Color Timer

Found on almost every Ultra, the Color Timer (カラータイマー) (also spelt as "Colour Timer") or Warning Light is an important organ for the Ultras. The Color Timer is a light formation usually on the Ultra's chest. The shapes may vary from the circle to a diamond or triangle or even letters such as V or X. They usually have a silver or gold ring around it. While the default color for a Color Timer is almost always blue, some Imitation or Evil Ultras have Color Timers that are a different color - Ultraman Belial's timer's default color is purple, for example, while Dark Faust and Mephisto had black Color Timers. There are also Beam Lamps that some Ultras possess like, Ultraseven and the Ultra Force members. They serve to measure the Ultra's strength level instead of energy, difference being strength does not have a strict time limit. Also, some possess them as well as conventional Color Timers like Ultraman Zero who has a Color Timer and a Beam Lamp, it behaves as one even though they have a Color Timer. However it seemed to only behave as such when his life is in danger.

Summary
An Ultra Warrior's greatest weakness is their need for solar energy. The Earth's atmosphere weakens the Ultramen the longer they stay because it naturally filters out the majority of light that reaches its surface. This most likely occurs on other planets but the Earth is part of a single star system, while most planets in real life, are found to have two or three stars that they orbit. The lack of adequate amounts of sunlight and the filtering effect of the atmosphere means an Ultra can only stay on Earth for approximately three minutes. They do not have this problem in space as long as there is an adequate light source.

This restriction, known by fans as the 'Three Minute Rule', is not a problem for all Ultras in different continuities. These Ultras have the equivalents of Color Timers, either to alert them to when they have used up too much energy fighting or to signify when they are injured.

Out of universe, the Color Timer exists to let the viewer know when the hero is injured, tired or a combination of both.

The time limit of three minutes was chosen because the number 3 is familiar to Japanese people, and was an important number in everyday life. The baseball star of the time Shigeo Nagasima's shirt had the number 3, a round of boxing also lasts 3 minutes, instant noodles released at that time can be cooked in 3 minutes, etc. The staff also considered Ultraman fighting for about one tenth of the approximately 30-minute program, which was three minutes.

Characteristics
The Color Timer generally starts out blue showing that the Ultra is at full strength, when the energy gets low, it starts to flash, turning red. It gets faster and faster until it goes out entirely. If it goes out, it may result in the Ultra's death (In the English dub of Ultraman the narrator says, "If it is to go out, it will mean Ultraman will never rise again." this was probably just for added suspense). The result of the Color Timer going out would mean the Ultra is out of energy and can no longer function, let alone fight. Their only options when this is about to happen would be to receive a large amount of energy from someone or somewhere, usually another Ultra or their human allies, revert to human form if they have one, immediately leave the planet's atmosphere or risk exhaustion and/or death.

Ultraseven
Ultraseven does not possess a Color Timer because he was not originally to be connected to the original Ultraman series. It has been stated that most Ultra Warriors have their Color Timer surgically implanted, but Seven was not a warrior when he went to Earth, he was as a scout/mapmaker, thus not needing an ability to judge his energy reserves. It may possibly be that the implanting of a Color Timer can be up to the individual Ultra's choice, as Ultraseven 21, who was a Ultra Warrior, lacked one too, instead having a beam lamp like Seven.

The Beam Lamp does not function as a gauge of his time limit as Ultraseven does not have the weakness suffered by his predecessors and the subsequent Ultras. His Beam Lamp merely functions as an indicator of how critical the danger is as shown when he was fighting the alien monster Nurse. While dizzy, he was being squeezed to death and the Beam Lamp blinks, but when he regained his wits and conjured his Ultra Power it had returned to normal. This advantage was passed on to his son, Ultraman Zero, implying that the Beam Lamp is passed down by bloodline.

Ultras in the Land of Light
Due to the proximity of the Plasma Spark, Ultras never experience any loss of energy, given that the Plasma Spark directly powers them like any star. The strength of the Plasma Spark's energy is so strong that an ordinary human without any protective equipment would be killed by the sheer power given off by the artificial star, via incineration. In environments such as this, the Color Timer acts less as a clock and more as an indicator of health, as shown when Zoffy was smashed into the pavement from the side of the Ultra, via Belial's flying kick. The attack left him knocked out but also turned his Color Timer red.

