Type Change

is a process of altering an Ultra's appearance into another form to change their abilities and preference in combat prowess. This ability is present in most Ultras since the Heisei era of Ultraman Series, more specifically since the premier of Ultraman Tiga.
Initially, the term "Type Change" was unique to Tiga himself as his unique ability to assume Power and Sky Type from his default Multi Type. However, starting from Ultraman R/B and onwards, "Type Change" has become a general term denoting to Ultras changing from their default forms, regardless if it's a color/anatomical change or donning a set of armor to their bodies.https://m-78.jp/news/post-4810https://m-78.jp/zero10th/
==Nature==
An Ultra Warrior's ability to change forms allows them to switch their combat abilities into one that is appropriate to the situation. The most common trifecta of Type Change are balanced, speed and strength; as in the user starts at a basic form that has a balanced combat style (in terms of strength, speed and firepower), with their alternate forms emphasizing on the maximum increase of one of the specifications at the cost of the other (eg; transforming into Power Type enhances body strength at the cost of speed and agility). Hence the rules of Type Change can be summarized under the steps below:
*The Ultra starts at their default normal form, one that is balanced in terms of combat styles but is sufficient enough to defeat an opponent. This form usually has a mixed color palette to denote the balance in-between two alternate forms.
*The strength-attribute form that they use, which increases their strength and allows them to fight in close combat at the cost of their speed. This form is commonly associated with the color red.
*The speed-attribute form that allows them to excel at high speed movements, aerial combat and presumably disorientation tactics that requires emphasis on mental creativity in the battlefield at the cost of physical strength. This form is usually associated with the color blue.
*Optionally a further enhanced form, which is used for opponents that neither strength nor speed alone can handle it. Most prominently seen in Ultras of the New Generation Heroes, this form supposedly has an emphasis on their classical beam attacks and at times allowing them to exert both physical strength and speed without sacrificing the other traits.
===Users of Type Change===
The Ultras below are officially described for their ability to change forms as "Type Change".
*Ultraman Tiga: The first Ultra to use Type Change, the Tiga Crystal on his forehead allows him to switch from his default Multi Type to Power and Sky Types, taking up 0.5 seconds.http://ultra2008.jp/tiga/about_tiga/typechange/index.htm Other than the main three, Tiga exhibited the ability to transform into Glitter Tiga by absorbing light energy, growing 120 meters as a result.http://ultra2008.jp/tiga/about_tiga/glitter/index.htm In Ultraman Tiga: The Final Odyssey, it was established that Tiga gained his default powers by absorbing those of his former friends in the Giants of Darkness. When Daigo returned as Tiga and started at Tiga Dark, he is able to slowly restore the Ultra's light by absorbing the attacks of Darramb and Hudra, gaining Tiga Tornado and Blast along the way.https://m-78.jp/news/post-6038
*Ultraman Dyna: Despite being the successor to Tiga in all but name, Dyna's Type Change worked differently, with his specifically designated as for additional distinction. His Strong Type focuses on strength and close combat whereas his Miracle Type focuses on speed and long range combat, with neither forms inheriting Flash Type's Dyna Tector. Additionally (discounting one instance), Dyna is limited to a single form per each transformations; hence he is allowed to Change into either Strong Type or Miracle Type before returning to Flash Type.http://ultra2008.jp/dyna/about_dyna/triplechange/index.htm The sole advantage of this however allows him to default into either form from the transformation; as seen in the fights against Deathfacer and Graikis.
*Ultraman Zero: His official 10th anniversary website declares that Ultimate Zero, Strong-Corona Zero, Luna-Miracle Zero, Shining Ultraman Zero and Ultraman Zero Beyond were all considered "Type Changes". This might as well apply to Wild Burst, a form that he independently acquired through an intense training in Ultra Galaxy Fight: The Destined Crossroad.
*Ultraman Rosso and Ultraman Blu: The R/B Gyro belonging to Rosso and Blu allow them to access one of the four elemental forms from corresponding R／B Crystals. Rosso and Blu's default forms are Flame and Aqua respectively, serving as the forms with balanced fighting styles while maintaining the fact that Rosso is a ranged fighter, while Blu prefers close combat. Although recognized by the official website as "Type Change", however their sets of crystals are shared with the other; meaning that both Ultras cannot access the same form at the same time.
