"The red ball that appeared when the world was in great danger... Yes, it was Leo's missing brother, Astra!"
- ―Narrator, Ultraman Leo episode 22 "The Leo Brothers vs the Monster Brothers".
Astra is the younger twin brother of Ultraman Leo and a prince of the fallen Planet L77. He came to Earth after learning that Leo had survived the destruction of their home planet and has appeared several times to assist his brother.
Conception
Etymology
Astra is Latin for "star."
It is claimed that the name was chosen through a contest at the time of the series broadcast.
Design
Astra's different crest, or lack-thereof, from his twin brother is said to be due to physical damage he had received during the destruction of his home world, as well as injuries sustained during his imprisonment and torture at the hands of the Magmas.
History
Ultraman Leo
Astra captured by the Alien Magmas.
The younger brother of Ultraman Leo, Astra formerly lived on L77, a planet in the vicinity of the Land of Light whose inhabitants became Ultras after the effects of the Plasma Spark being activated in Nebula M78 reached L77. After the destruction of L77 by the Alien Magma, Leo, Astra, and Leo's pet monster Ron were the last survivors, although at the time Leo was unaware that the other two had survived. While Leo and Ron separately made their way to Earth, Astra was captured and held prisoner by the Alien Magma until he was eventually rescued by Ultraman King. After King told him of Leo's survival, Astra headed for Earth and rescued his brother during a battle against Garon and Littre. Ever since, Astra has assisted Leo in fighting several different aliens that were too powerful for Leo to defeat by himself.
At one point, Alien Babarue froze Astra in a special type of ice in space and took his identity in order to steal the Ultra Key. After Ultraman King revealed that the Astra the Ultra Brothers were fighting was in fact Babarue, Leo saved Astra from his icy imprisonment. Astra returned the Ultra Key, narrowly saving the Earth and the Land of Light from colliding. He and his brother became the first Ultra Brothers that were born outside of Nebula M78. Following this, Astra aided Leo in destroying the Saucer Beast Hangler.
Ultraman Mebius
Astra's appearance in the first episode
Throughout the events of Ultraman Mebius, Astra is the least active of the Ultra Brothers. However he is present during the series finale, assisting his brother Leo in using the Ultra Double Flasher in destroying the coating that was surrounding the sun. Words from the Heart -Final Trilogy III-
Mega Monster Battle Ultra Galaxy: The Movie
Astra appeared in this film, watching over Ultraman Zero's training with Ultraman Leo. When Seven's Eye Slugger was sent as an S.O.S., Ultraman King sent Zero to the battle, followed shortly by Leo and Astra. When they arrived, Zero had already defeated Belial and blasted him in to a river of molten magma but no sooner had they arrived, the spirits of 100 monsters started to flow towards Belial and formed Belyudra. Leo and Astra then did their Ultra Double Flasher attack while every one else attacked Belyudra together until Zero finished him off. Astra and Leo then returned to the Land of Light with the others. Mega Monster Battle Ultra Galaxy: The Movie
Ultraman Zero: The Revenge of Belial
Astra reappeared in this movie as he gave energy along with the other Ultras of the Land of Light to create Zero's travel sphere. He appears near the end to protect the Land of Light from the Darklops army and is beaten until Zero beats Kaiser Belial. Ultraman Zero: The Revenge of Belial
Ultraman Ginga
Prior to the Ultraman Ginga TV series, Astra participated in the Dark Spark War but this time he fought not only alongside with the Ultra Brothers, but with the other Ultras that came from other universes and their allies against evil. While in midst of battle, Dark Lugiel turned every Ultra alongside their allies, monsters, and aliens into Spark Dolls. With the war over an unknown warrior appeared and faced Dark Lugiel but like the others he also turned into a Spark Doll. Town of Falling Stars The location of Astra's doll is unknown, but could be with Leo's Spark Doll, which is also unknown. Astra returned to his original form along with all the Ultras after Ginga defeated Dark Lugiel. Your Future
Ultra Fight Victory
After Ultraman King sensed the awakening of the Space Emperor, he calls on Ultraman Hikari, Ultraman Ace and the Leo brothers. Leo and Astra were sent to Planet Gua on the orders of King, to stop the revival of Juda. However, Yapool sent his Terrible-Monster Battalions, Verokron, Doragory, and Vakishim to take care of them. While Leo and Astra were busy dealing with the Terrible-Monster, Yapool arrived and the brothers watched as the super dimensional being used the Victorium he stole from the core to amp up Juda's revival. Right after that, Ace, along with Ginga and Victory appeared to help Leo and Astra take down Yapool and his Terrible-Monster Battalion. Astra defeated Doragory with his Astra Kick while Leo defeated Vakishim with his Leo Kick, Ace defeated Verokron with his Ultra Guillotine, and Ginga Victory defeated Yapool with his Ultra Fusion Shoot. However, after Yapool exploded, the negative energies inside of him went to Juda's distorian and fully revived him and summoned Super Grand King Spectre. Afterwards, Astra, along with the other Ultras tried to destroy Grand King with little to no success until Victory decided to take care of Juda himself while the rest deal with the robot before it destroys the planet. Later, as Victory turned the power of the Victorium Core against Juda, the energies from the Core went into Super Grand King Spectre, weakening him and Astra helped defeat the robot by combining his and Leo's Ultra Double Flasher with Ace's Metalium Beam and Ginga's Ginga Cross Shoot. Ultra Fight Victory
Ultraman Geed
Astra was among the Ultra Warriors who fought against Belial and his army during the Omega Armageddon. However, Astra could only gaze at their failures as Belial succeeded in triggering Crisis Impact before Ultraman King sacrificed his life to undo the damage caused by Belial. Welcome to the Secret Base
Ultra Galaxy Fight: The Destined Crossroad
Astra and Leo fighting Absolute Tartarus in the miniseries' trailer.
