| Ōgon Bat | |
|---|---|
 | |
|
Real Name |
Unknown |
|
First Appearance |
Kamishibai (paper theater) (1931) |
|
Created by |
Takeo Nagamatsu |
Origin[]
Ōgon Bat (literally "Golden Bat", sometimes known as ''Phantaman'' or using similar titles to the latter outside of Japan) made his debut in a kamishibai, a traveling show in which a sequence of pictures is narrated by a storyteller. The character was popular enough to survive the decline of kamishibai following World War II and was eventually translated into manga, movies and anime form.
Character description[]
Ōgon Bat drawing his golden rapier.
Ōgon Bat is an ancient Atlantean who slept thousands of years into the future in suspended animation. Sometime in an unknown year (possibly the 1930's), The tyrannical mad scientist Dr. Nazo was terrorizing the planet and wanted to dominate it, but when the man himself Ōgon Bat showed up, he tormented Nazo to halt him from his evil doings.
Ōgon Bat has a golden, skull-shaped head, wears a green and white costume with a high-collared red cape and carries a rapier. He lives in a fortress in the Honshu region of the Japanese Alps and his superpowers include superhuman strength, invulnerability and the ability to fly.
Ogon’s archenemy is Dr. Nazo (aka Dr. Zero) and in the anime version he has another archenemy named Kurayami Bat (aka Dr. Death) (an evil version of Ōgon Bat himself).
Notes[]
- Only the original depiction of the character is public domain in Japan. Any television appearances or films are still protected by their respective copyright owners.
- He was not originally the titular character of the series, Nazo as Kuro Bat, started off as the intial villainous protagonist commiting evil deeds until Golden Bat himself showed up and stopped him. As Golden Bat was proven to be more popular with viewers, the former replaced Kuro Bat as the titular character with the latter becoming the main antagonist in the next story Ōgon Bat which takes place right after Kuro Bat.[1]
- Ōgon Bat is considered to be the first Japanese superhero and the first one worldwide.
- Not only is Ōgon Bat possibly Japan's first superhero, Ōgon also predates both Superman (1938) and Batman (1939).
- Debuted in kamishibai (paper theater).
- In the English dub of the anime, he is referred to as ''Phantaman''. A similar title such as ''Fantaman'' (Italian) would be used for other foreign dubs of the said show. However, this is quite old and rare in the modern age.