BLOOD WORK: KAIJUOLOGY: EBIRAH

Subject: Ebirah a.k.a. the Sea Monster

Documentation: Godzilla Vs The Sea Monster a.k.a. Ebirah: Horror of the Deep (1966) and Godzilla: Final Wars (2004)

History: Up until the mid-twentieth century, before the advent of satellite imagery, many mysterious and undiscovered islands existed. In the South Pacific numerous islands, atolls, and landmasses were being discovered and explored well into the late-twentieth century. Of note among these are Solgel Island, Selgio Atoll, Faro Island, Mondo Island, Letchi Island, Odo Island, the Ogasawara chain of islands, and most notably Infant Island. During the 1940's and 50's this area of the world was often used to test hydrogen and atomic bombs.

Letchi Island was a tropical landmass located deep in the south pacific, the closest nearby island being that of Infant Island (the infamous home of the kaiju deity Mothra). The island was lush with vegetation, including a variety of fruits, some of which no longer exist. Letchi's most distinctive feature was a mountainous area to the eastern side of the island. In that area lived a species of giant condor birds.

According to the legends retold by the natives of Infant Island, a tribe of people once lived on Letchi long ago. These people lived in fear of the giant condors and of another horror living in the deep waters around Letchi, a mammoth lobster they named Ebirah. Whenever any vessel, no matter the size, took to the sea it would fall prey to Ebirah who roamed the waters surrounding the island like a gatekeeper. They avoided being eaten by the giant condors by seeking shelter and staying out of sight when the birds took to the skies. The inhabitants discovered that the juices extracted from a local fruit contained a natural repellent. When sprayed in the water the juices would keep Ebirah away allowing boats safe passage.

The island's location rests along a tropical jet stream and frequently falls victim to intense storms. Every few years, during the monsoon season, a storm so powerful would engulf the island and decimate everything the inhabitants had built. After having rebuilt their lives countless times the Letchi people eventually left the island. The descendants of the people from Letchi arrived on Infant Island and assimilated into the populace there under the kaiju deity Mothra's protection.

Sometime after Godzilla's battle with King Ghidorah and the defeat of the Xileins, the weary kaiju traveled the ocean in search of a place to recuperate. According to Infant Island natives who witnessed the battle, Godzilla emerged off the shores of Letchi. Suddenly the king of the monsters was attacked by surprise from under water. Ebirah and Godzilla clashed both above and below the waves. Godzilla, still weak from his battle with Ghidorah, was nearly defeated. Had it not been for a brief moment when the two monsters arose from the waters Godzilla may have met his end at the pincers of Ebirah.

Art by Yasushi Torisawa

Instead, when the two beasts breached the surface, Godzilla managed a quick blast of his radioactive breath to Ebirah's face. The lobster kaiju released its grip on Godzilla and the king of the monsters fled to shore. Near death, Godzilla staggered toward the cliff-side of the mountain, fell through a rock wall into a cavern, and immediately entered a hibernate sleep to heal. The weight of the beast's fall shook the cliff bringing down a section of the mountainside. The avalanche of rock sealed the entrance to the cavern and at last Godzilla was allowed to rest.

THE LETCHI MISSILE CRISIS

In 1965 an international terrorist organization, code named RED BAMBOO, occupied the island of Letchi. The Red Bamboo lost many ships to Ebirah during the initial attempt to take the island. A few ships managed to sail past Ebirah and reach the island. Once on the island the Red Bamboo soldiers encountered a small group of Infant Island natives who were gathering local fruits and recovering relics from their ancestors who once lived on Letchi. These natives were taken captive and through them the terrorists learned of the fruit juice that repelled Ebirah. They also learned of Infant Island and the island's protector/deity Mothra.

Now possessing the means to placate Ebirah, the Red Bamboo set about the construction of a nuclear refinery and weapons manufacturing plant. They abducted more natives from Infant island, enslaving them, and forcing them to produce large amounts of the yellow liquid which granted them safe passage through Ebirah's waters. Using Ebirah essentially as a guard patrolling the waters around the island, no ships except those of the Red Bamboo could approach the island.

In 1966 four Japanese men sailed a yacht into the waters near Letchi Island. The four men sailed directly into a storm as Ebirah surfaced to attack. The storm blew all four men overboard as Ebirah attacked. The waves carried the men to Letchi's shore as Ebirah destroyed the yacht. These Japanese men were like the first few raindrops portending a storm, a storm that would decimate the Red Bamboo. On the run from Red Bamboo troops, the four of them sought refuge in a cave within the mountain peak on the island. Inside they found an opening to an even larger cavern in which the kaiju Godzilla was lying dormant. Using a sword as a lightning rod and wire procured from a Red Bamboo supply house, they awakened Godzilla during a lightning storm.

As Godzilla emerged from the mountain cavern, Ebirah arose from the ocean depths to attack another boat from Infant Island. The two kaiju instantly recognized one another, their hate for each other renewed. Godzilla, knowing Ebirah had the clear advantage in the water, remained on shore. Hurling chunks of the mountainside at his opponent, Godzilla kept his distance. When it became apparent these attacks had little effect on Ebirah, Godzilla hesitantly entered the water. The kaiju battled ferociously. Ebirah at one point was lifted completely out of the water, heaved overhead by Godzilla. The colossal crustacean counterattacked by taking Godzilla below the waves. Taking one of the huge rocks from earlier, Godzilla bashed the stone against Ebirah's head. After a couple strikes Ebirah swam away and Godzilla returned to shore, ending their second battle in a draw.

