| Biography |
Zeppandon [1] is a Kaiju that appears in Ultraman Orb. It is a combination of Zetton, Pandon, and Maga-Orochi's tail, the latter is an optional part.
Subtitle: Combined Lord Monster [1]
Conception
Design
The original design for Zeppandon was going to simply be Zetton 'sandwiched' in between the left and right sides of Pandon. However a shark motif was added to the head and some other features were added/altered so that it could be considered more to be it's own Kaiju rather than just a fusion of Zetton and Pandon.
History
Ultraman Orb
While Gai Kurenai was walking through the forest, mourning of Naomi's injury and thinking back to Natasha's death, his arch nemesis, Jugglus Juggler made his appearance, and after a brief conversation, the two juked it out in hand-to-hand combat. Jugglus was quick to gain the upper hand, downing Gai with a barrage of energy blasts, then used his Jashin Blade to summon a wormhole in the sky above. From the dark portal emerged the tail of Maga-Orochi, which had been severed by Orb in his Thunder Breastar form. Jugglus then used the Kaiju Cards of Zetton and Pandon with his Dark Ring and fused them, himself, and Maga-Orochi's tail together in the wormhole to form the monstrosity, Zeppandon.
Immediately, Gai transformed into Ultraman Orb Spacium Zeperion to fight the monster. While he tried as hard as he could, Orb couldn't keep up with Zeppandon. Even though he was fast enough to avoid the monster's fire streams, Zeppandon easily repelled the Ultra Hero's attacks, catching (and devouring) his Sparion Light Ring in his teeth, and blocking his Sparion Beam with the Zeppandon Shield whilst Juggler taunted his rival's efforts.
Changing tactics, Orb switched to his Hurricane Slash form and brought out his Orb Slugger Lance. Both giants were evenly matched in speed due to their teleportation abilities until Orb finally managed to land a hit on Zeppandon by striking him in the chest with the lance and tried to destroy him with his Big Bang Thrust. The combined monster was quick to counter this, however, heating up the weapon to force Orb off before absorbing the hero's lance into his body. As Orb watched on in shock, Zeppandon struck the Ultra with his Zeppandon Lightning, causing the Ultra's Color Timer to start to blink as Jugglus taunted him some more.
Orb then switched forms again, this time into his Burnmite form to turn up the heat. He managed to even up the combat score with Zeppandon, but the latter turned the tables on him and sent Orb flying with a powerful kick. After enduring a brutal fire bullet assault, the Ultra tried to wrap up the fight by using his Stobium Dynamite, but while it proved too much for Orb, as he was forced back into his human form, Zeppandon was still standing and unfazed by the attack, and so, he lived to fight another day.
In the next episode, Jugglus Juggler used his Dark Ring to turn into Zeppandon again and taunted Gai to fight him again. The latter rushed to the scene and transformed into Ultraman Orb again, this time in his Thunder Breastar form. Try as he could, however, the Ultra could not land in dent in the combined monster's rocky layer while the latter was once again beating Orb. He did succeed on lifting Zeppandon, but the latter used his fire bullets on him, forcing him to drop and release him. Getting frustrated from the monster's assault, Orb picked a transmission tower and used it as a weapon, but not even that proved efficient enough to pull through. After enduring another beat-down, Orb tried to fire a decisive strike with his Zettcium Ray, but the monster blocked the attack with his shield and fired back at him with his Head Beams.
To make matters worse, the VTL's fighters were activated to attack the destructive Ultraman, much to Juggler's delight as he added on to the onslaught with his energy attacks. However, the Ultra (and Gai) retained control of his rationality and shielded the entire SSP team with his body. After Naomi sang the song Gai usually played on his Orbnica, Gai was reminded to trust the extent of his own powers. The blank card given to Gai earlier by Natasha changed into the Orb Origin card, allowing Gai to gain access to his original form. Scanning the card into the Orb Ring to tap into his true power, the Orb Calibur revealed itself in a gleam of bright light from the tail of Zeppandon. Spinning the roulette and pressing the button on the handle, Gai transformed into his original, true form for the first time in 108 years in a mix of red, blue, yellow and green light.
Threatened by the knowledge of Orb Origin form's power, Jugglus controlled Zeppandon to fire at him once more, but Orb walked past them and slashed at the monster with his sword. Orb Origin then activated the earth power of the Orb Calibur with the move 'Orb Ground Calibur', unleashing a yellow shockwave that smashed through the energy shields of the monster from two directions and dealing critical damage to Zeppandon.
