Zone Fighter

Zone Fighter (also known as the Meteor Man) is the superhero form of Hikaru Sakimori - a friendly alien living in Japan on Earth with his family. His family includes his younger brother and sister, his parents and his grandfather.

Zone Fighter's adventures are recognized as been canon to the Godzilla Showa era movies - with them taking place between Godzilla vs. Megalon and Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla. Furthermore, Zone Fighter and his family are notable for been Godzilla's only extraterrestrial allies in the Showa Era.

Information
Hikaru's family were known as the Zone family and originally lived on a planet known as 'Peaceland'. However, they were forced to flee when their world was attacked and destroyed by a race of evil aliens known as the Garoga. The family eventually found Earth, where they settled in Japan and changed their family name to Sakimori in order to fit in with humanity. Hikaru took a job as a test driver for cars, while his sister Hotaru attended high school and his brother Akira attended grade school.

Unfortunately for the family, the Garogas soon made a reappearance - this time intending to conquer Earth - using an army of daikaiju/giant monsters known as Terro-bests/Fearbeasts (which included the alien monsters Gigan and King Ghidorah). In order to try and stop them, the three children use their powers to transform into their superhero forms: Zone Fighter (Hikaru), Zone Angel (Hotaru) and Zone Junior (Akira) respectively by shouting the words "Zone Fight Power" with a Henshin pose. In order to help stop the Garoga from taking over Earth, Hikaru's father Yoichiro (who works as the propertier of of the Toy Research Institute) aids his children by inventing various gadgets and vehicles for his family to use. These include the following:


 * The Mighty Liner: A flying car that Zone Fighter uses. It transforms from a Skyline GT race-car.
 * Smokey: A mini aircraft piloted by Zone Angel and Zone Junior that can hide inside a cloud (hence the name) and fire powerful lasers.
 * Zobot: A small device that can be used as a Walkie Talkie or to take commands to be sent to precise locations which it follows through by flying using jet propulsion - such as when it was used to call Godzilla to Zone Fighter's location.
 * 'Great Raideki' (Thunder Bolt): A satellite that is disguised as a cloud and is used by Hikaru's grandfather Raita (known as 'Zone Great') to attack fearbeasts by striking them with powerful lightning bolts. However, the satellite is powered by Raita's own strength and as such, he cannot use it frequently.
 * Family Spaceship: Used by the family to escape the destruction of their home planet, the family spaceship is sometimes used during Zone Fighter's battles by firing powerful lasers.

In order to battle the Fearbeasts, Zone Fighter is able to transform into a 'giant' form by shouting the words "Zone Double Fight" and possesses a wide range of powers. These include the following:
 * Can fly and travel through space.
 * Uzi Punch: he attacks foes with his fists at incredible speed.
 * Zone Barrier: Creates an energy barrier that can block an enemy's attack.
 * Hyper Barrier: Similar to the Zone barrier, but reflects an opponent's attack back at them. Takes longer to create.
 * Plasma Capsule: Can be released to shock an enemy temporarily.
 * Can move at super speed briefly
 * Can release a subduing mist from his fingers that can temporarily calm an enemy monster.
 * Can release a stream of arrow-like projectiles from his hands that slice through targets.
 * Using a broadcasted image on television, Zone Fighter can teleport.
 * Meteor Proton Beam: Fired from his head, this is often used as a finishing attack.
 * Meteor Missile Might: Bracelets on his wrists that fire powerful missile bursts.
 * Double Anti-Missile Might: Upgraded versions of his Meteor Missile Might bracelets, which can capture enemy missiles and fire them back at their source.

Despite all his powers and abilities, Zone Fighter is not invincible. He can only remain in his 'giant form' for a limited time - with the meter light on his belt changing from Blue (normal) to Yellow (caution) and finally to Red (warning). Thankfully, Zone Fighter's energy can be recharged by using an emergency battery capsule inside Smokey. He was also shown as been capable of recharging using sunlight.

Allies
Although the Zone Family mostly fought against the Garoga and their Fearbeasts on their own, the family did have some allies. One of their human allies was a man named Takeru Jou - an amateur astronomer and model shop owner who came to know the family after unintentionally been involved in one of the Garoga's plots. After helping the Zone family defeat the Garogas during that time he has continued to assist them in any way he can. Despite only been human, Takeru is shown to be very strong - to the point of been able to take on a silver Garoga (the Garoga's henchmen) in close combat.

The Zone family's most recognized ally, however, was Godzilla - the King of the Monsters, and whom the family referred to as "The Monster of Justice". Godzilla first appeared when Zone Fighter was been outmatched by the two fearbeasts, Wargilgar and Spyler. Zone Angel used one of the family's gadgets to summon Godzilla - where he provided some much needed support to the outmatched alien hero. Working together, Godzilla killed Wargilgar using his atomic breath, while Zone Fighter defeated Spyler by first using his Meteor Missile Might - before throwing the creature into the air and destroying him with his Meteor Proton Beam.

