Ultraman The Next's History
Ultraman the Next, or simply called 'Ultraman' in his world, is the devolved form of Ultraman Noa that he reverted into while he was chasing Beast the One upon entering Earth's atmosphere. In this form many of his powers were locked, which he later regained as time passed. The Next was also made as a remake of the original Ultraman, as a result he also known simply as "Ultraman" in his universe, with "The Next" being his code name from the military.
Arriving on Earth and merging its life with F-15 pilot Shunichi Maki, the being slowly grew within him. After the Japanese self-defense force lost the One, they brought the man under custody, believing he could be the one to lure the beast back. The plan worked, but The One had increased in power and size by absorbing a swarm of lizards right before their eyes. However, trapped in a cell beneath the floor, Maki began to change. Blowing the door off with a burst of light and emerging, the human was swatted like an insect and sent flying into the wall where his change began to go full force.
Maki transformed into the Next, a humanoid warrior from the stars. The two titans battle raged within the warehouse, but when the creature threatened Sara’s life, Next dove in front of the tail, taking several whips before forcing the creature into retreat where it broke through the wall and vanished into the wilderness.
When Sara and Maki met up with the creature, it lashed out again after tricking Sara. The fight between the two was once again raging, but when it became evident that he could not defeat the hero, the beast absorbed a swarm of rats and grew into an even bigger form. Once the monster escaped, it began to attack the city. By the time Next came out of the hole, buildings were burning and falling. One building was about to fall on a young girl and her mother.
Rushing toward the falling building that was going to crush the young girl and her mother, Next evolved into his next form. The super being propped himself under the structure and held it up long enough for the pair to escape, but The One saw this and attacked. The battle for the city, and possibly the world, started yet again. When the creature began unleashing balls of energy from its jaws, the Next took to the skies.
After absorbing a flock of crows, the One followed vigorously. The two warriors began to dog fight, dodging and attacking one another until the monster used its tail to hold the giant still and pull him in. It began to bash the hero and feed on his energy until the air force arrived, attacking the monster and allowing Ultraman to escape and hit the fiend with two energy cutters, severing its wings and sending the beast falling to the ground.
Once landed, the red and silver giant had little trouble, using his most powerful attack, the Evol-Ray Schtrom, the space beast was vaporized. After this Ultraman honored Maki's request to fly with his son and revived his life force. However as a result Ultraman was forced to go to sleep to regain his energy back.
Many years after the Next finished his battle with the One, Ultraman awoke from his slumber bearing his fully developed form, Nexus. In this form he merged with other humans, and recovering some of his powers. After he merged with Kazuki Komon, he obtained all of his powers, and became Ultraman Noa, his true form, and defeated his sworn enemy, Dark Zagi, and then stayed on Earth to defeat the remaining Space Beast, with Kazuki Komon as his host.
The Next is seen as one of the Ultras seen fighting the deluge of monsters during the Dark Spark War, being transformed into a Spark Doll by the Dark Spark at the war's conclusion. Unlike his prior appearance, he was fighting in his Anphans form as a giant like the other Ultras.
