Saki Mitsurugi

was the alias taken by a mysterious girl who is the secondary antagonist character and anti-villainess of Ultraman R/B, replacing Makoto Aizen/Cereza from episode 16 until 24, she is an addition to the cast later on in the series.https://natalie.mu/eiga/news/293258
Originally credited as the in episodes 11 to 13, she reveals her name during her first meeting with Asahi Minato. In episode 24, it is revealed that her real name is .
==Conception==
===Etymology===
"Grigio" is the Italian word for "Gray".
==Personality==
In the past, Grigio was the meekest out of her siblings and was able to socialize quite well. She quite firmly believed that there can be such a thing as peace without having to sacrifice lives, but after the incident with Bianca, she started to become traumatized and confused. Like her brothers, she had a heroic heart and was willing to sacrifice herself for the sake of others. However, she also had a darker side that awakened some time after becoming Grigio Bone, and she became numb to killing others.
Because of the loss of her brothers, she became a cold-hearted person, hardly caring about individual lives. She is also shown to bear resentment towards the Minato brothers due to being Rosso and Blu's human hosts and calling them "fake Ultramen", due to them being "amateurs" compared to her older brothers yet she envies them for being able to draw out the Gyros' true power (transforming into Rosso and Blu) while she is unable to. She also cares for their sister Asahi, and considers Asahi as her friend. She is also very determined to somehow restore her brothers and to take revenge against Leugocyte, no matter the cost, saying that the entire population of Earth dying in her plan to destroy Leugocyte would justify for her brothers' sacrifice 1300 years ago. During her dying moments, she feels remorse for what she had done and gives her Gyro to Asahi, and says that she is happy to have met the Minatos.
==History==
===Pre-Ultraman R/B===
Grigio and her brothers Rosso and Blu were a trio of orphan siblings born on the war-torn , having been raised along with other orphaned children by Bakubarba in a place known as the . The siblings have elite skills in the fields of killing and other illegal activities, which makes them useful tools for Bakubarba, who frequently sends them out on missions. Having no records and no relatives, they were also easily disposable should they fail their job.
The youngest sibling, Grigio, starts to have doubts in killing others and her way of life though each time she only needed to be advised by her brothers and Bakubarba to get back to work. One day, Bakubarba was contacted by to kill the monster Nero, the guardian god of the on . Bakubarba sends the trio via spaceship. When the siblings search a dark forest on Planet Dontak, Grigio encounters , a woman who is about to be sacrificed to Nero, but she seems happy, which Grigio cannot understand. The siblings later interrupt the sacrificial ritual to combat Nero, but Grigio tries to convince Bianca to turn against her fate, much to her brothers' dismay as Nero had not yet fully emerged, while angering Nero who tries to kill the siblings. Bianca instead allows Nero to transplant its weak point into herself, so the three siblings have no choice but to kill her along with the monster. The incident left Grigio traumatized. After the siblings leave, the mercenary unit bombs the Boscos with napalms, so that Mr. Largo is able to "modernize" the planet and take the rare minerals there for himself.
Rumours about the three siblings spread and they are constantly under attack by gangs whose members they killed before. Under Bakubarba's advice, they escape to , a relatively obscure planet. The people there face frequent water shortages during farming, so the siblings decide to help them by digging up water from underground. The siblings discover a new way of life, which was to give and not to take. For the first time in a long period Grigio was happy, and would like to make this planet her new home. Unfortunately, the reputation of the three siblings means that they would eventually be found and the people of Alhara will suffer because of them, so they have to leave again. They go to , which is full of criminals. In a bar, Grigio overhears a rumour about the Crusader's Peak of Planet O-50, and wanted to obtain the power there to become an Ultraman so that she could achieve peace without sacrifice. However, her brothers dismiss her, saying that it's just a fairy tale.