*Ultraman Trigger: Being the 2020s reiteration of Ultraman Tiga, Trigger relies on Kengo Manaka switching the GUTS Hyper Keys from the GUTS Sparklence in order to Type Change from Multi Type to other forms. The drawback here is that losing a Hyper Key prevents Trigger from accessing that particular form. It is also noted that aside from Power and Sky Type, Trigger can also access Glitter Trigger Eternity, a form that is analogous to Glitter Tiga. Due to the form's nature as a piece of Eternity Core's energy than the lights of mankind and/or deceased Ultras, Trigger has no issues with reusing it when fighting against stronger opponents.
*Ultraman Decker: Being the progeny of Dyna himself, Decker has access to Strong Type and Miracle Type as his alternate forms, each emphasizing on the amount of area that his Protector covers. Hence Strong Type's Protector covers his entire right arm as additional protection, while Miracle Type is a reduced version to ensure it does not interfere with Decker's mobility. Additionally according to Decker Asumi, Kanata Asumi's resolve creates the Dynamic Type, a stronger form that is accessible only when Kanata is in Decker's mantle instead of his namesake human host. This suggests that Ultraman Decker himself can access forms unique to his hosts.
**While not exactly a Type Change, Ultraman Dinas is the devolution of Ultraman Decker, resulted when his power is as its incomplete state.
===Variations===
Other variation of form changes can be described as below:
*: The Ultras born from Planet Earth, Gaia and Agul, displayed the ability to change in a way that resulted in increases their bodies' performances. The two started at Version 1 (V1) from early episodes of Ultraman Gaia and later on evolves into Version 2 (V2), the latter of which remains as their representative appearances in succeeding media. However, their method of obtaining Version 2 worked differently:
**Gaia evolved into V2 by obtaining Agul's light, doing so grant him access to the latter's powers in addition to his own as well. It also allowed him to obtain Supreme Version (SV), a form that is said to be the pinnacle of a Human Ultraman. The drawback to the latter form is that Gamu had to physically train himself on regular occasions in order for his body to keep up with Gaia's increasing strength. Additionally in the non-canon Ultra Heroes EXPO, Gaia and Agul in their Supreme Version can fuse into Gaia's Super Supreme Version.
**Agul on the other hand evolved into V2 through the Earth's will restoring Agul's light. This results in Agul's gaining access to stronger versions of his previous finishing moves in addition to new abilities which can be used in conjunction with Gaia SV. In the non-canon NEW GENERATION THE LIVE: Ultraman Trigger STAGE 1, Agul obtains Supreme Version by Gamu donating his light. This does not affect Gaia, as he is able to transform into Supreme Version as well with no ill effect.
*: Cosmos and Justice's form changes.
**Cosmos' default form is the Luna Mode that emphasizes on speed and non-lethal techniques. When in need of brute strength against fierce opponents, Cosmos would change into Corona Mode, a form that emphasizes on brute strength but retains his ability to use speed, or its interstellar variant Space Corona Mode. Through external help, Cosmos can access Eclipse Mode through Musashi's courage, Miracluna Mode through Musashi's will to purify Chaos Darkness and lastly, Future Mode through the use of .
**Justice on the other hand had the Standard Mode as his default form and entered Crusher Mode once he gained faith in humanity. Both forms have emphasis on brute strength and aggression, but as Standard Mode focuses on beam techniques, Crusher Mode has more emphasis on melee combat and cooperative techniques with Cosmos Future Mode.
**According to the (now defunct) blog of Tsuburaya's website, Zero's transformation into Strong-Corona Zero and Luna-Miracle Zero were exclusively labelled as Mode Changes. This is due to in part of both alternate forms obtained through his fusion into Ultraman Saga, resulting in their simultaneous creations. In particular, Strong-Corona Zero has the aspect of Dyna's Strong Type and Cosmos' Corona Mode, whereas Luna-Miracle Zero harbors the aspect of Dyna's Miracle Type and Cosmos' default Luna Mode.https://web.archive.org/web/20160424160509/http://blog.m-78.jp/2012/06/14/解禁-ウルトラマンゼロの新たな姿/
*:https://m-78.jp/news/n-1982 One of Ultraman Noa's devolved forms, Nexus, has the ability to change from Anphans to variations of Junis, depending on the Dunamist he bonded with. When bonded with Himeya or Sayuri, he used the original red Junis, but when bonded with Ren Senjyu, he used Junis Blue that inherited all of the previous Junis' abilities in addition to its own original set of powers. When Komon became the fifth Dunamist, Anphans' Core Final allowed him to access both Junis forms as transitional steps before he actually restored Noa to his original form.
*Brave modes: Although the official name is unknown, Ultraman Mebius has shown transforming into Mebius Brave through the Knight Brace or Mebius Burning Brave through his bonds with Crew GUYS. Two of his strongest forms, Mebius Phoenix Brave and Mebius Infinity requires combination with with other Ultras; the former with Hikari and Crew GUYS while the latter fusing with all first 6 members of the Ultra Brothers.
*: A gold-colored transformation that appears in Great Decisive Battle! The Super 8 Ultra Brothers. This form is a result of Mebius and the seven alternate universe Ultras drawing their power from mankind's hope to defeat Giant Black Silhouette. This empowerment contrasts from the original Tiga's Glitter Tiga by remaining on the same size rather than growing bigger.
*Strium Brace: The bracelet that Taro provided to Ginga allowed the latter to transform into Ginga Strium, a form that incorporates him with Taro's features and the powers of the first 6 Ultra Brothers.
*Knight Timbre: A flute that Hikari created, it is used to transform Ultraman Victory into Ultraman Victory Knight. But its true purpose was to draw out Sho's inner Victorium energy to empower Victory, hence acting in the same way as to Cosmos Eclipse Mode requiring Musashi's presence to do so.
*: Appeared exclusively in Ultraman Ginga S The Movie: Showdown! The 10 Ultra Warriors!. Zero and the rest of Ultras who were previously captured by Etelgar momentarily empower themselves with gold aura to finish off his dimensional fortress. This form serves only to empower their finishers and nothing more, with Cosmos and Nexus in particular assume Corona Mode and Junis as their base forms instead of their original forms.
*Xlugger: The handheld sword which also serves as Daichi's means to turn Ultraman X into Ultraman Exceed X. From an in-universe perspective, when X transforms into this form, he crosses his arms above his head before drawing them downwards in a similar manner to Tiga's Type Change.
*: Accessed exclusively by Ultraman Orb, who actively did so after sealing his original form, Orb Origin, from the trauma of seemingly losing his close companion Natasha. This allowed him to draw powers of his Ultraman predecessors through the Ultra Fusion Cards and combine two selected cards through his Orb Ring into a singular form. After restoring Orb Origin, Orb reserved the Fusion Up forms as his alternatives when his default form proves too ill-suited to handle his opponent.
**Prior to obtaining Orb Origin, Orb initially started in an all-red form known as Origin the First, which sees the lack of Orb Calibur as his weapon and relies entirely on beam attacks. He lost access to this form once the Voice of Light evolved him into Orb Origin.
**By scanning the cards of Ginga, Victory and X, Orb can access a variant of Fusion Up known as , which transforms him into Orb Trinity.
*: Created by Ultraman Hikari, this is a method accessed through the (Geed) Riser by harnessing the powers of two Ultra Capsules at once into a singular form. This is mainly utilized by Ultraman Geed to access his default Primitive and the rest of his forms after that. In the case of Royal Megamaster however, the Geed Riser manifests the King Sword, requiring Riku Asakura to insert the King Capsule on it to complete the transformation.
**: A variation of Fusion Rise accessed by Ultraman Zero as one of his many Type Changes, this method transforms him into Ultraman Zero Beyond. It was performed by scanning the New Generation Capsules Alpha and Beta (pertaining to Ginga, Orb, Victory and X respectively) and plugging his Ultra Zero Eye NEO to the Riser to access its Zero Mode. This form requires the presence of a human host (in this case, Leito Igaguri) to initiate the steps, hence the alternative method would have been Geed and the other four New Generation Heroes supplying Zero with their powers.
