Gridman

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 is the titular hero of Gridman the Hyper Agent and SSSS.GRIDMAN. He is a Hyper Agent from the Hyper World, which is a parallel world to the Computer World.
Subtitles:
*Gridman: 
*Thunder Gridman: 
*King Gridman: 
*Max Gridman: 
*Buster Gridman: 
*Sky Gridman: 
*Sky Buster Gridman: https://twitter.com/mizusawa_yume/status/1226134881253523458?s=19
*Max Calibur Gridman: 
*Full Powered Gridman: 
**Over Spec Mode: 
*Rogue Kaiser Gridman: 
==Conception==
===Design===
According to Kazumitsu Akamatsu, Gridman's designer, he was employed by Takara to come up with a design for a Kyodai Hero called Cyberman, which was much like Toho Company's Dennou Keisatsu Cybercop. The hero was apparently human-sized and would be able to combine with support mecha to achieve a total height of 4 m. After some internal review, the project was scrapped and he was moved to the production team of another Tsuburaya Hero, Bigman, because of his knowledge in Tokusatsu, and to be a liaison between Tsuburaya and Takara. He accepted the role, knowing that Tsuburaya were experts in the Kyodai Hero genre. This conceptual hero would eventually be reworked into Gridman. After that, he also worked on the designs of the monsters with the help of former Takara employee Osamu Yamaguchi. After designing Chidogerah, he stopped designing monsters and focus more on the background scenes. He also came up with the names of the Assist Weapons and the names of the characters and thinks of the work as if it were his own child.
Gridman's Primal Fighter form in SSSS.GRIDMAN was made by Masayuki Gotoh, the head designer for the New Generation Ultramen. Intentionally or not, its design is similar to that of Ultraman Orb Lightning Attacker, a fact that was referenced in the series by a comment on YouTube.
Gridman's various combined forms in SSSS.GRIDMAN were designed based on the Type Change gimmick from the Ultraman Series. Full Powered Gridman was the first of these forms to be designed, and then the others were made by working backwards from it.
==History==
===Gridman the Hyper Agent===
While tracking down Kahn Digifer, he encountered Naoto and, seeing that Naoto had a good heart, chose him to merge with whenever battle must be done within the Computer World. To fight the larger and more powerful monsters, Gridman receives the upgrade program P-L6806OX to grow gigantic and battle against his foes. However, this massive power-up lasts only for a few minutes as it could overload Junk's system. When the power up begins to fade, a blue light on Gridman's head begins to blink as a warning. Naoto Sho, Yuka Inoue and Ippei Baba chat with Gridman over their computer by typing messages to him.
Gridman fought many battles against the monsters summoned by Kahn Digifer through the socially misfit Takeshi Todo, in their attempts to cause trouble throughout the town of Sakuragaoka by infecting computers with their monsters. With the help of the Assist Weapons such as Gridman Sword and God Zenon, created and deployed by both Ippei and Yuka, Gridman was able to overcome the various challenges as he got closer to fighting Kahn Digifer.
One of Gridman's greatest opponents was Venora, who almost defeated Gridman as Kahn Digifer broadcasted the battle for the world to see. However, via the power of King Gridman, Venora was finally defeated. Dyna Dragon also joined Gridman in the later battles he faced.
At last, fighting against Kahn Digifer, their battle was once again shown to the rest of the world via one of Kahn's invasion tentacles. The Assist Weapon caches were destroyed in the battle, and Gridman almost lost, until Takeshi Todo had a change of heart and decided to help Gridman by granting him the Grid Hyper Beam, which he used to destroy Kahn Digifer. With his mission complete, Gridman thanked the four children who helped him and said his farewell before departing back to the Hyper World.
===Gridman the Hyper Agent: The Demon King's Counterattack===
Gridman returns in this novel series and bonds again with Naoto to fight against Neo Kahn Digifer, the younger brother of Kahn Digifer. He was on the losing end until his own brother, Gridman Sigma joined the battle. The two Hyper Agents eventually manage to defeat the Demon King after battling all his minions. Their final challenge was Geist Digifier, Neo Kahn Digifer's final form, gained by fusing with the souls of the fallen Kaiju. 
===Diaclone VS. Gridman===
Gridman was sent from the Hyper World to stop Giganter, but was thrown out of the dimensional tear and fell into the Diaclone Team's research base on the moon. He was briefly mistaken for a Waruder by the soldiers and merged with the chief researcher Hikari Kaizaki in order to materialize after sensing a strong emotion in her. Hikari heeded Gridman's wish to seek Landmaster's help on Earth while the Hyper Agent briefly materialized into the Powered Suit to form the Grid Suit when fighting against Giganter's parasite monsters.
