Residents of the Land of Light

This article is about the race, if you were looking for the being, see Ultraman. The Ultramen also known as the Residents of the Land of Light (光の国の住人, Hikari no Kuni no Jūnin? )are the race responsible for the formation of the Space Garrison and live on Planet Ultra. There are many Ultramen in other universes, each with different origins, some of which are similar while others are completely different.

History
Within the original continuity, the Ultramen weren't always supernatural soldiers, they were once a perfectly normal but highly advanced race of beings resembling Humans, living on a planet located in Nebula M78. One day their sun went out leaving the planet in darkness. Unwilling to giving up hope, the planet's greatest scientific minds toiled for an unknown amount of time until they created a solution: an artificial sun called the Plasma Spark. On the day that it was turned on the planet was flooded with light. However there were unexpected side effects, the people of the land of light became beings of light as they began to change into strange silver beings that could manipulate energy. The race had a strong sense of justice, believing they were given the power of Ultra for a reason they created the Space Garrison, an organization that enforces freedom and peace throughout the known universe. As they battled evil across the stars, more evil minded races began to see them as a threat and began forming plots to destroy them, such as the people of Barbarou, Temperor and Baltan. The greatest threat to the Land of Light came from a being called the Emperor, who with an army of monster and aliens, attacked the Land of Light in an event known as the Great Ultra War.

Though the Land of Light was conquered, the Ultras fought back and reclaimed their homeworld. The hero of this conflict was the Ultra named Ken, who dueled the Emperor in a battle that left both with matching wounds and forced the emperor to retreat for thirty thousand years. After that, the next great threat to the Ultras came from within, a young and powerful Ultra named Belial who long ago broke the laws of the Ultras and attempted to steal energy from the Plasma Spark for himself. For this crime he was burned by the Plasma Spark itself and exiled by his fellow Ultras but he returned many years later a dark mockery of an Ultra warrior. Fused with Alien Reiblood and wielding the Giga Battlizer, he marched with his hundred monster army on the Land of Light with the intention of destroying everything only to be bested by Ultraman King himself who locked him away forming the Space Prison and sealing his weapon in the Valley of Flames in the Monster Graveyard. Since then the Ultras have known relative peace as they continued their never ending battle against evil.

Basic Characteristics:
Ultramen are beings of light whose natural size is always that of a giant (the average adult is usually between 150 and 200 feet tall). They are usually red and silver (although several color variations have been seen in recent years) with yellow almond-shaped dome eyes (although there are exceptions to both the shape and color) and various abilities, most notably they are able to fire energy beams from various positions of crossed hands. Their primary weakness (in the Showa universe and a few other, this weakness is not absolute for Ultras of other universes) is a limited power supply, meaning that they cannot stay in giant form for long, usually no longer than three to five minutes. Ultras are beings of light and therefore feed on light but Earth's atmosphere naturally filters out most of the light that hits it, dwindling their energy supply. This is marked by a light, usually on their chest, sometimes on their forehead, called the Color Timer or Warning Light. It generally starts at blue, turns red and begins to blink with increasing frequency as the Ultra's power dwindles.

At this point the Ultra has a few options; find a way to finish the battle as soon as possible, leave the Earth's atmosphere to recharge, revert to human form or risk certain death. An Ultraman does not have this issue in space and some series say that the problem is that the Earth's atmosphere is so badly polluted, regardless they can survive much longer in space where unfiltered sunlight reaches them, thus there is no time limit in space or on planet lacking Earth like qualities. To counter this time limit and an Ultra will almost always gain a human form or merge with a host. If the host was recently killed then the Ultras powers will revive them as they share a life force with the Ultra.

Another thing of note, is the Ultras are apparently difficult to permanently kill, numerous times an Ultra has died only to be revived by another member of their species. Also a large amount of energy seems to revive them, usually supplied by their human allies, even when completely destroyed, such as Mebius who was killed by Alien Emperor and revived shortly thereafter by the life energy and bonds with his friends. Several Ultras have been killed in the Showa universe only to be revived 'in the nick of time' by another member of their species.

