Left to right: Hikari Saga, Armoured Darkness, Ghost Reverse
Ultraman Mebius Gaiden (2006-2009) is a short series of Direct to Video episodes produced by Tsuburaya productions, part of the long-running Ultra Series that serves as a continuation of Ultraman Mebius. Only three episodes are made:
Hikari Saga
- Three mini-episodes (13 minutes each) chronicling a part of Ultraman Hikari's journeys from outer space to earth. In the first, Hikari discovers the beautiful Planet Aarb, only to realize the planet is the subject of a destructive prophecy which he attempts to stop. After failing to prevent Aarb's destruction, Hikari swears to train himself stronger, where he battles a Bemstar, and wins, proving his worth to Zoffy, who invites him to join the Ultra Garrison. However, a further test awaits Hikari, as he returns to the now-destroyed Aarb and must battle the crafty Alien Babalou...
Armoured Darkness
- Alien Empera (the Big Bad of Ultraman Mebius) is destroyed, but earth is still experiencing kaiju attacks on a regular basis. It turns out Empera's servant, the sentient Animated Armor known as Armoured Darkness, is pulling the strings behind a second age of monsters, and GUYS have to prevent the new villain at all costs. Thankfully, Ultraman Mebius is aware of this new threat as well, and returns to fight alongside his comrades another time...
Ghost Reverse
- Released in two parts, The Dark Graveyard and The Emperor's Resurrection. After the defeat of Armoured Darkness, the Ultra Brothers suddenly receives a distress signal from Ultraman Hikari, traced all the way to the Monster Graveyard. The Ultramen Ace and Taro sets out to investigate, and soon enough they're joined by Mebius and the mysterious cyborg alien expert swordsman Mecha-Zam. An evil plan to resurrect Alien Empera is uncovered, and Mebius' faith in his friends is once again put to the test.
Characters from the Mebius series proper are documented on the series' Character page.
Ultraman Mebius Gaiden provides examples of the following tropes:
Tropes present within all three
- Inconsistent Episode Lengths: All three episodes wildly different lengths: the first episode, a prequel titled Hikari Saga, consists of three 15-minute segments chronicling a part of Ultraman Hikari's journey, which is followed by Armoured Darkness, a 27-minute episode taking place after the series, before concluding with a third and final episode set years later, Ghost Rebirth, a 50-minute finale.
Ultraman Mebius Gaiden: Hikari Saga
- An Ice Person: Alien Babalou can unleash a freezing mist powerful enough to ensnare even Ultraman Hikari.
- Asteroid Thicket: Ultraman Hikari and Bemstar’s battle starts with them pursuing each other across one of these, until Hikari managed to force Bemstar to land on an empty planet nearby.
- Bloodless Carnage: Yes, an entire planet gets massacred and destroyed by Bogal, but since the planet’s population consists entirely of floating CG-crystal shards, of course there isn’t a single drop of blood anywhere.
- Continuity Nod:
- Zoffy arriving to assist Hikari while the latter is fighting a losing battle against Bemstar is visually similar to the final episode of Ultraman, when Ultraman lose to Zetton and was assisted by Zoffy. The camera angles and dialogue of both scenarios are similar too, despite being filmed 40 years apart.
- The Father of Ultra referenced on how an Alien Babalou once nearly caused the complete destruction of Nebula M78 and Planet Earth, an incident which happened in Ultraman Leo.
- Crystal Landscape: The surface of Planet Aarb is covered in crystals, from human-sized to as tall as skyscrapers. The crystals are also sapient, living beings which can communicate with Hikari telepathically.
- Crystalline Creature: The citizens of Planet Aarb are living crystals which communicate using Telepathy and, despite their appearance as blocks of floating minerals, are actually fully sapient, as Ultraman Hikari finds out as soon as he steps foot on Aarb.
- A Day in the Limelight: For Ultraman Hikari, the deuteragonist of Ultraman Mebius. Now Mebius is absent throughout this arc, and the Character Development is centered entirely on Hikari.
- Giggling Villain: Alien Babalou in the last part. Much of his dialogue consists of “hee hee hee” when he’s boasting of his powers to Hikari.
- Here We Go Again!: Defied in the last minute of part 2. After defeating Bemstar in a lengthy and difficult battle, Hikari suddenly noticed yet another Bemstar making its way to Earth. Zoffy tells Hikari to “leave it to Mebius” (implied that is the same Bemstar that would later be killed by Mebius in episode 18 of his own series).
- Heroic BSoD: Hikari had a complete meltdown when he realized he failed to save Planet Aarb from destruction.
- In the Hood: Ultraman King is clad in a face-obscuring hood when Hikari approached him for the first time.
- I Shall Taunt You: During the battle against Babalou on Planet Aarb’s desolated surface, Babalou spends much of the time taunting Ultraman Hikari gleefully.
- Left Stuck After Attack: Happens to Hikari twice in the series.
- When trying to slash Bogal with his Knight Blade, Hikari accidentally stabs it on the ground, and was attacked by Bogal when trying to pull it out.