**: Accessed by Ultraman Belial, he scans the Kaiju Capsules of Alien Empera and Dark Lugiel to transform into Ultraman Belial Atrocious.
*Ultimate Evolution: Accessing the Giga Finalizer, it draws out Geed's full potential to the utmost limit and grants him the form Ultimate Final.
*Photon-Earth: Through Ai Tennoji's help, she grants Ultraman Taiga the Photon-Earth form, granting him access to the ancient Earth's powers in addition to his own light, at the same time giving him a slight boost in strength and speed. As demonstrated in Ultra Galaxy Fight: The Absolute Conspiracy, he can also access it on his own without Hiroyuki's help, simply summoning the armor to do the deed.
*: A type of form change developed by Hikari through Z Riser as an improvised version of (Geed) Riser's Fusion Rise, it allows the recipient to use three Ultra Medals to incorporate the powers of past Ultra Warriors into their forms. The young Ultra known as Ultraman Z is Hikari's beta tester to this process and the one who uses this ability the most during his mission on Earth to recover the stolen Ultra Medals from Celebro. Z's default form is Original, and his Ultra Fusion inherits his old abilities such as the Zestium Beam and Z Slugger while obtaining form-exclusive powers. Due to his familiarity, Z knows which Medal is compatible with the other and the formula needed to create an Ultra Fusion form.
**When Geed had his Geed Riser damaged, Hikari provided him with the Z Riser to transform into Galaxy Rising, a form which was meant to substitute the rest of the unavailable Fusion Rise forms while his old device is being repaired.
**Although Zero never used the Z Riser beyond its function as a weapon, he also considers an appropriate form of his own, named Gransabered Zero, which Z takes note and sends to Hikari for recommendation.
**During Z's time on the Planet Earth where events of Ultraman Trigger: New Generation Tiga is taking place, Haruki substitutes the damaged Z Riser with the GUTS Hyper Keys and GUTS Sparklence to assume Z's Original form and his later Ultra Fusion forms. This type of form change may not be considered "Ultra Fusion", as Akito merely studies the Ultra Medals and replicate their combinations to the appropriate Hyper Keys.
==Other cases==
===Armors===
Assuming from Ultraman Zero's 10th anniversary website that Ultimate Zero is also one of his Type Change, then any forms of armament also applies to the rule of form changes.
*Cosmo Tector: A type of armor that is used by the Andro People and the Ultras working at the Andromeda branch. Zoffy is known to have worn two types of Cosmo Tectors, one belonging to Melos and the other belonged to the late Andro People Cesar, creating the Andro Melos alias. Benoit would later received the armor from Zoffy and the moniker Andro Melos to this day.
*Arb Gear: A set of armor created by the residents of Arb, it was prophesied to be worn by the legendary hero known as Tsurugi. Ultraman Hikari dons the armor from the remaining Arb people whose wish for vengeance resonated with the Ultra, hence his moniker at that time being Hunter Knight Tsurugi.
*Armored Darkness: A sentient set of armor who acts as a contingency to Alien Empera upon his death. The living armor is infamous for absorbing its victims into its own being, but the spirit of Ultraman Belial possessed it on the Monster Graveyard to become Kaiser Darkness.
*Zero Slugger Gear: In the non-canon stage show of Ultraman Festival 2010, Ultraman Zero can transform his Zero Sluggers into two types of armor; known as Super Form and Keeper Form.
*Ultimate Aegis: Originally known as the Shield of Baradhi, it forms into the Ultimate Aegis for Zero to equip as his armor or reconfigure into a bow-and-arrow-like projectile. A copy of it was also created by Alien Fanton Gourman through his study of it, granting Ultraman X access to Ultraman Zero Armor.
*Cyber Armor: Created by Xio, the Cyber Armor is either the forms taken by Cyber Kaiju into MonsArmor or an Ultra Warriors' power materialized as a set of armor for Ultraman X to assume armored forms. In Orb Trinity, Ultraman Orb is able to summon a portion or the entirety of Gomora Armor to his own being.
*Flower Tector: A torso armor worn by Sora and previously her ancestors as part of her family heirloom. She succeeded her mother after coming to an age.
