Gargaros

is a Fire-attribute Boss Yo-kai, and the first/main boss of Terror Time. He can also sometimes be found instead of Snartle when going across the Crosswalk without pressing the button.

In Yo-kai Watch 2: Psychic Specters, Gargaros can be befriended, and is a Rank S Fire-attribute Rare Yo-kai of the Tough tribe.

Biology
True to his name, Gargaros is an oni-like creature with red skin, a single golden horn on his head, clawed hands and feet and curved fangs. He wears a brown loincloth with black trousers below and carries a black kanabou (iron studded club).

Gargaros is ruthless and terrifying, relentlessly hunting down those who misbehave and attacking them with his club.

As a boss, Gargaros is incredibly powerful, being able to wipe out an entire party of six Yo-kai with little time offered for resistance for those who are not powerful enough to take him on. He often cannot be successfully confronted until the post game, but his defeat causes Ogralus and Orcanos, his even more powerful brothers, to appear in his stead.

His powers are the transportation of misbehaving children to a place called Terror Time, which exists in the dreams of the kids. His massive strength and small army of oni lookouts, means the only way for most kids to escape is to get to their homes in which Gargaros cannot attack them. Once the child escapes from Terror Time, they are mentally stronger.

It seems that oni are capable of entering and exiting Terror Time at will, as Sgt. Burly entered Terror Time in the anime without a problem, and Gargaros's oni minions leave once they spot you.

According to the Medallium bio of his friend form, he can knock sense back into humans with a swing of his club.

Ogralus, Orcanos, and Gilgaros
Gargaros is considered to be Ogralus, Gilgaros, and Orcanos' brother. He is the first terror time boss, followed by Ogralus, and then Orcanos. He is Gilgaros' brother even though Gilgaros is not in terror time and is a Legendary instead.

Yo-kai Watch 2: Psychic Specters
Get a key from Mr E outside of the old house in San Fantastico. You can go into Mystery Way but need to link Bony Spirits with Psychic Specters, he is a Bony Spirits exclusive yo-kai. You will eventually encounter Arachnus by a door. If you enter you will appear in terror time at Fullface Rock. Go to the North and East until you climb a rock to find Gargaros. Battle him, remember he is a boss that does not accept food and can only have a raised befriend chance with popularity, and after the battle he has a chance to befriend you. He will not walk up to you like regular yo-kai but instead change his dialogue and give you his medal.

Yo-kai Watch 3
Gargaros has a small chance of being pulled from the Terror-Time Crank-a-kai.

Alternatively in the 2.0 update and Sukiyaki, he can be befriended in a Busters T dungeon.

Yo-kai Watch Busters
Gargaros can be obtained as a special drop when battling his boss form.

Yo-kai Sangokushi
Gargaros can be pulled from the Crank-a-Kai with a Sawtoakushi coin

Yo-kai Watch: Wibble Wobble
Gargaros was obtainable in the second terror time event.

Video game
In the game, once Baku takes the place of the Player in their bed at night by impersonating them, they run the risk of being drawn into Terror Time while still in the waking world. The first time this happens, it's Gargaros who starts hunting them down. Gargaros will be the one to appear in Terror Time until he is defeated by the player several times.

Anime
In the show, Gargaros has come after Nate on two occasions after the latter left his home despite his mother telling him not to:


 * The first time in EP018 when he snuck out to obtain doughnuts when he was supposed to be waiting for the delivery man. Gargaros flattens Jibanyan and Whisper and chases Nate back to his house at the time. Though this gets Lily Adams angry at him for disobeying orders.
 * The second time was in EP062 when he snuck out to obtain doughnuts when he was supposed to be waiting for the delivery man where he has to sign for it where Lily warns him not to do a repeat of last time. Sergeant Burly appears as well as Sergeant Slime and forces Nate to confront Gargaros. Nate summons Robonyan to fight Robonyan who suggests that two other fighters to attack him which is a much better way to defeat Gargaros. However, Nate, Whisper, Jibanyan, and Robonyan end up stalling by pushing the responsibility of actually fighting Gargaros among each other; eventually this bores Gargaros to the point where he leaves canceling Terror Time.

