Ultraman Ginga (character)

"The future can be changed. It can be either for the better or for the worse. The ones who will decide that is all of you."

- Ultraman Ginga's departing words, Your Future

Ultraman Ginga (ウルトラマンギンガ) is an Ultraman from an unknown future who was once one entity with Dark Lugiel, whom the latter separated from prior to the Dark Spark War. After the war, he was trapped in Spark Doll form. The doll and the Ginga Spark made their way to Earth and into the hands of Hikaru Raido, who uses these two items to transform into Ultraman Ginga and battle users of Dark Spark Dolls. When he returned to space, he left his spark in Hikaru's possession so he could come to the aid of Earth, even if he was far away in a galaxy.

Two years later, he returned to Earth to fight against the threat of Alien Chibu Exceller, who plotted to use the stolen Victorium to revive his other half Lugiel and was joined by the Earth born Ultra Warrior Ultraman Victory. Their encounter with Etelgar and Ultraman Zero eventually led to the fusion Ultraman Ginga Victory.

Etymology
The Japanese word "Ginga" (銀河) means Galaxy in English.

Shin Ultraman Retsuden 79
Both Ultraman Ginga and Dark Lugiel originated from space which was set somewhere in the future. The two were originally one entity. However, both Ginga and Lugiel had different mindsets of peace. Lugiel stated that to create an "ultimate paradise", all lifeforms must be paused but Ginga objected, saying that all lifeforms bring prosperity. The two eventually split up with Ginga bearing the light and Lugiel bearing the darkness.

Ultraman Ginga
Dark Lugiel orchestrated the Dark Spark War which raged between the side of good and the side of evil, as represented by the participants, the Ultramen, monsters and evil aliens from across the universe. It is known that Ginga, with the Ginga Spark, previously fought the owner of the Dark Spark, but like possibly every Ultra and monster in the war had been sealed by the Dark Spark into the form of an action figure called a Spark Doll. It is now known that this was caused by the clash between the Ginga Spark and Dark Spark, which sealed both combatants. Afterwards the event that came to be known as the Dark Spark War, due to its ending, these dolls later fell to Earth in a meteorite shower with the Ginga Spark and the Ginga Doll hidden within it. The Ginga Spark was later kept inside the Ginga Shrine by Hotsuma Raido.

Sometime later, a young man named Hikaru Raido discovered the Ginga Spark, which let him combine with the action figures and possess the abilities of the being in the action figure through a process called UltraLive. Unlike other Spark Dolls, Hikaru's Mark of Courage must shine in order for Ginga's Spark Doll to be called from within. Ginga was first summoned by Hikaru to fight Thunder Darambia, and finished the monster off by using the Ginga Thunderbolt. Afterwards Hikaru claimed the Thunder Darambia Doll. This helped him in many later battles against humans and even some of his own friends that Darklived into kaiju and aliens (Thunder Darambia, Kemur Man, King Pandon, Ragon, etc) via Spark Dolls and Dark Dummy Sparks which were distributed by the mastermind's agents; Alien Valky, Alien Icarus and Alien Nackle Gray. At the same time, this allowed Hikaru to receive the Spark Dolls of the monsters he defeated.

After Tomoya Ichijouji, a dark agent, was redeemed and assisted Hikaru/Ginga in the battle against Alien Valky and Tiga Dark, Ginga spoke for the first time, commenting on Jean-Nine's revival, though he didn't answer Taro's questions. In the aftermath of Hikaru/Ginga's battle with Dark Galberos, Ginga spoke again and said that every time a monster was brought back (Darklived) into the world, the forces of darkness were growing stronger and that 'his' return was nearing.

At the end of the series, the true mastermind behind the chaos, Dark Lugiel appeared after being revealed to have been dormant inside Principal Kyoko Shirai all along. Hikaru UltraLived into Ginga to face Dark Lugiel but before he could complete his rise, Lugiel interrupted it and kicked him into a cliff face, stunning the Ultra. As a result of not being able to reach his full height, Lugiel dominated Ginga easily and he soon ran out of power. Later, when Ultraman Taro fought Lugiel, he gave energy to Ginga at the cost of Taro himself taking the brunt of Lugiel's attacks. After Taro vanished, Ginga revived and grew back to his original size. Summoning the Ginga Spark and turning it into the Ginga Spark Lance, he took the fight with Dark Lugiel to the moon, and after a hard struggle, he defeated him with Ginga Especially.

