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! Live-Action TV
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! Live-Action TVFilms
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* The second ''Film/UltramanZearth'' film, while still a comedy like the original, is slightly darker than the first. Zearth's HeroicBSOD is treated completely seriously and a portion of the movie is dedicated to overcoming his fear of Shadow Ultraman by going through TrainingFromHell, while the enemy is shown attacking a city on-screen with visible damage and succeeds in brainwashing thousands of humans, including Zearth's closest human friend Tooru.
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! Comic Books
* The Nemesis comics follow-up to ''Series/UltramanTowardsTheFuture'' is this compared to the show. Ultraman Great gets captured by a space-demon right in the first issue before bonding with a new host, Ace Kimura, and upon returning finds out in his abscence, humanity suffers a RobotWar that nearly drives mankind to extinction. The return of an even stronger Gudis and a sadistic human criminal named Raptor who sold his soul to Gudis into becoming an EvilDoppelganger of Ultraman Great before going on a destructive rampage, and the two villains beating Great down to an inch of his life ''twice'' makes things even worse.
! Live-Action TV
* Basically the entire ''Series/UltramanCosmos'' movie trilogy:
** ''Film/UltramanCosmosTheFirstContact'' is a kid-friendly {{prequel}} set in the protagonist Musashi's childhood, with plenty of childish hi-jinks throughout, the kid characters befriending Baby Baltanians, the sole kaiju Don Dragon a GentleGiant and it's BigBad, Basical Baltan, a WellIntentionedExtremist who only wants to save it's own kind and hardly a malevolent threat. It's followed by...
** ''Film/UltramanCosmos2TheBluePlanet'', which sees the characters dealing with the Sandross threat of apocalyptic proportions, the peaceful Planet Juran Musashi visited in the series prior wiped to extinction, and an intense finale with the Scorpiss horde overwhelming earth's defenses and nearly destroying mankind, if not for Cosmos' partner Ultraman Justice finally arriving. Even then, it's followed with...
** ''Film/UltramanCosmosVsUltramanJusticeTheFinalBattle'', a movie where the returning hero, Ultraman Justice, is no longer an ally to the humans, and Ultraman Cosmos seemingly killed in the prologue.
* ''Film/UltramanTheNext'' follows the tone of ''Series/UltramanNexus'', with it's villain Beast the One even scarier than enemies of previous movies. It's probably the most "adult" Ultraman movie at it's point of release.
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Creator/EijiTsuburaya's long-running tokusatsu franchise, the Ultra Series, is no stranger to tragic and bleak moments aimed for older audiences long before Kamen Rider and Super Sentai came along.
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Creator/EijiTsuburaya's long-running tokusatsu franchise, the Ultra Series, is no stranger to tragic and bleak moments aimed for older audiences long before Kamen Rider Franchise/KamenRider and Super Sentai Franchise/SuperSentai came along.
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* ''Series/UltramanNexus'' was supposed to be a {{Deconstruction}} reboot of the franchise aimed at a shonen/seinen audience with things taken from ''Ultraman Leo'', like horrifying kaiju killing and eating people, deaths of major characters, thought-provoking themes, and so on and so forth. But it got ScrewedByTheNetwork and placed in a Saturday Morning Kids Slot.
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* ''Series/UltramanNexus'' was supposed to be a {{Deconstruction}} reboot of the franchise aimed at a shonen/seinen audience with things taken from ''Ultraman Leo'', like horrifying kaiju killing and eating people, deaths of major characters, thought-provoking themes, and so on and so forth. But forth... but it got ScrewedByTheNetwork and placed in a Saturday Morning Kids Slot.morning kids' timeslot.
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* [[Manga/{{Ultraman}} ULTRAMAN]], being a reimagining of the original TV series where it's more on PoweredArmor than utilizing TransformationTrinkets, leans on {{Cyberpunk}} as opposed to SpaceOpera, {{Kaiju}}-themed premise that is associated with the ''Franchise/UltraSeries'', those ideas take a backseat to more street-level adventures that Shinjiro partakes in as Ultraman. The series also explores the consequences of the existence of extraterrestrials appearing on Earth.
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* [[Manga/{{Ultraman}} ULTRAMAN]], being a reimagining of the original TV series where it's more focused on PoweredArmor than utilizing TransformationTrinkets, and leans on into {{Cyberpunk}} aesthetics as opposed to the SpaceOpera, {{Kaiju}}-themed premise that is associated with the ''Franchise/UltraSeries'', those ideas take a backseat to more street-level adventures that Shinjiro partakes in as Ultraman. The series also explores the consequences of the existence of extraterrestrials appearing on Earth.
