"You can't change into Ultraseven, it will bleed all of your energy. And not only that, you will no longer be able to return to M78!"
- ―Seven's superior warning Ultraseven/Dan of the consequences of transforming while his body was in such a terrible condition.
Seven's Superior (セブン上司 Sebun Jōshi) is a being from the Land of Light that appeared in the last two episodes of the Ultraseven series. While unnamed in the original series, he was referred to as Alien M78 (M78星雲人 M78 Seiunjin) in the script, and in the TNT English Dub he is named Rutler.
Conception
Etymology
The boss, as featured in a 2007 year issue of Figure King magazine No.118
Seven's Superior, unlike Zoffy, had disappeared from television after the events from the Ultraseven TV series. Even Tsuburaya Productions has admitted they had forgotten about the character. But he was brought to their attention around the time of Television and Film's "Third Monster Boom", and he was given the provisional title of "Seven's Superior", which has since become the character's official name [1]. Some children's magazines have refered to him as Big Seven (ビックセブン Bikku Sebun)[2], while some record books on the making of Ultraseven refer to him as "Seven's Superior of the Inter Galactic Defense Force" and others as the "Higher-Class Ultra Fighter from the Space Guard". And as of the present he has never been developed into an independent character.
Design
The Superior appeared in the 1967 manga adaptation of Ultraseven by Daiji Kazumine. Though, unlike the TV version were the Superior had the same appearance as Seven, the manga version had apparent differences: his Eye Slugger had a jagged shape, and sofubi dolls based on Kazumine's redesign gave him blue eyes. The character later appeared in another comic story published in "Figure King magazine", titled "Volume of God" where he sported the same design by Kazumine.
Personality
This character's personality is very similar to Zoffy's, he acts with a dominant and serious nature, but is shown a caring side as he sees Seven in grave danger. However, a trace is seen in him that is not seen in any other Ultra, in that he didn't care for humanity at all, seen when he told Ultraseven he shouldn't sacrifice himself for a race that is not his own, which contradicts completely the order to the Inter Galactic Defense Force to patrol space to protect it from conflicts and destruction, and the reasons why the other Ultras are sent to protect Earth. However, events from the Ultraseven series makes up for this personality. The foolish things humans had done throughout the series (e.g. Testing the Super Weapon R-1 on Planet Gyeron; causing many species to become extinct, etc.), allowed Seven's Superior to see the ugly side of humanity, thus giving him the personality seen.
Also there is the fact that Seven's Superior never came to Earth, the Ultra Brothers all came to adore the people of Earth due to their prolonged time on the planet while he had not and therefore bore no connection to humanity. Seven's original series was meant to be more mature and was originally intended to be separate from Ultraman's despite the two coming from the same place.
History
Ultraseven
The Superior in Ultraseven
Ultraseven fought so much on Planet Earth, his energy was almost depleted, after Dan Moroboshi was weakened, he decided to rest. Suddenly, a hologram of a being similar to Ultraseven, appeared in front of Dan, telling him that he is unable to fight, and that he should go back to his home world, Dan refuses, as he wants to stay on Earth to keep defending it, the hologram begins to get angry, and takes Moroboshi's Ultra Eye and throws it at a clock.
After the Ultra Garrison was fighting the aliens that wanted to invade Earth, Moroboshi saw his teammates in danger, and decided to transform, this Ultra being appeared again to tell him that if he transformed again, he would die, Moroboshi was angry, but he still transformed in order to save his friends.
The same day at night, Moroboshi was completely hurt, but he still escaped from the Ultra Garrison without anyone noticing. At night, he fell unconscious in his car, he was rescued by a boy and his mother, after he stayed in the boy's house a while, he saw the news that the most important cities in the world were destroyed by the aliens, he decided to leave, but he was stopped again by his superior, and he said that he should not transform, that he shouldn't sacrifice his life for a race that is not even his own, but Seven disobeyed him, and after transforming and destroying Reconstructed Pandon, he flew back to the Land of Light, in Nebula M78.
