GORGON AND SALAMANDORA
A race of aliens who are assassinating the captains of various UGM branches from around the globe, and have their eyes set on the captain of the Japanese branch, Oyama. While Oyama manages thwart his own murder, the dying Gorgon reverts to their human disguise, causing poor Oyama to be tried for murder.
The Gorgon are a really underrated group of alien invaders in my eyes. While they’re not quite on the level of the kinds of guys Tohl Narita or Noriyoshi Ikeya would create, I find them to be very eye-catching with their skeletal appearances, and single, red eye on the middle of their faces. Not to mention their plan of assassinating various UGM captains is fairly effective, and are able to use their failure to kill Oyama to their own advantage. They’re the sort of guys I could easily see working in a show like Ultraseven.
Their kaiju, Salamandora, is probably the most iconic monster from Ultraman 80 aside from Hoe. He’s another saurian type monster, and among the best of his type from the show. He’s not the episode’s driving force, but his attack in the beginning of the episode, helps kick things off nicely. One unique thing about Salamandora is the fact he can regenerate from leftover cells once he’s been killed, and can only be truly vanquished if the sack-like organ under his chin isn’t destroyed, giving this guy a bit of an edge compared to various other kaiju.
The initial design by Yamaguchi didn’t have Salamandora’s distinct rake-shaped head, something I am very glad it was changed to the final version, as I can’t imagine the monster without it. My favorite feature of Salamandora though, has to be his pentagonal scales, probably one of the most unique skin textures of all the Ultra Kaiju.
Salamandora would become one of the few breakout monsters from Ultraman 80, making a string of appearances through the late Heisei era starting with Ultraman Mebius before disappearing once again as of 2009.
ZARUDON
The inhabitant of a strange, red realm, Zarudon begins teleporting people into his domain for snackage until 80 comes a-callin’. Zarudon’s one of the weirder monsters we see in Ultraman 80, though I do not mind that at all since I love me some weird kaiju.
Yamaguchi does a pretty stellar job, taking inspiration from traditional Thai dancing costumes to create a unique looking creature. I do have to remark, I can almost get an ape-like vibe from Zarudon here, which makes him somewhat reminiscent of Hanuman. Zarudon’s name comes from the dish zaru udon, which are udon noodles served on bamboo zaru trays.
MYU
A creature native to the Monster Graveyard, Myu is a small, harmless space monster. Having been brought to Earth by a UGM space expedition, lil’ Myu befriends UGM agent Emi, whose singing helps calm the creature. However, Dr. Nakagawa preforms various experiments on the poor thing, wanting to find a way to make Myu grow giant in part of his scheme to domesticate giant monsters to use for building infrastructure! Nakagawa’s experiments work a little too well as expected, and Myu becomes a kaiju. Thankfully, the monster’s rampage is ended by Emi’s pacifying song and 80 returns him to his rightful home.
Myu might feel a bit plain, but it’s a bit genius in my eyes, as he’s not normally a kaiju, he’s just some poor animal grown to giant size. The design by Yamaguchi works well enough, albeit it’s not one of 80‘s iconic monsters, but it’s far from boring and you’re still able to have sympathy for this poor guy. I am honestly a bit more curious about Nakagawa’s schemes, as the idea of domesticating kaiju for construction purposes is a wonderfully zany idea. In addition, the fact that Myu hails from the Monster Graveyard brings up some fascinating questions of what the ecology of such a place is.
DEVILON
A space monster imprisoned in a crystalline structure by the Ruriya aliens, an Earth exploratory vessel finds the artifact and brings it back, dubbing it “Snow Art”. As one can figure from one of these stories, Devilon escapes and manages to posses Emi. Sadly, UGM manages to decipher the warning regarding the space demon right after poor Emi is used as Devilon’s host. Some luck, huh?
Devilon’s one of those kaiju from 80 that I feel like should be a bigger deal, especially with his M.O.. See, Devilon’s way of destroying worlds is by using his powerful psychic abilities to cause the inhabitants to go berserk and destroy themselves. So while he’s not quite a proper Minus Energy monster, he fits the show’s special brand of kaiju very well.
Yamaguchi drew from various sources such as the Japanese shinigami (Japan’s equivalent of the Grim Reaper), as well as clothing from the Han Dynasty. The suit itself is one of the show’s best, feeling very much so inhuman and evil, especially with the semi-humanoid, warped face he has.
Due to being essentially guys in makeup, I don’t have much commentary for the Ruriya, but the single one we see reuses the uniform of the evil Commander Halkan from Tsuburaya’s 1978 space opera show Star Wolf.