*Firdran Armor: With the help of the monster Firdran, Ultraman Blazar can don the Firdran Armor that covers his upper torso and the entirety of right arm.
*Arc Armor: Sets of armors worn over Ultraman Arc, used when the Ultra's Color Timer blinks red. The armor is created from Yuma's imagination, more specifically his childhood drawing.https://m-78.jp/news/post-7052https://tsuburaya-prod.com/news/7206
===Usage by Ultra Kaiju===
Since the Showa era installments, certain Ultra Kaiju has the ability to change forms, either as a distinction of sizes or a form of growth phases. There are however instances since the Heisei era, where the Ultra Kaiju imitates and/or exploits their corresponding Ultra's Type Change ability in combat.
*Kyrieloid II had the ability to change into two separate forms that allow him to fight on par with Ultraman Tiga. His initial change was into Power Type, gaining Kyriel Cutter arm blades and the Sky Type is merely the Power Type form growing a pair of Kyriel Wings.
*Although not exactly evil, Gregore transforms into Imit-Ultraman Dyna on two separate forms. The Flash Type was a near perfect impersonation to draw attention from civilians, while the Miracle Type has yellow lines to further distinct himself from the real Dyna.
*Chaos Header's Chaos Ultraman is the artificial clone made from infecting Cosmos. The first form was made in resemblance to Corona Mode, but further empowerment from Chaos Header evolves him into Chaos Ultraman Calamity, a form that resembles Eclipse Mode. In this case however, the form change is permanent as to counter not only Cosmos, but also Team EYES and JADF's growing military strength.
*Ultra Dark-Killer is a being who was formed from the conglomerate of fallen Ultra Kaiju under the hands of the Ultra Brothers. In the CR Pachinko Ultra Battle Retsuden: Fight Zero! The Strongest Young Warrior, Dark-Killer gains the ability to split into two forms, Dark-Killer Shadow (speed) and Dark-Killer Mite (strength), before he recombines into Dark-Killer Delta, akin to an Ultra's strongest form.
*Assuming that the Dark Ring is an actual copy of the Orb Ring, then Jugglus Juggler's Zeppandon serves as the monstrous counterpart to Orb's Fusion Up process. The transformation sequence in Ultraman Orb The Movie: Let Me Borrow the Power of Bonds! even includes a transformation process that is similar to Gai's.
*As part of his theft of Riser and Ultra Medals, Kei Fukuide abused the Fusion Rise process to create Belial Fusion Monsters by using a pair of Kaiju Capsules as substitutes to Ultra Capsules. Belial also do the same by transforming into Chimeraberus, which is also part of Belial's forms despite being an Ultra Kaiju.
*Grigio (who also known by the alias Saki Mitsurugi) acquires her own R/B Gyro at the same time as her brothers Rosso and Blu. However while her brothers turn into their Ultraman namesakes, Grigio became a Kaiju that shares her name. With her own set of R/B Crystals, Grigio can either evolve Grigio Bone into its later forms (Grigio King and Grigio Regina) or outright transforms into a different Kaiju altogether. Furthermore, she also lends her Kaiju form to Cereza, who had accessed both the forms of Grigio Bone and King.
*Through his effort of studying the stolen Ultra Medals and Z Riser, Celebro experiments with the Ultra Fusion method by turning into Belial Fusion Monsters and Tri/Five King. What makes this particularly stands out is that he is able to freely shift between different Kaiju in Belial Fusion Monsters and evolve Tri-King into Five King by switching/adding the Medal components.
**Related to above, just as the Z Riser is needed to upgrade an Ultra's base form into an Ultra Fusion, Celebro does the same by force-injecting the Kaiju Medals into a recipient monster, upgrading them with attributes of different monsters. Hence this provides a Telesdon with Jirahs' frill, Horoboros with mechanical parts and finally Ultroid Zero with Belial's Medal to fuse with other monsters into Destrudos.
**In the same vein as Celebro, Juggler duplicated Haruki's Z Riser as an alternative to the Dark Ring after losing it. Other than recreating Zeppandon (now with the added Maga-Orochi Medal), he can also form Tri-King and imitate its power up into Five King like the aforementioned parasite.
