Giganto (stylized as GIGANTO) is a character that appears in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. It is a colossal Titan that dwells on Kronos Island, controlled by Sage to intervene in Sonic the Hedgehog's pursuit in saving his friends from Cyber Space. It is the first Titan that Sonic fought in Sonic Frontiers.
It was created by the Ancients as one of their ultimate weapons alongside the other Titans to defeat the entity that annihilated their former homeworld. While the entity was sealed within Cyber Space thanks to the sacrifice of Supreme, Giganto and its pilot Dragon were left dormant on the Starfall Islands for thousands of years, until the arrival of Dr. Eggman.
Quick Answers
What role does Giganto play in the Sonic the Hedgehog series?
Who controls Giganto on Kronos Island in Sonic Frontiers?
What was the purpose of Giganto's creation by the Ancients in Sonic Frontiers?
Who was the first Titan that Sonic fought in Sonic Frontiers?
What is the history of Giganto in the Sonic the Hedgehog series?
Appearance
As its name suggests, Giganto is an enormous humanoid robot, dwarfing even Asura in height. Its stature is reminiscent of a Soldier, with a broad torso and large shoulders compared to its narrow limbs and lower body. Its arms end in three-fingered hands, while its legs terminate in rounded stumps. Its head has a massive mouth with multiple nested jaws of squared teeth; a pair of protrusions extend from its chin, and it has a long neck that gives it a hunchback posture. Light courses through various lines on its body, and it has holes around its body resembling eyes. Its back and shoulders are covered with circular red pillars topped with silver discs: these are typically retracted unless they are pushed in battle.
According to Sage, Giganto's appearance may reference one of the five Ancient Tribes, with big and powerful bodies.[1]
History
Past
Giganto was constructed as one of the four Titans, made as the Ancients' ultimate weapons against The End should it find their new home on earth. When that day finally came, Giganto and the Titans were powered up by the Chaos Emeralds alongside Wyvern, Knight, and Supreme, and Dragon piloted Giganto to battle The End in outer space. Unable to defeat the entity, Supreme's pilot Crane sacrificed themselves to trap The End within their Titan; Giganto, Wyvern, and Knight's pilots used the opening to seal Supreme away in Cyber Space. Following the battle, the remaining Titans returned to the Starfall Islands, where they inevitably fell into dormancy following the collapse of the remaining Ancients' civilization.
Sonic Frontiers
When Dr. Eggman began reactivating the Ancients' technology on the Starfall Islands, Giganto appeared in the distance. Eggman was pulled into Cyber Space before he could do more than admire the robots appearing around him, but Sage eventually developed the ability to influence Giganto with her cyber abilities, rendering it aggressive or dormant on command.
As Sonic the Hedgehog began exploring Kronos Island in search of the missing Chaos Emeralds and in means to fully rescue Amy Rose from Cyber Space, Sage took notice and summoned Giganto to confront him. The Titan attempted to stomp on the hedgehog before Sage rendered it dormant in order to issue her ultimatum to Sonic: leave the islands immediately or be destroyed. Sonic's refusal prompted Sage to reactivate Giganto; after a short skirmish, it soundly defeated Sonic by shrugging off his Homing Attack and hurling him into a mountain.
At some point following its first encounter with Sonic, Giganto had the purple Chaos Emerald Vault attached to its head, ostensibly to prevent Sonic from claiming all of the Emeralds and attaining his super transformation. It sat dormant above a waterfall on Kronos Island. After Sonic collected the other six Emeralds and opened the gate to Giganto's lair, the Titan awoke to do battle once more. Sonic scaled its body and claimed the last Emerald to become Super Sonic. Thus empowered, Sonic was finally able to fight Giganto head-on. Giganto put up a fierce fight against Super Sonic, but eventually was defeated when the hedgehog pierced through its torso.
As Giganto exploded and disintegrated, Super Sonic received a brief vision of the past, which recollected Giganto's pilot reacting to Supreme's sacrifice, although the full context of the memory would not be made clear until much later.
Powers and abilities
Giganto is so powerful that Sonic was incapable of defeating it in his base form, and needed to become Super Sonic to even damage it. Like all Titans, Giganto is unbelievably strong and durable, on top of being deceptively agile for its size. Similar to Asura, it mainly relies on brute force, being able to stomp the ground hard enough to launch giant boulders to the height of its chest and face, or swiping its arms with enough force to send Super Sonic reeling.
Giganto's jaws can be used to crush things in its many rows of teeth, even capable of swallowing Super Sonic to defeat him. Giganto also has an extremely powerful beam weapon mounted in its throat, which requires a short charge time. When retracted, the pillars on its back emit shock waves to knock Sonic off its body; when extended, the pillars each release three laser beams that rotate and intertwine like spotlights to complicate Super Sonic's movement. It can also teleport through Cyber Space alongside Sage and can fly through outer space at high speeds alongside its fellow Titans.
