Gigas
Gigas1 are a race of extraplanar giants who were the first descendants of the titans. Unique to each plane the titans visited, the gigas were servants and emissaries of titankind. In time, as the gigas formed their own lordships, they spawned the giants.2
History
During the Age of Creation, the deities formed the titans from the raw substance of the planes to help them refine and develop the new, and still roughly formed, multiverse. For unknown reasons the titans rebelled against their progenitors and declared themselves the true lords of creation. The ensuing war destroyed entire planes, but in the end the deities emerged victorious and banished their rebellious children, the thanatotic titans, to the Outer Rifts.34✝ The Elysian titans, who had sought peace with the deities, were richly rewarded with realms of their own and free access to every corner of the Great Beyond.5
As the titans—still hot from the fires of creation—traveled the planes, the gigas arose from their footsteps. Each gigas carried within them a tiny divine spark of their creators and were adapted to the land that spawned them. They shared the titans' enormous humanoid frames and strength but were less powerful than their parents. Over the following millennia gigas bred with numerous mortal beings that resulted in offspring of incredible size and power. Even though some claim that rocs or gigantic vermin are the outcome of these unions, the true children of the gigas were the numerous species of giants.5
After the titans' rebellion, agents of the deities hunted down gigas. They have become only rarer since.5
Ecology
Gigas are the combinations of titan flesh and planar substance, but are still humanoids rather than outsiders and as such must eat and drink. Gigas become lethargic and eventually comatose without food or drink but do not starve to death: they never die unless killed. They can feed on anything from their home plane, but away from it they must feed on extraplanar foods which do not taste right to their palates, and their immense size makes it very difficult to sustain themselves for long durations on other planes.5
Two gigas of different species can have vastly different strengths and weaknesses, depending on the circumstances of their genesis and the nature of their titanic parents. The conception of a gigas is varied and does not necessarily involve two titans.5
Varieties of gigas
Each of the species of gigas vary greatly from one another, their nature formed not only from their various titanic parents but also by the planes that spawned them.6 One of the most notable of the gigas races are the Hell gigas. Other varieties include the Maelstrom gigas, Abyss gigas, and the Nirvana gigas who craft new realms of dreams in Nirvana.2 Other species include the vile Abaddon gigas, the metal-clad Axis gigas, the mysterious and desiccated Boneyard gigas, the Elemental gigas of the planes of water, fire, earth, and air, the goodly Elysium gigas, the Energy gigas from Creation's Forge and the Void, the Heaven gigas who serve the gods of that realm, and the Shadow gigas of the Netherworld (who most believe are extinct).7
References
Paizo published "Ecology of the Gigas" as a major article in Shadow of the Storm Tyrant.
For additional as-yet unincorporated sources about this subject, see the Meta page.
- ↑ The singular and plural of "gigas" are the same.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 . “Pathfinder's Journal: Hell's Pawns 6 of 6” in The Twice-Damned Prince, 85. Paizo Inc., 2010
- ↑ . “Chapter 3: The Great Beyond” in Planar Adventures, 167. Paizo Inc., 2018
- ↑ . “Chapter 3: The Great Beyond” in Planar Adventures, 204. Paizo Inc., 2018
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 . “Ecology of the Gigas” in Shadow of the Storm Tyrant, 71. Paizo Inc., 2015
- ↑ . “Ecology of the Gigas” in Shadow of the Storm Tyrant, 72. Paizo Inc., 2015
- ↑ . “Ecology of the Gigas” in Shadow of the Storm Tyrant, 72–75. Paizo Inc., 2015