Alien Croco

Alien Croco
Data
Height	2 m
Weight	96 kg
Home World	Planet Croco, Champieme Galaxy
Affiliation	Akebono Inn
First Appearance	Ultraman Arc episode 6 "Welcome to the Akebono Inn"
Latest Appearance	Ultraman Arc episode 12 "You Are Givas"

Alien Croco are a race of birdlike aliens which first appeared in the sixth episode of Ultraman Arc.

Subtitle: Mushroom-Hunting Alien

Conception

Etymology

Croco's name is derived from Kinoko , the Japanese word for "Mushroom".

The name of the Champieme Galaxy , where Alien Croco hails from, is likely a portmanteau of Champignon , the French word for edible mushrooms, and Mushroom .

Design

Alien Croco was designed by Takanori Tsujimoto, the main director for Ultraman Arc, and is inspired by the Crow Tengu of Japanese folklore, complete with a Kaiser moustache.

According to Tsujimoto, the emotional expression of Alien Croco was one of the key concepts in its design. To express emotions more clearly, he designed four eyes and planned to use CGI to enhance the eye effects and exaggerate the performance. He also sketched several different facial expressions in the design drafts.

However, Masayoshi Takesue preferred to keep the eyes stationary, likely because other special effects required compositing, which limited the design in this regard. When Tsujimoto was designing the four eyes, he was initially puzzled about how to make the design work. It wasn’t until he suddenly thought of incorporating elements of parrots or birds that the design started to come together. After some adjustments, he eventually added details such as a mouth and whiskers.

History

Ultraman Arc

Numata, the human form of Alien Croco.

16 years ago, a group of Alien Croco travelled to Earth in search of mushrooms, which they planned to take home to their planet and engineer into new varieties. One member of their species was so engrossed in his first time mushroom hunting on Earth that he failed to notice that his friend had sent him an emergency message, warning of their hastened departure due to an anomaly in space caused by K-Day/Ze Su Gate. As such, he was abandoned and wandered the mountains for days before collapsing in front of the Akebono Inn, where he was discovered by the inn's owner, Ayaka.

To blend into human society, the Alien Croco took on the human form of Numata and began working at the Akebono Inn, developing a close friendship with the staff over the years. With his help, the Inn became extremely popular with visitors to the area. However, he naturally started longing to return home, and began collecting materials to build a spaceship that could make the return trip to the Champieme Galaxy. In the present day, when the SKIP were responding to Kaiju disturbances in the vicinity and approached the Akebono Inn to inquire, Shu Ishido began to grow suspicious of the inn's staff. Sensing this, Numata attempted to escape to his hideout but was eventually caught by Shu, where he was forced to spill his circumstances, although he had only shared half of the story to protect the inn's staff from the legal repercussions of harboring an alien.

Just then, a Shagong rose from the earth, revealing itself to be the cause of the tremors. In a panic, the group frantically returned to the inn, but the Shagong called on more of its kind. Seeing that the situation was dire, Numata planned to take matters into his own hands, but was threatened at gunpoint by Shu. Fortunately, with Ayaka's help he managed to return to the hideout to activate the spaceship as Yuma Hize transformed into Ultraman Arc to fight the Kaiju.

Although Arc was able to defeat the first of the three Shagong relatively easily, the second proved to be stronger, preventing Arc from being able to stop the third one from continuing to menace the Inn. As a self-sacrificial ploy, Numata made it to his spaceship, and rammed it at high speed into the third Shagong, causing the vehicle to explode and knock the monster down, giving Arc the opening he needed to deal with the second Shagong, then allow the third to leave peacefully.

As the dust settled, Ayaka grieved over the loss of one she considered family, but thankfully, Numata managed to make it out of the wreckage unscathed. In the end, Numata was still escorted to the GDF for questioning, but this time with a hopeful outlook thanks to the good he had done for the Akebono Inn. ^{Welcome to the Akebono Inn}

After the GDF confirmed that he posed no threat of an alien invasion, Numata was able to return to the Akebono Inn.

After it was confirmed that Numata had no intention of invading, he was able to return to the Akebono Inn. Later, following Givas's appearance in Seigen City, Numata contacted Shu to inform him about the robot. ^Message Then, upon learning about Yuma's diagreement with Shu over their differing stances on Givas, Numata visited Yuma at a bathhouse to thank and reassure him, reminding him that his inherent trust in others was what helped him during their prior incident. The two then returned together to the SKIP office, where Numata explained his knowledge of Givas and Alien Meguma, which he knew since they are from the same galaxy, as well as providing the team with a translation device for Givas' speech. ^{You Are Givas}

Trivia

• Actor: Akira 100%
• Suit actor: Satoru Okabe

• According to an interview with Akira 100% conducted by Mono Magazine:
  • When he first received the invitation to appear in Ultraman Arc, he was surprised to learn he would be playing a bigger role than a simple resident caught up in a kaiju attack.
  • Numata's hand gestures were conceived by director Masayoshi Takesue and he would instruct Akira on minute adjustments to get it perfect on set.
  • For Numata's flashback working at the inn, they experimented with variations of the scenes, including whether or not Yamanami should appear in some.
  • For the part of Numata's flashback where he is serving tables, Takesue prompted him to look busier and even demonstrated some such movements himself.
  • Regarding whether Numata has feelings for Ayaka, Akira stated he could not say for sure, but if he did, his personality would mean he would never confess.
  • Alien Croco's hologram device being shaped like a tray may be a reference to Akira's signature comedy act where he is naked and only covers himself with a tray.
  • For the moment Numata's disguise malfunctions, he had to adjust his body such that the head of his alien form would fit in the frame for the next shot.
  • For the scene at the bathhouse with Yuma, he remarked that although they were not completely naked, he felt it brought them closer, and the scene was also an opportunity for him to be naked (like his comedy act).
  • He was nervous about getting the scene where he prepares mushroom soup while talking to Yuma and Shu right due to him multi-tasking handling the soup, remembering his lines and speaking in time with the other actors.
• As Tsujimoto designed the alien, he was disappointed to have not directed an episode with them appearing, and originally expected Alien Croco may appear in the final episode.

Data

Stats

• Height: 2 m
• Weight: 96 kg
• Origin: Planet Croco, Champieme Galaxy ➝ Akebono Inn

Powers and Weapons

• Hologram Device: Alien Croco can use his hologram device to take on a human form.
• Genetic Engineering: According to Alien Croco, his race can develop new species of mushrooms from samples they gather on other planets using their technology.
• Spaceship: The Croco possess spacecraft used in the journeys to other planets. The Alien Croco who was left stranded on Earth was able to build one on his own using scrap materials he found during his time on Earth. According to him, it is powered by mushroom spores and has a seedbed battery.
• Durability: Alien Croco was able to survive ramming his spaceship into Shagong, followed by the spaceship exploding on impact. He seemed to be none the worse for wear afterwards, only being slightly dazed and having a few small burn marks on his skin.

Human Disguise

Hologram Device

Spaceship

Gallery

Ultraman Arc

Miscellaneous