While escaping from the , they crash land on Planet O-50, near the Crusader's Peak, which Grigio believes is fate. They meet in a hut at the base of the mountain, and she tells them they would need to climb up the mountain. The Balsas Gang appears and takes Frau hostage, but the three siblings beat them. Unfortunately, they unleash Margodon, who they have no chance of beating. They decide to put the only oxygen inhalation device on Frau, not wanting any third party to get hurt because of them, and climb up the Crusader's Peak, but were stuck in a dilemma whether to attack from there or climb down the other side. Suddenly, the Ring of Light appears to them, giving them the Gyros and R/B Crystals, which they use to transform into Ultraman Rosso, Ultraman Blu and Grigio Bone to defeat Margodon, the Balsas Gang and rescue Frau.
They go on more adventures and gather more R/B Crystals, and eventually become recognized by the Interstellar Alliance. However, Grigio cannot understand why she transforms into a monster. They are sent back to Planet Sanja to inspect on Bakubarba, but discover that the House of Bakubarba has become a child trafficking hub. Bakubarba tries to guilt-trip the siblings, saying that after Mr. Largo acquired Planet Dontak, he sold it off to the Interstellar Alliance, who are also profiting off it. Grigio gets fed up and kills Bakubarba after being taunted. The Balsas gang hears about this and unleashes the monster Fearmonger to kill the siblings. The brothers try to fuse the crystals of light and darkness into a new power, but they fail because they do not connect with Grigio's wishes. Eventually, Rosso, Blu and Grigio defeat Fearmonger without making any sacrifices.
The siblings are then dispatched to to help . Alien Egon Ciel created the Barrigators to kill everyone there so that he could take the rare metals for himself. The siblings try to convince the people to evacuate, but they do not listen, saying their god will protect them. The boy shows Grigio a book about a legend of a red dragon, who is said to bring destruction. Grigio becomes Grigio Bone to scare everyone away just before Barrigator 1 arrives to fight Ultramen Rosso and Blu. Barrigator 2 suddenly appears before the escaping people, who fight back after seeing Verte step up. Grigio created the Attack crystal from this event through their combined will and became Grigio Regina, who easily defeated Barrigator 2 and Ciel along with it. Grigio is exhausted and turns back into herself, and is taken care of by the Zarra people, who bow to her after she awakens. Rosso and Blu meet up with their sister after defeating Barrigator 1.
The Ring of Light calls the siblings to to defeat the rampaging Leugocyte, who had its genes tampered with by a certain blue Ultraman. The siblings used their Gyros to turn the gaseous monster into a solid, but their Gyros' output is weak and the monster is stuck in an intermediate form, which destroys the planet. Unable to sit and watch, Blu attacks, ruining the plan. Rosso and Grigio have no choice but to attack as well. Freezing the monster using the Water and Wind crystals, they throw Leugocyte into space but it regains its gaseous form. Grigio Regina is knocked back down into King and then to Bone. Due to their intense battle, a wormhole was opened and they were all sucked into it, and they ended up near the planet Earth, which Leugocyte sought to drain the life energy out of and then destroy.
Rosso and Blu defended Grigio by entering a beam lock with Leugocyte. However, the siblings lost the battle and crashed down towards Earth as a meteor, in a place that became known as Ayaka City, spreading Ray Energy throughout 1300 points of the Earth as a result of the impact. Grigio grieved over the loss of her brothers, who had died and become scattered as R/B Crystals. From then on, she made it her mission to destroy Leugocyte once and for all, no matter the cost, abandoning her compassion. Following these events, Grigio traveled around the Earth for centuries and had met several notable figures and while doing so, planted space trees to stop the dispersal and reverse the flow of the Ray Energy. During one of these travels, she met Oscar Wilde, who gave her a black dress. 
Many years later, she confronts Mio Minato, who was fleeing Aizen Tech, to secure the two Gyros. However, before she could accomplish anything, a device nearby activated and pulled Mio into another dimension. Saki tried to save her, but she was too late. All that was left was candy.
