Ultraman Tiga

Earth is once again about to be attacked by monsters. A meteorite strikes, and is examined by the TPC (Terrestrial Peacable Concert) branch known as GUTS (Global Unlimited Task Squad). They discover that the meteorite is artifical, containing a metal device that projects a holographic image of a woman. This woman claims to be from an ancient civilization which started on Earth "a long long time ago." The civilization is now gone, destroyed by monsters that are now reappearing on Earth. The woman, Yuzare, tells them that they were helped by three gigantic guardians, who have since returned to their native place. "Their true form is light," she says. The guardians must be restored, because the time of monsters has arrived again. The image is about to mention the method of restoration, when it breaks up and stops.

Daigo, one of the GUTS members, suggests they search for the resting place of the three guardians, which is a pyramid called "Tiga." They are quickly distracted, however, by reports of a winged monster appearing from Easter Island. Most of the GUTS crew attends to this, the second monster on the loose since the meteorite landed, while one, Yazumi, remains behind to research the name "Tiga." Yazumi discovers that the name is an old popular name of a NorthEast district in Japan. (I'm told that there really is no Touhoku or Tiga district in the real Japan. However, "Tiga" means 3 in Malaysian or Market Indonesian.) Daigo and other members of the team head for this area after discovering that both rampaging monsters are also heading for the same spot.

The GUTS team arrives in a wooded area. Daigo goes on ahead, and sees a golden pyramid just over the top of the trees. The others follow, but cannot catch up with Daigo before he touches the pyramid. In a nimbus of light, he simply walks into the pyramid wall. They follow, and find Daigo staring up at three huge statues, which they assume are the bodies of the three guardians. Before they can do anything, the first monster, Golza, arrives and dissolves the pyramid with blasts of energy. The second monster, Melba, arrives as the last of the pyramid floats off. Both monsters attack the statues, destroying two of them and felling the third. (Note: some have noticed that the other 2 statues resemble Ultraman Dyna and either Ultraman Leo or Ultraman Gaia. They are not, although the designs are similar.)

In the middle of all this, Daigo tries to stop the destruction in the smaller of the two GUTS aircraft, but is unsuccessful; instead, his craft is damaged. The craft falls and explodes, but not before Daigo finds himself enveloped in a nimbus of light. Meanwhile, a light appears on the chest of the remaining statue. Golza tries to crush the statue, but the statue's arm lifts up to stop the blow.

Suddenly, the statue is no longer made of stone! A silver, gold, red, & blue giant appears instead, and attacks the two monsters. Along the way, the GUTS members discover that the giant can change colors and abilities (more on this later). The giant finishes off the two monsters and leaves. Shortly after he disappears in the clouds, one of the GUTS members discovers Daigo, alive, waving to them. He is picked up, and as they return home, Daigo discovers an ornate wand, the Spark Lens, in his uniform. Back at GUTS HQ, the metal artifact activates, and completes its message. "There is only one method of restoration. Daigo must be light!"

(Recently a note on Tsuburaya Productions' web site mentioned that Daigo's transformation device is the "Spark Lance." All the Katakana renditions I've seen, however, refer to it as a "Lens." I'll presume this was a typographical error on the part of the translator of the Tsuburaya Japanese area.)

Ultraman Tiga is a unique Ultraman in that he has three forms. One, shown here, is a general form, favoring neither strength nor speed; this is called his "Multi Type." One, the "Sky Type," is all blue (or at least the red parts of the Multi form are blue); this form favors speed and agility. The third, the "Power Type," is all red; this form favors strength and power.

Ultraman Tiga normally transforms & grows simultaneously, like many of the other Ultra-heroes. In one episode, however, Daigo transforms into a human-sized Ultraman Tiga while in one of the GUTS aircraft, exits, and then presumably grows. In another episode, Horii (one of the GUTS members) gets to meet Ultraman Tiga face-to-face, because he transforms to human size and stays there for the entire episode. In a third episode, Daigo transforms into Tiga inside GUTS HQ, then teleports outside, growing simultaneously; this particular feat took a lot out of Tiga, as he materializes with his ColorTimer blinking.

As of this writing, no relationship between Ultraman Tiga and the other Ultra warriors has been established. One pre-release bit of information indicated that Ultraman Tiga was an Ultra warrior who preceded Ultraman, but was not from Nebula M78. The 49th episode of Tiga has Daigo going back in time, following a "monster buyer" attempting to buy a monster from Eiji Tsuburaya, the creator of the series (who, in real life and in the story, is deceased). In this landmark story, Tiga is rescued by Eiji-san, who uses the Ultra Star crystal to summon none other than the original Ultraman! Ultraman gives Tiga some of his own energy, recharging him. The duo then team up and fire Specium and Zebellion beams (the Zebellion beam is Tiga's equivalent to Ultraman's Specium beam) at the monster from the lake (the monster which Ultraman deposited there months prior, upon which time he gave Eiji-san the crystal).