Ginga is last seen thanking Hikaru and friends for all they have done before departing the Earth.

Ultraman Ginga: Theater Special
"Let's go, Ginga!"

- Hikaru's quotes before battling Dark Zagi

After a confrontation with Alien Icarus, Dark Zagi appeared after Hikaru and Tomoya defeated Tyrant as Ultraman Tiga and Jean Nine respectively. Hikaru transformed into Ginga to fight Ultraman Noa's arch enemy. The two were evenly matched for the most part, until finally in a clash of beams, the Ginga Cross Shoot was able to destroy the dark Ultra. Zagi's Spark Doll was retrieved by Dark Lugiel after the battle as he did not want Hikaru to gain such power.

Ultraman Ginga: Theater Special Ultra Monster ☆ Hero Battle Royal!
Ultraman Ginga made a return when Hikaru transformed using his spark doll again in Tomoya's computated world.

Shin Ultraman Retsuden
When Ultraman and Tiga were in a crisis, Ginga reappeared in the nick of time to save them from Alien Magma and Zetton. He took Chigusa and Kenta back to Earth just before their time limits ran out. Afterwards, he brought along Alien Magma and Zetton's Spark Dolls as the alien requested to be trained under Ginga's wing.

Ultraman Ginga S
Two years after his battle with Dark Lugiel ended, Ginga returned and reunite with Hikaru on Earth after Alien Chibu Exceller planned to manifest the power of the Victorium Crystals that he stole from the Victorian civilizations.

Sometime later, Hikaru Raido found a Victorium Crystal while he was on an adventure to Yucatan, Mexico, and the Ginga Spark glowed for an unknown reason. When he met the UPG members Arisa Sugita and Gouki Matsumoto, who tried to stop Shepherdon from devastating the countryside, he hijacked the UPG EV1 Schnauzer and tried to stop Shepherdon himself, although he didn't succeed. Hikaru later met Shou, a young man whom he had a vision of when he touched the crystal.

Later, Hikaru witnessed a new Ultraman, Ultraman Victory, that Shou transformed into earlier, and because of the debris that landed on Arisa and Gouki, Hikaru wished for more power to help his friends. Once again, Hikaru transformed into Ultraman Ginga and battled EX Red King, defeating him with the Ginga Cross Shoot. Shou then stole the spark doll and began to battle Ginga, but both ultras ran out of energy. Hikaru briefly met Ginga before he was taken by the two UPG members when they recruited him in the team.

After Hikaru saved Shou two times during their encounter with Eleking, he gained the man's respect, although Shou still retained his aloofness until he changed during his encounter with Gudon. Ginga at the same time gained acess to Strium Mode by Ultraman Taro, whom turned himself into the Strium Brace. Since then, both human hosts and their respective Ultras had cooperated to save the Earth from Alien Chibu Exceller and his minions.

Near the end of the series' first half, both Ultraman Ginga and Victory were killed by Alien Chibu Exceller when he MonsLived into Five King and attacked them with his might. After being revived by the UPG members, both of the Ultras' human hosts transformed and fought Five King in round two. Victory distracted the chimera monster with his Victorium Slashes, allowing Ginga to get close to destroy his Victoriums with his Ginga Spark Lance, reducing Five King's power. Victory used the same plan while Hikaru/Ginga Strium destroyed Five King's parts. As the monster tried to escape, both of them attacked its wings, disabling Exceller's retreat. He put an end to Five King by using Ultraman Taro's Storium Ray.

In the series finale, Exceller successfully revived Dark Lugiel, combining it with the UPG Live Base (mainly for their Victorium Cannon) and turning him into Vict Lugiel. Both Hikaru and Shou transformed into Ginga Strium and Victory. They used an attack plan of striking his Victorium cannon and swapped each others per battle but failed. Later, One Zero faked her betrayal by setting up the Earth's core to release Victorium energies. However, by the time she revealed her betrayal, Exceller had banished her. Hikaru and Shou transformed. Before another beam from Victorium Cannon could be fired, One Zero removed Shepherdon's Spark Doll and quickly returned it to Shou/Victory, who UlTraned it into Shepherdon Saber to destroy the Victorium Cannon. Exceller met his demise at the hands of Lugiel when he revealed himself, and to his Spark Doll state.