The Leo Brothers joined the forces of the Land of Light under King's command. Astra went to Planet Ebil to hone his senses using Space Martial Arts to find traces of Absolute Tartarus' energy, looking for a way to infiltrate the Narak dimension that he manipulates. Astra then heard about Tartarus fighting the Ultra Force and Ultraman Ribut on Planet Babel, and decided to go to Planet K76 to alert Zero, Leo, Seven and Joneus of the situation.
The five of them quickly rushed to Planet Babel and fought against Tartarus and his minions, later being joined by Ultraman Nexus and Seven's Capsule Kaiju - Agira, Miclas and Windom - when he summoned them. Zero used his new abilities and changed into Ultimate Shining once more to challenge Tartarus, who was caught by surprise. With Leo and Astra's help, the three of them drive Tartarus away. When the battle was over, Astra managed to sense the Kingdom's location after tracing Tartarus' closed portal, before the team went back to the Land of Light with that information. Zero then continued to train with Astra, seeing the for the first time when Astra imitated someone who he used to spar with.
Astra and the Yullian rescue team arrived on The Kingdom's Central Planet.
Now knowing of the Kingdom's location, a rescue team was formed with its members being Astra, Xenon, Seven 21, Andro Melos, Hikari and Victory, guided by Sora from the Galaxy Rescue Force using technology and the Max Galaxy's powers to open a gate to the Kingdom. They were later joined by Justice, sent to them on the order of Delacion. The team infiltrated the Kingdom and split up to search for Yullian, agreeing to rendezvous back at the Eldora Tower later, but unfortunately came across some resistance. Astra managed to locate the princess within Narak where he also found his old friend Ultraman Regulos shackled.
Astra was attacked by Absolute Diavolo until Regulos managed to free himself, stalling Diavolo long enough for Astra to escape with Yullian. Astra and Yullian ascended the Eldora Tower where Astra used his own body as a conduit for Sora to find so that she could open a dimensional rift for them to escape through. Diavolo interfered once again, but he was beaten back by Regulos. Despite all their hardships, the team managed to leave the Kingdom with both Yullian and Regulos, and their mission was a success.
After the rescue squad managed to escape, they arrived on Planet Blizzard pursued by the Absolutians and their forces, only for them to be met with a large gathering of Ultras. Leo, Astra and Regulos fought against Diavolo, overwhelming him using their Space Martial Arts. Regulos then unleashed the orbs containing the energy of the masters and gave them to Leo and Astra, combining their powers together to fire a beam that destroyed Diavolo.
At the climax of the battle, Tartarus was overwhelmed by Zero with his new abilities. He decided to unleash his Absolute Maximum Destruction on the planet, but it was blocked by a barrier from Ultraman King, creating a wormhole from the impact. Ultraman Ribut created his own barrier to protect the other Ultras present, but he and Tartarus fell through the wormhole and into Ultraman Trigger's universe as a result. Ultra Galaxy Fight: The Destined Crossroad
Profile
Astra
Stats[1]
- Height: 50 m
- Weight: 49,000 t (46,000 tons in the old configuration)
- Age: 10,000 years old (20,000 years in the old configuration, as twin brother of Leo)
- Home World: Planet L77 (former), Land of Light in Nebula M78 (current)
- Maximum Flight Speed: Mach 20
- Maximum Running Speed: 700 km/h
- Maximum Underwater Speed: 260 kt
- Maximum Underground Speed: Mach 2
- Maximum Jumping Height: 400 m
- Arm Strength: 180,000 t
- Grip Strength: 55,000 t
- Vision: He can see as far as 10 kilometers.
