Ultraman Hayata

Ultraman was the first being from Nebula M78 to appear on Earth. He had captured the monster Bemlar (also called "Bemura" or "Bemular" in some references) and was returning him to the Space Graveyard (a.k.a. the "Monster Graveyard") when he collided with a Beetle ship from the Scientific Investigation Agency (a.k.a. the "Science Patrol"). The ship's pilot, Hayata, was nearly killed in the collision. Indeed, he would've died, if Ultraman had not shared his life-force with him. From that point forward, whenever Hayata used the Beta Capsule (a cylindrical device), he would become Ultraman.

Ultraman had numerous powers, including the Specium beam fired from his crossed hands, a cutting energy ring, an anti-gravity power, and even a universal fire extinguishing liquid. Ultraman could also fly, as could all the other Ultra-heroes. Ultraman rarely appeared in any form smaller than his standard 200-foot size, although he did shrink himself down to human size once.

Ultraman has a "warning light" or "ColorTimer" on his chest. This light started blinking after a few minutes of activity, warning Ultraman that his energy was being depleted. Because the amount of solar energy that enters Earth's atmosphere is less than what Ultraman requires, Ultraman could only survive in Earth's atmosphere for a handful of minutes at a time. The warning light also changed colors as the blinking sped up. As the announcer would intone, "if the warning light should stop blinking, it would mean that Ultraman would never rise again."

Ultraman was eventually defeated by the monster Zetton, who shot a fireball that damaged Ultraman's warning light. Ultraman collapsed. Zetton was defeated by the Science Patrol, but Ultraman was still apparently dead. Suddenly another being who closely resembled Ultraman appeared. It was Zoffy, Ultraman's commanding officer. Zoffy explained to Ultraman that only his warning light was damaged, but he would have to return to Nebula M78 to get it repaired. Zoffy then separated Hayata from Ultraman, granting Hayata enough power to survive for a short time; in order for Hayata to continue living, however, he would have to be rejoined with Ultraman. The series ended before we saw this happen.

One bit of trivia here involves the actor inside the Ultraman costume. He was Bin Furaya, who later portrayed Amagi, part of the Ultra Garrison in Ultraseven.

For more information, check out Marc Miyake's Ultraman text