| Bemura |
RATINGS |
| Really only notable for being the first of the ultra monsters. (except for the Ultra-Q monsters) Other than that, Bemura was a skinnier-than-average giant dinosaur-type kaiju. Not much of a fighter and further disgraced by a lame breath weapon. Hard to believe that Ultraman was actually chasing this guy, but I figure Bemura was just a warm-up for the monsters to come. | originality: 1 |
| personality: 3 | |
| coolness: 2 |
| Barutan Seijin |
RATINGS |
| In keeping with my theory that the great TV shows really come into their own on the second episode (Doctor Who introduced the Daleks in its 2nd story, for example), the Barutan Seijin were probably the best aliens ever, and maybe the best overall kaiju ever. They were sleek and sinister, with eerie powers and a disturbing social structure. No wonder they have become the most popular Ultra Monster , and have returned many times throughout the Ultra series. Most of all, who can possibly forget that Barutan laugh? | originality: 10 |
| personality: 10 | |
| coolness: 10 |
| Neronga |
RATINGS |
| It’s hard to design a good quadraped monster; at least it was back in the 60’s, when most of them turned out lame. Neronga was no exception. He had decent enough powers, but this pseudo-Baragon kaiju was just another very heavy object that Ultraman got to throw around for a while. | originality: 1 |
| personality: 3 | |
| coolness: 2 |
| Ragon |
RATINGS |
| There’s something colorful and quirky about this over-sized Ultra-Q monster. He’s supposed to have grown since his appearance on that show, yet he doesn’t act much like a giant monster. Ragon was never that original of a design, but somehow, like all of the monsters in this series, well-conceived nontheless. He’s plain and just too solid green-coloured. The most humanoid opponent for Ultraman so far. | originality: 2 |
| personality: 4 | |
| coolness: 2 |
| Green Monsu |
RATINGS |
| In keeping with another one of my theories that every sci-fi/superhero show needs at least one plant monster episode, this giant mutant flower fits the bill. It’s eerie and kind of gross, as a plant monster should be. Of course, plant monsters are usually easy to destroy. They never move much, and are almost always easy to incinerate with fire. Green Monsu burned up very well. I’d like to note that in a manga version of this story, Green Monsu was much more powerful and even swallowed Ultraman! | originality: 3 |
| personality: 1 | |
| coolness: 4 |
| Gesura |
RATINGS |
| One of the most pathetic monsters as far as motivation goes (craves cocoa-beans), but that’s what variety is all about. They can’t all be out to destroy the world! Gesura looks harmless and has a bouyancy problem. He just flubs around in that water tank for a while, doesn’t he? But he still manages to cause a fair bit of destruction. He’s colorful and kind of fun, although an easy opponent all right! | originality: 3 |
| personality: 4 | |
| coolness: 2 |
| Antura |
RATINGS |
| In keeping with yet another one of my theories, every sci-fi/superhero show needs at least one insect monster episode. Antura is a nice interperation of a scarab beetle, a perfect kaiju for the Middle East setting of the story. Good powers and a nice design all the way around. | originality: 4 |
| personality: 4 | |
| coolness: 5 |
| Red King |
RATINGS |
| Red King is still the most popular ultra-kaiju except for the Barutan-Seijin, but they’re aliens so maybe they don’t count. Red King proves that Japanese monsters are what they are for one good reason: personality! Though most Japanese monsters are visually very imaginative, it’s their personalties that make them most memorable. All of the kaiju from the original Ultraman series were very memorable for this reason, and Red King stood out enough to remain an icon to this day for ultra-kaiju everywhere! To prove how imporant personality is, take a good look at Red King and you’ll notice his visual design is not that unique. He just has that certain something! | originality: 6 |
| personality: 9 | |
| coolness: 5 |
| Pigmon |
RATINGS |
| He’s a shrunken Garamon from Ultra-Q and that’s very wierd because in Ultra-Q, Garamon was a rampaging kaiju/robot thing with a very bizarre design. Now his design hasn’t changed, but he’s cute! Sort of...kind of like a raspberry, I’ve been told. In retrospect, the costume worked better for me as Garamon. That bizarre creature smashing cities apart was much more interesting than the little Pigmon brat. In any case, it’s a nice design. | originality: N/A |
| personality: 9 | |
| coolness: 1 |
| Chiandora |
RATINGS |
