Ebirah is an enormous lobster that was first featured in the 1966 movie, Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster.
Origin
Showa series
In the Showa era, there was an island owned by a terrorist organization called Red Bamboo. The radioactive wastes on the island mutated some of the animals living on it. One of them was a Giant Condor that was used by the organization to guard the skies. Ebirah was used to destroy any ship that came too close to the island. Ebirah was successful at this and no ship could reach the island. The Red Bamboo ships used a special extract from the island's fruit to protect themselves from Ebirah. When a small group of people stranded on the island saw Godzilla sleeping in a cave, they woke him so he could fight Ebirah. Godzilla easily won and injured the crustacean with the atomic breath. The day after, a Red Bamboo ship appeared, but they accidentally used a placebo and not the fruit extract. Ebirah attacked and tore the ship apart. Godzilla reappeared, but this time, Godzilla pulled off Ebirah's claws. Ebirah escaped and was not seen again until he appeared in Monster Island in Ichiro's dream. It could be that Ebirah moved to the island, or whether it was just a dream.
Millennium series
In the Millennium era, Ebirah makes an appearance in Godzilla: Final Wars as one of the many controlled monsters of the Xilians, a race of extraterrestrial beings from Planet X. It destroys a factory near Tokyo. The military forces try to destroy Ebirah, but the immense crustacean is too powerful. But the mutant soldiers are called to stop the kaiju. The mutants successfully defeat Ebirah and were about to kill it, when it disappeared. The Xilians arrive and say that they destroyed the monsters to save Earth. However, it is soon found out that the monsters were controlled by the Xilians. The Gotengo then frees Godzilla from the Antarctic so he could fight the controlled kaiju. The plan is a success and Godzilla successfully deafeats most of the kaiju. Then Ebirah and Hedorah are sent to destroy Godzilla in Tokyo bay. However, Godzilla blasts them out of the water with the atomic ray and the duo crash into a building. Godzilla fires another atomic ray and deafeats both Ebirah and Hedorah. He changes from a worthy enemy into a weakling in Final Wars.
Other Appearences
Ebirah has been featured in the video games, Godzilla, King of the Monsters and Godzilla: Save the Earth as an additional non-playable kaiju.
Lost Project
Toho had first wanted Ebirah to be King Kong's (without the electrical wire cables, or conduction threads) enemy instead of Godzilla's but a rights problem caused Kong to be dropped and Toho replaced him with the more powerful Godzilla without enhancing Ebirah.
Movie Appearances
Trivia
- The monster's name is derived from the word ebi, which means "shrimp".
