page_title: Gamera
section_title: Conception
hierarchical_section_title: Gamera / Overview / Conception
caption_attribution_description: A replica of a mural of one of the directional dieties found in a Goguryeo Tomb at the National Museum of Korea.
context_page_description: Gamera is a fictional monster originating from a series of Japanese films of the same name. Gamera first appeared in Noriaki Yuasa's 1965 film Gamera, the Giant Monster, produced by Daiei Film. The character and the first film were intended to compete with the success of Toho's Godzilla film series. Since then, Gamera has become a Japanese icon in his own right, appearing in a total of 12 films produced by Daiei Film and later Kadokawa Daiei Studio, as well as in comic books, manga, anime and video games. Gamera has been given various nicknames throughout the history of the franchise, including the Friend of All Children and the Guardian of the Universe.
  Gamera is depicted as a massive, fire-breathing, prehistoric monster resembling a turtle, mutated by exposure to nuclear weapons. In the first film, Gamera is portrayed as aggressive and destructive, though he also saves the life of a young Japanese boy. As the film series progressed, Gamera took on a more benevolent role, becoming a protector of humanity, and especially of human children, from extraterrestrial races and other giant monsters.
context_section_description: The idea for Gamera was developed by Yonejiro Saito. The character was created as a property of the production company Daiei Film, and was intended to compete with the Godzilla film series (featuring the giant monster character of the same name), owned by rival studio Toho. Gamera has been described as being a rip-off of Godzilla.
  The name Gamera (ガメラ) derives from the Japanese kame ("turtle"), and the suffix -ra, a suffix shared by such other kaiju characters as Godzilla (Gojira) and Mothra. Gamera's name was spelled Gammera in the title of Gammera the Invincible, the re-titled American release of the first film in the franchise, Gamera, the Giant Monster.
  Gamera's turtle-like design may have been inspired by the Black Tortoise, one of the Four Symbols of the Chinese constellations in East Asian mythology. The Black Tortoise is known as Genbu in Japanese, and is usually depicted as a turtle entwined together with a snake. Each of the Four Symbols are said to act as guardians over each of the four cardinal directions, with the dragon Seiryu in the east; the tiger Byakko in the west; the bird Suzaku in the south; and the tortoise Genbu in the north. In Gamera, the Giant Monster, the first film in the franchise, Gamera is depicted as awakening in the Arctic, the northernmost region on Earth. Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris, the 11th film in the franchise, contains a scene featuring a book describing the Four Symbols, including Genbu.
caption: The Black Tortoise, one of the Four Symbols of the Chinese constellations, is a possible source of inspiration for Gamera.[8]
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