Ultraman Jack (character)

Ultraman Jack (ウルトラマンジャック, Urutoraman Jakku) is the protagonist of the 1971–1972 tokusatsu Ultra Series, Return of Ultraman. Sometime after Ultraseven's departure, Earth had entered a period of peace until a string of incidents wherein monsters awakened from slumber, appearing one after another. Jack bonded with the race car driver Hideki Go to save his life and as the former's means to operate on Earth while they joined MAT to fight against monster attacks and alien invasions.

Return of Ultraman marks the connection of Ultraman and Ultra Seven as Ultra Series installments, which eventually lead to multiple sequels and spin-offs for Tsuburaya Productions with various heroes named after it. Additionally, Return of Ultraman also served as a milestone celebration for the fifth anniversary of Ultraman and the newly established Ultra Series. Following Jack's departure in the final episode, the series would be succeeded by Ultraman Ace, Ultraman Taro and Ultraman Leo before entering a hiatus, a trend which can still be seen to this day. Even with his series ended, Jack would make returning appearances in recent media of the Ultra Series.

In Return of Ultraman, Ultraman Jack's lines were provided by Isao Yatsu (谷津 勲, Yatsu Isao, 1, 18, 30, 31, 37) and Ichirō Murakoshi (村越 伊知郎, Murakoshi Ichirō, 50), both of whom even voiced several of the aliens that appeared, including the original Ultraman and Ultraseven's returning appearances. His grunts, however, were recycled from those of the original Ultraman, provided by Masao Nakasone (中曽根雅夫, Nakasone Masao). Meanwhile, his suit actor was Eiichi Kikuchi (きくち 英一, Kikuchi Eiichi), who previously portrayed Ultraseven in episodes 14 and 15 of his series, including the monster Zazarn in episode 1 of Return of Ultraman. Kikuchi also made his cameo appearances as steerman Kawasaki (13) and a MAT communication officer (51).