Gamera Sketch Study

Alright everyone, before I take care of some other projects that need to be done before Christmas rolls in, I'm giving you guys the Gamera Sketch Study to look over. The purpose as always is to pick and choose the best merits from all four and use them to create a Hybrid that eventually gets turned into and SD. I've looked through some of my other sketch studies and some of the things I've said about some versions aren't really all that fair. Its rather narrow minded to dismiss or slam a redesign of an existing character just because its different or in a different style. It couldn't very well be called a redesign if it wasn't. So with that in mind, I looked through various versions of Gamera and decided on four of the most different looking ones possible.

Snapper Gamera 'Anatomically Correct': by Felipe-Elias
The major thing I noticed with a lot of Felipe's work is that he goes for the most realistic approach possible. Evolutionary theories and bone structures and all the stuff that makes shit function in nature. He has done a series of kaiju redesigns that brought some attention to him from our wonderful little community. Eventually he did get around to doing Gamera and this guy is largely what he looks like. Basically Gamera is a turtle, thus according to Felipe he must adhere to the sacred laws of turtledom...I know, I know but he's got some interesting points. Anyway, Snapper Gamera, as I've dubbed him, is pretty much the most badass snapping turtle in the freaking world. The textures as usual are incredible and the addition of throat spikes is an interesting feature. The eyes are really strange, being this red coral looking ring around the socket, I guess turtles aren't supposed to have eyebrows. The mouth is a beak where the lower jaw has spiked protrusions to indicate where his tusks are. He's got a narly tongue in there too. The shell is a standard turtle set up, spiky as hell as expected of most snappers. He also has turtle legs and no apparent spikes. So to sum things up, Gamera looks like a turtle, acts like a turtle, thus he must be a turtle...at least from a paelontologist's point of view.

*as a funny side note, Felipe shopped an atomic ray on his second version of his Gamera. Which is interesting because we all know Gamera shoots Plasma Balls and streams of fire...lolz.*

Anime Gamera 'Fuck You, I'mma Hero': by Matt Frank
Going in the completely opposite direction from Snapper Gamera is Anime Gamera. Basically he's Gamera, but with a very humaniod build. This makes a bit of sense from a movie stand point. In the Showa era, Gamera was known for pulling some really crazy shit. The gymastic routine on Mars comes to mind. A humaniod build 'would' make these kind of actions as shit load easier. The head is perhaps even more human then the Showa with human eyes AND and almost human structure. Also notice the shell goatee...fascinating. Being anime the whole thing is segmented, hard lined, and smooth. His whole body looks like plate armor. The shell is much smaller, no longer overshadowing his head or limbs. Its more like a shield he has permanetly tucked away. This allows much more flexibility but at the same time, probably doesn't give him the same amount of protection. Further more, with the shell no longer being as big or as connected as it was, the idea of him successfully pulling his limbs in and doing the flying saucer impression is much harder to visualize as human limbs don't compact that way. An interesting thing about said limbs though is that the more recent arm spikes are now Baraka style blades that slide out from the top of the wrist. Probably more useful that way and even harder to compact into the shell. The tail is shortened and minor details like the tusks and the razor comb from the Heisei are present. Made by monkeys, for monkeys, Anime Gamera is the most anthromorphic version outside of Neo Monster Island.

Showa Gamera 'Friend to all Children' by Daihei
The first, the original, the guy that set the gore standard for kaiju films, this is the guy we remember as frankly 'Gamera'. While the original suit was sparse for details, Gamera had some cool and sensible things going on with his design that made him a solid alternative to fire breathing atomic lizards elsewhere. A bipedal turtle that still crouched on all fours occasionally, Showa had a good feel for a solid monster stance. His tusks where a trademark that has stuck with him and his famous ability to turn into flying saucer of spinning awesome is at least believable as long as you don't question where the hell the fire actually comes out from within his sockets. The Showa lacked the rooster comb and the arm spurs of the later incarnations. I also kinda fudged up on his belly as Showa actually has brick like belly, not the usual segmented turtle arrangement. The big thing with Showa are the eyes. They have always been big and have always been expressive. It brings a level of humanity to Gamera without sacrificing his physical monster qualities. Kicking pedophile ass since 1965, Showa is classic and will remain so.

Heisei Gamera 'Guardian of the Universe' by Daihei
Gamera at perhaps his most powerful. Heisei Gamera seemed to evolve from humanitarian protector to slayer of the wicked in matter of a few short years. With each enemy being more vicious than the last, Heisei Gamera eventually turned into a brutal, deadly, almost merciless, killing machine and his appearance and behavior reflected that. This is where the arm and leg spurs, as well as the razor comb came into being, giving Gamera a literal edge. His shell became even more serrated to the point where his flying saucer routine became a swirling buzzsaw. His eyes shrunk and the lines across his face show that he's obviously seen better years and more than his fair share of battle. The brick and mortar look of the Showa belly is now a normal turtle shell belly but that allows it to open up so whats there to complain about? The Gyaos slayer is perhaps the most liked out of all the incarnations of Gamera and well worth a look before drawing Gamera yourselves.

Read and review to your hearts content.

-RenDragonClaw