Neronga

is a recurring dinosaurian Kaiju in the Ultraman Series. It debuted in episode 3 of Ultraman. As with Pagos, Gabora and Magular, Neronga's original suit was represented by modifying the suit for Baragon; Neronga is the second monster in the set whose suits were produced in this way.
Subtitles:
*Normal: 
*Shin: 
**
** (Shin Ultra Fight)
==Conception==
===Etymology===
Neronga's name comes from the Roman emperor, Nero.
==History==
===Ultraman===
Neronga was said to be a small monster that lived in an old well some time in the Edo period. At some point supposedly, a samurai named fought and killed Neronga, though it would seem to turn out he merely sealed Neronga in its home. Over the next hundreds of years, the monster sat at the bottom of the well, developing the ability to convert electricity into energy to survive.
From the abundance of electricity in the underground, it caused Neronga to grow huge. It remained quiet. That was until two years before its appearance, a power plant was constructed near its resting place and drained the ground of its energy, slowly starving Neronga where it would eventually reawaken in modern day.
Awoken by man and bellowing in hunger, Neronga emerged from underground, and headed for a nearby power plant to drain the energy. Soon the SSSP is called in to locate the monster. On arrival, Neronga was invisible and attacking a Transition Station, attacking and the SSSP began to open fire with their lasers, only angering the beast, who struck back with a beam of electricity. The crew survived, but Neronga escaped, looking for more energy.
Predicting Neronga would attack at another power plant, the SSSP forced the monster to become visible with their weaponry. Enraged, Neronga fought back by hurling a huge ship, destroying the entire plant and resumed attacking the SSSP with his electric bolts. Isamu Hoshino managed to blow out one of Neronga's eyes but this only angered the monster even more. Hayata transformed into Ultraman and manhandles the beast, beating him like crazy, but Neronga still fought back. Before long, Ultraman tossed the monster into the air, and finished it with the Spacium Beam. 
====Trivia====
*Suit actor: Haruo Nakajima.
*Neronga was sleeping under Odawara Castle.
*Neronga was one of the monsters created from a modified Baragon costume, along with Pagos, Magular, and Gabora. Its roar is also reused from Baragon's.
**In the Ultra Kaiju Encyclopedia video uploaded to Tsuburaya Productions' YouTube channel, Neronga had Magular's roars added to his own.
*Neronga is one of the monsters that makes up Belyudra's right arm in Mega Monster Battle Ultra Galaxy: The Movie.
*Neronga was seen in one of the flashback of Ultraman Mebius & the Ultra Brothers and Great Decisive Battle! The Super 8 Ultra Brothers.
*Neronga's fight with Ultraman in "Science Patrol, Move Out" was used in The Birth of Ultraman as a demonstration of Ultraman's strength.
*In the series Dinosaur Great War Izenborg, Neronga is explained to be one of the many foot soldiers of Ururu. In actuality, stock footage of Neronga's invisible attack on a power plant was used.
*Neronga is seen as a floating ghost in the episode The Monster Graveyard.
**Neronga's ghost also makes a cameo appearance in the Monster Graveyard in Ultraman Mebius episode 21.
***In this appearance Neronga's suit is partially modified from Geronga as its horn is facing forward and he has ridges on the arms.
**Neronga's ghost makes a brief cameo appearance in the Monster Graveyard as told by the Spark Doll Troupe in New Ultraman Retsuden episode 27.
*Old promotional photos seem to imply Neronga was originally intended to be a pawn of Alien Baltan. In the same photos, Neronga is brown and lacks the antennae on its head, and his back is black instead of yellow.
**Neronga's data base image in Ultraman Mebius shows Neronga without its antennas as well. 
*During Neronga's first attack he is seen without the antennae on the head (much like the photos mentioned above). The Yamanaya figure also lacks the antennae.
*In akin to the original Ultraman, the 1995 Bandai figure was modified from the 1992 Baragon figure.
*Neronga is the first quadrupedal monster to fight against an Ultra Warrior.
*In Return of Ultraman episode 15, Neronga is mistaken for Eledortus when he first appeared, and later Neronga is compared to Eledortus by MAT.
*After Gabora was killed, the suit was reverted back to Neronga, where it made public appearances, until it was sent back to Toho to be used in the construction of Baragon for Destroy All Monsters.
*Neronga's likeness was used in the 1970's card game Pachimon, creating such creatures like Zelako, an unnamed kaiju with an edited Sea Dragon from Kaiju Ouji, and Kibira with it's head being replaced by Godzilla's.
