Ultraman Tiga (character)

Ultraman Tiga
Ultraman Series character
Ultraman Tiga as portrayed in original series.
First appearanceUltraman Tiga (1996)
Created byTsuburaya Productions
Designed byHiroshi Maruyama
Portrayed by
  • Shunsuke Gondo
  • Koji Nakamura
Voiced by
Japanese
  • Hiroshi Nagano (speaking voice (1996-97), 2000 & 2008)
  • Ryohei Nakao (2003)
  • You Murakami (2015)
English
  • Jay Dee Witney (2015, English dub)
In-universe information
Alias
  • Tiga
  • Tiga Dark (Original name/form)
SpeciesUltra
GenderMale
OriginNone, existed since the Super Ancient Civilization (30 million years prior)

Ultraman Tiga (ウルトラマンティガ, Urutoraman Tiga)[1][2] is a fictional superhero from the 1996 Ultra Series, Ultraman Tiga, which ended a 15 year long hiatus of live-action shows produced in Japan after Ultraman 80 ended in 1981. In the series, the titular character's body bonded with Daigo Madoka, a man who was a descendant of Ultra Ancient Civilization to fight against monstrous threats during the series' course. Tiga's case is regarded as a "human Ultraman" (人間ウルトラマン, Ningen Urutoraman), due to his host Daigo controlling his body instead of Tiga being in control of himself.[3] Following the destruction of the dark ruler Gatanothor, Daigo lost his ability to transform into Tiga, signifying that the ancient warrior's role on Earth was over.

During the run of the series, Tsuburaya Productions celebrated the 30th anniversary of Ultraman Series, by having Ultraman Tiga meet with an alternate version of the original Ultraman.[2] Aside from that, Tiga's appearance laid a huge impact on the Ultra Series, as not only being the first Heisei Era Ultra Warrior, but also introduced the ability for Ultra Warriors to change their forms and appearances.[2] Tiga himself enjoyed a huge popularity among fans and started to appear in succeeding media of the Ultra Series, either as himself (without proper explanation) or as an alternate reality version of the character. His series in fact won the Best Dramatic Presentation of Seiun Award in 1998.[4]

Ultraman Tiga's grunts were provided by Yūji Machi (真地 勇志, Machi Yūji) during his series, who would later become the narrator of Ultraman Dyna, the succeeding series after Tiga.[5][6] His grunts were recorded and recycled for Tiga's future appearances. During the movie Ultraman Tiga: The Final Odyssey and Superior Ultraman 8 Brothers, his grunts were provided by Hiroshi Nagano, Daigo Madoka's actor. Meanwhile, his suit actors were in Koji Nakamura (中村 浩二, Nakamura Kōji) Multi and Power Type and Shunsuke Gondō (権藤 俊輔, Gondō Shunsuke) in Multi and Sky Type.[7]

  1. ^ "ウルトラマンティガ – 円谷ステーション" (in Japanese). m-78.jp. Retrieved 2017-10-18.
  2. ^ a b c "【1996年のウルトラマンといえば？】平成ウルトラマンシリーズの第一弾『ウルトラマンティガ』放送開始！ 50年の歴史を振り返る・その31" (in Japanese). Ultra J Project. 2016-12-03. Retrieved 2017-03-28.
  3. ^ "ウルトラマンティガとは? キャラクタ概要" (in Japanese). hicbc.com. Retrieved 2016-08-27.
  4. ^ "星雲賞リスト" (in Japanese). Seiun Award. Retrieved 2017-07-27.
  5. ^ 青二プロダクション 真地 勇志 (in Japanese). Aoni Production. Retrieved 22 January 2010.
  6. ^ "ウルトラマン列伝についに登場！「絆」ＮＥＸＵＳ！" (in Japanese). blog.m-78.jp. 2011-09-27. Retrieved 2016-08-25.
  7. ^ テレビマガジン特別編集 『ウルトラマンティガ』 (in Japanese). ウルトラマンティガバリエーション: 講談社. December 1997. p. 14. ISBN 978-4061784208.