Shinjiro Hayata

Shinjiro Hayata (早田 進次郎) is the son of Shin Hayata, the protagonist of the ULTRAMAN manga and anime. Due to his father's merger with Ultraman, Shinjiro possesses Ultra Genes that he inherited from his father. A somewhat lonely boy with a good heart, Shinjiro carries on his father's legacy as Ultraman.

ULTRAMAN
Note: Due to there being several differences between the manga and anime adaptation, the History section has been split into two tabs.

{{#tag:tabber The son of Shin Hayata, Shinjiro (sometimes called Jiro for short) was born with unusual strength and durability. As a child he once visited the Ultraman Memorial with his father, the Defense Agency Chief. It was a museum for the SSSP, Ultraman and their battles and based in the old SSSP Japan branch headquarters. While there the two met Mistuhiro Ide. While the two talked and Shin gave an autograph, Shinjiro was leaning dangerously over the railing. Before anyone noticed he was gone and they ran downstairs to find him on the ground seemingly unconscious, he had fallen off the railing. While Ide proposed to call an ambulance Hayata said the boy was fine as he clutched his crying son. Moments later father and son left with Shinjiro waving goodbye with his usual cheerful face. Twelve years later Shinjiro was a typical teenager, hanging out with his friends and such except for his strength. He never knew the source of it but struggled to learn how to control it, on occasion he would go jumping across skyscrapers for fun. At home Shinjiro and his father had started to grow distant despite most likely due to his abnormal condition.
 * Manga=

First Contact
One day Shinjiro and his friends came across a girl being harassed by a bully from another school and his posse. While the others did not have the heart to go and help her Shinjiro challenged the brute. When the thug tried to kick him Shinjiro caught his leg and accidentally crushed it. Seeing the frightened faces on everyone including his friends and the girl he saved he ran off. That night Shinjiro went out jumping across skyscrapers until he landed on a billboard and sat there lamenting his failure to control his strength. It then that he was confronted by a dark figure that Shinjiro immediately assumed was some manner of Ultra being. The figure attacked him and Shinjiro jumped away and flew off eventually landing in a stadium. At first, he thought he was safe however the creature had followed him. The creature dashed towards him ready to strike and Shinjiro was too paralyzed with fear to move. Only the timely arrival of his father, who dropped out of the sky, saved him. When he questioned his father on the creature and its similarity to Ultraman his father declared it wasn't an Ultraman, he was, referring to his son as he took of his coat and revealed his battle armor.

Hayata picked up his son and commented on how much he had grown and then explained to him the SSSP carrier plane was nearby and with his abilities he could reach it. Without warning Hayata threw his son sending him flying through the air. Seeing the plane, Shinjiro controlled his flight vector and landed in the cargo bay where he was met by Ide or 'Uncle Ide' as he called him. Ide revealed to Shinjiro the truth about his and his father's abilities but when the computer monitoring Hayata's armor revealed he was in trouble Shinjiro demanded to be sent back but Ide refused. He declared that he promised his father to protect him first and despite his abilities he had no hope of defeating the entity. Shinjiro however refused to accept that and seeing his resolution Ide revealed to Shinjiro another more advanced suit of armor.

Moments later Shinjiro fell out the sky and landed between his defeated father and the creature interrupting it death blow. Upon seeing his father's broken body Shinjiro commented that it was a first for him wanting to tear someone apart. Shinjiro activated his Specium weapons and dashed towards his enemy picking up the fight his father could not win. With his more youthful body Shinjiro fared better than his father, even using his Specium weapons to block the enemy's lasers. The alien cut off a portion of the stadium hoisted it up and threw it at him but Shinjiro flew toward the debris and sliced it in half catching his opponent and slamming him into the ground. Shinjiro landed on the alien's stomach and was about to attack him when the monster fired his heat ray at point blank. Shinjiro was hit and jumped off but he could still walk and fight. The dark figure got up and raised his hand forming a large sphere of energy. It was then the Ide contacted Shinjiro via the radio and told him to connect the connectors on his wrist. Shinjiro immediately got it and Ide confirmed it. As the alien threw the sphere Shinjiro fired his version of the Specium Ray, the two attacks clashing in an explosion that could be seen outside the stadium.

