Giants of Gantua

The Giants of Gantua are a race of beings from the movie Jack the Giant Slayer.

History
The Giants of Gantua were a race of gigantic humanoid beings that inhabited the perilous realm of Gantua that was situated between heaven and Earth. Situated above the clouds, this mystical land was home to a fierce giant race that had long lived alone in their home. Contact between giant and man came when the monks of the kingdom of Cloister in the lands of Albion went on a quest to find their god. They created magic seeds as a result of black magic that were grown from a magical pod with these being planted to serve as a pathway to find their deity. Once planted, the seeds grew into a magical beanstalk that spiraled into the sky where it was believed by the monks that it would reach heaven itself. The monks would climb the beanstalk thinking that they would reach the gates of heaven but unknown to them they came upon the realm of Gantua that was home of the giants. Upon arriving, they faced a horrible fate and were killed during the first encounter. Afterwards, the beanstalk was used by the giants as a bridge way to pillage the lands of men where they descended in large numbers to plunder the kingdoms of Albion. They quickly came to hold a taste for acquiring treasures and goods which saw them destroy obstacles before them in order to steal treasures as well as livestock. However, a more brutal aspect of the Giants of Gantua was that they had grown to desire the taste of humans that they would devour leading them to prey on mankind. In order to combat this foe, King Erik of Albion bade the monks to return to their dark arts in order to find a way to control the giants and stop their rampage. From a slain giant, the monks took the beasts heart and melted it down where in a combination with magic they forged a mystical crown for their king. Upon wearing the crown, the giants became compelled to follow its commands and thus were enslaved to King Erik's will. With its power, he commanded them to return to their realm of Gantua to serve as their prison whilst the beanstalk was severed thus cutting Albion's ties to that land. Thus, peace was returned to the lands of man with the last of the magical beans being placed in the king's hands along with his crown. In time, King Erik would pass away but in his tomb he kept the magical crown and magical beans so that they would forever be in his care.

Since that time, the time of the Giants of Gantua's onslaught had become regarded as a myth to the people of Albion with this being told as a story to the children of Cloister. Princess Isabelle was told stories of the giants by her mother the queen of Cloister whilst a young farm boy called Jack was similarly told the legend by his father. After ten years, the Lord High Constable Roderick made a secret plot to take the lands of Cloister and become its ruler. To that end, he secretly pillaged the tomb of King Erik where he took the magic crown and the beans from the catacombs in a plot to use them. This plan was discovered by the order of monks of Cloister with Brother Abel dispatched to retrieve the beans to stop their dark magic from being used to make another beanstalk. However, he was unable to return as Roderick sent his men to retrieve the relic so he gave them to the now adult farmboy Jack in exchange for a horse to use as a distraction. The monk bade Jack to give the beans to his fellows in his order for safekeeping where he promised monetary payment for the horse. His uncle would later tell him off as he believed that his nephew had been tricked and stolen the horse as he disregarded any myth surrounding the beans with one falling underneath the wooden floor of the house. During a thunderstorm, rain fell on the bean creating a beanstalk that propelled Jack's house into the sky thus linking Albion once more with Gantua. At the time, Princess Isabelle had been taking shelter in the farm house thus leading to her being sent into the giant's realm. The emergence of the beanstalk attracted the royal army with the King being informed of the Princess's disappearance thus he charged his soldiers with Jack going up the beanstalk to find her. After travelling up the beanstalk, they arrived in the lands of Gantua though some of the soldiers did not believe in the myths of the giants despite their arrival in the lands in the sky.

At Gantua, Princess Isabelle began exploring the land only to be captured by the giant Fumm who brought her before General Fallon. He placed her in a cage and interrogated her on how she arrived in their realm as the giants had long desired to return to the lands of mankind but she refused to answer him. During this time, Lord High Constable Roderick was set upon by giants but before he could be killed he used Erik's crown to control them. He commanded them to be taken to their stronghold where the entirety of the prisoners of Gantua were brought under his command. Thus, Roderick claimed to be their king as they his army which he intended to take back to Albion and lay siege to the Kingdom of Cloister. After that, he intended to use the giants to plague the rest of the neighboring kingdoms so that they would be brought under Roderick's rule. As such, General Fallon and his kin were told to forge weaponry and prepare themselves for war. In preparation for that moment, Princess Isabelle and her guardian Elmont were taken to the kitchens in order to be served as food. However, Jack managed to save them by slaying the chef which alerted Roderick and his giant army. As a result, Rodercik commanded one of the giants to guard the Gantua entrance to the beanstalk. This giant was killed when he was tricked into falling off the ledge of the mystical island in the sky with him falling onto the lands of Cloister. The giant's dead body alerted the King of Cloister who commanded the effort to cut down the stalk before more of the inhabitants of Gantua could invade Albion as they had done in Erik's time. Whilst Princess Isabelle and Jack climbed down the stalk, Elmont remained behind in order to retrieve Erik's crown. By this point, the giant army had arrived at the stalk's point in Gantua where Roderick arrived ready to take them to Albion. However, Roderick was ambushed by Elmont with the two battling in one of the smaller caves thus preventing the giants from saving the wearer of the crown. Whilst Roderick battled Elmont, the giants slowly made their way to attempt to save him and though he initially managed to overcome the royal guardian but was slain. Despite his cries for help, Roderick died just as the giants retrieved his body with Fallon pleased that the one who dominated them with the magical relic was dead.