Lugiel regained control over his body and restarted his plan to freeze all lifeforms on Earth in order to create an ultimate paradise. He easily defeated the two Ultras and turn them into stone statues. When the surviving humans regained their spirit and the Victorians gave Hikaru and Shou their necklace, they managed to revive the two Ultras and resume fighting Vict Lugiel. One Zero (who was still inside Vict Lugiel) hacked and weakened Vict Lugiel. Victory used his Sadola Scissors to slam the monster's chest, followed by an combo electric attack from his Eleking Tail and Ginga's Ginga Thunderbolt. One Zero fully weakened the monster and the duo Ultras finish Vict Lugiel with Cosmo Miracle Especially at the cost of the android's life. With Taro's job on earth done, he returned to space as Ginga departed again.

Ultraman Ginga S The Movie: Showdown! The 10 Ultra Warriors!
Ultraman Ginga was framed by Etelgar, whom used his image to conceal himself as the destroyer of Planet Zandt to Arina, making her resent the Heisei Ultras and with Etelgar, they went through various time and space to kidnap them. Arriving at their latest destination, Ginga was transformed by Hikaru and assisted by Victory, but their combining powers were no match for Etelgar. As the two Ultras were forced to withdraw, Ultraman Zero dashed in and defeated Etelgar, causing him to retreat.

Soon, with Hikaru and Shou finished their training and provided the Ultra Fusion Brace by Zero, the two human hosts combined their Ultras into Ultraman Ginga Victory, as they first attack a gigantic copy of Dark Lugiel before being joined by the other Heisei Ultras and fought Etelgar. After Arina was freed from her brainwashing, Ginga Victory overpowered Etelgar and brought the fight to space, killing him with Ultra Fusion Shoot.

Ultra Fight Victory
Hikaru as Ginga was captured and crucified by Yapool on Satellite Golgotha of Planet Guar. Ultraman Ace tried to rescue him from Ace Killer but soon overwhelmed when realised that Ace Killer had become Victory killer. Ultraman Victory appeared and with the help from Shepardon, destroyed Victory Killer and Lunaticks. Ginga and Ace's energies were replenished by Shepardon before it returned as a Spark Doll. Soon, the three Ultras joined the Leo brothers against Yapool and his Choju Battalion. As Ginga and Victory fused into Ginga Victory again, they managed to kill Yapool but was too late to stop his plan, having now revived Juda Spector. Juda created Super Grand King Spector to attack the Ultras and broke the former's fusion, forcing Victory to fight Juda alone while Hikaru/Ginga joined the Space Garrison and finished Grand King. With Juda died, the stolen Victorium Core and Hikaru/Ginga and Shou/Victory returned to Earth, where Hikari congratulated them for their bravery before returning to space.

Ultraman X
Ultraman Ginga first appeared in the series at the end of the The Sword of Victory when he arrived from the space distortion that Mold created to get to the Ultra Flare Universe. He fired his Ginga Fireballs at the brother of Juda and told him he wiped out the Guar Army before they had a chance to make it through as he prepared to finish fighting him with Victory and the newest Ultraman, X.

Soon afterwards, Ginga joined Victory and X in taking down Mold until he, along with Gina Spectre and Alien Shaplay, decided to retreat after the odds were too much for them and then the Ultras closed the rift with a combination of Ginga's Ginga Comfort, Victory Knight's Victorius Melody, and Exceed X's Purify Wave. After Ginga and Victory's hosts stopped by to rest and talk about Mold and Gina and talked to Daichi about how they share the same dream with Daichi about coexistence with monsters and to never give up on that dream with Hikaru talking about the way they used the Spark Dolls in their universe, Ultraman Cosmos, and Ultraseven and his Capsule Monsters.

After the Ultra hosts stall Gina Spectre and kill Alien Shaplay with a King Joe-charged bullet from the Victory Lancer, they all change into their Ultra forms to deal with the newly combined Guar Spectre and start off the fight with an electric attack combo and lead off with an epic brawl. X then saved Ginga and Victory after they were stuck from a strong dark attack and the two of them then merged into Ultraman Ginga Victory while X turned into his Exceed X form to even the odds. While X kept Guar busy, Ultraman Ginga Victory used his finishers to destroy Guar's weapons and then used another one, along with X's, to finish off Guar Spectre once and for all after X relinquished the Dark Thunder Energy from the entity's body.

