| Biography |
Birdon (バードン Bādon) is a bird-like Kaiju that debuted in episode 17 of Ultraman Taro. Alongside Tyrant, Birdon is considered the most memorable monster from Ultraman Taro as a result of the original's fearsome abilities, as well as the fact that he successfully killed not only Taro himself, but also Zoffy. As a result, numerous individuals of Birdon's species have appeared throughout the series, and usually pose a significant threat towards the Ultra they face in battle.
Subtitle: Volcano Bird Monster (火山怪鳥 Kazan Kaichō)
Contents
- 1 History
- 1.1 Ultraman Taro
- 1.2 Ultraman Mebius
- 1.3 Ultra Galaxy Mega Monster Battle: Never Ending Odyssey
- 1.4 Mega Monster Battle: Ultra Galaxy Legends The Movie
- 1.5 Ultraman Saga: Zero and Ultra Brothers Pop Out! Intense Battle!
- 1.6 Ultraman Ginga S
- 1.7 Ultraman X
- 1.8 Ultraman Orb THE ORIGIN SAGA
- 1.9 Ultra Fight Orb
- 1.10 Ultraman Taiga
- 1.11 Ultraman Z
- 2 Data
- 3 Other Media
- 4 Merchandise
History
Ultraman Taro
Sealed away in a volcano for centuries, two massive eruptions took place. One awoken the instectoid-like monster(s), Kemjila and another awoken Birdon, a large prehistoric bird. After being released, Birdon took off in search of food, which instinctively was Kemjila. He then began attacking nearby buildings in search of food, marking the city as his own territory. Then Birdon noticed a fight between Ultraman Taro and a full-grown Kemjila.
Although Birdon and Kemjila were instinctive rivals and share and predator/prey relation, Birdon saw Ultraman Taro as a threat to his "territory" and attacked him instead, stabbing Taro repeatedly all over his body with his sharp beak, until Ultraman Taro shockingly died of his injuries. With Taro dead but inedible to the massive bird, Birdon turned his attention back to Kemjila who was trying to escape with his life. Birdon attacked Kemjila and the two monsters resumed their ancient rivalry, but Birdon was far too powerful and swiftly overpowered Kemjila and killed him with his beak. So to the victor goes the spoils, Birdon ripped Kemjila’s body to pieces and ate them. Once he was finished, Birdon took off to return to his volcanic nest, leaving the city devastated over Ultraman Taro's death. Luckily, his body was rescued and returned to M78 for resurrection.
Several days passed and as Birdon had consumed most of the Kemjila inside the volcano, Birdon soon found a new meal: Humans, as he devoured whatever entered the territory he claimed. To make matters worse, a toxic sulfuric mist was seeping out from Birdon's volcano, which posed a threat to Japan. ZAT hatched a plan to disable Birdon's deadly beak, using one of their aircraft to douse Birdon in glue. Birdon was held in place, and ZAT began attacking him. Birdon began thrashing around, ripping off patches of its own skin as it tore off the glue, making its eyes water in pain. With Birdon free from the glue, the monster began to attack ZAT.
Suddenly another Ultraman, Zoffy arrived to fight Birdon to avenge Taro! However, despite Zoffy's experience, Birdon fought back, lighting Zoffy’s head on fire with his flames. Zoffy tried to fight back, but was stabbed in the arm, then multiple times in his spine until he died too! Tired from the fighting, Birdon returned to the volcano, this time leaving Zoffy’s dead body in his wake. Now with Zoffy and Taro both dead, Birdon resumed his diet of humans as it seemed now nothing could stop his ancient might.
Birdon soon attacked another city in search of food, attacking an apartment building where one of Taro's friends was recovering from when Kemujira attacked. ZAT arrived to stop Birdon, only for their weapons to annoy Birdon into using his flames. Then miraculously Ultraman Taro, now revived by Mother of Ultra arrived on the scene and relentlessly attacked a shocked and wide-open Birdon. Birdon tried to fight back with his beak, but Taro avoided his attacks and then used a new weapon, the King Bracelet to electrocute Birdon repeatedly. However just as it seemed Taro was about to win, he ultimately was forced to let go of Birdon in order to rescue his friend from Birdon's earlier attack, allowing Birdon to escape. Suddenly ZAT discovered a shocking fact inside the volcano, Eggs! If they hatched, there would dozens more Birdon's in the future!