===Ultra Galaxy Mega Monster Battle===
Neronga was first seen battling against a Gudon. At first it seemed Gudon had the upper hand, but when Neronga used its invisibility ability to outsmart and distract Gudon long enough to kill it with electricity bolts. After the match, Neronga proceeded to feed on the electricity of a nearby radio station. The next day, Neronga was wandering the area looking for more electricity, ultimately setting its sights on the ZAP SPACY where the monster attacked them looking for more electricity. Rei summoned Gomora to do battle against the monster and it seemed Gomora had the upper hand, but Neronga used its invisibility ability against to try and distract Gomora to kill him. Listening closely to Neronga's movements, Rei guided Gomora into attacking the invisible Neronga and successfully destroyed the monster as a result. 
Sometime later when the monster Bullton appeared before ZAP SPACY, Neronga was revived alongside Red King and Telesdon. Neronga was the first to charge into battle against Gomora and Litra. While Telesdon fought Litra, he accidentally killed Neronga with its flame breath. 
====Trivia====
*Neronga was created from a reused Geronga suit. Interestingly enough, Geronga himself is a direct tribute to Neronga, since Neronga pre-dates Geronga by nearly 40 years.
**And just like the original Neronga, the suit from Ultra Galaxy would be used to make Magular.
*During the opening credits to the series, Neronga is seen battling Telesdon, even though both monsters worked together when they were revived by Bullton.
*Neronga's appearance in episode 3 is meant as a homage to the placement of its original episode.
===Mega Monster Battle: Ultra Adventure===
A Neronga was summoned by Bullton on Planet Aval alongside Dinosaur Tank as its reinforcements against Io's Gomora. Neronga first ambush Gomora with its invisibility, then hold the monster still for Dinosaur Tank to launch its barrage of attacks. When Kanegon summoned Red King, Neronga's act of attacking it earn the Skull Monster's ire as Gomora take on the former while Red King throws Dinosaur Tank, slamming both monsters into one another. What happened to Neronga is unknown, but presumably, it was sucked into one of the many wormholes resulted from Bullton's destruction.
In Mega Monster Battle: ULTRA MONSTERS, Neronga is instead one of the Ghighi's monsters in addition to Eleking. Its position as a monster under Bullton is replaced by Reicubas and a different Red King.
=== Galaxy Rescue Force Voice Drama ===
Neronga, alongside Kelbim and Giestron, was sighted by the Galaxy Rescue Force, Ultraman Ribut, Poccola, and RB are sent to fight them. Ribut quickly defeats them with the Remote Cutter. But somehow they were revived by a mind-controlled Sora who approaches the GRF members. Daada also appeared and explains his true motif, he also said Sora created a device in which the kaiju gain unlimited energies. When Poccola is about to perform an uppercut to Daada, Neronga blocks his attack. Daada and Sora then leave, thus leaving the three kaiju fighting the three Galaxy Rescue Force members. 
As Poccola and RB convince Ribut to save Sora, they fight the monsters, with RB summoning his Nova and fighting alongside him. Later, Daada had no choice to bring his three monsters from the battle to assist after Ribut saved Sora. Not long after, all of the GRF members came to help Ribut and Sora. They fired their beams at Daada and his monsters, destroying them for good.
===Ultraman Ginga===
Neronga's Spark Doll was seen in Dark Lugiel's collection alongside Jamila, Satan Beetle, Powered Baltan and Gudon.
===Ultraman X===
It is evidently that Neronga's Spark Doll was collected and used to create . The monster's design was used by Xio as one of their target practice, alongside Cyber Zarab. 
Cyber Neronga reappeared as a Cyber Card in the final episode of Ultraman X. After Ultraman X spoke out to Gomora and striked Greeza right in the center of its chest, Neronga, along with all of the other Cyber Cards, traveled to X and united with him. Cyber Neronga's power was used to help form the Hybrid Armor and power up the Ultimate Xanadium to defeat Greeza once and for all. Neronga, along with the numerous other Cyber Cards and Spark Dolls, then appeared and thanked Daichi as he thanked them. 
===Ultraman R/B===
Neronga was summoned by Saki Mitsurugi, who had recently taken over Aizen Tech. She used Neronga to redirect electrical energy from a nearby electrical tower to Aizen Tech's premises, for purposes unknown. Ultraman Rosso and Ultraman Blu arrived to deal with Neronga, but they were both caught off guard by its invisibility powers and electrical attacks. After giving them a beatdown, Neronga was recalled by Saki, reverting it back to its R/B Crystal.
When Katsumi Minato and Isami Minato confronted Aizen Tech's new president while she was talking to Asahi Minato, she revealed herself to be the one summoning monsters recently as she unveiled her special Gyro to call Neronga into action again. The brothers transformed to fight, and this time they thought of a way to counter its invisibility, which was by covering it in sand. The brothers then used the power of the Kiwami Crystal to transform into Ultraman Ruebe, who finished it off with the Ruebe Kourin Shot after a brief fight. 
====Trivia====
*Suit actor: Hiroyuki Arai
*A new suit was constructed for Neronga's appearance in this show.
