| “ | Barabarabara...Banba! | „ |
| ~ Emperor Banba's catchphrase. |
Emperor Banba is the leader of the Neo-Human Empire Phantom Army and the main antagonist of the original 1973 Inazuman TV series.
He was voiced by the late Shōzō Iizuka, who is best known for voicing numerous other Toku villains including Hakaider, Satan Egos, High Priest Darom and Demon King Psycho. He was physically portrayed by suit actor Rikiya Ikeda.
History[]
Believing there would be famine in the future, Banba formed the Neo-Human Empire to conquer the world and establish a new order where mutants ruled and controlled all the worlds resources. Initially his only opposition was the Youth League, a group of children dedicated to fighting against the Phantom Army. However, after a man named Goro Watari was assaulted by Phantom Soldiers while trying to defend children of the Youth League, he was discovered to be a mutant, gaining the power to transform into the telekinetic mutant Inazuman, and dedicated himself to fighting against the Phantom Army and Banba's army of Mutant Robots.
Banba and the Neo-Human Empire later began work on a plan to use missiles to destroy Tokyo, but their plans were interrupted when a mysterious robot attacked a shipment to the missile base and killed the Phantom Soldiers transporting it. Banba believed Inazuman to be responsible, and sent Stone Banbara and a group of Phantom Soldiers to kidnap human construction workers to use as slave laborers for the base, including Goro's friend Gosaku. Goro managed to locate the base after Gosaku escaped and told him where it was, but as he and Stone Banbara were fighting, Udespar and a Despar Soldier snuck inside and fired off a missile to hit Tokyo. After defeating Stone Banbara, Inazuman stopped the missile and accused Banba of firing it, but Banba told Inazuman he had not done so, leaving Inazuman mystified as to who had done so as he teleported away.
Not too long after Inazuman stopped the missile attack, the newly formed Despar Army staged a coup for control of the Neo-Human race. Led by Udespar, the Despar Soldiers seized Phantom Army bases all across Japan, killing any Phantom Soldiers who refused to serve under Despar. His forces depleted, Banba arranged a meeting with Goro and met with him, accompanied by three members of his black-suited elite guard. Banba attempted to persuade Goro to ally with him, keeping the Despar Army's coup a secret, but Goro refused. At that moment however, the Phantom Soldiers accompanying Banba and his guards revealed themselves to actually be Despar Soldiers in disguise and captured Goro and the Mutants with psionic blocker rings.
The five were all tied up and set to be executed by Udespar and his men, but Banba bragged that even if he died, the Despar Army would still not be able to stop his tectonic plate shifter device, which was set to level the entire archipelago of Japan. Gosaku Marume and the Youth League then interrupted the execution, buying Goro time to free the others before escaping. Still trapped inside of the psionic ring, Banba attempted to persuade Goro to free him, but Goro sad he would only free him if he told him where the tectonic shifter device was. Banba agreed and Goro set him free before having Banba lead him to the Phantom Army hideout where the device was. However, Banba instead led Goro to a room designed to deprive him of his mutant powers before trapping him inside and leaving him to be executed. His powers rapidly draining, Goro transforms into Inazuman and manages to create a device from parts of himself that amplifies his psionic powers and allows him to escape. After defeating the three elite guards, Goro confronts Banba himself, who assumes his true form as the Fiery Fighter to face off against Inazuman. Inazuman defeats the Fiery Fighter and Banba reverts to his base form before attempting to escape, only to teleport a few inches away and explode. With Banba dead, Goro went and destroyed the tectonic device, saving Japan's archipelago, but he still faced a new threat in the form of the newly emerged Despar Army.
Other Appearances[]
Flying From the Movie Screen: Inazuman[]
Emperor Banba appears as the secondary antagonist of the 3D movie.
He sends a letter to Goro Watari challenging him. When Goro arrived at the meeting spot, he was confronted by 14 members of the Neo-Human Empire's "Revived Mutant Robot Corps" led by Stone Banbara. As they began fighting, Goro became Sanagiman and then Inazuman and fought off several of the Mutant Robots. However, the fight was interrupted when a mysterious figure fired a missile at the battlefield, causing the remaining Mutant Robots to believe Inazuman had an ally and flee.
After Stone Banbara returned to the Neo-Human Base and told Banba what happened, Banba and his forces were attacked by a group of traitorous Phantom Soldiers who had defected to the Despar Army. The Traitor Phantom Soldiers captured Banba and Stone Banbara and brought them before Missile Despar, who revealed the Despar Army to them. However, the Despar forces were ambushed by a group of Phantom Soldiers still loyal to Banba, allowing the Emperor and Stone Banbara to escape.
The Fiery Fighter facing Inazuman.
Reconvening with his remaining Mutant Robots, Banba kidnapped Michiru, a psionic mutant girl Goro had befriended, and used her to lure Goro out. Banba attempted to convince Goro to ally with him against Despar, but Goro refused and became Sanagiman and then Inazuman to battle the Mutant Robots. After Inazuman defeated them all, Banba unveiled his Mutant Robot form as the Fiery Fighter and battled Goro, but Goro used his Zeber to revert the Fiery Fighter back to his form as Banba. Defeated, Banba charged at Goro before exploding.
Forms[]
Gallery[]