In EP055, a bunch of Gargaros appear in the Old Lady Dream Theater segment where they are in the Momotaro story fighting Whisper, Manjimutt, Dandoodle, and Komasan on Oni Island.

In EP112, Gargaros, Hardy Hound, Rubeus J and Cap'n Crash went to Disrupting Class Academy, but all they did is to damage the school with their size.

Etymology
"Gargaros" might be a combination of gargantuan (meaning "gigantic" and derived from Francois Rabelais' Gargantua), and rosso, Italian for "red".


 * Gargaros and Ogralus's Japanese names, "Aka Oni" and "Ao Oni", meaning "red oni" and "blue oni" respectively, based on the fairytale The Red Oni Who Cried, where a red oni desires to make friends with humans and goes along with a plan that his friend the Blue Oni comes up with, which unfortunately ends their friendship in the process.
 * "Red Oni/Blue Oni" is also a common comparison between a person who is passionate and emotional and a person who is calm and logical.

Origin
Gargaros and other Yo-kai similar to him are based on oni, a popular creature in Japanese folklore. Their name is often translated as "demon" or "ogre", but their origin differs a lot from that of Western devils.

Originally oni were the invisible forces behind natural disasters (their name coming from on, or "hidden"). Through the influence of Chinese Buddhism, they absorbed traits from rakshasa and preta (see Tantroni) and solidified as caretakers of Hell, or dangerous brigands that terrorize villages. Also from China came the idea of kimon ("oni's gate"), the unlucky northeast direction from which spirits enter the human world: it corresponds to the Ox and the Tiger of the Chinese zodiac, and that created the definite image of oni as huge, powerful horned beings that wear tigerskin clothes. They also typically wield massive iron clubs, though it's often humorously pointed out that creatures so strong don't need a weapon, thus the phrase oni ni kanabou ("oni with an iron club") meaning "overkill" or "superfluous advantage".

At their least dangerous, oni are portrayed as boisterous brutes that are nonetheless honest to a fault, and enjoy sake, partying and brawling. The best way to impress them is to match them in a show of strength, or proving one's courage and determination.
 * The word oni is written with the Chinese character for "ghost" (鬼), which appears on the Yo-kai Watch's face when Terror Time begins in the Japanese version. In the English version, it's replaced by the silhouette of a horned, snarling demon.
 * Gargaros' facial expression and that of his brothers (one eye squinted, mouth twisted into a snarl) resembles closely that of Acala (or Fudo-Myouou in Japanese) a Buddhist deity that belongs to the so-called "Wisdom Kings". His role is to protect Buddha and their precepts, and to punish sinners who won't yield to reason or kindness. He's always wreathed in karura 's flames (see Flengu) and his face is constantly twisted with rage. In one hand he carries a sword to smite demons, in the other a lariat to subdue mundane desires. His Japanese name translates as "Wisdom King of Unyielding Faith".

Changing the System Clock
If the 3DS' system clock settings are changed when a game is loaded, a cutscene with Gargaros is triggered.

"You're not playing around with the system's clock, are you? I, Gargaros, will never forgive tricksters!"

After that, the game will resume like normal. There are no consequences if the system clock is changed back to the previous setting without saving, but changing it repeatedly will increase the chance of Terror Time starting.
 * In the second game and beyond though, if this is attempted, daily features such as the Crank-a-kai or paying the Mount Wildwood Shrine 20 days in a row to get Almi are unusable for until 2 days in real world time passes.

In Other Languages

 * Portuguese: Gargaros
 * Spanish: Gargantúo
 * French: Gargaros
 * German: Gargaros
 * Italian: Koross

Related Yo-kai

 * Gilgaros
 * Ogralus
 * Orcanos