Grand Unity Invasion Robot: Orichalum Naginata
Artwork | Background | Vital Statistics | Back to Dave's Kaiju
Grand Unity Invasion Robot: Orichalum Naginata
Artwork | Background | Vital Statistics | Back to Dave's Kaiju
|
G.U.I.R.O.N. is an opponent for the Millennium-Age Gamera, and grows out of
the backstory for Laelapis, particularly the
mysterious Three Circles Group. Turning the name into an acronym is
inspired by how the Showa Moguera became the Heisei M.O.G.U.E.R.A., and its
creation in the first place was inspired by the dearth of "hard tech" mecha
in the Gamera universe. Showa Gamera has lots of spaceships, but even when
they turn into kaiju (i.e. Zigra), the monsters look pretty solidly organic.
Unlike Laelapis, which started from the ground up as a series of drawings, G.U.I.R.O.N. started as a small ankylosaur toy that I hacked up and added bits to until I was satisfied with the "Mecha-Guiron" look, using a Trendmasters Guiron toy for general reference. The hip turrets are googly eyes, the center of the blade is styrene sheet, the main maser barrels are styrene half-circle rods. All other details are Apoxie Sculpt or Apoxie Clay. As with my Laelapis miniature, the scale is 1:1000. Completed 2/5/08.
To follow the miniature, I decided to make this one of my rare painted works. The idea I had for G.U.I.R.O.N., what with swirling smoke and lightning-like maser beams, really didn't suit what I can do with pens and markers, but paint allows me to pull off those overlay tricks without having to get and learn Photoshop (or Gimp, etc). Completed 2/10/08.
Unknown to all but its core leadership, the Three Circles Group was actually the advance infiltration unit for an invasion by an interstellar empire known as the Grand Unity, an empire long past its prime but still quite powerful even in its eons of decadent decay. With the reports of its agents in the wake of the Laelapis affair, it was decided to escalate matters by sending one of the remaining G.U.I.R.O.N. units to Earth in an attempt to subdue or destroy Gamera...and as much of Earth's defenses as possible in the process. G.U.I.R.O.N. units are heavily armed and armored battle walkers equipped with their signature weapon, the "Orichalum Naginata". This blade is forged from an ultra-dense supermetal that is nigh-unbreakable, and can be sharpened (via special atomic rays) to an edge capable of slicing through most mundane substances. They also carry a number of maser weapons, including two main cannons flanking the blade, and a pair of pop-out turrets on the forelegs with close-defense masers. When initially deployed to lower-tech worlds, they are typically disguised in a semi-organic sheath to resemble a giant reptilian monster, both for the shock value and to disguise their extraterrestrial nature. At a certain level of development, according to the Grand Union's experience, most worlds develop a "kaiju problem", and the G.U.I.R.O.N. units' disguise exploits this oddily of planetary evolution. The G.U.I.R.O.N. unit arrived on Earth just as Laelapis re-emerged following his first defeat by Gamera, and subdued the Solar Beast fairly quickly, allowing the Grand Unity agents the opportunity to plant a control collar on their accidental creation. Laelapis was then used as a stalking horse to lure out Gamera, in a battle that leveled much of Toyama. Eventually, a sharp-eyed child noticed the control collar and encouraged Gamera to destroy it. Once freed, and realizing that the somewhat older and larger Gamera now outmatched it, Laelapis fled. However, the battle with Laelapis gave the Grand Unity agents enough data on Gamera to program specific tactics into G.U.I.R.O.N.'s battlecomputer. This allowed it to defeat Gamera without its disguise being damaged, and the mighty turtle was dragged off to a Three Circles Group installation on an island off Hokkaido. However, before Gamera could be fitted with a control collar, he woke up and rampaged through the installation, forcing the Grand Unity to recall G.U.I.R.O.N. from its mission in Honshu to fight once more. In the course of the fight, the mecha-beast's true nature was revealed...but would the revelation be enough to let Gamera win the day?
Name: G.U.I.R.O.N. |
