Singular Point Renamed & Made A Forgotten Godzilla Villain Canon

Godzilla: Singular Point renamed, fixed, and made canon a forgotten Godzilla villain known to fans as Gabara. In Toho’s new Godzilla anime, the kaiju goes by the name “Salunga”. Salunga is one of several Toho monsters to appear alongside Godzilla in the Netflix original series, forcing the humans to join forces with Jet Jaguar in order to deal with them.

Gabara wasn’t the only monster to be reimagined in the show, as new designs were also given to Rodan, Anguirus, Manda, and Kumonga. Most of these kaiju weren’t in the same league as Godzilla in terms of power and size, but one in particular survived until the Godzilla: Singular Point season finale and did emerge as a formidable adversary. Salunga, a green, reptilian beast with the agility of a monkey, proved to be a force to be reckoned with for the human characters in India.

If Salunga’s appearance seems familiar, that’s because he looks like Gabara from 1969’s All Monsters Attack, who shares the same color scheme, underbelly, the spikes on his back and head, and the warts on his skin. When comparing the two, there’s no denying that Salunga is Singular Point’s take on Gabara, even if the show doesn’t keep his original name. It’s not hard to recognize him as the classic villain, though his design did get a significant and much-needed update. Now, the kaiju moves around like a monkey and has both a snout and a tail. Another change is the addition of ears that may have been borrowed from Baragon’s look.

It’s interesting to note that despite being the main antagonist of All Monsters Attack, Gabara does not exist in the canon of any of the Godzilla movies. That’s because the events of his only movie didn’t actually happen. The entire plot of All Monsters Attack was one long dream sequence told from the point of view of a child. Set in a young boy’s fantasy, the movie followed his make-believe adventures on Monster Island with Godzilla’s son, where they encountered the evil Gabara, who was born from the child’s imaginations and his fears regarding a specific bully. Unlike the other creatures shown on the island (who had appeared in previous movies), Gabara was only part of the dream.

He made brief guest appearances in two Japanese children’s cartoons, but since he never returned to the Godzilla franchise, it’s clear that he was never real. The comics brought him into their own continuity in recent years, but when it comes to the Godzilla movies, Gabara has remained a non-canon villain. Based on the silly nature of the character and his look, as well as All Monsters Attack’s bad reputation with Godzilla fans, it’s easy to see why Toho has avoided him for so long. However, Godzilla: Singular Point found ways to maintain the core aspects of his design and make him look menacing at the same time. Given that Gabara – or, as the show calls him, Salunga – was the second strongest monster after Godzilla, it amounted to a huge upgrade.

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