Nick is the eponymous main protagonist of the Seiun Kamen Machineman Tokusatsu series. He is an alien from the Ivy Planet who comes to Earth in the human guise of Ken Takase and is assisted by his miniature robot buddy Ball Boy. After falling in love with a human named Maki Hayama, Ken decides to stay on Earth and assume the identity of the superhero Nebula Mask Machineman to battle against the nefarious Tentacle organization led by Professor K and defend children from their attacks.
He was portrayed by the late Osamu Sakuta.
Biography[]
Born on the Ivy Planet, Nick graduated from his college with a Sociology degree and came to Earth to study humanity as "Ken Takase". While on Earth, Ken encountered journalist Maki Hayama and fell in love with her after the two met when Ken, not understanding human traffic laws, ran a red light and caused Maki to swerve her car into the side of the road. After lifting Maki's car out of the pothole it was stuck in, Ken got on his motorcycle and departed. He later saved Maki after she fell off a building while trying to get some good shots of a building that was destroyed by Iron Man Monsu of the Tentacle Organization, donning his Warrior Suit and flying up and catching her when she fell. Later on, Maki and her little brother Masaru were attacked by the Tentacle organization's "Drill Man". Noticing this, Ken assumed his Warrior Suit and saved the two before destroying the evil robot, earning Maki's admiration. As Ken departed from the scene, Maki gave him the nickname "Machineman", which Ken adopted as the name of his superhero identity.
Ken would go on to thwart another scheme by Tentacle involving them kidnapping children and using their tears to make diamonds for Professor K. Afterwards, Ken auditioned to be Maki's bodyguard and faced her in a one-on-one sparring match to prove himself, only for Maki to trounce him with her martial arts skills.