- During his battle against Bemstar, Hikari lands a punch into the monster’s Belly Mouth and ends up getting caught in it. Zoffy frees him by landing a kick on Bemstar.
- My Greatest Failure: Ultraman Hikari, unable to save Planet Aarb, broke down in agony on the desolate landscape of the once-beautiful planet.
- Pillar of Light: Ultraman Hikari manage to summon one which shoots into the stratosphere when Ultraman King told Hikari to calm himself down.
- Planet Destroyer: Bogal, who, after turning Aarb into a wasteland, is now targeting Planet Earth.
- The Power of Hate: Hikari’s vengeance and anger towards his failure to save Aarb causes him to turn into his dark side, Hunter Knight Tsurugi.
- Prophecies Are Always Right: The Prophecy of “Tsurugi”, which is the prophesized destruction of Planet Aarb, and the arrival of an armour-clad hero to avenge the planet.
- Telepathy: This is how the citizens of Aarb communicates with Hikari, since they’re living crystal beings.
- You Are Too Late: Seeking for a way to make himself more powerful to prevent the eventual destruction of Aarb, Ultraman Hikari eventually found it when he met Ultraman King. Which is great and all, but then… why is Planet Aarb burning?
Ultraman Mebius Gaiden: Armoured Darkness
- Achilles' Heel: The small crack in Armoured Darkness’ forehead, made when Ultraman Mebius landed a lucky strike. That allows Ryu to dive into it and bond with Hikari, ultimately freeing the Ultra and making it possible to defeat Armoured Darkness in the finale.
- Animated Armor: Armoured Darkness, the evil, sentient armor belonging to Alien Empera. Which is seeking to destroy the world, powered by the residual hatred left behind by his deceased master…
- Antagonist Title: Armoured Darkness is the villain of the story.
- Colony Drop: The MO attempted by Armoured Darkness, which GUYS and Ultraman Mebius are trying to prevent.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: As seen in the flashback, Ultraman Hikari barely stood a chance fighting Armoured Darkness all alone, and is quickly absorbed into it.
- Dragon Ascendant: Alien Empera is dead, but Armnoured Darkness quickly takes over his position as the greatest threat to the galaxy.
- Eat Me: A variation. Ryu attempts to turn the tide of battle by diving into the small crack on Armoured Darkness’ forehead and bond with Ultraman Hikari which is trapped within. He succeeds.
- Glowing Eyes of Doom: Armoured Darkness, whose glaring, piercing gaze from its blood-red eyes clearly indicates its Obviously Evil status.
- Gory Discretion Shot: Ryu getting squashed by Armoured Darkness’ giant fist. He gets better though, thanks to Ultraman King.
- Half the Man He Used to Be: Ultraman Mebius Infinity finally managed to defeat Armoured Darkness by slicing him into half with his own sword. Although the villain gets blown up by an empowered Mebium Shoot before he could fall apart.
- Henshin Hero: Mirai Hibino, Ultrama Mebius in human form, but only in this episode. He’s absent in Hikari Saga, while he didn’t transform onscreen in Ghost Reverse.
- The Power of Friendship: Following the series proper, the unity of bonds between Mirai / Ultraman Mebius is what ultimately allows the Ultra to overcome Armoured Darkness.
- The Power of Hate: The residual hatred and vengeance of Alien Empera is what animates Armoured Darkness into continuing his goal of destroying the universe.
- Tin Tyrant: Armoured Darkness, complete with horned helmet and Spikes of Villainy adorning its exterior.
- Putting the Band Back Together: At the start of the episode, the disbanded GUYS team – Ryu, George, Marina, Teppei, Konomi, and Shingo – re-join their old team after learning of the impending threat caused by Armoured Darkness.
- Sealed Inside a Person-Shaped Can: Ultraman Hikari is sealed in Armoured Darkness for most of the episode.
- Spin to Deflect Stuff: Attempted by Armoured Darkness by spinning his trident in circles, but Hikari managed to stop it by momentarily regaining his consciousness and stopping the villain from within.
- Took a Level in Badass: You know the GUYS crew have improved considerably when the opening scene had them effortlessly destroying the kaiju Saramandora.
Ultraman Mebius Gaiden: Ghost Reverse
- Barehanded Blade Block: Ultraman Mebius single-handedly grabs the possessed Mecha-Zam’s sword with his bare hands. A sword which, as established in an earlier scene, CAN hurt Ultramen.
- Big Damn Heroes: Mecha-Zam arriving just when Mebius is losing a battle against Imperializer.
- Colour-Coded for Your Convenience: Right at the end of the episode when Mecha-Zam gets taken over by Alien Empera, you can tell whether he is in control of his own body, or not, through the colour of his eyes. May it be his natural blue state, or evil red flashes from posession…
- Dark Reprise: A Darker and Edgier version of Ultraman Mebius’ usual theme song will play whenever the episode approaches its Darkest Hour. Notably before Mebius enter the Valley of Flames or during the bridge battle.
- Demonic Possession: Mecha-Zam’s body becomes a vessel for Alien Empera’s soul near the end of the episode, forcing Mebius to perform a last-ditch Mercy Kill.
