A new hero for a new era of the Ultra Series.
From 2007 to 2013, between the conclusion of the Heisei era with Ultraman Mebius and the debut of the Ultraman: New Generation Heroes era with Ultraman Ginga, Tsuburaya Productions' Ultra Series (which had been recently been acquired completely by Bandai) entered a transitional period in which no new TV shows centered on Ultramen protecting Earth were produced.note While the interlude began with the kaiju-centric Ultra Galaxy Mega Monster Battle, everything would change in 2009 with the introduction of a brand-new Ultra hero — Ultraman Zero.
None other than the son of Ultraseven, one of the most popular Ultras, Ultraman Zero is the star of a series of movies and specials produced between 2009 and 2012 that picked up from where Ultra Galaxy Mega Monster Battle left off. In these various productions, Zero would fight a variety of new and dangerous villains on a far greater scale than any the heroes of the Land of Light had battled before. Monster of the Week action would be sidelined in favor of epic adventures against nefarious evildoers (although the franchise's many kaiju and seijin would still get roles here and there), and many of the Ultramen of previous shows would appear in supporting roles in Zero's exploits.
Among the most important elements introduced in Zero's period as the main hero of the Ultra Series, however, would be the establishment of The Multiverse. While Alternate Universes to the classic Land of Light continuity (Ultra Q to Ultraman 80, plus Ultraman Mebius and Ultra Galaxy Mega Monster Battle) had been a major part of the Heisei era (such as the shared world of Ultraman Tiga and Ultraman Dyna or the solo worlds of Ultraman Gaia, Ultraman Cosmos, and Ultraman Nexus) and explored prior in stuff like The☆Ultraman, it was in Zero's time that Tsuburaya Productions really started to dig into the idea. Zero would trek across universes in search of his enemies, encounter Ultramen from other continuities, and enter other timelines to save them from entirely different threats. All of these ideas would become extremely influential in the succeeding Ultraman: New Generation Heroes era, with nearly every show since 2013 presenting their own universe and having Crossover events with the Ultras of other timelines, not to mention alternate versions of characters in different continuities.
And on the topic of the Ultraman: New Generation Heroes, once Ultraman Zero passed the torch on to Ultraman Ginga, he wouldn't retire to the background like Ultras of the past usually did. Rather, Zero remains a major recurring character of the period, being marketed by Tsuburaya Productions as the leader of the New Generation Ultramen and being closely associated with them, despite technically not being a New Gen Ultra Hero himself. In fact, two New Gen series, Ultraman Geed and Ultraman Z, were direct sequels to Zero's adventures, with Zero and his enemies getting major roles in those shows.
The Ultraman Zero sub-franchise contains:
The Films
- Mega Monster Battle: Ultra Galaxy Legends (2009): Thousands of years ago, the dark Ultra Warrior Belial rebelled against the Land of Light after gaining the power of the Reionics. Wielding the Giga Battle Nizer, he commanded an army of monsters to attack the Ultras' homeworld, but was defeated and imprisoned by Ultraman King. But when Belial is freed from his prison, he attacks the Land of Light once again and steals the Plasma Spark before resurrecting his army. Now the Ultras' only hope lies with the human Reionics named Rei and Ultraman Zero, an Ultra warrior said to hold unlimited potential.
- Ultraman Zero: The Revenge of Belial (2010): When a group of robotic Evil Knockoffs of Zero called Darklopses attack the Land of Light, the Ultras discover the robots have been sent from another universe. Zero volunteers to investigate and enters an entirely new existence that is now being threatened by Ultraman Belial's newly-established Galactic Empire, forcing him to assemble a team of native heroes to oppose his old enemy.
- Ultraman Saga (2012): Following a plea for help, Zero finds himself in another alternate universe, one where almost all humans on Earth have been abducted by the wicked Alien Bat. Alongside Ultraman Dyna and Ultraman Cosmos, Zero must stop Bat from unleashing his monster weapon Hyper Zetton, a new and improved version of the kaiju that killed the original Ultraman.
- Untitled Ultraman Zero Film (TBA): A newly announced Ultraman Zero film, set to be released somewhere in the future at a yet-undisclosed date for the
60th Anniversary of the Ultra Series in 2026.
Side Stories
- Ultra Galaxy Legend Gaiden: Ultraman Zero vs. Darklops Zero (2010): Set between Ultra Galaxy Legends and Revenge of Belial, Zero, alongside Rei, battles an army of robotic doppelgangers of Ultras created by the Alien Salome, including their ultimate weapon, a robotic lookalike of Zero known as Darklops Zero.
- Ultraman Zero Gaiden: Killer the Beatstar (2011): Set between the second and third films, Zero reunites with the Ultimate Force Zero, but a new threat rears its head in the form of the malevolent supercomputer Beatstar and its army of robotic kaiju.
- Ultra Zero Fight (2012): A set of mini-episodes that continue Zero's adventures after the events of Ultraman Saga. It is the first of Tsuburaya's revived Ultra Fight series that aired as part of Ultraman Retsuden, succeeding later on by the likes of Ultra Fight Victory and Ultra Fight Orb.
Related Media
- Ultra Galaxy Mega Monster Battle (2007-2009) - A two-season series that aired between Ultraman Mebius and Mega Monster Battle: Ultra Galaxy Legends. Zero doesn't show up in them, but many elements of the show, including several characters, recur in Zero's adventures, and the series overall is closely related to the Ultraman Zero sub-franchise.
