Ultraman

Ultraman ウルトラマン, (Urutoraman) is a heroic resident of the Land of Light (an Ultra) created by Tsuburaya Productions who first appeared in the 1966 Tokusatsu television series Ultraman. Ultraman is by far the most popular creation of Tsuburaya Productions to date, and his debut went on to create countless sequel series, each introducing a new Ultra of their own.

Appearance
Ultraman sets a standard for almost all the Ultras who appear in the Ultra Franchise after him. Ultraman is a tall and muscular humanoid with metallic silver skin coloured with red markings. Ultraman's head has a curved crest which connects to his spine. At the centre of his chest is a circular lamp, the Colour Timer. This is the most symbolic feature of Ultraman's biology, as it acts as an indicator to how much strength he has. It starts off glowing in a rich cyan colour, but as his health depletes without access to cosmic energy (which is unfortunately filtered away by Earth's atmosphere), it turns a solid red, then begins to blink, sounding an alarm as it does so. When Ultraman's energy runs out (either due to passing more than 3 minutes on Earth's surface or by being beaten to a standstill, the alarm increases in pitch and speed, before stopping completely, followed by the Colour Timer going out. As this happens, Ultraman's white eyes begin to flash, and then go dark.

Ultraman
In his debut, Ultraman is revealed to be a galactic crusader who travels from planet to planet, seeking universal justice and peace. In Episode 1, Ultra Operation No.1, Ultraman is pursuing Bemular, an escapee from the Monster Graveyard, home to the resting spirits of defeated and Aliens. As Ultraman's travel sphere rocketed through the atmosphere of Earth in pursuit of Bemular's own travel sphere, it collided with a ship belonging to the SSSP, killing Shin Hayata in the collision. Feeling remorse for causing the human to lose their life, Ultraman merges his life force with Hayata, fully reviving him. Ultraman then decides to defend Earth from all manner of threats alongside the SSSP, appearing whenever Hayata activates the Beta Capsule. This continues until the Zettonians arrive with their vanguard, Zetton. Severely outmatched, Ultraman is left on death's door until Zoffy, his superior, came to rescue him. Realising that he needed to return to his home planet, Zoffy stated that they needed to leave Earth, but Ultraman insisted to Zoffy that Hayata be spared, as the two still shared their life force, and leaving Earth would result in Hayata dying. Ultraman even suggests that he would remain on Earth and die from the lack of energy, if it meant that the human would not die alongside him. After a pause for thought, Zoffy agrees to save Hayata, and fully restores his life, but removes his memory - a fact that would later be retconned in subsequent entries in the franchise. Zoffy then departs for the Land of Light, carrying an unconscious Ultraman with him.

Abilities
Ultraman is famous for his vast amounts of abilities, the most famous of which is his Specium Ray, a beam composed of an energetic cosmic element called Specium. Ultraman can also fire blades of energy called the Ultra Slash, and fire jets of water from his hands, called the Ultra Shower.

Trivia

 * Godzilla has indeed faced Ultraman in officially licensed media, although this happened in a fantasy soccer video game (Banpresto's Battle Soccer).
 * The fourth Ultra Brother, Ultraman Jack, was originally the same as Ultraman, being nicknamed New Ultraman. However, Ultraman himself appeared mid-season in The Return of Ultraman, making Jack a different Ultra altogether. Much later, a discussion by Tsuburaya Productions in 1984 (long after The Return of Ultraman's original run) officially changed his name to 'Ultraman Jack', with the two being considered different characters. However, Jack was still nicknamed as 'New Man' for a while after being given an official name. Jack looks almost exactly like Ultraman, except for the fact that he has a slightly longer crest and striped markings on his torso.
 * Several other Ultras, including those from foreign markets such as the United States and Australia, bear a direct resemblance to Ultraman, including Ultraman Great, Ultraman Powered and Ultraman Neos.
 * The three original Ultraman suits were made from several pieces of latex glued together over a thin foam pad, and later over a fiberglass "skull".