Longevity:
Perhaps the most remarkable thing about Ultras is their life spans, Ultras like Mebius and Zero who are considered very young, teenagers in their early years of high school, are actually a couple thousand years old in human years. All Ultra brothers, from oldest to youngest, range from Twenty Five thousand years old to eight thousand years old and are considered young adults or older teenagers in the Land of Light.

The oldest known Ultra in the Showa universe was Ultraman King at over three hundred thousand years, followed by Ken, Belial and Marie who are around half his age. Also Ultras seem to grow stronger as they get older as the Ultra Brothers rank each other not only by who arrived on Earth first but age. Zoffy, the leader is a few thousand years older than Ultraman, that is not to say age completely determines how powerful an Ultra is but it clearly plays a role.

Another thing to note is that when Male Ultra's reaches forty thousand years of age, the begin to grow facial hair ( or the equivalent) starting with sideburns. How long this takes is unknown as Ultra Father is many millenia beyond that age but only had side burns, while Ultraman King who is near twice his age has a full beard and mustache, assuming no grooming is involved it seems they grow at a very slow rate.

Family Traits:
The markings on an Ultra's body and their facial appearance are determined in similar ways to humans appearances, by their bloodlines. A prime example is Taro, who bears the horns that appear on the males of Ultra Father's bloodline. Taro also bears similar markings as his cousin Ultraseven and it could assumed to be an ativisim due to the fact their mothers were sisters. Zero, Seven's son bears similar markings and Eye sluggers like weapons but a mixture of blue and red markings since his mother was an unknown blue Ultra.

One oddity among Ultras is the similarities between Ultraman, Zoffy and Jack along with Seven as his unnamed superior. Despite no obvious genetic relations the three look almost the same in terms of markings and their faces. Seven's superior may be of family relation, his father or brother (the later would explain why they look exactly alike) or simply how his psychic message was perceived by Seven

Other Ultras
Not all Ultras have the same origins as the ones form the Land of Light. In other universes, other Ultras came into existence in different ways.

Showa Universe:
The original continuum for the Ultra series, its history is documented above. The three minute rules first appears here

Heisei Ultraseven Universe:
The continuity of the Heisei Ultraseven, here Seven was the first and only Ultra to visit Earth. The three minute rule obviously still applies here but Seven is the exception, it is reasonable to believe that all the Ultras in the Showa universe exist here as well.

Joneus Universe:
The universe of the animated Ultra series, in Ultraman Jonia's universe Ultras hail from the planet U40, they all posses natural human forms, but only a select few have the power to change their size, through training. The three minute rule applies here.

Zearth Universe:
The universe of the two Zearth movies, while the Ultras of M78 are mentioned Ultraman Zearth is from the Land of Sparkles (Pikari no Kuni) in Nebula Z95 who do not seem bothered by the three minute rule.

Great Universe:
In this universe the only documented Ultra on Earth was Ultraman Great, he hails from M78 and operates on the three minute rule, it is an alternate Showa universe.

Powered Universe:
It is just like the Great Universe but Powered is the only Ultra seen. Although two other Ultras appear in the form of red balls of light to take powered back to the Land of Light. It is an alternate Showa universe

Tiga Universe:
Here Ultras protected ancient Earth but the first Ultra seen in modern times was Ultraman Tiga who was one a group of giants of light from millions of years in the past who lived on Earth in a colony from an alternate Land of Light. Later his successor Ultraman Dyna would come protect the Alternative Earth in modern times after him, there was also an instance where Tiga went into the past and met an alternate Ultraman (the original) who existed in his continuity, implying the Ultras of the Showa universe also exist here.