GYMAIRA, LOVRUS AND DARON
The main antagonist of 80‘s only two-parter, Gymaira as far as these guys go, is a memorable one. A vampiric kaiju, Gymaira dwells on Shiokaze Island, having complete control over the islanders, whom he uses as a food source. Rather than just munching on them like popcorn, Gymaira uses a tongue that is essentially a collection of tendrils to suck the blood of his victims, while also controlling their minds and keeping them under his thrall. He’s basically Dracula that’s a big dinosaur! His design is just sheer perfection, with that dark blue, spiky hide making him look especially threatening when paired with that nasal horn. He exudes the aura of a boss monster, and worthy of a two-part story.
You see, Gymaira has the ability to transform poor schmucks into kaiju to serve him, which helps give him a real edge, and adds some real subtle body horror to the list of creepy stuff Gymaira is capable of. He even transforms UGM chief Ito into the kaiju Lovrus. Lovrus is made from the Salamandora suit, but I think they did a good job disguising it. Yamaguchi gave Lovrus a single clawed hand to make him stand out, a wonderful addition to a nice design.
There’s also Daron, who is this genuinely eerie looking octopus creature, and I pity whoever got transformed into that because holy hell what a design. God, what a fantastically horrific looking monster! I won’t lie, when I first laid eyes on Daron back when I wasn’t even an Ultraman fan, I was somehow convinced this guy was some sort of depiction of Cthulhu! Sadly, the Daron in 80 is this episode’s throwaway monster, being vanquished by 80. A shame, since it is a genuinely nice looking suit, and probably worthy of an episode of his own.
Gymaira seemed destined to be the inhabitant of the MOTW purgatory forever…but he would make a surprise appearance to the delight of all (aka me) in 2019’s Ultraman Taiga and eventually get himself a rematch with 80 himself in Ultra Galaxy Fight: The Absolute Conspiracy.
GAUSS
In a story that’s sort of a combination of Toho’s Gorath and the Ultraseven episode Super Weapon R-1, Planet Guass threatens to collide with our Earth, and a plan is concocted to fire a powerful missile to destroy the rogue world. While the plan succeeds, Guass, the surviving native of the destruction, takes some understandable umbrage with his home now being space junk. Thankfully, 80 is able to placate the beast and find him a new home among the stars.
Gauss isn’t among my favorites, but he’s one that’s started to grow on me. He certainly looks the part of ‘space monster’, and almost feels reminiscent of the kaiju one would see in the 70’s entries. Yamaguchi gives him some memorable features such as a skin texture derived from craters and rocks, as well as large, bulbous fingers off of geckos. Gauss also have me a bit of a simian vibe from the way he moves and his general appearance, with a pinch of angler fish thanks to that protrusion on his head.
OKORIN BALL
A race of bloodsucking balls, the Okorin Balls are by far some of the more horrific creatures to show up in an otherwise fairly lighthearted show, leaving a trail of drained corpses wherever they go. They certainly have a very loathsome and disgusting appearance with those worm-like feelers, and the grooved body really hammer home how grotesque these guys are.
Naturally of course, the Okorin Balls coalesce into a larger humanoid form at the episode’s end, with the larger leader ball forming the monster’s head. I can’t think of any tactical advantage these guys would have by becoming one bigger dude, but such is the life of these sorts of monsters. Snark aside, the larger Okorin Ball is a wonderful monster, looking eye-catchingly grotesque design with that lumpy body texture. The director for this episode, Sanmaji Nonagase reportedly wasn’t too pleased with how Okorin Ball’s giant form had no eyes, but personally, I feel like it helps with how bizarre and inhuman these things are, and the lack of recognizable anatomy works for a skyscraper sized combination of blood-sucking space parasites.
While Okorin Ball would never return, he’d serve as the template for several kaiju when Tsuburaya began creating new Ultraman shows in the late 1990’s.
GAMOS AND ZUCKAL
A monster that has devastated countless worlds, Gamos of course, soon decides to use Earth as his next vacation stop. However, trailing the monster is Zuckal, an alien being who is a member of the Space G-Men, a group dedicated to battling kaiju across the cosmos. Zuckal has a personal grudge against Gamos since the monster killed his wife and child when he ravaged his home world.
Gamos himself is a monster I feel like deserves some more recognition. He certainly feels like he’s a contender for a boss monster status. It also helps that Gamos has a very disturbing weapon on his side: a spray of acidic foam that is extremely corrosive. The design by Yamaguchi is a pretty good one, taking inspiration from snakes and deep sea fish, a combination that you’d think would inspire more monsters, but Gamos is one of the few instances I’ve seen.
Zuckal himself isn’t as good as Gamos, but I feel like he’s a pretty solid looking alien, and there’s just something instantly likable about this guy. Perhaps it’s the design by Yamaguchi that combines the features of monkeys and dogs, but I think it’s just the general concept of the character. The idea of a race of altruistic aliens that hunt down kaiju ala the Ultras is an interesting concept, especially when one of them failed in his mission and is out for some revenge.
Zuckal’s giant form is a bit more ridiculous, looking like a tokusatsu version of Grape Ape, but I can appreciate how it looks different than his smaller form. Reminds me of how the aliens in Ultraman Leo tended to have different looking giant forms.