- Ultraman Mebius Gaiden: Ghost Rebirth (2009): A Direct-to-Video prequel special to Mega Monster Battle: Ultra Galaxy Legends. While Ultraman Mebius is the star of the series and Zero has yet to be introduced, it contains plot elements that are highly relevant of Ultra Galaxy Legends.
Other Appearances from Ultraman Zero
- Ultraman Retsuden (2011-2016): A television series in which Zero navigates the viewer through the history of the Ultra Series. Most episodes are simply reairings or previous Ultra Series episodes or portions of Ultra films with the only difference being a new opening theme and commentary by Zero at the beginning and end of the episode. Some episodes of Retsuden have the aforementioned added Ultra Zero Fight segments, detailing Ultraman Zero's further adventures.
- Ultraman Ginga S The Movie: Showdown! The 10 Ultra Warriors! (2015): Zero pursues the interdimensional supervillain Etelgar, who has been capturing Ultras from every universe, and assists Ultramen Ginga and Victory against this new threat.
- Ultraman X (2015):
- Zero guest stars in the show's fifth episode, helping Ultraman X battle Alien Nackle and Black King.
- In Ultraman X The Movie: Here Comes! Our Ultraman! (2016), Zero makes a quick cameo in which he battles a Tsurugi Demaaga summoned by the film's Big Bad Zaigorg.
- Ultraman Orb (2016):
- Although he doesn't physically appear in the series, Zero is the one who sealed away the King Demon Beast of Fire, Maga-Pandon, and Ultraman Orb attains his Ultra Fusion card from defeating it. Combining it with Ultraman Jack's card, Orb is able to assume his Hurricane Slash form.
- Ultraman Orb The Movie: Lend Me the Power of Bonds! (2017): Zero shows up for real here, assisting Ultraman Orb to battle a revived Galactron and informing Orb of the plot of the space witch Mulnau to crystalize the entire Earth with the monster Deavorick.
- Ultraman Zero: The Chronicle (2017): Another biography series and the first of several such Chronicle compilations. It serves as the 50th anniversary celebration of Ultraseven. As in Ultraman Retsuden, Zero navigates the viewers about his involvement in movies and some miniseries.
- Ultra Fight Orb (2017; aired as part of Zero: The Chronicle): Zero returns to assist Ultraman Orb once again, this time helping the Ultra hero of O-50 to battle the Reionics sorcerer Reibatos and his various revived monsters.
- Ultraman Geed (2018): Zero plays a major role in this series, as the Deuteragonist for the titular Ultra. Circumstances however lead to him taking a human host in Leito Igaguri, a mild-mannered Salaryman and Family Man who would much rather not be fighting giant monsters and evil aliens — not that Zero will let that stand in his way.
- Zero also appears in Geed's movie, Ultraman Geed The Movie: Connect The Wishes! (2019), in the same role.
- Ultra Galaxy Fight: New Generation Heroes (2019): A Crisis Crossover of several recent Ultraman series — but Zero is merely a Badass in Distress alongside Ultrawoman Grigio, and the other Ultras are trying to save them. The villain also creates Evil Knockoffs of a handful of the Ultramen, including Zero.
- Ultraman Taiga (2019): Zero makes an appearance late in the series to help out Taiga (his second cousin) and give him an 11th-Hour Superpower that lets Taiga use Zero's special moves.
- Ultraman Chronicle Zero & Geed (2020): Another Chronicle compilation series; this one showing material from Zero's adventures and from Ultraman Geed.
- Ultraman Z (2020): Zero's now gained a Hero-Worshipper in the titular Ultraman Z. But when Zero gets sucked into a black hole, Z has handle things on Earth alone. Zero does eventually get out, and after catching up with Z, he decides he to entrust Earth in Z's capable hands.
- Ultra Galaxy Fight: The Absolute Conspiracy (2020): Another Crisis Crossover. Zero plays a major role in Part 3, where he leads a group of Ultramen to go to the aid of Taiga and his friends. It ends up being a prequel to Ultraman Z, as the series ends with Zero and Z setting off on the mission that would start Z's series.
- Ultra Galaxy Fight: The Destined Crossroad (2022): The third in the Crisis Crossover series. Zero once again gets his own plotline, as he seeks training to help face the new threats that have emerged.
- Ultraman New Generation Stars (2023-present): Another compilation series. In the first season, Zero leads his "New Generation" successors to help recover memories of their battles. He has a less direct presence in later seasons, as in Seasons 3 and 4 he's the one who sends those seasons' leads (Z in 3 and both Z and Geed in 4) on their missions. The third season does feature Zero heavily, including several episodes where he guest stars to recap Revenge of Belial.
Ultraman Zero provides examples of the following tropes:
- Big Bad: Belial in the first two films
- Clip Show: A few Retsuden episodes.
- Crossover: Every single film features this.
- The first film features every Ultra Warrior of the classic continuity and has Ultraman Dyna in a guest role.
- Revenge of Belial has Noa of Ultraman Nexus aiding Zero.
- Ultraman Saga features Dyna and Cosmos.
- Evil Twin: From Ultraman Zero vs. Darklops Zero , there are Darklops Zero to Ultraman Zero, Mecha Gomora to Gomora, and army of Robot Ultra Brothers.
- Henshin Hero: The Ultras
- Light Is Good: The Ultras are beings of light. The first opening theme of Retsuden describes them as "red and silver soldiers of light".
- Milestone Celebration
- My Hero, Zero
- No Fourth Wall: Zero when presenting the Retsuden episodes.
- One-Winged Angel: Belial in the first two films.
- Spin-Offspring: Zero is the son of Ultraseven.