Jikiro
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Jikiro (ジキロ Jikiro) is a magnetic mecha created by Toho that appeared in episode 1 of the 1973 tokusatsu kaiju series Zone Fighter, titled "Destroy the Terror-Beast Missile!". He would later make a reappearance as the upgraded Super Jikiro during episode 22, "Counterattack! Defeat Super Jikiro", before making his final appearance back in his regular form in episode 25, "Carnage! Zone & Godzilla vs. the Allied Terror-Beast Forces".
Design
Jikiro resembles a robotic reptile, and has a hunched back, resulting in his head being over his chest. His head is reptilian in appearance and has two red metal horns on its sides, with an additional third horn underneath his jaw. The top of his body has two pylons rising out of it. His left hand can open as a pair of claws but also functions as a magnet, and his right hand has a four barreled gatling gun instead of fingers. Jikiro also has what looks like a giant red screw protruding from the top of his body. Just underneath this 'screw' is a large yellow lamp, which is between the two pylons. Jikiro's body is mostly a metallic silver, but his kneecaps and elbow-plating are red. Jikiro also possesses a moderate sized tail that flashes yellow when using his Magnetic Ray, with the middle section of it having supports that start with springs that end with a black rectangular piece.
History
- Zone Fighter (TV 1973) [episodes 1, 22, and 25]
Showa era
Zone Fighter
"Destroy the Terror-Beast Missile!"
While a disguised Garoga reported to the Baron Garoga that he had successfully captured Hikaru, the Baron congratulated his subordinate and stated that he would send a Terror-Beast Missile containing Jikiro down to Earth from the Garoga Space Station to ensure the destruction of the Zone Family. Hikaru and his family eventually escaped captivity, but shortly after he destroyed the Garoga amalgamation Red Spark in his giant Zone Fighter form, Jikiro's Terror-Beast Missile arrived on Earth, opening up and releasing a capsule before exploding, revealing the mecha.
Jikiro parachuted to the ground and was immediately confronted by Zone Fighter. Jikiro roared wildly while slowly advancing towards the hero. Unwilling to wait any longer, Zone Fighter charged towards Jikiro before being floored by the mecha's Magnetic Ray. After seeing the hero stunned on the ground, Jikiro used his magnetism to pull over an oil tank and radio tower before igniting them with his Magnetic Ray. Jikiro then repeatedly used his magnetism powers to draw Zone Fighter close to him, battering him to the ground each time. During the battle, Jikiro noticed a Boeing 747 flying by, and with Zone Fighter injured and low on energy, magnetically drew it closer to him. However, Zone was able to stop Jikiro just in time, knocking the mecha to the ground and safely catching and launching the plane back into the air. This bold action caused Fighter's Zone Meter to turn red, indicating that he only had 110 seconds left to fight Jikiro. As the fight continued, Zone Angel and Zone Junior came to his aid, with the siblings summoning the hidden aircraft Smokey to help their older brother and promptly boarding it. Meanwhile, Jikiro continued to toss around Zone Fighter with his magnetism, before Zone Great intervened and severed the machine's left hand with Bolt Thunder. With Jikiro on the ground in pain, Angel and Junior flew Smokey close to Zone Fighter in order to recharge his energy via Zone Marker Change. Thus invigorated, Fighter delivered a thorough pummeling to the Garogan mecha. He then summoned his Meteor Gauntlets and cut off Jikiro's tail with one volley of his Meteor Missile Might attack. Flying off his body, Jikiro's tail landed in Fighter's hands. The hero tossed it back at the mecha, who had turned around, attempting to run away, before firing a second volley which exploded Jikiro into pieces.
"Counterattack! Defeat Super Jikiro"
- Main article: Super Jikiro.
The Garogas used Jikiro's wreckage to create a more powerful variant called Super Jikiro; though this mech pushed Zone Fighter to its limits, the hero ultimately destroyed it as well.
