Zeppandon

"Zetton! Pandon! I'll be taking your powers! Super Combination Zeppandon!"

- Combination announcement by Jugglus Juggler.

Zeppandon (ゼッパンドン) is a Kaiju that appears in Ultraman Orb. It is a combination of Zetton, Pandon and Maga-Orochi's tail, the former two were the final opponents in the series Ultraman and Ultraseven respectively.


 * Subtitle: Combination King Demon Beast (合体魔王獣)

Stats

 * Height: 60 m
 * Weight: 45,000 t
 * Origin: Jugglus Juggler

Ultraman Orb
While Gai Kurenai was walking through the forest, mourning of Naomi's injury and thinking back to Natasha's death, his arch nemesis, Jugglus Juggler made his appearence, and after a brief conversation, the two juked it out in hand-to-hand combat. Jugglus was quick to gain the upper hand, downing Gai with a barrage of energy blasts, then used his Snake-heart Sword to summon a wormhole in the sky above. From the dark portal emerged the tail of Maga-Orochi, which had been served by Orb in his Thunder Breaster form. Jugglus then used the Kaiju Cards of Zetton and Pandon with his Dark Ring and fused them, himself, and Maga-Orochi's tail together in the wormhole to form the monstrosity, Zeppandon.

Immediately, Gai transformed into Ultraman Orb Spacium Zeperion to fight the monster. While he tried as hard as he could, Orb couldn't keep up with Zeppandon. Even though he was fast enough to avoid the monster's fire streams, Zeppandon easily repelled the Ultra hero's attacks, catching (and devouring) his Sperion Halo in his teeth, and blocking his Sperion Ray with the Zeppandon Shield whilst Juggler taunted his rival's efforts.

Changing tactics, Orb switched to his Hurricane Slash form and brought out his Orb Slugger Lance. Both giants were evenly matched in speed due to their teleportation abilities until Orb finally managed to land a hit on Zeppandon by striking him in the chest with the lance and tried to destroy him with his Big Bang Thrust. The combined monster was quick to counter this, however, heating up the weapon to force Orb off before absorbing the hero's lance into his body. As Orb watched on in shock, Zeppandon struck the Ultra with his Zeppandon Lightning, causing the Ultra's Colour Timer to start to blink as Jugglus taunted him some more.

Orb then switched forms again, this time into his Burnmite form to turn up the heat. He managed to even up the combat score with Zeppandon, but the latter turned the tables on him and sent Orb flying with a powerful kick. After enduring a brutal fire bullet assault, the Ultra tried to wrap up the fight by using his Stobium Dynamite, but while it proved too much for Orb, as he was forced back into his human form, Zeppandon was still standing and unfazed by the attack, and so, he lived to fight another day.

In the next episode, Jugglus Juggler used his Dark Ring to turn into Zeppandon again and taunted Gai to fight him again. The latter rushed to the scene and transformed into Ultraman Orb again, this time in his Thunder Breaster form. Try as he could, however, the Ultra could not land in dent in the combined monster's rocky layer while the latter was once again beating Orb. He did succeed on lifting Zeppandon, but the latter used his fire bullets on him, forcing him to drop and release him. Getting frustrated from the monster's assault, Orb picked a transmission tower and used it as a weapon, but not even that proved efficient enough to pull through. After enduring another beat-down, Orb tried to fire a decisive strike with his Zettcium Ray, but the monster blocked the attack with his shield and fired back at him with his Head Beams.

To make matters worse, the VTL's fighters were activated to attack the destructive Ultraman, much to Juggler's delight as he added on to the onslaught with his energy attacks. However, the Ultra (and Gai) retained control of his rationality and shielded the entire SSP team with his body. After Naomi sang the song Gai usually played on his Orbnica, Gai was reminded to trust the extent of his own powers. The blank card given to Gai earlier by Natasha changed into the Orb Origin card, allowing Gai to gain access to his original form. Scanning the card into the Orb Ring to tap into his true power, the Orb Calibur revealed itself in a gleam of bright light from the tail of Zeppandon. Spinning the roulette and pressing the button on the handle, Gai transformed into his original, true form for the first time in 108 years in a mix of red, blue, yellow and green light.

Threatened by the knowledge of Orb Origin form's power, Jugglus controlled Zeppandon to fire at him once more, but Orb walked past them and slashed at the monster with his sword. Orb Origin then activated the earth power of the Orb Cailbur with the move 'Ground Calibur', unleashing a yellow shockwave that smashed through the energy shields of the monster from two directions and dealing critical damage to Zeppandon.

Jugglus newest creation finally met its end as Gai scanned the Orb Calibur into his Orb Ring and summoned the combined power of all 4 elements (Fire, Water, Earth, and Wind). Orb Origin conjured a big ring of iridescent light in the sky and launched an immense beam of energy using his Orb Supreme Calibur attack. The very same beam that destroyed Maga-Zetton a century ago blasted Zeppandon head-on and annihilated the monstrosity in an epic explosion. Jugglus Juggler ended up being critically injured and seemingly losing his Dark Ring for good, leaving him extremely furious.

Trivia

 * The initial toy catalog illustrates Zeppandon with components of Maga-Zetton.
 * The Zeppandon suit seems to have parts of a reused Shepherdon suit, mainly in the head.
 * Despite its name, Maga-Orochi's tail was used as one of its components, thus making it clear that Zeppandon's fusion would be something else without it. Said tail is visible during the fusion as well.

Powers and Weapons

 * Zeppandon Attack Fire Bullet (ゼッパンドン撃炎弾): Zeppandon's main ability is to launch rapid-fire flame bullets from its mouth. This ability is an analogous to the flame based attacks of Zetton and Pandon.
 * Zeppandon Shield (ゼッパンドンシールド): An energy shield that may be even more durable than the Zetton Barrier. It is fired out of its "ears". Strangely, it reuses the same sound effect as when Ultraman uses his Catch-Ring ability.
 * Lightning Ray : A lightning ray from the main mouth. This ability is based on Maga-Orochi's Maga Thunderclap, whose severed tail was shown in this fusion.
 * Teleportation : Zeppandon is able to turn into a dark cloud and teleport. Just before teleporting, its yellow appendages glow.
 * Head Beams : Purple rays or bolts from the "Pandon" heads. It is powerful enough to knocked down Orb in Thunder Breaster.
 * Body Heat : Zeppandon can generate body heat so strong that it can travel up the Orb Slugger Lance, causing Orb to let go of it.
 * Absorption : After heating up the Orb Slugger Lance to extreme temperatures, Zeppandon seemingly absorbed it into its own body.
 * Super Durability : Zeppandon is able to withstand most, if not all of Orb's attacks in Spacium Zeperion, Burnmite and Hurricane Slash forms and took on the Stobium Dynamite, seemingly without any harm done to it at all, while even Maga-Orochi was coated with a hard, rocky layer by the attack.
 * Enhanced Reflex : An ability inherited from Pandon, Zeppandon is capable of catching incoming projectiles in the mid air. One such example is the Sperion Halo, which the monster proceed to eat quickly upon catching it.
 * Super Kick : Zeppandon's legs are extremely powerful, able to send Orb flying with a single kick.