Though our beloved Ultras have dealt with many close calls in their time protecting humanity, very few adversaries have truly bested them, and the ones that have are not always who you would expect. In fact, sometimes the Kaiju with the most destructive capabilities can have simply the most ridiculous vibe.
Such is the case of Birdon, the unassumingly powerful rooster-esque Kaiju whose goofy exterior serves as the perfect guise for its dreadful power. Noted as one of the most memorable Kaiju of the entirety of 1973’s Ultraman Taro, Birdon is a deceptively disturbing foe for our heroes, Taro and Zoffy.
From the title of Birdon’s featured episode, it’s immediately clear it is a force to be reckoned with. In Ultraman Taro episode 18 “Zoffy Died! Taro Died Too!” Birdon might look like a chicken, but it acts like a horrible, horrible goose.
Both Birdon, as well as the Kaiju it preys upon, Kemgila, are loose and terrorizing Japan. Taro puts up a good fight trying to stop them, attempting to take down Birdon with the help of ZAT — but alas “Operation Birdlime” is a miss.
Birdon repeatedly stabs Taro with its beak, pecking him so brutally that it’s impossible to wipe from your mind the image of its fleshy caruncles — that’s the scientific term for the giant, fleshy balls hanging on either side of Birdon’s beak — flopping from side to side, as it incessantly punctures Taro’s body in a strobing sequence that is, frankly, quite graphic.
It is both frustrating, but almost comical, that this Kaiju is the one to so solidly compromise our great hero. The episode goes so far as to heighten the twisted comedy to new heights, with Kemgila emitting an awful yellowish gas at Birdon that emulates, well… a particularly horrifying fart. As this happens, Taro painfully lets go of his last grip on life.
Birdon devours Kemgila and leaves everyone in the wreckage, including the deceased Taro, as well as the survivors of the battle — who are mostly hopeful children who refuse to give up faith in the power of their hero. After the children pray for Taro to rise again, Taro’s older brother Zoffy comes to earth to deliver his brother’s defeated body back to the Land of Light in pursuit of resurrection.
Even this process fits the tone of this particularly zany episode as Zoffy, without any outward sign of concern for his dead brother, immediately sprays his body with fog and sends him upwards on a path made of sparkles.
Birdon is then cornered by ZAT while bathing itself in a lake, but their scheme to trap it in thousands of pounds of gum is foiled when its body is too wet for the gum to stick. An absurd obstacle for an even more absurd attempted solution.
Drenched in slime and more vengeful than ever, Birdon continues to wreak havoc, until a blinded child begs Ultraman to save his father from the attacks, and Zoffy rises to the challenge. However, Birdon proves itself to be quite the spicy turkey (not as delicious as it sounds) as it beats Zoffy to a pulp, sets him on fire, forces him into a body of water, and once again, pecks him literally to death. Yeesh.
It isn’t until episode 19 “Mother of Ultra, Miracle of Love!” that Zoffy and Taro’s defeat is overturned. Taro is revived in the Land of Light by Mother of Ultra, and given the King Bracelet to defend himself — and just in time, because Birdon returns with an attitude, after ZAT confiscates all of the meat around in order to starve it out.
Although their plan jeopardized civilians (that, to Birdon, were probably looking like appetizers at that point) Taro was still able to prevent all casualties, using his new tool. He successfully chases Birdon away, but to literally everyone’s dismay, Birdon has left an army of Birdon eggs behind, each waiting to hatch and pick up where their parent left off.
The eggs are destroyed, and Birdon returns — but so does Taro, determined not to let himself be slighted by a hen once again! Taro leads the Kaiju into a volcano, where it meets its well-deserved fate of becoming fried chicken.
Despite his win, Taro is still left with the deceased Zoffy. Mother of Ultra comes to earth to save her child, embracing his body tenderly and returning him to the Land of Light for his resurrection.
So much drama for one bird! This Taro arc was a whirlwind and left everyone turned upside-down. Not everything is as it seems, in fact, it can be the least assuming threats that garner the greatest consequences.
Birdon has clucked and pecked its way to becoming one of the most notable Kaiju in the online meme-scape, and serves as a pillar of measuring the strength of other Kaiju. In fact, many have found that bird-type Kaiju actually have a pretty great track record in defeating Ultras. Bemstar defeated Taro, X, and Jack, and Terochilus defeated Jack. Birds can be pretty freaky!
Birdon was built different, and sure gave the Ultras a run for their money. However, those Ultras’ brotherly love — and even motherly love — is more powerful than any Kaiju, whether it be a giant dragon with great strength or a fleshy chickadee with even greater strength.