As ZAT attacked the nest, Birdon returned to defend it, downing their jets. Ultraman Taro appeared once again and attacked Birdon. Using the King Bracelet as a muzzle, Taro disabled Birdon’s main weapons, but it was not enough to stop Birdon yet as it continued fighting. Taro then got an idea. Recalling the King Bracelet, Taro lead Birdon back torwards the volcano and then performed the Taro Split. Birdon became confused, crashing into the volcano and he fell deep into it’s recesses as another eruption sealed Birdon back inside his prison and destroying his eggs. With Birdon gone for good, Zoffy's body was recovered and taken back to Nebula M78 to be revived as well.
Trivia
- In their original appearances, the episode premise of Birdon and Kemjila strongly resembles the plot of Toho's film, Rodan. Both characters were awoken by volcanic activity, both of them share a predator/prey relationship (Birdon and the Kemjila to Rodan and the Meganulon,) and both end with a climax involving a volcano.
- Birdon is one of very few Kaiju to kill an Ultra. First, he kills Ultraman Taro, then he kills Zoffy.
- Birdon's suit is a heavily modified Sheltar suit.
- Birdon actually eats several people in his Taro appearance.
- Birdon's roar is a slightly modified King Maimai roar.
- In a couple of shots in the show Ultraman Ginga, Birdon could be seen as a Spark Doll in Dark Lugiel's collection along with Mecha Baltan, Alien Babarue, Alien Hipporit, Ace Killer, Dada, Twin Tail, Goldras, Deathfacer, Gatanothor, Gan-Q, Gigi, Mochiron, and a lot of other monsters and aliens.
- An enemy/helper from the Kirby franchise shares the same name with Birdon.
- In episode 17, Birdon's subtitle is the same as stated above, but in episodes 18 and 19, her subtitle is changed to simply Volcanic Monster (火山怪獣 Kanzan Kaijū).
Ultraman Mebius
Birdon, as seen in Ultraman Mebius
Birdon reappeared in episodes 3 and 24 of the series Ultraman Mebius.
As GUYS was investigating a normally inactive volcano, Birdon emerged from the ground, beckoning its return. Birdon soon met Ultraman Mebius and used its immense power to beat down Mebius and then injected the Ultra with a strong poison with his beak. Weakened and poisoned, Mebius was forced back into his human form as Birdon took off into the sky. Birdon was later spotted flying over the sea and GUYS tried to intercept it. Birdon was downed on the mainland as GUYS continued attacking, but this only angered Birdon into using its flames. Ultraman Mebius returned to save GUYS from the fire, but he was still weak as the poison had not completely wore off. Teaming up with GUYS, Mebius was able to overcome Birdon's strength and Birdon was finally destroyed by both Mebius's Mebium Shot and a barrier built by GUYS to contain the poison.
Sometime later, GUYS was chosen to test out new arrivals of Capsule Monsters. One suggestion was Birdon but was turned down due to his poison sacks being an environmental threat.
Trivia
- In this series Birdon is given an extra power, the dangling sacks underneath his beak that are connected to his snood is filled with poison. It can be injected into an opponent by Birdon pecking at them.
- In the Heisei series, Birdon seems to be weaker than his appearance in Ultraman Taro, as he was defeated only by an ultra and the human team while the original killed two ultras.
- Curiously, whereas many monsters who could spit streams of fire in their original appearance had that ability replaced by a generic fireball attack, Birdon kept this ability instead.
- In the first episode of Ultra Galaxy Mega Monster Battle, when Oki shows Kumano Peguila on his computer, Birdon's silhouette can be seen along with Vakishim, Saramandora, Gudon, Twin Tail, and Alien Mefilas.
Ultra Galaxy Mega Monster Battle: Never Ending Odyssey
Alien Reflect's Birdon
Birdon reappeared in episode 11 of the series Ultra Galaxy Mega Monster Battle: Never Ending Odyssey.
In this series, Birdon is used by an Alien Reflect to fight Rei and his Gomora. However, the battle was short as Birdon continued to use hurricane winds and his beak to stab Gomora. Eventually, Birdon was destroyed when Gomora caught him by his beak and struck pointblank at his head with the Super Oscillatory Wave.
