Kihachi Gondou is one of the supporting characters of Ultraman Dyna. He is a new chief of staff officer of TPC.
Personality[]
Gondou is a military officer who is different from other chiefs of staff. In addition to overseeing the police department, he advocates for increasing TPC's military strength to defend the earth. He often takes a strong approach and exhibits a radical and proud personality that makes it difficult for him to communicate with others. At the same time, he is too confident in the secret weapons he has developed, which makes him unpopular with Super GUTS members.
However, his extremist behavior is actually aimed at human peace. He deeply hopes for the earth and humanity to live in peace and believes that without the power of Ultraman, humans will not be able to fully defend themselves in the future. Therefore, he looks down on other TPC leaders and Super GUTS members who rely on Ultraman Dyna.
However, he often overlooks the worst and unpredictable scenarios that could happen before making decisions in his own plans. He doesn't fully consider what could happen, and when things go wrong, he feels extreme regret and frustration. He also fails to see or appreciate the insubstantial, incorrectly presuming that Dyna's host, Shin Asuka, had to have some superhuman or unique quality to him, that made him chosen by the giant of light, only to be flabbergasted when it was revealed that Asuka, merger aside, was effectively a normal human being. For all his mistakes, and misgivings, he truely did want peace for humanity and inspired by Asuka risking his life, to fight as Dyna, and even transforming by pure force of will, he willingly gave his life to repower Dyna for the sake of a better future.
History[]
Pre-Ultraman Dyna[]
Initially, Gondou held the third position in the police department, but after Nagumo, who was executing Project F, was arrested following the R'lyeh Tragedy, he became the deputy chief. Later, with the reorganization of TPC, Tetsuji Yoshioka began visiting TPC branches around the world to enhance their military strength, so the actual command was entrusted to him. After that, Gondou became the chief of staff.
Ultraman Dyna[]
When Darambia attacked Mars, he and the other Chiefs of Staff held an emergency meeting with Hibiki and named the extraterrestrial life forms that posed a threat to humanity "Sphere."A New Light (Part 2)
As a hawk who advocated for Earth defense and expansion through military means, he often engaged in arguments with others from different perspectives and positions during the meetings, which often led to disagreements in ideas and positions with others.
Ultraman Tiga & Ultraman Dyna: Warriors of the Star of Light[]
Gondou watched in astonishment as Deathfacer was born.
Due to the ambiguous stance of TPC's higher-ups, Gondou worked with Rui Kisaragi of the TPC Future Research Center to develop the ultimate battleship, Prometheus. However, the Alien Monera who sought to completely eradicate humanity seized the battleship and transformed it into the Deathfacer, which left Gondou feeling extremely angry and resentful. After the battle between Deathfacer and Ultraman Dyna on the Cliomos Islands, he held a crisis management meeting with the TPC executives to address the event.
Gondou looked at the light within the human heart in shock.
As the Deathfacer began attacking cities, Gondou led refugees in the Grandome underground shelter at TPC headquarters and felt regretful for his own powerlessness. Nevertheless, he tried to show a firm attitude and promised everyone that TPC would emerge victorious. Eventually, with Rui changing her stance and the miracle of the "light" in people's hearts resurrecting Ultraman Tiga, Gondou was left in a state of disbelief as he couldn't comprehend the situation of the scene and was unable to become a part of the light.Ultraman Tiga & Ultraman Dyna: Warriors of the Star of Light
After witnessing Tiga and Dyna defeat Queen Monara, he became fascinated by the overwhelming power of Ultraman and began to pursue it as an absolute defense force for TPC.
Gondou introduces Kenji Fudo, a member from the Black Buster Corps.
In order to compete with Super GUTS, he secretly established a special operations unit called the "Black Buster Corps" within the police department, to gather comprehensive military strength and plan a coup against the TPC leadership. The Light and Shadow of the Youthful
He secretly stole the data of the frozen "Project F" and created Terranoid, the Artificial Ultraman. At the same time, he also began to secretly investigate the true identity of Ultraman Dyna.
Final Chapter[]
After Dyna fought Darambia II on Mars, he accidentally learned that Dyna's true identity is Asuka through satellite images on Mars. He dispatched Reika Saeki to arrest Asuka and Ryo, and used a light particle converter confiscated by TPC in the past to steal "light" energy from Asuka, completing Terranoid.
However, due to Terranoid's inherent flaws, when it depleted its energy, it was assimilated by the Spheres and transformed into Zeluganoid. Witnessing the destruction of the Mars base and the Black Buster Corps, he felt shocked, condemned, and watched as Asuka transformed into Dyna with belief, while the weakened Dyna was forced into a difficult battle.
Gondou's death.
Gondou decided to sacrifice himself and use his life as "light" to shine on Dyna. He activated the light particle converter and ultimately disappeared with the device's explosion, and his belief became light, becoming the power that recharged Dyna.Final Chapter I: A New Shadow
Even after his death, the Neo Maxima Overdrive system that he had previously led the development of also made a contribution in defeating the Spheres.
Gallery[]
Ultraman Dyna[]
Ultraman Tiga & Ultraman Dyna: Warriors of the Star of Light[]
Trivia[]
- In episode 49, Gondou gives a thumbs-up gesture, a sign commonly used by Super GUTS members to indicate understanding, just before his death. Originally, the script depicted Gondou saluting like a soldier in his final moments.
- According to an interview with director Kazuya Konaka, this change to the thumbs-up gesture was suggested by Gondou's actor, Shinobu Kameyama. Kameyama believed that, although Commander Gondou harbored jealousy for not being able to "become light," he also had a good side and wanted to be seen as a friend to Super GUTS. Since the team frequently used this gesture, Kameyama thought it fitting for Gondou to do the same.