| Bringing back Ragon, then Garamon was one thing, but reviving Pegila (from Ultra-Q) and calling him Chiandora was a bit much. I noticed!! Of course, bringing back monsters, whether they’re dead or not, has long been a part of tokusatsu. Chiandora was just another denizen of the island of monsters, where the superior Red King ruled. He wasn’t all that impressive, but he sure was more impressive than.... | originality: N/A |
| personality: 3 | |
| coolness: 4 |
| Magura |
RATINGS |
| Fairly forgettable kaiju quadraped, but I guess they can’t all be stars eh? Just another burrowing kaiju whose name suggests the Japanese word for Mole. They’re ain’t a whoel lot to say about Magura. | originality: 1 |
| personality: 1 | |
| coolness: 2 |
| Sufuran |
RATINGS |
| Why japanese kaiju books insist on including this as a member of the kaiju pantheon eludes me. Sufaran was just the name given to the deadly plants that existed on the same island that Red King, Chiandora and Magura lived. | originality: 1 |
| personality: 1 | |
| coolness: 1 |
| Giango |
RATINGS |
| Right up there as far as memorable kaiju goes, Giango was at once, goofy and lovable. He was definitely one of the harmless, yet giant-size, so-we-have-to-kill-it-anyway monsters. Luckily, it disappeared before Ultraman could deliver a fatal Specium Beam attack! The design was colorful, a little bit like a living totem-pole, and the claws were a nice twist. But the rotating ears were the best part! The actual fight is really just an example of two guys in suits clowning around...more slapstick than actual fighting! | originality: 9 |
| personality: 10 | |
| coolness: 5 |
| Gabora |
RATINGS |
| As a kid, I thought Gabora was the 2nd coolest ultra-monster ever. Though he wasn’t particularly innovative on the inside, that nifty armored shell on the outside was truly inspired. I happen to like kaiju designs that have novel gimmicks, such as Pestuta (see below). The image of Gabora shoving his big head across the countryside was very surreal indeed! | originality: 10 |
| personality: 5 | |
| coolness: 10 |
| Zurass |
RATINGS |
| Watching Zurass fight Ultraman was the same as watching Gojira fighting Ultraman. And when that stupid frill came off...walah! It’s hard to analyze Zurass as a monster all its own, but I’ll try. First of all, Zurass not only looked like Gojira, he acted like Gojira. The fight was somewhat playful, not as dramatic as you would hope such a meeting of the titans would be...but perhaps that’s the secret wisdom of Tsubaraya and company; defy expectation! | originality: N/A |
| personality: 10 | |
| coolness: 3 |
| Dodongo |
RATINGS |
| Now this kaiju has a gimmick all right; the pantomine horse-strategy to monster costume design. Dodongo was as awkward as could be expected, so Ultraman simply rode him like a bucking bronco for a while. I guess it had to be tried. Don’t forget; variety is the key when it comes to churning out a new monster every week. Just ask the people who design sentai monsters! Anyway, if Dodongo didn’t have that beam weapon of his...well, let’s just say it would have been a lot shorter episode. Hats off to Tsubaraya for trying something different. | originality: 6 |
| personality: 4 | |
| coolness: 4 |
| Miiro Being (need confirmation on name) |
RATINGS |
| For some odd reason, this mummy-like human-sized monster stole the show from Dodongo. Effective and creepy, although the design was rather basic and traditional. Still can’t figure it out. | originality: 1 |
| personality: 4 | |
| coolness: 6 |
| Pesuta |
RATINGS |
| Possibly the most hated of all the kaiju from this series. Why? Pesuta was a real wimp; couldn’t actually fight, addicted to oil, died of smoke inhalation. I agree he’s a wimp, but as far as design goes, Pesuta was innovation all the way! It’s been tried since, the side-by-side two-man suit, but monster designers have to be real careful or they know what audiences will think: Hey, that looks like Pesuta! Yes, it’s true, that mutant starfish has burned its way into public conscience and won’t go away! | originality: 10 |
| personality: 4 | |
| coolness: 3 |
| Gamakazura |
RATINGS |
| Another addict! Gesura loved cocoa beans, Pesuta loved oil, and now this! Gamakazura was another helpless addict (pearls) who got pounded because he was too big. Very memorable design despite its simplicity. Hmmm. Makes you wonder. Maybe the simple designs are the most effective. Take a look at sentai monsters...do all those tubes, wires and horns make a kaiju more memorable? Anyway, Gamakazura wins the funniest eyes of any kaiju contest...hands down! | originality: 8 |
| personality: 8 | |
| coolness: 2 |
| Gabadon |
RATINGS |