*Its two newer attacks in this series is partly due to being summoned by Saki's Gyro, which is said to have the property of empowering the summoned/transformed monster.
===Ultraman Z===
Neronga, along with several other monsters sleeping underground across the globe, was awakened after Genegarg crash landed on Planet Earth. It appeared in Atayama City, Shizuoka, intending to feed on electrical lines there. Haruki Natsukawa sorties in Sevenger to deal with the monster, but was easily defeated due to its invisibility. Haruki tried to transform into Ultraman Z , but the Z Riser refused to activate. Neronga drained Sevenger of its energy before escaping once again. As a result, Haruki was given a harsh sparing session by his superior, Shota Hebikura, who told him not to just rely on what he sees.
The STORAGE members worked together to come up with a plan to defeat Neronga. Yuka Ohta managed to create a device that could disrupt and release Nergonga's electrical charge into the air when fired at the base of its horn, but the team only had one shot as they could create only one of them in a hurry. Neronga appeared again near the Clean Infinity Power Plant, but had consumed much more electricity than before, making it even more powerful. Haruki to shoot a tracker at it so that Yoko Nakashima could fire the electrical dispersion device, but Neronga's increased power was unexpected and was able to knock Sevenger over.
This time, Haruki was able to transform in Ultraman Z Alpha Edge and fight against Neronga. Remembering his training session from earlier, Haruki used his senses to detect Neronga instead of seeing it, and allowed him to accurately attack it. Yoko managed to fire the device at Neronga, canceling out its electrical powers, though it went invisible immediately. Detecting Neronga through sense once more, Z fired the Zestium Beam at the monster and destroyed it. After Haruki and Yoko returned to the base, Yuka went off to dissect Neronga's remains, including part of its horn. 
Neronga's horn was later put to use in powering up Windom, which had an initial charging time of four days. Yuka had noticed that the piece had caused Haruki's pudding that had been stored in the same fridge, to become roasted. Rembering what Kojiro Inaba had said earlier about unexpected things becoming useful later on, she hooked up the organ to some electrical equipment that ran into Windom, amplifying the electricity enough to fully charge the mecha, that promptly sortied to help Ultraman Z fight against Telesdon. After the success of the operation, Yuka announced that she planned to artificially recreate the organ to circumvent Windom's charge time. 
Alongside the male Red King, Guigass, Gomora and Peguila, Neronga later appeared in a flashback experienced by Haruki as a result of the guilt he felt from killing them in battle. 
====Trivia====
*Suit actor: Hiroyuki Arai
*The Neronga suit from Ultraman R/B is reused for its appearance.
*The sound of Neronga becoming visible in this series is a reused Terochilus roar.
*In the second voice drama for Z, Z and Zero talk about Neronga with Z not remembering his name properly, saying that the name was "Melon" or "Neon".
===Shin Ultraman===
At some point after SSSP's formation and Pagos' death, Neronga appeared in a metropolitan area and begun to absorb electricity from a nearby power station while using its ability to turn invisible. The JSDF army, joined by the SSSP, decided to turn off the power at the station to stop the flow of electricity that Neronga was feeding on, which only succeeded at angering it into destroying the whole station once it had revealed itself. They then attempted to shoot missiles at Neronga, but the monster used its electricity to take down the missiles before they reached their target. With the SSSP and army stumped, things started to look grim.
While moving to Minobu in Yamanashi Prefecture, Neronga's path was suddenly cut short when an unidentified silver giant descended. Neronga fired an electric beam from its horns at the giant, who took no damage, forcing Neronga to become invisible and flee. Undeterred, the silver giant put his arms in the shape of a cross and fired a powerful beam of light that tore through the mountain range and destroyed Neronga in a giant explosion.
Later on, Mefilas had a conversation with Ultraman, who had by now fused with Shinji Kaminaga after accidentally killing him when he first landed. Mefilas revealed that he was the one behind all the Kaiju emergences, specifically using the next-generation biological weapons Neronga and Gabora to lure out Ultraman. 
====Trivia====
*Neronga was chosen in a line of succession after Pagos and before Gabora, doing so as to save the budget for producing CGI for monsters. This was also done in taking note of the three monster's origin from a single Baragon suit during the production of Ultra Q and Ultraman.
**Neronga was designed by Masahiro Maeda under the image of a biological weapon. Neronga's yellowish structure on its back reminisces minerals, while its cranial horn gives the impression of a combat mecha.https://hobby.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/1303574.html
**To reinforce Neronga's transition into Gabora even further, the Neronga suit used for filming in recent Ultraman Series was utilized by the production crew to provide an accurate motion capture of Gabora's CGI, with a cone placed over the suit's head to represent the latter's head armor.https://twitter.com/shin_ultraman/status/1537238532376363008
===Ultraman: Rising===
Neronga appears as the first antagonistic kaiju in the film Ultraman: Rising. In this universe, it is depicted as a kaiju from Kaiju Island with a history of battles against Ultraman and the KDF.