When the dust cleared from the clash of attacks Shinjiro saw that the alien was still standing even though much of his left side was missing. Shinjiro was surprised by this and the creature's rather stoic comment on its condition. The creature declared itself Bemular as Shinjiro saw a glimpse of the reptilian creature within the armor. The creature flew off and Shinjiro turned his attention to his father but as he ran he found himself tired and collapsed and fainted as the crew of the SSSP plane tended to his father and Ide ran towards him. Shinjiro later awoke in a bed, his armor gone and his body bandaged up. Hearing Ide's voice he looked to his side only to see Ide standing by his bed with a Zettonian in a black suit sitting on a chair casually.

Later on Ide lead Shinjiro to see his father in the medical section of the base, the old warrior was in a coma but otherwise he would survive. Ide then lead Shinjiro to an all white room where the Zettonian from before was waiting. There the alien explained he was the last Zettonian and that his name was Edo. The alien explained why there had been no alien invasion or monster attacks for the past forty years, including Earth, every space-faring civilization was part of an alliance. Upon joining this interstellar 'UN' seven years prior to the present, aliens came to Earth and removed all of its monsters. Also when Earth contacted the Alliance council is when Bemular appeared again who is just one of the problems they face as numerous aliens had migrated to Earth. The Zettonian than asked Shinjiro to take his father's place as Ultraman.

Aftermath and Trial Run
Shinjiro did not immediately agree to the request but stated he would think about it. The next day at school Shinjiro found his friends were avoiding him in fear of his strength and later when he met up with the bully and his friends again they ran off terrified of him. Feeling rejected by everyone around him Shinjiro agreed to do test runs with his armor that night. With Ide on the radio guiding him Shinjiro trained to control his powers by helping people, Shinjiro was ordered to go to a traffic accident to help. Ide declared that the government response was too slow and that if it was a job only he could do then as 'Ultraman' he had a responsibility to help. Shotaro arrived on a highway where the driver of a fuel tanker was trapped behind the wheel. Shotaro ran towards it but found himself too slow and on Ide's suggestion used the Light Swords to propel himself. Shinjiro flew towards the tanker as its fuel caught aflame, while it seemed both where killed in the explosion Shinjiro landed safely carrying the half of the truck he cut off with the driver in it. To his surprise the crowd around him was cheering and even the man he saved thanked him. Upon the two policemen approaching to question him Shinjiro took off into sky. Stopping on the roof of a skyscraper, Shinjiro took off his helmet and absorbed the whole sensation of being praised, finally feeling like he belonged somewhere.

Afterwards Shinjiro reconciled with his friends who disregarded the crushing of the bully's leg as an accident on the thug's part. He also took joy in the fame and publicity his masked persona was getting all over. Meeting up with Ide and Edo at SSSP HQ, Shin noted that he enjoyed the work he was doing with the suit and his powers and Edo asked if he was ready to be Ultraman yet. Unsure of what to say he heard as Moroboshi called Edo reporting he was ready to begin an extermination operation. Edo told him to hold it off and that 'Ultraman' would take down the target.

Second Battle
Shinjiro arrived outside an old warehouse where Moroboshi's team was waiting. After some talking down from Moroboshi Shinjiro took off, landing on the roof to the building. Upon entering he was shocked to see the sight of several dead victims and the alien finishing of the last one. In a fit of rage Shinjiro punched at the Baltan like creature only for it to jump over him and kick him in the back knocking him down. The alien landed on him and belittled him and jumped on to a platform when Shin attempted to slice him with a Light Sword. Shin confronted the alien about his deeds and the alien simply replied that humans were its food and fired energy blasts at him. Shin dodged them and noticed that several of the victims were young girls and boys of his age group. Enraged even more, Shinjiro fired the Specium ray but unfortunately the alien dodged it and jumped out the hole in the roof. Unwilling to let him escape Shinjiro chased after him jumping from rooftop to rooftop.