Jugglus' newest creation finally met its end as Gai scanned the Orb Calibur into his Orb Ring and summoned the combined power of all 4 elements (Fire, Water, Earth, and Wind). Orb Origin conjured a big ring of iridescent light in the sky and launched an immense beam of energy using his Orb Supreme Calibur attack. The very same beam that destroyed Maga-Zetton a century ago blasted Zeppandon head-on and annihilated the monstrosity in an epic explosion. Jugglus Juggler ended up being critically injured and seemingly losing his Dark Ring for good, leaving him extremely furious.
Trivia
- Suit designer: Kengo Kusunoki.
- Suit actor: Hiroyuki Arai.
- As following the same manners with Orb's Fusion Up forms, the similarities of Zetton and Pandon are as follows:
- They were the final opponents in the series Ultraman and Ultraseven respectively.
- They were deployed and carried through a spaceship, as they were invasion weapons of an alien army.
- They possessed flame-themed attacks.
- Both were reconfigured after their first defeat (Zetton into Zetton II and Pandon into Remodeled Pandon).
- In Ultraman Mebius, their data (alongside Black End) were used to create Fire Windom.
- Their variations had once affiliated to Alien Bat: Zetton II, Hyper Zetton and King Pandon.
- In the same series that Zeppandon debuted, their Lord Monster variations appeared to be nigh-identical to their original selves, with minor alterations being the Maga-Crystals and color swap.
Zeppandon prototype with Maga-Zetton components.
- The initial toy catalog illustrates Zeppandon with components of Maga-Zetton. This lead several people to believe that the aforementioned monster is involved before episode 16's release debunked this fact.
- The Mandarin dub (and subtitles) for the transformation has Juggler announcing "Maga-Zetton" and "Maga-Pandon" even though the Dark Ring's announcements remain unchanged.
- Zeppandon's roars were combined from two monsters which he was created from. Strangely, it reuses the Maga-Zetton and Maga-Pandon's roar, even though this combination is made from the normal variants of these Kaijus. His roar also mixes in the Tyrannosaurus roar from 1957's, The Land Unknown.
- Despite its name, Maga-Orochi's tail was used as one of its components but was deemed optional. In the movie, Zeppandon was formed without it but sported the same tail as well.
Ultraman Orb The Movie: Let Me Borrow the Power of Bonds!
"The only one allowed to defeat Orb is me! I won't let anybody else do it."
- ―Jugglus Juggler
Jugglus Juggler transformed into Zeppandon in order to help out Ultraman Orb fight off Darebolic, Alien Temperor, and Alien Hipporit. Soon afterwards, he immediately launched his fire bullets and head blasts at the three then afterwards, rebounded attacks from the aliens. but later on, he ran out of fire and found himself at the mercy of Temperor and Hipporit as they beat them up and defeated him with their flames and lasers respectively, forcing Zeppandon to revert back to Jugglus Juggler's human form. Ultraman Orb The Movie: Let Me Borrow the Power of Bonds!
Trivia
- Zeppandon is the first Kaiju outside the Spark Dolls of Ultraman Ginga to have a rising sequence.
- A Fusion Up scene was meant to be filmed for the TV series, but was unable to be completed due to time constraints. Thus, this was saved and used in the movie instead.
Ultraman Z
Just after Ultraman Z defeated Peguila with the newfound power of the Z Lance Arrow, Juggler used the newly acquired Dark Z Riser and the Kaiju Medals of Zetton, Pandon, and Maga-Orochi to once again transform into Zeppandon. The arrival of this new opponent quickly put Z on the ropes. However, Haruki and Z's refusal to give up until the very end caused the Z Lance Arrow to respond to their will, allowing them to defeat Zeppandon with the Z Ice Arrow. Following his defeat, Juggler, acting as Shota Hebikura, called Haruki to lecture him for destroying Sevenger in his sortie before laughing, apparently satisfied by his test of Z's abilities. First Juggling
Several months later, Juggler transformed into Zeppandon to fight Celebro/Five King over the ownership of Ultroid Zero. While Zeppandon was about to leave with the robot, Juggler was forced to abandon it over Haruki's life and both combined monsters were caught in an explosion. Juggler survived the fight at the cost of Ultroid Zero and Haruki losing the Belial Medal. The Game to Extinction Although the whereabouts of Zeppandon's Kaiju Medal components remain unclear, reforming the monster again is no longer possible as the Dark Z Riser was busted from the aforementioned fight. Warriors Shining Beyond
Transformation
"Zetton! Pandon! I'll be taking your powers! Super Combination: Zeppandon!"
