Real
Name: Jirahs JIRAHS
Real
Name: Jirahs
Identity/Class: Alternate reality (Earth-91947) mecha
Occupation: Weapon
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Professor Nikaido, H. Nakamjima, J.A.D.F. (Joint Armed Disclosure Front)
Enemies: Zumbolar, Ultraman (Ulta & Shin Hayata), USP (United Science Patrol: Matushiro Ide, others)
Known Relatives: "Star Bem Gyeron" (previous prototype - see comments)
Aliases: J.A.D.F. Prototype 03
Base of Operations: Iceland
First Appearance: (original) "The Mysterious
Dinosaur Base", Ultraman Episode 10 (18th September 1966);
(Marvel) The Trials of Ultraman#3 (July 2021)
Powers/Abilities: Jirahs was gigantic and very
strong, presumably somewhere in the Class 100 range. It was also very
durable, and would likely have been able to withstand most conventional
weapons, given it took hits from both Ultraman and Zumbolar and kept
going. It possessed sharp teeth and claws. It could fire a blue energy
out its mouth - perhaps fire or electricity; since an internal display
listed this as a "primary power beam" there was presumably at least one
additional energy weapon available. A pilot rode in the cockpit, located
in the top half of the head. It was designed to
be amphibious, as an internal display within the cockpit mentioned
aquatic propulsion systems.
Height: Unrevealed; between 60' and 80' (by
approximation, see comments)
Weight: Unrevealed
Eyes: Yellow (no visible pupil or iris)
Hair: None
History:
(The Rise of Ultraman#1 (fb) - BTS) - Since at least the 1960s Earth had
been endangered by Kaiju, interdimensional monsters drawn to negative
emotions, and protected by the United Science Patrol, and in more recent
years the hero Ultraman.
(The Trials of Ultraman#1 - BTS) - After decades operating
in the shadows, the USP revealed their existence, and the existence of
Kaiju, to the public.
(The Trials of Ultraman#2 - BTS) - The Joint Armed Disclosure Front (JADF) were a group of conspiracy theorists who believed the Kaiju weren't genuine monsters, but were manufactured.
(The Trials of
Ultraman#3 (fb) - BTS) - The JADF believed the Kaiju were a
hoax manufactured by the governments of the world; various theories were
floated as to why, but the one that took strongest hold was that they
were an invented danger to justified increased taxation and government
control. One proponent of this theory, Professor Nikaido, was both a
gifted inventor and had access to advanced technology developed by his
former employer, the tech billionaire Katsuichiro Kato.
(The Trials of Ultraman#2
- BTS) - To prove that Kaiju could be manufactured he created a robotic
prototype (see comments) and delivered it to a JADF cell in New
Zealand, where it was soon encountered and destroyed by Ultraman.
(The Trials of Ultraman#3 (fb) - BTS) - However by that time Nikaido, assisted by other engineers and funded by donations from thousands of believers around the world, had within a month already created a larger, much improved mechanical Kaiju, this one piloted by a human in a cockpit located within its skull.
(The Trials
of Ultraman#3 (fb)) - He sent out a video inviting people to
come to Iceland for a special event where he would unveil his proof
that Kaiju were just a hoax, in the form of his mech Jirahs.
(The Trials of
Ultraman#4) - Since building a mecha Kaiju broke no actual laws
the USP decided to just send in some agents to monitor the situation,
including Ultraman's human identity Shin Hayata. While he stayed aboard
their plane flying overhead with scientist Matsuhiro Ide, two of his
fellow agents, Kiki Fuji and Ureo Ichinotani, were sent in undercover
among the several dozen attendees who had made their way to Iceland.
However, they were quickly exposed as USP members by Nikaido, and some
of the JADF supporters present held them at gunpoint while Nikaido
hinted at having Jurahs eliminate them. In response Hayata jumped from
his aircraft but on the way down his Ultra senses spotted
extradimensional energies beneath the ice nearby, telltale signs of a
Kaiju. Realizing that the needed to get the mecha away from the crowd,
Hayata changed into Ultraman and smashed Jirahs as he reached the
ground. While the crowd began to scatter, believing wrongly that the USP
intended to kill them all to hide "the truth," Jirahs faced off against
Ultraman then charged and began grappling. Over radio Ide advised
Ultraman that the previous robot's power source had been located around
the central spine, and while directly striking that might cause a very
large explosion, it was likely there would be a conduit between the
shoulder blades. Ripping a giant ice spike from the ground, Ultraman
stabbed Jirahs in the upper back, triggering a massive energy discharge,
but this woke from its age-long slumber beneath the ice the real Kaiju
that Ultraman had sensed, a being the records identified as Zumbolar the
walking inferno. Living up to its name, the behemoth unleashed a blast
of intense heat straight at Jirahs, engulfing the upper half of the
mecha.
