Beta Capsule
"What is this?"
"The Beta Capsule."
"Beta Capsule?"
"Use it when you're in trouble and then..."
"And then what?"
"(Ultraman laughs softly) Do not worry."
The Beta Capsule (ベーターカプセル, Bētā Kapuseru)[1][2] is Ultraman's Transformation Item, given to Shin Hayata. It became temporarily unusable when Ultraman left Earth, but sometime in between the original series and Return of Ultraman, Ultraman returned to Hayata and it became usable again.
History
Ultraman
Beta Capsule in Ultraman
Shin Hayata, the Executive Officer of the Tokyo, Japan headquarters of the Science Patrol, was patrolling in the vicinity of the Ryugamori Lake and Forest when he noticed a U.F.O. flying over them at a speed of Mach 2. The UFO, a large blue sphere, was the "Travel Sphere" used by the then unseen monster Bemular. When Hayata flew closer to investigate, another UFO, this one a red Travel Sphere that had been in pursuit of the first, crashed into Hayata's "Sub VTOL." The being inside the red Travel Sphere, which was damaged in the collision and subsequently self-destructed, was the hero known as Ultraman.
Ultraman telepathically informed Hayata that he had been pursuing the monster Bemular, and had accidentally crashed into Hayata's ship when he was trying to follow Bemular. He then gave the Beta Capsule to Hayata, merging Hayata's body with his own to provide the dying human with his own life force. After that, using the power of the Beta Capsule, Hayata could transform into Ultraman.
Later on, after Ultraman's defeat at the hands of Zetton, Zoffy appeared to retrieve Ultraman. Knowing he could not take the human back with them to the Land of Light, Zoffy pulled out his own Beta Capsule and separated the bodies of the two beings, but Hayata was apparently left with no memory of anything that had happened after his Sub VTOL had crashed.
NOTE: Hayata only lost his memory in the Japanese original. In the English dub, he got to keep it and his memories as Ultraman's human host, and the voice-over narration noted that he "held fast" to it, knowing that Ultraman would return.
Ultraman: The Ultimate Hero
Powered's Beta Capsule
Ultraman Powered gave Kenichi Kai a device, which in the English version was called a Beta Capsule though its Japanese dub name was the Flash Prism (フラッシュプリズム, Furasshu Purizumu). Instead of holding it upright, Kai held it in his clenched fist, and it had two LEDs, one on each side. It was, perhaps, a newer version of the same device.
Project Ultraman
In the canceled Thai project, Project Ultraman, the three Ultra Hosts of Millennium, Elite, and Dark all possessed Beta Capsule-like transformation devices, but only Millennium's was ever named.
Millenium's device (Warp Changer)
Elite's device
Dark Ultraman's device
Ultraman X The Movie: Here He Comes! Our Ultraman
- Main article: Beta Spark
In Ultraman X The Movie: Here He Comes! Our Ultraman, Alien Fanton Gourman created Ultraman's Cyber Card along with Ultraman Tiga's Cyber Card in Xio's lab; these were then transferred to Mamoru Mikazuki and Rui Takada to be given to Ultraman X's human host, Daichi Oozora. He scanned both Cyber Cards to receive the X Beta Capsule and the X Sparklence to form the Beta Spark, which allowed Ultraman X to wear the Beta Spark Armor.
ULTRAMAN
After seemingly losing his life at the hands of Alien Temperor, Bemular was taken to SSSP headquarters for emergency treatment. During the surgery, the Beta Capsule manifested from Bemular's armor.
Shin Ultraman
The Beta Capsule is a device owned by Ultraman, who later uses it to transform into his true form after bonding with the deceased Shinji Kaminaga.
In reality, the Beta Capsule is part of the Beta System (β-system) (ベーターシステム, Bētā Shisutemu), a technology which allows its users to turn themselves, or a chosen target, into giant size. According to the knowledge left behind by "Kaminaga", the Beta System operates on the principles of higher dimensions in the known universe. A less compact version of the Beta System, known as the Beta Box, is owned by Mefilas, and is operated by a remote control device.