"Carnage! Zone & Godzilla vs. the Allied Terror-Beast Forces"
After the failure of Super Jikiro, the mecha was returned back to his normal form and was involved in another plot by the Garogas to destroy the Zone Family. This time, he was sent out of a Terror-Beast Missile alongside Mogranda, Spideros, Garoborg, and Kabutogirah. As the Terror-Beast collective roared amongst themselves, a Garoga UFO flew over them and landed near a hidden mountain base in Okutama. The Garogas brought these Terror-Beasts in an attempt to overwhelm the Zone Family so that their conquest of Earth could finally begin. In order for their sudden appearances to remain secret, the mountain base suddenly expelled a funnel that began emitting gas to shrink them down and sucked them into the base. After all the kaiju were placed inside capsules, the Garoga general in charge set loose his troops disguised as mailmen, having them place the capsules in spots that were inconspicuous and hard to find. Nonetheless, Mogranda, Detragon, and Shadorah's capsules were found by Yoichiro and Tsukiko inside trash cans in front of their home. Yoichiro scanned the capsules, determining their contents and that they would explode and release the kaiju in three hours. Hikaru went off to find more capsules and was forced to transform and fight Kabutogirah after the latter's capsule exploded, killing the kaiju after a brief battle and returning back to human size. However, the time he spent fighting Kabutogirah allowed Jikiro, Spideros, and Garoborg's capsules to explode, releasing all three of them. After noticing Fighter, the trio targeted him, with Jikiro firing his Light Bullets at the hero, blowing up the ground beneath him. However, Jikiro's rampage would not be long as Zone Angel and Zone Junior arrived in Smokey to help Zone Fighter, with the aircraft firing a beam at the mecha and severing the large screw-like protrusion on his back. Enraged by this, Jikiro destroyed a hill by kicking it, sending boulders towards Fighter, pinning the hero under rubble and leaving him unable to transform. Despite this, Jikiro fell to Smokey after a second beam impacted him, causing him to disappear after lights flashed across his body, ending the mecha's reign of terror for a third time.
Abilities
Physical abilities
During his first fight in "Destroy the Terror-Beast Missile!", Jikiro was able to knock Zone Fighter to the ground with just a backhanded strike. After attracting Zone Fighter with his magnet hand, he was able to restrain the hero before throwing him to the ground, doing this numerous times during the fight. While pulling down an airliner with his left hand, he repeatedly opened and shut it like a claw.
For his reappearance in "Carnage! Zone & Godzilla vs. the Allied Terror-Beast Forces", Jikiro kicked a hill and caused it to shatter, sending tons of boulders at a human sized Zone Fighter, with one of them crushing him and leaving him pinned.
Magnetism
"Destroy the Terror-Beast Missile!" and Toho Special Effects All Monster Encyclopedia mention that both of Jikiro's wrists contain a strong magnetic force, being able to draw up to 5,000 metric tons of metal. Using this power, Jikiro was able to pull an oil tank and a pylon out of the ground, rapidly draw in a passing airliner, and was even able to attract Zone Fighter himself. Both of Jikiro's hands display magnetic powers, although the left hand appears to be stronger, capable of pulling the 55,000 metric ton Zone Fighter with ease on multiple occasions; when using his left hand to attract objects, Jikiro often performs a circular motion with his right hand.
Magnetic Ray
Jikiro is also able to shoot a jolt of yellow high-voltage lightning called the Magnetic Ray (磁気光線 Jiki Kosen) from the Gatling gun barrels on his right hand. The Magnetic Ray enveloped Zone Fighter in a yellow light and floored him, also blowing up a fuel container Jikiro attracted with his magnet hand. Jikiro's tail flashes yellow before firing the lightning. According to All Kaiju Kaijin (First Volume), the hand is referred to as Magnetic Ray Gun (磁気光線銃 Jiki Kosen Ju).
Parachute
Both times he was deployed, Jikiro fell from the skies with a parachute to help his descent to the Earth after being launched from the Terror-Beast Missile. The parachute detached from Jikiro's body after landing.
Light Bullets
Jikiro's right hand is a four-barreled Gatling gun. In "Carnage! Zone & Godzilla vs. the Allied Terror-Beast Forces", he fired light bullets at Zone Fighter while he was in his human-sized form, blowing up part of the ground and launching Zone forwards.
Capsule
In "Carnage! Zone & Godzilla vs. the Allied Terror-Beast Forces", Jikiro could be shrunken down and placed inside of a capsule in order to avoid detection from the Zone Family. After three hours, the capsule exploded, releasing him.
Durability
All Kaiju Kaijin (First Volume) states that Jikiro's armor is very powerful. During his first fight with Zone Fighter in "Destroy the Terror-Beast Missile!", the hero's physical attacks only seemed to annoy him. Jikiro first sustained damage after Zone Great fired the Bolt Thunder at his magnet hand, severing it. Unlike Red Spark, Jikiro was able to survive one volley of Zone Fighter's Meteor Missile Might, although it severed his large screw-like tail. The second volley blasted him to pieces.
In "Carnage! Zone & Godzilla vs. the Allied Terror-Beast Forces", a beam from Smokey severed the screw-like attachment on his back. A second beam from Smokey caused several spots of light to litter Jikiro's body, before the mecha disappeared.
Gallery
- Main article: Jikiro/Gallery.
Roar
Jikiro uses altered metallic-sounding Kamacuras screeches mixed with King Kong's roars.
Trivia
- Jikiro is the heaviest Terror-Beast, weighing 95,000 metric tons. The second-heaviest, Zandora, weighs in at 91,000 metric tons.
References
This is a list of references for Jikiro. These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: [1]
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