The pair found and established contact with Landmaster as they launched the Operation Grand Omega Cross to counter Giganter; first by recharging Gridman's energy while constructing the Assist Weapons. When Giganter made its way to Mt. Fuji, Gridman fused with Hikari, who's mental image for her ideal her, Silver Kration, materialized as Gridman's Primal Fighter form. Gridman fight against the space monster by using his own attacks, then merging with the Battle Hanger to form Battles Gridman. However, Giganter split into two monsters to resume its journey while the other keeping Gridman at bay. The Diaclone reinforcements arrive to kill the Giganter Beta as Gridman raced to the other half that was consuming the Freezon Energy. With the Thunder Crash Caliber, Battles Gridman slew the monster into nothingness. Gridman absorbed the Assist Weapons to restore his true form, fixing the damages done by Giganter and its parasites before parting ways with Hikari. 
===SSSS.GRIDMAN===
====Encounter With Alexis====
At some point, Gridman chased down Alexis・Kerib to the Computer World, specifically to a city that Alexis had manufactured for a lonely soul. They fought, but Gridman lost, having been impaled by Alexis. As a result, his consciousness was split into parts and one of which chose Yuta Hibiki to dwell in as his host, but that would seal both their memories in the process. Bits of Yuta's personality flowed into Gridman, including his feelings for his classmate Rikka Takarada. Another part of Gridman had connected to an old computer called Junk, which was sitting in a recycle shop and the rest became their own beings; the Neon Genesis Junior High Students. At this point, the only thing Gridman remembered was his mission, which was to protect the city from danger.
====The Beginning====
Gridman had been calling to his partner, Yuta Hibiki since the young man awoke with amnesia in Rikka's house. The two began interacting with each other using an old, jerry-built computer called Junk, with Yuta being the only person able to see and hear Gridman on-screen, while others saw a deactivated screen. When the rampaging Kaiju Ghoulghilas emerges, Yuta unites with Gridman, enabling him to materialize in the real world and confront the beast. Though difficult, Gridman/Yuta managed to defeat the monster thanks to the advice from Yuta's friends Rikka and Utsumi and their computer. Afterwards, when Yuta had returned to the real world, Gridman made the point that what had transpired was just the beginning. 
The next day, Yuta asked Gridman what his mission exactly was, only to be told that he will find out later. Rikka and Utsumi were also able to see him on the computer. Samurai・Calibur then came along and did some modifications to Junk, which optimized Gridman for the upcoming battles ahead, and also allowed him to talk directly to everyone else. Gridman gives Yuta the Primal Acceptor to Access Flash and become one to fight against the Kaiju. Gridman used an Assist Weapon, the Gridman Calibur, for the first time to finish off Dévadadan. 
====A Rival Appears====
Gridman's next challenger was Anti, a Kaiju made specifically to deal with the Hyper Agent. Misled into believing that Kaiju could be humans, Yuta could not bring himself to fight properly and was defeated as a result. Gridman, Yuta and Calibur disappeared until the next day, when Gridman was restored and repaired. The three of them were revealed to have been waiting inside Junk for Anti to return and then ambush it, but decided to come out after the Borr encouraged them to. In their second battle, Anti confirms that he is not human, allowing Yuta to fight without hesitation. He combined with Max and draws the battle to a stalemate with the power of Max Gridman, with Anti timing out just before him. Anti continued to challenge Gridman whenever he appeared, even when there were other Kaiju around. 
====Going Against Akane====
Yuta tried to explain what Anosillus the 2nd told him, but when asked, Gridman says he cannot remember anything about it. However, seeing a huge city in the sky during his next fight, he confirms his and Yuta's suspicions of Akane and Alexis being the source of the coming danger. While Rikka and Utsumi argued over what to do with Akane, Gridman and Yuta stood neutral ground and he saw validity in both their opinions, which were to try avoiding conflict, and to prepare for an incoming attack respectively. Unfortunately, the Gridman Alliance were unable to convince Akane to hold off on Mecha Ghoulghilas's attack. Yuta merged with Gridman at around half his normal size and then combined with the Assist Weapons, forming Full Powered Gridman, which easily defeated Mecha Ghoulghilas. Gridman used his Grid Kinesis ability to awaken the Gridman Alliance when they were put to sleep by Bujack, a monster created by Akane to put them in a never-ending dream. 