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* ''Series/UltramanNexus'' was supposed to be a {{Deconstruction}} reboot of the franchise aimed at a shonen/seinen audience with things like horrifying kaiju killing and eating people, deaths of major characters, thought-provoking themes, and so on and so forth. But it got ScrewedByTheNetwork and placed in a Saturday Morning Kids Slot.
** ''Series/UltrasevenX'' takes what Nexus did, combines it with ''Series/UltraSeven'' and takes it even further to the CyberPunk levels.
** ''Series/UltrasevenX'' takes what Nexus did, combines it with ''Series/UltraSeven'' and takes it even further to the CyberPunk levels.
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* ''Series/UltramanNexus'' was supposed to be a {{Deconstruction}} reboot of the franchise aimed at a shonen/seinen audience with things taken from ''Ultraman Leo'', like horrifying kaiju killing and eating people, deaths of major characters, thought-provoking themes, and so on and so forth. But it got ScrewedByTheNetwork and placed in a Saturday Morning Kids Slot.
** * ''Series/UltrasevenX'' takes what Nexus did, combines it with ''Series/UltraSeven'' and takes it even further to the CyberPunk levels.
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* ''Series/UltramanDecker'': From the very start of the series, the setting is much bleaker and while it does balance lighthearted moments at times. The show kickstarted with the Spheres isolated the Earth with a barrier, while the titular Ultra himself is unable to stop them and the Mars Colony beforehand is ravaged, furthermore we see soldiers dying onscreen to the Spheres via getting absorbed while ''Trigger'' had no such casualties onscreen. Things get even more complicated when [[spoiler:Professor Yuichiro Asakage, one of the TPU's researchers and initially a major supporting character, turns out to be Agams the Bazdor an alien from an alternate future who came to help the Spheres devour Earth, with his betrayal impacting our protagonist greatly.]]
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* ''Series/UltramanDecker'': From the very start of the series, the setting is much bleaker and while it does balance lighthearted moments at times. The show kickstarted with the Spheres isolated the Earth with a barrier, while the titular Ultra himself is unable to stop them and the Mars Colony beforehand is ravaged, furthermore we see soldiers dying onscreen to the Spheres via getting absorbed while ''Trigger'' had no such casualties onscreen. Things get even more complicated when [[spoiler:Professor Yuichiro Asakage, one of the TPU's researchers and initially a major supporting character, turns out to be Agams the Bazdor an alien from an alternate future who came to help the Spheres devour Earth, with his betrayal impacting our protagonist greatly.greatly, and Agams' tragic backstory didn't help matters either.]]
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* ''Series/UltramanDecker'': From the very start of the series, the setting is much bleaker and while it does balance lighthearted moments at times. The show kickstarted with the Spheres isolated the Earth with a barrier, while the titular Ultra himself is unable to stop them and the Mars Colony beforehand is ravaged, furthermore we see soldiers dying onscreen to the Spheres via getting absorbed while ''Trigger'' had no such casualties onscreen. Things get even more complicated when one of the TPU's researchers is an alien from the future who helps the Spheres devour the Earth.
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* ''Series/UltramanDecker'': From the very start of the series, the setting is much bleaker and while it does balance lighthearted moments at times. The show kickstarted with the Spheres isolated the Earth with a barrier, while the titular Ultra himself is unable to stop them and the Mars Colony beforehand is ravaged, furthermore we see soldiers dying onscreen to the Spheres via getting absorbed while ''Trigger'' had no such casualties onscreen. Things get even more complicated when [[spoiler:Professor Yuichiro Asakage, one of the TPU's researchers is and initially a major supporting character, turns out to be Agams the Bazdor an alien from the an alternate future who helps came to help the Spheres devour the Earth.Earth, with his betrayal impacting our protagonist greatly.]]
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* ''Series/UltramanDecker'': From the very start of the series, the setting is much bleaker and while it does balance lighthearted moments at times. The show kickstarted with the Spheres isolated the Earth with a barrier, while the titular Ultra himself is unable to stop them and the Mars Colony beforehand is ravaged, furthermore we see soldiers dying onscreen to the Spheres via getting absorbed while ''Trigger'' had no such casualties onscreen. Things get even more complicated when one of the TPU's researchers is an alien from the future who helps the Spheres devour the Earth.
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Up To Eleven is a defunct trope
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* ''Series/UltramanGeed'' takes ''Leo'''s DownerBeginning UpToEleven with the ''entire Universe'' being destroyed, only being restored by the efforts of Ultraman King, and the titular Ultraman is the son of [[SatanicArchetype Ultraman Belial]], having to face an uphill battle with only the help of a seriously wounded Franchise/UltramanZero.
