Kamacuras (Showa)

Kamacuras; Gimantis; G-Mantide; Kamacurus; Kamakilas; Kamakiras

50 meters (164 feet)

65 meters (213 feet)

60 meters (197 feet)

2,800 metric tons (3,086 short tons)

• Extreme physical strength and durability; totally immune and impervious to damage from conventional weapons
• Uncanny speed and agility
• Kamacuras primarily fights with its claws. In the Showa era, Kamacuras' right claw is shaped like a spear, while its left claw is larger and shaped like a scythe. Thus, Kamacuras can use its spear claw in conjunction with its scythe claw to both stab, grab, or slash at enemies
• The Giant Praying Mantis's eyes glowed when the humans first spotted it in the jungle. After it and its fellows mutated into Kamacuras, they retained this trait. This is best seen when the eyes of the final Kamacuras glow upon seeing Saeko Matsumiya

• Kamacuras is quite frail for a kaiju. While it could withstand direct hits from Minilla's smoke rings or rifle fire from the humans, both physical attacks and blasts of atomic breath from Godzilla were capable of instantly killing two of the Kamacuras. Kamacuras was unable to free itself from Kumonga's strong webbing, and was highly vulnerable to Kumonga's venom, as it died moments after being injected by his stinger

Kamacuras is extremely aggressive and hostile to other creatures. Even before being mutated, the giant mantises tended to wander near the scientists' outpost on Sollgel Island and were implied to be dangerous to humans. Almost immediately after their mutation, the Kamacuras forcibly unearth and break open Minilla's egg, then proceed to toy with and beat the infant rather than simply eat him. When Godzilla arrives to save Minilla, the Kamacuras refuse to back down and attack him, with the last one retreating only after both of its comrades are killed. This lone Kamacuras continues to stalk and harass the scientists, and even goes out of its way to attack Saeko Matsumiya as she is gathering herbs. When Minilla tries to save her, Kamacuras seems to mock and taunt the weaker monster, waving its claw as the infant approached it before ruthlessly attacking him after Minilla fired a smoke ring at it. It also demonstrates cowardice when it immediately retreats once Godzilla arrives and attacked it. The Kamacuras that appear in Ichiro Miki's dream in All Monsters Attack display the same behavior, with one Kamacuras pursuing Ichiro through the jungle, only breaking off its pursuit once realizing it couldn't reach him in a narrow hole.

A group of scientists working for the United Nations established a research outpost on the remote Sollgel Island to carry out Operation Sherbet, an experiment to try and artificially alter the climate and thus allow for crops to be grown in once-infertile lands and potentially solve world hunger. The members of the operation soon learned that the forests of the island were inhabited by huge human-sized praying mantises which were active at night. The men learned to stay out of the jungle at night lest they risk being attacked by one of the mantises. One night after reporter Goro Maki arrived on the island to cover the story, he heard the hiss of one of the mantises from outside the camp and tried to approach. The other men immediately warned him of the danger and opened fire on the mantis with their rifles before it made its way back into the jungle. The next day, the team members carried out the first trial run of their climate-altering experiment. However, they received radio interference from somewhere on the island, delaying the detonation of the Radioactivity Sonde, producing the opposite intended effect and triggering a massive heatwave on the island. This man-made heatwave included storms of boiling radioactive rain that ravaged the island. The rain had a different effect on the mantises though, mutating them into 50 meter kaiju that Maki dubbed "Kamacuras." Three Kamacuras gathered around a large mound on the island and began to dig it up with their claws, eventually unearthing a colossal egg. The Kamacuras wasted no time in breaking open the egg with their claws, forcibly hatching Minilla, an infant member of Godzilla's species whose brainwave patterns had produced the earlier radio interference. The Kamacuras toyed with the helpless infant, smacking him around with their claws and stomping on him. Fortunately, Minilla's distress calls drew Godzilla to the island, who promptly confronted the Kamacuras to rescue Minilla.

The three insect kaiju attacked Godzilla in tandem, but their combined might was not enough to overcome Godzilla's raw strength. Godzilla burned one of the Kamacuras alive with his atomic breath, and dismembered another by repeatedly slamming it on the ground before incinerating the carcass with his atomic breath. Realizing it was outmatched, the surviving Kamacuras took flight and escaped. While no match for Godzilla, the Kamacuras continued to menace the humans, stalking them as they tried to repair one of the telecommunication towers on the island and at one point attacking their camp.

The team members took refuge in a cave inhabited by Saeko Matsumiya, the daughter of an archaeologist who once lived on the island. When Saeko went outside one day to gather herbs, Kamacuras appeared and threatened her. As she tried to flee, Saeko lost her footing and collapsed, after which Kamacuras approached. However, Saeko had managed to summon Minilla with her call, who arrived to save her. Unintimidated by the infant, Kamacuras taunted Minilla. Minilla fired an atomic smoke ring at Kamacuras' head, which only seemed to provoke it. Kamacuras approached Minilla and began savagely beating him with its claws until Godzilla arrived to back up his adopted son. Godzilla scared off the giant mantis with a blast of atomic breath, while Maki helped Saeko back to safety.

During his clash with Kamacuras, Minilla unwittingly kicked a boulder into the Valley of Kumonga, awakening the giant spider from his subterranean slumber. Kumonga initially menaced the humans before trapping Minilla in its webbing. Kamacuras flew overhead as Kumonga closed in on his prey, only to be pulled from the sky by Kumonga's web. Kumonga turned his attention to Kamacuras and stabbed it with his venomous stinger, killing it almost instantly.

A Kamacuras later turned up on Monster Island in 1972, living in peace with the other monsters.

A small pack of Kamacuras appeared on Monster Island in the dreams of Ichiro Miki, where they attacked and were defeated by Godzilla. A single Kamacuras escaped the battle and chased Ichiro through the jungle, causing him to fall into a pit, where he was rescued by Minilla.

Kamacuras is a gigantic praying mantis, characterized by its large sickle-shaped claws and round orange eyes which periodically glow.

Kamacuras' body is reddish-brown and its skin has a rough, bumpy texture. Kamacuras has antennae protruding from its forehead and a row of spikes running from the top of its head down its back. Kamacuras' mouth consists of upper and lower jaws flanked by moving mandibles which are covered in large reddish-orange bristles. Kamacuras' wings extend from the top of its abdomen and move up and down like a bellows, enabling it to fly. The top side of its wings are brown like the rest of its body, while the interior membranes are a lighter orange color. The monster's underbelly is covered in dark brown hair, while the bottom of its abdomen is hairless and orange, with a ridged texture. Kamacuras' right arm is sharp and pointed like a spear, while its left claw is larger and shaped like a sickle.