Ultraman Decker Finale: Journey to Beyond is a movie set to change the paradigm of a lot of Ultraman media going forward, being the finale to the timeline that started in Ultraman Trigger. Bigger than that, however, is the introduction of Ultraman Dinas, a new Ultra Hero whose alter-ego is the young Ravian woman named Dinas. To celebrate this new hero, Ultraman Connection will be shining a spotlight on other notable female heroes to have fought for the Light, starting with one of the most venerated: Ultrawoman Marie, AKA Mother of Ultra!
Marie first rose to prominence during the Ultimate Wars, the massive conflict between the forces of Alien Empera and the Land of Light. A medic with impressive healing abilities, she found herself on the front lines during the final battle of the war, where Empera himself touched down on the Land of Light with intent to conquer it personally.
Seeing the bravery of Ken, a soldier who had risked his life to buy her time to escape, Marie herself was inspired to repel the villain. Returning to the battlefield despite the danger, she bequeathed unto Ken her family’s heirloom, a sacred sword spoken in the legends of the Land of Light. Marie watched as, his power awakened by the sword, Ken was able to wound Empera and force him to retreat, ending the conflict.
In the aftermath of the Ultimate Wars, both Ken and Marie were granted positions of power in the Land of Light in honor of their heroism — Ken as the commander of the Inter Galactic Defense Force, and Marie as the leader of the Silver Cross Aid Corps, the Land of Light’s medical and healing organization. To commemorate their new positions, the two were given new titles: Father of Ultra, and Mother of Ultra.
Unfortunately, despite the bright future that seemed to be certain for Marie, the Land of Light was suddenly thrown into disarray when Ken’s fellow soldier Belial, jealous for having been denied the power and adulation he sought after the war, attempted to steal the Plasma Spark, the legendary artificial sun that empowered the planet and Ultras. Burned by its power and driven to space, where he merged with the power of Rayblood, the long-dead cosmic despot, and became the Ultraman Belial the universe learned to fear.
When Belial returned for his prize, Marie and Ken were on the front lines during the attempt to safeguard the Plasma Spark from him, though his power was incredible. In the end, saved by the timely arrival of the sage known as Ultraman King, the two heroes could only watch as their former friend was sealed in a titanic prison built around his very body.
In the aftermath of this tragedy, Marie married Ken, and the two started a family, first by adopting the young Ultraman Ace, the son of Ken’s deceased friend, and then eventually with their first biological son, Taro. Marie would be particularly active in Taro’s life, especially when the young Ultra would come to defend Earth like so many of his forebears.
Marie, in her guise as the “Lady in Green,” and as her true form as Mother of Ultra, was the one who scouted boxer Kotaro Higashi as her son’s host, giving him the Ultra Badge he would use to transform, and would even come to his rescue several times, including helping Taro against the grotesque monster known as Live King, and reviving both him and his fellow Ultra Brother Zoffy when both fell to the powerful kaiju Birdon. In the end, it was the Lady in Green who would separate Kotaro and Taro forever as well, freeing the boxer from his obligations of heroism.
Since then, Marie has remained a fixture in the Land of Light as the foremost healer and physician on the planet, including having freed Ultraman Hikari from the cursed Armor of Arb that trapped him in the form of the vengeance-seeking Hunter Knight Tsurugi, as well as in the ill-fated second invasion of Ultraman Belial, where she, her husband, and the whole of the Land of Light were frozen by the theft of the Plasma Spark.
In the current day, she is one of the leading voices in the war effort against the mysterious Absolutians, continuing to command the Silver Cross Aid Corps and keep the various Ultra Warriors fighting throughout the cosmos alive and healthy.
Next time, we’ll be spotlighting a similar heroine, though one from much further in the future! Until then, stay close to Ultraman Connection, and get ready for the Ultraman Decker Finale: Journey to Beyond TVOD, coming February 23rd exclusively on Ultraman Connection!