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* ''Series/UltramanGeed'' takes ''Leo'''s DownerBeginning UpToEleven up to eleven with the ''entire Universe'' being destroyed, only being restored by the efforts of Ultraman King, and the titular Ultraman is the son of [[SatanicArchetype Ultraman Belial]], having to face an uphill battle with only the help of a seriously wounded Franchise/UltramanZero.
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* ''Series/UltramanLeo'' began with one of the most brutal {{Downer Beginning}}s in the history of the franchise--a returning Series/UltraSeven being manhandled by Alien Magma and the Giras Brothers and Tokyo in the brink of sinking into the ocean and spending 40 episodes unable to transform and had to put the titular Ultra into a gruesome TrainingFromHell. The series also deals with slavery and had a KillEmAll style ending before Creator/YoshiyukiTomino even had his own series. People get dismembered on screen, burned to death, crowds are crushed or drowned, infighting among the Ultras, and to top it all off, having the series' counter-kaiju team killed off in the most horrific fashion.
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* ''Series/UltramanLeo'' began with one of the most brutal {{Downer Beginning}}s in the history of the franchise--a returning Series/UltraSeven being manhandled by Alien Magma and the Giras Brothers and Tokyo in the brink of sinking into the ocean and spending 40 episodes unable to transform and had to put the titular Ultra into a gruesome TrainingFromHell. The series also deals with slavery and had a KillEmAll style ending an EverybodyDiesEnding before Creator/YoshiyukiTomino even had his own series. People get dismembered on screen, burned to death, crowds are crushed or drowned, infighting among the Ultras, and to top it all off, having the series' counter-kaiju team killed off in the most horrific fashion.
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* ''Series/UltraQDarkFantasy'' deconstructs the concepts of the original family-friendly ''Series/UltraQ'', and turn into a true SciFiHorror with realistic bizzare consequences.
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* ''Series/UltramanGaia'' was much serious in tone compared to the generally humorous and light-hearted ''Series/UltramanDyna''. Gaia also featured the first {{Anti Hero}} Ultra and {{kaiju}} threats on a planetary scale. [[spoiler:[[BigBad The Big Bad of the show]] is revealed to be a hypocrite OmnicidalManiac who intends to eliminated all life on Earth for its {{Humans Are The Real Monsters}} ideology and the show is explore the negative morality of mankind towards each other.]]
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* ''Series/UltramanGaia'' was much serious in tone compared to the generally humorous and light-hearted ''Series/UltramanDyna''. Gaia also featured the first {{Anti Hero}} Ultra and {{kaiju}} threats on a planetary scale. [[spoiler:[[BigBad The Big Bad of the show]] is revealed to be a hypocrite OmnicidalManiac who intends to eliminated all life on Earth for its {{Humans Are The Real Monsters}} ideology and the show is explore also explored the negative morality of mankind towards each other.mankind.]]
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* ''Series/UltramanGaia'' was much serious in tone compared to the generally humorous and light-hearted ''Series/UltramanDyna''. Gaia also featured the first {{Anti Hero}} Ultra and {{kaiju}} threats on a planetary scale. [[Spoiler:{{BigBad The Big Bad of the show}} is revealed to be a hypocrite OmnicidalManiac who intends to eliminated all life on Earth for its {{Humans Are The Real Monsters}} ideology and the show is explore the negative morality of mankind towards each other.]]
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* ''Series/UltramanGaia'' was much serious in tone compared to the generally humorous and light-hearted ''Series/UltramanDyna''. Gaia also featured the first {{Anti Hero}} Ultra and {{kaiju}} threats on a planetary scale. [[Spoiler:{{BigBad [[spoiler:[[BigBad The Big Bad of the show}} show]] is revealed to be a hypocrite OmnicidalManiac who intends to eliminated all life on Earth for its {{Humans Are The Real Monsters}} ideology and the show is explore the negative morality of mankind towards each other.]]
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* ''Series/UltramanGaia'' was much serious in tone compared to the generally humorous and light-hearted ''Series/UltramanDyna''. Gaia also featured the first {{Anti Hero}} Ultra and {{kaiju}} threats on a planetary scale. [[Spoiler:[[BigBad The Big Bad of the show]] is revealed to be a hypocrite OmnicidalManiac who intends to eliminated all life on Earth for its {{Humans Are The Real Monsters}} ideology and the show is explore the negative morality of mankind towards each other.]]
