Gamera

Gamera (Japanese: ガメラ, Hepburn: Gamera) is a fictional monster, or kaiju, originating from a series of Japanese films. Debuting in the 1965 film Gamera, the Giant Monster, 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 by Tokuma Shoten and Kadokawa Daiei Studio respectively, and various other media such as novelizations, manga, video games, and so on.

Gamera is depicted as a giant, flying, fire-breathing, prehistoric turtle. In the first film, Gamera is portrayed as aggressive and destructive, though he also saves a child. As the films progressed, Gamera took on a more benevolent role, becoming a protector of humanity especially children, nature, and the Earth from extraterrestrial races and other giant monsters.

The Daimajin, another iconic tokusatsu character by Daiei Film, was originally designed to be an antagonist for the second film, and its concept was feedbacked into both Daimajin and Barugon appeared in the 1966 film Gamera vs. Barugon. Daiei's yōkai films most notably the Yokai Monsters were also launched due to the success of the Gamera franchise, and productions of them and related later films such as Sakuya: Yôkaiden were largely influenced by Gamera and Daimajin series. Collaborations of the Daiel films with Shigeru Mizuki and Kazuo Umezu started because of Daiei's yōkai films, resulted in minor crossovers between Gamera and Daimajin and Shigeru Mizuki's GeGeGe no Kitarō series and Hiroshi Aramata's Teito Monogatari.

As below mentioned, on the contrary to its popularity and extensive social influences such as references in numerous media globally and naming of two species of prehistoric turtles, Sinemys gamera and Gamerabaena, expansion of the franchise and public recognition of the character were severely hindered by financial obstacles.