Ultraman Great(ウルトラマンＧ, Urutoraman Gurēto) is the only Australian Ultraman to be produced in the Ultra series, as well as the first English-speaking Ultraman, the first Ultra produced outside of Japan, and the first Ultraman of the Heisei era. The series that Ultraman Great headlined was titled Ultraman: Towards the Future.
Great's design is unique compared to those of the other Ultra Crusaders; his Color Timer is triangular, and his non-red body color is silver-white, as opposed to other Ultra Crusaders's red and silver colourations.
According to Suzuki Kiyoshi's remarks, from a producer who is also a photographer, the Ultra-suit which Steve Apps and Robert Simper alternated wearing during production was not adapted from a conventional rubber wetsuit; it was, instead, adapted from a wrinkle-resistant fiber suit. The mask was made of the same FRP as before; similar to Ultraman 80's suit, FRP parts were also attached to the back of the head. Slits in the mask were used for the eye-holes, out of which Apps and Simper found their visibilities less hampered, and this shape was adopted even in Heisei Ultra series after that. The power supply for the illumination of both Great's eyes and his triangular Colour Timer was wrapped around the wearers's ankle, in the same red fabric as the tights location, without charging in the suit as in the past. In the scenes reflecting the back, a suit with a fastener was used before the fastener was not visible.
History
Ultraman: Towards the Future
Jack Shindo and Stanley Haggard are members of the first manned expedition to Mars, and on the red planet find a giant slug-like monster called Gudis. Suddenly the giant warrior, Ultraman Great, arrives and fights Gudis, but is knocked down for a period. Shindo is pinned by a rockslide and Haggard tries to escape in their ship but is blown up by Gudis. It is then that Great gets up, and when he is on the verge of victory Gudis changes into a virus and travels to Earth, where it mutates other creatures into monsters and awakens existing ones. Needing a human host to survive on Earth, Great joins with Jack, allowing him to become the mighty alien when all seems lost. He joins the Universal Multipurpose Agency, or UMA, in order to help them battle the monsters.
Halfway through the series a new Gudis, more powerful than the first one, appears. It imprisons Ultraman, but Jack ultimately shows it the futility of its mission. Even if it does manage to corrupt all life, eventually there will be nothing else to corrupt, and Gudis is destroyed once and for all. For the rest of the series, the environmental themes are stronger, and the various monsters usually arise from human pollution. Indeed, whenever Great's Color Timer commences to blink, the voiceover narration explains, "Because of Earth's polluted atmosphere, Ultraman (Great) can only retain his gigantic form for three minutes. Time is running out."
In the series finale, a doomsday scenario begins with the appearance of three powerful monsters: Kilazee, Kodalar, and the Earth itself, which tries to wipe out the human race for abusing it. Ultraman is defeated by Kodalar, but Jack survives. Ultimately, the humans use an ancient disc to destroy Kodalar by reflecting its own power at it and Ultraman defeats Kilazee and carries it into space, separating Jack from him and restoring him on Earth as a normal human. The victory is seen as another chance for the human race.
Mega Monster Battle: Ultra Galaxy Legends: The Movie
Powered, Great, and the Ultra Force about to fight against Belial.
After Ultraman Belial was freed from his prison, he went to cause rampage to the Land of Light. Ultraman Great, Ultraman Powered, and The Ultra Force, among many other Ultramen, fought Belial, only to be easily beaten by the traitorous former Ultraman. After defeat almost Ultramen in the Land of Light, Belial stolen the Plasma Spark, which make the Land of Light quickly freezes over, as well as all of its denizens, including Powered as well (except Ultraman and Ultraseven survive by defending themselves at the last moment). In the ending, after the Plasma Spark was recovered, every Ultra, including Powered, was seen listening to Ultraman King's speech. Great was seen along The Ultra Force and Ultraman Powered.
Profile
Ultraman Great
Stats
Height: 60 m
Weight: 58,000 t
Age: 17,000 years old
Flight Speed: Mach 26
Running Speed: Mach 9
Underwater Speed: Mach 6
Jumping Distance: 1,500 m
Latent Ground Speed: Mach 3
Weakness: Like other Ultras, Great's activity on Earth is limited to three minutes. This is because of Earth's polluted atmosphere.
Transformation
The Delta-Plasma Pendant, which resembles Ultraman Great's Color Timer, is Jack Shindo's transformation artifact. He gingerly places it in the palm of his left hand and closes his eyes as he concentrates. It then emits pulsating synthesizer noises and a light transforming him. The rise scene for the transformation show Great emerging from amidst an explosion. But after that Great is shown simply to grow taller.
The pendant releases energy
Jack Shindo closes his eyes as he concentrates
Ultraman Great's rise
Techniques
Burning Plasma(バーニングプラズマ, Bāningu Purazuma): Ultraman Great's signature move. Great pulls his arms apart in a vertical angle, and fires out two blue beams that can kill monsters in one blow. This can be charged for a much more powerful variation of the attack, which is red and fiery. It is Great's strongest attack.
