Giygas (/ˈɡaɪɡəs/ GY-gəs), also known as Giegue, and Gyiyg (ギーグ, Gīgu) in Japan, is a character in the Mother video game series by Nintendo, created by Shigesato Itoi.

In the series, he invades Earth in an attempt to wipe out humanity in Mother, and returns in EarthBound where he conquers the world and sends his forces into the past to prevent protagonist Ness from defeating him.

[1][2] Giygas was designed and written by the creator of the EarthBound series, Shigesato Itoi, and debuted in the original Mother, where he is called Giegue in the English localization.

In an interview on his website, Itoi describes how his inspiration for the final battle with Giygas in EarthBound resulted from a traumatic childhood event where he accidentally viewed the wrong movie at a theater, a Shintoho film entitled Kenpei to Barabara Shibijin.

[7] Marcus Lindblom, a member of the English localization team, acknowledged the urban legend, noting that he appreciated the speculation, but debunked the idea as an official interpretation.

At first, Dr. Andonuts (the father of playable character Jeff) believes that Giygas is residing deep within the Earth, and transports himself and the party there using a machine called the Phase Distorter.

[10][12] Jeremy Parish for 1UP.com used the battle as an example of how games subvert expectations, where the protagonists employ prayer instead of their most powerful attacks to win.

[14] NGamer UK staff listed Giygas as one of the most iconic boss encounters in Nintendo history, stating that the defining moment was his design and the method of defeating him.

[15] GamesRadar+ staff named him one of the best video game antagonists, finding him creepy and a more imposing villain than Kefka Palazzo from Final Fantasy VI.

[18][19][20][21][22] He was featured in a GameSpot user-voted poll of the greatest villains in video games, where he lost in the first round to Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic antagonist Darth Malak.

[23] Nadia Oxford for IGN described the battle with Giygas as one of the most memorable moments in EarthBound and stated that its significance resonated with people who had not played the game, a sentiment that Cassandra Ramos of RPGamer shared.

She suggested that Giygas was based on It's antagonist due to a similarly "borderline indescribable" form and the fact that they both succumb to childlike qualities such as faith, friendship, and love.

[26] Patricia Hernandez for Nightmare Mode discussed how his Mother incarnation "echoes a motif" of children without parental guidance doing poorly for it.