UNDERGROUND PEOPLE AND GOMORA II
A race of underground people, these guys are surprisingly not the same race of underground humans seen in the original Ultraman show, despite sharing the same origin of being driven underground due to the Ice Age. Apparently, there’s at least 4 billion of these guys underneath the Earth’s surface, a claim I find incredibly dubious at best, even for a show that plays fast and loose with science like this one.
The faceless design of these underground folk are interesting, but the fact that their queen, Iynus, seems to have regular facial features seems to imply that they’re wearing masks, or perhaps since Iynus has an actual face, coupled with some powerful psychic abilities is due to some inherent biological quirk with their royalty?
Unlike their 1966 counterparts, the underground humans here aren’t evil necessarily. While they do block out the sun with a special satellite so they can move above ground, this is due to them predicting a planetary alignment in two years’ time will render their underground home uninhabitable. Ignoring wacky science again, what’s interesting about these guys is that as soon as UGM offers to talk to the U.N. on the surface about giving them space up on top, they’re down for negotiations, rather than just cackling madly and going about world domination. Sadly, a xenophobic United Nations Defense Army launches an assault on their home. While it’s not as strong as episodes of this type we’ve seen in shows like Ultraseven, I do appreciate the effort to making this iteration of the underground humanoids sympathetic.
The UNDA missile strike awakens Gomora II, a denizen of this underground world. Gomora II isn’t as graceful of the original, bringing to mind a chunkier version of the Gomora seen in Hanuman vs. 7 Ultraman personally. That being said, Yamaguchi gives the monster an extra pair of horns pointed downwards, which really helps him stand out, as well as his spiky chest going onto his arms as well. One odd thing about this iteration of Gomora is that Gomora II features some oddball powers, perhaps not as odd as his Thai cousin, but a fairly impressive arsenal made up of missiles, energy rings, and lightning from his horn. He feels like a leftover chojuh! While Iynus mentions Gomora II has been mutated by the geothermal heat where it slumbered…I ain’t buying that. Again, ignoring the questionable science in a children’s rubber monster program, Gomora II seems more like he was altered into a cyborg by some other entity, a conclusion that writer and critic Ryusuke Hikawa mentions in his official writeup of the creature around the time of Ultra Galaxy.
AMEAZA
A collection of killer space amoebas that were menacing UGM spacecraft, Ameaza’s a fun little foe. I really like how just utterly grody the design is. The suit also does a good job capturing the look of amoebas with the different pseudopods arranged all around! I’m also a big fan of those eyes he’s got. They’re a bit hard to see, but they add a nice, morose quality to Ameaza.
PHANTAS AND ROBO-FO
A group of aliens that arrive on Earth seeking to form an alliance with humanity, Takeshi is the only one who realizes that these guys are plotting to take over the world. What makes the Phantas aliens unique among the vast legions of alien invaders we’ve seen through the decades, is that the Phantas here aren’t the real Phantas! Instead, these were androids the original Phantas created and who rebelled and destroyed them. It’s a nice twist to what would be another group of alien invaders. Yamaguchi brings a nice alien design to this episode with the aliens’ Frankenstein Monster inspired heads, which ties nicely into the lore of these guys destroying their own creators.
Their “monster” if you can call it that, Robo-Fo, is different than one would expect from Ultraman 80, but it’s an interesting opponent for our hero to battle, and brings to minds some of the more out-there foes from Ultraseven such as Nurse or Iron Rocks. Perhaps not the most interesting “monster”, but as a spacecraft, Robo-Fo is cool.
ARGON
Argon was a character that used to bug me oddly enough back when I was still fairly new to the series, but I’ve warmed up to him considerably over time. Disguised as a human, Argon’s UFO is shot down by UGM and the wounded being is discovered by UGM cadet Jun. Jun takes the injured alien and intends to use his knowledge of where the other UFOs will strike to help move her up through the ranks. Of course, Argon gives her faulty information so he can attack the UGM base when the team is out on a wild goose chase. It’s a pretty interesting story with a good moral to it, and a good plan on Argon’s part. I guess what used to bug me oddly enough, was that Argon was a kaiju rather than an alien and that just bothered me, as silly as it is to say. But after watching so much tokusatsu at this point, it’s no longer as strange as it was to me way back in the day, and I like how this alien’s true form is some big dinosaur covered in crystals.
Argon is yet another alteration of the Salamandora suit, and I think the team did a good job in disguising him, as he looks like a completely new suit almost. Argon’s most striking feature of course, are his geometric protrusions and scales on his chest, he almost feels like he’s a dry run for the kaiju aesthetic in seen in Gridman.
Argon’s human form features quite a bit of recycling too, as the uniform he wears comes from Tsuburaya’s 1972 tokusatsu show Emergency Command 10-4-10-10.
Easter's Kaiju Kompendium 