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* ''Series/UltramanGaia'' was much serious in tone compared to the generally humorous and light-hearted ''Series/UltramanDyna''. Gaia also featured the first {{Anti Hero}} Ultra and {{kaiju}} threats on a planetary scale. [[Spoiler:[[BigBad [[Spoiler:{{BigBad The Big Bad of the show]] show}} is revealed to be a hypocrite OmnicidalManiac who intends to eliminated all life on Earth for its {{Humans Are The Real Monsters}} ideology and the show is explore the negative morality of mankind towards each other.]]
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* ''Series/UltramanGaia'' was much serious in tone compared to the generally humorous and light-hearted ''Series/UltramanDyna''. Gaia also featured the first {{Anti Hero}} Ultra and {{kaiju}} threats on a planetary scale. [[Spoiler:[[BigBad The Big Bad of the show]] is revealed to be a hypocrite OmnicidalManiac who intends to eliminated all life on Earth for its {{Humans Are The Real Monsters}} ideology and the show is explore the negative morality of mankind towards each other]].
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* ''Series/UltramanGaia'' was much serious in tone compared to the generally humorous and light-hearted ''Series/UltramanDyna''. Gaia also featured the first {{Anti Hero}} Ultra and {{kaiju}} threats on a planetary scale. [[Spoiler:[[BigBad The Big Bad of the show]] is revealed to be a hypocrite OmnicidalManiac who intends to eliminated all life on Earth for its {{Humans Are The Real Monsters}} ideology and the show is explore the negative morality of mankind towards each other]].other.]]
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* ''Series/UltramanGaia'' was much serious in tone compared to the generally humorous and light-hearted ''Series/UltramanDyna''. Gaia also featured the first {{Anti Hero}} Ultra and {{kaiju}} threats on a planetary scale. [[BigBad The Big Bad of the show]] is revealed to be a hypocrite OmnicidalManiac who intends to eliminated all life on Earth for its {{Humans Are The Real Monsters}} ideology and the show is explore the negative morality of mankind towards each other.
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* ''Series/UltramanGaia'' was much serious in tone compared to the generally humorous and light-hearted ''Series/UltramanDyna''. Gaia also featured the first {{Anti Hero}} Ultra and {{kaiju}} threats on a planetary scale. [[BigBad [[Spoiler:[[BigBad The Big Bad of the show]] is revealed to be a hypocrite OmnicidalManiac who intends to eliminated all life on Earth for its {{Humans Are The Real Monsters}} ideology and the show is explore the negative morality of mankind towards each other.other]].
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* ''Series/UltramanGaia'' was much serious in tone compared to the generally humorous and light-hearted ''Series/UltramanDyna''. Gaia also featured the first {{Anti Hero}} Ultra and {{kaiju}} threats on a planetary scale. [[BigBad The Big Bad of the show]] is revealed to be a hypocrite OmnicidalManiac who intends to eliminated all life on Earth for its {{Humans Are The Real Monster}} ideology and the show is explore the negative morality of mankind.
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* ''Series/UltramanGaia'' was much serious in tone compared to the generally humorous and light-hearted ''Series/UltramanDyna''. Gaia also featured the first {{Anti Hero}} Ultra and {{kaiju}} threats on a planetary scale. [[BigBad The Big Bad of the show]] is revealed to be a hypocrite OmnicidalManiac who intends to eliminated all life on Earth for its {{Humans Are The Real Monster}} Monsters}} ideology and the show is explore the negative morality of mankind. mankind towards each other.
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* ''Series/UltramanGaia'' was much serious in tone compared to the generally humorous and light-hearted ''Series/UltramanDyna''. Gaia also featured the first {{Anti Hero}} Ultra and {{kaiju}} threats on a planetary scale. [[BigBad The Big Bad of the show]] is revealed to be a hypocrite OmnicidalManiac who intends to eliminated all life on Earth for of its {{Human Are TheReal Monster}} ideology and the show is explore the negative morality of mankind.
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* ''Series/UltramanGaia'' was much serious in tone compared to the generally humorous and light-hearted ''Series/UltramanDyna''. Gaia also featured the first {{Anti Hero}} Ultra and {{kaiju}} threats on a planetary scale. [[BigBad The Big Bad of the show]] is revealed to be a hypocrite OmnicidalManiac who intends to eliminated all life on Earth for of its {{Human {{Humans Are TheReal The Real Monster}} ideology and the show is explore the negative morality of mankind.
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* ''Series/UltramanGaia'' was much serious in tone compared to the generally humorous and light-hearted ''Series/UltramanDyna''. Gaia also featured the first {{Anti Hero}} Ultra and {{kaiju}} threats on a planetary scale. [[BigBad The Big Bad of the show]] is revealed to be a hypocrite OmnicidalManiac who intends to eliminated all life on Earth because of its HumanAretheRealMonster ideology and the show is explore the negative morality of humanity.