After saying their farewells, Victory, along with Ginga and Arisa, went back to his own dimension thanks to Ultraman X's Zero Armor.

Ultraman X The Movie: Here Comes! Our Ultraman
In this film, Ginga battled a Tsurugi Demaaga in Chicago, USA and ended up defeating him with his Ginga Cross Shoot after being empowered by Beta Spark Armor Ultraman X's Cyber Wings. After saying their thanks to Ultraman, Tiga, and X, Ginga left Earth with the other Cyber Card Ultramen.

Profile
Ultraman Ginga's host can use Spark Dolls to obtain the powers and techniques of the beings turned into them using the Ginga Spark. Ultraman Ginga is also shown to have an ability similar to mode change. Each of his special moves cause the crystals on his body to shine a different color corresponding to the rainbow. In total Ginga has 8 special moves.

Stats

 * Height: Micro~Infinity (Note his normal height appears to be around 30 meters, but his height has not been officially declared.)
 * Weight: 0~Infinity
 * Age: Unknown
 * Time Limit: Three Minutes
 * Flight Speed: Faster than a jet fighter (Generally between Mach 2 and 2.5)

Body Features

 * Color Timer: Ginga's operates like any other color timer. Given his Spark Doll Nature, though, going over this limit won't directly affect Hikaru besides leaving him tired, upon going over the limit Ginga will forcibly disappear, leaving Hikaru wherever Ginga was before, potentially putting Hikaru in a dangerous situation.
 * Ultra Armor: Ginga's operates like any other Ultra Armor. At one point it was seen glowing bright white. His armor is fire resistant to the point that he withstood King Pandon's flames.
 * Zenshin Crystals: The crystals on Ginga's forehead, shoulders, forearms, chest and shins. They are the means by which several of his finishers are accessed. Though blue by default, these crystals change color when Ginga uses most of his finishers.
 * Strength: Ginga possesses enough strength to throw a being like Kemur Man out into space with little effort. Ginga was also capable of battling EX Red King in Ultraman Ginga S.

Human Host

 * Hikaru Raido: Ultraman Ginga's main host is Hikaru Raido, a 17 year old high school student. He has the Mark of Courage, and hence is the only one able to summon Ginga from the Ginga Spark. However, Hotsuma Raido, Hikaru's grandfather, also has the same mark.
 * Misuzu Isurugi: After Hikaru manages to get Misuzu back to his side when she was brainwashed by Alien Nackle Gray, she briefly joined along with Hikaru as Ginga's host and simultaneously replenish Ginga's Color Timer. Both only joined forces to help Ginga destroy Super Grand King.
 * Shou: During Ginga and Victory's fusion into Ultraman Ginga Victory, Shou became one of the Ultra's co-host as a result. He provided the fusion Victory's UlTrans ability via the Victory Lancer.

Super Hero Generations
Hikaru Raido appeared in the crossover game Super Hero Generations as Ultraman Ginga. In this universe, the Ultramen, kaiju and aliens can assume the size of normal humans. This universe is a crossover including Mobile Suit Gundam and Kamen Rider characters.

