#cyc!rocket turtle

[whoatherebigguy]

New ref sheet for my rocket turtle!

Complete with extra art and updated lore:

I’m not sure if it’s clear [or even relevant tbh], but Cyclogenesis is mostly based on the English versions/dubs of the films. I mention that because Gamera’s primary title for the majority of her life is “The Invincible”, instead of Giant Monster, Friend of the Children or even Guardian of the Universe. I like the idea of the turtle having to earn the right to be called those and I’ve always kinda disliked the idea of a character being predestined to be good/evil etc etc.

Okay mini lore/backstory time:

The consciousness that would become Gamera was originally a semi-sentient defence system for Atlantis, its primary purpose was monitoring their borders and managing the flow of power for weaponry. Atlantis believed they were under near constant threat from various giant monsters, other civilizations, and now their own failed invasion force: The Gyaos. They developed a prototype for a countermeasure, one that due to its mechanical and inorganic nature, the Gyaos could not feed from. This countermeasure took the form of 10s of thousands of tiny machines that could [theoretically] stitch themselves into the ideal form to combat any attacking force. This would obviously require an absurd amount of power and the Atlanteans chose to use one of their older designs for a nuclear reactor core. In an attempt to make sure their new creation would be suited at its job of defending them, they implemented the artificial intelligent that ran their defence system. This culminated in Gamera and led to the destruction of Atlantis at the hands of it's most recent creation. Although, the Fall of Atlantis is often attributed to the Gyaos instead.

I wanted to reference the original movie and really lean into the idea of Gamera as an originally destructive monster that, through combat with other giants, realized it was capable of protecting as well. It does take her a bit of time and distance to realize this though and Gamera is still frequently in conflict with her own programming, having to actively choose to do “heroic” things.

As for the “Friend to the Children” title, it’s perhaps not as specific to her as it is in the Showa incarnation of the character. Cyclogenesis Gamera is more of a "Friend to Those who Feel Powerless".

Although theoretically possible, Gamera doesn’t speak to humans as she’s learned that it’s better to convey things through gesture. She often exaggerates dramatic poses and does little actions/dances during combat, specifically to entertain onlookers and make them less afraid. She knows she can’t appear cute and non-threatening so she tries really hard to look “cool” because she doesn’t want people to be scared of her.

Gamera's closest [and only, lmao] ally is a prototype Gyaos that she bumped into halfway across the galaxy during her self-imposed exile.

bonus art of the turtle being used as a perch by said Gyaos, bc they are pals :]

hopefully ill have more to show/post about these giant goofs soon..

[whoatherebigguy]

its okay guys, she made sure no children were watching

[whoatherebigguy]

lil digital painting of Cyclogenesis Gamera bc i still haven't finished her actual new ref sheet

[whoatherebigguy]

Hello can i give cyclogenesis gamera a hug?

yes, but you may have to sign a waiver...

[whoatherebigguy]

uhhhh more rocket turtle, thats what the people want right [perhaps not, but its all i have to offer right now sorry]

1st pic is some designing for a comic im hoping to finish sometime in March, 2nd is my personal design for Gamera getting asked the hard questions. 3rd is the same gal in a bunch of silly sketches beacuse shes fun[painful] to draw :,]

[whoatherebigguy]

Answering a few asks about character's identities [+etc] in Cyclogenesis, bc it’s pride month and why not.

a couple of these get a little gay so if that’s not your vibe, then here’s your heads up, since im fairly sure most ppl r here for the shitposts lol

preliminary disclaimer: cyclogenesis isn’t meant to reflect canon, it’s my lil sandbox to explore ideas that uses giant monsters as the primary actors.

secondary disclaimer: so, none of these guys are human and therefore probably wouldn't use/understand human words/concepts in relation to identity, but i understand the question/s and i'll try to answer in the simplest terms

okay, 1:

this is a really interesting question [to me at least] because there isn’t really a “correct” answer. There's too many factors at play within Iris and she doesn't really have time to form an identity. I think ppl are free to interpret my version of the character however they like!

I use she and they when talking about Iris because 2 of the 4 components that comprise her feel very strongly about being referred to as such and it feels weird [to me] to do otherwise.