===Ultraman R/B===
Grigio (Alias, Saki Mitsurugi) first shows up after Ultraman Orb Dark defeats Horoboros, and she takes its R/B Crystal. She then appears when Orb Dark and Ultramen Rosso and Blu start to fight, and she summons Horoboros, which somehow evolves into its Bipedal form. After Horoboros defeated the Ultras, Saki called the Kaiju back in its R/B Crystal before summoning again later on to fight Rosso and Blu, who was able to defeat it with the Triple Origium Ray. Afterwards, Saki posed as a nurse and entered Aizen Tech and meeting an injured Makoto Aizen for the first time. Saki also shown her interest towards Asahi, leaving the R/B Crystals of Belial and Ultraman behind after meeting her personally and having a brief conversation with her before lending Makoto her Gyro, stating that she despised weak Ultramen, and allowed him to transform into Grigio King. Makoto successfully took his revenge against Rosso and Blu. Saki then declared herself as the new master of D.R.L.N. while overseeing the battle. 
Seeing that the brothers could not use the two new Crystals, she had D.R.L.N. activate the Monster Restraint System, but later rescinded it. Following Grigio King's defeat by Ultraman Ruebe, Saki separated Cereza from Makoto's body and trapped him within the building premises and took over Aizen Tech as its new president, replacing Makoto, who had returned back to normal. However, this was all part of a much bigger plan, which was to turn the planet into a bomb using Ray Energy and use it to destroy Leugocyte, who she predicted to be coming in about two months. Saki continued to interact with Asahi, trying to convince her that she was not really part of the Minato family, though her attempts fail. 
After taking over Aizen Tech and announcing her plan to destroy Earth, the governemnt and public decide to take drasric measures against her, which resulted in the hacking of D.R.L.N., who unleashed King Joe. During King Joe's attack, she worked with the Minato brothers for once to protect Asahi and she explained her backstory to her. After the battle, Saki used the Monster Restraint System on Ruebe, knocking him out. She then took the opportunity to steal the other two R/B Gyros to further power up her own Gyro and powers. During Gomora's rampage, she attacked the Minato Brothers who wanted to take back their Gyros, but they were protected by the Gyros themselves. 
She then transformed into Grand King Megalos to finish off the monster and defeat both Rosso and Blu for being 'fake Ultramen' but was defeated after a tough battle. Later on, she told the Minato Siblings about their mother's disappearance before becoming Horoboros in an attempt to defeat Rosso and Blu but loses the battle once again. Afterwards, Saki rushes to the place where Mio disappeared as the siblings followed her. With all three Gyros gathered, a strange device activated, opening a portal to another dimension.
 Out of it came Mio Minato and Kamisori Demaaga and seeing that the brothers could not transform, Saki fought as Horoboros, but was easily defeated due to not having recovered from her previous fight.
Although severely weakened, she fought again when Kamisori Demaaga reappeared, but she was once again easily defeated. After Rosso and Blu defeat the monster, she finds her Gyro stolen. Saki finds out where her Gyro was - with Mio Minato - and took it back along with Leugocyte's crystal just before it could be thrown into the other dimension Mio came back from. She told them that she was going to destroy Leugocyte no matter what and elaborated on her plan to use the Ray Energy to materialize Leugocyte and destroy it along with herself and the Earth.
Saki then left, to say goodbye to Asahi. Encountering Katsumi and Isami again while she was going back to Aizen Tech, she told the boys to leave the planet along with their family. However, they refused, saying that they can find another solution. With no other choice, Saki transformed into Grigio Regina. Grigio Regina easily withstands all of the brothers' attacks, even Ultraman Ruebe's, as she marched on to Aizen Tech to detonate the planet. However, the Leugocyte Crystal suddenly activated and forced her out of her transformation. As Leugocyte freed itself from its prison, Saki could do nothing but watch the destroyer's arrival. 
Saki transformed into Grigio Regina again soon afterwards in an attempt to stall him for long enough for the Ray Energy to gather at the Aizen Tech premises, so that she could finally destroy Leugocyte and even had a barrier placed around the battlefield. However, all of her attacks proved ineffective even after absorbing more energy from other R/B Crystals. Later, the Minato brothers transformed into their Ultra forms to aid her, but were similarly outclassed by their formidable foe. Reminded of Rosso and Blu's sacrifice in the past, Saki has a change of heart and stands in front of the brothers to protect them from Leugocyte's laser. Mortally wounded, she tells Asahi of her real name and passes on her Gyro before fading away in particles of light. 