Finger Beam (フィンガービーム, Fingā Bīmu): A needle-like beam Great fires from his fingertips.
Double Finger Beam(ダブルフィンガービーム, Daburu Fingā Bīmu): The Finger Beam fired from both hands.
Magnum Shoot(マグナムシュート, Magunamu Shūto): By absorbing his enemy's attack in his hands, Great can fire it back at them, either in the same way or as a sphere. This may purify foes of diseases like the Gudis virus or can cripple them.
Triangle Shield(トライアングルシールド, Toraianguru Shīrudo): Great can create a triangular shield with his hands and reflect whatever hits the shield.
Dissolver(ディゾルバー, Dizorubā): Atom smashing rays shot from the hands, used to destroy the corpse of a dead monster. Can also be fired as a projectile.
Disc Beam(ディスクビーム, Disuku Bīmu): Energy condensed and thrown in the shape of a disc.
Knuckle Bolt(ナックルボルト, Nakkuru Boruto): Electric currents fired from the fist. Used in the movie only
Star Beam(スタービーム, Sutā Bīmu): A cutting ray Great can shoot from his fingertips. Used to defeat Bios.
Palm Shooter(パームシューター, Pāmu Shūtā): Great can shoot powerful energy balls from his palms.
Knuckle Shooter(ナックルシューター, Nakkuru Shūtā): Great can emit powerful energy balls from his knuckles.
Energy Beam: Great can emit powerful energy balls from his palms.
Arrow Beam(アロービーム, Arō Bīmu): A beam fired from the position of firing an arrow. Used to defeat Barrangas.
Great Slicer(グレートスライサー, Gurēto Suraisā): Great can generate blade-like energy from the fingers and cut through the enemy.
Double Great Slicer(ダブルグレートスライサー, Daburu Gurēto Suraisā): Great can create a blade of energy from his hands that can slice through just about anything.
Great Guard(グレートガード, Gurēto Gādo): Great uses his arms to protect himself from energy projectile attacks.
Perspective Ray(透視光線, Tōshi Kōsen): Great can look for hidden enemies with rays of light that emanate from both eyes.
Great Shoot(グレートシュート, Gurēto Shūto): Great shoots twin energy bolts at point blank.
Great Punch(グレートパンチ, Gurēto Panchi): A powerful punch.
Great Chop(グレートチョップ, Gurēto Choppu): A powerful chop.
Great Kick(グレートキック, Gurēto Kikku): A powerful Kick.
Burning Plasma (Energy Bolts)
Burning Plasma (Energy Sphere)
Finger Beam
Double Finger Beam
Magnum Shoot (Reflect)
Magnum Shoot (Sphere)
Triangle Shield
Dissolver (Ray)
Dissolver (Projectile)
Disc Beam
Star Beam
Palm Shooter
Knuckle Shooter
Energy Beam
Arrow Beam
Great Slicer
Great Double Slicer
Great Guard
Perspective Ray
Great Shoot
Great Punch
Great Chop
Great Kick
Other Media
Ultraman Great has also starred in a Manga called Ultraman G by Mangataka (Manga Artist) Shimamoto Kazuhiko.
He also starred in two comic series, Ultraman Great, and Ultraman Negative One, where his identity was merged with Ultraman's
Ultraman Great is the first Ultra whose suit is made entirely of spandex, as opposed to all the other Ultras in the series, who have rubber suits.
Great still uses a spandex suit in the later appearances.
Ultraman Great is:
the first Ultra shown fighting a monster before merging with his host or taking a human form.
the first Ultra to produce blades of Light Energy.
the first Ultra to be mistaken as an enemy.
Ultraman Great is the first and only Ultra flies supine after every battles.
Great was only be defeated by Kodalar in the series.
Great is one of the second main Ultra whose signature finisher is not a traditional Ultra Beam, the first one was Ultraman Leo.
In the Japanese dub, Ultraman Great's grunts are reused from Ultraman's produced by Masao Nakasone. However, Great's original grunts can be heard sometimes without being dubbed or even "mixed" with Ultraman's grunts.
Great finishes most of his battles when his Color Timer started blinking (except on the battle with Gudis I in Mars).
Great's Color Timer's sound is unique in the original series. However, in the Japanese dub, it changed to a high pitch version of Ultraman's.
When Great's Color Timer starts blinking, the narrator will say "Because of Earth's polluted atmosphere, Ultraman can only retain his gigantic form for three minutes. Time is running out." because the director wanted to explain to the people about the environment due to the polluted environment at the time, eco-awareness was at a high and even many episodes included environmental themes.
However, in the Japanese dub, the narrator says "The Sun in the Earth doesn't supply energy enough so Ultraman Great can only retain his gigantic form for three minutes. Stand up, our hero!"
While he is not the Ultra to appear in the most alternative media, he is the one with the most starring roles, in sequential art media (manga and comics).
He is the only Ultra to star in both a Western comic and Eastern manga.