Shinjiro chased the alien across several rooftop, their battle caused the destruction of a few buildings, eventually the pair landed in the middle of a traffic jam with Shinjiro landing on the hood of Rena Sayama, a popular idol, all the while his suit's color timer was beeping, having turned red. It was then that the alien spoke denouncing Shinjiro as 'Ultraman' and a hero. It had pointed out that its intention was to leave quietly and disappear so it could continue hunting in peace, but Shinjiro forced their battle into the public endangering even more lives going against the mandate of the SSSP. The alien cast blame on Shinjiro for the current predicament the people around him faced and as Shinjiro looked around he couldn't help but feel guilty. It was then that some one called out for him, for Ultraman and he turned to see Rena Sayama in the distance who reminded him that he was fighting to protect people renewing his resolve. The alien was angered by this and fired his plasma bombs at Rena and her agent but Shinjiro moved in front of them and stopped the attack with his Light Swords. Shinjiro declared himself an Ultraman and took on the same fighting stance his father used in their battles.

The alien at first laughed at Shinjiro's statement, but when it realized it was being used it attacked at full force pushing Shinjiro into the defensive. Shinjiro ran as the alien fired a volley of plasma bombs but one of them hit and knocked him into a building. Knocked on his back, Ide called him and instructed him on how to remove his limiter. With that done he dashed out the building and sliced on the alien's arm as red energy streamed off him. The alien jumped into the air and he followed, shrugging off his attacks, backflipped and kicked the creature before finishing it of with the Specium Ray. Shinjiro landed on a car, completely drained but proud of his accomplishment, but not as proud as when his father appeared, still in a weakened condition but out of his coma. Shin praised his son on a job well done.

The Alien City
Despite his achievement, at the SSSP base Shinjiro was looking over the railing and trying to come to terms with the fact that he had killed another living being, it was the first time he done so. Moroboshi appeared and told Shinjiro he had to accept the fact the being 'Ultraman' meant he had eradicate any opponent he came across. For whatever reason Moroboshi took Shin to a peculiar building, passing through several high tech security gates they came across an entire city that seemed to be within the building itself.

Moroboshi led Shinjiro thorugh the city, past the market. Moroboshi told him that the city was on Earth but it's location was unknown even to the SSSP. He told Jiro that they had come to see an information broker about two cases, the organization the Aliend Adacic was connected to and the serial murders which appeared to be separate cases. Moroboshi brought Jiro to a gambling den where their contact was waiting. Jiro was told it was a fighter and initially believed it was it the large alien in the ring. As the alien fainted Moroboshi corrected him, stating that their contact was a special case in the city, the only human who could live there and refused to leave: Jack.

Sometime later Shinjiro and Moroboshi were outside the arena with Jack discussing the case. However Jack had no information to help them, he pointed to one possible alien species but said that unlikely though he woudl check it out. He also noted that the other case seemed to be unrelated.

Some time later Moroboshi left the two to get food at some benches. As Jack munched down on local cuisine he talked with Shinjiro who he noticed had a lot on his mind. During their conversation Jack noted that he knew Shinjiro's father, Shin had apparently helped in the past. Before he could finish his conversation the two were interrupted by a large alien. Jack introduced the alien as Red, the former champion of the arena before Jack defeated him. Despite his prior victory Jack set up the unassuming Shinjiro to fight Red, resulting in him being punched several blocks away. As Shinjiro stood up he was now angry and ready for a fight.

Shinjiro retaliated against Red, throwing a punch only for it to be caught and be thrown away, with his superhuman body he landed on a pillar and jumped back but Red dodged. Red then leaped into the air at Shinjiro who dodged and noted that he may have killed him. He again charged at Red but then remembered that the maneuver he was trying to use required his suit. Before they could clash Moroboshi stopped their fight, even Red was not going to fight an ally of the SSSP.