| In its first incarnation, Gabadon was a giant stuffed toy. This made perfect sense for the story and worked well visually. I definitely believe the surreal moments are what makes tokusatsu great. In his second incarnation, Gabadon is a pretty standard giant dinosaur quadraped. Not very exciting. He does get the whitest teeth award of any kaiju, however. | originality: 10 / 2 |
| personality: 5 / 2 | |
| coolness: 4 / 8 |
| Bullton |
RATINGS |
| Speaking of surreal, that’s what Bullton was all about. I might have another theory that any sci-fi/superhero show must have at least one giant rock/orb/entity thing episode. Something that doesn’t move much and has no limbs, but has strange powers to compensate. Bullton was a very interesting monster design, all the way. Coupled with his unique sound effects and unparalleled ability to manipulate miniatures, Bullton was a monster that could only have existed in the realm of tokusatsu. | originality: 10 |
| personality: 3 | |
| coolness: 9 |
| Zarab Seijin |
RATINGS |
| A very simple alien design, Zarab was almost too simple. Ties with the Dada for being over-simple. One thing you have to notice after watching lots (and lots) of tokusatsu, is that these aliens tend to have a certain look to them. It’s hard to put into words, but tokusatsu aliens (or seijin) share some common characteristics, and/or stylistic similarities. Zarab, as well as Barutan-Seijin are perfect examples of aliens that helped solidify the pattern for seijin to come. (though he lacked the blinking lights that all seijin possess from then on).. | originality: 9 |
| personality: 6 | |
| coolness: 9 |
| Aboras |
RATINGS |
| Okay, a lot of people now know that Aboras was just the Red King costume with a new head, right? But did you know that then? Aboras was interesting because he had such a big, cool head. Unfortunately, he was one of those kaiju with powers involving soap suds, but the less said about that, the better. He was blue to tie in with the whole, freezing cold, soap-suds thing, a contrast for his kaiju opponent Banila... | originality: 5 |
| personality: 4 | |
| coolness: 5 |
| Banila |
RATINGS |
| Bright orange to tie in with the heat/fire thing, Banila somehow got dissolved by Aboras’ soap-suds power. Hard to believe at the time. Still is. It’s a shame too, because Banila was a cool kaiju design. Somewhat emaciated and oafish in appearance, yet very elegantly conceived. | originality: 7 |
| personality: 3 | |
| coolness: 7 |
| Kemura |
RATINGS |
| Not a big fan of this crawling arsenal known as Kemura. Lots of powers and nice physical features, but oh, that muppet-head! Still, he was a nice change of pace, being so complicated. Maybe my opinion is slanted because of all the horrible toy figures I’ve seen of Kemura. These figures never seem to do the monster justice! In any case, his wings ae very cool. | originality: 7 |
| personality: 3 | |
| coolness: 5 |
| Hydra |
RATINGS |
| Yet another theory of mine, but this one specifically concerns giant monster shows: there always has to be one giant bird episode! Truthfully, all of the giant bird (or bird-like) kaiju seem interchangeable. Rodan, Birdorus (from Magma Taishi), Littra (from Ultra Q), Teruchirusu (from Return of Ultraman), even that recent one from Ultraman Tiga....Well, Hydra was one of those harmless kaiju. Harmless plus depressing! When all is said and done, a giant bird is just a giant bird! | originality: 1 |
| personality: 2 | |
| coolness: 2 |
| Teresdon |
RATINGS |
| Very cool story with cool effects and a perplexing monster! Never could tell whether Teresdon was a slick design or an boring one. I guess he’s a little of both. He’s simple but very muppetish. He’s even more muppetish than Kemura...three times as much! I really always wanted to know what the real purpose of that thing on his back was. | originality: 3 |
| personality: 5 | |
| coolness: 7 |
| Jamila |
RATINGS |
| Forget about Hydra, this is the kaiju that wrote the book on harmless and depressing monsters! You know the type: the victim of some accident or other unfair circumstance, forced to become giant-sized and ritually slaughtered by the show’s stalwart hero! Well, it doesn’t get much more pathetic than Jamila, who just flounders around in the mud for an extended, oh-so-depressing period of time. The design was overly simplistic to the point of disturbing, though not nearly as much as that strange thing called Ganda from Magma Taishi. | originality: 10 |
| personality: 10 | |
| coolness: 6 |
| Gubira |
RATINGS |
| I’d mention my theory about fish-monsters, but by now, you get the idea. Gubira was a funny-looking fish with a drill. No fighting ability without the drill, so you know Ultraman rode his back for a while. The design is appropriately fish-like, though with legs. Gubira isn’t great, just stuck with a permanent scowl to give him some personality. Come to think of it, Gubira definitely seems grumpy all the time! | originality: 4 |