Thus, Fallon took the crown from his head and wore it as a finger which allowed him to become the ruler of all giants as they were now forever pledged to serve him. On Albion, the people of Cloister, however, managed to cut down the stalk leading it to fall down the surface seemingly severing the link to Gantua. Whilst seemingly defeated, Fallon noticed near Roderick's dead body a purse that contained several more magic beans. Taking them, he placed them in the water leading to several beanstalks to sprout with the giants jumping on them in order to lead them to Albion. Shortly afterwards, the Giants of Gantua once more arrived on the lands of man where they emerged in the Kingdom of Cloister to begin their plunder. Upon reaching the surface, they ambushed the king's army that was heading home falling the collapse of the first stalk and pursued the riders to the castle. The army from Gantua thus laid siege to the castle of Cloister in order to devour and pillage it. During this moment, Fallon seemingly died in the fiery moat around the castle but actually swam underwater and entered the stronghold through tis aqueduct system. He attempted to devour Princess Isabelle but was killed by Jack when he threw one of the magic beans into his mouth. With Fallon dead, Jack managed to take Erik's crown from the giant's hand and used it to cause the people of Gantua to surrender just as they had broken into the castle. As such, the giant hordes were compelled to kneel before Jack and were defeated as a result. The Kingdom of Cloister continued in a prosperous rule under King Jack and Queen Isabelle who continued telling the story of the Giants of Gantua with this once more becoming a fable. During this time, Erik the Great's mystical crown was kept in safekeeping and survived across the generations as the royal crown that was kept in secure even in modern times where it remained in the Tower of London. Over the centuries, the tale of Jack and the Giants became a common story told to children across the world where it became a legend though once more one that was not believed as being true by humans.


 * The fate of the Giants of Gantua was never elaborated on after they knelt before Jack though Gantua itself was shown to still exist up in the clouds even in the modern age.

Overview
In appearance, the giants resembled the forms of humans but much larger with more monstrous features. Each was far stronger then man that allowed them to break through stone walls and carry large weights. Some varied in their forms as they possessed not one but two heads. Giants were noted for their fine sense of smell that allowed them to determine a person's lineage. It was claimed by Fallon that he could smell fear from humans that were attempting to escape them. They were shown to be a long lived race as the Giants that participated in the siege of Albion were still alive many Human generations later. Similarly, mankind kept legends of a two headed giant who was actually Fallon that was still alive despite several generations having passed for humans. Their hearts were considered to be cut from stone and they were held to be as hard as such stone. Whilst large, they suffered from many of the anatomical weak points as humans though all that was required was suitable weapons and force designed to pierce the skin. As such, they could not survive falls from great heights as one giant that accidently fell from Gantua died after his body landed in Albion. It was claimed that ultimately the people of Gantua had few weaknesses with their primary one being their compulsion to serve the wearer


 * All the giants seen in the movie were shown to be male and no female giants were shown.

Children in the Cloister were taught not to ask where the thunder came or where the herds had gone or why the birds had ceased their song as these were the actions of the giants. Legends would speak that thunderstorms were made by the Giants of Gantua. They were considered monsters that terrorized the lands of Albion and attacked the people of man who they considered ugly by their standards. The giants were plunderers who desired to steal the possessions of man that included treasures and livestock but also grew to prey on humans who they devoured completely. Such humans were consumed so completely that their blood, skin and bones were eaten but items such as armor needed to be spit out. As a result of this time, their stronghold in Gantua Though Erik the Great was considered a hero to humans, the Giants called him Erik the Terrible and despised him for his role in being their jailer. Similar to mankind's story of "Fee-Fi-Foe Fumm" that warned of the Giants, the people of Gantua had their own version of this song-like fable where it spoke of how delicious humans were as a meal. Each giant referred to another member of their kind as 'brother'.

This race of beings were shown to be intelligent to the point that they could create traps designed to ensnare prey in nets with this being used as a means for capturing livestock for consumption. Though living a hunter lifestyle, they were able to forge weapons such as maces and armor for warfare. They used metal to forge small cages that could be used to trap humans and also had kitchens that were used to prepare animals or humans as food. Giants from Gantua were shown not to use weapons such as bows but instead threw objects and projectiles with some using slingshots to propel rocks at targets with precision whilst using hooks to latch onto targets out of their reach. They abided by the rules of the hunt namely that the giant that found prey had first right in eating them. No king lived among the inhabitants of Gantua though they were led by a general that commanded them in times of war. As such, the giants sometimes challenged their general as they did not abide to his rule and did not have a king to rule them. However, by magic means, they were compelled to follow the wearer of the mystical crown forged by King Erik as to deny it was to deny their own existence.

Members

 * Fallon : a male two headed giant that served as the general of the armies of Gantua and thus their leader.
 * Fee : a male hunter who set traps to capture livestock who captured the Cloister King's two soldiers and brought them for interrogation to Fallon.
 * Finn : a male giant that returned to their stronghold in Gantua after news of humans being captured.
 * Fumm : a male giant that found Princess Isabelle when she arrived in Gantua and demanded that it was his right to eat her but was refused by Fallon.
 * Foe : a male giant that found High Lord Constable Roderick but before he could devour the human he fell under sway to the magic crown in his possession and brought him to Fallon's stronghold.
 * Fye : a male giant that found High Lord Constable Roderick but before he could devour the human he fell under sway to the magic crown in his possession and brought him to Fallon's stronghold.

Appearances

 * Jack the Giant Slayer: