As with Ultraman Orb and Ultraman Geed, each of the Ultra Fusions used by Z share something similar with each other:
Alpha Edge (Ultraseven, Ultraman Leo, and Ultraman Zero): They share a chain of mentor and disciple relationships. Dan Moroboshi has put Gen Ohtori into a series of gruesome training regimen in order to combat the Monster of the Week. Leo since then has placed Zero into a similar exercise during his exile from the Land of Light in order to prepare himself against Belial, something that Ultraman King commends in order for Zero to complete his redemption quest. In addition to being trained in terms of physical resilience, they can also perform combination attacks together. Seven and Leo are also the most important Ultras in Zero's life, as the former is his father and the latter is his mentor.
Beta Smash (Ultraman, Ultraman Ace, and Ultraman Taro): All three are part of the six Ultra Brothers alongside Zoffy, Seven, and Jack. They also each had a human host they were forced to separate with, either due to massive injury on the formernote Shin Hayata was wounded in action during Ultraman's final fight against Zetton, and thus Zoffy is prompted to sever the connection between Hayata and Man, in the process losing his memories of the ordeal. or by personal choice in the latter partynote Yuko Minami is forced to leave her allies behind on Earth for the moon once her lunar bloodline is revealed and after defeating Lunaticks with Seiji together as Ace, leaving Seiji to transform into Ace alone. While Kotaro Higashi decided to separate with Taro and left ZAT to continue his boxing career in the final episode of his series, but not before having the balls to defeat Alien Valky on his own..
Gamma Future (Ultraman Tiga, Ultraman Dyna, and Ultraman Gaia): Tiga was the very series that revived the Ultra Series following a 15-year long hiatus since the finale of Ultraman 80. Tiga, along with Dyna and Gaia are the first three Heisei Ultras. They are also often placed together during crossovers and popularize the idea of their human hosts being in control of their Ultra alter-egos.
Delta Rise Claw (Ultraman Zero, Ultraman Belial and Ultraman Geed): All three of them are powerful Ultramen with great potential in their young age. Not only Zero and Geed are in fact antitheses to Belial, but the latter serve as the Shadow Archetypes to the two had they fell into the same dark path as he was. They also both share an intimate, complex relationship, direct beings on the path the others took. Belial was defeated by both his own son Geed, and Arch-Enemy Zero, making them both heroes. Again, Zero was bitter enemies with Belial, and guided Geed as an Ultra, becoming like a big brother to him. To Geed, Belial is his father, a part of his life.
One should note that Zero used to desire power like Belial, but his father prevented him from touching the Plasma Spark, and being trained by Leo during his exile tempered him into the mature heroic Ultraman we know that saved the Land of Light.
Being cloned from Belial, Geed was pressured by the public eye due to the uncanny resemblance of his father and would have joined his father had Laiha not interfered. Geed likewise defeated his own father and saved his own universe and eventually honored as a hero.
Sigma Breastar (Zoffy, Tiga and Mebius): The three possesses thermal-based powers and have inspirations from the original Ultraman's design archetype.
Again, regarding with the aforementioned forms of Z, director Kiyotaka Taguchi stated in interview that the three forms represent the three eras of Japan's monarchy:
Alpha Edge: Reiwa era. Ultraman Z in general is the second entry of this current era, and the titular Ultra himself is the fourth Reiwa Ultra after the Tri-Squad, who are the first three Ultras to appear in the first series of that era. In addition to the aforementioned Master-Apprentice Chain between Seven, Leo, and Zero, with Z being the latest addition, the three components serve as a link between Showa and Reiwa.
Beta Smash: Showa era. Ultraman is the very series that started it all and pave way for the Kyodainote giantToku subgenre to the next generations and beyond.
Gamma Future: Heisei era. Again, Ultraman Tiga is what revived the Ultra Series during the Heisei era after a 15-year hiatus from the small screen.
During Geed Galaxy Rising's Transformation Sequence, Ultraman and Belial merge with Riku as if he was about to transform into Primitive much like in his home series while Ultraman Ginga, X, and Orb flying past the screen and Belial's eyes appearing during the rising sequence before the other three Ultra components' respective rising backgrounds. This is because Galaxy Rising serves as an upgrade to Primitive due to Riku's Geed Riser being damaged from his fight with the revived Gillvalis; which means, Galaxy Rising actually consists of five component Ultras.
A previous main hero losing the ability to transform happens not once, not twice either, but now thrice. Back in Leo, Dan lost his ability to transform into Seven until the final episodes. The same can be said with Zero when he gained entry to Geed's universe, at the expense of his Ultimate Aegis rendered unusable for the remainder of the show until the finale. Here, it is Riku who gets the receiving end of this predicament when he fought a revived Gillvalis and lost, in the process his Geed Riser getting totalled.
Both Zero and Juggler share a similar role with Dan Moroboshi during his time as MAC captain:
Zero taking in Z as his apprentice as the latest addition of the Master-Apprentice Chain that began with Seven and Leo. Both Leo and Zero had a more serious training regimen in their time, but Leo's is much more harsh compared to Zero's. Unlike the two, Z being the addition is more or less likely out of Hero Worship, which somewhat irks Zero, but nevertheless trained him; which explains Z's start as a fresh, yet inexperienced Ultra much like his predecessor, Taiga.
