"I must rescue everyone in the base. It's my duty."
- ―Daigo Madoka to Rena Yanase, Master of Darkness
"Even with a human heart... you can't get rid of the darkness completely. I believe that. Human beings... can become a light all on their own."
- ―Daigo Madoka to Camearra, Ultraman Tiga: The Final Odyssey
Daigo Madoka (
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Daigo usually uses a device called the Spark Lens to transform, but in near death situations, he is able to transform without it.
According to the hologram of Yuzare, Daigo has the DNA of ancient giants of light called the Ultramen who lived on Earth around 30 million years ago. It is implied during their first conversation and heavily in Final Odyssey, that Daigo is in fact the reincarnation of the original Tiga, who was once a warrior of evil but turned to the light after falling in love with the original Yuzare. This is supported by the fact that Camearra, Tiga's former lover, immediately recognized him in human form, implying he is identical in appearance to the Original Tiga's human form.
Also, as stated by the Yuzare program in episode 2, the two are one being, Daigo is different from most Ultra Hosts/human forms, in that he is neither a human assimilated with an Ultra or an Ultra taking on a human form, Daigo is an otherwise normal human being who has the ability to transform into an Ultra, which is also his biggest weakness. Like other Ultras, who have the M78 three minute rule, Daigo is powering his Ultra form by the light he turns into and the light his body can absorb like any Ultra, meaning he can only stay in Ultra form for three minutes on Earth, although he seems to have more flexibility in space. Also any injuries he carries in human form carry over to his Ultra form and Vice versa. During a few episodes when Daigo's hand was injured, every time he transformed he checked his hand to see if it was in fighting condition. It was shown after his fight with Geozark that Daigo was immediately tired after transforming back into human form. Outside of his ability to transform into living light/an Ultra, Daigo is a normal human being as has been shown several times in the series.
History
Pre-Ultraman Tiga
Before he was recruited for GUTS member by Mr. Sawai, Chief Officer of TPC, Daigo was working with TPC transportation division when he saved the TPC leader from abduction by aliens. Since then he worked with the elite rescue team.
Ultraman Tiga
Daigo first appears with Rena in the GUTS Wing in Mongolia watching Golza rise out of the Earth. With their ship only being a rescue vehicle they used what they had readily and drove Golza away from a village with smoke flares. Golza retreated for unknown reasons but the two could not follow him as they were called back to base. An meteorite had crashed on Earth and was determined to be hollow. GUTS was called to handle the examination along with a scientific expert. Eventually the meteorite was revealed to house Yuzare's time capsule returning to Earth thirty million years after it launched to the predicted time when great disaster would befall its people again. Everyone was surprised by the hologram and its prophecies of Golza, Melba and the need for them to revive the giant Tiga. However, Daigo was initially the only one willing to believe in a Super Ancient Civilization but after carbon dating showed the time capsule was genuine and Melba's revival on Easter Island, GUTS was forced to take her words seriously.
Daigo inside the pyramid touching a statue
Following the hologram's words and Yazumi's genius, they found the Pyramid of Light in the region formerly known as the land of Tiga. Daigo was drawn to the statues within, as he heard voices in his head. Instinctively knowing how to get in, he walked through the walls to find the statue of Tiga and two others of his fellow Ultras, most likely comrades in arms. Despite his teammates' warning Daigo touched the statue, somehow calling to the Ultra DNA inside him. Daigo heard screams of people dying genetic memories of the ancient cataclysm surged up with in him.
Daigo having just merged with the Tiga statue
Daigo and the others had no time to figure out how to revive Tiga however as both monsters were drawn to the resting site of the ancient protectors. In the advent of Golza's and Melba's attack on the statues, Daigo fought bravely but his GUTS Wing was shot down. About to crash, his DNA kicked him and transformed him into light after which he was absorbed into the only remaining statue, becoming Tiga for the first time. During this battle Daigo followed the awakened memories with Tiga and his DNA to fight the monsters using Tiga's light techniques and his ability to Type Change, altering his body and the colors of his Ultra Armor to counter the strengths and abilities of his foes, knowledge that would save him more than once in the battles that followed. While Daigo was able to put down Melba, during the battle Golza escaped. With the fighting done Daigo appeared before his teammates surprising them. His excuse was that the eject function temporarily stalled. In GUTS Wing 2 flying back to base, Daigo discovered the Spark Lens within his jacket and heard Yuzare's voice explaining that it was his connection to Tiga.
