GIGANTO

Real Name: None

Identity/Class: Terrestrial animal (mutate?)

Occupation: Servant of the wielder of the Horn of Proteus

Affiliations: Cap'n Barracuda, Droom, Eerok, Grogg, Llyra, Llyron, Sub-Mariner, Tiger Shark, Triton

Enemies: Apocalypse Beast, Avengers, Black Panther (T'Challa), Ulysses Bloodstone, Crystal, Fantastic Four, Iron Man (Stark), Otetsukun, Stingray, Storm, Sub-Mariner

Known Relatives: Each of the Gigantos are apparently related to one another.

Aliases: Moby Dick, "Monstro"

Base of Operations: The ocean floor

First Appearance: Fantastic Four I#4 (May, 1962)

Powers/Abilities: Giganto is an ancient creature, resembling a whale with legs, able to breathe below and above water. It is immensely large, superhumanly strong, and resistant to injury. It also possesses a blow-hole similiar to a whale's which can squirt water.

History: The origins of the various creatures called Giganto are not known. When not being directed by another, they slumber beneath the ocean, only awakening when summoned by the Horn of Proteus. It has been said the the creatures summoned by the Horn of Proteus are so ancient that they existed before the seas themselves. Possibly, they were engineered by the Deviants in ancient times.

(Marvel Universe#7 (fb)) - In the 19th Century, Giganto encountered the ship, the Pequod, and its crew, including Captain Ahab--who was actually Ulysses Bloodstone. During this encounter, a lighter gray, if not white, version of Giganto received the name Moby Dick.

(Fantastic Four I#4) - Believing that the surface world had destroyed Atlantis, the Sub-Mariner used the Horn of Proteus to awaken Giganto, and sent it on a rampage on the surface world. Mr. Fantastic of the Fantastic Four attempted to slow it down by creating a smoke screen with his Fantasticar, but was forced to withdraw when the Human Torch tried to help, and had his flame put out by Giganto's water-spout.

In order to destroy the creature, the Thing strapped a nuclear bomb to his back, and walked inside Giganto's mouth to plant it. He was temporarily way-laid by a still-living creature Giganto had swallowed, but was successful, and Giganto was slain by the explosion.

 

 

(Fantastic Four: World Greatest Comic Magazine#7, 8) - Dr. Doom had one of his servants both the Proteus Horn, awakening another Giganto, even larger than the last, as well as a large number of other sea monsters, and sending them on a course into a New England town.
    Reed Richards correctly realized this to be the offspring of Giganto. However, even the combined power of the Fantastic Four and the Avengers could not drive this massive creature off. Ultimately, Reed Richards created a sonic generator and hooked it up to the Proteus Horn--there's an explanation of how they got it, but it's not relevant here. Iron Man then flew the generator and the Horn out over the ocean, leading them all back out to sea.

(Fantastic Four: World Greatest Comic Magazine#11) - Namor summoned Giganto and an army of sea monsters to oppose Dr. Doom, who had ammassed the combined power of the Cosmic Cube, Galactus, and a few other various and sundry objects/beings of power. The immensely powerful Doom waved them all off with a sweep of his hand.

(Fantastic Four I#149)- Years later, the Sub-Mariner prepared a mock invasion of the surface world with the Inhuman Triton, as part of a plot to reunite Mr. Fantastic with his estranged wife, the Invisible Girl. Among the sea creatures he brought with him in this "invasion" was another Giganto, much smaller than the previous one, and believed by the Thing to be the earlier one's twin brother. Being much less powerful than the earlier Giganto(s), the Thing defeated this one with a single punch.

(Fantastic Four I#219)- Now controlled by Cap'N Barracuda, who had obtained the Horn of Proteus, Giganto was sent on another rampage in Manhattan to cover his men's robberies. Giganto was opposed by the Sub-Mariner and Fantastic Four, and returned to the ocean with Cap'n Barracuda's defeat.