(The Trials of Ultraman#5)
- The damage Jirahs had sustained allowed Ide to obtain additional
scan data, and he relayed to Ultraman that the fake Kaiju was not a
robot but a mecha, meaning there was a pilot inside that needed to be
saved before Zumbolar ripped Jirahs apart. At the same time Zumbolar
was doing its very best to do exactly that, and had smashed Jirahs to
the ground. Ultraman hauled Zumbolar off the mecha, giving Jirahs the
opportunity to get climb back on its feet, then immediately started
attacking its savior, biting him on the arm. Observing the conflict
from a (relatively) safe distance, Kiki listed as Ide recounted
Icelandic legends of Zumbolar, and deduced that the Kaiju hated
man-made technology, had thus had been awoken by the presence of the
mecha, and might go back to sleep if Jirahs was eliminated.
Accordingly she radioed Ultraman and instructed him to take out Jirahs
first.
Turning his attention to the mecha, Ultraman
evaded its fiery breath and smashed its jaw apart, destroying the
cockpit. After lifting the shocked pilot out, placing him on a rocky
outcrop and telling him to get to safety, Ultraman turned back to
Jirahs and ripped its mechanical spine out, finishing it off. With the
mecha destroyed, Zumbolar lost interest and turned to walk away, but
its attention was drawn back to the robotic remains when the exposed
power core began beeping ominously. Ultraman pulled it free, and
Zumbolar seemed to be placated and began heating the ice beneath
itself, melting itself back under the surface to resume its
interrupted sleep. Aware that the much smaller power core of the
previous mechanical Kaiju had caused a massive explosion, Ultraman
hastily flew into the sky then punted the core as far up into the
atmosphere as he could, just before it detonated.
Comments: Created for the Ultraman TV series by writer Tetsuo Kinjo, special effects director Koichi Takano and suit actor Haruo Nakajima, based on a concept by Eiji Tsuburaya to do a Godzilla vs. Ultraman battle. Adapted into Marvel by Kyle Higgins, Matt Groom and Francesco Manna.
First appearing in the Ultraman TV series,
Jirahs was quite literally Godzilla wearing a frill, as the creature
suit was a constructed from two different movie-used Godzilla suits -
the head from 1965's Invasion of the Astro-Monster and the body from
1964's Mothra vs. Godzilla - on loan from Toho Studios and worn by the
actor who portrayed Godzilla in the first twelve Godzilla movies. The
special effects people just added some gold paint, dorsal fins and big
yellow frill round its neck. In its initial TV series the monster is an
artificially created Kaiju made by Professor Nikaido, though unlike the
Marvel version the TV one isn't a mech but a biological being.
The prototype Kaiju that Ultraman destroyed in New Zealand isn't given a name in the Trials of Ultraman comic, but is based on Star Bem Gyeron from the original Ultraman TV series.
Estimating Jirahs' height is tricky. We get
very few usable reference shots against any other characters, There's a
shot of his creator standing in front of him (see top image), but
there's a good distance between them, and Jirahs' lower legs aren't
visible, so the best we can get from that is that the mecha is probably
at least ten times bigger than the man. There are images of him standing
toe-to-toe with Ultraman (see top left image), and we saw in Ultraman X
Avengers that he's about the height of Galactus, who is officially
around 30' tall, BUT can and does regularly change size, as does
Ultraman, and in the same shot both of them are towering over Japanese
skyscrapers, none of which are identifiable as real landmarks with known
heights, but which are definitely way bigger than 30'. Finally, we see
when Jirahs' cockpit is ripped open that it and the pilot appear to take
up most of the upper half of the skull, the section above the open jaw.
For what it's worth, the original TV version of Jirahs was 45 meters
tall, or around 147 feet.