Trivia
- Birdon was originally scheduled to appear in episode 12 of Ultra Galaxy NEO, but due to time constraints, was pushed ahead in episode 11.
- The Birdon suit from Ultraman Mebius was reused for his appearance in this series.
Mega Monster Battle: Ultra Galaxy Legends The Movie
Birdon reappeared in the movie Mega Monster Battle: Ultra Galaxy Legends The Movie as one of Ultraman Belial's 100 Monster Army. He was first seen as one of the spirits of the Monster Graveyard. He then teamed up with Mukadender, Froguros, Gromite, Angross, Jasyuline, Lunaticks, Kelbim, Roberuga, and Alien Valky to take on Ultraman Mebius. When Rei goes beserk, thanks to Belial, Birdon, along with the other surving monsters, stood back to watch Gomora fight the Ultras. When Ultraman Zero arrived, Birdon teamed up with the other monsters to take Zero down. Birdon and Arigera were also Ultraman Zero's first kills in the movie, being killed by Zero's Emerium Slash.
Trivia
- Birdon is one of the monsters and aliens to make up Belyudra's Body.
- The Birdon suit from Ultraman Mebius was reused for his appear in this film.
Ultraman Saga: Zero and Ultra Brothers Pop Out! Intense Battle!
Birdon, as seen in the Ultraman Saga Special.
Birdon reappeared in the DVD special of the film, Ultraman Saga.
In this prequel to the film, Birdon is one of the many monsters revived by Alien Bat and Sphere. He is sent by Alien Bat to battle Ultraman Zero on a desolate planet. At first Birdon has the upper hand in battle after Zero was exhausted after battling Zetton, however Zoffy arrives to assist Zero and both Ultras destroy Birdon with a combination of Zero's Zero Twin Sword and Zoffy's M87 Beam.
Trivia
- The Birdon suit from Ultraman Mebius was reused and modified for his appearance in the film.
Ultraman Ginga S
Birdon reappeared in episode 13 of Ultraman Ginga S.
Originally as a part of Alien Chibull Exceller's Spark Doll collection, Birdon was given to Alien Guts Vorst shortly after Dark Lugiel was beginning to revive. Lived by Vorst, he landed on Earth and started blowing the countryside away with his hurricane winds. Sho then Ultlived into Ultraman Victory to stop him, but Birdon immediately battered him with his hurricane winds and kept trying to peck him but to no avail. Eventually, Birdon poisoned Victory after he got the Ultra down on the ground. But, suddenly, Arisa Sugita and a couple of elite UPG members attacked him with new weapons. Despite the poison slowing him down, Victory decided to UITrans his right arm into King Joe Launcher and fired it at Birdon's sacs, leaking out the poison in the process. Victory eventually defeated and destroyed him with the Victorium Shoot.
Ultraman X
Birdon returned in the second episode of Ultraman X, "A Collection of Possibilities".
Birdon is known by Xio members for being one of the most dangerous monsters, having the ability to create dangerous poison. One of them emerged from Okumayama, a pregnant Birdon, who wanted to lay eggs and built a nest by collecting several buildings and electric towers, unintentionally placing several civilians in captivity. Xio was deployed to lure Birdon out of the nest, but once the Sky Musketty shot down, Daichi transformed into Ultraman X and rescued the jet. The Ultra attacked Birdon but soon succumbed to the poison's effect. It wasn't until Dr. Gourman developed the Cyber Armor system, allowing Cyber Gomora to combine with X into Gomora Armor. Using it, X managed to turn the tables in the fight and defeated Birdon with the Gomora Oscillatory Wave. She was sealed inside her Spark Doll and Daichi assured that she was currently in peace with her eggs. A Collection of Possibilities
Soon, Birdon's data was used to create Cyber Birdon (サイバーバードン Saibā Bādon), which was held inside a Cyber Card.
Birdon's Spark Doll, and it's egg inside of it, are usually seen in a small, man-made environment in Xio similar to it's natural habitat to make them more emotionally stable. Feature Report! 24 Hours Inside Xio
In the final episode of Ultraman X, after Greeza destroyed the Xio base, Birdon's Spark Doll was absorbed by Greeza. After speaking out to Gomora and striking Greeza right in the center of his chest, Birdon, along with all of the other Spark Dolls, traveled to X and united with him. Cyber Birdon's power was used to help form the Hybrid armor and power up the Ultimate Xanadium to defeat Greeza once and for all. Birdon, along with the numerous other Cyber Cards and Spark Dolls, then appeared and thanked Daichi as he thanked them. The Rainbow Land
Birdon's Cyber Card was used in the movie, Ultraman X The Movie: Here He Comes! Our Ultraman, by Hayato in the Sky Musketty removed it's Limiter and installed it's Birdon Phoenix Attack to shoot down Gorg Antlar when it was flying so that Ultraman Tiga can have an advantage over him on the ground.
