Jet Jaguar (ジェットジャガー Jettojagā?) is a heroic mecha created by Toho that first appeared in the 1973 Godzilla film, Godzilla vs. Megalon.
Design[]
Development[]
Red Alone as seen in Godzilla 1954-1999 Super Complete Works
Jet Jaguar was the result of a contest Toho had in mid-to-late 1972 for fans to come up with a new hero for them to use, to capitalize on the many tokusatsu, anime superhero and super robot shows that were very popular at the time.
The winner of the contest submitted the drawing of a robot called Red Alone (レッド·アローン Reddo Arōn?). The robot resembled both Ultraman and Mazinger Z (both of which were very popular). The robot's design was altered and it was renamed "Jet Jaguar" and was set to star in its own film, titled Jet Jaguar vs. Megalon, which pit him against Megalon.
However, Toho figured Jet Jaguar would not be able to carry the film on his own, in screen appearance or marketing value, so during pre-production, the project was shut down for several weeks, until screenwriter Shinichi Sekizawa was called in to rewrite the script to add Godzilla and Gigan. The resulting film, Godzilla vs. Megalon, paired Godzilla with Jet Jaguar against both Megalon and Gigan.
Roar[]
Jet Jaguar doesn't possess a roar, but instead, unleashes a bunch of mechanical or electronic sounds during his screentime.
Personality[]
It is revealed that Jet Jaguar gained sentience and is capable of altering his programming in Godzilla: Unleashed. Jet Jaguar fights to protect others, and acts very much like a superhero. When not fighting, he is shown to be very friendly towards others, offering handshakes, and even carrying a child on his shoulders.
Origins[]
In Godzilla vs. Megalon, Jet Jaguar was created by scientist Goro Ibuki.
History[]
Godzilla vs. Megalon[]
Jet Jaguar was a human-sized robot created by inventor Goro Ibuki for unknown reasons. Having been stolen by the underground nation of Seatopia, Jet Jaguar's mission was to guide Megalon to Tokyo so the insect kaiju could destroy it. Eventually, however, Goro regained control of Jet Jaguar and sent him to fetch Godzilla from Monster Island. As Godzilla made his way to Japan, Jet Jaguar flew back to the mainland and faced Megalon.
Increasing his size to fifty meters, Jet Jaguar attacked Megalon and was winning the battle until the cyborg Gigan arrived to provide Megalon some back-up. The two evil beasts were too much for Jet Jaguar, who was beaten senseless until Godzilla arrived. After a long fight, Godzilla and Jet Jaguar were able to defeat their foes, sending Megalon back to Seatopia and Gigan back into outer space. After the fight, Jet Jaguar reverted to his normal size, and returned to his home with Goro.
Abilities[]
Jet Jaguar lifting Gigan in Godzilla vs. Megalon
Flight speed[]
The 2014 Godzilla video game states that Jet Jaguar can fly at mach 3.5.
Floodlights[]
Jet Jaguar's eyes also contain two spotlights, and he uses these to blind opponents or search for nearby humans or kaiju.
Physical prowess[]
He is also able to carry incredibly heavy objects and even fly whilst being weighed down by Godzilla riding on his back.
He is also shown to be able to knock Godzilla out with a single blow to the face, despite being struck at point blank range by Godzilla's atomic breath.
Size changing[]
The mechanical hero has the ability to alter his size at will. He has also been shown growing larger than his film appearance in the Atari trilogy, rivaling Biollante's height, but being this size makes him very slow.
COMJAM[]
During developments, Jet Jaguar was planned to emit COMJAM, but was not made into movie.
Light Beam, Blade and Homing Missles[]
Outside of his film appearances he can fire beams from his arms along within missiles, similarly to Ultraman. In Godzilla: Save the Earth, the beam is rather sphere-shaped. In one of old stills, Jet Jaguar was seen using a sword of light.
Video games[]
Godzilla: Trading Battle[]
In Godzilla: Trading Battle Jet Jaguar can release an "explosion breath" from his mouth.
Godzilla: Save the Earth[]
Jet Jaguar has also appeared in the video game Godzilla: Save the Earth and Godzilla: Unleashed, where he can increase his size further to 1.5 times normal kaiju size.