Ultraman Tiga has several energy attacks, including the ability to draw energy from the surroundings into a ball, which can then be thrown at the monster under attack. Like most of the other Ultra-heroes, Tiga also has the prerequisite ColorTimer, which flashes when the 3 minutes he can survive on Earth is almost up. Like Ultraman Great, when Tiga's ColorTimer stops blinking, he is transformed back into Daigo, although in one situation where that has happened, Daigo found himself in a white area, cut off from Earth, but not from other beings such as Yuzare or the Devil-man. While the ColorTimer is flashing, however, Tiga can still change between Multi, Sky, and Power forms.

Ultraman Tiga is a being of light. In one episode, one of the monsters took a bite out of Tiga's arm. Instead of bleeding liquid, Tiga bled light. Tiga was able to heal himself quickly enough to overcome the monster.

The link between Ultraman Tiga and his human host, Daigo, is stronger than that of most of the other Ultramen (except for Ultraman Powered). Several times Daigo has been seriously injured (cracked ribs, busted leg, etc.) when Tiga has been needed. After the transformation, Tiga has shown serious pain in the same areas, although a broken wrist, for example, doesn't keep Tiga from using that hand. On the other hand, unlike Kenichi Kai (Ultraman Powered's host), Daigo does not seem to suffer the pain and injuries of Ultraman Tiga, although an extended battle drains them both. On several occasions, Tiga has fought more fiercely when the safety of one of those Daigo cares for has been threatened; he has also fought less fiercely when Daigo has experienced self-doubt.

Feroz Mohamad wrote to me, expressing an interesting thought on the relationship between Daigo and Tiga. In his own words: After I read about my favourite Ultraman Tiga, I want to say that I am, alittle bit disagree with the term 'human host' used for Daigo. After watching the programme for 48 consecutive episodes (well, missed one), I think, Ultraman and Daigo is one being. Not two separate being as portrayed in Ultraman Powered. It was said by Yuzare in third or fourth (can't remember) episode in the series that Daigo must be light, right? In the first episode Daigo was in a very dangerous situation as his body glow and transported into Tiga's statue's color timer. Then Tiga crystal shone and Tiga alives. What I want to say here that, Daigo, by his will tranforms into Tiga using the Spark Lens. The Spark Lense is a an ancient mechanism tthat stores vast amount of light energy. This energy when released by a touch of as button, transform Daigo into Tiga, and yep, Tiga is Daigo in heart, knowledge and everything. Tiga knows what Daigo knows, feels what he feels. In one episode with a vampire enemy, Daigo was locked up un a dimension which absorbs light. He can't transform into Tiga as the light in the spark lens is absorbed by the surrounding. Or something like that. The most concrete evidence is in the two latest episodes (44 and 45). In Episode 44, Daigo was confronted by a scientist (forgot his name, must be Keigo something) who knows who he really is, and robbed the Spark Lens from his. Daigo was left in a very frustrating situation and he went to Touhoku district (the place where he merged with the statue). He was lured intu a cave by a cute dog and foun say what, another complete Ultra Warrior statue and a monster statue. This time the evil scientist is there. Stating that because he and Daigo both have the same trait of DNA (Did you know that Daigo ia a descendant from the people of tha ancient civilization that once received the Ultra Warrior's visit?) he could also transform into light and become Ultraman. Using the Spark Lens he generates energy using a machine ( he made that) and transform himself into light and relocates into the Ultra Warrior's colour timer. The crystal glows and there stood another Ultraman. This is the Evil Tiga. The dog (dead) became the monster (the ultra warrior was its master in previous life) and tried to stop the Evil Tiga. Daigo then was found by Captain Iruma and was ordered back to HQ. But Daigo insisted in staying stating that he still has work to be done... Iruma then seems to understands... And Daigo, confronting every obstacle (mentally and physically) to th Spark Lens and.... transform into TIGA!!!　 You ccould see a very nice karate fight here ( frankly, I prefer the Evil Tiga's design to original Tiga). And Capt Iruma said to the TPC's err a top ranked man that　 that was not only a fight between two giants, but a fight between good hearts and evil hearts....
Since that note, Feroz found a note on a BBS regarding Tiga's background. Please note that the following is not confirmed, but it does make sense overall. The speculation says that, 30 million years ago (prior to Ultraman's "birth," according to the 45,000 year age given him by Tsuburaya Productions), three Ultra-warriors came to Earth to fight the monsters overruning Earth's civilization (the same ancient civilization Yuzare and Daigo come from). These Ultra-warriors seem to have come from M78, but with one vital difference: they were literally creatures of light ... no physical bodies at all. Since they could not fight the monsters as light-beings, they fashioned bodies from the rocks & soil of our planet. These 3 fought various monsters until Gidzera, the flower-monster with pollen with a narcotic effect, appeared and took control of humans at the time. The Ultra-guardians could not stay if the humans didn't want them around, so they left Earth, leaving their bodies behind as stone statues. Before they left, however, they implanted into the DNA of all humans the ability to transform into light themselves, and reanimate the Ultra-statues. Over time, only certain individuals had this ability "active;" Daigo and Masaki (the scientist mentioned above who became the "Evil Tiga") are two with this particular genetic ability activated. In the final episode, though, Tiga is animated not only by Daigo, but by thousands of children all over the world, and by Rena.