- Distress Call: The episode opens with the Ultra Brothers on M78 receiving a distress signal from Ultraman Hikari. It soon becomes Lost in Transmission, getting weaker and weaker before fading out
- Disney Death: Mecha-Zam. He gets better for the first time, but after being forcibly taken over by Alien Empera’s soul…
- Dynamic Entry: Yapool, in the form of Mebius Killer, made himself known to the Ultra Brothers by landing a Diving Kick on both Ultraman Ace and Taro across their faces.
- Exactly What It Says on the Tin: The Valley of Flames… is a valley that is constantly surrounded by flames, spewing fireballs 24/7 and with several lava waterfall overhead. Also, it’s guarded by a fire-based kaiju, Ex-Zetton. And can only be entered by Ultramen with flame-based powers, such as Mebius.
- Eye Lights Out: Mecha-Zam, during his supposed death after battling Ex-Zetton.
- Fake Defector: Ultraman Hikari pretends to be in cahoots with the villains, until revealing his true allegiance at the ending.
- Fire and Brimstone Hell: One in a pit, which have the name Valley of Flames, where the Giga Battle-Nizer is kept.
- Grievous Harm with a Body: Mefilas, after realizing he’s cornered by Ultramen and unable to escape, decides to kick Glozam towards Ultraman Hikari and Mebius, knocking the two Ultras over providing the distraction he need to split.
- Half the Man He Used to Be: Imperializer, getting sliced from the waist by Mecha-Zam before blowing up.
- I Will Punish Your Friend for Your Failure: Should Mebius fail to retrieve the Giga Battle-Nizer, Ultraman Ace and Taro will suffer the consequences.
- Late-Arrival Spoiler: Ultraman Hikari is a Fake Defector. Considering the fact that Hikari today plays an important role in later series like Ultra Fight Victory and Ultraman Geed, its pretty obvious that he’s on the side of good.
- MacGuffin Guardian: The Giga-Battlenizer is guarded by an Ex-Zetton, which attacks anything – ultras and aliens alike – that approaches.
- Man on Fire:
- Mecha-Zam, more than once, after being overwhelmed by Ex-Zetton and hit by a cascading waterfall of lava in the Valley of Flames.
- Ultraman Mebius gets subjected to this as well when he gets too close to the fires in the valley. These are “special” flames of alien origin, which can hurt Ultramen, by the way.
- Shout-Out: To Predator, more than once.
- During the battle against Imperializer, the Mechanical Monster attempts to track down Mebius with an Infrared Xray Camera, whose visual graphics resembles the Predator’s sensor from the movie.
- Later, after getting completely possessed by Alien Empera’s soul, the resurrected Mecha-Zam sports Predator-like dreadlocks all over his helmet.
- Stepping Stones in the Sky: Ultraman Mebius and the possessed Mecha-Zam does this when the cliff they’re standing upon blows up.
- Take It to the Bridge: In order to reach the Giga Battle-Nizer, Ultraman Mebius and Mecha-Zam had to cross a bridge suspended over a fiery pit, guarded by an Ex-Zetton. In case anyone’s asking, NO, Mebius cannot just fly across, because of the energy field disrupting his flight powers.
- Sequel Hook: See below.
- The Stinger: The discarded Giga-Battlenizer being grabbed by an Alien Zarab. This is the very same Zarab that attempts to free Ultraman Belial in the start of Mega Monster Battle: Ultra Galaxy Legends, setting up the events of the next movie.
- Unspoken Plan Guarantee: Ultraman Hikari is pretending to be allied with the villains, which he managed to inform Mebius simply by nodding briefly at the latter. And somehow Ultraman Ace and Taro knew about this plan too, because... its All According to Plan?
- A plan that involves shoving poor Mebius into the hellish pit known as the Valley of Flames, getting the snot beaten out of him by an extremely powerful Ex-Zetton, risk getting himself incinerated, barely escape a collapsing cavern of flames with just an inch of his life remaining, before likely having the villains break their promise and beat Mebius down some more (which really did happen), hinging on hoping the villains don't kill Mebius after he got out (yes, they have Hikari secretly on their side, but who can guarantee Mefilas or Glozam wouldn't suddenly whip out their concealed blades and run it through Mebius' guts the moment he gets out?)... which the other Ultra Brothers are somehow okay with it. What the Hell, Hero?
- Unwilling Suspension: Ultraman Hikari is subjected to this when Ultraman Ace and Taro try to find him. Later on, Ultraman Ace and Taro took over Hikari’s place when Mebius arrives.
- Worf Had the Flu: Ultraman Ace and Taro are unable to use their powers to the fullest when they located Hikari in the Monster Graveyard, because the energy field is badly interfering with their powers, which results in them getting defeated and captured by the Four Heavenly Kings. When Hikari uses the Giga Battle-Nizer to neutralize the energy field, all the Ultras are able to turn the tides around and deliver a Curb-Stomp Battle to the villains.
- You Don't Look Like You: The Four Heavenly Kings may be revived, but not all of them look like their usual selves from the show. Alien Mefilas now wears armour, while Yapool now lives in Mebius Killer’s body.