Daigo contemplating his responsibilities as he stares at the Spark Lens
Returning to the base, he had a conversation with the program version of Yuzare, he was able to hear thanks to his ancient DNA. She explained his ancestry and how her civilization was destroyed as well as the nature of the Ultramen. She explained to him how he was both flesh and light as he bore the DNA of the Ultras.
Since then Daigo fought many monsters and met many non-human individuals, despite his superhuman power, Daigo valued his humanity above all else and fought with it, touching certain individuals of ancient or aliens origins. However Daigo eventually came to face his opposite, an individual who shared his Ultra DNA, but sought only to discard his humanity in exchange for the power of an Ultra, Keigo Masaki.
Hacking his GUTS Wing Keigo confronted Daigo via the communication systems, and questioned Daigo about his ability to transform. The greedy human caused his fighter to malfunction, almost killing Daigo. Later Keigo's monstrous robot, Geozark attacked a carnival and Daigo transformed to stop it. During the battle Keigo spoke through his creation and claimed that Daigo's reason for his altruistic actions were just as selfish as his desire. Daigo who paused at the accusations, allowing the beast to wound him. Though Tiga bested the monster, when he transformed back into human form a tired Daigo was beaten by a waiting Keigo and his Spark Lens stolen.
Distraught and upset of his predicament, Daigo disappeared and wandered the area for almost a day, when following a dog into a cave he came across two statues, one was of a Tiga like Ultra and the other a dog-like monster with a Color Timer. It was there he confronted Misaki who revealed that he also had Ultra DNA in his genetics like Daigo. When the dog attempted to charge Misaki it was thrown back by an electric field that protected him. Misaki placed the Spark Lens into a machine the turned him into living light, he then assimilated with the Ultra statue bringing the giant to life. The giant now known as Evil Tiga departed. Later on,the unconscious dog also returned to life and assimilated with the other statue, thus the monster Guardie was revived to stop his corrupted master.
Daigo was left alone in the cave until a timely visit from Captain Iruma who gave Daigo words of encouragement before leaving to take care of business with the rest of GUTS. Daigo, through sheer will, braced the electric field and regained his Spark Lens. As Tiga he arrived to fight his evil doppelganger just as most of GUTS was taken down. Tiga was unable to stop the mad Ultra from killing Guardie. Enraged, Daigo fought Misaki, though they were evenly matched he eventually overpowered him and stopped him with a modified Zeperion Beam, which did not kill Misaki but stopped his Ultra Form. After taking Guardie's body to space, Daigo contacted his fellow GUTS members from his GUTS Wing, creating an adequate excuse for his absence in battle.
Later on Daigo started to have nightmares, memories from his ancient DNA about the fall of the super ancient civilization. It was around this time a strange flower started to bloom. Daigo, Rena and Shinjoh were dispatched to an area where large concentrations of plasma energy was detected, but all they found was a strange little girl and a peculiar flower. Both Daigo and the girl seemed to the only ones unaffected as upon their return to the base, everyone was slowly being taken over by the plants hallucinogenic pollen. It became apparent that the entire world had fallen under the plant's power, called Gijera by the little girl, through his vision Daigo knew it was tied to the Ancient Civilization's destruction. Eventually Daigo and the little girl were the only ones not affected by the plant. Suddenly the little girl shut down as though she was a machine, thwas when her father Nook appeared, giving the little girl's name, Terra, he reactivated her with a Gijera-based substance, showing that they were both cyborgs. Nook explained how the flowers placed the people of ancient Earth under their grasp, the Ultramen who protected man never interfered with mankind's choices and so left as the Gijera were an evil that mankind itself wanted. This left mankind unable to put up any resistance as later threats appeared and finally a great evil arose and wiped out the ancient civilization.
Nook and Terra watching as Daigo/Tiga destroy Gijera
Daigo learned that as a plant Gijera and it flowers were inactive at night. He turned to his fellow GUTS and TPC members urging them to act while the had the chance but all of them were too weak willed to go along with it. Daigo walked the streets and saw how only a few humans remained in their dream-like stupor, the rest had turned to fighting over the flowers to save the children who were being ignored by their parents. Daigo reflected on the words of Yuzare and Shinjoh who both urged him to do what he felt was right and so transformed, doing what no Ultra before him had ever or could've done; choosing to interfere with human choice. Tiga attacked the plant monster while several humans watched, all of them cheering for the plant that fed their addiction. It wasn't until Tiga was overpowered that GUTS and humanity chose the Ultra over the plant. With GUTS help, Tiga destroyed the plant for good and humanity overcame its weakness. Tiga said goodbye to Nook and Terra telepathically, the two cyborgs could not expect to live long with the Gijera plant but even so they were happy with Tiga's actions and thanked him. It was some time later that Daigo began to experience nightmares similar to the vision he first saw when he looked at the Gijera flower for the first time. It was the memories in his DNA acting in response to the coming apocalypse leaving Daigo aware he would soon have to face the great evil that ended the Ancient Civilization. It was also at the same time that Rena noticed Daigo was keeping a secret from and the rest of the team.
