Ultraman (Dragon Force)

Ultraman (奥特曼) is a character and villain in the outlawed BlueArc movie Dragon Force: So Long Ultraman and its sequel(s).

Conception and Controversy
Dragon Force: So Long Ultraman director and BlueArc CEO Tommy Wang stated that the character "presents a new image of the hero Ultraman to the world, in the hopes it can surprise adults and children". However, when he was first revealed to the public as a man in shorts, a mask, and covered in body paint (as seen in the "Suit" tab in the infobox), its hideous appearance, as well as the fact that it was clearly not authorized by Tsuburaya (The movie was licensed by UM Corporation and TIGA Entertainment ), spawned many negative comments on multiple platforms. It is later revealed that Ultraman had been given a radical redesign in the movie (see CGI Model in infobox) and was given an antagonistic role, which further reinforced fans' negative views on the movie, and called it a "faker" and a "domestic ripoff". Even Ultraman Dyna star Takeshi Tsuruno, who has previously played (and continues to reprise) the role of Shin Asuka, openly expressed his disgust towards the movie and its promotional material on Twitter, calling out the "fake Ultraman".

Tsuburaya Productions were alerted of this and released this statement to notify Ultraman fans that this was done without their permission or supervision, and they would take legal action. Tsuburaya then took UMC to court on November 20, 2017 and won the case. Tsuburaya Productions also began releasing shows in the Ultra Series to Chinese audiences in 2018, starting with Ultraman Tiga, as a way of showing Chinese fans what a real Ultraman was like.

Dragon Force: So Long Ultraman
In 1966, Ultraman came to Earth for the first time and became a renowned hero across the world. However, one day, the Land of Light was destroyed by aliens, so Ultraman flew to China in a spaceship and later had two children (how or with whom is never explained).

Years later, collaborating with his mysterious subordinates, he brings a sleeping sea dragon onto land in an uncharted part of the world for reasons unknown. He then goes to a secret base, where he gives up his powers, draining him of his energy and reducing his size in the process, to create the Genesis Crystal Stone. It sends an energy wave across the planet, and is detected by the GSB, who sends the Dragon Force to investigate.

Ultraman stands around and does nothing for a while (Ironically, Ultraman Geed was airing at the time) and then sends his minion Bao Feng to attack the Dragon Force when they corner him. He escapes on a motorbike and after a chase, he meets up with another villain, Yi Te, who punches Ultraman, steals the Genesis Crystal Stone for himself, and then escapes but not before passing him a tablet that conveniently allowed Ultraman to watch Bao Feng who was really his daughter die at the hands of his son, Shen Lan. He is then remorseful of his actions and uses his telepathic powers to awaken the sleeping dragon to attack Yi Te's reinforcements, and helps the Dragon Force escape with their lives. He then falls off the side of a cliff in a seeming act of suicide only to be escape from certain death by riding his bird mecha. The movie abruptly ends.

Despite Tsuburaya's court victory, the Ultraman character will be used in 5 more movies, with BlueArc notably claiming that their movies are genuine, authorized and legal.

Dragon Force: Rise of Ultraman
Ultraman is set to appear in the sequel of Dragon Force: So Long Ultraman, where he chooses a human boy named Lele to be his host as he fights against the evil cult that has betrayed him.

Dragon Force 2: Power of Ultraman
Ultraman is heavily featured in this sequel series to the original Dragon Force series. Here, he regains his giant size and a few new abilities, which allows him to fight monsters alongside the Dragon Force team, whom assist him by using giant Mechas that he provides them.

Hiw this series connects to previous Dragon Force media is currently unknown.

Powers, Abilities, and Equipment
It can be assumed that he retains all of his mainstream counterpart's abilities such as the Specium Ray. He should, theoretically, also be able to use Ultraman Jack's abilities, explained in the section below.
 * L Ray: Apparently, Ultraman can use some sort of left-handed L style ray, as displayed in BlueArc's office.
 * Mechanical Eagle: A mechanical eagle Ultraman can ride on and command to attack enemies.
 * High Tech Motorcycle: A motorbike lent to him by the evil cult he works for. Made of metals from outer space, making it light and sturdy, bullet proof, and it automatically dodges obstacles. It was stolen from him.
 * Telepathy: Ultraman's Color Timer can apparently be used to control a massive dragon.

Inconsistencies, Changes, and Continuity Errors

 * Ultraman has black lines on his CGI model for some reason, reminiscent of Alien Zarab's Imitation Ultraman disguise. These were absent on the live action "suit".
 * Ultraman's Land of Light resembles a modern human city, despite its very alien and futuristic appearance in the Showa series that UMC "allegedly" had the rights to.
 * In the stock footage in the beginning of the movie, Ultraman was showcased with a few shots of Ultraman Jack instead. BlueArc or UMC seem to think that Ultraman and Jack are one and the same.
 * Ultraman's Color Timer flashes yellow when he is losing his energy, and then progresses to red.
 * Ultraman doesn't seem to have a time limit.
 * Ultraman did not have a human host in the first movie and operates just fine on Earth even without one.
 * Ultraman's eyes light up when he speaks.
 * There is no reference to any of the other Ultra Brothers or even Zoffy in this movie, implying that Ultraman is the one and only Ultraman to have come to Earth, which is impossible given that he was once Jack and had the Ultra Bracelet, which was given to him by Ultraseven. Zoffy also could not have been there to bring Ultraman back to the Land of Light after his defeat at the hands of Zetton.
 * Ultraman has been working for an evil cult since his appearance in 1966.

Trivia

 * The movie is actually composed mainly of stock footage from an existing Dragon Force movie, with Ultraman simply edited in over the original main antagonist, along with a few minor script changes, which explains the many inconsistencies in the character.