is a series of Tokusatsu Superhero TV shows produced by Toei in Japan. The Metal Heroes are mainly Space and Police related characters who wears a "metallic" suit or transforms into a metallic warrior. Usually, the genre revolves around a technological theme where technology, in the right hands, can be used for the greater good; similar to the character of Iron Man . The shows were produced by Toei between 1982 and 1996 in conjunction with their other Tokusatsu superhero shows, such as Kamen Rider and Super Sentai . They are not just popular in Japan , but also in France , Brazil , Philippines , and other countries. Unlike Super Sentai or Kamen Rider some of the Metal Heroes series spawned sequels which followed the previous show, resulting in the franchise developing its own sub-categories.
- ''(1982)''
- ''(1983)''
- ''(1984)''
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- ''(1986)''
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- ''(1996)''
- , similar to DC Comics ' Green Lantern comic book, and even Jack Kirby 's OMAC . It was also strongly visually influenced by Star Wars . Gavan proved popular enought to spawn two direct sequels and introduce a new genre in japanese television.
- Uchuu Keiji Sharivan (Space Sheriff Sharivan) ( 1983 ): Also popular in France but not in the Philippines because the series has not been aired there yet, this direct sequel to ''Uchuu Keiji Gyaban'' features Gavan's protege taking over the role of Earth's protector when Gavan gets promoted in rank (from sergeant to captain) in the Space Sheriff organization.
- in the second season of Saban 's '' VR Troopers ''.
- and his diabolical son Madgalant ('' Magaren '' in Brazil) from destroying the Earth with giant monsters. Juspion had his own giant robot, ''Daileon'', to combat the evil creatures.
- , Diana, this program dealt with a hero who crosses through dimensions to combat an alien force that took his father's life and corrupted his sister into the evil Hellvira, who later joined her brother as Lady Helen. Americanized in the first season VR Troopers .
- , this show dealt with an Android given human memories, yet programmed to fight an insidious group that his creator once belonged to. Americanized in the first season of VR Troopers .
- , but also had elements of the 70's series . This armored robot hero is a rookie cop gunned down and reborn as a fighting machine against the Criminal Syndicate Bioron, a group of bio-genetic freaks. Jiban is the first Metal Hero to actually bear the emblem of the Japanese National Police, although his "badge" shows a regular American-style sheriff star.
- alongside his creator in shutting down the hidden crimelords that use super science to subjugate the masses. Cho Denshi Bioman casts such as Ryosuke Sakamoto and Naoto Tada guest stars in this metal hero series. Ryosuke played as a Mafia -gang member and Naoto played as an incompetent inspector.
- Tokkei Winspector (Special Rescue Police Winspector) ( 1990 ): The first of the ''Rescue Police'' trilogy, this team of two robots and their human armored field commander dealt with real-life crime, mad scientists, rogue cyborgs, and dangerous rescue situations. The mix of fantasy and realistic action proved to be immensely popular with viewers, spawning two sequels.
- game console, which was also released for the NES as '' Shatterhand ''.
- Tokusou Exceedraft (Investigation Squad Exceedraft) ( 1992 ): The last of the ''Rescue Police'' series, this program featured a trio of human armored police officers (all male) doing what the previous two teams were doing, without the help of any super-powered robots. By this time, the series had stepped away from realistic villains and swerved back towards the more sci-fi oriented opponents.
- .
- , this program features 7 new heroes who utilize the previous tech and insect magic to fend off a horde of monsters from under the Earth. Americanized as Beetleborgs Metallix .
- master from a historically known ninja clan preparing his son, daughter, and youngest child, along with a family relative and a police officer with ninja roots to combat the re-emergence of a centuries-old demon Samurai , his evil offspring, and a host of international ninja warriors from around the world hoping to tip the scales of justice. Jiraiya, the son of the ninja master, is destined to wield an enormous power that Dokusai, the demon samurai, hopes to seize. Jiraiya had tremendous success in Brazil.
- Blue SWAT ( 1994 ): Hidden to the general public, a police organization has been combatting alien menaces for years until a sneak attack destroys all but three officers, who alongside some civilian helpers who are aware of the alien infestation, must continue the fight. Despite the alien theme, was one of the most "realistic" Metal Hero shows.
Other similar heroes, such as Nebula Mask Machine Man , Fist Of The Brothers Byclosser , Super Shining Warrior Changerion , and Seven Star Fighting God Guyferd also appear during this era, but are not included in the general Metal Heroes term for various reasons (Machine Man and Byclosser were created by the late Shotaro Ishinomori ; Changerion's armor is not metallic; Guyferd was produced by Toho).
Currently, Metal Heroes is a defunct genre as Toei favors both Super Sentai and Kamen Rider instead. Kamen Rider itself has adopted many of the Metal Hero franchise's traits. Today, the present versions of these type of heroes are merged in with the Henshin Heroes description.
It was recently announced that the current Kamen Rider series ( Kamen Rider Kabuto ) is the last KR series for a while as the genre steps aside and Toei focuses on a new Metal Heroes show.
- There was a third tokusatsu series that involved B-Fighter , called , which was supposed to be used as the 3rd season of Beetleborgs . Unfortunately, unlike it's predecessors; this series was more classified as a '''Kiddy Hero''', a category that included shows like Booska and Robocon , despite the group teaming up with the B-Fighters.
- The Space Sheriff Series (more specifically Gavan) was directly responsible for a US creation in the 1980s , Robocop . In return, Robocop was responisible for the creation of Metal Heroes like Jiban and Janperson.
- During Beetleborg's first season run; in the episode "Convention Dimension," the Metal Heroes, Janperson and Gungibson (from Tokusou Robo Janperson) were comic book heroes known as Karato and Silver Ray. They were featured on Beetleborgs because the footage for that particular episode came from the , a B-Fighter special episode.
- In Kamen Rider Agito , Houjo's battle suit V-1 (Victory One) is a repaint of Solbraver from Solbrain.
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