GOODIS aka GUDIS - ULTRAMAN GREAT

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Ultraman croit le détruire sur Mars, mais ses cellules vont créer plein de monstres sur Terre, sapristi ! Gudis aka Goudes, from "Ultraman: Towards the Future"

 The main villain of the first six episodes of the 1990 Japanese and Australian co-production "Ultraman: Towards the Future", Gudis (aka Goudes) is a highly intelligent, 'retrovirus entity' who wishes to assimilate all other life-forms throughout the universe. And is hinted to have caused much destruction and suffering across the galaxy, before being challenged by the metallic hero dubbed Ultraman Great.

 Gudis and Ultraman Great's conflict eventually leads to the planet Mars, where astronauts Jack Shindo and Stanley Haggard witness the two giants duel. Ultraman Great is briefly knocked unconscious by Gudis, who then uses the opportunity to destroy the astronauts' space vessel, along with poor Stanley Haggard inside.

 Ultraman Great reawakens and manages to destroy Gudis' body, but the crafty villain transforms into a green mist-like swarm of bacteria (Gudis Cells), and soars off towards Earth. Realizing the Gudis threat is far from over, Ultraman Great and surviving Jack Shindo merge into a single entity, so that they can return to Earth to aid the high-tech defense force UMA (the Universal Multipurpose Agency) in the war to come.

 Weakened by its defeat on Mars, and lacking a singular physical form, the Gudis Cells work to prepare for its own resurrection and subsequent conquest of Earth, which is further helped by both willing and unwilling agents that they infect and mutate into more monstrous forms.

 These infected mutations includes the two-headed burrower Bogun (Episode 1); the dormant sauropod dinosaur Gigasaurus (Ep 2); Jimmy, and his the pet lizard-turned-living fossil Gerugadon (Ep 3); the mythical whirlwind deity Deganja (Ep 4); and Stanley Haggard himself, who now serves as the human guise of the monster Burrangas (Ep 5).

In episode 6, "Showdown", Gudis finally manages to resurrect itself as the far more powerful Super Gudis (Powered-Up Goudes), using a volcanic 'cocoon' in the middle of the Australian wastelands. In their final battle, Ultraman Great is beaten, and then telepathically absorbed and imprisoned within Super Gudis.

 Though struggling, Ultraman Great holds on while trapped inside the evil entity, as Jack Shindo's consciousness ultimately shows the arrogant Gudis the futility of its own mission - even if the Gudis does manage to corrupt all life throughout the universe, eventually there will be nothing else to corrupt, thus only achieving a lonely, purgatory existence.

 Angered and distracted by Jack's mocking, yet ultimately sincere words of compassion, Ultraman Great uses the opportunity to break free from the Super Gudis. And in doing so, finally destroys the would-be 'God' once and for all.

 Although the Gudis character was killed off in the series, and has yet to make a real return in any further entries into the Ultraman franchise, he did make several return appearances in the US comic book spin-off, published by Harvey Comics' short-lived 'Nemesis' label.

 In the comic series, Gudis takes on a far more active role / presence in its own schemes, often entering battle itself alongside the monsters it summons. Other actions included temporarily taking on the disguise of a giant pterodactyl-like beast, freeing several past monsters from a lunar prison, and transforming the freakish human thug Raptor into the villainous Blue Ultraman. Of course, with the enlarged role, meant that it also came with a lot more dialog, which even went as far as having Gudis dropping a censored curse word on one occasion.

 According to related Japanese books from the time, Gudis' is 83 meters in size, and 127,000 tons in weight, while his Super Gudis form is 107 meters, by 346,000 tons. And the creature's character subtitle is 'Evil Organism' or 'Evil Life-Form'.

There's even unused footage of an early Gudis costume that although featured a more vicious face, was ultimately not up to par to most monster suits. And as such, was rejected, with a new suit and fight scene later filmed in its place. Only the briefest of glimpse of this failed prototype Gudis are seen in the final version of episode 1, "Signs of Life".

 A very similar character to Gudis was the Chaos Header - the recurring main villain of the 2001-2002 series "Ultraman Cosmos", who corrupted the monsters of Earth, making them become ravenous and violent creatures that threaten humanity. Unlike the victims and allies of Gudis however, these 'Chaos monsters' were usually returned back to normal, thanks to Ultraman Cosmos' healing powers.

 Screen captures by EarthBaragon - earthbaragon.deviantart.com, with additional images and information by Raf / Enshohma www.enshohmacorner.blogspot.com, thanks !