Juggler being The Captain of STORAGE is synonymous to Dan's role as captain of MAC. Both were previously main characters of their respectiveshows and returned in a recurring capacity as The Mentor to the protagonists (Gen Ohtori and Haruki Natsukawa, respectively); bonus points for said protagonists being martial arts experts. And both of them have been relegated to Anti-Heroes at some point — Dan was even more gruff and cynical after losing his ability to transform into Seven and on top of putting Gen into a vicious Training from Hell, whereas Juggler, previously the Big Bad and The Rival to Gai Kurenai, is now a Nominal Hero at best while keeping up the charade as Hebikura and a Token Evil Teammate at worst while keeping his true identity secret from his crew.
Keeping the fact that Ultraman Geed bears a resemblance to his father Belial, the same can also be said with Galaxy Rising as it vaguely resembles another fallen Ultra: UltramanTregear. Geed has previously fought Tregear three times; once alongside the Minato Brothers, and twice with his predecessors and again with the aforementioned Minato Brothers — during Ultra Dark Killer's rampage and when Tregear brainwashes Taro and unleashed Grimdo upon the New Generation Heroes in New Generation Climax. Matters also help that Geed's suit actor during episodes 6 and 7 is Shinnosuke Ishikawa, who was previously the suit actor for Tregear.
The Medals that make up for Geed's new forms, Ginga, X and Orb all have the similarity that they are the leading Ultras for a chain of New Generation Heroes series (discounting Victory since he is The Lancer) and they all have the record of harnessing and combining the powers of more than one past Ultras into a singular form.
Zero's in-game form, Gransabered Zero, uses the Medals of Ultraman, Seven and Ace. Like Z's Beta Smash, they represent members of Ultra Brothers, with only one Medal being left out as a distinction. Interesting to note is that the original Ultraman and Seven are progenitors for future Ultras in terms of design, while Ace becomes the first case of Non-Standard Character Design to the Ultra Brothers. They are also featured in the 2011 Ultraman manga as the first three to be adapted into Ultraman Suits.
Gamma Future in its debut appearance makes it a fitting opponent for Five King, due to the fact that Five King is made up of five Kaiju and they come from the firstthreeHeisei Ultra series: From Tiga we have Golza and Melba, Reigubas originates from Dyna, and finally from Gaia are Gan-Q and Super C.O.V. As Gamma Future consists of both Tiga, Dyna, and Gaia; it essentially serves as the Good Counterpart for Five King.
Given that the Ultra Z Riser can use only three medals at once, Celebro has to form Tri King first using the Golza, Melba, and Super C.O.V. Kaiju Medals before applying Gan-Q and Reicubas to complete Five King; not unlike Exceller has to assemble all of the five monsters entirely.
In Juggler's case though, given that he snagged the aforementioned medals in episode 8, he made use of the said Medals in episode 15 in the event Z and STORAGE could not handle an even more powerful monster like Greeza.
Strangely enough, the fact that Ultraman Belial gets only a Kaiju Medal rather than an Ultra Medal — even though that the past New Generation Hero collectibles have Belial part of a Ultra Hero-based collectible —- is because Belial himself attained Kaiju forms in chronological ordernote discounting the Belial Fusion Monsters — Beryudora, Arch Belial, and Chimeraberos.
Despite Belial being relegated into a Kaiju-based collectible, his medal can be used to unlock Geed Primitive on the Ultra Z Riser, and even Orb's Thunder Breastar, as well as his other video game forms: Thunder Miracle (with Dyna Miracle Type) and Thunder Stream (with Agul).
Given that the DX Dark Z Riser also includes the medals set that make up Five Kingnote Golza, Melba, Reicubas, Super C.O.V., and Gan-Q apart from Hebikura's Ultra Access Card along with the medals that form Zeppandon is due to the fact that the Five King medals set were originally made by Celebro, and when he was confronted by Juggler in episode 8, he drops the said medals while escaping and Juggler confiscating them. He eventually used the medals in episode 15.
Of note, back in Orb, Juggler actually had Kaiju cards of Golza and Super C.O.V.; the latter of which he used to awaken Maga-Zetton and the former he used to awaken Maga-Grand King.
Juggler's use of Tri and Five King vs. Greeza is the closest you can get to how X forms the Hybrid Armor through all of Xio's Cyber Cards and Monsarmors, whereas Five King as mentioned above are formed from the monsters that originated from Tiga, Dyna, and Gaia.
Juggler respectfully refers to all the kaijus forming his fusions with the -san honorific, with the sole exception of Maga-Orochi. While the meta reason is because Maga-Orochi made its first appearance after Juggler's, thus being his junior, Juggler unsealed Maga-Orochi to defeat Orb in the past, uncaring of the potential threat it caused to Earth itself, until he had a change of heart and teamed up with Orb to defeat it. As the embodiment of Juggler at his worst, it is easy to imagine that present-day Juggler is not too fond of Maga-Orochi and doesn't address it using an honorific as a result.
Episode 11's Ultra Navi features Father of Ultra's medal. This is rather symbolic as the premise of the episode gives us a glimpse of Haruki's childhood, and how he had to grow up without a father after he protected him and his mother from a rampaging Giestron.
Adding in a Fridge Tearjerker on the same episode: when he and Z accidentally destroyed one of the two attacking Red Kings and found out that the reason behind the Kaiju's rampage is that they were protecting their egg. Haruki realizing ittoo late makes enough sense, he did not know that the Red King killed earlier was expecting a child, putting the poor guy into a Thousand-Yard Stare-induced Heroic BSoD; a painful reminder of what its like to lose a parent.
Meta example. Every Monday two days after an episode of Ultraman Z, the Ultra Series' official YouTube channel would livestream episodes from past seasons relevant to a kaiju that appear in Z's coinciding episode, in English translation, these weekly livestreams are referred to as Ultraman Z Boost Program. Take note, as with Z's simulcasted episodes on their channel, they're only available for two weeks. Here are the following:
Ultraman Leo episode 34, "Ultra Brothers, Eternal Vows"note uploaded after Z's season premiere.: Sevenger's debut two decades earlier before its return in the Reiwa era as a Humongous Mecha piloted by the protagonists as an introduction to Ultraman Z in general, where it is the first series in which the main attack team make use of giant robots rather than the traditional fighter jets prevalent in previous seasons. The Sevenger in Leo was delivered to Dan by Ultraman Jack, who was rendered unable to speak by Ashuran in that episode.
Ultraman episode 3, "Science Special Search-Party, Move Out"note uploaded after 2nd episode.: Neronga's debut episode from Ultraman and its returning appearance in episode 2 after it was last seen in Ultraman R/B. Like the original, Neronga attacked several electrical supplying areas and its final stop was a power plant which the SSSP and STORAGE managed to intercept. In a smaller note, both titular Ultras appear with their legs framing Neronga.
Ultraman episode 25, "Mystery Comet Tsuifon"note uploaded after 3rd episode.: Z's episode has Gigass returning a long absence from the Ultra Series. In addition, as many fans pointed out, in addition to the new Red King II suit from Ultra Galaxy Fight: New Generation Heroes and the existing Dorako suit, Tsuburaya practically can recreate that episode.
Ultraman episode 10, "The Mysterious Dinosaur Base"note uploaded after 4th episode.: Ultraman's episode is the only moment to feature Jirass, as copyright problems prevented Tsuburaya from actually recreating this monster for a television appearance without Toho's permission. The closest they could ever get was bringing a Jirass Medal to empower Telesdon and said monster being name-dropped by Yuka, implying that STORAGE had an encounter with said monster before.
Ultraman Orb episode 17, "The Holy Sword, Restored"note uploaded after Z's 5th episode.: Gai regains Ultraman Orb's true form, Orb Origin after a pep talk from Naomi and subsequently learning that his Love Interest, Natasha survived the Maga-Zetton attack years before the series. With Orb Origin, Gai made short work of Zeppandon, controlled by his archrival, Juggler, in the process, destroying his Dark Ring. This is rather befitting for the revelation of Hebikura being Juggler the whole time, and his newest method of invoking Zeppandon without the Dark Ring.
Ultraman Geed episode 1, ""Welcome to the Secret Base"note uploaded after Z's 7th episode.: The first Belial Fusion monster used by Kei Fukuide and to be fought by Geed is Skull Gomora, a fusion of Gomora and Red King. The same can be said with Celebro where he first used Skull Gomora in episode 7 of Z, and unlike Kei though, who can only use a Belial Fusion Monster once per episode, Celebro is able to use 3 out of 4 all at once in just one episode.
Ultraman Ginga S episode 8, "Fight to the Death of the Morning Glow"note uploaded after Z's 8th episode.: With Ginga and Victory soundly defeated by Alien Chibu Exceller's newest creation, Five King. The UPG must race against time as they must use Tomoya's Magnewave device, empowered with Shepardon's Victorium crystals to bring the fallen Ultras back to life. To make matters worse, Android One-Zero, who just recently being disposed by Exceller, attempts to blow up the UPG base along with her in it. Shou manages to stop her while Hikaru must use the former's Spark Dolls to fend off Five King until Ginga and Victory are revived. Due to neither Hikaru and Shou having possessed a Spark Doll of Tiga, Dyna, and Gaia, they go all-out against Five King, with Ginga Strium using all of the six Ultra Brothers' techniques in quick succession.
Ultraman Mebius episode 14 "One Path" note uploaded after Z's recap episode.: Despite being a Recap Episode that showcases all the SAA units, one must remember that the coinciding Mebius episode features a Windom created by GUYS' Maquette Monster technology in one of its fewer instances where it managed to win (against a female Insectus no less), perfectly goes with Z in that episode trying to explain how that Windom in SAA is an Identical Stranger to Dan's monster of the same name.
Ultraman Taiga episode 22 "What's up with Takkong?"note uploaded after Z's 11th episode.: The appearance on Giestron, where it is depicted as Gaia's Vengeance incarnate. It's appearance on Z dovetails to Fridge Horror. And the real kicker: what did humanity done wrong to cause it to rampage and caused the protagonist to grow up without a father?
Heisei Ultraseven 1999 Hexalogy episode 5 "The Duplicated Man"note uploaded after Z's 12th episode.: This episode reveals that Grigio Raiden, a cyborg monster from outer space is the precursor of all SAA units we've seen up to now. In addition, King Joe STORAGE Custom here is a King Joe applied into a defense force-use arsenal, as with the case of what supposed to be in Heisei Ultra Seven when TDF wanted to exploit the wrecked King Joe for their own. In this episode, we saw just how the modified King Joe can be horrifying from Grigio Raiden's perspective, just like the King Joe II's case after it rampaged from being repaired. Both episodes proved that mankind can be just as scary as the invaders they're fighting against if given the chance to level the playing field.
Kaiju Step Wandabada episode 24 "Rocket Kane-chan!"note uploaded after Z's 13th episode.: In this children's animated short where the Ultra Series' kaiju are portrayed as Lighter and Softer for younger viewers to enjoy, Kanegon is one of the main characters in the first season. It also helps that Misato Fukuen, who voices Kanegon in said kids animation, reprises the role in Ultraman Z.
Ultraman episode 17 "Passport to Infinity"note uploaded after Z's 14th episode.: The 17th episode of the original Ultraman featured the debut of Bullton, an extraterrestrial kaiju that resembles a meteorite. Don't let its seemingly immobile appearance fool you, as Bullton has the ability to manipulate space-time in its vicinity, going as far as causing Groundhog Day Loops and sending unsuspecting individuals back in time.
Ultraman X episode 21 "A Beautiful End"note uploaded after Z's 15th episode.: The penultimate episode of Ultraman X where the Ultra himself reveals to Xio everything about Greeza makes it a Wham Episode. Of note, Greeza's very existence spills The End of the World as We Know It. Both Doctor Guruman and Riku (in Z's episode 15) point out Greeza's existence is the result of distortions created in the fabric of the space-time continuum and being a manifestation of the "hole" where everything is void of life. It doesn't help the fact that Greeza is drawn to the energy emanating from the Spark Dolls, which then reflect to Juggler's use of Tri and Five King, as Five King is formed from five Kaiju Spark Dolls that Alien Chibu Exceller used to Monslive with — Golza, Melba,Reicubas,Super C.O.V., and Gan-Q. Additionally, Juggler's use of Five King was the closest to how Daichi and X had to form the Hybrid Armor to defeat Greeza in the subsequent final episode. Both the Xlugger and the Beliarok play a part in Greeza's destruction, acting as a "needle" to close the hole created by Greeza's own existence. The hole in question being Greeza himself.
Ultraman R/B episode 12 "What We Should Protect"note uploaded after Z's 16th episode.: Both episodes involve Horoboros' rampage being further agitated by a wild card antagonist — Saki Mitsurugi and Celebro, respectively. Near the end of episode 11 of R/B, Saki makes her first appearance as she retrieved Horoboros' Kaiju Crystal and awakened its bipedal form, where it singlehandedly made short work of Ultraman Orb Dark and the Minato brothers until they use the Orb Ring NEO's Triple Origium Ray to defeat it. In Z's episode, Celebro infused Horoboros with Galactron MK2 and Gillvalis' Kaiju Medals, in the process turning it into a Cyborg against its will. When the melody used by Yuka to calm Horoboros down becomes rendered obsolete, she asks Z to Mercy Kill Horoboros so it could be free from the pain of the cybernetic machinations eating away its soul.
Ultraman Orb episode 23 "The Blade of Darkness"note uploaded after Z's 17th episode.: Both episodes are centered on Jugglus Juggler, Gai Kurenai's archrival. In Orb's episode, Juggler continues to cause more chaos while mastering his newest killer technique, the Crescent Moon Shockwave to defeat his sworn enemy all while recalling why Gai was chosen to become Ultraman Orb. Fast forward five years after his Heel–Face Turn, Juggler plans to take the Beliarok as his own all while he has to contend with Haruki and a second Alien Barossa, the latter third of which he defeats with the aforementioned technique. Even though Juggler managed to win the Beliarok fair and square, the sentient weapon decided to return to Haruki and Z after he is intrigued by both their indomitable will. And by looking back at Juggler then and now — back in his home series we know why he was bitter and resentful towards Gai because he was chosen to become Orb and the light rejected him, how his hatred got the better of him by unleashing the Lord Monsters into wreaking havoc upon the Earth out of spite. Now that he's the Token Evil Teammate captain of STORAGE, while remaining morally grey and acts according to his hedonistic volition; and declares that he stays on the neutral ground between light and dark to Beliarok upon taking hold of him. Even when the Beliarok returned back to his rightful owner, Juggler didn't seem to mind, as he's already Older and Wiser enough to understand that a weapon like that is in safe hands to someone who has proven their worth.
Ultra Q episode 19 "Challenge from the Year"note uploaded after Z's 18th episode.: Aside from the episodes being similarly named, Z's episode is, if not entirely, a Whole-Plot Reference to the aforementioned Ultra Q episode as it involves investigating disappearances caused by an alien called Kemur Man.
Ultraman Ace episode 14 "The Five Stars that Scattered Throughout the Galaxy"note uploaded after Z's 19th episode.: In Ace's episode where four of the five Ultra Brothers held hostage by Yapool and drained their powers to create Ace Killer along with a rampaging Baraba. When TAC is faced with a decision to destroy Planet Golgotha, where the Ultra Brothers are held captive, they defy their superiors' orders while Hokuto and Minami transform into Ace to save the Ultra Brothers, and defeated Ace Killer using Space Q, a Finishing Move charged with the power of the Ultra Brothers. In Z's episode, where Yapool's malice manifesting through Baraba rampages on Earth, Z has a hard time dealing with the terrible-monster until Ace shows up, and finally finished Baraba off with his own version of the Space Q, Space Z.
Return of Ultraman episode 18 "Ultraseven Arrives!"note uploaded after Z's second recap episode.: The recap episode focuses on Z and Zero recounting past New Generation Heroes and their successors, establishing how Ultras are connected to each others even in later instalments. In Return of Ultraman episode 18, it was the first legitimate crossover between two protagonists of an Ultra Series, Ultraseven and Jack, as the former handed the latter his Ultra Bracelet to stop Bemstar on Earth.
Ultraman X episode 19 "Living Together"note uploaded after Z's 20th episode.: Apart from the fact that the appearance of M1, an Ultra Q kaiju and its appearances in later series ended with a letter (X and Z). The episode of X shows that this M1 had a personality of its own and had a Humans Are Bastards worldview in an extent similar to the Radical Destruction Bringer. When he traps Daichi and X in a conical flask, Daichi is unable to do anything but watch as Xio giving all they've got to subdue Gomora. Though M1 changes his mind when Asuna took matter into her own hands and upon observation, M1 frees Daichi and X, and feeling okay that humans and kaiju can co-exist in peace. However, the opposite is true with Z's episode, when the M1 in Z's Earth being a human creation and the fact that an evil organization attempting to kidnap it for its genetic samples shows that even humanity in general can be just as deplorable and heinous than the kaiju and evil aliens that Haruki and Z fought in the past episodes, the same can be applied to Celebro of all people.
Ultraman Mebius episode 4 "Broken Bonds"note uploaded after Z's episode 21.: Mebius focuses on Kelbim's first appearance on Earth and GUYS' first attempt on fighting monster with the Maquette Monster, Miclas (copied from Ultraseven's no less). This episode has the Kelbim siblings appearing in multitudes under the Mother Kelbim in space. Ironically whereas Mebius' episode has Konomi working out on her fears in using Miclas, STORAGE in Ultraman Z dealt with GAFJ's constant pressure in utilizing the forbidden weapon D4 despite its destructive nature.
Ultraman Geed episode 3 "Salaryman Zero"note uploaded after Z's episode 22.: It features the debut of the fourth SAA, Ultroid Zero, made based on the Ultras' combat data and utilizes the D4 Ray on its chest. Like Ultroid Zero, the Darklops Zero is the first of Ultraman Zero's Robot Me who has a Chest Blaster that uses the power of dimensions, though how it works is different.
Ultraman Taiga episode 2 "Tregear"note uploaded after Z's episode 23.: Both involve the presence of a King Guesra in their respective episodes. In Taiga, Hiroyuki met a baby Guesra as a child and named it Chibusuke, only for it to be kidnapped by a Rekkyum as Hiroyuki attempts to chase him even trying to cling onto Chibusuke's kidnapper before Taiga bonded with him, thus preventing from falling to his death. When he reunites with the adult Chibusuke, Hiroyuki and Taiga attempt it to free him from the Villain Guild's control, only to be killed by Tregear. In Z, a King Guesra is among those rallying with other monsters trying to stop Ultroid Zero when its very presence starts to cause outrage among the other monsters. When Ultroid Zero managed to destroy a number of monsters, King Guesra and Takkong were lucky to escape unscathed. As both Taiga and Z are the first two Reiwa entries in the Ultra Series, they feature returning New Generation Hero villains playing a major role in the show — Ultraman Tregear, who was previously the Big Bad in R/B's movie moving on to be the main antagonist of the show while assuming the human identity of Kirisaki, and Jugglus Juggler, the former main antagonist-now Anti-Hero of Orb who takes on the role of STORAGE captain Hebikura; they would reveal their true identities to their respective protagonists several episodes later (Kirisaki in episode 16 of Taiga, and this episode (23) of Z for Hebikura).
Ultraman Dyna episode 49 "Final Chapter 1: A New Shadow"note uploaded after Z's episode 24.: Both of these episodes showcase mankind attempting to use the power of Ultraman for militaristic purposes; ie. the safety of mankind as a whole by creating an artificial Ultraman for themselves. However to achieve that, mankind were willing to Jumping Off the Slippery Slope and resort to immoral ways to do it; in Ultraman Dyna, TPC Staff Kihachi Gondo and his Black Buster Corps kidnapped Asuka and extracted Dyna's energies to create Terranoid, while in Ultraman Z, Mai Yuki and her team of SAAG are willing to test the D4 Ray in a city block and both times had Yoko almost killed from using the attack. At the end of the day, alien force hijack their Ultraman copy into an Eldritch Abomination and their creators had to suffer for the results of their actions. Even Ultraman Zero pointed out when reviewing the Terranoid episode that "a heartless weapon is not an Ultraman". Of note, both episodes are featured in Ultraman Chronicle Z, in which not only acknowledges the similarities of the two man-made Ultras, even Zero himself expressed his disgust at the mere sight of his robot doppelganger.
Ultraman Orb episode 25, "The Wandering Sun"note uploaded after Z's 25th episode.: Both of are the season finales of their respective seasons. In Orb's episode, before the final battle against Magatano-Orochi, we see Gai and Juggler in their final confrontation in what would lead to the latter's Heel–Face Turn after it's revealed that he actually saved Natasha the whole time and Gai managing to get him back to his senses and eventually joins with his rival to destroy Magatano-Orochi. In Z's episode, aJuggler rallies the entire STORAGE team and reclaim their HQ from SAAG forces at the same time revealing his alien form to the rest of the crew but did not stop him from dispatching SAAG troops with the same technique he used to knock Naomi out in episode 24 of Orb, this very episode shows his [Juggler's] Character Development to full circle from a once petty and vengeful man to an Older and Wiser military leader to his allies despite being morally grey at his worst, keeping his word that he'll protect the universe the only way he knows how at the very end. Also, Orb is the first series to introduce Fusion Dance-based alternating forms in the New Generation Heroes line, and Z being the recent series to re-introduce the gimmick after being discarded by the time of Ultraman R/B and Ultraman Taiga's airing and thus Z being the last New Generation series to feature a Fusion Dance gimmick for an Ultra's Multiform Balance, book ending the gimmick that started from Orb, as the following series would revisit the roots that began with Ultraman Tiga, the first series to feature a Type Change.
Juggler using Gan-Q (via Five King no less) in a futile attempt to absorb Greeza is probably due to how Gan-Q has almost the same powers as Greeza (matter absorption and irregularity in their existence). The reason why it fails is that Gan-Q is still a Kaiju in flesh, while Greeza is an embodiment of pure nothingness.
For some reason. the medals that make up Delta Rise Claw have a metallic yellow base instead of red as with most Ultra Medals. They are referred to as Rise Medals to distinguish themselves from the normal Ultra Medals. It also helps the fact that the Zero and Geed Ultra Medals react near to Belial's Kaiju Medal and immediately turn into the Rise Medals — while Geed's Rise Medal remains in Primitive form, Zero and Belial's medals evolve into the Zero Beyond and Belial Atrocious medals, respectively. It also helps that these forms, along with Geed Primitive, are accessed through the same power source: the Ultra and Kaiju Capsules.
Geed Primitive is accessed through Ultraman and Belial's Ultra Capsules
Zero Beyond is accessed through the New Generation Capsules Alphanote Ginga and Orb and Betanote Victory and X.
Belial Atrocious is accessed through Alien Empera and Dark Lugiel's Kaiju Capsules.
Unlike Orb and Geed, who simply inserts their Ultramen collectibles to access a form by pure luck, Z establishes himself as the one who knows how to create a form simply by seeing their common ground (eg; Alpha Edge's components for their Master-Apprentice Chain, Beta Smash for their Ultra Brothers team, Gamma Future for alternate universe Ultras with a variety of beam tricks). Considering that the voice drama revealed that Z is a beta tester for the Z Riser (hence his name on it), it would make sense since he has a crucial part in its creation.
In Episode 15, Z is strangely enough capable of formulating a form that can save Geed by combining his Medal with the powers of Zero and Belial. This is before he discovers that a Belial Medal is existed, created by Kaburagi no less. The Fridge Brilliance here is two-fold as in 1) he knows that a Belial Medal won't exist because he was there when Hikari formulated the Ultra Medals and Z Riser (meaning that Hikari didn't thought of making one before), and 2) Greeza's existence itself is an anomaly, or in another word, a nonsense. What better way to counter something that's nonsense other than the powers of three conflicting Ultramen?
As for the reason why he can't formulate a fusion form via Cosmos, Nexus and Mebius Medals in episode 9? Because their real life toys didn't even have one either. One can even argue that there's no common ground in those three Ultras, so Z can't even formulate it to begin with.
Z being the beta tester for the Z Riser also explains why even though fusions that don't involve Zero are always accessed by scanning the Ultra Medals in chronological order of series air date, Zero's medal is always scanned first when accessing Alpha Edge and Delta Rise Claw. Z proclaims himself as Zero's disciple, so of course his master gets to go first.
Even if the Beliarok temporarily leaves Haruki/Z for a new user, he will definitely return to the former. Out of all the people who had grabbed the sword, Haruki is the only one to ever give his proper introduction and comply to Beliarok's question. Keep in mind that even though they are different people, the Beliarok has Belial's smug and arrogance of a ruler, with him seeing Haruki as someone who recognizes his authority.
It was kind of odd for Barabas to even have Velokron's nasal missiles and Jumbo King's eye beams. Then it hit me: this Barabas was the result of Yapool's leftover hatred instead of being created biologically like the series it came from. Being born from Yapool's Power Of Hate, Barabas is most likely to incorporate other Choju's abilities, like how it can also talk and being able to exploit dimensional portals into a barrage of missiles like Vakishim.
It being stronger than the first one Ace fought before makes sense: having the knowledge of how Ace fight the previous one before, Barabas is most likely to Took a Level in Badass by tanking all form of weaponries and even most of the attacks Ace had used in his fight against Choju on Earth.
Ultroid Zero was made by the SAAG instead of STORAGE makes a lot of sense in several ways:
STORAGE's mechs are all imitating past Ultra Kaiju, considering how they themselves are currently fighting the Kaiju, they need to think the same way. Ultroid Zero was made based on the Ultraman because of how GAFJ sees that to combat Kaiju, they need to imitate the very force that's used against them: the Ultras!
STORAGE is a team full of True Companions and has a cozy atmosphere where everyone gets along well. GAFJ's SAAG has none of those and goes on full militaristic and all seriousness. That same thing also applies to the robots they create. Sevenger, Windom and King Joe are all kid-appeal and has body shapes with creative designs. Ultroid Zero has the frightening appearance of a militaristic approach and is all humanoid.
Also another thing to note is that the only two machines to ever use D4 was King Joe and Ultroid, both having origins tracing back to their villainous roots: King Joe is usually piloted by the barbaric Alien Pedan and Ultroid Zero, as we all know, isn't actually the first first case of Ultraman Zero's Robot Me.
Geed's video-game exclusive form, Tetrite Cross consisting of Jack, Cosmos, and Nexus are all associated with the number four, and "tetra" derived from the Greek word "tettares", which also means four: Jack is the fourth member of the Ultra Brothers, Cosmos is the fourth entry of the Heisei era Ultraman Series, while Nexus premiered in 2004 which befits the Darker and Edgier tone of said series. In addition, each have associations with defensive abilities; Jack's two forms of Ultra Barriers and Ultra Defender, Cosmos' passive way of fighting with Tai Chi and Nexus' use of Meta Field to protect outside forces.
When Juggler reveals his plans to hijack Ultroid Zero in order to defeat those who wronged him back in The Origin Saga, he's referring to either Gai, his rival and/or Asuka who called him out for toppling the Tree of Life. To bring some sense in Juggler's plans, he and Gai will one day have to settle their score when the time comes since they are rivals and he knows well that Gai is becoming more powerful in his adventures (Gai has obtained Trinity, Lightning Attacker, and Emerium Slugger post-series) and Juggler must think about surpassing him one day, which explains why he managed to join STORAGE and became captain while blending in once again within human society; so while GAFJ is building robots based on past kaiju, he takes advantage of Celebro's plan to develop the D4 Ray and Ultroid Zero in order to steal it for himself before Celebro does.
One should take note that Juggler admits to have long lost the ability to grow large in episode 25, which explains his need to obtain a Z Riser copy in episode 5 and recreating Zeppandon. It also explains why he intends to steal Ultroid Zero; in addition to housing the data of Ultraman Z's powers, as well as the Ultras he fought alongside with (Geed, Zero and Ace), he requires a force that is equal to at least an Ultra's final form so that he can stand as the strongest against his opponent.
Ultroid Zero's ability to absorb monsters was unexpected, for even the characters in-universe themselves. However, this ability was demonstrated when Celebro-possessed Yoko hijacked it, having thrown the Belial Medal beforehand. The real Ultraman Belial was known to assume One-Winged Angel forms; eg. fusing with deceased monster spirits into Beryudora, devouring emerald crystals to become Arch Belial, possessing Armored Darkness into Kaiser Belial, and using the Geed Riser to become Chimeraberos (with Five King and Zogu) and Atrocious (with Alien Empera and Dark Lugiel). Not to mention, Kei Fukuide in Ultraman Geed requires Belial's power and Celebro/Kaburagi requires the Belial Medal to form Belial Fusion Monsters. In short, unlike Erimaki-Telesdon or Metsuboros, the Belial Medal did not exactly mutate Ultroid because it requires components to the deed, so once it finished absorbing the worldwide monsters and Kaiju Medals, the transformation has finished.
Of all the chimera-type kaijus in the franchise; Destrudos most likely represents the Reiwa era, as Tyrant and Grand King are to the Showa Era, Izmael for the Heisei era, and Five King for the New Generation Heroes line.
Tyrant was created from the vengeful spirits of monsters that the first five Ultra Brothers fought before Taro, whereas the original Grand King is a chimeric robot, empowered by the spirits of several opponents previously fought by the Ultras.
Izmael is born from all of the Space Beasts that Nexus fought in his series.
Five King is composed of monsters that originated from the first three Heisei Ultra series mentioned above — Golza, Melba, Reicubas, Super C.O.V. and Gan-Q. In Ginga S, Exceller took note of Alien Icarus's transformation into Tyrant and used it as an inspiration for Five King's creation.
Destrudos, on the other hand, is composed of six Showa Era kaijus (Red King, Dancan, Arstron, Birdon, Satan Beetle, & Crescent) one Heisei era kaiju (Majaba), and a Reiwa era kaiju, which is Ultroid Zero; since it qualifies due to it being an artificial Ultraman. And like Z's Alpha Edge above, the components that make up Destrudos serve as a link between Showa and Reiwa.
For those wondering, why did Destrudos not have a terrible-monster integatred in its form while most of the monsters that make up the Hybrid Monster are all Showa era kaijus? That's because the D4 Ray that was created from Baraba's remains is already integrated within Ultroid Zero.
Relating to above, Ultroid Zero was made with King Joe STORAGE Custom's combat data and even has a Pedanium Engine, mixing the technology of Alien Pedan. This also makes Ultroid Zero (and by extension, Destrudos) having King Joe as another unofficial component.
Like Tyrant and Grand King, Destrudos even use Red King as one of its components.
The parts of absorbed monsters appeared in Destrudos' body are depicted in a rather ossified state due to the fact that Ultroid Zero serves as the monster's base body and due to it being a walking monster graveyard, the combination is so messy even by Ultra Kaiju standards; something that Yuka points out that locating Ultroid Zero's cockpit is impossible.