(Avengers West Coast#65/2)- As part of his plot to assist his friends the Human Torch and Anne Raymond, without revealing his existence to them, Namor disguised himself as the Mad Thinker and sent a robot of Giganto after the Torch. This robot was set aflame by the Torch and ruined.

(Namor the Sub-Mariner#56)- As part of their plot to discredit Namor, Llyra and Llyron awakened Giganto with the Horn of Proteus, and sent him to destroy the UN Building. Namor attempted to stop Giganto, but was unable to prevent mass destruction, and Llyron ultimately appeared more heroic. Giganto then returned to the ocean.

(GLX-Mas Special#1 (fb)) - Squirrel Girl defeated the Atlantean Giganto.


(Fantastic Four/Iron Man: Big in Japan#1-2) - A Giganto was among the many monsters that were driven into a frenzy by the nearing arrival of the Apocalypse Beast.  As the crazed beasts rampaged through Tokyo, they were fought by the Fantastic Four and Iron Man. The Human Torch and the Thing took control of the giant robot Oteksukun and used it to defeat Giganto and Eerok. When Mr. Fantastic considered one of the monsters, Grogg, that the Fantastic Four could defeat the Apocalypse Beast, Grogg led Giganto and the others away from Japan.

(Black Panther IV#19) - A Giganto and other sea monsters were sent by Namor to watch over an uncharted island, keeping any others from interfering with the honeymoon of Ororo & T'Challa.

(Fallen Son: The Death of Captain America#2) - Gigano was summoned by Tiger Shark using the Horn of Proteus. Alongside an army of sea creatures, Giganto fought the Avengers (Ares, Black Widow, Ms. Marvel, Sentry, Wasp, Wonder Man), but was finally returned to the seas by the Sub-Mariner.

(Marvel Comics Presents II#11/3) - A Giganto was found near a shipwreck just off the Atlantic Ocean by a salvage crew and Stingray. Angered by the sudden disturbance it attacked Stingray, who tried to kill it with grenades. Unimpressed the Giganto swallowed Stingray and seemingly choked to death on him. Stingray survived.

Comments: Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.

Thanks to MD Carter for allowing me to borrow these images from his website, The Monsters of Jack Kirby.

You can read all you want about the story of Moby Dick in the actual book, by Herman Melville, or in Marvel Classic Comics#8, which adapts it. It's worth a mention in this profile because Ulysses Bloodstone recalled it in a flashback, but we're not including any more than that, b/c that story hasn't actually been adapted to the Marvel Universe.

For Amazing Spider-Man I#213, Llyra summoned a  "Giganto-like creature to assist her rescue of the the Wizard from Ryker's Island prison. This creature had the typical armed-whale appearance of Giganto, but there are a few things that leave it in question whether this is actually a Giganto or not:

  •     1) It is red--no big deal.
  •     2) It has tentacles, unlike the other forms of Giganto. Now, it could be that there were two monsters, one Giganto, and one tentacled creature, as the tentacles and the armed whale weren't seen to be directly connected--they're seen coming from underwater off to the side of the creature, but this is probably just reaching for an argument.
  •     3) Llyra summoned this creature without the Proteus Horn, although she does have psychic powers on her own. Also, she could have used the Horn to summon the creature to the vicinity, and then called it out when ready.
  • 4) Lastly--the most damning of the evidence, the Official Marvel Index to the Amazing Spider-Man#9 identifies it as: "A tentacled monster (first and only appearance to date)."
  •    So, this creature could be a hybrid between a Giganto and a kraken or some other creature with tentacles, or it's just reminiscent of Giganto, perhaps a tip of the hat to Jack Kirby.

    • I personally believe this to be a Giganto, as Fantastic Four/Iron Man: Big in Japan proves that not all of them are exactly alike physically.