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* ''Series/UltramanGaia'' was much serious in tone compared to the generally humorous and light-hearted ''Series/UltramanDyna''. Gaia also featured the first {{Anti Hero}} Ultra and {{kaiju}} threats on a planetary scale. [[BigBad The Big Bad of the show]] is revealed to be a hypocrite OmnicidalManiac who intends to eliminated all life on Earth because for of its HumanAretheRealMonster {{Human Are TheReal Monster}} ideology and the show is explore the negative morality of humanity.mankind.
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* ''Series/UltramanGaia'' was much serious in tone compared to the generally humorous and light-hearted ''Series/UltramanDyna''. Gaia also featured the first {{Anti Hero}} Ultra and {{kaiju}} threats on a planetary scale. [[BigBad The Big Bad of the show]] is revealed to be a hypocrite OmnicidalManiac who intends to eliminated all life on Earth because of its HumanAreTheRealMonster ideology.
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* ''Series/UltramanGaia'' was much serious in tone compared to the generally humorous and light-hearted ''Series/UltramanDyna''. Gaia also featured the first {{Anti Hero}} Ultra and {{kaiju}} threats on a planetary scale. [[BigBad The Big Bad of the show]] is revealed to be a hypocrite OmnicidalManiac who intends to eliminated all life on Earth because of its HumanAreTheRealMonster ideology.HumanAretheRealMonster ideology and the show is explore the negative morality of humanity.
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* ''Series/UltramanGaia'' was much serious in tone compared to the generally humorous and light-hearted ''Series/UltramanDyna''. Gaia also featured the first {{Anti Hero}} Ultra and {{kaiju}} threats on a planetary scale.
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* ''Series/UltramanGaia'' was much serious in tone compared to the generally humorous and light-hearted ''Series/UltramanDyna''. Gaia also featured the first {{Anti Hero}} Ultra and {{kaiju}} threats on a planetary scale. [[BigBad The Big Bad of the show]] is revealed to be a hypocrite OmnicidalManiac who intends to eliminated all life on Earth because of its HumanAreTheRealMonster ideology.
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** ''The Absolute Conspiracy'', on the other hand, takes an extra mile a bit further; aside from the aforementioned DownerBeginning that befell Max and Ribut in the first chapter, we backtrack to [[StartOfDarkness Belial and Tregear's backstories]] and how they become the evil Ultramen we know of today. Instead of obtaining their dark forms after forming a pact with an EldritchAbomination, they instead join with the nigh-omnipotent [[BigBad Absolute Tartarus]], in the process creating [[AlternateSelf parallel isotopes]] of their original incarnations while in their Early Style forms while nonetheless remaining on the side of evil. Not to mention, the miniseries has multiple deaths of [[RedshirtArmy several background Ultras]], first seen when Empera slain them with NoBodyLeftBehind and again when Zett targeted Yullian's ship, where she and 80 survived, but not the other four crew members.
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** ''The Absolute Conspiracy'', on the other hand, takes an extra mile a bit further; aside from the aforementioned DownerBeginning that befell Max and Ribut in the first chapter, we backtrack to [[StartOfDarkness Belial and Tregear's backstories]] and how they become the evil Ultramen we know of today. Instead of obtaining their dark forms after forming a pact with an EldritchAbomination, they instead join with the nigh-omnipotent [[BigBad Absolute Tartarus]], in the process creating [[AlternateSelf parallel isotopes]] of their original incarnations while in their Early Style forms while nonetheless remaining on the side of evil. Not to mention, the miniseries has multiple deaths of [[RedshirtArmy several background Ultras]], first seen when Empera slain them with NoBodyLeftBehind and again when Zett targeted Yullian's ship, where she and 80 survived, but not the other four crew members.members, and finally [[spoiler:Tartarus succeeds in kidnapping Yullian as a bargaining chip into forcing the Land of Light to surrender to The Kingdom.]] Making this miniseries having the first distinction in the franchise to end in a [[DownerEnding downer note]].
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Creator/EijiTsuburaya's long-running tokusatsu franchise, the Ultra Series, is no stranger to tragic and bleak moments aimed for older audiences long before Kamen Rider and Super Sentai came along.
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!TV series
* ''Series/{{Ultraseven}}'' is one of the earliest examples. Unlike its family-friendly predecessor ''{{Series/Ultraman}}'', the usual threats to Earth this time was not rampaging {{kaiju}}, but intelligent, cunning aliens. In addition, {{The Hero}} Dan Moroboshi/Ultraseven frequently faced moral dilemmas. {{Humans Are The Real Monsters}} was a theme that frequently popped up throughout the show.