After fighting a new Kaiju as Full Powered Gridman, Anti appeared and they had one more battle. Gridman once again won, but refused to finish him off as he had become a living being instead of just another Kaiju born of Akane's malice. Another being emerged from the corpse of the Kaiju he defeated earlier, and Full Powered Gridman tried to fight it. Gridman found himself overpowered by his opponent, who proceeded to tear the Assist Weapons off of him. He was saved by Anti, who evolved into Gridknight and defeated the monster. After Yuta was stabbed by Akane, Junk glitched out and could not be switched on. During Yuta's hospitalization, he had a dream where he figured out that he was actually a part of Gridman and the real Yuta was lying dormant. Gridman took over Yuta's body after Junk had been repaired by the Neon Genesis Junior High Students, and went to help Gridknight fight against a horde of revived Kaiju. 
====The Final Battle====
Still using Yuta's body, Gridman went to find Rikka and Utsumi so that he could prepare for the final battle against Alexis, while Anti handled Akane, who had been turned into a Kaiju, Zegga. Standing in front of Junk, Yuta, the Neon Genesis Junior High Students, as well as Anti, who was almost dead and far away, gained Acceptors and performed the Access Flash together. Gridman then told Rikka and Utsumi to type in the Access Code, which was "GRIDMAN" and after which, he regained his true form. Gridman fought Alexis, but the evil being was incapable of dying and during the battle, Gridman saw Alexis' true colors. Gridman was later defeated but seeing little sparks fall off him that restored the surroundings, Gridman was reminded of his true power, which was to heal. He then fires his Grid Fixer Beam at Alexis, healing Akane's heart in the process, as well as repairing the entire world. Now that Alexis was weakened, Gridman finished him off by shattering him with a single punch to the face.
With his mission completed, Gridman said his parting words to Rikka and Utsumi (and admits Yuta's feelings for the former on his behalf) before returning to the Hyper World along with the Neon Genesis Junior High Students and the last shard of Alexis' being. 
====Aftermath====
After Gridman sealed Alexis and split from Yuta, he began to feel guilt over having essentially taken two months' worth of life from the boy while merged with him, and then leaving him without memories of the events of the time. His sense of guilt somehow made him merge with the universe created inside the Computer World where Tsutsujudai was, from his usage of the Fixer Beam in his battle with Alexis, but Gridman lost his corporal form in the process and thus becoming a literal Gridman Universe.
Having spent time interacting with humans, Gridman learned from them the "ability to create" and thus created many other parallel universes from his own memories, resulting in various other worlds including the world where SSSS.DYNAZENON took place.
At some time, the Kaiju Mad Origin spawned from the negative emotions of humans as a replica of human consciousness and became a source of Kaiju Seeds. The monster planned to spread chaos and entropy throughout the many universes while draining Gridman's energy in order to gain enough power to rule over the entire multiverse, which would eventually cause the whole multiverse - and therefore Gridman himself - to collapse from its already fragile state.
Knowing he was under attack, Gridman changed his cosmic form into a recognisable humanoid shape in hopes that someone, namely Yuta, would be able to find him, free him from his predicament, and put a stop to Mad Origin's plans. In addition, a copy of his consciousness that is seemingly unaware of the circumstances travels the multiverse fighting Kaiju alongside the Neon Genesis Junior High Students, Dynarex, Goldburn and the Gridknight and the 2nd copies from Dynazenon's world.
===GRIDMAN UNIVERSE===
Gridman returned to Tsutsujidai after Dimorgan started attacking their world, calling Yuta to perform Access Flash with him once again. He changes back to his Primal Fighter form saying it suits Yuta better, but their performance in the battle is subpar until he is saved by Dynarex, and the two heroes finish off the Kaiju together. Gridman then repairs the city with his Fixer Beam, but nobody other than Yuta, Rikka, and Utsumi remember the events afterwards.
Domgiran then appears and Gridman fights the beast along with the Neon Genesis Junior High Students and Dynarex, further assissted by Gridknight and the 2nd piloting Sounderous. They defeat the monster after Gridman and Gridknight transform into Full Powered Gridman and Kaiser Gridknight respectively. Suddenly, Gridman gets attacked by another Gridknight, which deletes the former from the world as Gridman's consciousness is shut down. All the Assist Weapons and entities from other worlds, including the Gridknight and 2nd copies and all the cast of SSSS.DYNAZENON, disappear along with him, barring Yomogi Asanaka due to his connection to Kaiju via his Instance Domination ability.