Relationships
Friends/allies
Enemies
Battle
First battle
Fought on Kronos Island, Giganto serves as the first major boss in Sonic Frontiers. However, its first encounter is very short and simple, serving mainly to demonstrate the futility of battling a Titan in Sonic's base form. The player triggers the battle either by obtaining two Chaos Emeralds after freeing Amy Rose or vice versa on Kronos Island.
Boss guide
The battle begins with the player riding one of the boulders launched into the air by Giganto's stomp; they must approach the Titan by hitting the boulders in front of them with a Homing Attack. Giganto is immobile unless the player falls back to the ground, in which case it will launch them back into the air with another stomp; it has no way to harm them unless they somehow put themselves under its foot.
Once the player is close enough to Giganto, they can target its face and hit it with repeated Homing Attacks; this appears to do nothing, but they should continue attacking when prompted. After landing ten hits, a cutscene has Giganto seize Sonic in its right hand and hurl him into a wall, ending their confrontation.
Second battle
The second encounter with Giganto is the first proper Titan battle in Sonic Frontiers, and serves as the final boss battle of Kronos Island.
Boss guide
The fight starts with the player in Sonic's base form. The player will need to climb up Giganto and pass through blue rings that launch Sonic upwards. Everything around Sonic will be in slow motion until he lands. The player must also avoid the red shockwaves emanating from Giganto's back and shoulders, which can make them lose Rings and fall off of the Titan. Once the player reaches the Vault on Giganto's head, they can interact with it to collect the last Chaos Emerald Sonic needs to enter his Super State.[2]
The real battle begins with the player in control of Super Sonic, who can fly freely around the arena but otherwise controls identically to Sonic's normal form.[3] Giganto will attack with wide swings of its arms: these won't damage Super Sonic, but they will push him away and waste time. The player can either Dodge or Parry Giganto's swings while closing in on him; the latter move will automatically bring Super Sonic into attack range while also stunning the Titan and opening it up for Grand Slam. Once Super Sonic is close enough, he can use any of his attacks on any part of Giganto's body to inflict damage.[4] The faster the player attacks, the better, as they lose less Rings, mitigating the risk of dying.
After the player depletes more than half of its health, Giganto will deploy red pillars from its back and shoulders, with their lasers forcing the player to stay close to the Titan. The player will also have to deal with two types of quick time events in this phase:
- Giganto will open its mouth and fire a massive laser beam. The player must tap the indicated button to fill the on-screen prompt until Super Sonic throws the beam away; Rings will only be drained when the quick-time event starts, not during Giganto's initial attack animation.
- Giganto may lunge forward and attempt to hit Super Sonic with both its hands. If the player fails to Parry, the Titan will try and crush Super Sonic with its teeth; the player must tap the given button to escape.
Giganto may also fire several beams from his back. These beams zero in on Super Sonic and cannot be parried. In Extreme difficulty the amount of beams increases.
When Giganto is deprived of its remaining health, a Cutscene depicts Super Sonic piercing through the titan's torso, finishing it off, and thus unlocking Ares Island.
Music
| Name | Artist(s) | Length | Music track |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Titan: GIGANTO" | Tomoya Ohtani | 4:07 | |
| "Undefeatable (feat. Kellin Quinn)" | Tomoya Ohtani, Kellin Quinn | 4:23 |
Video
Trivia
- The player is able to avoid the QTE for Giganto's giant laser by spamming Parry while holding either left or right.[5]
- Several unused animations for Giganto smacking its body and attempting to thwart Sonic's climbing are present in the code. An animation for Giganto throwing Sonic away afterwards also exists.
- The first animation mod in Sonic Frontiers was causing Giganto to do the Gangnam dance, once modders figured out how to tinker with animation styles.
- Sage can be seen driving a car resembling Giganto in Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds.
References
- ↑ Sonic Team (28 September 2023). Sonic Frontiers. Xbox One. Sega. "Sage: There used to be five tribes co-existing on the planet of the Ancients. A tribe with big and powerful bodies, a tribe that developed a tail instead of legs, a tribe that walked on four legs, a winged tribe, and a tribe that was the most intelligent of them all."
- ↑ Sonic Team (8 November 2022). Sonic Frontiers. Nintendo Switch. Sega. Area/level: Giganto fight. "Climb GIGANTO: Sonic cannot match GIGANTO's power... yet. Reach GIGANTO's head to transform into Super Sonic."
- ↑ Sonic Team (8 November 2022). Sonic Frontiers. Nintendo Switch. Sega. Area/level: Giganto fight. "Super Sonic!: Super Sonic doesn't take damage, but Rings will be lost as the battle goes on. Because of the time limit, the key to this battle is "to efficiently deal heavy damage." Using Sonic's knowledge and techniques, defeat the enemy!"
- ↑ Sonic Team (8 November 2022). Sonic Frontiers. Nintendo Switch. Sega. Area/level: Try Again screen. "Tip: GIGANTO can repel Quick Cyloops. Try one and Sonic'll be sent flying."
- ↑ You Can Actually Dodge Giganto's Beam Attack in Sonic Frontiers!. YouTube. Stickman Guides (3 December 2022). Retrieved on 31 July 2023.