During the final battle with the Ultimate Celestial Suppression Weapon Zetton, Ultraman ignited the Beta Capsule a second time to create a sixth-dimensional hole leading into the Planck brane. Using the resulting gravity wave that was created, Ultraman rammed into Zetton's fireball and pushed it into the dimensional hole.
Zōffy also possesses a model of the Beta Capsule, which he uses to separate Ultraman from Kaminaga.
Transformation
Beta Capsule
To employ the Beta Capsule, Shin Hayata holds it in his right hand, with its clear emitter dome pointing upwards, and depresses the red button on its side with his right thumb, causing the chrome cap at the top of the capsule to rise up. The device then either emits a spiral of energy or a bright flash called the Flash Beam (フラッシュビーム, Furasshu Bīmu) which triggers his transformation into Ultraman. Merely exposing the Capsule is not enough to employ it; when he faced an enemy who sought to possess, rather than destroy, Earth, that enemy paralyzed him before he could depress its button, and he had to allow himself to fall down face-forward, which caused the impact to make his thumb depress the button. This can be described as "igniting" the Capsule.
Hayata uses the Beta Capsule
Flash Prism
The Flash Prism is used by Kenichi Kai to transform into Ultraman Powered. To make Kenichi transform into Ultraman Powered, he needs to raise the Flash Prism before the 2 LED lights are about to flash.
Kai using the Flash Prism
Beta Capsule
The Beta Capsule is used by Ultraman, who had bonded with the deceased Shinji Kaminaga. To transform into his true form, "Kaminaga" does this by pressing the button. The device then emits a bright light which triggers his transformation into Ultraman. While in real-time, the transformation involves Ultraman's translucent red fist emerging from the ground and grabbing "Kaminaga", before rising upwards to his true height as a flash of red light accompanies his rise.
"Kaminaga" using the Beta Capsule
Gallery
Trivia
- In several instances, the Beta Capsule is shown to have no effect on activation if the user is not Ultraman's host. For example, when a child named Osamu depressed the capsule's ignition button, there was no result. Another example of this was when Hayata was under the control of the Underground People, upon his transformation into Ultraman (the light from which instantly killed all the Underground people), the effects of the control were eliminated as if they had never been established.
Zoffy's Beta Capsule
- The fact that Zoffy himself carried a Beta Capsule, which he employed in "Farewell, Ultraman," implies that 'Beta Capsules' were a widely used device on the Planet of Ultra. In fact, Ultraman Powered's transformation device, although different in appearance, was called a Beta Capsule in the English version; granted, it was called a Flash Prism in the Japanese dubbing to avoid confusion.
- The Beta Capsule, for the sake of comedy or plot, has been mistaken for a children's toy, while Hayata once mistook a spoon for the device.
- As the first transformation item in the series, the Beta Capsule has the most succeeding devices based upon its archetype. These include, the Bright Stick, Sparklence, Lieflasher, Pikari Brush, Cosmo Pluck, Evoltruster, Max Spark and the Spark devices in Ultraman Ginga.
- Beta Capsules were originally the only transformation item shown at different sizes. First, when Ultraman held his and dropped it onto Hayata where it landed at its more common size and another wielded by Zoffy in his giant size. It is the first item shown being used by both an Ultra and a human host/form.
- As expected of alien technology the Beta Capsule is sturdy, as shown in the first of Ultraman's two fights with Gomora when he dropped it at a rather great height.
- The Beta Capsule seems to have more functions than a normal transformation item as it was used in Farewell, Ultraman to separate an Ultra from his host instead of using it to transform, its common function.
- According to the Japanese/original theme song, the capsule shines with the power of a million volts when used. This would explain how it killed the Underground People.
- In the opening of Ultraman X The Movie: Here He Comes! Our Ultraman, Dr. Gourman attempted to recreate the legendary item. But when he used it to transform, the device self destructed.
- Working names for the device during planning stages include "Gamma Emitter Device" (ガンマー発光器, Ganmā Hakkō-ki), "Gamma Ray Capsule" (ガンマー線カプセル, Ganmā-sen Kapuseru), and "Gamma Ray BH Emitter (ガンマー線BH発光器, Ganmā-sen BH Hakkō-ki).
- Shinji Higuchi designed the Flash Prism.[3]
References
