KERONIA
I’ll be honest, when I first saw Keronia’s episode, I thought he was among the worst of the worst of the original show and perhaps the nadir of the original show’s monsters. But time has made me reevaluate Keronia and appreciate just how strange he is as a monster.
Keronia is actually a species of sentient, telekinetic vampire plants that have formed an advanced society in the Amazon Rainforest. One of their members, disguised as Bolivian Science Patrol member Goto, infiltrates the Japanese branch in order to study their capabilities and then pave the way for their advanced invasion fleet, intending to turn the human race into cattle…
Like, what?! These guys totally feel like they were wholesale lifted from a 1930’s pulp magazine. It’s a story concept so bonkers that it loops back around to being genuinely spooky. The idea that these things were building a civilization out in the Amazon completely undetected and were planning on using humanity as a food source is chilling. The design itself isn’t too bad either, Narita designed Keronia to look asymmetrical which really helps him seem more realistic and it’s a design that I feel is overlooked due to its simplicity.
Zambolar
Zambolar is another one of those kaiju that I feel like is just a tad too plain overall. I really like the concept of a fire generating monster, but the final design, based on a lion, is one I tend to just sort of not pay much mind to. I do like the different colored, glowing spines on the top of his body though and it adds some color to the design. Overall though, it’s just a monster I find serviceable for the most part.
MEFILAS
While yet another alien invader, Mefilas is different from his predecessors, preferring to pit his mind against those of the Earthlings in order to conquer Earth. Mefilas captures Science Patrol agent Fuji’s younger brother Satoru and tries to make the boy hand over the Earth, displaying such powers as turning Fuji into a giant and summoning illusions of previous aliens. While Mefilas is shown to be incredibly powerful, he claims to dislike violence and wishes to conquer Earth peacefully. When the final confrontation with Ultraman occurs, the two aliens find themselves evenly matched and in a surprising twist, it ends in a draw. Mefilas proclaims that continuing the fight is a pointless affair and retreats, promising Ultraman that the two will meet again…
While the design is a bit on the chunky side admittedly, I think it’s an outstanding one and really enjoy how the silver face contrasts real well with the black body. Looking at it now based on the color scheme and proportions, I get the impression that Mefilas’s body was maybe intended to be a spacesuit perhaps. I’m also a fan of the yellow “mouth” and how it glows whenever he speaks. Fitting his inspiration, Mephistopheles, the demon from Faust to a T, Mefilas’s cunning nature makes him an incredibly effective opponent for Ultraman. It’s a nice change to feature an opponent an opponent who was smart enough not to make the same mistakes his predecessors did.
Mefilas would become one of the most famous Ultra Kaiju and would appear numerous times through the franchise, most notably having a rematch with Ultraman himself after 40 years in 2006’s Ultraman Mebius.
SKYDON
Yeah, it’s Skydon! I love this bastard! Appearing in one of the funniest episodes of the original show, Skydon falls from space to Earth and the Science Patrol attempts to send that monster back up into space, only to discover the monster is far too heavy to move and even Ultraman is unable to move the beast! The episode chronicles their numerous attempts to move Skydon with each failing more spectacularly than the last.
Skydon’s an utterly sublime masterpiece. He’s up there as one of the monsters from the original show that I find utterly perfect in every way. The Japanese word for perfect is synonymous with Skydon’s name. The idea of a monster who is able to give Ultraman trouble by being just so heavy is wonderful in every sense of the word. His design is amazing too. it may just be an overweight ankylosaurus with stegosaurus sails, but it all just works together in tandem with the episode’s story so nicely. Skydon was described in the script as looking akin to a large seal with slimy skin and long tusks, but was instead brought to life using the Gamakujira suit and a design by Narita to save costs. This was a blessing in disguise since I can’t imagine Skydon any other way.
SEABOZU
While we’ve encountered several kaiju so far that I personally enjoy, Seabozu is another one that I would call one of my absolute favorites of the entire franchise and the reason why boils down to the episode itself.