Outside the building, Shinjiro thanked Moroboshi for taking him to see that place, but Moroboshi rebuffed him, stating his dislike for him and how he thought poorly of Shinjiro as Ultraman. He also stated that he was not the only one who could become Ultraman.

Later on Shinjiro was on a mission to capture a petty crook alien who had killed several people. Moroboshi was there along with an extermination team, while Shinjiro easily defeated the crook, he spared the alien upon his pleas of mercy. Afterwards Moroboshi came to quarrel with Shinjiro and his refusal to kill resulting in Shinjiro throwing his helmet past Moroboshi's head in anger.

Internal Crisis
Shinjiro later began to cling to his normal life, going out with his friends and trying to forget about his issues as Ultraman and his internal conflict between Moroboshi's words and his own kind heart. However despite his attempts he could not shake his feelings of anxiety and uncertainty.

It was upon his return home that Shin called his son into the living room to speak with him alone. There the two men spoke of their dislike of killing. Shin explained that the Earth needed Shinjiro right now and that the power he had inherited was in the end a curse they both had to bare.

Later both Hayatas returned to HQ to find Moroboshi in an Ultraman Suit, who restated his early remark that Shinjiro was 'not the only one who could be Ultraman'. Sometime afterwards Shinjiro went on a walk and thought about the current events, his father's and Moroboshi's statements about Ultraman, his reasons for being Ultraman, he was unsure of what to do. It was then he caught a little girl's balloon and upon returning it to her remembered Alien Adacic's victims, among whom were children, it was then he gained a new resolve. No sooner after Ide called him about a situation, stating Moroboshi was busy. Shinjiro rushed to get his suit from a nearby van and proceeded to the scene.

There he found people running and was surprised to see that Jack and Red were the cause of the commotion. To his surprise Red took out some sort of vial and transformed before him. Red apparently returned to his original size and fought Shinjiro, who despite everything could not best the giant, even asking for the limiter to be removed. When Red threw him at the same mother and child he met earlier, Shinjiro, desperate to save them awakened the ability to fly.

Anime= A young Shinjiro visited the Giant of Light Memorial with his father, Shin Hayata. Fascinated by the SSSP and Ultraman, Shinjiro was left to look around after his father met up with an old colleague, Mitsuhiro Ide, and was later asked for an autograph. While trying to reach out to a Jet VTOL diorama, Shinjiro slipped and fell from several floors high, alerting everyone. Surprisingly, where a normal boy his age easily could have died, Shinjiro was, for the most part, fine but crying. By the time he and his father left, he was alright. This abnormality surprised Shin, who could no longer deny the fact that his son was not normal.

10 years later, Shin and Shinjiro have grown apart and seemingly estranged. At school, he spots Rena Sayama being bullied by a gang, and goes to confront them despite his friends telling him not to. As one of the bullies tried to attack him, Shinjiro accidentally twists the bully's leg, breaking it. Shinjiro then runs away and jumps across rooftops, unknowingly being stalked by a mysterious figure. Shinjiro leaves the house after arguing with his father, and sits on top a billboard lamenting on being unable to control his strength. The mysterious figure speaks to him, saying that the kind of power he has should not be on Earth, before attacking him. Shinjiro escapes to a stadium but is cornered, and just as the assailant was about to kill him, Shin Hayata appeared, and revealed to his son that he was Ultraman, while unveiling a powered suit underneath his coat.

Shin reveals to his son that he knew about his superhuman powers all along before flinging him up to a SSSP helicopter, and begun to battle Bemular. Aboard the helicopter, Shinjiro meets Ide once again, who had been ordered to keep Shinjiro safe and transport him away. Instead, seeing Shinjiro's frustration at being unable to do anything, Ide decides to provide him the Ultraman suit. Shinjiro accepts the offer and falls back into the stadium, putting the suit on as he took his father's place in fighting Bemular. After a long battle, Ide taught him to use the Specium Ray on Bemular, who surprisingly survived the attack. Seeing Shinjiro exhausted, Bemular simply reveals his name and leaves, before the boy passes out. Shinjiro later wakes up in the SSSP base, and is informed by Alien Zetton Edo that his father will be alright. Though he was initially shocked to see a Zettonian, Ide came into the room and both he and Edo revealed that the Earth had made peace with aliens by signing a deal with the Star Cluster Alliance, though there were still alien threats on the Earth other than Bemular. Shinjiro ponders on his powers for a while before accepting Ide's request to him to become Ultraman, and is sent on various missions to help him adjust to the suit and build his confidence. His appearances were quickly noticed by the public, including Rena Sayama.