Godzilla: Unleashed[]
His most impressive modification has been his ability to change his own size-allowing him to grow large enough to dwarf monsters such as Godzilla. Unfortunately, Jet Jaguar cannot maintain his enormous size indefinitely, and must periodically rest to regain his energies.
Jet Jaguar is a reserve member of the Global Defense Force-heroically protecting humanity whenever it is threatened by monstrous threats.
In Godzilla: Unleashed, he can release a concentrated blast of energy from his wrists, and from the game's predecessor, Jet Jaguar can spin himself around at extreme speeds, creating a deadly tornado; and while in his smallest combat form, Jet Jaguar has a Reflection Shield put up at all times, meaning that he can't be harmed by weapons, and can even perform a Weapon Reflect, in which he can block a weapon to bounce it back at its source.
Godzilla (2014 video game)[]
Eventually, though, its built-in conscience began to kick in, causing it to become self-aware and autonomous. It grew in size in order to protect humankind, joining Godzilla to fight off the insect monster Megalon. The defeat of the sea kingdom resulted in Jet-Jaguar losing its self-awareness and returning to its regular size.
This, the first giant robot hero in the series, was based on "Red Alone", the winning entry in Toho's official monster design contest. However, the entry design did not have a robot face, and it also had wings on its back.
In the PS3 version, Jet Jaguar appears as a boss in Area 12 on Stage 5 if the G-Generators are not destroyed fast enough. He may also appear on other levels as a random boss. He attacks using melee attacks. He has a custom theme, and a cutscene of him shaking Godzilla's hand is played after he is defeated three times.
In the PS4 version, he can be encountered on 3 stages with special conditions. He can also only be encountered the first time as Godzilla. If the player destroys the area to between 50% and 65%, and then destroys the generator, Jet Jaguar will appear. He can appear in:
- Stage 1 of Area 1
- Stage 4 of Area 7
- Stage 5 of Area 16
The destruction level applies for all areas.
Moveset[]
| Square | One tap: Right Chop Two taps: Left Chop Three taps: Headbutt |
| X | Tap: Dash Backward + Tap: Backflip Right/Left + Tap: Left Right Step Tap + Triangle: Sliding |
| Triangle | Tap: Dropkick Roar + Tap: Somersault |
| Circle | Tap: Flying Tackle Roar + Tap: Moon Somersault |
| R2 | Tap: Shrunken Flight |
Godzilla: Kaiju Collection[]
Jet Jaguar appeared within the mobile title Godzilla: Kaiju Collection.
Trivia[]
- Jet Jaguar's design, and a number of his abilities such as the power to grow giant-sized, were based on Ultraman from the 1966 television series, Ultraman.
- Although he does not appear in the Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters series, Jet Jaguar is referenced in Godzilla: Monster Apocalypse; a type of battle armor called "Type-38 Mobile Combat Uniform Jaguar Japan Specification," or "Jaguar J" for short, is created by the Earth Union through Bilusaludo-derived technology.
- For the German release of Godzilla vs. Megalon, Jet Jaguar was renamed to King Kong. However, there is no connection to the real King Kong beyond his name.
- Another error occured with the film's Spanish release with him being called "Superman".
- The popular anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion paid homage to Jet Jaguar in the episode "A Human Work"; the episode featured a robot named "Jet Alone", a combination of his final and prototype names. Jet Alone also shares a similar color scheme with Jet Jaguar.
- Jet Jaguar's Unleashed bio references his origins in Godzilla vs. Megalon, but doesn't state the reason why he was made from the film.
- Jet Jaguar has a song about him played during the conclusion of Godzilla vs. Megalon.
List of appearances[]
Films[]
- Godzilla vs. Megalon (First appearance)
Video games[]
- Battle Soccer: Champion of the Field
- Godzilla, King of the Monsters
- Godzilla Movie Studio Tour
- Godzilla: Trading Battle
- Godzilla Generations
- Godzilla: Save the Earth
- Godzilla: Unleashed (Wii and PS2)
- Godzilla Unleashed: Double Smash
- Godzilla (2014 video game)
- Godzilla: Kaiju Collection
Books[]
- Godzilla 1954-1999 Super Complete Works (As Red Alone)
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Official Godzilla Compendium. Profiles of the Monsters; Page 129.
