As a Distant Sequel to Ultraman Tiga, all spoilers for it and Ultraman Dyna are unmarked. You Have Been Warned!
Wait a minute, what did you mean, this is a fantasy-adventure show?
Ultraman Tiga Gaiden: Revival Of The Ancient Giant is a 2001 short film produced by Tsuburaya, part of the Ultra Series.
Five thousand years ago, an ancient red-and-blue warrior of light (known by the audience as Ultraman Tiga) defended a village against a giant, golem-like monster, but disappeared after that, where the Ultra is worshiped by superstitious locals as a guardian protector. In the present time of 2038, Super GUTS pilot Tsubasa Madoka (son of Daigo and Reina Madoka from Ultraman Tiga) pursues the monster Jomonoid, before suddenly getting dragged into a wormhole. Upon arrival, Tsubasa realized he's stuck a few centuries from the present, specifically, in the same village that Ultraman Tiga once guarded, and there are evil forces who wants to prevent the re-awakening of Ultraman Tiga while re-summoning monsters of the past...
Tropes related to characters in the special are documented on the series' main character pages.
Ultraman Tiga Gaiden: Revival Of The Ancient Giant provides the following tropes.
- Big Bad: Dogramagma, the evil wizard controlling Jomonoid and Dogouf, who wants to prevent the re-awakening of Ultraman Tiga so that his monster minions can spread his reign of terror.
- Black Knight: Dogramagma, complete with samurai-like helmet, sinister-looking mask and flowing black cape.
- Chekhov's Gun: The moment you see Yaminaginotsurugi being retrieved from Kurayaminoorochi's massive carcass, is a clear indicator thats not the last we'd see of that awesome-looking weapon. Sure enough, it ends up being crucial to assist Tiga in defeating Dogouf in the climax.
- Continuity Nod:
- The golden pyramid that houses Ultraman Tiga and his companions shows up, in the same way as it did in the first episode of Tiga’s series.
- Madoka is a member of Super GUTS, the same Earth Defense Force that replaces GUTS which Shin Asuka (a.k.a Ultraman Dyna) was a member of.
- Covers Always Lie: The poster and DVD covers would indicate this special to be yet another Ultra-vs-kaiju epic in the same vein as the TV series or the movie, rather than the magical fantasy-adventure film it actually is. Also, NONE of the alternate DVD covers or promotional materials would indicate that majority of this film is actually set in a Sengoku-era ancient village, rather than in the present.
- Golem: Degouf, the ancient golem terrorizing a village before getting destroyed by Ultraman Tiga, and its successor Dogouf.
- Henshin Hero: Tsubasa Madoka and Amui.
- Hunter of Monsters: Maharoba the resident Hunter of Monsters, whose Establishing Character Moment is slaying the monster Kurayaminoorochi in a Single-Stroke Battle.
- I Can Still Fight!: Despite his lack of experience, Tsubasa persists on defending the village when Jomonoid and Dogouf gets unleashed. And he can still put up one hell of a fight, even destroying Jomonoid before needing Amui to take over!
- Flash Step: One of the two Co-Dragons have this ability, using it to avoid energy blasts hurled towards him. He eventually got taken down when his own energy blasts gets reflected back at him.
- Identical Stranger: Tsubasa remarks that Mahoroba looks just like his elder sister, Hikari Madoka. May be justified, since Mahoroba is related to Tsubasa’s ancestors, and he could very well be her great-great-grandchild at some point in the future. Tsubasa even shows her a picture of him taken with his sister, where the audience can tell Hikari and Mahoroba are actually portrayed by the same actress.
- Instant Expert: Amui, after taking over the Spark Lens and becoming Ultraman Tiga. He can actually use Tiga's powers more effectively than Tsubasa, and manage to change into Sky and Power types during the final battle against Dogouf, which Tsubasa is unable to.
- Jumped at the Call: Tsubasa, who wastes no time grabbing the Spark Lens after recognizing it’s the very same device his father used to transform into Ultraman Tiga decades ago.
- Katanas Are Just Better: Mahoroba’s preferred weapon.
- Kaiju: Yeah, the series tried dabbling with the fantasy-epic genre this time, but it's still an installment of the Ultra Series. You can't leave the kaijus out of it no matter what!
- Legend Fades to Myth: At the end of the film with Jomonoid and Dogouf vanquished, Tsubasa notes that the deeds of Ultraman Tiga will become the stuff of legends in the future, where generations afterwards will remember Ultraman Tiga as a myth until his eventual reawakening in the first episode of his series.
- Literally Shattered Lives: The fates of Dogramagma's two minions, as well as the golem-like Dogouf.
- Only the Chosen May Wield: Only those born in the Madoka bloodline can use the Spark Lens and gain access to Ultraman Tiga's powers, which is why Tsubasa is determined to stand up against Dogramagma's minions no matter what cost. Later on it turns out Amui is from the same bloodline as well, and manage to take over the Spark Lens from Tsubasa and defeat Dogouf and Dogramagma in the end of the climax.
- Orochi: Maharoba slays a dragon-like kaiju called Kurayaminoorochi (based on orochi fron the myths) in her debut appearance, and unveils an ancient BFS called the Yaminaginotsurugi embedded in the monster’s body. Yaminaginotsurugi ends up being crucial in assisting Ultraman Tiga to defeat Dogouf in the climax.
- Our Wormholes Are Different: The one that drags Tsubasa and Jomonoid into early in the film has Time Travel abilities sending both of them centuries into the past.
- Out-of-Genre Experience: Yes, this is an entry in the Ultraman franchise, but for the most part its more of a Dark Fantasy-epic adventure which have more similarities to The Great Yokai War than Ultraman, and the Ultraman vs kaiju action takes up only a small portion of the runtime.
- Spin-Offspring: The protagonist of this special is Tsubasa Madoka, the son of Daigo and Reina Madoka from the series.
- Spoiler Cover: The fact that Amui would wield the Bronze Spark Lens and transform into Ultraman Tiga in the end would be a nice reveal… if the DVD and official poster (pictured above) didn’t directly show the boy doing exactly that!
- Swirly Energy Thingy: The wormhole that drags Tsubasa – and Jomonoid – into the past resembles this.
- Synchronization: By destroying Dogouf, Tiga also wipes out the monster's controller Dogramagma.
- Time Travel Episode
- 20 Minutes into the Future: Tsubasa’s present time which he was from before entering the time warp, is 2038 (the film is released in 2001).
- Waking Up Elsewhere: Tsubasa, after crashing his jet in the side of a mountain, wakes up in the cottage of the ancient village, where there are locals surrounding him looking at his weird, futuristic-looking pilot jumpsuit...
- Worf Had the Flu: When using Ultraman Tiga's powers for the first time, Tsubasa realize his/Tiga's Colour Timer starts blinking roughly a minute in because in this timeline, it has been centuries since Ultraman Tiga was summoned, and the Ultra's powers is at its limit. However, Tsubasa-as-Tiga soldiered on nonetheless and actually defeats Jomonoid in his first battle (the monster escape though).