While Seabozu at a first glance look like he’d be in the ranks of the more horror-oriented monsters, Seabozu instead is one of the sadder beasts of the original show. You recall the Monster Graveyard I mentioned offhand in Bemular’s entry? We discover in Seabozu’s episode what that place exactly is-an interdimensional burial ground for every monster killed by an Ultraman. An Earth rocket accidentally goes into the Graveyard and brings back Seabozu, a melancholy creature who only wishes to return to his home amongst the dead.
I think in all aspects, Seabozu is a winner. The design by Narita is really solid and I think it’s easily one of the most iconic designs in Ultraman‘s roster of creatures and is up there with the likes of Baltan, Red King and Gomora. However, I think what really sells the creature is how suit actor Kunio Suzuki plays him. Suzuki’s performance has no malice in it and he portrays the creature as a lost child. By the end of the episode, you just wanna give the guy a hug. There’s some speculation in the episode that Seabozu was formerly a monster killed by Ultraman, but I never thought we needed an answer to that question. The kaiju of the Ultra series are it’s bread and butter, and Seabozu shows us that they’re not just obstacles to be conquered, but beings worthy of our respect and sympathy, a message that later shows like Ultraman Cosmos and Ultraman X would take to heart.
While Seabozu would never return to the franchise outside of small cameos, the Monster Graveyard would become an important piece of the series’ lore and setting in future entries.
ZARAGAS
Zaragas, while not looking like too much, is amongst the quirkier and more dangerous foes found in the original show. Arriving to attack a children’s amusement park, Zaragas reveals the strange power of being able to adapt to anything thrown at it, gaining the ability to blind its foes after a battle with the Science Patrol.
We’re not really given much explanation to what Zaragas is, seeing how the episode itself is a character study of trigger-happy Science Patrol member Arashi and in all honesty, that’s completely fine given what the episode has set out to do. Although I personally like to play around with the idea that due to the strange adaptational ability and the seemingly cybernetic components it gains, that it might be some weapon deployed by some alien (Mephilas?) and seeing as how Zaragas appeared after a strange light in the sky, it’s not too bad of a guess in my book. The original script called for Zaragas starting out as an eyeless, four-legged monster with gills that soon would transform into a final form with red eyes and covered with spines. This was seen as too expensive and they would alter the Gomora suit for the monster with black shells over the metallic parts in the early part of the episode. Like many behind the scenes changes in the original show, I think they made the right decision. I think the crew did a fantastic job disguising the suit as a new monster and on my first viewing, I thought it was an entirely new creation. The new head is my favorite addition and I find the horn to be a particularly eye-catching feature. I’m also a fan of his blinding power, which is a unique ability that makes Zaragas stand out as a dangerous foe.
Zaragas would go on to have a few more roles in more recent entries, even sparring against Gomora in the film Mega Monster Battle: Ultra Galaxy Legends as a nod to the monster’s ties to Gomora behind the scenes.
GERONIMON
There’s quite a lot to unpack with this guy.
Geronimon is the “chieftain of all monsters” and angered by Ultraman and the Science Patrol killing monster after monster, plots to destroy the world. Geronimon uses some unknown power to revive Pigmon, Dorako and Telesdon from the dead and plans to revive 60 total monsters in order to strike back at the world.
So, alright, let’s get this out of the way right off of the bat: Geronimon is definitely a relic of his time to put it lightly. While basing a monster off of Apache medicine man Geronimo may have not as been as controversial in the 1960’s, I feel like it’s a factor that’s made Geronimon insensitive by today’s standards. It’s a bit of a shame, since I think a monster necromancer with near human intelligence with weird powers such as reviving the dead, firing off deadly feathers and an antigravity mist makes for a really unique opponent. Not to mention that I think the design itself is really unique too with the colorful array of feathers, the nasty look on his face and the yellow stripes along his body really gives off the vibe of him being the head honcho of all the monsters…but it’s hard to like the character as much as some of the others when he’s drawing from a lot of stereotypes from that time period.
Geronimon was conceived when writer Tetsuo Kinjo overheard several children playing and overheard them express the sentiment that Ultraman would come to save them anyway. Kinjo then wanted to implement the lesson of not solely relying on someone to save them, which led to the creation of this episode.