Body Features
- Beam Lamp: The crystal on Astra's forehead, like his brother it doesn't seem to react to his strength but can be used to fire beams.
- Protector: The armor on Astra's upper body.
- Color Timer: Like his brother and, presumably other Ultras from L77, Astra possesses a Color Timer.
- Secret Sign : The symbol on Astra's stomach, it means 'Astra' and is a symbol of his royal status on L77. His is called the Astra Mark .
- Magmatic Chain : A remnant of his time as a captive of the Alien Magma before he was rescued by Ultraman King. According to the 2001 Ultraman Encyclopedia, the chain was one of Alien Magma's weapons, which is durable enough so much so that even Ultraman King's ESP cannot break it. Because of this, it has remained as a memento from Astra's captivity and is still worn to this day.
Abilities
- Astra Shower: A water jet from Astra's hands. Used in episode 36.
- Ultra Reduction : Astra can change his size at will, ranging from microscopic sizes to 50 meters.
- Travel Sphere: Astra usually travels to Earth and presumably other places through a red travel ball.
- Ultra Sign : Astra is capable of erecting an Ultra Sign as well. Used to tell Leo that he has returned the Ultra Key back to the Land of Light.
- Color Timer Flash: Astra can use his Color Timer to create a large, flash of white light that can blind foes for a short time.
- Blind Tactics: Floating/standing with the sun behind him, Astra amplifies the sunlight and temporarily blinds his opponent like Leo.
Techniques
Special
- Electron Beam : A beam from Astra's Beam Lamp.
- Astra Ultra Shooter: An energy beam fired from one of his hands.
- Shooting Beam : Astra fires a powerful beam from both of his arms.
- Energy Light Sphere : Astra can emit a powerful red energy ball from his hands.
- Red Shuriken Beam : In Ultraman Fighting Evolution 3, Astra can perform Leo's Red Shuriken Beam.
Physical
- Space Martial Arts : Like his brother, Astra is highly skilled in martial arts, able to perform suplexes, throws, chops, and flips.
- Astra Iron Punch: Punching technique, unused.
- Astra Spike Kick: Kicking technique, unused.
- Astra Chop : A knifehand strike.
- Hand Slicer : Performed just like Leo's version, by summoning energy into his hand, Astra can use a chop against his foes and destroy them. This technique is only used in Mega Monster Battle: RR.
- Astra Kick : Performed just like Leo's version, Astra jumps 1,000 meters into the air and charges his foot with energy, striking his opponent with a powerful jump kick. This move is first seen in Ultraman Fighting Evolution 3 before making its debut on Ultra Fight Victory.
- Combustion: Astra can cause monsters to explode by shrinking himself down and flying through their digestive track.
- High Speed Rush : A technique used in Mega Monster Battle: RR. As the name suggests, Astra hits the opponent with a rush of punches and kicks at a tremendous speed.
Combination
- Ultra Double Flasher : With the help of Leo, Astra and his brother can fire a very powerful red beam of lightning together from their hands, able to destroy several or powerful monsters.
- Ultra Double Spark : A combination technique used with Leo to repair the Ultra Key.
- Cosmo Beast Monarch Strike : Regulos, Leo and Astra receive the energy of the masters of the Cosmo Beast Style via glowing orbs before they put their hands together, firing a powerful combined beam.
Trivia
- Astra is the first known secondary Ultra to be the sibling of the main Ultra, he is also the first regular secondary Ultra.
- Within the actual Leo series, Astra was simply known as Leo's little brother but later on was cemented as his identical twin.
- In the opening of episode 22, he is credited as Leo's younger brother - Astra .
- Astra's rescuer was originally planned to be Father of Ultra but was instead changed to Ultraman King.
- Astra was intended to appear in Ultra Galaxy Legend Gaiden: Ultraman Zero vs. Darklops Zero, but was cut. He was also intended for Ultraman Saga, joining the Ultra Brothers in a battle that was also cut. He would have fought Tyrant and it would have been the first time Astra, Seven, and Leo fought together.
- Astra's grunts in Ultraman Leo are the same as his brother's. However, his grunts in Ultraman Fighting Evolution 3 are a high-pitched version instead.
- Leo is good at karate, while Astra is good at kickboxing.
References