"Did you claim this man's life, Ripia? No, on this planet, they call you "Ultraman"."
- ―Zōffy.
Zōffy (ゾーフィ Zōfi)[2] is a character of the 2022 film Shin Ultraman. He is a reinterpretation of the similarly named character from the 1966 TV series.
Conception
The misprinted information that this version of Zoffy is based on, published August 1967
Aside from being a counterpart of the original namesake, this Zōffy is far more similar to Alien Zetton, the master of the monster Zetton from the final episode of the original series. This interpretation of the character is inspired by misinformation about Zoffy as a villain who controlled Zetton, after a company trying to publish an Ultra Monster Encyclopedia earlier than everyone else misprinted the description of Alien Zetton with an illustration and the name of Alien Zōffy (宇宙人ゾーフィ Uchūjin Zōfi). Due to home media distribution not existing at the time, television reruns in general being exceeding rare and the lack of other sources, this piece of misinformation was reproduced in various other publications throughout the late 1960s.
Etymology
Relating to the misinformation above, in the publication, his name in Katakana was mistakenly written as "ゾーフィ" instead of the official spelling "ゾフィー". This results in the vowel extension in the name being applied to the "o" instead of the "i".
Design
Ultraman Divine Change by Tohl Narita.[3]
This version of Zoffy's appearance, alongside being inspired by the illustration in the aforementioned publication, takes coloration cues from Ultraman Divine Change (ウルトラマン神変 Urutoraman Shinpen), drawn by Tohl Narita. This design in question was requested by Tsuburaya Productions in 1989 during the production of Ultraman: Towards the Future, intended to be Ultraman Great, but was scrapped when Narita requested a 30% copyright fee from it, forcing Tsuburaya to discard it for the Ultra's current design. The "Divine Change" uses the original Ultraman as a design basis, coloring the silver as gold, red as black and finally removing the Color Timer.
The 3DCG model used is altered from Ultraman's, based on a 3D scan of Bin Furuya's proportions. His body patterns combine the elements of his appearances from Ultraman and Ultraman Ace.
Zōffy's face was made through the 3D processing of Ultraman Jack's mask at the time of Return of Ultraman's production, including the imperfections on the mask. This results in him having asymmetrical eyes, and a lightly parted lower right mouth. The black crest fin on his head was restored from Zoffy's first ever live action appearance.
History
Shin Ultraman
The following content contains major spoilers as well as information currently not obtained from officially released footage and publications.
As a result of Extraterrestrial #0 Mefilas sharing the secret to grow into gigantic proportions (Beta Box) to the government of Japan, Zōffy appears on Earth, first meeting Ultraman and calling him out for sharing his life force with a human. Seeing how mankind's possession of the technology shared by Mefilas could pose a threat, he sends down Zetton to eliminate the solar system.
When Ultraman sacrificed his life to bring Zetton into the wormhole, Zōffy sensed Ultraman's survival instinct and saved him, finally convinced to leave mankind unharmed. While still wanting Ultraman to answer for his action on their home planet, Zōffy granted the former's wish to resurrect Kaminaga.
Profile
Stats
- Home World: Star of Light (光の星 Hikari no Hoshi)
Abilities
- Flight: Zōffy is capable of performing an anti-gravity flight as his means of interstellar travel.
Weapons
- Zetton (ゼットン): A massive superweapon developed by the people of the Star of Light for annihilation of a star system. Zōffy brought it to destroy Earth after Mefilas shared the secret of the Beta System to the Japanese government, fearing that mankind as evolved giants will pose as potential threats to outer space.
Merchandise
Movie Monster Series
- Zōffy (Movie Monster Series, 2022)
- Release Date: June 4, 2022
- Price: 1,540 yen
- JAN/ISBN: TBA
- Materials: PVC
- Movie Monster Series Zōffy is a soft vinyl figure that is based on his appearance in the movie, and in turn, Tohl Narita's "Ultraman Divine Change" illustration. Unlike previous Ultra Hero Series figures, Zōffy features additional rotating legs, and he only stands 160mm tall, 2mm shorter than the pre-500 UHS figures, while he closely scales with the original Ultra Hero Series line.
- Zōffy (Mega Movie Monster Series, 2022)
- Release Date: June 18, 2022
- Price: 3,080 yen
- JAN/ISBN: TBA
- Materials: PVC
- A larger version (while closely scales with the Ultra Big Sofubi) of the Movie Monster Series Zōffy is also available 14 days later.
Ultra Action Figure
- Zōffy (2022)
- Release Date: June 4, 2022
- Price: 2,200 yen
- JAN/ISBN: TBA
- Materials: PVC, ABS, POM
- Ultra Action Figure Zōffy is a 15-cm action figure who is a redeco of the same line's Ultraman, and he features 17 points of articulation, complete with poseable 2+2 index-to-pinky fingers. He also features POM plastic pins for his elbow and knee joints.
- Zoffy was previously leaked via several listings from Southeast Asian online stores.
S.H.Figuarts
- Zōffy (Shin Ultraman) (2022)
- Release Date: June 2022
- Price: 5,500 yen
- JAN/ISBN: TBA
- Materials: ABS, PVC
- Accessories: 3 additional pairs of hands (open-palms, knife-chops, fists)
- S.H.Figuarts Zōffy is a collectible action figure that stands 15cm tall as with the rest of the figures from the same line. Like the same line's Ultraman (Ripia), he features no accessories.
- Despite sharing similar body construction, Zōffy features an even more articulated back-and-forth/tilting torso articulation and a new neck joint, allowing a more natural flight pose.
MetaColle
- Zōffy (Shin Ultraman) (2022)
- Release Date: May 25, 2022
- Price: 1,320 yen
- JAN/ISBN: TBA
- Materials: PVC, Die-cast
- Manufactured by TakaraTomy, MetaColle Zōffy is a palm-sized figure that is molded in both PVC (lower torso and arms) and die-cast metal (body + head). He only features limited articulation on the arms and waist.
Gallery
Shin Ultraman
Trivia
- This incarnation marks the second time Koichi Yamadera voiced Zōffy in a production of Ultraman Series under Hideaki Anno's involvement, the first one being The・Ultraman: Jackal vs. Ultraman in its 2015 animated short adaptation.
- Given that Yamadera also voiced the narrator of Shin Ultra Fight, one of the jokes circulating around the fandom is that Zōffy was present in Ultraman's fights and acting as a commentator.
- Shin Ultraman's first tagline was "Have you become so fond of humans, Ultraman?", is based on the original Zoffy's line in Farewell, Ultraman. This line is also quoted by the Shin iteration of Zōffy near the end of the movie.
- His role as the user of Zetton is ironic, as the original Zoffy was intended to destroy the monster from the original draft of Ultraman's final episode, before it was replaced with SSSP doing so in his stead.
References
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