This profile was completed on 09/26/2026, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 25th anniversary's celebratory event to represent
Profile by Loki.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Jirahs has no known connections to:
|
H. Nakajima was the pilot of Jirahs. Even when
attacked by both Ultraman and Zumbolar, with Jirahs sustaining
serious damage, he was confident his mecha was more than a match
for them, at least somewhat fueled by his staunch belief that
the other Kaiju was fake. When Ultrman turned to focus on Jirahs
instead of Zumbolar Nakajima decided to unleash his mecha's
energy weapon on the hero, but that didn't prevent Ultraman from
smashing Jirahs' cockpit open and removing Nakajima from the
remains. Comments: This character is named for Haruo
Nakajima, the actor who not only played several kaiju in the
Ultraman series including Jirahs, but also portrayed Godzilla
from the original 1954 movie through until 1972's Godzilla vs.
Gigan, a total of twelve movies. So Jirahs is being piloted by
the man who "piloted" the character in the TV version. --(bts) Trials of Ultraman#3, 4; (seen) Trials
of Ultraman#5
|
|
Nikaido was once an extremely talented engineer
working for Katsuichiro Kato. How or why he left Kato's company
remains unrevealed, though it may have been in response to the
USP going public and revealing the existence of Kaiju. Now
calling himself Professor, despite never having held any formal
position at any university, he became a spokesman for those who
believed that the Kaiju were faked so governments could have an
excuse to raise taxes, even appearing on news programs to state
this claim. He also secretly worked on constructing mechanical
Kaiju to prove that the creatures could be man-made fakes, and
supplied a prototype to a JADF group in New Zealand. Working
with other like-minded engineers and funded by donations from
thousands of fellow believers he built a more powerful
mechanical Kaiju, Jirahs, this time to be piloted by a human,
and held an unveiling in Iceland, having invited JADF believers
to attend via internet videos that Kato intercepted and relayed
to the USP. Even after witnessing Ultraman and Zumbolar battle
and destroy Jirahs, he refused to accept that the Kaiju were
real. Comments: Like Jirahs, Professor Nikaido
also originated in the Ultraman TV series, appearing in the same
episode the monster debuted as its creator. Nikaido, alias
Doctor Nakamura, was played by actor Jun Haichi. In Trials of Ultraman#1 Nikaido is
only seen on a TV screen hosting a Youtube video, and has a
beard and mustache (see below); in #3 he's again shown on a
video display, this time with stubble. When he actually appears
in #4 and 5, he's clean shaven and almost not recognizable as
the same man, were it not for him being explicitly named as
Nikaido in each instance. If not an artistic error (maybe the
writer failed to explain to the artist that it was meant to be
the same guy?), then it's a slightly bizarre choice. If it is
intentional, then perhaps it is another homage to the TV
version, as in the episode in question his false identity as
Nakamura had a fake beard (part of a full face mask) which was
peeled off for a dramatic reveal of his true identity towards
the end of the episode. --Trials of Ultraman#1 (2-5
|
images: (without ads)
The Trials of Ultraman#3, p20, pan1 (main image)
The
Trials of Ultraman#4, p18, pan1 (grappling with Ultraman)
The Trials of
Ultraman#5, p2-3 spread (tackled by Zumbolar)
The
Trials of Ultraman#5, p7, pan3 (blue fiery breath)
The Trials of
Ultraman#5, p7, pan4 (jaw smashed by
Ultraman)
Publicity
shot from Ultraman TV series episode 10 (TV Jirahs vs TV Ultraman)
The
Trials of Ultraman#5, p1, pan3
(headshot of Nakajima)
The
Trials of Ultraman#5, p8, pan1 (Nakajima emerging from
the cockpit)
The Trials of
Ultraman#4, p11, pan4 (Nikaido, red shirt and earpiece)
The Trials of Ultraman#3, p18, pan6 (Nikaido, on screen with
stubble, green jacket with white lapels)
The Trials of Ultraman#1, p14, pan2 (Nikaido in white
lab coat)
Appearances:
The Trials of Ultraman#3-5
(July-September 2021) - Kyle Higgins, Matt Groom (writers),
Francesco Manna (art), Tom Brevoort (editor)
First Posted: 09/28/2026
Last updated: 09/26/2026
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel
Copyright
info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™ and © 1941-2099
Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you like this stuff, you
should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com
Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!
H. Nakajima