Godzilla was later summoned again by the Zone Family as Zone Fighter was trapped by the Garoga in a race car that was about to be crushed. To try and stop Godzilla from destroying the power lines (and thus saving Zone Fighter), the Garoga dispatched an old enemy from Godzilla's past - the cyborg monster Gigan. Although the alien beast had lost the use of its flight ability and its buzz-saw (presumably from its battle with Godzilla and Jet Jaguar previously), the Garoga had upgraded him with explosive tips in his scythes. It wasn't enough, however, as Godzilla pounded his old foe into submission and narrowly saved Zone Fighter - who later transformed and battled Gigan himself. Although the weakened monster would still put up a decent fight, Zone Fighter would finally destroy Gigan with his Meteor Missile Might - with the alien cyborg collapsing to the ground before exploding.

Godzilla's next call to assist Zone Fighter was when he was awakened by a series of Earthquakes in Japan, caused by the fearbeast Zandolla - who had already proven too strong for Zone Fighter to battle alone and had badly weakened the alien hero, with him been trapped underground by Zandolla (although he managed to rescue his brother Akira, who had been caught up in the fray). Thankfully, Godzilla soon entered the battle - with his fight with Zandolla been a fierce one that cracked open the ground and freed Zone Fighter. Together, the two heroes worked together and overcame Zandolla - with Zone fighter destroying him with his proton beam - in what was the toughest battle the two had faced together.

Following this battle, Zone Fighter and Godzilla's friendship strengthened - with Zone Fighter building the Monster King a 'Godzilla Cave' to reside in - as well as the pair regularly engaging to sparring matches with each other in order to test themselves and hone their skills for when the Garogas launched their next attack. That attack would soon come in the form of the monster Jellar - which Zone Fighter first battled. However, he was overpowered by the beast as his Meteor Proton Beam was ineffective against it. Thankfully, Godzilla was summoned from his cave and rushed to aid his ally. During the battle, Godzilla tore off one of Jellar's limbs when the creature entangled him. To everyone's shock, the limb became a second monster called Kastam-Jellar (similar in appearance to Jellar but with a small head). The two heroes were initially outmatched, but after Zone Fighter's power was restored by Smokey giving him an emergency power capsule, he and Godzilla destroyed their two enemies with a combination of Godzilla's atomic breath and Zone Fighter's Meteor Missile Might.

Godzilla's final battle with Zone Fighter came when the Garoga dispatched two monsters - Garoborg and Spider Uros - to attack Japan. Hikaru was initially unable to fight as he had become stuck by a piece of fallen rock - with Godzilla taking on both monsters by himself. Despite his best efforts, the Monster King was initially outmatched by the two alien monsters. Meanwhile, Hikaru's family soon managed to free him, with Hikaru soon becoming Zone Fighter and managing to aid Godzilla in bringing down the two fearbeasts for good - with Zone Fighter killing Garoborg with his Meteor Missile Might before he and Godzilla used a combination of their attacks (Zone Fighter's Meteor Proton Beam and Godzilla's Atomic Breath) to destroy Spider Uros.

Battles with the Garoga
Although initially been inexperienced in the art of combat, Zone Fighter learned a variety of different styles and how to use tactics in order to defeat his opponents - especially since his opponents would vary from time to time and he would rarely fight the same enemy twice. Thanks to backup from his family and Godzilla when his normal combat skills and tactics fail, Zone Fighter has succeeded time and time again. With the exception of King Ghidorah - who fled after losing to Zone Fighter in a battle on Jupiter - all of the enemies that Zone Fighter has faced have been destroyed by him (and occasionally Godzilla).

For Zone Fighter, his final battle against the Garoga came when he fought the Garoga-X squadron (after the Garoga had blackmailed the inventor into giving them the plans of a new neutron energy source, in exchange for restoring his son's eyesight). When the squad were outmatched by the combined powers of all three of the Zone children, they merged into the fearbeast known as Grotogauros. The battle between the beast and Zone Fighter raged in both the sea and on land, with Grotogauros temporarily gaining control by casting powerful illusions. Not relying on his eyes, Zone Fighter overpowered the alien beast and attacked it with his Meteor Missile Might. Despite been pulled into the water in a final attempt by Grotogauros to kill him, Zone Fighter rose from the waves in victory.

Following this, the Garoga apparently abandoned their plans and retreated, while the Zone family seemingly lived out the rest of their lives. Although Godzilla would appear again to deal with MechaGodzilla, Titanosaurus, the Kilaaks and having a final encounter with King Ghidorah, Zone Fighter never appeared again - although his deeds of this ally to humanity and all life on Earth would never be forgotten.

Additional Information

 * The Zone Fighter series - despite been criticized by some as been a rip-off of fellow Japanese superhero Ultraman - was best renowned for its inclusion of three of Toho's more well known and popular characters: Godzilla, Gigan and King Ghidorah.
 * The series only ran for 26 episodes before been cancelled. Although said to be the result of poor rating due to other similar shows at the time, many have linked the cancellation as been due to the 1973 Oil Crisis - which affected many other TV programs.

Appearances
Zone Fighter - TV Series