KEYLLA AND SAIGO
Keylla here, is one of the inhabitants of the mysterious Planet Q. As expected, the monster causes trouble for Space Station V2, forcing the Science Patrol to land on the planet to stage a rescue.
I like Keylla for the most part. His design feels like a nice mixture of trilobites, cockroaches and silverfish, and his face is reminiscent of the various cartoon “insects” seen in pest control commercials. Like Antlar before him, he’s no slouch either when it comes to fighting and forces Ultraman to think outside the box in order to defeat him. I think overall my only complaint regarding him is that his main ability of using blinding light from his eyes is too similar to Zaragas from only two episodes ago, albeit with the Ultra Q “creaking door” sound effect over it to make it feel more unique. Overall though, he’s a monster that I’ve started liking more and more through the years, and I’m a tad surprised he hasn’t made a comeback in the show.
After his debut, Keylla would make a surprise appearance in the Toho drama series He of the Sun fighting Gaira from War of the Gargantuas in an episode set in a movie studio.
While Keylla is a fine monster for the show I can’t say the same for his costar, Saigo, who might just be the worst monster in the original show by virtue of just being the most forgettable of them all. The only real claim to fame that this creature has was that Saigo was originally going to be the final opponent for Ultraman! Could you believe after so many weird, unique and memorable monsters, if Ultraman’s final foe was this thing? Thankfully, Keylla needed an opponent, and Saigo was demoted from the final boss of the original show, to cannon fodder for Keylla and the Science Patrol. The alien in control of Saigo would take the place of the final opponent for the series, which leads us to…
ZETTON AND ALIEN ZETTON
Here he is folks, the monster that would truly cement the concept of a final boss monster in not just the Ultraman franchise, but perhaps in tokusatsu in general. Zetton is a weapon of the Zetton aliens and used in their scheme to defeat the Science Patrol and Ultraman. After destroying Science Patrol HQ, the monster is unleashed to do battle with the gigantic hero. Ultraman throws everything he can at the monster, only for Zetton to no sell every weapon at the hero’s disposal. Zetton, to the shock of those watching at home, then absorbs Ultraman’s Specium Ray and fires it back at the hero, hitting him in his color timer and defeating him.
It’s sort of hard to really contextualize how big of a moment this was for viewers at the time. I’ve heard that many children at the time were traumatized at seeing their beloved hero lose. And in fairness, even looking back on the episode, it’s still sort of shocking to see. Zetton, rather than acting like all of the opponents thus far, is more akin to a machine. The creature’s movements are stiff and robotic with no emotion held in its victory against Ultraman. Rather than ferocious roars, there’s only mechanical beepings and an ominous, deep-voiced “ZE-TON”. Zetton’s design is a masterpiece as well. As I’ve said in the earlier entry, Zetton was the design for the alien controlling Saigo initially, hence the “boxes” on both of the monsters’ faces. Narita chose to use silver and black to emphasis to make Zetton reminiscent of outer space and combined design elements from beetles and Western armor to create a faceless, intimidating creature. I’ve heard rumors that Zetton was originally designed to be a sort of chimera made from different monsters Ultraman had killed prior and while that is an interesting concept, due to the fact that Zetton was designed as the alien controlling the monster in this episode, I do find it somewhat unlikely and personally, prefer to think of Zetton as a unique entity.
Zetton’s masters might seem forgettable at first due to them just being the backwards Kemur head on a business suit…but it’s somehow just such an iconic image that I can’t help but really love it as an alien concept. It’s a simple prop reuse, but it’s one that really stands out as something unforgettable. Hilariously enough, probably due to the nature of what happened behind the scenes, the Zetton aliens didn’t have their official names for quite some time, leading some publications to label them as Zoffy, the name of Ultraman’s superior who appeared in the final episode!
Both Zettons would become icons of the series and would feature very prominently in later entries. Zetton himself, fitting for such an infamous monster, would go on to have numerous different battles with the other Ultras to the point where I’m actually wishing Tsuburaya would take a break from him. But even if I’m sick of him, I can’t deny just how memorable he is as a monster, and the impact he left on the series for decades to come.
Easter's Kaiju Kompendium 