She had deduced that he was Tiga, but choose to keep that to herself. After some time of giving him the cold shoulder, she finally confronted him during their pursuit of Zoiger into the upper atmosphere. Demanding to know why he felt he had to fight alone, Rena convinced Daigo to reveal his secret to her and transformed, together they brought down Zoiger and Daigo as Tiga ended the ancient evil. However, while it seemed a victory, both literally and for their relationship, they were soon alerted that other Zoigers were appearing worldwide, the prophesied calamity was soon rising.
Daigo trapped in a crystal inside the Tiga Statue after his defeat
Rena and Daigo returned to TPC HQ to find that a wave of darkness, both literal and metaphorical was ravaging the world. It was originating from R'lyeh Island, the same underwater domain that Zoiger was first spotted, only now it was rising. The same wave of darkness was now converging on TPC base forcing the General-Chairman to order a complete evacuation. As the TPC staff and GUTS left to board the Artdessi airship, Daigo stayed behind in the command room as the darkness began to surround it. While Rena called on him to leave with them, Captain Iruma revealed her suspicions of Tiga's identity and effectively told Daigo to do what he had to. As the rest of GUTS left on the Artdessi, Daigo transformed and flew off to face the Lord of Darkness who ended the ancient civilization, Gatanothor. While his friends watched from a distance due to the field of darkness Daigo faced the evil god, first in Multi Type and then Power Type, but his power was insufficient and in the end Tiga was turned back into a statue.
Daigo being revived
During this time as his friends searched for a way to revive him, Daigo was telepathically contacted by the Kyrieloids, who mocked his predicament. Rebuffing their claims that bowing to them would have saved mankind, Daigo was told that they were leaving Earth for good. Refusing to give into despair Daigo held fast in his belief that his friends would help him, indeed they did or at least tried. GUTS recruited Keigo Masaki because of his expertise on Ultra Statues and used a device of his design to attempt to revive Tiga/Daigo. Despite their attempt the Dark Lord interfered. However another source of light came to Tiga, the children of the world refused to give up and their shared conviction created a massive Nexus of Souls, they all became beings of light which merged with the Tiga statue, reviving him in Glitter form. With this new power, the children of the world, Daigo and even Rena overpowered the Dark Lord and destroyed him canceling the prophesied destruction indefinitely. However the battle was not without its costs. Upon reuniting with Rena in human form, Daigo showed the Spark Lens which had turned to stone, the ancient device crumbled in her hand. Later, Yarumi took a souvenir picture for their group.
Ultraman Tiga: The Final Odyssey
Two years after Tiga's final battle, Daigo is approached by a mysterious woman, Camearra, who possessed a dark version of the Spark Lens. It is then revealed that more than 30,000,000 years ago, Tiga was originally evil in nature, part of a group of four that dominated Earth. The group consisted of Tiga Dark, the telepathic Camearra, the powerful Darramb, and the speedy Hudra.
Daigo and Commander Munakata having a conversation
One day, Tiga fell in love with a local human, and decided to convert from darkness to protect her from harm. Being the weakest of the four, Tiga quickly became a target of the group. However, unbeknownst to the group, the original "talentless" Tiga Dark possessed the ability to absorb powers from fallen enemies. As he eliminated each of the three dark members and sealed them away, he absorbed their powers which explained new Tiga's color patterns (red, purple, and gold lined with his original silver). Convinced by his ability to convert the last known Spark Lens to good, Daigo accepts the gift and becomes Tiga once again, survives his inner struggles and vanishes the darkness within. He eventually marries Rena. Shin Asuka, Dyna's eventual human host, also makes a cameo during the finale as a junior crew member, and as the two pass each other in the movie finale, Daigo passes on the torch to him - as a new Ultraman, Dyna. Ultraman Tiga: The Final Odyssey
Tiga, Dyna, and Ultraman Gaia Novel: The Adventure in Hyperspace
In the sequel novel to Ultraman Tiga, Ultraman Dyna, & Ultraman Gaia: The Decisive Battle in Hyperspace, it was explained that the Tiga that was summoned by Tsutomu to assist Gaia and defeated Scylla was indeed Daigo, who eventually lost his memory when the first Red Sphere vanished and return him to his world. When Tsumuto traveled to the Neo Frontier Space World during the events of Ultraman Tiga: The Final Odyssey, Daigo regained his memories and lead the GUTS members in Artdessei as he joined forces with Asuka/Dyna and Super GUTS in assisting Gaia during his fight with Charija's monsters. Tiga, Dyna, and Ultraman Gaia Novel: The Adventure in Hyperspace
Ultraman Dyna
Daigo, Rena, and their daughter Hikari on Mars
Daigo Madoka appeared in episodes 50 and 51 of Ultraman Dyna when Asuka was lost on Mars after his battle with Terranoid. Daigo rescued him from the Martian dunes and brought him to his bio-dome where he met his family. At this point Daigo and Rena had a daughter, whom they named Hikari, and were working as biologists on a project to grow crops on Mars. Upon awakening Daigo had a talk with Asuka on the responsibilities of being an Ultra and he and his family looked after him until Super GUTS arrived. Later, after Dyna was sucked into a wormhole, Daigo is seen in his damaged garden musing aloud that he wished Asuka good luck, somehow knowing he was still alive.