===Early Style===
 is a notation given to Ultras, and later Ultra Kaiju, who has a previous form/appearance before they appear as their current form in the present day. Although some cases considered as a form change, it is not a reversible process.
Character 	Description 	Changes in the current appearance 	Nature
Ultraman Belial 	Ultraman Belial is the first known character to be given an Early Style, his designated to the appearance from his time as a Silver Tribe Ultra and a friend of Ultraman Ken (now Father of Ultra). 	The present day Belial's skin turns black, body proportion hunches forward, his eyes elongated and turned orange, his mouth becoming larger with mouth-opening mechanism and his Color Timer turns purple. 	Belial changed into his current appearance as a result of Alien Reiblood's corruption and merger, making him a Reionics as well.
Zoffy 	The younger Zoffy from the events of Ultimate Wars. 	The present-day Zoffy is adorned with Star Marks and Ultra Breasters as medals of his bravery. 	Initially unnamed, Zoffy's previous form was retroactively added the "Early Style" moniker in Tsuburaya Imagination's official website.
Jugglus Juggler 	The previous appearance of Juggler's Majin Form prior to Ultraman Orb. 	Juggler receives his crescent-shaped scar from shielding Natasha against the explosion from Maga-Zetton's explosion. Other than that, he still retains most of his abilities as a swordsman and the armor's overall appearance.	The crescent scar even extends to his human form's chest, as seen in one particular occasion.
Ultraman Geed 	Ultraman Geed's original form prior to assuming Fusion Rise forms and Ultimate Final. Being a Belial clone, Geed's Early Style is identical to his father, save for his "capsule"-like Color Timer. 	While neither of his Fusion Rise forms inherit elements from his Early Style, Ultimate Final uses it as his base form to a "modernized" appearance while keeping his trademark eyes from the Fusion Rise. 	Geed's Early Style is inaccessible in nature as the Geed Riser or Z Riser is necessary to invoke the transformation. Hence it only serves as a "transitional" form from Riku's human appearance to the final step of Geed's transformation process.
Ultraman Tregear	Tregear's younger self from his days working as part of the Space Science and Technology Bureau. Tregear resembles an Ultra from the Showa era with two shades of blue, as he is a member of the Blue Tribe.	Tregear's present day form is a set of bondage-like restraints fashioned around his body by the Tregear Eye. 	Tregear took on his current form as a way to maintain the seal of absorbing Grimdo into his body and as a mark of his departure from his Ultraman lineage.
Ultraman Regulos	Regulos's initial appearance during his days training under the Cosmo Beast Style. 	Regulos obtains the crests of Cosmo Tiger and Cosmo Dragon from his fallen masters, as well as the handcuffs remained from his time under The Kingdom's captivity. 	The crests he inherited from Phoros and Tubahn allows him to exert and mix their fighting styles into Red Dragon and White Tiger Fist.
==Trivia==
*As part of the features in Mega Monster Battle: ULTRA MONSTERS NEO and Mega Monster Battle: RR, Evil Tiga, Dark Zagi and Ultraman Belial can access Reionic Burst, a red-colored enhanced form used by Battlenizer monsters. However, the arcade games do not treat this as a form change and merely power ups to enhance their attacks.
*In Ultraman F, Mitsuhiro Ide carefully observed the Ultraman's change of facial appearance and denotes each of them as Types A, B and C respectively, referencing the real life behind-the-scene case of Ultraman's costume evolution as worn by suit actor Bin Furuya. He even declares this as Type Change since all three forms has Ultraman displaying different set of movements (Type A for strength, Type B for random techniques and Type C for long-ranged attacks), but Inpei Seant debunked the theory by claiming that "humans also change their appearances once they get older".
*In Ultraman Taiga, the Tri-Squad shares the same host Hiroyuki Kudo after their injuries from fighting Tregear forced them to settle on a human host, coincidentally the same person at that. In combat, Hiroyuki shifts between one Tri-Squad members per each battle specifications and the three coincidentally sharing the same time limit, making it a pseudo Type Change.
*At the end of Ultra Kaiju Battle Breeders, Navi describes her new look from hijacking the Supervisor as "Version Up", homaging Gaia's similarly named evolution to his Version 2 as a result of absorbing Agul's light.
==References==
Category:Ultra Traits