Ultraman Arc Episode 3, “Unleash Your Imagination,” is an interesting story, returning viewers to Ultraman Arc’s first battle, not only chronologically, but within the bounds of the show timeline as well. His foe, Digelos, was the very first threat viewers saw at the beginning of episode 1, a marauding creature battling the obscured giant. Now that we have a clearer view of both of these beings… Some questions have arisen.
To talk about Digelos, and what it means that it has appeared, we have to talk about Monogelos. Beyond the similar name, Monogelos is very clearly of a similar species as Digelos, if not outright the same. Appearing 16 years before the present day of the show, Monogelos’s assault on K-Day is considered to be the origin point, or at least the first of the Kaiju phenomenon that has continued to the present day. Its sundered horn rests on the mountainside overlooking Hoshimoto City, a grim reminder of the incredible power that assailed the planet that day.
As far as we are aware, Digelos is the first Space Kaiju to appear since Monogelos — at least of this kind. Functionally, its body is near-identical structurally to its predecessor, although it now stands bipedal and straight, and it has two horns instead of Monogelos’s one. In so many ways it seems to be an evolution, or perhaps even mature form of Monogelos.
More worryingly, however, is what Digelos can do. Monogelos was destructive and powerful, but its abilities seemed to be comparable to those of other Earth Kaiju — bolts of energy, and a violent strength. Digelos’s abilities seem significantly more honed, and resemble another legendary foe that the Ultras have battled — the Space Dinosaur, Zetton.
It’s frankly worrisome how similar in power Digelos is to Zetton. A threat that tended to mark the end of an Ultraman’s battle on Earth — and it’s the very first foe this Ultraman has to face?
Thankfully, Arc’s imagination was successful in finding a solution to this apocalyptic threat, bending his beam like a whip to blast through the side of Digelos’s barrier, piercing it straight through the eyes and destroying it.
Speaking of eyes… Isn’t it strange how the imagery of eyes keeps appearing around these creatures, specifically? Wonder what that’s about…
Anyway, we can’t do more than theorize with the amount of information we have right now. Hopefully this creature, or something like it, won’t appear again any time soon. Next time, we’ll take a closer look at another Kaiju that’s closer to Earth, so stay close to Ultraman Connection!
