Red King
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Red King (レッドキング Reddo Kingu), also known as Redking, is a dinosaur-like monster originally featured in the 1966 tokusatsu television series, Ultraman. Its first appearance was in Episode # 8, "The Lawless Monster Zone." Red King has been considered one of Ultraman's most popular foes by fans, and has appeared in countless subsequent Ultra Series, including the more recent Ultraman Max.
Red King's subtitle is "Skull Monster" (どくろ怪獣 Dokuro Kaijū).
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[edit] Ultraman
Red King appeared in two incarnations in Ultraman. Presumably, these were two individuals from the same species. Redking's body appears much like a Tyrannosaurus Rex, with the long neck, and narrow, pointy head of a Brachiosaurus, and large bulky Gorilla-like arms. Its mouth is armed large dagger-like fangs. Redking's "Shparrr!" cry is one of the most characteristic monster sounds from the series (its roars sound very similar to cries of both Godzilla (when he is injured) and Gamera, being the same roar used for Gaila/Green Gargantua in War of the Gargantuas), and the monster's pompous forearm gestures foreshadow the showboating of future pro wrestlers and athletes. With similar irony, Redking is the most over-hyped of the Ultraman monsters next to Baltan, well-known to series fans. Redking accomplished little harm to Ultraman, and possesses no special powers, although he is considered by many fans to be one of the show's more powerful monsters.
The first Redking was discovered on a remote island with other monsters, where a small group of scientists had been terrorized and all but one were ultimately killed. In this episode, Redking appeared along with Magla and Chandrah, also known as Chandlar, and identified by some as Pegila (from the Ultraman series prequel, Ultra Q). This episode also featured the first appearance of Pigmon, a monster the size of a human child that was friendly toward humans.
Redking killed Chandlar by tearing off a limb/wing and beating it to death. Magla, a burrowing monster, apparently survived the episode almost unnoticed. Redking killed Pigmon by creating an avalanche of rock. Once Ultraman appeared, Redking was defeated without the need for the Spacium Ray; it is presumed that Ultraman broke Redking's neck after flipping the monster several times.
The second Redking appeared as part of another trio of monsters, including Dorako and Gigas. Redking viciously tore Dorako's wings off, and defeated Dorako. Gigas was driven off by Red King and fell victim to an experimental Science Patrol bomb. All three monsters apparently precipitated out of a fragment of comet debris, or were awakened by the comet's radiation; it is not entirely clear, but the comet somehow triggered their appearance. Apparently this Redking presented an extra danger, as it had swallowed a long-lost atomic weapon. Ultraman ultimately paralyzed this Redking and raised it off the ground with one of his rarely used telekinesis powers. He then used two of his energy rings to slice Redking into thirds. Apparently the atomic weapon was resting in some sort of gullet in Redking's digestive tract, because Ultraman took the head and neck portion and flew away into space with it to allow the atomic device to detonate without harm.
[edit] The Ultraman
This monster re-appeared in the series The Ultraman.
[edit] Ultraman 80
This monster re-appeared in the series Ultraman 80.
[edit] Ultraman Powered
Red King was reused in Ultraman: The Ultimate Hero, where he appeared in a valley inhabited by other monsters, including Chandrah and Pygmon. There were actually Red Kings in this version, male (colored Red) and his mate (colored tan). The female was pushed off a cliff to her doom during a fight with Ultraman and Red King wandered away in sorrow. He appeared again near the end of the show but was quickly killed by their version of Dorako.
[edit] Ultraman Max
In Ultraman Max, Red King possessed a breath weapon consisting of impact-explosive rocks, not unlike Megalon, except Red King's were a barrage instead of Megalon's singular. Presumably these were a type of waste material expunged from the intestines, used as an offensive deterrent (much like monkeys throwing excrement) against an attacker.
[edit] Trivia
When Ultraman Tiga began to air, many fans speculated that the Kaiju, Silvergon, was inspired by Red King because of its behavior and its vaguely resemblance in appearance to Red King.