Ultraman Tiga Gaiden: Revival of the Ancient Giant
Daigo is not seen in this side story but his second child, his son Tsubasa mentions him when explaining the Bronze Spark Lens. Ultraman Tiga Gaiden: Revival of the Ancient Giant
Counterparts
Dark Horse Manga
- Main article: Daigo Madoka (Dark Horse Manga)
Daigo appears in manga form in the Dark Horse Ultraman Tiga manga.
Great Decisive Battle! The Super 8 Ultra Brothers
Daigo with Ultra Brothers in Human Forms
An alternate reality version of Daigo was childhood friends with Shin Asuka and Gamu Takayama, and was engaged to Rena Hayata. He began experiencing visions including the Ultra Brothers, he soon met Hibino Mirai (Ultraman Mebius), who came to his world to investigate a potential threat.
After Mebius is turned to bronze by Alien Hipporito, Daigo gains his counterpart's memories as an Ultra from another world and the Spark Lens materializes in his right hand. He transforms to fight the monsters threatening the city. When Hipporito traps him, Asuka and Gamu transform into Dyna and Gaia respectively and free him. Later, the trio are joined by Ultraman, Seven, Ace and Jack, and they gained victory over the darkness.
Daigo soon marries Rena like the original Daigo did and had a daughter. Together with the others, they travel to Nebula M78. Great Decisive Battle! The Super 8 Ultra Brothers
Transformation
Daigo Madoka using the Spark Lens
Tiga's rise
Daigo Madoka raises the Spark Lens to the sky and activates it. When gripped tightly the Spark Lens wing like "appendages" then unfold and light shines from it, transforming Daigo into Tiga. Daigo has another transformation that he brings the Spark Lens close to his chest and presses the small gold button, Daigo and the Spark Lens merge with the Spark Lens turning into Tiga's chest crest and Color Timer. The Spark Lens will not work if shrouded by any form of intense darkness. Sometimes, if in near death situations he is able to transform without it. During the series finale, the Spark Lens disintegrated into dust perhaps due to Tiga being transformed into a statue again. In later later media, after activating the Spark Lens, Daigo shouts "Tiga" before transforming.
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Appeared only in Ultraman Tiga: The Final Odyssey. The Black Spark Lens is a dark version of its light counterpart. As Tiga was originally a dark Ultra, it stands to reason that this may have been the original form of the Spark Lens. When gripped tightly and raised to the sky the wing like appendages unfold, dark energy shines from it and Daigo will transform into Tiga Dark. What became of it after the battle with Camearra is unknown, it possibly disappeared or may have turned into a new Spark Lens like the original given that Daigo's son recognized an ancient version of his father's device, regardless Daigo's days as an Ultra warrior were over as he never transformed again.
.gif "Daigo transformsTigaDark(V2).gif (8.95 MB)")
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Powers and Weapons
- Combat Training: As a member of GUTS, Daigo is trained in combat and the use of high tech arms.
- Pilot Training: As a member of GUTS, Daigo is trained in the handling of their machines and vehicles.
- Ultra DNA: As a descendant of the Ancient Ultras, Daigo posses Ultra DNA giving him certain abilties. Beyond these few powers he is otherwise a normal human being.
- Light Transformation: During times of extreme duress, or near death experiences, Daigo has shown the ability to transform into pure light similar to Ultras. This ability, when first discovered allowed him to merge with the Tiga Statue and ever since then, it has been an alternate way of transforming into Tiga.