Later Godzilla advanced upon the Red Bamboo facilities on the island. The terrorists fled the island into the sea, spraying the yellow liquid into the water to drive Ebirah away. Unknown to the Red Bamboo, the liquid they were spraying was a faux repellent created by the Infant Island slaves to sabotage their captors. While Godzilla destroyed their headquarters on land Ebirah emerged from the sea and destroyed the Red Bamboo ship along with all the humans inside.

Godzilla entered the ocean to battle Ebirah yet again. The two monsters fought in vicious combat, Ebirah handily beating down Godzilla, even squeezing the king of the monsters' neck between its pincers. The tide of the battle turned decidedly in Godzilla's favor when he gripped one of Ebirah's pincers between his jaws and forced the lobster to surface. Godzilla then ripped one pincer off after another. Soundly defeated, Ebirah retreated into the sea away from Letchi Island and Godzilla finally claimed his victory over the sea monster.

Shortly thereafter a nuclear bomb left by the Red Bamboo detonated wiping Letchi Island off the face of the Earth. Whether Ebirah survived Godzilla's attack or not is unknown. The crustacean kaiju hasn't been seen by the natives of Infant Island or kaijuologists since.

IDW's Godzilla: Rulers of Earth #17 alternate cover. Art by Matt Frank.

EBIRAH'S BIOLOGY

*Note: Much of Ebirah's biology is unknown as the kaiju has yet to be studied by any official kaijuologist. The information pieced together here is provided by the eyewitness accounts of the four Japanese men and select Infant Island natives present during the Letchi Missile Crisis*

Ebirah is believed to be the last surviving member of a species of Eryma Mandelslohi Titanus, a prehistoric species of mega-fauna that lived during the Jurassic period. Ebirah closely resembles in appearance today's common Reef Lobster (Enoplometopus antillensis). Ebirah has a bright red shell pigmentation, ten walking legs (the first two of which are much larger than the rest), and a segmented tail.

Ebirah's body is covered in a densely thick exoskeleton composed of chitin a thousand times stronger than common lobsters, nigh impenetrable (not even Godzilla was able to penetrate Ebirah's shell). The weakness in Ebirah's armor lies at the joints and underbelly. The carapace comes to a long pointed end on Ebirah's head extending on back along the tail.

The tail measures one and half times the length of Ebirah's torso and contains the lion's share of Ebirah's muscle. Long dagger-like protrusions line the bottom outer edges of the tail. When coiled around an enemy kaiju Ebirah's tail is extremely deadly and constrictive. The kaiju lobster's tail can also be used to grip the earth or rock formations along the ocean floor affording the beast greater leverage when using its pincers.

Ebirah's prominent form of attack are the pincers on its front two legs. The right pincer is far larger than the left and far stronger. Caught in its grip even Godzilla could lose a limb. The left pincer is thinner and sleeker used to stab and spear enemies and food. The other eight legs are primarily used for walking but also have three sharp claws at the end of each. Lastly Ebirah has several antennae atop its head able to sense changes or vibrations within the water. From the largest kaiju to a human being, Ebirah can sense their presence in the ocean from the lowest depths.

Given Ebirah's propensity for attacking any and all vessels in the water, human beings, and kaiju, the mammoth lobster is considered one of the malevolent kaiju of earth rather than a protector. One of the Destroyers of Earth.

Review: Ebirah is one scary and cool kaiju. The "Jaws" of the kaiju-verse or rather the "Claws." I remember seeing Godzilla Vs The Sea Monster on television and VHS back in the late 80's and early 90's and thinking how scary Ebirah looked. Watching the movie today Ebirah still stands out as a striking visual marvel to behold. The suit design and creation is incredibly realistic and convincing. It's too bad that the bulk of the monster is often hidden from view beneath the water, Godzilla swinging the monster overhead being one of the only full body shots.

A significant amount of Ebirah's battle scenes are reused in Godzilla's Revenge but it wouldn't be until 2004's Godzilla: Final Wars where viewers would finally see the crustacean kaiju resurrected. Sadly Ebirah's appearance in Final Wars is massively out of character, the lobster being on land attacking a city and then defeated by humans. It is a far cry from 1966 where the suit looked better and the kaiju almost defeated Godzilla. In Final Wars the lobster might as well be called "Nameless Disposable Kaiju #4" as that is how the director seemed to treat him. He's more or less a punchline in the film than anything else. Oh well, at least we got to see him... sort of.

Ebirah briefly resurfaced in two of IDW's Godzilla comic book series, GODZILLA: HALF CENTURY WAR and GODZILLA: RULERS OF EARTH. Ebirah also appeared in the Playstation 2 video game GODZILLA: SAVE THE EARTH as an enemy kaiju in an extra mission level.

Ebirah from IDW's Godzilla: Half Century War. Art by James Stokoe.

I'll admit that it doesn't appear as if a whole lot of imagination was put into the creation of Ebirah (in keeping with Jun Fukuda's other additions Kumonga and Kamacuras). He's fairly identical to actual lobsters with no real unique features. But if you were to look at real life creatures in nature to blow up to kaiju size and battle Godzilla a lobster is a natural choice being that they already look rather monstrous. It is Sadamasa Arikawa and his crew that really make Ebirah something special. As with Kumonga and Kamacuras, Ebirah is brilliantly realized on screen.

It's understandable if you don't think very much of Ebirah, especially if you haven't seen Godzilla Vs the Sea Monster in quite some time. But if you give the film another view I think you'll find Ebirah a very effective and wonderful kaiju, one of the best looking kaiju in all of the Showa Era.