Trivia
- Suit Actor: Hiroyuki Arai
- Birdon debuted herself at Okumayama, the similar place her first incarnation appeared in episode 17 of Ultraman Taro, "Two Big Monsters Close in on Taro!".
- Because of Birdon's neck-twisting ability, in real life, the suit's neck was modified to allow the suit actor to turn their head.
- Diector Kiyotaka Taguchi intended for Birdon to not appear in his series, but changed his mind after the new ideas proposed for her.
Ultraman Orb THE ORIGIN SAGA
Kugutsu Birdon
Birdon appears in Ultraman Orb THE ORIGIN SAGA as Kugutsu Birdon.
Birdon is summoned to aid a group of Bezelb in their battle against Ultraman Orb and Ultraman Dyna. Birdon was scared off by Ultraman Dyna's Strong Type.
A second Birdon appeared in episode 9 alongside a Bemstar trying to stop Queen Amate to get to Earth but Ultraman Orb came in time to stop Bemstar and Birdon but did not defeat them just to get rid of them so Queen Amate could get to earth.
Ultra Fight Orb
Birdon reappeared in the episode 3 of this spinoff where he was revived by Reibatos alongside Vict Lugiel, King Joe, Gudon, Twin Tail, and Hyper Zetton, to fight Ultramen Orb and Ultraman Zero on Planet Yomi.
He teamed up with King Joe and Vict Lugiel to take on Orb, but despite the fact that three of them outnumbered him, Orb kept all three of them at bay with his combat skills and they got the long end of his sword. Birdon was then confronted by Orb's Burnmite form and was held off by him while he was performing his Stobium Dynamite. Soon after, Birdon was knocked out by the same Ultra's Stobium Counter before the latter defeated Vict Lugiel alongside Zero. Later on, when Zero prevented Gudon and King Joe from going after Orb, who was going after Reibatos at the time, Birdon took the opportunity to attack Zero hard with a deadly fireball. Shortly after, Zoffy appeared on the planet and wasted no time duking it out with the kaiju, hoping to settle the score with him.
Birdon fights quickly with Zoffy, using his stream of flames to try to incinerate his old enemy but fails and eventually after being hit by the Ultra, ends up exploding by a direct shot of the M87 Beam. Ultra Fight Orb
Trivia
- Birdon is the only Kaiju in reappeared in both spinoffs of Orb. He appeared in Ultraman Orb THE ORIGIN SAGA and now in Ultra Fight Orb. In both spin-offs he reappeared in the episode 3.
Ultraman Taiga
While not appearing physically in the series, a variant called Mecha Birdon (メカバードン Meka Bādon) appeared under the control of the Gua general Imbiza is talked about in episode 13's voice drama.
Trivia
- Mecha Birdon is likely a reference to Mecha Baltan from the original Andro Melos.
Ultraman Z
One of the monsters contained by GAF, Birdon was absorbed alongside several others by Celebro via Ultroid Zero, who harvested Birdon's energy and genetic material for use in the creation of Destrudos. Birdon's DNA manifested in the form of the Chimera's arms and wings. The Game to Extinction
Data
- Stats
- Height: 62 m
- Weight: 33,000 t
- Origin: Okumayama crater, Planet Boris (Ultra Galaxy), Planet Yomi (Ultra Fight Orb)
- Flight Speed: Mach 10
- Attack: 1000
- Defense: 700
- Speed: 900
- Powers and Weapons
- Flight: Birdon can fly at supersonic speeds.
- Heat Immunity: Birdon, being from a volcano, is naturally immune to heat based attacks. This also makes him highly resilient to toxic gases.
- Volianic Fire (ボルヤニックファイア Boruianikku Faiya): Birdon can spew a deadly stream of extremely powerful flames of 40,000 degree Celsius from its beak.