Twenty years later, a Neronga invades Akihabara, Tokyo at night, causing destruction. Ken Sato transforms into Ultraman to confront it, but due to his lack of seriousness, Neronga gains the upper hand. It uses its Wrecktro-Electro Ball ability and parts from surrounding buildings to attack Ultraman.
Later, the KDF captures Neronga with a net. After Ultraman abandons the fight and leaves the scene, more KDF forces are dispatched to Akihabara to attack Neronga, ultimately killing it.
====Trivia====
*Neronga does not retain the roar that is used in the regular Ultraman series.
*In the early concept phase of the film, originally titled Made in Japan/Gamma Man, an original kaiju with a similar role to Neronga was already planned. The design of this monster was inspired by an armadillo.
*The reason for choosing Neronga to appear in the film, director Shannon Tindle explained, was inspired by the fact that Neronga was the first Earth kaiju to fight Ultraman in the original series.https://www.cartoonbrew.com/feature-film/how-ultra-man-rising-found-a-fresh-take-on-tokusatsu-and-kaiju-genres-241469.html
*In an AMA with Shannon Tindle, it was confirmed that the Neronga featured in the film was ultimately killed by the KDF. This was done to showcase the KDF's brutality to the audience. However, Tindle does not consider this kaiju to be a one-time occurrence, and mentioned that there are other Neronga on Kaiju Island.https://x.com/ShannonTindle_1/status/1803810658565382350
==Data==
==Other Media==
===Mega Monster Rush Ultra Frontier===
Neronga appears in two mini-videos for this video game to act as sport for the main alien trio. His head has plasma crystals that, when destroyed, act as game points for the player.
====Neronga Hunting====
After the Rush Hunters Barel, Magna, and Garm take the Red King's Plasma Souls, a thunderstorm awakens the Neronga, who attacks the hunters after feeding on a lightning bolt. Garm uses the Hawkeye Shot several times, but to no avail. Magna spies its footprints, and attempts to use Force Sabre, but bounces off the creature's forehead and flies into a stalagmite. Garm then tells Barel and Magna that Neronga can only stay invisible for a certain amount of time after absorbing some electricity. They regroup as Neronga absorbs another lightning bolt and vanishes. Garm then gives the others his plan, which is put into action. Barel uses his copies as decoys to make the Neronga shoot out all its energy. Magna uses his metal arm as a lightning rod, to prevent the Neronga from absorbing any more lightning. As soon as Neronga becomes visible, Barel uses his scarf to bind Neronga's nose horn and trap it long enough for Garm to shoot its Plasma Souls.
====Plasma Killersaurus Hunting====
Neronga appeared at the very end alongside Red King, Dinosaur Tank, Antlar, Eleking, Verokron, King Joe, Gandar, and Super Earth Gomora and about to face off against the trio and many Alien Metron, Waroga, Kyrieloid, Alien Zarab, other Alien Guts, Alien Babarue, Alien Chibull in exosuits, Yapool, Alien Temperor, Alien Nackle, and other Alien Magma.
===Kaiju Busters===
Neronga appeared in this game, as well as a black-colored subspecies called Neronga Black.
NerongaMB.png
===The Rise of Ultraman===
A pair of Neronga appeared in Marvel Comic's The Rise of Ultraman, being dealt with by Ultraman and his human ally. 
===Ultraman: A New Power of Singapore===
A Neronga, alongside a Red King and a Gubila, surfaced off Singapore, and converged in the center of the city. Ultraman appeared and did battle with the three kaiju, only to be tossed aside. An unlikely alley, the spirit of the Merlion, appeared and aided the warrior of light in defeating the three aggressors. 
==Merchandise==
Neronga 1991.jpeg|The 1991 Neronga figure.
Bull ark Neronga.jpeg|A Bullmark Neronga.
Neronga fig.jpeg|The 2009 Ultra Monster series figure.
Neronga-XPLUS.png|From X-Plus
Neronga.jpeg
994562.jpg|The 2020 Spark Doll Neronga Figure
Yamanaya Neronga.png|From Yamanaya
2021 Neronga Figure.png|A Neronga (Shin Ultraman) figure From Bandai
Neronga eraser.png|Neronga eraser from Popy
Neronga Marusan.jpg|Marusan Neronga
Netflix neronga.png|A figure based on Neronga's appearance in Ultraman: Rising from Bandai.
==References==
id:Neronga
ja:ネロンガ
Category:Kaiju
Category:Subterranean Kaiju
Category:Modified Kaiju Suits
Category:Electric Kaiju
Category:Belyudra's Right Arm
Category:Cyber Kaiju
Category:Kaiju Busters Kaiju
Category:Mutated Kaiju