500 Words On Ebirah

Ebirah is a giant Lobster who made his first appearance in Ebirah, Horror of the Deep in 1966! His shell is a mix of red and brown, and has two distinct claws, one which is larger and bulkier than the other, which is shorter and narrower.

Acting as an antagonist in the film; his only rival was Godzilla, who just happened to be asleep on Letchi Island, the island that Ebirah patrolled. Godzilla wasn’t the only in-land resident though, as the island was also the base for a terrorist organisation called The Red Bamboo, and a Giant Condor. The Red Bamboo used the island to build nuclear weapons, and it has been hypothesised, that both Ebirah and the Giant Condor were mutated to their huge sizes thanks to the group’s nuclear weapons program. Due to the group’s need to ferry slaves from Infant Island (the home of Mothra) to their base, they needed to create a repellent, to keep Ebirah at bay. So they developed an un-named form of yellow liquid, developed from fruits.

Ebirah has proven himself to be one of the series most aggressive monsters, attacking anything in his path. He is the reason, the film’s heroes, sailing towards the island accidentally, end up on the island. After sailing for several days on a stolen yacht (which had already been stolen by another member of the group), they get caught in a storm, before seeing a giant claw appear. The owner of the claw at that point was unknown, but Ebirah, possibly sensing a threat, attacked and destroyed the boat, with the survivors waking ashore the following morning.

After being chased by the Red Bamboo; the heroes decided to wake up Godzilla, who just happened to be having a nap in the same cave as them. Using lightning shocks, Godzilla awoke, and quickly found Ebirah. The two engaged in a fight, first involving rock throwing, and then a melee above and below water. A few days later, they met once again, with Godzilla being triumphant over Ebirah, by rather savage means. He ripped off Ebirah’s claws!

Ebirah would appear again as a piece of stock footage in the 1969 film All Monsters Attack, but this was just the exact same fight sequences from Horror of the Deep. Ebirah wouldn’t appear again, until 38 years after his debut appearance.

In Godzilla: Final Wars (which marked the Godzilla series 50th Anniversary); Ebirah attacked a petrochemical plant. A group of mutant soldiers went in to stop his attack, but then Ebirah mysteriously disappeared thanks to a seemingly peaceful alien race called the Xiliens. Once their secret agenda was revealed, they set all the monsters they captured free; including Ebirah; only to be defeated alongside Hedorah, once again by Godzilla.

Ebirah has not been seen in any movie since, but due to his simple appearance, and aggressive behaviour, he is one of the series most memorable combatants, especially as Godzilla had to physically rip off Ebirah’s arms in order to defeat him!