Ultraman Arc (character)

is the titular hero of the series Ultraman Arc.https://tsuburaya-prod.com/news/7176https://m-78.jp/news/post-7050https://tsuburaya-prod.com/heroes/ultraman-arc He is Yuma Hize's image of the "Strongest Hero" and is born from the power of imagination when Yuma unites with , a being of light from a faraway galaxy.
==Conception==
===Etymology===
During the initial planning stage, the key design notes of the new Ultraman included elements of "rainbows" and "simplicity". But on director Takanori Tsujimoto's guidance, designer Masayuki Gotoh decided to pursue his own vision of a "Showa-inspired, simple-style" Ultraman, scrapping the idea of a "rainbow-colored" Ultraman entirely. However, what stuck in the final design draft was the image of a "circle of light" (as seen in Arc's Arc Finalize), in other words, an arc, which is where Arc's name was derived from.
In Ultraman Arc, Shu Ishido gave Arc his name after the arc of light left behind by the Ultra. However, the codename "Ultraman" had been used by the GDF since his first appearance, a portmanteau derived from Arc being "ultra big and strong" and having an appearance that took after mankind.https://x.com/TsuburayaGlobal/status/1814827612117643353 The GDF were also involved in the naming of the Arc Armors: the Solis Armor was named after the Latin word for the Sun due to the Sun-like chest piece and the armor's orange coloration.https://x.com/TsuburayaGlobal/status/1817364333682164048
===Design===
:;Ultraman Arc
As the main director for this work, Tsujimoto wanted his Ultraman to follow the design philosophy of the Showa era. He noticed that Masayuki Gotoh's past design works primarily used the original Ultraman as a template while adding many striking design elements, so this time Tsujimoto wanted Gotoh to create his own Ultraman from scratch with a stylistic emphasis on "simplicity", with specific references to the original Ultraman and Ultraman Jack. The result of this was an Ultra with minimal armor, relying only on the boldness of a red-and-silver body, and a face inspired by Ultraman's C-Type mask with Ultraseven's eyes (initially, C-Type eyes were considered, but Tsujimoto felt that it did not look good and ultimately scrapped the idea).Figure King No.317 pg 26-28
During the design process, black was added to Arc's palette to break up the colors and coordinate a better impression of the body. A breastplate in the style of Ultraseven's protectors were included in the initial design, but gradually shrunk until it became a small engraving around the Color Timer. Later, this and the Ultra's body patterns were edited slightly at the request of Tsujimoto and the producers after they found it a bit too simplistic, giving birth to Arc's current design. In addition, giving to the "rainbow" concept planned at the beginning, Gotoh wanted the mask to emit seven colors of light, which eventually became the two luminous bands stretching along the sides of Arc's head.
During the molding process, the first iteration of Arc's face mask posed problems for the suit actors, as the light source was installed in a way that reflected directly into the actor's vision. To tackle this, the sculpting team added black lines underneath the eyelids not just for the suit actor to see out of the mask, but also to disperse the reflection of light. This was inspired by the eye black worn by baseball players.
:;Arc Armors
The introduction of the Arc Armors was inspired by the production of Ultraman Blazar, where form changes were sacrificed in exchange for new Kaiju suits. Tsujimoto was impressed and wanted to introduce a gallery of Showa-inspired Kaiju, so he chose to let Arc don armors to avoid creating new suits for form changes and thereby reducing the number of new Kaiju that could be introduced. The Arc Armors were inspired by Ultraman X's Cyber Armors, and obscured the Color Timer completely after learning from the production difficulties of Ultraman Blazar's Firdran Armor, which had the tendency to shift off-center during shoots. Leg armor was also considered, but this required the creation of new suits, so the idea was scrapped.
Originally, design prototypes for the Arc Armors included military vehicles such as fighter planes and tanks, but these were viewed as "too aggressive" for the intended demographic and did not fit the style of the work. Hence, the designers turned to celestial bodies instead, and chose the Sun and the Moon as the basis for the Arc Armors.
==History==
===Ultraman Arc===
When Yuma Hize, a rookie investigator from SKIP, gets caught up in a kaiju disaster, his strong will and determination to protect others brings forth Rution, a being of light from a faraway galaxy that once appeared to Yuma in his childhood. As if responding to his wishes, the mystic light fuses with Yuma's power of imagination and he becomes Ultraman Arc, his image of the "Strongest Hero" who will protect dreams and the future.
==Personality==
Rution/Arc is a mysterious figure who only communicates with Yuma, and grants the young man his power, in times of peril. For some reason, he shares the same voice as Yuma's deceased father, claims that he and Yuma are one and the same, and believes in Yuma's power of imagination.
==Profile==
===Stats===
*Height: 48 m
*Age: Unknown
*Home World: Unknown
*Time Limit: Three minutes
===Body Features===
*Color Timer: Arc has a diamond-shaped device on his chest that shines with a blue glow but flashes red when he is low on energy.
*https://m-78.jp/news/post-7052https://tsuburaya-prod.com/news/7206: The blue crystal on Arc's forehead.
===Transformation===
Yuma Hize activates the Arc Cube and crosses his arms. He unleashes the power of imagination, willing forth the Arc Ariser, his image of the "Transformation Item", before inserting the Arc Cube into it. Yuma then spins the top and sides of the Ariser and aligns it into a uniform design, before thrusting the Ariser with both hands in front of him to transform into Ultraman Arc.
ArcHenshin.gif|Transformation
ArcRise.gif
Arc Detransformation.gif|Detransformation
===Forms===
==Trivia==
*Ultraman Arc's transformation sequence takes some visual elements from the title logo of Return of Ultraman, and his fighting pose and techniques appear to be inspired by Ultraman Jack.
*Originally, Ultraman Arc would have had an Eye Slugger like Ultraseven.
*The scene where Arc hugs Yuma after he transforms has been dubbed the by main director Takanori Tsujimoto.https://x.com/TakaTsujimo/status/1809503265702424638 This has since become an official term adopted by Tsuburaya Productions.
*The Ultra Action Figure toy line allows for the mix-and-match of Arc's different armors. The official Bandai Ultraman account has dubbed one such armor, a combination of the Solis and Luna Armors, as the .https://x.com/bandai_ultratoy/status/1816994662084678113
==References==
Category:Ultras
Category:Ultra Warriors
Category:Ultraman Type Ultras
Category:Reiwa Ultras
Category:Heroes
Category:Protagonists
Category:Ultraman Arc
Category:Ultraman Arc Characters
Category:Ultras with Other Origins
Category:New Generation Heroes