* ''Series/ReturnOfUltraman'' takes a step further from ''Ultraseven'', made even worse when TheHero's love interest, Aki being killed off by an Alien Nackle after getting her brother killed in a road accident. The real kicker is that the episodes featured the Sakata siblings' deaths [[TwistedChristmas aired during Christmas Eve!]]
* ''Series/UltramanLeo'' began with one of the most brutal {{Downer Beginning}}s in the history of the franchise--a returning Series/UltraSeven being manhandled by Alien Magma and the Giras Brothers and Tokyo in the brink of sinking into the ocean and spending 40 episodes unable to transform and had to put the titular Ultra into a gruesome TrainingFromHell. The series also deals with slavery and had a KillEmAll style ending before Creator/YoshiyukiTomino even had his own series. People get dismembered on screen, burned to death, crowds are crushed or drowned, infighting among the Ultras, and to top it all off, having the series' counter-kaiju team killed off in the most horrific fashion.
* ''Series/UltramanTiga'' had a number of serious, horrifying to tragic moments from a witch abducting children on {{Halloween|Episode}} to devour their dreams and Daigo being plagued by nightmares in the last few episodes leading to the appearance of Gatanothor. Doesn't help when Creator/ChiakiKonaka is involved with the screenwriting, and the show takes a cue from the ''Literature/CthulhuMythos'', making the series darker that can leave soul-rending effects towards children compare to its successor, ''Series/UltramanDyna'', which was more light-hearted.
* ''Series/UltramanGaia'' was much serious in tone compared to the generally humorous and light-hearted ''Series/UltramanDyna''. Gaia also featured the first {{Anti Hero}} Ultra and {{kaiju}} threats on a planetary scale.
* ''Series/UltramanNexus'' was supposed to be a {{Deconstruction}} reboot of the franchise aimed at a shonen/seinen audience with things like horrifying kaiju killing and eating people, deaths of major characters, thought-provoking themes, and so on and so forth. But it got ScrewedByTheNetwork and placed in a Saturday Morning Kids Slot.
** ''Series/UltrasevenX'' takes what Nexus did, combines it with ''Series/UltraSeven'' and takes it even further to the CyberPunk levels.
* ''Series/UltramanGeed'' takes ''Leo'''s DownerBeginning UpToEleven with the ''entire Universe'' being destroyed, only being restored by the efforts of Ultraman King, and the titular Ultraman is the son of [[SatanicArchetype Ultraman Belial]], having to face an uphill battle with only the help of a seriously wounded Franchise/UltramanZero.
* In contrast to the LighterAndSofter ''Series/UltramanRB'', the prequel novel of said series revealed just how screwed up the growth environment of Saki Mitsurugi and her brothers, the first Ultraman Rosso and Blu. The three siblings were raised in a CrapsackWorld where their planet, Sanja, has an ongoing war between light and darkness, and they were forced to work as bounty hunters to fund the orphanage they lived in that was managed by a creepy nanny alien who uses said orphans as disposable source of income. During the siblings' adventure across the universe, they encountered a village who sacrificed pretty virgin women per each decade to a monster, a backwater planet full of impoverished farmers, an alien planet run entirely by mercenaries and an intergalactic peacekeeping organizations being revealed as a bunch of {{Dirty Cop}}s.
* Even the ''Ultra Galaxy Fight'' spin-offs ''[[Series/UltraGalaxyFightNewGenerationHeroes New Generation Heroes]]'' and ''[[Series/UltraGalaxyFightTheAbsoluteConspiracy The Absolute Conspiracy]]'' is no slouch to dark and edgy storytelling even for a CrisisCrossover web-series [[spoiler:that served as a {{prequel}} to ''Series/UltramanTaiga'' and ''Series/UltramanZ'', respectively]]. To wit, both shows kicked off in a rather [[DownerBeginning bleak start]]--''NGH'' has [[Series/UltramanX X]] and [[Series/UltramanGeed Geed]] being manhandled by their [[EvilKnockoff Darkness copies]] created by [[BigBad Ultra Dark Killer]], who then proceeds to abduct Ultraman Zero and [[Series/UltramanRB Ultrawoman Grigio]]. While ''TAC'' begins with Series/UltramanMax and Ultraman Ribut (the CanonImmigrant character that debuted in ''NGH'') ambushed by Alien Sran and Hellberus inside Maga-Orochi's nest and things went downhill when Max is outnumbered and injected with [[TheCorruption Gudis' cells]] by Sran.
