Zōffy

"As soon as (Zetton's) systems are in place, mankind will be destroyed along with this stellar system. There are nearly 13 billion intelligent life forms confirmed by the Star of Light. When one of them disappears, nothing changes in the universe. [...] Was it worth risking your life for the native creatures of this planet, Ultraman?"

―Zōffy.

Zōffy
Data
Home World	Star of Light
Race	Ultra
Status	Alive
Affiliation	Inter Galactic Defense Force Ultraman Zetton (Weapon)
Number of Appearances	1 (Movie)
First Appearance	Shin Ultraman
Voice Actor(s)	Koichi Yamadera
Designer(s)	Tohl Narita (base design)

Zōffy (ゾーフィ Zōfi) 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

This version of Zoffy's appearance, alongside being inspired by the illustration in the aforementioned publication, takes coloration cues from Tohl Narita's NEXT (ネクスト Nekusuto), a humanoid being that he drew circa 1992-95. Although unconfirmed, the finished product resembles Narita's other sketching, Ultraman Divine Change (ウルトラマン神変 Urutoraman Shinpen), which he created under Tsuburaya Productions's request in 1989 during the production of Ultraman: Towards the Future. This was intended to be Ultraman Great, but eventually 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.

NEXT

Ultraman Divine Change

Personality

This iteration of Zoffy is more morally grey at best, seeing the loss of one intelligent life out of many being insignificant and not above resorting to eradicate an entire race just to ensure they won't become future threat. Despite this, he's still well-intentioned at heart, willing to abort his plan to destroy Earth and hear Ultraman about why humanity is worth protecting despite dangerously fell into Mefilas' manipulations and went so far merging with Kaminaga in the first place.

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 System) 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, Zetton): 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.
• Beta Capsule (ベーターカプセル Bētā Kapuseru): The same type of transformation device which allows Ultraman to transform from Shinji Kaminaga. Zōffy's model allows him to undo the merger of Ultraman and his human host.

Zetton

Beta Capsule

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.

Zōffy 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

Arrival

"On this planet, they call you "Ultraman"."

Summoning a compacted Zetton

"Have you become so fond of humans, 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.
• Zōffy's role in Shin Ultraman parallels Ultraman Justice in Ultraman Cosmos vs. Ultraman Justice: The Final Battle, in that both are Ultras who feared mankind as potential threats, their arrival being followed by a doomsday device and facing opposition in the form of another Ultra. The only difference is that while Justice side with Cosmos and together bringing down Giga Endra, Zōffy only begins to renew his faith in mankind after Ultraman sacrificed himself to bring down Zetton with him, as well as transferring his entire life force to the real Shinji Kaminaga.
• His gold and black color scheme has been compared by fans to the Absolutians, which also led to Zōffy being jokingly identified as the fourth silhouetted Absolutian figure in the poster, especially after the end of Ultra Galaxy Fight: The Destined Crossroad.

References