 Ultraman
- Alien from Nebula M-78 in the 40th galaxy on the Japanese
live-action sci-fi series ULTRAMAN/SYN/1966. As the show's theme
song intoned"...he comes from the sky, watch our hero fly; in a
super jet he comes from a billion miles away; from a distant
planet land comes our hero...Ultraman." Streaking through Earth's
atmosphere, this mysterious alien's spacecraft accidentally
collided with a jet plane belonging to the Scientific Patrol, and
killed its pilot, Iota. In an act of unselfishness, the alien
resurrected the dead pilot by merging his own life force with
Iota's body, thus creating...Ultraman, a super-powerful giant with
special karate fighting abilities. As Ioto revived, the alien
communicated the following to his conscious mind.
"You and I will
become one and we will fight as one for the peace of Earth for all
time to come. You will remain in your present (human) form, Iota.
Whenever you are in trouble, use the Beta capsule (a cylindrical
silver capsule of alien origin) and you Iota, will become Ultraman."
From that point, Iota lived a double life. Publicly, as a member
of the Scientific Patrol and secretly, as the powerful Ultraman, a
towering giant clad in helmet and flight suit of red blue and
silver, who battled Earth's enemies, which usually turned out to
be large reptilian monsters in the tradition of Godzilla.
Despite
the tremendous powers endowed to Iota, he could only use them for
short periods of time. A flashing warning light on his costume
alerted him to his draining strength.
In 1992, a new syndicated
version ULTRAMAN...TOWARD THE FUTURE was produced in celebration
of the show's 25th anniversary.
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| Iota the Pilot
(Before) |
Iota (After his
transformation) |
ULTRAMAN
(Theme Song - dubbed English version)
Ultraman, Ultraman
Here he comes from the sky
Ultraman, Ultraman
Watch our hero fly
In a super jet he comes
from a billion miles away
From a distant planet land
Comes our hero Ultraman!
The 'Ultraman' series spawned a number of spin-offs including:
- ULTRASEVEN (1967-68);
- THE ULTRAMAN WHO RETURNED (1971-72);
- ULTRAMAN ACE (1972-73);
- ULTRAMAN TARO (1973-74);
- ULTRAMAN LEO
(1974-75);
- THE ULTRAMAN (1979-80);
- ULTRAMAN 80 (1980-81);
- ULTRAMAN:
THE ADVENTURE BEGINS (1984);
- ULTRAMAN USA (1989);
- ULTRAMAN:
TOWARDS THE FUTURE (1991-92);
- ULTRAMAN: THE ULTIMATE HERO (1995);
- ULTRAMAN TIGA (1996-97); ULTRAMAN DYNA (1997-98);
- ULTRAMAN GAIA
(1998-99);
- ULTRAMAN NICE (1999/2000);
- ULTRAMAN NEOS (2000-01);
- ULTRASEVEN 21;
- ULTRAMAN COSMOS (2001-2002).
On the ULTRAMAN
TIGA series (adapted for USA release for by 4Kids Entertainment)
the DNA life force resurrected from the statue of an ancient
civilization migrates into the body of Daigo Madoka (Hiroshi
Nagano), a member of GUTS (Global Unlimited Task Squad) and endows
him with mighty powers and the body of a towering (53 meters)
karate kicking giant. GUTS is a branch of TPC (Terrestrial
Peaceable Consortium, known as the Terrestrial Peacekeeping
Commission in the dubbed American version).
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