** Each of the New Generation Heroes find themselves in a HopelessBossFight with their evil doppelgangers (with the exception of [[Series/UltramanGinga Ginga and Victory]], where they instead face Dark Lugiel and Etelgar while Rosso and Blu battle Dark Killer himself). The real kicker? The whole events of the story were set up by [[spoiler:Ultraman Tregear]]!
** ''The Absolute Conspiracy'', on the other hand, takes an extra mile a bit further; aside from the aforementioned DownerBeginning that befell Max and Ribut in the first chapter, we backtrack to [[StartOfDarkness Belial and Tregear's backstories]] and how they become the evil Ultramen we know of today. Instead of obtaining their dark forms after forming a pact with an EldritchAbomination, they instead join with the nigh-omnipotent [[BigBad Absolute Tartarus]], in the process creating [[AlternateSelf parallel isotopes]] of their original incarnations while in their Early Style forms while nonetheless remaining on the side of evil. Not to mention, the miniseries has multiple deaths of [[RedshirtArmy several background Ultras]], first seen when Empera slain them with NoBodyLeftBehind and again when Zett targeted Yullian's ship, where she and 80 survived, but not the other four crew members.
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!Anime & Manga
* ''Anime/TheUltraman'': The introduction of the Heller Empire and it's namesake leader, [[BigBad Heller]] removes all of the anime's lighthearted moments starting in episode 37 onward where the heroes end up facing an invasion on both U40 and Earth by the Heller Empire. The show's {{title sequence}} from episode 29 {{foreshadow|ing}}s how hell is going to break loose at that point. The real kicker? The Heller Empire's invasion arc is even based on a scrapped plot intended for ''Series/UltramanLeo'' about a "war between two worlds", not to mention ''Leo'' being already one of the darkest entries in the franchise.
* [[Manga/{{Ultraman}} ULTRAMAN]], being a reimagining of the original TV series where it's more on PoweredArmor than utilizing TransformationTrinkets, leans on {{Cyberpunk}} as opposed to SpaceOpera, {{Kaiju}}-themed premise that is associated with the ''Franchise/UltraSeries'', those ideas take a backseat to more street-level adventures that Shinjiro partakes in as Ultraman. The series also explores the consequences of the existence of extraterrestrials appearing on Earth.
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!TV series
* ''Series/{{Ultraseven}}'' is one of the earliest examples. Unlike its family-friendly predecessor ''{{Series/Ultraman}}'', the usual threats to Earth this time was not rampaging {{kaiju}}, but intelligent, cunning aliens. In addition, {{The Hero}} Dan Moroboshi/Ultraseven frequently faced moral dilemmas. {{Humans Are The Real Monsters}} was a theme that frequently popped up throughout the show.
* ''Series/ReturnOfUltraman'' takes a step further from ''Ultraseven'', made even worse when TheHero's love interest, Aki being killed off by an Alien Nackle after getting her brother killed in a road accident. The real kicker is that the episodes featured the Sakata siblings' deaths [[TwistedChristmas aired during Christmas Eve!]]
* ''Series/UltramanLeo'' began with one of the most brutal {{Downer Beginning}}s in the history of the franchise--a returning Series/UltraSeven being manhandled by Alien Magma and the Giras Brothers and Tokyo in the brink of sinking into the ocean and spending 40 episodes unable to transform and had to put the titular Ultra into a gruesome TrainingFromHell. The series also deals with slavery and had a KillEmAll style ending before Creator/YoshiyukiTomino even had his own series. People get dismembered on screen, burned to death, crowds are crushed or drowned, infighting among the Ultras, and to top it all off, having the series' counter-kaiju team killed off in the most horrific fashion.
* ''Series/UltramanTiga'' had a number of serious, horrifying to tragic moments from a witch abducting children on {{Halloween|Episode}} to devour their dreams and Daigo being plagued by nightmares in the last few episodes leading to the appearance of Gatanothor. Doesn't help when Creator/ChiakiKonaka is involved with the screenwriting, and the show takes a cue from the ''Literature/CthulhuMythos'', making the series darker that can leave soul-rending effects towards children compare to its successor, ''Series/UltramanDyna'', which was more light-hearted.
* ''Series/UltramanGaia'' was much serious in tone compared to the generally humorous and light-hearted ''Series/UltramanDyna''. Gaia also featured the first {{Anti Hero}} Ultra and {{kaiju}} threats on a planetary scale.
* ''Series/UltramanNexus'' was supposed to be a {{Deconstruction}} reboot of the franchise aimed at a shonen/seinen audience with things like horrifying kaiju killing and eating people, deaths of major characters, thought-provoking themes, and so on and so forth. But it got ScrewedByTheNetwork and placed in a Saturday Morning Kids Slot.