| personality: 7 | |
| coolness: 2 |
| Gigasu |
RATINGS |
| Pathetic giant snow-gorilla monster. Even more pathetic is the fact that he gets destroyed by a well-placed Science Patrol bomb. Didn’t even get the chance to fight Ultraman! Disturbing coloration, silly walk and a wierd eye-twitch distinguigh Gigasu from other giant simians. Still, he did hold his own against Red King and Doraco for a little while. | originality: 3 |
| personality: 5 | |
| coolness: 2 |
| Dorako |
RATINGS |
| Good design in general...the body, the claws, the head...but oh, those plastic wings! Pay close attention when a giant monster first appears. if any of its body parts seem particularly flimsy, they WILL COME OFF during a fight scene! This is normal, should be expected and becomes an increasingly violent phenomenon in later TV shows as giant heroes routinely chop off monster arms, legs, even heads. Watch Jamborg Ace for some real carnage! | originality: 5 |
| personality: 5 | |
| coolness: 5 |
| Gomora |
RATINGS |
| As a kid, Gomora topped my list as coolest giant monster from Ultraman, except for the oft-mentioned Barutan-Seijin. Now I ask myself why. Probably because he really was the closest thing to a traditional dinosaur and I always loved dinosaurs. Now, of course, I realize how overweight and generally pudgy he was, but so many kaiju are! (Compare to the revamped Gomora from Six Ultra-Brothers Vs, The Monster Army, where Gomora seems leaner, though more child-like, if that’s possible) This is another monster who lost a body part...but unlike Doraco, Gomora kept his tail for a long time, spanning two episodes! That’s another thing, this Prince Dinosuar was the only single kaiju to put up with Ultraman for two episodes! Very nice, very effective monster design. Those head horns make it! I believe Gomora should have beaten Red King in the popularity contest. Go figure. | originality: 5 |
| personality: 7 | |
| coolness: 10 |
| Dada |
RATINGS |
| My vote for the most distrubing kaiju in Ultraman, the Dada weren’t exactly aliens in the strict sense. Who knows what they were? Creatures from another dimension, I suppose. But they’re basic, cost-cutting design was extremely effective. Zebra-like humanoids, the most humanoid kaiju in the series, with haunting tribal masks for heads. Their powers were just as wierd, of course. I tell ya’, the Dada are one race of kaiju that should definitely be brought back to fight someone! | originality: 10 |
| personality: 7 | |
| coolness: 10 |
| Goldan |
RATINGS |
| Completely useless quadraped kaiju that didn’t die quick enough for my tastes! As usual, got the bucking bronco treatment from Ultraman, since there wasn’t a whole lot of actual fighting possible. Goldan had a long, floppy neck and an annoying, insignificant head. He also had these little things adorning his back, and oh! those floppy feet! Worst of all, there were supposed to be two of these monsters! | originality: 2 |
| personality: 1 | |
| coolness: 1 |
| Ooh |
RATINGS |
| Back to the harmless and depressing department, this time with a love angle thrown in for extra melodrama. That’s okay, since a dose of melodrama adds flavor. Hydra dealt with the ghost of a small boy, Jamila was a victim of an uncaring government, and now Ooh dealt with the love of a snow-girl. Not bad for a giant monster show. What could Ooh do in his confrontation with Ultraman but fade away at the end? Decent enough interperation of a Yeti-like creature. Ooh won’t go down in history as an exciting kaiju, but he was a memorable one because of the part he played. | originality: 5 |
| personality: 7 | |
| coolness: 4 |
| Keronia |
RATINGS |
| A pile of walking cabbage? Who knows? But Keronia was powerful enough and agile enough to give Ultraman a damn good fight. Nice moves from a plant-like kaiju. On the whole, an unremarkable design, but well-conceived for action. | originality: 5 |
| personality: 6 | |
| coolness: 7 |
| Zanbora |
RATINGS |
| This quadrapedal fire-monster just went on and on, setting fires, etc. Didn’t even cause real property damage. Kind of uninspired, really, but this episode was more focused on the human drama than anything, so Zanbora was more of a background character. In any case, he’s fairly forgettable. | originality: 1 |
| personality: 1 | |
| coolness: 2 |
| Mefilas Seijin |
RATINGS |