===Ultraman R/B The Movie: Select! The Crystal of Bond===
 Despite having already died, Asahi uses her Gyro and Grigio Regina Crystal to transform into the monster during Ultraman Tregear and Snake Darkness' attack on Ayaka city. Her spirit comes back and contacts Asahi, evolving Grigio Regina into Ultrawoman Grigio. 
==Powers and Weapons==
*Longevity: Saki has lived a very long life, having met Tokugawa Ieyasu during the late sixteenth centuryhttps://twitter.com/ultraman_series/status/1045833293885628417, as well as figures such as Oscar Wildehttps://twitter.com/ultraman_series/status/1050906779515641856, William Shakespearehttps://twitter.com/ultraman_series/status/1048370010052149249, Niccolò Machiavellihttps://twitter.com/ultraman_series/status/1053443449779712000, and Florence Nightingalehttps://twitter.com/ultraman_series/status/1106489952752140288.
*R/B Gyro (Saki Mitsurugi Model): A repainted version of the original Gyro, it sports orange and black accents. She passed the device to Asahi during her dying moments.
**Kaiju Summoning/Transformation: In the same vein as Makoto Aizen, scanning R/B Crystals allow her to summon or transform into the corresponding Kaiju.
**Empowerment: A unique feature of her Gyro, Saki can evolve monsters summoned from R/B Crystals into their stronger forms, or at the very least grant them new powers.
**R/B Crystal Creation: From a monster's remains, Saki can extract their essence and condense it into a R/B Crystal.
*R/B Crystals: Although she is yet to have her own set, Saki can still use the R/B Crystals on her own Gyro.
**Ray Energy Absorption: Saki can absorb the energies of R/B Crystals to gain an increase in power through the Ray Energy. She uses this as a suicide attack while letting Leugocyte fire his beam, which will cause Earth to be obliterated if hit.
*Kaiju Return: Saki reverts a summoned monster back to its R/B Crystal, which flies back to her.
*Teleportation: Saki is capable of disappearing within the blink of an eye, doing so to escape before Katsumi witnesses her presence.
*Energy Pulse: Saki releases a pulse of energy from her hand, which was used to expel Cereza from Makoto Aizen's body.
*Barrier: Saki puts up an energy barrier to defend herself and others.
*Healing Wave: Saki is able to heal people, seemingly at the expense of her own energy.
*Repulsion Wave: Saki can release an orange wave and keep others at bay.
*Energy Bolts: Saki can rapidly fire orange energy bolts from her hands.
*Ray Energy Bomb: Saki can destroy the whole planet if she gives up her life force to become the detonator of the concentrated Ray Energy around the impact site of the Ayaka Star.
*Astral Projection: After death, Saki is able to appear as a spirit.
Saki(with)Gyro-clearer.jpeg|R/B Gyro (Saki Mitsurugi Model)
GKMHenshin.gif|Transformation (Grand King Megalos)
HoroborosHenshin.gif|Transformation (Horoboros)
ReginaHenshin.gif|Transfrmation (Grigio Regina)
HoroborosSummon.gif|Kaiju Summoning
HoroborosEvolve.gif|Empowerment
SakiReturn.gif|Kaiju Return
SakiGyroRBCrystalCreation.gif|R/B Crystal Creation
Saki(with)RBCrystals.jpeg|R/B Crystals
SakiPowerUp.gif|Ray Energy Absorption
SakiTekeport.gif|Teleportation
SakiWave.gif|Energy Pulse
SakiBarrier.gif|Barrier
SakiHealing.gif|Healing Wave
SakiRepulsion.gif|Repulsion Wave
SakiEnergyBolt.gif|Energy Bolts
Saki'sPlan.gif|Ray Energy Bomb
SakiencouragesAsahi.png|Astral Projection
==R/B Crystals in Possession==
===Kaiju===
*Horoboros: Retrieved after the Kaiju's first defeat
*Grigio King: Unknown
*Neronga: Unknown
*King Joe: Retrieved after the Kaiju's defeat
*Grand King Megalos: Unknown
*Grigio Regina: Unknown
*Red King: Possibly taken from Makoto Aizen.
*Gargorgon: Possibly taken from Makoto Aizen.
