Gamera (ガメラ Gamera) is a guardian kaiju who first appeared in the 1995 Daiei film Gamera the Guardian of the Universe. Gamera was created by the ancient civilization of Atlantis thousands of years ago in order to combat their previous creation, Gyaos. Gamera wiped out most of the Gyaos, but Atlantis was completely destroyed in the battle. Gamera was sealed within an atoll and remained dormant until 1995, when three Gyaos appeared in the skies over Japan. Gamera awakened from his long sleep and traveled to Japan to destroy his ancient enemy. Gamera killed two of the Gyaos, but the JSDF interfered with his attempts to destroy the last one, which grew into the larger Super Gyaos. With the help of his human ally Asagi Kusanagi, with whom he was telepathically bonded, Gamera fought Super Gyaos in Tokyo and successfully killed it. In 1997, Gamera returned to Japan to fend off Legion, a species of extraterrestrial creatures which threatened all life on Earth. Gamera destroyed the Legion's symbiotic propagation device, a giant flower, but the Mother Legion relocated her kind to Sendai. Gamera tried to reach the new flower, but the Mother Legion badly wounded him before fleeing. The flower seeded, producing a catastrophic explosion which seemingly killed Gamera. Using energy he absorbed from the Earth itself, Gamera came back to life and fought the Legion once again, destroying them once and for all. By 1999, evolved Gyaos called Hyper Gyaos began appearing in huge numbers all over the world, pushing Gamera to the brink of his strength. In addition, a young woman named Ayana Hirasaka, who blamed Gamera for the deaths of her parents in 1995, found and raised a strange demonic creature she found in a shrine and named Iris to take revenge on Gamera for her. The JSDF had become fed up with the destruction Gamera caused in his crusade against Gyaos, and turned against him. When Iris reached maturity and traveled to Kyoto, Gamera followed it there and battled it. Gamera was able to kill Iris and free Ayana from its evil influence, but was badly maimed in the battle. However, with thousands of Hyper Gyaos descending upon the city, Gamera was ready to continue his eternal struggle with his ancient foe, knowing humanity was by his side once again.