Design

Zyva is another strange one. Literally a giant animate Giga Crystal, Zyva’s hunched digitigrade stance and spiky back give it a dangerous and dynamic look.

There isn’t really any concept art I can find of Zyva or official inspiration, but it might have pulled from the same sources of inspiration as Kongkrete.

Lore

Zyva is actually short for Ghamidzyva, which was the name given to it by a Middle East kingdom it destroyed in 782 AD. It is not just one single entity, but rather one of thousands of Giga Crystal sentinels that guard the hollow earth. This frightened the Global Titan Defense Initiative when they discovered this as, in their records, kaiju are usually a one of a kind thing… which we know isn’t true since most of the flesh and blood characters in the roster have multiple confirmed individuals within their respective species and/or a confirmed method of reproduction. And we know how kaiju evolve, meaning they have to have a stable population in order to even come into being.

Zyva is also the most recently discovered kaiju within the setting, at least in the modern age, having been first sighted in 2020. As a sentient mass of Giga Crystal its energy levels are predictably astronomical, but even in comparison, Zyva is overflowing with Giga Energy. To the point that its presence alone completely short circuits any electronics that use Giga Energy, except for Thundatross of course.

So what is in the hollow earth that’s so important that several thousand 1,200,000+ pound rock golems need to defend it?

Well, it’s the Giga Core.

As established in past overviews, the Giga Core is the source of all Giga Energy, and as such its not uncommon for kaiju to sometimes try and get to what is, to them, essentially unlimited breadsticks. The job of the Zyvas is to stop them from doing this. Zyvas also help with “purging events”. You see, the Giga Core has so much energy that every now and then it needs to radiate some of it out, and these purges are initiated by a Zyva performing a ritual. The Core then begins to levitate and unleashes so much Giga Energy with so much force that the Zyva is disintegrated.

I mentioned awhile back that I’d also discuss what the hollow earth is as well.

In Gigabash the hollow earth is a cave system below the lower mantle (so like around the D layer or outer core) and apparently the cave walls can insulate the place against the heat of earth’s magma well enough for there to be liquid water present as well as plants and fungi. In lore logs it’s implied that this is the core of the planet and that it doesn’t actually have a molten core. This… isn’t really feasible and if true would mean that the earth should have cooled off not long after its formation and ceased all geological activity. The hollow earth is so saturated with Giga Energy that everything is a shade of purple. The excessive amounts of Giga Energy within everything has some unique effects on the environment, and throughout the hollow earth there’s tons of giant rectangular prisms covered in glowing rings eating into their surface (a result of long term erosion by Giga Energy). These giant structures are actually constantly growing and are made of sulfur, lead, and hydrogen bound together by Giga Energy, which is making these atoms behave differently than how they would normally.

So with all of this out of the way I can finally discuss something. The real reason I decided to do all these reviews. What really is Giga Energy and the Giga Core?

Theory

Giga Energy is a super energetic substance that can manipulate the environment, change the behavior of atomic structures, mutate wildlife and even allow for regeneration, is selective about when it does these things, and seems to have a will of its own or at least an instinct to defend its “main body”; the Giga Core. When it does directly act, it does so with a purpose.

The closest thing I can think of to this is The Color out of Space by H.P. Lovecraft, but the Gigacore is more ancient and benign.

I theorize that Giga Energy, or at the very least the Giga Core is an atomic lifeform that has been around since the formation of the planet, and its power can create kaiju. Now wheather this is entirely accidental or purposeful is unknown since it doesn’t want them getting close to its core, but at the same time it is occasionally purposeful in the creation of them. But is almost certain is that it is ancient and seems intelligent.