Later on, Shinjiro is sent on his first true mission, to assist fellow SSSP member Dan Moroboshi take down a target. Upon entering the warehouse the alien was in, Shinjiro saw him feeding on the corpses of humans and was left shocked. Shinjiro quickly rushed in to attack, enraged at the sight of so many human corpses. However, Adacic had the upper hand and was nearly untouchable, and mocked Shinjiro for being a "fake Ultraman". Adacic later takes the fight to the city nearby, disrupting traffic as they fought. Adacic temporarily stopped to mock Shinjiro for his incompetence and nearly kills Rena Sayama after she cheers Shinjiro on, and claims to be excited to be the one who would kill Ultraman. Adacic later resumes his attack on Shinjiro, driving him into a corner. With very few options left, Ide released the Ultraman suit's limiter, pushing Shinjiro's powers to their limits. Taking it as a danger warning instead, Adacic thought he was winning until Shinjiro promptly sliced his left arm off, enraging the alien. Despite going all out trying to kill Shinjiro, Adacic was finally finished off with a Specium Ray that obliterated him. Shinjiro later saw his father before passing out yet again.

Moroboshi later gets Shinjiro to follow him into an alley which somehow brings them into a city, to look for an informant. Moroboshi explains that this city is populated with aliens, confusing Shinjiro. Nevertheless, they stick to their objective and manage to find Jack wrestling in a gambling den. After his match, he tells Moroboshi and Shinjiro about the recent serial killings. Jack gets to know Shinjiro after Morobhoshi leaves, until Black King, Jack's opponent from earlier, arrives to cut off their conversation by strangling Shinjiro. Fortunately, Moroboshi returns and scares the beast off. Leaving the city, Shinjiro asks Moroboshi why he was brought there, to which he explains that he was ordered to. Moroboshi also states that he doesn't like Shinjiro, leaving the boy shaken while he walks off.

Shinjiro later helps Dan and his squad deal with Alien Robuton, but is unable to kill it after it disguises as Rena Sayama. Instead, he allows the SSSP to arrest it. Dan once again scolds Shinjiro for his attitude, which has him doubting his powers. Afterwards, Shinjiro has a talk with his father about what it means to be Ultraman, and finds out that he had been fighting Bemular for years, driven simply by the desire to protect his son. Shinjiro comes to the conclusion that Ultraman is a curse. He and his father later see Moroboshi in the Seven suit execute Alien Bris, shocking Shinjiro due to how inhesitant he was at killing. While going out, he finds Black King rampaging, looking for him. Shinjiro has no choice but to transform and fight but is initially unable to keep up with the monster's brute strength. He is flung into the crowd and almost kills a little girl, but due to his desire to protect others, he awakened the power of flight and managed to avoid getting anyone killed. Not holding back anymore, he used his newfound power and decapitated Black King.