One interesting side note: one of the GUTS members, Rena, is played by Takami Yoshimoto, the daughter of Susumu Kurobe, the actor who played Hayata in the original Ultraman series.

Tiga's final battle in the series is against Ghatanazoa, the great "Ruler of Darkness." The monster plunges almost all of Earth into darkness, lit only by the firey devastation left by its bird-like creatures, the Zoigor. Tiga appears to battle Ghatanazoa, but his best efforts don't even hurt the monster. After toying with Tiga, Ghatanazoa fires a devastating energy beam into Tiga's chest. Tiga staggers, desperately trying to fight back. Suddenly his body reverts back to the stone statue Daigo found in the Tiga pyramid! With one blow, Ghatanazoa topples the statue into the sea. After several unsuccessful attempts to revive Tiga and stop the great monster, we see Daigo, trapped inside a crystalline prison. Ghatanazoa has apparently isolated Daigo's essence from Tiga.

All around the world, adults despair over the defeat of their only possible salvation. The children, however, pray for Tiga to return and save the day. Suddenly, these children -- thousands of them all over the world -- convert to light, as Daigo did to create Tiga in the first place. Their essences flow into the sunken statue; in the realm where Daigo is trapped, he sees a wall burst into light, as the children race to free him. Back in the real world, the area where the Tiga statue rested glows brightly with a pillar of light that coalesces into a giant Tiga ... the Glitter Tiga. Empowered by thousands of children, Daigo, and Rena (who somehow got the ability in a previous episode, though the details seem to have been edited out), Tiga makes short work of Ghatanazoa. The skies clear, and the sun shines again. Tiga looks toward the remnants of TPC Headquarters, and dissipates back into his individual entities: the children, Daigo, and Rena are restored back where they came from. At the end, Daigo removes the Spark Lens and hands it to Rena. The Spark Lens is now made of stone. It dissolves to dust and blows away in Rena's hands.

But that's not the end of Tiga. Two years later, Captain Iruma is part of a team investigating the same island where Tiga and Ghatanazoa fought their final battle. The team, part of Project F, believe that the island has some link to the power of Tiga; with the discoveries they may make there, TPC hopes they can somehow bring forth a new Ultraman to replace Tiga. The team enters a cave, and after blowing away a wall (a wall which, Iruma feels, should be left intact), they discover 3 mysterious statues ... statues not unlike the 3 they found at the Tiga pyramid. Around them are the ruins of a city, the once-proud city of the Ultras! Suddenly, the statues come to life, and attack the excavation team; only Iruma escapes alive, and recognizes the 3 as the "Warriors of Darkness." Iruma is knocked unconscious, but from her body emerges Yuzare, who trap the evil warriors on the island. Meanwhile, Daigo begins to have disturbing dreams, the first while on a camping trip with his fiance, Rena. The dream shows their wedding, but all the guests resemble the human form of one of the dark warriors! Later, at the water park where Rena somehow managed to talk with dolphins, Daigo dreams of being given a dark version of the Spark Lens by Kamilla in human form. Daigo uses it to become Tiga ... only, not quite Tiga, but a dark, evil version. This dark version crushes a little girl at the park; immediately after, he awakens with a start. Daigo's strange reactions begin to worry Rena ... but the worry is only beginning.

Daigo returns to TPC Headquarters to find the pyramid through which Yuzare first contacted him. The pyramid shows scenes from 30 million years ago, first showing the Ultra-warrior race, who had apparently lived on Earth during this time, battling various beasts together. Later, the Ultras fought each other, leaving all dead. Through it all, four warriors of darkness stood firm: Kamilla, Dahram, and Hyudora ... and the Dark Tiga Daigo saw in his dreams!! Daigo is confronted by the 3, in human form, and is given a severe beating by Dahram. Rena enters, to find Daigo unhurt but lying on the floor, the dark Spark Lens (also known as the Black Lens) by his side.