- Shark Nose (シャークノーズ Shāku Nōzu): Birdon has an extremely sharp beak as its main weapon. It is capable of not only stabbing into bodies of Ultras, but can pick up small things like a Kenjuria Larva to eat it, and is capable of penetrating even the toughest of hides.
- Birdon Typhoon (バードンタイフーン Bādon Taifūn): By simply flapping its wings, Birdon can generate and create massive, strong, powerful hurricane-like force wind storms that can knock a foe back with ease.
- Ultraman Mebius
- Sac Poison Injection Beak: Stored in the sacs surrounding Birdon's Shark Nose, Birdon's sacs are filled with a lethal, strong poison that has a lasting, weakening effect on opponents, which can be injected through Birdon's beak. Once he stabs its beak into an opponents, the sacs will begin to pump the poison into the enemy's body. This poison will drain a foe's strength in a seconds notice and can kill surrounding plant life. It also takes at least a day or so before it wears off. This poison can also temporarily blind one's eye if it comes in contact.
- ULTRA MONSTERS
- Diving Beak (ダイビングビーク Daibingu Bīku): Birdon jumps and pecks the opponent with its Shark Nose.
- Flying Mochiron Press (フライングモチロンプレス): A tag-team attack with Mochiron. Mochiron forms into its log body and Birdon grabs it to drop Mochiron from above, crushing the opponent with Mochiron's body.
- Ultraman X
- Burrowing: Birdon is capable of digging underneath the Earth and used it to ambush her targets.
- Owl Neck: Much like real owls and other birds of prey, Birdon is able to rotate her neck up to 180 degrees to see or attack opponents who are trying to sneak up on them.
- Stats
- Height: 62 m
- Weight: 33,000 t
- Origin: Xio headquarters
- Cyber Power: 18/25
- Powers and Weapons
- Birdon Phoenix Attack (バードン・フェニックス・アタック Bādon Fenikkusu Atakku): By loading Birdon's card into the Sky Musketty, the user can manipulate Birdon's flame power as a suicidal diving attack. This technique is fatal, thus a Limiter is placed to contain such power.
- Stats
- Height: 62 m
- Weight: 33,000 t
- Origin: Unknown
- Powers and Weapons
- Volianic Fire (ボルヤニックファイア Boruianikku Faiya): Kugutsu Birdon can shoot a fireball from its mouth.
- Shark Nose (シャークノーズ Shāku Nōzu): Birdon has an extremely sharp beak as its main weapon.
Other Media
Ultra Zone
Birdon reappeared in episodes 11 and 12 of the variety show, Ultra Zone.
Birdon appeared in a segment that retells the events of episode 8 of the original Ultraman (the debut episode of Red King) known as "Clandestine Sunflan Island." As an expedition group journeys to the island, they are apmbushed by Red King, who winds up battling Birdon and Banpira.
Kaiju Busters POWERED
Birdon was one of the many Kaiju to appear during the Kaiju Busters series. Two subspecies appeared in this game called Birdon Ice (バードン氷 Bādon Kōri), and Birdon Yellow (バードン黄 Bādon Ki).
Mega Monster Rush Ultra Frontier
Birdon appears in the data cardass game, Mega Monster Rush Ultra Frontier. His body is covered in red plasma crystals that, when destroyed, act as game points for the player.
Redman Comic
Birdon will appear as one of the many foes Redman faces in the second volume of the Redman comic.
Merchandise
| Ultra Zone Kaiju | |
|---|---|
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| Mega Monster Rush Ultra Frontier Kaiju | |
|---|---|
| Rush Hunters | Baltan Battler・Barel | Guts Gunner・Garm | Magma Master・Magna | Alien Meflias・Djent |
| Dada Team | |
| Alien Hunters | Kanegon-a-Kindo | Alien Metron・Meld | Chibu Loader Strong | Alien Metron・Destroy | Alien Chibull (Chibu Loader Strong) | Guts Alien・Seeds | Alien Magma・Hoog | Alien Groza・Granzer | Alien Deathre・Deflame |
| Plasma Kaiju | Eleking | Antlar | Neronga | Bemstar | Dinosaur Tank | Red King | Gomora | Zetton | Reicubas | Birdon | Golza | Gandar | Tyrant | Pestar | King Joe | Grand King | Verokron | U-Killersaurus |