Neos Universe:
Like the Great and powered Universes but the star Ultra is Ultraman Neos who fought along side Ultraseven 21 against Dark Matter monsters. An alternate Zoffy is also seen. It is an alternate Showa universe

Gaia Universe:
Here only two Ultras were ever seen on Earth, Ultraman Gaia who is an ultra first seen in a strange dimension, and came to the main dimension thanks to Gamu who encountered him after an experiment to contact the will of the Earth. There is also Ultraman Agul appeared first as light form a water tank after another experiment to communicate with the earth's will, but previously appeared to Fujimya after several visions. The three minute rule does not exist here.

Ultraman Gaia Battle in Hyperspace Universe:
In this universe Ultras exist as TV programs but Gaia, Tiga and Dyna appear thanks to an object that fought wishes to battle similarly summoned and conjured monsters. There was no evidence of the Three minute rule.

Cosmos Universe:
In this unvirse the only Ultras seen are Ultraman Cosmos and much later Ultraman Justice and their fusion Ultraman Legend. Their origins are unknown but dialogue in the third movie implies they were originally Ultraman Legend but for some reason split into the two Ultras. The ultras here were bound to the three minute rule.

Nexus Universe:
The only natural ultra in this universe was Ultraman Noa who was supposedly created from a supernova, and was probably considered a god by many races in that universe. Later a race of beings tried to clone Noa to create their own protector creating Dark Zagi, ruler of the Space Beasts and creator of the Dark Ultras Faust , Mephisto and Mephisto Zwei. Noa later fought Zagi and his minions as Ultraman The Next, Ultraman Nexus and his original form. The three minute rule did not exist here. Due to the presence of Ultraman Noa, it is theorized that this is the universe were Zero fought against Belial's Empire.

Max Universe:
Like the Showa, Great, Powered and Neos universes, but the only Ultras to visit Earth was Ultraman Max and his superior Xenon. It is an alternate Showa universe

Nice Universe:
Here the previous universes are TV shows and there was Ultraman Nice, who came to Earth from planet TOY-1, and it would seem his race can only be active on Earth just for one minute.

Ultraseven X Universe:
The universe where presumably Showa Ultraseven, or the Heisei Ultraseven, fought against the Shadow Rulers as Ultraseven X. The comments of the aliens encountered suggest that Ultras either do not exist in this universe or never visited the milky way galaxy.

Superior 8 Ultra Bros Universe:
The alternate world where Ultraman was seen as just an old TV series, however due to the machination of an evil born in this world, Ultraman Mebius of the Showa universe and various monsters were summoned here. Several humans gained the power to become Ultras but the first four Ultra brothers also appear. From dialogue with their wives and the end scene of the movie, it would suggest they were aliens from M78 who inspired the TV series but forget themselves as they lived human lives. Though Mebius obviously had to deal with the three minute rule none of the Ultras native to this universe seemed to suffer from it. It should be noted that all the native Ultras had green color timers instead of blue.

Ultraman Saga Universe:
The world where Ultraman Zero, Cosmos and Dyna from their respective worlds, fought the Multiversal evil Alien Bat and his monsters, particularly Hyer Zetton. There does not appear to be any Ultras in this universe but if there are they never visited that Earth. It is unknown if the three minute rule exists here since all the Ultra seen were from universes where the rule existed

Ultraman Manga Universe:
This universe is considered an alternate Showa universe, but it appears the only Ultra to visit Earth was the original Ultraman. Due to his merger with Ultraman, Shin Hayata was reborn with Ultra Genes giving him incredible strength and durability. Some forty years later Shin is married and has a son Shinjiro Hayata who also inherits his Ultra DNA

Powers/Abilities

 * Ultra Beam : All if not most Ultras can fire this beam or a variation of the Ultra Beam SPACIUM_ray.jpg in the from of a crossed hand position in either a T, L or even X style. There are other ways in which a beam can be fired like a simple outstretched hand or from a jewel on their forehead, etc. Though each beam varies in power, the basic Ultra Beam and all other variations are powerful enough to destroy the average monster in one shot.