** ''Series/UltrasevenX'' takes what Nexus did, combines it with ''Series/UltraSeven'' and takes it even further to the CyberPunk levels.
* ''Series/UltramanGeed'' takes ''Leo'''s DownerBeginning UpToEleven with the ''entire Universe'' being destroyed, only being restored by the efforts of Ultraman King, and the titular Ultraman is the son of [[SatanicArchetype Ultraman Belial]], having to face an uphill battle with only the help of a seriously wounded Franchise/UltramanZero.
* In contrast to the LighterAndSofter ''Series/UltramanRB'', the prequel novel of said series revealed just how screwed up the growth environment of Saki Mitsurugi and her brothers, the first Ultraman Rosso and Blu. The three siblings were raised in a CrapsackWorld where their planet, Sanja, has an ongoing war between light and darkness, and they were forced to work as bounty hunters to fund the orphanage they lived in that was managed by a creepy nanny alien who uses said orphans as disposable source of income. During the siblings' adventure across the universe, they encountered a village who sacrificed pretty virgin women per each decade to a monster, a backwater planet full of impoverished farmers, an alien planet run entirely by mercenaries and an intergalactic peacekeeping organizations being revealed as a bunch of {{Dirty Cop}}s.
* Even the ''Ultra Galaxy Fight'' spin-offs ''[[Series/UltraGalaxyFightNewGenerationHeroes New Generation Heroes]]'' and ''[[Series/UltraGalaxyFightTheAbsoluteConspiracy The Absolute Conspiracy]]'' is no slouch to dark and edgy storytelling even for a CrisisCrossover web-series [[spoiler:that served as a {{prequel}} to ''Series/UltramanTaiga'' and ''Series/UltramanZ'', respectively]]. To wit, both shows kicked off in a rather [[DownerBeginning bleak start]]--''NGH'' has [[Series/UltramanX X]] and [[Series/UltramanGeed Geed]] being manhandled by their [[EvilKnockoff Darkness copies]] created by [[BigBad Ultra Dark Killer]], who then proceeds to abduct Ultraman Zero and [[Series/UltramanRB Ultrawoman Grigio]]. While ''TAC'' begins with Series/UltramanMax and Ultraman Ribut (the CanonImmigrant character that debuted in ''NGH'') ambushed by Alien Sran and Hellberus inside Maga-Orochi's nest and things went downhill when Max is outnumbered and injected with [[TheCorruption Gudis' cells]] by Sran.
** Each of the New Generation Heroes find themselves in a HopelessBossFight with their evil doppelgangers (with the exception of [[Series/UltramanGinga Ginga and Victory]], where they instead face Dark Lugiel and Etelgar while Rosso and Blu battle Dark Killer himself). The real kicker? The whole events of the story were set up by [[spoiler:Ultraman Tregear]]!
** ''The Absolute Conspiracy'', on the other hand, takes an extra mile a bit further; aside from the aforementioned DownerBeginning that befell Max and Ribut in the first chapter, we backtrack to [[StartOfDarkness Belial and Tregear's backstories]] and how they become the evil Ultramen we know of today. Instead of obtaining their dark forms after forming a pact with an EldritchAbomination, they instead join with the nigh-omnipotent [[BigBad Absolute Tartarus]], in the process creating [[AlternateSelf parallel isotopes]] of their original incarnations while in their Early Style forms while nonetheless remaining on the side of evil. Not to mention, the miniseries has multiple deaths of [[RedshirtArmy several background Ultras]], first seen when Empera slain them with NoBodyLeftBehind and again when Zett targeted Yullian's ship, where she and 80 survived, but not the other four crew members.
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!Anime & Manga
* ''Anime/TheUltraman'': The introduction of the Heller Empire and it's namesake leader, [[BigBad Heller]] removes all of the anime's lighthearted moments starting in episode 37 onward where the heroes end up facing an invasion on both U40 and Earth by the Heller Empire. The show's {{title sequence}} from episode 29 {{foreshadow|ing}}s how hell is going to break loose at that point. The real kicker? The Heller Empire's invasion arc is even based on a scrapped plot intended for ''Series/UltramanLeo'' about a "war between two worlds", not to mention ''Leo'' being already one of the darkest entries in the franchise.
* [[Manga/{{Ultraman}} ULTRAMAN]], being a reimagining of the original TV series where it's more on PoweredArmor than utilizing TransformationTrinkets, leans on {{Cyberpunk}} as opposed to SpaceOpera, {{Kaiju}}-themed premise that is associated with the ''Franchise/UltraSeries'', those ideas take a backseat to more street-level adventures that Shinjiro partakes in as Ultraman. The series also explores the consequences of the existence of extraterrestrials appearing on Earth.
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