| This was the guy tough enough to beat Ultraman to a standstill! That alone makes Mefilas worth remembering, though his design was great also. More of those blinking lights that wind up on most Japanese monster aliens. Mefilas was actually a bit pudgy; he needed those energy powers to remain a worthy opponent, or else I think Ultraman would have trashed him. Note: when he returned in Ultraman Taro (as he said threatened he would), Mefilas-Seijin was destroyed rather mercilessly by the hero. A poor ending for a great foe. | originality: 10 |
| personality: 9 | |
| coolness: 9 |
| Kemura Being |
RATINGS |
| Mefilas Seijin brought the Kemura back (from Ultra Q) just briefly, along with Barutan-Seijin and Zarab-Seijin, so it really only counts as a guest appearance, or cameo. But Kemura was always cool, so he gets a mention in my book! | originality: 10 |
| personality: 6 | |
| coolness: 9 |
| Sukaidon |
RATINGS |
| The official comedy episode of Ultraman featured the highly immobile Sukaidon. He’s well-enough designed for the purpose. Big stegosaurus-like plates on his back, etc, but a quadraped, so you know what that means. Doesn’t move much! That’s okay, because in this story, he’s not supposed to! | originality: 4 |
| personality: 6 | |
| coolness: 4 |
| Seebozu |
RATINGS |
| Gosh, here’s another harmless and depressing episode. Seebozu was a great idea; a dead kaiju who fell from the Monster Graveyard and wanted to get back. The fighting is minimal, since Ultraman is basically trying to help Seebozu most of the time. But the whole point is the monster design: a great visualization of a dead and decaying monster; a great way to resolve the problem of making a costume of a skeleton (try it sometimes). But the real point is: we all know whom that skeleton I supposed to be, don’t we? Check out those tell-tale dorsal plates on Seebozu’s back! | originality: 9 |
| personality: 10 | |
| coolness: 4 |
| Zarogasu |
RATINGS |
| No one talks about this kaiju, but he was definitely a good-looking contribution to the pantheon. In some ways, Zarogasu’s slick looks and hi-tech powers were harbingers of the hipper, deadlier, gimmick-oriented kaiju to come in later series. He was a forerunner of the more modern kaiju that took on Ultraman Ace and beyond. Today’s kaiju almost always have a handful of gimmicks to distinguish themselves from the horde of competitors! | originality: 8 |
| personality: 6 | |
| coolness: 10 |
| Geeronimon |
RATINGS |
| The so-called grand-daddy of the kaiju, Geeronimon! A lot of things about this design are shoddy, but memorable nonetheless. The feathers, of course, are the major innovation. How many kaiju can you think of with feathers like that? Geeronimon has a breath weapon I’ve never completely understood, nor did I understand how he was going to summon 100 kaiju. Did he have know magic? | originality: 8 |
| personality: 6 | |
| coolness: 7 |
| Keela |
RATINGS |
| The first ultra-monster toy that I ever owned was a figure of Kila. This is because I thought he was the slickest-looking kaiju from Ultraman. I still feel that way. Kila was a alien monster (as opposed to a monster alien) with a simple-enough but very-well executed ability. (Blinding eye attack) His entire costume design was nicely executed. Just a great change of pace near the end of the series. | originality: 8 |
| personality: 6 | |
| coolness: 10 |
| Saigo |
RATINGS |
| You couldn’t have a more stark contrast to Kila than this loser quadraped. Maybe contrast was the idea, since there is no way Saigo could have ever upstaged Kila (the real star of the episode). Saigo was a...well, I’m not sure. Just a lumpy, burrowing, thing on four legs. He was thankfully destroyed easily enough, so Kila could carry the rest of the show. | originality: 1 |
| personality: 2 | |
| coolness: 1 |
| Zeton |
RATINGS |
| The kaiju that defeated Ultraman...permanently! How fitting that Zeton was the ultimate alien monster (once again, not a monster alien). Zeton looked like a combination of past kaiju, somehow fused together, and adorned with blinking lights so you knew where he came from! He was the servant or lackey of the Zeton-Seijin, and was just about intimidating enough to pull off the last episode battle. I haven’t meantioned it yet, but I will now...the main thing that gives a kaiju memorable personality is its distinctive movements. Credit the actors in the costumes for creating one-of-a-kind behaviors that make each kaiju individual. Zeton moved in just the right way! | originality: 10 |
| personality: 7 | |
| coolness: 10 |
| Zeton Seijin |
RATINGS |
| So similar to Kemura-Being in appearance, I don’t know if I should mention it. The one we saw was wearing a decent suit and tie, which speaks well for that traditional of aliens wearing human clothes, so prevalent in sci-fi TV and movies, even today! | originality: N/A |
| personality: 7 | |
| coolness: 9 |