Proud of himself, he musters the courage to talk to Rena Sayama, who reveals that she really hates Ultraman before she is picked up by Shiraishi and driven away. On the way to an SSSP meeting, he meets Moroboshi who further dismisses his abilities. They are later sent to Rena's concert as they were informed about someone using Igaru's communicator. Shinjiro also hears Rena publicly admitting her hate towards Ultraman, who got her mother killed when she was a baby, due to a hospital collapsing on them while Ultraman was fighting an alien. Agent Adad then appears, getting floating bombs deployed over the heads of the audience. Shinjiro and Dan transform and fight him, but they are overpowered. Adad also causes some of the lights to fall, making Shinjiro and Moroboshi catch them before they hurt anyone. A while later, Bemular arrives and challenges Shinjiro, even slicing off the roof of the building, which Shinjiro now has to hold up. After Igaru appears and gets killed by Adad, Shinjiro enters a fit of rage and destroys the falling roof with a Specium Ray, and tries to kill Adad, before the alien properly introduces himself and exposes the true culprits behind the recent murders. Shinjiro and Moroboshi cease attacking him after finding out that he was an agent of the Star Cluster Alliance. At the SSSP base, Shinjiro gets upset over Igaru's death but Moroboshi further states that he doesn't like his attitude.

At school, a freshman named Seiji Hokuto approaches him and reveals that he knows who Shinjiro is, shocking him. Not knowing what to do, he seeks out Jack to vent his problems instead of reporting it to the SSSP out of fear of what Moroboshi would do to him, and is told to watch out for Seiji. Back at the Giant of Light Memorial, he meets Rena Sayama once again even though she doens't recognize him. She leaves as the Giant of Light memorial closes for the day. He sees Seiji again in public before getting a call from Ide for another mission, but unknown to him, Seiji hacks into his phone. Travelling to a warehouse, he fights against a creature unlike any of his previous opponents. He gets beaten until a new Ultraman shows up to help him, slicing the monster in half, before his arms blew up. The Ultraman left, but not before calling him "Mr. Hayata" ("Senpai" in the original Japanese voiceover), giving him a clue to who the newcomer is.

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Profile
Shinjiro wears the Ultraman suit (ウルトラマンスーツ), modeled after the famous Giant of Light himself. It was made as a reinforced model that his father Shin Hayata wore, but with added features such as a helmet, Specium Blades and the ability to fire the Specium Ray.

Stats

 * Age: 17
 * Height: 176 cm, 190 cm with suit
 * Weight: 63 kg, 126 kg with suit

Manga and Anime Differences

 * In the manga, it is never shown how Shinjiro wears his suit (though it is implied that he simply puts it on), while in the anime, it is transferred and built around him as he 'transforms' into Ultraman.
 * Shinjiro starts with his B-Type suit in the anime.
 * The Specium Ray is fired from the side of the horizontal left arm in the manga, whereas in the anime, Shinjiro slides down his left arm to fire it.

Trivia

 * In the manga story, Shinjiro is not the first ever Ultra/human hybrid, that title belongs to his father, Shin Hayata.
 * Shinjiro's situation is similar to Daigo Madoka the human form of Ultraman Tiga who also gained his Ultra powers thanks to his DNA but through somewhat different means. The two are both descendants of Ultras, Daigo descends from the original Ultraman Tiga and Shinjiro the Original Ultraman.
 * In the overall Ultra Series, Shinjiro is the sixth canon human character introduced, confirmed to have Ultra Genes, starting with Daigo Madoka, then Keigo Masaki, Tsubasa Madoka Daigo's son, Amu Daigo's ancestor and Shinjiro's father.
 * During the second battle between his father and Bemular, the alien being stated that Shinjiro was not Shin's, what he meant by this is unknown but the statement may be related to the boy's Ultra Genes.
 * Shinjiro's battle armor has been compared to Iron Man's suit in terms of appearance and also the Guyver in terms of how it operates and its weapons.
 * Shinjiro is similar to Akira, the hero of a popular doujinshi (fan comic) called Hybrid Insector, created by the same individuals who created the ULTRAMAN Manga. The protagonist of that manga was the son of a Kamen Rider and gained Rider powers through a belt that created an exoarmor, similar to the one Shinjiro wears.
 * The child Shinjiro's voice actress, Megumi Han is the daughter of Keiko Han, whom voiced Lalah Sune in Mobile Suit Gundam. Coincidentally, both series (ULTRAMAN and Mobile Suits) takes place where Earth has become part of Extraterrestrial alliances and both features the protagonist fighting in suits (though the Mobile Suits are more of robots than exosuits).