Theories
There are several theories among fans about Seven's Superior relating to his appearance and/or his relation to Ultraseven.
- Hologram: One theory is that his similarity to Seven is because that was how his message was perceived by Dan. In real life the reason is that the Ultraseven suit was used to portray him because the production team was short on time and/or money at the time and they did not and/or could not reuse the Zoffy suit. Thus the similarity should be ignored.
- Ultra Ethnic Groups: Just as red Ultras make up the majority of members of the Inter Galactic Defense Force and Blue Ultra are usually Scientists (Ultraman Hikari, Zero's Mother). It is argued by some that Zoffy and Ultraman were originally intended to represent the Inter Galactic Defense Force's police force of the Ultras while Seven and his superior are of the Military branch, which makes some level of sense since Seven was a scout tasked with mapping the Milky Way galaxy.
- Separate Continuities: This theory takes the Ultra Ethnic Group theory one step further. Despite the fact that they both come from the same planet, Ultraseven is generally believed to have been intended to exist in a separate continuity from the previous series Ultraman and later Series. This would imply why the Ultras of Ultraseven (if they can be called that) were all intended to heavily resemble him just as Zoffy resembled Ultraman. In the series there is no mention of Ultraman and/or the SSSP something that is carried on in the Heisei Ultraseven series which follows this idea that Seven was the only Ultra to visit Earth.
- Family: The last and most popular theory is that Seven's Superior is a close family member who outranked him. The only two males of Seven's known family at the time were his father, the head of the Inter Galactic Defense Force's Warriors and his brother, the director of the Inter Galactic Defense Force HQ. This would explain his unwillingness to let Seven fight with his injuries and why they appear so similar.
- Hallucination: A theory which only popped up in 2018, it proposes that Seven's Superior is in fact a hallucination produced by Ultraseven's survival instincts. People point out how no one else besides Seven can seemingly see him and how he disappears whenever another person addressed him. Superior is focused purely on Seven's survival without considering what he wants, and appears when Seven is preparing to risk his life. Such a theory could also explain how Seven's Superior is able to prevent Seven himself from going into Ultra form to fight Pandon. Seven is fighting with himself on whether he should potentially commit suicide by fighting for humans or leave and planet to save himself.
Merchandise
Ginga Renpou Sofubi Series
- Alien M78 Seven's Superior (2008)
- Release date: July 2008
- Price: 6,600 yen
- JAN/ISBN: ???
- Materials: Soft vinyl
- Manufactured by Yamanaya, this soft vinyl figure of Seven's Superior is molded in a proportion of a Bullmark Ultraman figure. He features 5 points of articulation on the neck, arms, and angled legs. His arms are molded in a signature pose that he used to prevent Dan from transforming into Seven in The Greatest Invasion in History Part 2.
- Seven's Superior ~Daiji Kazumine Version~ (200?)
- Release date: ???
- Price: 5,060 yen
- JAN/ISBN: ???
- Materials: Soft vinyl
- This Ultra Hero Series-like figure (though slightly taller) of Seven's Superior is based on Daiji Kazumine's design.
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Trivia
- Although voiced by Ayao Wada, the voice actor is sometimes mistaken to be Hikaru Urano.
- In an interview in 1973 with Tsuburaya Productions done by a then up and coming freelance writer Kanada Masumi for SciFi magazine "Mysteries of Nostalgic Heroes", Tsuburaya Productions explained that while they remembered Seven's Superior, he has never been developed further to avoid adding him to the Ultra Brothers. Though in 2006 a reprint of this magazine's issue denied the validity of the interview's content as Tsuburaya had apparently not confirmed any of it.
- It is commonly joked that Seven's Superior is actually the star of Ultra Fight.
- Seven's Superior appeared in Dan's flashbacks in Great Decisive Battle! The Super 8 Ultra Brothers.