Ultraman Zearth
In Ultraman Zearth 2: Superhuman Big Battle - Light and Shadow, it was stated that the weak point of any Ultra is their Color Timer, this was shown when Zetton hit the original Ultraman in his Color Timer with a beam leaving him unable to fight even though his time was not up. The organ is shown to be intricately tied into the bodies of Ultras, when Ultraman Jack had his ripped out, his body deflated leaving only his Ultra Armor until it was returned. Other Ultras have suffered damage to their timer which resulted in them immediately being crippled or even killed. Father of Ultra deliberately ripped his out to transfer his power to Ultraman Ace resulting in him dying, but he was taken to the Land of Light by the Ultra Brothers and revived. Whenever an Ultra was victim to his energy being drained, the crime was often committed through his Color Timer, save a few exceptions such as Ultraman Tiga who had his energy drained through the Tiga Crystal. Also when the Ultra's power was being recharged it was often through their Color Timer, implying a direct link to their energy core/heart/battery/energy reserves. Other times it was through a crystal on their forehead.

Other Versions
In some universes the Color Timer does not act as a clock but a gauge on how badly weakened the Ultra is, such as the Nexus and Gaia universes. This is usually because the warning light does not measure the Ultra's store of sunlight but the strength and stamina of the host who physically transformed into the Ultra. The only known exception to this rule was Ultraman Tiga whose Human form Daigo transformed into Tiga and was plagued by the Three minute rule, though it was implied to be for different reasons.

In Ultraman Ginga, the main character could only Live an Ultraman Spark Doll for about three minutes at a time. This was explained by Taro as that a human could only maintain an Ultra's body for three minutes. However later instances showed Hikaru and Shou (Ultraman Victory) as being in Ultra form for longer than three minutes.

There was also a case where the two would revert back to human form, before their time was up and take turns fighting.

In Superior 8 Ultra Brothers, set in an alternate universe to all others, the only Ultra shown to suffer the three minute rule was Mebius who had traveled there from the Showa Universe. Even though alternate versions of Showa Ultras and Tiga and Dyna, who suffered the three minute rule, their alternate selves did not seem to have that problem. It should also be noted that their Color Timers were green not the more common blue.

In very rare cases, Ultras have been seen with Colour Timers that are not blue in their normal state. Ultraman Belial's colour timer became purple upon his fusion with Alien Rayblood, while Ultraman, as Ultraman Dark in Ultraman Ginga has a colour timer which is red regardless of his health.

Color Timer
The original form of the warning light, first introduced by the original Ultraman in the Showa Universe/Continuity. This object/organ has appeared on every single main and important Ultra (save Ultraseven) in the original continuity. However, despite its familiarity the Color Timer is not a naturally appearing organ for the Residents of the Land of Light. Originally it was seen as a naturally appearing organ until the movie Ultra Galaxy Legend, where many background Ultras were clearly shown without a Color Timer. To explain this the Color Timer's history was retconned. It is now in fact one of their earliest inventions since gaining the power of Ultra. It is now known to be an artificial organ surgically implanted to any Ultra undertaking a deep space mission away from Nebula M78. This was mainly reserved for scientists on expeditions to other planets and combatant Space Rangers. Ultraseven did not possess one since he was originally a non-combatant operative of the Space Garrison, a scout, his job was to map the Milky Way Galaxy. It is interesting to note that Ultraman Leo and Astra, princes from L-77 had Color Timers despite not being combatants. Yullian however, being a princess did not possess a Color Timer.

It is shown to be heavily integrated to an Ultra's biological functions, when Jack had his stolen and Father of Ultra tore out his to give his energy to Ace, but suffered from a loss of mobility and exhaustion (Jack's body seemingly deflated leaving only the Ultra Armor until it was returned).

The Color Timer also appears in the alternate Showa universes such as the Neos universe (where Neos and Seven 21 were the first and only Ultras to set foot on Earth). It also appears in the Cosmos Universe, but it is unknown if its a natural organ in that universe.

Story 0
In the Story 0 manga, the original interpretation of the Color Timer was shown for the Showa Universe. Here, the organ was literally the result of the evolved heart of the Ultras. The organ was transformed into its present state by the change from human(oid) to Ultra.

Energy Core
In the Nexus universe, the Color Timer is replaced by a natural organ known as the Energy Core. Unlike in the Showa Universe and similar Space-Time zone continuities, the Energy Core does not act as a timer, instead it reacts to the physical strength of the Deunamist (The host of Nexus) who is physically transformed into Ultraman. As its name suggests, the physical organ is a sort of window into the Ultra's body and behaves more like a heart racing from exhaustion or energy gauge than a timer. Other Ultras besides Nexus have more Color Timer like Energy Cores but they behave the same way, also in both Junis forms, a crystal appears over the Energy Core, bearing a greater resemblance to a Color Timer and take over those functions for the main Energy Core.