    The named Monstro was used in Fantastic Four: The World's Greatest Comic Magazine#8, by the Thing, who thought he was referring to the original creature from Fantastic Four I#4, and probably is thus just a mistake on his part, and not really a real alias for Giganto or its offspring. For my money, it was just an exercise in confusion for John Byrne to name the Mole Man's mutate Giganto. That guy could have been called Monstro, and it would have been a clear and easy identification. But nooooooo!

    Carycomic notes that the nickname "Monstro" was almost certainly a reference to the whale Monstro from Pinnochio.

    In Namor#13, Reed Richards discussed that Giganto's post-mortem examination revealed it to have been a member of the Order Cetacea, perhaps a throwback to the early ancestors of the modern whale.      Current thought leans towards the fact that Giganto--as well as a large number of the giant monsters on Earth--is actually a Deviant mutate. It could be that they engineered a creature similar enough to that Order to fool Reed, who while smart as all get out does not specialize in Biology, Phylogeny, or other life sciences.  Alternatively, it could be that the Deviant's started out their experiments in genetic engineering using material from the Order Cetacea.

    A 2099 version of Giganto served the Sub-Mariner of 2099, as seen in Spider-Man 2099#43+44.

    by Prime Eternal

    CLARIFICATIONS:
    Giganto should not be confused with:

    images: (without ads)

    Other appearances:
    Fantastic Four I#149 (August, 1974) - Gerry Conway (writer), Rich Buckler (pencils), Joe Sinnott (inks), Roy Thomas (editor)
    Fantastic Four I#219 (June, 1980) - Doug Moench (writer), Bill Sienkiewicz (pencils), Joe Sinnott (inks), Jim Salicrup (editor)
    Avengers West Coast#65 (December, 1990) - Roy & Dann Thomas (writers), Richard Levins (pencils), Keith Williams (inks), Howard Mackie (editor)
    Namor the Sub-Mariner#56 (November, 1994) - Glenn Herdling (writer), Geof Isherwood (artist), Mike Rockwitz (editor)
    Marvel Universe#7 (December, 1998) - Roger Stern (writer), Jason Armstrong (pencils), Mike Manley (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
    Fantastic Four: World Greatest Comic Magazine#7 (August, 2001) - Erik Larsen, Eric Stephenson & Tom DeFalco (writers), Erik Larsen, Rick Veitch, Ron Frenz, Mike Manley & Graham Nolan (pencils), Alan Gordon, Al Milgrom, Bruce Timm & Al Williamson (inks), Bobbie Chase (editor)
    Fantastic Four: World Greatest Comic Magazine#8 (September, 2001) - Erik Larsen, Eric Stephenson & Kurt Busiek (writers), Erik Larsen, Ron Frenz, Jorge Pereira Lucas, Bill Wray & Rick Veitch (pencils), Bruce Timm, Al Milgrom, Bill Wray & Terry Beatty (inks), Bobbie Chase (editor)
    Fantastic Four: World Greatest Comic Magazine#11 (December, 2001) - Erik Larsen & Eric Stephenson (writers), Ron Frenz, Frank Fosco & Al Milgrom (pencils), Bruce Timm, Mike Royer, Paul Ryan & Joe Sinnott (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
    Fantastic Four/Iron Man: Big in Japan#1-2 (December, 2005 - January, 2006) - Zeb Wells (writer), Seth Fisher (artist), Cory Sedlmeier (editor)
    GLX-Mas Special#1 (February, 2006) - Dan Slott (writer), Matt Haley (artist), Tom Brevoort (editor)
    Black Panther IV#19 (October 2006) - Reginald Hudlin (writer), Scot Eaton (pencils), Andrew Hennessy (inks), Axel Alonso (editor)
    Fallen Son: The Death of Captain America#2 (June, 2007) - Jeph Loeb (writer), Ed McGuinness (penciler), Dexter Vines (inker), Bill Rosemann (editor)
    Marvel Comics Presents II#11 (September, 2008) - B. Clay Moore (writer), Lee Weeks (pencils/inks), Stefano Gaudiano (inks), Warren Simons (editor)

    Last updated:06/14/07

    Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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