Here’s a goofy doodle explaining that a bit more.

2.

This one caught me off guard tbh, I’m wondering what tipped you off haha. My IRL friends joke that she is, but in-universe, the turtle is unlabelled and does not actively seek out any kind of companionship. Although, that may be mostly due to her being a machine and not wanting to have to outlive somebody. If she were to one day have a partner in defending the universe, they’d probably need to have a lot in common with her and be pretty much immortal.

2a. The main gyaos that shows up is meant to be lol.

3.

How many Gamera shitposts? Oh. So Many. Like, I maybe post 15-20% of the stuff I draw. Albeit, most of the stuff i don't post is unfinished, too cringe, too stupid, or some cursed combination of all three lol. I try to polish some of it up and post it in big piles.

and finally, the first one I got and the one I was most worried about: 4.

so I have actually been asked this (privately) before, which is funny because while i have been intentionally kinda vague about them, I’ve also only ever referred to them as allies or friends. But then again, they live on a spaceship together so I understand why there's a question.

I mean, I could go on a whole long tangent about how they’re both aliens with alien ideas about relationships and gender, or how Viras‘ history and being a composite complicates everything and makes it hard to define exactly what’s going on. But to be honest, that’s mostly just me trying to skirt around the question and over-complicating things when the answer is yes. Well….sorta. They’ve got a long history, are certainly deeply codependent and are very invested in keeping the other alive. I have a lot written for them in terms of the background for how they ended up so close and I try to lightly sprinkle it into my posts, but again I know that’s not really what most people are interested in and I don’t want to bore them. Depending on how this post goes over, I might make their dynamic a bit more overt in some of my comics…. They are the most fun to draw interacting and I find there to be something oddly wholesome about them.

-> tagging @trey-42399 bc i'm pretty sure one of these is yours, sorry it took so long to answer!

Anyways yea, happy pride month and I hope these were understandable.

[whoatherebigguy]

tis the season. good luck out there, gamer[a]s.

original and an even dumber/more 'faithful' to the original below. bc silly.

allllmost used the showa designs, but figured its my goofy blog and nobody can stop me so i used my own. long live season's greason's <3

[whoatherebigguy]

my version of Godzilla Jr meets the big ol' rocket turtle, it doesn't go as well as he had hoped.

btw, this Jr isn't fully grown and my version of Gamera was exiled off Earth before Big G disappeared, but shes back now! And now that she is, Jr feels like he has to prove that hes worthy of his title. He's lucky Gamera is opposed to fighting 'children'.

[whoatherebigguy]

[my version of the] heroic rocket turtle and nefarious laser shark having some deep sea misadventures

another colored+effects sketch because i'm impatient, lazy and i already changed my design for Zigra's armor :/ but enjoy the abundance of shades of blue!

[whoatherebigguy]

woe, turtle be upon ye

finally finished [the first version of] my Gamera design. it's pretty close to canon, but im hoping it's got just enough to set it apart! Gamera was a character that, for some reason, never really clicked with me, until about a week ago when the turtle suddenly became The Coolest Ever.

A bit about the design+a quick lil height chart :

[Godzilla Jr included for scale. note that in my universe, Jr isn't fully grown yet. ignore viras, his height is wrong, and feel free to bully the tuna can for being short]

okay so i know my design isnt super unique and im sure ill end up changing it in the future, but i hope the story im going for with Gamera makes up for it. My version of Gamera, like many others, is an ancient guardian of the sunken city of Atlantis, is capable of flight, and is a protector. Also, for some reason, I used to think Gamera was female, so in my lil world she is. Other than that, my own spin is that she's actually a very sophisticated machine built to mimic the other guardian monsters. I wont go too in depth yet, but she's comprised of 10,000s of tiny mechanisms that stitch themselves together. Individually they can't function and aren't sentient, however when combined and powered by something i'm calling an Altantean Core [for now], they form Gamera. Here's a little colour ref i made for it, since it changes colour depending on damage and strain.

The core isn't perfect, and it doesn't respond well to immense power output, but it was enough to secure Gamera a pretty high position in the hierarchy. i mean, until she got exiled of the planet..