- ―Activation announcement for Zeppandon
In his Majin form, Juggler scans the cards of Zetton and Pandon before raising the Dark Ring upwards. His body changes into a ball of energy that fuses with Maga-Orochi's tail, then a beam of red light strikes the ground, unveiling Zeppandon.
"Sir Zetton! Sir Pandon! Let me borrow the power of darkness! Super Combination: Zeppandon!"
- ―Alternate activation announcement for Zeppandon
Juggler in his human form scans Zetton and Pandon's cards, creating projections of said Kaiju as the screen facing the respective angle of their faces. Afterwards, he raises the Dark Ring up which causes his body to transform into Majin form with his and the component Kaiju's bodies being covered in a luminous silhouette before merging. This causes his silhouette to evaporate and reveal Zeppandon. During the rising sequence, Zeppandon appears from a purple light and the background bursts as it approaches further to the screen.
"Sir Zetton. Sir Pandon. Maga-Orochi. It's been a while. Let me borrow the power of darkness!"
- ―Activation announcement for Zeppandon
"Hekibura" sets his Ultra Access Card into the Dark Z Riser and then places three Kaiju Medals in the slots before sliding the blade, raising it up and pressing on the trigger.
Data
- Stats
- Height: 60 m
- Weight: 45,000 t
- Origin: Rusalka (Northern Europe), created by Jugglus Juggler
- Powers and Weapons
- Zeppandon Attack Fire Bullet [1]: Zeppandon's main ability is to launch rapid-fire flame bullets from its mouth. This ability is an analogous to the flame based attacks of Zetton and Pandon. When it is about to use this ability, the yellow organ on its head glows.
- Zeppan Eldritch Beam [1]: Purple rays or bolts from the "Pandon" heads. It is powerful enough to knocked down Orb Thunder Breastar.
- Fire Destruction Ray [2]: Zeppandon fires its head beam and fire bullets together at the opponent.
- Zeppandon Shield : A green, hexagonal energy shield that is derived from the Zetton Barrier, though it is unable to withstand the Orb Ground Calibur attack. It is fired out of its "ears". Strangely, it reuses the same sound effect as when Ultraman uses his Catch-Ring ability. 2 of these can be used at once.
- Rebounding: Inherited from Zetton's Zetton Final Beam, Zeppandon can absorb an incoming beam attack, then simply shoot it back through his shield.
- Lightning Ray: A lightning ray from the main mouth. This ability is based on Maga-Orochi's Maga Thunderclap, whose severed tail was shown in this fusion.
- Teleportation Ability : Zeppandon is able to turn into a dark cloud and teleport. Just before teleporting, its yellow appendages glow.
- Body Heat: Zeppandon can generate body heat so strong that it can travel up the Orb Slugger Lance, causing Orb to let go of it. It was then able to completely melt the Orb Slugger Lance.
- Super Durability: Zeppandon is able to withstand most, if not all of Orb's attacks in Spacium Zeperion, Burnmite, and Hurricane Slash forms and took on the Stobium Dynamite, seemingly without any harm done to it at all, while even Maga-Orochi was coated with a hard, rocky layer by the attack. It is also capable of withstanding Thunder Breastar's attacks without even flinching. However, it is unable to withstand the attacks from the Orb Calibur and was finished off with Orb Supreme Calibur.
- Enhanced Reflexes: An ability inherited from Pandon, Zeppandon is capable of catching incoming projectiles in mid air. One such example is the Sparion Light Ring, which the monster proceed to eat quickly upon catching it.
- Immense Strength: Zeppandon is incredibly strong and is able to match Thunder Breastar. A kick from Zeppandon is able to send Orb flying.
- Ultraman Z
- Giant Fireball: Zeppandon creates a fireball that is shot at a target. This can also be fired as a beam.
- Hand Beams: Purple beams fired from Zeppandon's hands.
- Spear Tail: Zeppandon uses the tip of its tail to impale an opponent.
References