Film: Giant from the Unknown (1959)

Alias: The Devil Giant

Type: Ancient

Location: Cave/Desert

Height/Weight: About a head taller than the average human.

Affiliation: Evil

Summary: When exploring uncharted territory, it's always nice to keep in touch with your friends and not at any point betray them in some way, no matter how many people are behind you. Vargas the conquistador failed to understand this, and he and his crew ended up gone and forgotten. Until now, in his case.

History: At least five centuries ago when the Portuguese empire was still a thing, there were the conquistadors, bands of soldiers and explorers seeking to make their mark on the new world that was North America. Among these brave individuals was Ptolemy Firello, who led his men to the land that would become California. Unfortunately, some of his crew came with agendas of their own. Case in point: his best lieutenant Vargas, a scummy giant of a man whose idea of fun was raiding the land of Indian gold. He and a group of similar renegades called themselves the "Diablo Brigade" and left poor Ptolemy in the dust. However, after imposing their culture onto the locals for a while, these vandals disappeared mysteriously, with Vargas' remains located in an area known as Devil's Crag. Even worse, the area was said to be cursed to raise evil spirits every once in a while. Or maybe it was the suspended animation Vargas was in. Hmm.

Notable Kills: Nothing special.

Final Fate: After terrorizing his old stomping grounds for a while, Vargas confronts a man on a bridge over a river. It is here where his bulk ultimately works against him, as his misses his target and crashes though the railing of the bridge, causing him to plummet to his death.

Powers/Abilities: Aside from immense strength, Vargas has almost impenetrable armor and a thing for axe-shaped weapons.

Weakness: Only blunt weapons seem to bother him.

Scariness Factor: 3.5-While not the most remarkable monster, Vargas looks like the deranged armored cross between a Neanderthal and a lumberjack, something not a lot of people would want to encounter in the woods. His backstory was quite something too.

Trivia: -Vargas was played by the equally burly Buddy Baer, a retired wrestler who reigned as one of the finest punchers of his time more than a decade earlier.

-This was one of the earliest films that director Joe Dante ever got involved with (as an editor).