Gigas (fantasy games)
Gigas is a popular term for races of giants in fantasy games. Gigas is a Greek word meaning "giant", originally used to describe the race of Gigantes in Greek mythology and is used in the scientific name, as the specific epithet, of hundreds species of animals and dozens of plant species to denote their size.
The name has been used in Square games. It was first used in this sense in the game Final Fantasy I, and was subsequently used in many other Square games, such as Secret of Mana, often appearing as sub-bosses. In Final Fantasy VI the character Umaro is said to have the strength of a gigas, and in Final Fantasy VII the character Vincent Valentine has a Limit Break in which he transforms into a monster called the 'Death Gigas'. Gigas appear in Final Fantasy XI as a race of Beastmen who live in Northern regions of Vana'diel, the fictional world depicted in the game. In Kingdom Hearts Goofy has an attack called Gigas Fist. Most recently, one of the Final Fantasy XII Espers, magic beasts summoned by the player, is named "Belias, the Gigas." According to the in-game bestiary, Belias is classified as a fusion of man and beast and considered a mistake by the gods. In addition, a fiend that guards the Stilshrine of Miriam area is known as the Blood Gigas. According to the in-game bestiary, the Blood Gigas is "a cruel and headless giant, born from the spilled blood of a demon."
After its usage in Square games, the Gigas has appeared in other video game series, such as Skies of Arcadia. The final colossus in Sony's Shadow of the Colossus is known as Grand Gigas Malus. The Beast Spirit of Earth in Digimon Frontier is called Gigasmon. The alternate spelling Giygas was used as the name of the final boss of EarthBound. In the second series Yu-Gi-Oh! anime the character Dartz uses a monster known as Orichalcos Gigas, which is another giant. In the Pokémon series, the name of the 486th Pokémon is Regigigas, meaning royal giant. In the 7th installment of the Tekken series, a ginormous bulky red robot named Gigas was introduced.
The term has also been used to describe gigantic war constructs in the comic book Gold Digger by Fred Perry, and was the name of a simian monster from the Ultraman television series.
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