summon Minilla with her call, who arrived to save her. Unintimidated by the infant, Kamacuras taunted Minilla. Minilla fired an atomic smoke ring at Kamacuras' head, which only seemed to provoke it. Kamacuras approached Minilla and began savagely beating him with its claws until Godzilla arrived to back up his adopted son. Godzilla scared off the giant mantis with a blast of atomic breath, while Maki helped Saeko back to safety.
During his clash with Kamacuras, Minilla unwittingly kicked a boulder into the Valley of Kumonga, awakening the giant spider from his subterranean slumber. Kumonga initially menaced the humans before trapping Minilla in its webbing. Kamacuras flew overhead as Kumonga closed in on his prey, only to be pulled from the sky by Kumonga's web. Kumonga turned his attention to Kamacuras and stabbed it with his venomous stinger, killing it almost instantly.
A small pack of Kamacuras appeared on Monster Island in the dreams of Ichiro Miki, where they attacked and were defeated by Godzilla. A single Kamacuras escaped the battle and chased Ichiro through the jungle, causing him to fall into a pit, where he was rescued by Minilla.
A Kamacuras later turned up on Monster Island in 1972, living in peace with the other monsters.
Millennium Era
In the year 20XX, Kamacuras appeared suddenly in Paris as other kaiju simultaneously attacked the world's major cities. The Earth Defense Force deployed the flying battleship Eclair to combat the monster, only for Kamacuras to be suddenly teleported away by an unidentified flying object. A huge mothership soon appeared over EDF headquarters in Tokyo, and its inhabitants revealed themselves to the people of the world. Calling themselves Xiliens, the extraterrestrials claimed to have saved humanity from the rampaging monsters, and warned that an asteroid called Gorath would soon impact and destroy the Earth. The EDF and the rest of mankind readily accepted the aliens and their story, but a group inside the EDF learned that the Xiliens had actually infiltrated the EDF and replaced many of Earth's leaders with duplicates. When they exposed the Xiliens' deception on live television, the Xilien staff officer assassinated the Xilien Commander and assumed the role of the Controller of Planet X, unleashing all of the kaiju, whom the Xiliens had controlled the whole time, back upon the Earth. Kamacuras was redeployed in Paris, where it succeeded in bringing down the Eclair with the help of Xilien Fighters.
The remnants of the EDF mounted a desperate resistance against the invasion, commandeering the Gotengo and using it to free Godzilla from Area G in Antarctica so he could defeat the Xiliens' monsters. After defeating Gigan in Antarctica, Zilla in Sydney, and Kumonga in New Guinea, Godzilla reached Japan and landed at Manazuru. The Xiliens deployed Kamacuras to intercept him, and the mantis kaiju perched itself on a bridge overlooking the sea. As Godzilla arrived and brought with him a massive tidal wave, Kamacuras flew to safety before the bridge was washed away. Kamacuras hid in a nearby hillside, camouflaging itself among the trees, before flying at Godzilla in an attempted surprise attack. Godzilla grabbed Kamacuras by the claw and threw him into a power pylon, which impaled the kaiju through the chest and killed it.
Trivia
- Kamacuras, Kumonga, Destoroyah and Manda were meant to be part of the Trendmasters Godzilla toy line, but the company went bankrupt beforehand. Prototypes of Kamacuras' toy exist.
- A vaguely humanoid race of mantis creatures who heavily resemble the Kamacuras appear in the 1998 novel Godzilla at World's End, serving as guards and soldiers to the Ancient Ones and their mutated human agent Zoe Kemmering. Because of the similarities between these smaller insects and the much larger Kamacuras, these beings are referred to as "Kamakites" by the book's protagonists.
- Due to a stock footage mistake, Kamacuras makes a brief appearance in Destroy All Monsters when Kumonga is arriving at Mount Fuji.
- Kamacuras is featured in concept art included in The Art of Godzilla: King of the Monsters, along with other established kaiju such as Anguirus and Gamera.[16] In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, director Michael Dougherty said, "We had thought about using some additional Toho creatures to give them some cameos but every Toho creature comes with a price tag. It was a choice to either shell out more money simply for the rights for these creatures to show up on screen for a few seconds, or embrace the opportunity and the challenge to create new creatures."