Z's Gamma Future form is noted by some fans to have a similar fighting style to Ultraman Agul and sharing his Cold Ham mannerisms, despite the form not being accessed by scanning Agul's medal. Since Gamma Illusion summons Gaia in his V2 mode, a form that has Agul V1's light, it's reasonable to assume Agul's light is also part of Gamma Future's powers.
Z's use of Gamma Future, a form focused on energy attacks and beams, is similar to how his godfather Ace has a wide range of beam attacks at his disposal.
Haruki said in the final episode that he will only return to his Earth during New Years and Bon Festival, the latter of which is Lost in Translation as Summer in general. The brilliance here is twofold because: 1) There's a Japanese idiom "Like Bon and New Years' came in a row". 2) Haruki is a Buddhist (his family has a Buddhist altar at home), as in Bon Festival, the spirits of the deceased will visit their family houses while the living would go to pray for said deceased person's wellbeing and even cleaning their grave. Haruki lost his dad, the family member which he attached to the most, so of course he had to return home specifically during Bon Festival.
Fridge Horror
Despite that Belial is dead for good; considering the existence of the Devil Splinters in this series, this may not be the case. As they are revealed to be genetic essences of the fallen Ultra and have scattered across the multiverses. Which means, considering how Celebro is gathering one, there's a possibility that the splinters can be used to revive Belial. Hell, the splinters themselves are shaped like Belial's eyes!
We backtrack to Z's predecessor, Ultraman Taiga and the episodes that involved the appearances of Skull Gomora and a mindless imitation of Belial. This brings us the question of how in Ultraman King's name did its creator, Alien Chibu Mabuze, got hold of a Devil Splinter?note which it hasn't been mentioned yet at the time. Ultimately after giving too much power boost on the Belial clone, Mabuze pays the price when Tregear commands the said clone to kill him.
And the fact that Celebro wasn't able to perfectly create a Belial medal with just a Devil Splinter alone, what did he do in order to remedy this mistake? Taking advantage of the revived Gillvalis in order to lure out Ultraman Geed, and once Gillvalis is out of the way, he uses some of Gillvalis's remnants to create his Valis Raiders and ordered them to kidnap Riku to extract his Belial factor in tandem with Gillvalis' Devil Splinter and successfully create the medal.
It's been confirmed that Celebro had possessed Genegarg just like he would later do with Shinya, and then sent him to attack the Land of Light and steal the Ultra-Medals. Far as it's concerned, Genegarg might've just been a harmless, innocent creature that had just been driven mad by Celebro's actions. Some fans even think Genegarg might've already have been dead and Celebro was just taking hold of a rotting corpse. Eww..
Or worse: Genegarg was a previous Civilization Extinction Game weapon.
Celebro has a mind-control device, which he used on a pair of Alien Pitts he hired. The existence of such a device and him having his hands on one can open a lot of terrifying possibilities, what if he used it on one of the members of STORAGE?
Bullton is also one Fridge Horror in its presence too. The monster here is capable of warping time itself, sending other people on a "Groundhog Day" Loop or going back in time into the past. The real horror here is that Celebro has full control of the monster, and if he ever use that time power in any way, he would've achieve a total victory. STORAGE and Z are just lucky that the psychotic alien never thought of using this to his advantage.
Ultroid Zero itself is filled with horror compared to the other three SAA machines for the reasons is that 1), it's modeled after an Ultraman, in this case Ultraman Zero; and this is not the first case that a robotic knockoff of Zero to appear in the Ultra series. 2), Unlike Darklops Zero who is of alien origin, Ultroid Zero's creation are of human origin, with the intent of defending the Earth from kaiju attacks. 3) Ultroid Zero is basically invoking Beware the Superman due to being based on an Ultraman, and episode 23 have several kaiju rallying against the mechanical monstrosity as they realize how far humanity had fallen.
With the death of the Red King parents, one needs to remember that their unhatched child will grow up as an orphan and without the care from its parents. In addition, the baby Red King might potentially be vulnerable to the dangers of the human world, either falling prey to other giant monsters or being harmed by mankind as a whole.
Yuka was actually right to worry about the fact that she can't find Yoko's cockpit in Destrudos. Ultroid Zero at least has a door-like mechanism for the pilot to exit, but the final episode established that Haruki needs to use King Joe STORAGE Custom to punch his way into Yoko's cockpit. The most horrifying possibility here is that Celebro would have likely to use both Yoko and Destrudos as permanent hosts and bodies. If Yoko were to finally expel Celebro, she has no real way out of Destrudos!
Fridge Logic
Not complaining, I quite enjoyed episode 8 but the continuity person in me needs to nitpick. Part of the plot are the sisters finding Yoko and Yuka with the Z Riser and believing one of them is Z. But didn't Z explain to Haruki that it's supposed to be invisible to muggles? I guess rule of funny is at play here and it was funny.
Only the Medal Case was invisible. Not the Z Riser.
Given the Beliarok's design being similar to the Xlugger, if the Greeza in episode 15 is the same one from X, is it possible that the needle inside it may have come from the Xlugger? It also reacted to Geed's Belial factor, giving it new life and intelligence, and the end result being a Belial-infused copy of the Xlugger.