- Spark Lens: Using the Spark Lens, Daigo can transform into Ultraman Tiga at will.
- Darkness Resistance: Because of his Ultra DNA, Daigo is resistant to the power of darkness. The vampire monster Kyuranos didn't attempt to turn him, sensing that it would be pointless. He was immune to Gijera's pollen and survived in Gatanothor's darkness.
Gallery
Ultraman Tiga
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Ultraman Tiga: The Final Odyssey
The Super 8 Ultra Brothers
Trivia
- Daigo Madoka is portrayed by Hiroshi Nagano (長野 博 Nagano Hiroshi) one of the performers of V6 and Takashi Nagata (永田 貴嗣 Nagata Takashi) during his childhood in episode 9.
- According to an interview with then-president of Tsuburaya Productions, Kazuo Tsuburaya, he stated that the decision to appoint Hiroshi Nagano as the main cast is to invoke the image of a youthful protagonist. His first name, Daigo, was devised by the series' producer, Hiroyasu Shibuya.
- Daigo is the first instance in the Ultraman Series of a human being with Ultra Genes/biological relation to an Ultra. Daigo is also the first instance of an Ultra Host/Ultra retiring.
- Daigo is the first human host who transformed into his Ultra counterpart instead of the two switching. He is unique (aside from fellow Tiga hosts) in that he is also the first to literally be his alternate persona. This makes him the opposite of Dan Moroboshi in that instead of being an Ultra in human form he is a human that turns into an Ultra.
- Daigo is the second Ultra Hosts/Forms who showed their transformation item to the members of the attack team, the first was Dan Moroboshi.
- Daigo is the first Ultra's human host who has abilities like when he recognizes a Kaiju or can talk with aliens, perhaps due to being Tiga's reincarnation.
- Daigo is the first protagonist to start a family.
- In Ultraman Tiga Gaiden: Revival of the Ancient Giant, Tsubasa mentioned that his father, Daigo wanted to live as a normal human.
- He is the first known Ultra host whose Ultra form runs in his family. Before him, his ancestor Amui wielded his own Spark Lens and channeled the power of Tiga. His son also wielded Tiga's power, if only partially and Daigo is suspected to be a descendant of the original Tiga.
- Despite the loss of the Spark Lens, there is reason to believe Daigo could still transform if he wished, as he may still have the Black Spark Lens and his Ultra DNA also means he could still potentially transform.
- At the end of The Final Odyssey, right after Daigo met Asuka for the first time, he said, 'Good luck, junior' under his breath. This was a passing the torch scene.
- Daigo was meant to return in Ultraman Tiga & Ultraman Dyna: Warriors of the Star of Light movie and Ultraman Tiga Gaiden: Revival of the Ancient Giant but was never made into it due to his actor having trouble with a scheduling conflict. Because of this, his children came into conception to replace him instead (Hikari Madoka in the movie and Tsubasa Madoka in the Gaiden).
- There are several episodes of Ultraman Tiga where Daigo suffered injuries or diseases which were thought to be a part of the script but in truth, these were actual injuries that his actor, Hiroshi Nagano, had received:
- In episode 15 and 16, he suffered from an injured left hand after Tetsuo Shinjoh accidentally crash-landed their GUTS Wing near the beach of Kurara Island. Originally, Daigo was meant to have been injured one of his legs, but Hiroshi had injured his hand before the shooting took place.
- In episode 38, it was scripted that Daigo would be infected with a fever. Coincidentally, Hiroshi did have a fever at that time.
- Aside from Daigo Madoka, the only role that Hiroshi Nagano played was a character named Nagano in episode 49 of Ultraman Tiga, which was meant as a joke. In reality, Hiroshi Nagano claimed that if he were to be offered with a role other than Daigo in the Ultraman Series, he would refuse it.
- This event is almost similar to Dan Moroboshi in Ultraman Leo. In reality, Kohji Moritsugu was supposed to portray a human character named Tetsutaro Kawakami, MAC's captain and Gen Otori's mentor, as well as the only human character to be aware of Gen's alter ego as Ultraman Leo. However, Kohji refused the role, fearing that people would mistake him for Dan.
- The only time Daigo shouts "Tiga" before transforming in the series is episode 28.
- Great Decisive Battle! The Super 8 Ultra Brothers marks the last appearance of Hiroshi Nagano in the Ultraman Series as well as his role as Ultraman Tiga's voice actor since 2000. Hence, this also was Daigo's last appearance.
