Jet Jaguar (ジェットジャガー, 'Jetto Jyagaa') is a fictional robot that appears in the Godzilla film Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973). His abilities include being able to communicate with monsters, fly, and alter his own size. He also has floodlights located within his eyes.
Character Concept/Origin[]
Toho held a competition in the mid-to-late 1970s to find a new hero to capitalize on the trend of popular Tokusatsu and anime superhero and super robot shows at that time. The winning entry was a robot design called Red Arone, bearing resemblance to both Ultraman and Mazinger Z. Renamed "Jet Jaguar", the robot was planned to star in a film titled Jet Jaguar vs. Megalon, where he would fight against Megalon, an unused Godzilla monster. However, Toho deemed Jet Jaguar lacking the capacity to carry a film on his own, both in terms of screen presence and marketing value. As a result, the project was put on hold after some initial tests and storyboards, until screenwriter Shinichi Sekizawa was brought in to revise the script by adding Godzilla and Gigan to boost the film's commercial appeal. The final product, Godzilla vs. Megalon, featured both Godzilla and Jet Jaguar teaming up to battle Megalon and Gigan.
History[]
Godzilla vs. Megalon[]
Jet Jaguar was a humanoid robot created by an inventor named Goro Ibuki. Jet Jaguar was stolen by the underground nation of Seatopia, who then used him to lead Megalon to Tokyo for destruction. However, Goro regained control of Jet Jaguar and sent him to recruit Godzilla from Monster Island to stop Megalon. While Godzilla travels to Japan, Jet Jaguar flies back to face Megalon and changed to Megalon's size to confront the insect kaiju. Despite initially overpowering Megalon, Jet Jaguar struggled when Gigan arrived to aid Megalon. Gigan and Megalon overwhelm Jet Jaguar and beat him down, leaving him ultimately helpless until Godzilla stepped in, helping Jet Jaguar recover, and after a lengthy battle, Godzilla and Jet Jaguar managed to defeat them and send them retreating. Following the victory, Jet Jaguar shook hands with Godzilla and returned to his normal size to go back home with Goro.