*Guebasser: Possibly taken from Makoto Aizen.
===Ultra===
*Ultraman (Given to Asahi Minato)
*Ultraman Belial (Given to Asahi Minato)
===Other===
*Blank Crystal
==Quotes==
Whenever Saki expresses her thoughts towards the Ultramen or when talking to others, she will occasionally quote a statement said by one of the historical figures she met in the past. Most of these quotes are taken directly from the works of the historical figures in particular. She usually starts each quote with "An old friend once said.....".
*"Most people are other people, naturally", that goes for those Ultraman, too. "Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation." - Oscar WildeDe Profundis and Other Prison Writings
*"All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players." - William ShakespeareAs You Like It, Act 2, Scene 7
*"To know the way to heaven, you must know the way to Hell." - Niccolò Machiavelli
*"There's only one thing worse than injustice, and that's justice without her sword in her hand." - Oscar WildeIn Praise of Disobedience
*"There is something terribly morbid in the modern sympathy with pain." - Oscar WildeThe Picture of Dorian Grey, Chapter 3 
*"The greatest mistake of the world, is differentiating between good people and bad people." - Oscar Wilde
*"The final target of all living things is, death." - Sigmund FreudBeyond the Pleasure Principle, Chapter 5
*"Angels fight because they are faced with bitterness." - Florence Nightingale
Saki and Ieyasu.jpg|Grigio with Tokugawa Ieyasu
80DD1AA6-19E0-48E1-8F72-CFCA52FCE386.jpeg|Grigio with Oscar Wilde
Saki and Oscar.jpg
SakiWithOscarField.jpg
SakiOscarEpisode19.jpeg
Saki and William.jpg|Grigio with William Shakespeare
Saki&WillamEpisode18.jpeg
Saki and Niccolo.jpg|Grigio with Niccolò Machiavelli
SakiWithSigmundFreud.jpg|Grigio with Sigmund Freud
SakiandNightingale.jpeg|Grigio with Florence Nightingale
==Merchandise==
*Ultraman R/B Deformed Pattern Acrylic Charm (2020)
**Release Date(s): March 2021 (Premium Bandai)
**Price: 550 yen for each piece
**Materials: Acrylic, metal (chain)
:Released as part of the R/B- hemed Deformed Pattern Acrylic Charm series, Saki (which is drawn in an Anime-fied style) is one the items to be produced as hanging acrylic keychain.
:Saki (and the rest of the characters) is available as a made-for-order item (where the customers can choose one during purchase) for Premium Bandai in March 2021.
==Trivia==
*In her intro card during the opening sequence, there are three gray blobs which seem to vaguely resemble the three Grigio variants.
*The color of her fingernail paint represents her siblings and herself:
**Red: Rosso
**Blue: Blu
**Gray: Herself
*Her given name is shared with an alien girl from Ultraman Tiga, who also wears black clothes and has been on Earth since the ancient times.
*Her death is similar to Riko Saida from Ultraman Nexus; both faded away into particles of light after protecting the main characters.
*The Ray Energy and Ray Lines may be based off the real life theory of Ley lines.
*As stated in the prequel novel, the black dress Saki wears was gifted to her from Oscar Wilde himself.
*The character Saki Mitsurugi was originally conceived as a replacement when the idea of Mio Minato being an antagonist was met with opposition. There was initially a plan to have Mitsurugi replacing the missing Asahi as the Minato family's sister, but once again, this idea was vetoed by the crew members as well.
*As mentioned in Figure-Oh volume 300, director Masayoshi Takesue came to regret the sudden changes of antagonists from Makoto Aizen (Cereza) to Saki Mitsurugi, as he was unable to properly develop either characters. This becomes his major motivation when developing Agams for Ultraman Decker, hoping that by merging him with the already established character Yuichiro Asakage, he can prevent a similar mistake from happening again.
==References==
id:Saki Mitsurugi
ms:Saki Mitsurugi
Category:Female Characters
Category:Ultraman R/B
Category:Ultraman R/B Characters
Category:Antagonists
Category:Human Lookalikes
Category:Deceased Characters
Category:Former Villains
Category:Anti-Heroes