The original Anti and Anosillus the 2nd from the Tsutsujidai world explain the truth to Yuta and the others and warn them of an eventual collapse just as a horde of Noirdogma appear. They tell Yuta that Gridman needs help and that he needs to get to him via Access Flash, a now risky move as Yuta could possibly vanish forever, but he is saved by Akane Shinjo from the outside world and manages to get to Gridman. Gridman and Yuta reconcile over the latter's lost memories and merge once again, restoring Gridman's form and upgrading it into Universe Fighter, setting him free from the universe itself.
In his new form, Gridman and Alexis・Kerib, now being controlled by Akane, fight against Mad Origin and bring him to the Earth, saving the others from the Noirdogma horde as well. Getting overwhelmed, Alexis decided to use his Instance Abreaction to release the sealed universes that were recompressed back into Gridman, unleashing the Neon Genesis Junior High Students, Dynazenon and Goldburn as backup in the process, while the latter was upgraded by Akane into Big Goldburn. Anti and the 2nd are synced up with their parallel adult forms and merge, allowing them to fight as well. Mad Origin has all of Gridman's memories and is thus able to prove a difficult opponent, though in a last ditch effort, the heroes me into a new form: Rogue Kaiser Gridman, formed by the combination of Gridman, Dynarex, and Big Goldburn, who manages to win against Mad Origin.
The battle against Mad Origin was barely won when he suddenly took Alexis into himself to gain infinite life and energy, now becoming seemingly unbeatable. Because Yuta was able to remember an earlier incident where he tore through his sketches by drawing and erasing over the same spot repeatedly, the heroes get the idea to wear down Mad Origin by repeatedly destroying and recovering him. Gridman unleashed the Grid Hyper Fixer Beam while the others blasted Mad Origin, and after a final punch, Mad Origin was shattered to pieces.
Now with all loose ends tied up, Gridman thanked all his friends and bid them farewell. 
==Profile==
===Stats===
*Home World: Hyper World
*Time Limit: 10 minutes
===Body Features===
*: The light on Gridman's forehead, when his giant size begins to put too much strain on Junk (the PC that powers his giant form), it begins to flash. It is similar to a Beam Lamp or a Color Timer.
*: Gridman's ears.
*: The three blue parts on Gridman's chest. They are the organs that emit the Fixer Beam. In his weakened forms in SSSS.GRIDMAN, they are sealed beneath his armor, along with their ability.
*: The armor that Gridman wears. It is stronger than any alloy found on Earth.
*: The yellow light on Gridman's chest, this is where his energy is stored.
*: Gridman is able to fly because his feet control gravity for him.
*: A bracer on Gridman's left arm, it is connected to the Acceptor worn by Naoto/Yuta. During his time as Initial/Primal Fighter, it takes the appearance of the Primal Acceptor worn by Yuta.https://ultra.fandom.com/wiki/File:PrimalFIghterGranAcceptor.png
===Transformation===
===Forms===
===Assist Weapons===
 are supporting weapons and/or vehicles that Gridman assist Gridman in his battles. Some of them can combine with Gridman to help him reach more powerful forms.
===Weaknesses===
:;Gridman the Hyper Agent
*Gridman is a purely energy-based being and cannot act without a host to become one with, that being Naoto.
*Gridman is subject to a time limit of around 10 minutes. If he exceeds this limit while fighting, or if Junk is strained too much, he will disappear from the Computer World.
*If Junk crashes from overloading, Gridman will be deleted from the Computer World. Gridman is also directly affected by Junk's performance; if the systems are attacked, Gridman will weaken.
*Gridman can combine with Naoto if the latter is at another computer should Gridman be aware of it, but doing so uses up a lot of energy.
*Whatever injuries Naoto sustains pre-transformation will be transferred to Gridman when they merge.
:;SSSS.GRIDMAN
*Gridman's primary weakness is Junk's processing power, which affects his energy and thus time limit. This was best demonstrated during the fourth episode, when all four Assist Weapons attempted to help Gridman at the same time, Junk overheated and sparked, causing Gridman and the Assist Weapons to freeze in place in a pixelated-like state. After Junk was rebooted by Rikka, Max Gridman had much less energy to use, only enough to deal the finishing blow. In the eighth episode Yuta came up with the idea to come around this weakness from what Gridman told him about his size limitations. By using Gridman at half height, the four Assist Weapons were able to be summoned at once.
*Gridman is bound to Junk, which means that unless Yuta is near Junk, Gridman cannot fight. Yuta has to either get himself to the computer, or have it brought to him, both of which are time-consuming and impractical.