Trivia

 * In an original planning, Ultraman Ginga and his entire series were meant to be in the same universe as Ultraman Gaia, celebrating the series' 15 anniversary. His human host Hikaru Raido was meant to be a student of a college that Gamu Takayama/Ultraman Gaia, basing on the 2011-2012 Toei Tokusatsu series, Kamen Rider Fourze. This however fell through, although the Fourze element was incorporated instead, such as Hikaru's age being a high school student.
 * In a minor joke, Ultraman Ginga (Hikaru) met their Kamen Rider counterpart Kamen Rider Fourze in the 2014 crossover game Lost Heroes 2 where both are capable of performing a combination attack. Their formation appears to be in a perfect synchronization due to their similar traits and personality.
 * In this game as well, Ginga is the only Ultraman to ever perform a tag-team attack with a Kamen Rider as opposed to other Ultras who perform theirs with a Gundam Mobile Suit.
 * Ginga's landing and the camera spinning around him is a reference to the spinning of a spiral galaxy.
 * So far Ultraman Ginga is the Ultra with the second youngest host, a high school student. Ultraman Nexus also ties for second youngest human host with Ren Senjyu at age 17 and Ultraman Tiga with Tsubasa Madoka. Ultraman Cosmos however met his host, Musashi Haruno, at the youngest age. The youngest Ultra Host was Amui who was the ancient host of Tiga at age eleven.
 * Interestingly Ginga is one of the few Ultras not to have hand movements for when he is about to fly, the other Ultras being Nexus and later Victory.
 * Ultraman Ginga so far appears to be the only Ultra to partially change his appearance depending on the technique he is using.
 * Ultraman Ginga's Color Timer sound is a modified and high pitched version of Ultraman's.
 * Ultraman Ginga shares his voice actor with his human host, who voices his grunts and battle sounds. However his speaking voice is done by Tomokazu Sugita.
 * Sugita also voices Dark Lugiel, the main antagonist of the series. This is likely because the two are revealed to have once been the same being.
 * A Tomokazu Sugita version of Ginga's grunts can be heard in the final episode of Shin Ultraman Retsuden.
 * Ginga is the second Ultra to be associated with a symbol. The first was Ultraman Mebius with the Mobius Strip/Infinity Symbol, while Ginga is associated with the image of a spiral galaxy.
 * Ultraman Ginga's transformations into other Ultras or Monsters is similar the Toei heroes,, and
 * Ginga is the second Ultra that does not require any maneuver to use acceleration. The first was Ultraman Max.
 * Ginga has a few things that made him unique than the other Ultras:
 * Ginga is the first instance of an Ultra transforming from something other than a human, being that his human host can transform into other Ultras, monsters and aliens.
 * Ginga does not destroy his enemies, he reverts them back into Spark Dolls. The only other Ultra to not destroy his opponents on a regular basis is Cosmos.
 * Ginga is clearly shown to not be in control when transformed, since he is a Spark Doll transformation. The first Ultras who where not in control were Ultramen Gaia and Agul.
 * Ginga finishes most of his battles before his time limit is up (before his Color Timer turns red).
 * Ginga is the first Ultra in history to have his rise interrupted by an enemy, in this case, Dark Lugiel.
 * Ginga's head crystal has become a popular design on the back of motorcycle helmets in Malaysia.
 * Ginga Strium is the third Ultra form change that permanently lost. The first is Mebius's Brave Mode and the second is Hikari's Hunter Knight Tsurugi mode. Out of these three, Ginga could still regain the form if Taro (as well as the Ultra Brother's powers) reunites with him and Mebius when regaining Hikari's Knight Brace.
 * Ginga and Dark Lugiel's origin resembles the Chinese philosophy Yin and Yang, which is used to describe how apparently opposite or contrary forces are actually complementary, interconnected, and interdependent in the natural world, and how they give rise to each other as they interrelate to one another. This reflected on how Ginga resembles yang (light) and Dark Lugiel resembles yin (dark).
 * It is unknown if Ginga could use his Ginga Sunshine or his Ginga Especially on his own energy, since when he used his Ginga Sunshine, Misuzu was his temporary co-host when Hikaru, his host, released her from the darkness after Alien Nackle Gray pulled her in, presumely giving him more power, and when he used the Ginga Especially, Taro gave him his energy after Dark Lugiel drained his energy, so he may have gave him some extra energy.
 * This may also explain why his Ginga Spark lance shone brightly throughout the whole battle against Lugiel.
 * In Ultraman Ginga S, he used the Cosmo Miracle Especially, a combination move with Cosmo Miracle Ray and Ginga Especially, all by himself. However, this could be the power given to him by the Strium Brace.
 * However, he did use a one-handed version of Ginga Sunshine with just his own power when fighting against Mold Spectre.
 * Most of the monsters Ginga Strium destroys with his finishing moves are either the same enemy or an enemy of the same species that the six Ultra Brothers (sans Zoffy) have encountered.
 * Ultraman's Specium Ray: Bemular
 * Ultraseven's Wide Shot: King Joe Custom
 * Jack's Ultra Shot: Sadola and Zoa Muruchi.
 * Ace's Metallium Ray: Yapool
 * Taro's Storium Ray: An army of Inpelaizers.
 * Ginga being an Ultraman might probably due to the result of him representing light, as with all Ultramen species being made of light.