The Giant Condor (Japanese: 大コンドル, Hepburn: Ōkondoru), also known as the Giant Eagle (Japanese: 大ワシ, Hepburn: Ōwashi), or simply Ookondoru is a Japanese monster, or kaiju, featured very briefly in the 1966 Godzilla film Ebirah, Horror of the Deep.
Overview
Design
Shinichi Sekizawa created the Giant Condor as a reference to the Pteranodon seen in the original 1933 film King Kong.[1] Rankin-Bass rejected the script, but since Toho had already started making the sets and props for the film, they swapped Kong with Godzilla as the opponent to face off against, and Toho carried on with production of Ebirah, Horror of the Deep.
The Giant Condor was portrayed using a remodeled Rodan prop which appeared in Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (1964) and Invasion of Astro-Monster (1965), following its use as the monster Litra in Tsuburaya Productions' TV series Ultra Q.[2][3]
Film history
Showa era (1966-1969)
Originally, the Giant Condor was meant to be an opponent for King Kong, as he originally featured in the script for Ebirah, Horror of the Deep, but was replaced with Godzilla during production.[4]
In Ebirah, Horror of the Deep, as Dayo made her escape from Godzilla, the Giant Condor soared overhead. She cried out to alert Godzilla just before the bird descended on him. After a fierce scuffle, Godzilla sets it ablaze with his atomic breath, sending its charred corpse plummeting into the ocean.[5][6][7][8]
In All Monsters Attack, the Giant Condor appeared as the Giant Eagle where it is killed by Godzilla again, but this time while Godzilla was wandering around his home of Monster Island.[7]
Millennium era (2004)
The Giant Condor was proposed to appear in the 2004 film Godzilla: Final Wars, but the plans were discarded from the film.
Appearances
Films
- Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (1966)[4][9][10]
- All Monsters Attack (1969; stock footage)[4]
Video games
- Godzilla Defense Force (2019)
Books
- GODZILLA: Project Mechagodzilla
References
- ^ Japanese SFX & Fantasy Movies. Keibunsha. 1997. p. 178. ISBN 4766927060.
- ^ All Toho Monsters Pictorial Book (4th ed.). Yosensha. 2016-04-09. p. 126. ISBN 978-4-8003-0362-2.
- ^ The Pictorial Book of Godzilla 2. Hobby Japan Co., Ltd. 1995-01-12. p. 88. ISBN 978-4894251175.
- ^ a b c Pinera, Alexander (2024-05-03). "Godzilla: 10 Monsters That Never Showed Up Again". TheGamer. Retrieved 2025-03-19.
- ^ Pryor, Shawn (2024-10-29). Kaiju Unleashed: An Illustrated Guide to the World of Strange Beasts. Epic Ink. p. 39. ISBN 978-0-7603-9289-8.
- ^ Ryfle, Steve (1998). Japan's Favorite Mon-star: The Unauthorized Biography of "The Big G". ECW Press. p. 156. ISBN 978-1-55022-348-4.
- ^ a b Dubiel, Bill (2025-02-14). "All 12 Kaiju Who Live On Godzilla's Monster Island". ScreenRant. Retrieved 2025-03-19.
- ^ Loyarte, Julián Jorge Fernández (2024-03-25). "Godzilla: 12 Weakest Kaiju In The Movies, Ranked". Game Rant. Retrieved 2025-03-19.
- ^ Berry, Mark F. (2015-08-31). The Dinosaur Filmography. McFarland. p. 450. ISBN 978-1-4766-0674-3.
- ^ "Every Godzilla Monster Ranked from Lamest to Coolest". Paste Magazine. Retrieved 2025-03-19.