Daigo dreams again. This time, Yuzare tells him that he is both "the Light" and a human. She tells him of Iruma's trouble, and that she had erected a barrier that would keep the evil ones bound for 100 years. However, should he go there of his own free will, the barrier would be broken, and darkness would again cover the world. Daigo decides to go to the island to rescue Rena; the rest of the GUTS team, including Rena (even though she and Daigo had retired) follow.

Daigo enters the cave, and meets the 3 human forms of the dark warriors. The men transform, but Kamilla remains in human form. Daigo lifts his Black Lens, denying that the power of darkness will hold sway over him. He transforms into Dark Tiga, much to the glee of his foes. To their dismay, however, Dark Tiga begins to fight. He faces the hulking Dahram first, who beats him resoundingly into the ocean under the island. After burying him in the ocean floor, Dahram sends a wave of dark energy towards the trapped Tiga. Much to his surprise, though, the energy results in an uninjured Tiga, one less dark than before! This form is known as Tiga Tornado. Dahram realizes that, as he did before, Tiga managed to "change the Darkness into Light!" Using an energy-ball attack known as the Rainbolt Light Ball, Tiga Tornado destroys Dahram.

Suddenly, he finds himself in space, being pursued by Hyudora, who attacks Tiga Tornado with both a beam fired from his arms (in a similar position to Ultraman Taro's Streium Beam), and with a beam fired from the scissor-like claw on his right arm. All throughout the fight, Hyudora calls Tiga a traitor. Meanwhile, the GUTS team is battling a flock of Zoigar on the island, rescuing Iruma, who uses explosives to destroy the temple in the cave. The explosion throws Hyudora, who makes one final blast directly at Tiga Tornado. Tiga absorbs the blast, however, once again converting the dark energy into light, transforming into the even brighter Tiga Blast, who destroys Hyudora.

At this point, Kamilla uses a Spark Lens of her own to transform and battle the new Tiga. Realizing that she has once again lost the Dark Tiga that she once loved, she tears into Tiga Tornado as Rena fights her way into the cave to battle the dark giant herself. Kamilla then fires on Rena's ship, only to have Tiga Blast absorb the blast with his own body, transforming once more into the familiar Tiga Multi-Type, with all the former darkness removed completely.

Kamilla, however, has her own surprise, as she gathers the Darkness around her to transform into Demonzoa, the great beast of Darkness itself. Demonzoa pounds on Tiga, who at first continues to protect Rena, at the expense of his own health; his ColorTimer begins to blink. Demonzoa fires at Tiga, who blocks with his own Zebellion Beam. Demonzoa's, however, is more powerful, driving Tiga's beam back, until the creature's power slams into Tiga. The ColorTimer stops blinking, and the fallen Tiga's eyes go dark.

The Darkness, however, wasn't the only power that rested. All around them were other Ultra-warrior statues (some of which resembled Taro, Leo, and even one that looks like a combination of Ultraseven and Ultraman Ace). Beams of light start to emerge from these statues, converging over Tiga's body, then entering it, supercharging it into a final yellow-glowing form, the Glitter Tiga. The Ultra-powered Tiga takes Demonzoa's best without a flinch. Demonzoa ensnares Tiga, and swallows him into its own darkness ... until Demonzoa explodes from the inside in a burst of light. The Darkness leaves the world, and the skies return to normal. Daigo watches as the now-human Kamilla dies.

(For a full synopsis of the plot of Ultraman Tiga: The Final Odyssey, see James Holman's synopsis in the eGroups Ultraman area.)

About 6 years after Tiga's "Final Odyssey," after Asuka Shin bonds with Ultraman Dyna, another alien threat threatens the world. Ultraman Dyna overcomes the robot created by the aliens, but the aliens merge with their spaceship, forming a gigantic multi-tendrilled monster that traps Dyna and kills him. The city's population, in shelters much like they were during Ghatanazoa's attack, are motivated by a young boy who is a Super GUTS fan, but is a Tiga fan. Through his desire, and that of numerous others in the shelter (including the TPC scientist who, possessed by the aliens, created the robot), their life-forces remanifest Tiga. Tiga recharges Dyna, helps him escape from the monster, and the two Ultramen defeat the aliens once and for all. At the end, Tiga and Dyna transform into energy, and seem to merge. Later, Asuka Shin finds himself stranded, almost dead, on Mars, and is rescued by Daigo, who, along with Rena and their daughter, are colonists maintaining a hydroponic garden. As of this writing, I'm not sure if Daigo and Asuka reveal their common Ultra-bond.

A movie released in the spring of 1999, Ultraman Tiga, Ultraman Dyna, & Ultraman Gaia allows Dyna and Tiga to meet Ultraman Gaia, even though they are not set in the same universes. Tiga is brought into a parallel universe, where the Ultramen are only TV characters; since we don't see Tiga form from kids or by Daigo, there's no way to tell exactly when or where this Tiga came from.