*Gridman's time limit is also affected by his size. The larger he is, the less time he has to fight. As a result, his size limit is 70 meters in height, any more and he would not have enough time.
GridmanAndAssistWeaponsFreeze.gif|Gridman and the Assist Weapons freeze in place because of the strain put on Junk.
==Trivia==
*The prop used for Ultraman Taro's original rising scene was modified for Ultraman 80's, which was then modified into Gridman's.
*The coloring of Gridman's Initial Fighter (sans purple) is a tribute to Naoto Sho's cyan bodysuit during his prior fusion with Gridman after activating the Acceptor.
*Some of Gridman's techniques and actions are references to other moves in the mecha-genre of anime.
**Gridman's Grid Calibur End is a frame by frame replica of Fighbird's Flame Sword charge up motion from The Brave Fighter of Sun Fighbird. Prior to that, he points the sword to the screen a la Masami Obari's mecha anime.
**Buster Gridman's combination sequence has Buster Borr's chest plate flying to Gridman's chest, a reference to Great Fighbird's combination scene.
**Max Gridman's hand-clasping motion, prior to executing Max Grid Beam is a tribute to Hell & Heaven technique executed by the titular mecha of GaoGaiGar and Optimus Prime (ja:Convoy)'s scene in the Japanese first opening of Transformers Armada (ja:Transformers Micron Legend).
**Full Powered Gridman's combination sequence is very similar to another super robot, Great Might Gaine.
**His and Anti's attempt to deliver flying punches as a zooming scene similar to Masami Obari's iconic mecha anime.
**The Super Lightning Kick is very similar to the Super Inazuma Kick from Aim for the Top! Gunbuster.
**The positioning of Sky Vitter in Gridman's combination sequence is based on the 501st Joint Fighter Wing members from Strike Witches.
**The Grid Full Power Finish is also based on one of Great Might Gaine's finishers and is executed similarly.
*Gridman's Gridknight Saber is inspired by Ultraman Hikari's, a fact made obvious, because in the same episode a version of Hikari from Ultraman: Super Fighter Legend manga made a cameo.
*Imitating the live action suit in Gridman the Hyper Agent, Gridman's shoulder guards flop around when he fights in 3DCG scenes.
*Full Powered Gridman's setup slightly differs from its template, Thunder Gridman, from Gridman the Hyper Agent. On Thunder Gridman, the drill Assist Weapon forms the arms and shoulders, the jet forms the chest plate and the tank forms the legs whereas on Full Powered Gridman, the drill forms the chest plate, the tank forms the arms and the jet forms the legs. Full Powered Gridman's name is also derived from another of Gridman's forms, also called Full Power Gridman, which was Thunder Gridman using the Dyna Dragon set of Assist Weapons; riding the King Jet while holding the Dragonic Cannon, whereas this version wields the Gridman Sword's equivalent instead.
*Gridman's speech at the end of SSSS.GRIDMAN is very similar, if not identical to, his last speech at the end of Gridman the Hyper Agent.
*While Gridman retains his original voice actor in the 2018 anime, Midorikawa's vocals in the new series are comparatively different from the 1993 voice samples, being much deeper, clear and legible than the more hoarse original.
*Gridman, in his SSSS.GRIDMAN forms, is the first Tsuburaya character to be featured in a Super Robot Wars game, with his debut in Super Robot Wars 30, followed shortly after by ULTRAMAN in DLC 2. Gridman also appeared in Super Robot Wars DD in a limited-timed event and promotion for GRIDMAN UNIVERSE.
**Gridman meeting Ultraman in Super Robot Wars 30 is significant as it shows Gridman is fully aware of Ultraman's existence, even knowing the power of light. When Yuta asks if Gridman knows Ultraman, he states he knows him but will explain another time. It should be noted he never explains his relationship with Ultraman, it’s hinted that they are related but never explored further.
**Super Robot Wars DD would have a special scenario featuring Gridman asking Masaki Andoh to join together, allowing Masaki to transform into Gridman. Both characters are voiced by Hikaru Midorikawa.
==Also see==
*Servo
==References==
id:Gridman
Category:Protagonists
Category:Heroes
Category:Other Heroes
Category:Other Toku Heroes
Category:Gridman the Hyper Agent
Category:Gridman the Hyper Agent Characters
Category:SSSS.GRIDMAN
Category:SSSS.GRIDMAN Characters
Category:Diaclone VS. Gridman
Category:Diaclone VS. Gridman Characters
Category:GRIDMAN UNIVERSE