 * Strength : All Ultras have super strength which is not usually seen unless they are at human size. They can easily lift monsters their own size and larger over their heads and throw them, it should be noted that the punches and kicks from Ultras have caused monsters immune to conventional weaponry to stumble and show physical pain. For all their strength, they are weakened by Earth like atmospheres and cannot exert all of their vast strength in such an environment or they will quickly run out of energy, thus all members of the Space Garrison are trained to pace themselves, this weakness also extends to Ultra's with solar panels, as they can only circumvent their limit so long as they do not expend more energy than they can absorb. Examples of this can be seen with Ultraseven, who in his original series ripped apart jail bars with his bare hands at human size, later in the Heisei era, Ultraseven was shown tearing the barrels off of two pistols
 * Mental Abilities : All Ultras have the power or potential for telepathy even between solar systems, but some are trained to use a form of telekinesis called Ultra Willpower. All Ultras are also able to speak to their own kind or any other being, through telepathy.
 * Outer Space Adaption : Ultras can survive in space, in fact they are more at home there than in earth's atmosphere since there is no oxygen to filter out light and weaken them. As such they are stronger in space or on non-earth like planets than here, where their energy is quickly used up. They can also survive underwater as they do not breath.
 * Ultrmen_rce2.jpgl Sphere : Ultras are known for traversing space in the form of spheres of light, generally they are red or yellow energy spheres used to traverse the great expanse of space.
 * Ultra Twinkle Way : Ultras can create worm holes to travel the vast distances of space under reasonable time.
 * Flight : All Ultras can fly under their own power, this ability is perhaps the lease stressful one they have. They have also been known to fly interstellar or even intergalactic distances.
 * Self Molecular Manipulation : As highly evolved and advanced beings, Ultras have complete control over their molecular structure, this feat is the corner stone of many of their other abilities such as...
 * Light Powers : Ultras being beings of light, can manipulate it for various effects, from missile strength energy blasts, cell altering beams, a burning aura to incinerate a latched on foe, energy constructs etc. Their limit is only to the individual's training and experience.
 * Barriers : Ultras can erect energy barriers to protect themselves from enemy fire.
 * Healing : When injured, the injuries of an Ultra are not visible to the human eyes, and wounds, bleeding light close on their own when the obstruction is removed. Ultra's who take on hosts are able to fully heal themselves between battles which may be days apart, while Ultra's in human form are not able to heal as quickly, but their injuries do no seem to impair them for the most part until they become too severe or numerous
 * Endurance : Ultras are more durable than humans, they have shown remarkable resilience to attacks that would vaporize most monsters. Many Ultras have shown they are resistant to their own Ultra beams, living with great injuries instead of being blown up. In the Heisei Ultraseven the ultra stood up to heavy machine gun fire, even at point blank range, and was clearly unfazed by the attack.
 * Size Alteration : Ultras can change their size from giant to microscopic and anything in between, some can even enlarge themselves beyond their regular size.
 * Form/Mode/Type Change : Several Ultras have displayed the ability to partially alter their bodies' anatomy to increase/alter certain aspects of their abilities, often changing the markings and colors of the Ultra Armor (Their skin). This is not an ability displayed by all Ultras
 * Assimilation : An Ultra can share their life energy with a human, fusing the two into one being, they can transform back into ultra form using a special device they always have. This act also can revive a recently killed person, though they will require the Ultra's energy to survive since their life force is gone.
 * Human Mimic : An Ultra may simply take on a human form, though this body works on the same principle as a host body, it also shares any injuries with the Ultra form and vice versa.
 * Ultra Signs : a form of long distance communication using their light powers, they appear as a series of alien characters made of light, usually only other Ultras can see them but some aliens and monster can also see them and replicate, or destroy them.
 * Transformation Item : Humans serving as the host to an Ultra require a method to transform into their counterpart. Since humans do not have any special abilities of their own they require a transformation item. Examples would be the Beta capsule, Ultra Eye, Ultra Badge. This also rule also applies to Ultras in human form, with the exception of Ultraman Jack, and The Ultra Force who transform at will. A thing of note an Ultra or their host can mentally operate their transformation device so long as it is on their person or nearby so long as they have the mental will to do so.