Life Gauge
In the Gaia universe, the equivalent to the Color Timer was known as the Life Gauge. It appeared on Gaia and Agul because they did not require sunlight because it was stated they drew strength from the mana of the Earth and Sea respectively. Mana was the life energy of the world which they converted into light energy using some feature on their heads, the gold bands on the back of Gaia's head and the gem on Agul's forehead. The Life Gauge was for how much energy they had left, reacting when they expended more energy than what they could absorb. Due to the fact that they were constantly absorbing mana, their attacks steadily became more powerful as their stamina always increased.

Mechanical Color Timer
In the 2011 manga, which is based on the original series, the Ultraman like battle suit worn by the main character Shinjiro (the son of Shin Hayata) has a mechanical Color Timer. The suit was evidently inspired by the legendary giant of light himself, however that is not the only reason for its presence on the suit. The suit was powered by Specium Energy from the wearer, something that Shinjiro and his father produced in their bodies due to their Ultra DNA, which came from Ultraman. When the wearer's production of the energy dropped or the machine's consumption dropped the light turned red. With Shinjiro's new suit when this happened he could release the suit's limiter causing it to absorb far more energy than it needed, giving the boy a speed and strength boost and enhancing his Specium Ray for a short time before he was left totally drained and immobile from exhaustion.

Other Heroes
Ultras may be the only race with Color Timers but other Tsuburaya heroes possess similar organs/devices that fulfilled the same function. One example would be Mirrorman who had a bomb implanted in his abdomen in episode 26, if he remained transformed for too long he would explode, Mirrorman's father give him a Color Timer so he knows when to change back into his human form.

Another example is Fireman, who possesses a light between his eyes, he also possesses a three minute rule in that he cannot survive under the rays of the sun for more than three minutes due to his subterranean origins. Jumborg Ace and Jumborg 9 also possess lights that flash as their energy supplies begin to dwindle.

Trivia
Father of Ultra is the first Ultra to commit suicide by forcibly tearing out his Color Timer, sacrificing himself so he could revive Ace.
 * According to Tohl Narita, Ultraman wasn't originally meant to have a Color Timer, as the original design he made lacked one (example in his original rise). This was actually made to reduce the cost of the special effects.
 * For some reason Ultraman Max is said to have a Power Timer even though it behaves just like a normal Color Timer, with Max being bound to the three minute rule.
 * At the end of the original series, it was intended that Ultraman would have died at Zetton's hands when he crushed his Color Timer, causing him great pain. This was abandoned by Eiji Tsuburaya who thought it was too violent.
 * In the Ultra Galaxy Legend movie, all the nameless Ultras did not have Color Timers. This was mainly due to the film’s budget and should not be taken at face value. It has been stated that the Color Timer only appears on Ultras that have left the vicinity of the Land of Light for deep space.
 * Father_of_Ultra's_sacrifice.png, with his Color Timer torn out]]
 * This organ is a dangerous weak point for every Ultra. If the Color Timer was damaged or attacked, it can cause great pain for the Ultra and leave them paralyzed until their time runs out. The Color Timer is also a direct window into an Ultra's energy reserves, meaning the Ultras energy reserves may be targeted directly depending on the continuity.
 * This also mean that the Ultras have the same weakness as Alien Babalou.
 * Guarde is the only monster to have a Color Timer, but this is because he is the canine equivalent of an Ultra, and is technically an Animal Ultra.
 * Dorobon originally didn't have a Color Timer, but stole Jack's timer, thinking it would make him stronger. Although this was the case at first, he eventually began to lose energy due to the three minute rule.
 * Taro, Father of Ultra, Mother of Ultra and the other Ultras, monsters and aliens are seen on vacation in the islands of Hawaii in the commercials for Hawaii Tourism Japan Authority's Ultra Hawaii promotion. Strangely from the Ultras' vacation time, their time limits on Earth have expanded more than three minutes without issue.
 * In the commercials and promotional video for Cleanup Corporation, Mother of Ultra's Color Timer starts to flash due to her time limit on Earth although she is not in her giant size.

Informational Video
カラータイマー Pewaktu Warna