Disclaimer:
This author is not a psychologist. All arguments made in this article are based on official diagnostic criteria and or personal testimonies. Additionally, this article does not seek to demonize Cluster B Disorders. Instead, it rationalizes the depressive and self-destructive behaviors of one of this author’s favorite characters of all time.
Any readers and/or audiences are additionally not entitled to this author’s diagnostic history under any circumstance. Mental illness is a personal and often complex topic to address. Reader discretion is advised.
Intro:
The Ultraman series prides itself on its plethora of interesting and iconic villains. Belial, Jugglus Juggler, Carmeara, and more are all such examples of the prowess of Ultraman’s writing team. With that said, this author believes that Tsubaraya Productions’ most interesting villain is, unfortunately, one of the most short-lived.
Ultraman Tregear first debuted in “R/B The Movie: Select! The Crystal of Bond (2019)”. During subsequent appearances, his character stole the series for a mere year and a half before his on-screen death. With such little time to flourish, Tregear still managed to be one of Ultraman’s most nuanced characters. While presenting himself as an agent of chaos, Tregear is slowly revealed to be bitter and deeply depressed. This depression, which is expanded on in his side story “Blue Shadow (2020),” eventually leads to his downfall.
With that said, this author believes Tregear’s problems stem from more than just depression. Another possible contributing factor to his mental decline is untreated Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD).
Part 1: Tregear and Taro (Favorite Person Relationship):
“Taro. Without you, the Land of Light is a dim and lackluster world for me.”
(Nakano, Chapter 4).
One of Tregear’s defining traits throughout his appearances is his obsession with his former childhood friend, Ultraman Taro.
Having become bitter over the fact that Taro didn’t bring him back from the darkness, Tregear lashes out in a variety of ways. While this can be perceived as a merely codependent attachment, this author thinks otherwise.
Those with BPD often form attachments to one person and fixate on them heavily. This person is known as having a “favorite person,” or fp for short. The way Tregear talks about Taro at the beginning of “Blue Shadow” reflects this with eerie accuracy. Tregear talks very highly of Taro before his fall to darkness, even writing poetry about Taro during their younger years. Having a favorite person can be all-consuming and lead to drastic efforts by someone with BPD to make sure this person does not abandon them.
Part 1.5: Tregear and Taro (Perceived Abandonment):
After his fall, Tregear becomes bitter at Taro for, in Tregear’s perception of events, abandoning him. This bitterness even extends to attempting to corrupt Taro’s son, Taiga, in order to get back at Taro. Post fall to darkness, Tregear gets increasingly drastic in his attempts to gain Taro’s attention. Viewing himself as the darkness to Taro’s light, Tregear’s image of only caring about chaos shatters whenever Taro is involved.
In “Ultra Galaxy Fight,” it’s revealed that Tregear’s parallel isotope self is deeply afraid of being abandoned by Taro. He is often tormented by nightmares that Taro will leave him, and such is considered his worst fear. In “Blue Shadow,” Tregear tries to get accepted into the Intergalactic Defense Force to avoid having to say goodbye to Taro.
Those with Borderline Personality Disorder often have similar attachments to their favorite person. Emotional dependence on the FP commonly characterizes relationships of this type. This author can testify that feelings of abandonment instilled by one’s FP cause a sense of panic and emotional instability. Self-harm and unhealthy behaviors are common reactions to perceived abandonment, as this author knows terribly well.
Abandonment issues, in general, characterize a good portion of BPD. Consequently, abandonment can cause what is known as a split. We will be discussing this in the next paragraph as it relates to Tregear.
Part 2: Corrupting and Destroying (Tregear’s Moments of Splitting):
Tregear’s persona is a morally gray character who doesn’t believe in viewing the world as black or white. As such, one might ask how he displays the BPD symptom of splitting. The answer is simple. While on the surface, he doesn’t believe in good or evil, he does believe in corrupting vs destroying.
If a matter isn’t personal to him, he corrupts his targets. Corrupting is petty and vengeful. It teaches a lesson, and it proves a point. When Tregear corrupts Taiga, it’s to get back at Taro.
In contrast, when this plan is foiled by “Ultraman Taiga (2019)” ’s protagonist, Hiroyuki Kudo, that’s when Tregear splits. Tregear goes from calculated and cruel to vengeful and hysterical when the matter is personal. In episode 16 of Ultraman Taiga, after Taiga returns to the light, Tregear has a breakdown in his human form. Tregear begins screaming and laughing in the rain, vowing to destroy Hiroyuki and everything he loves. The matter has become personal. This is not only due to Tregear’s hatred of losing but also because Hiroyuki ruined his plan to get back at Taro.
BPD splitting is often characterized by intense mood swings, usually leading to a complete and total breakdown. In episode sixteen of Taiga, the ending scene sees Tregear going from screaming to crying to laughing. This characterizes his emotional instability at that moment as an episode of black-and-white thinking.
Part 3: Self-Exile and Distorted Self-Image:
“A planet of disposed garbage, huh? It’s a planet suitable for me, who is no longer a useful Ultraman.”
(Nakano, Chapter 4)
Tregear’s self-image is often distorted throughout his appearances, especially in “Blue Shadow.” He goes from prideful to viewing himself as worthless. He goes from attempting to repress his own darkness to thinking light and dark no longer matter. People with BPD often have distorted perceptions of themselves that can frequently change. Some may view this as merely depression, and many aspects of his self-image stem from depression. However, it should be noted that in the introduction to “Blue Shadow,” Tregear is identified as “synonymous with disaster, temptation, contradiction, and so on” (Nakano, Prologue). The last part, contradiction, will be focused on in this section.
Tregear contradicts his own philosophies often. While saying he doesn’t care about light or darkness, his spite towards Taro and the light contradicts this. He presents himself as an uncaring, indiscriminate chaos while magnifying the weight of perceived slights against him. He’s a hypocrite. It can be difficult to know if he believes what he says about himself. That said, it’s likely that, to some extent, he does. He considers himself to be both uncaring chaos and the darkness of Taro’s light. Both of these identities exist simultaneously and conflict with each other. When pointed out by other characters, this conflict leads to self-destructive behaviors.
Part 4: Tregear and Grimdo (Self-Destructive Behavior):
“You’re still talking about your bonds?! Don’t make me throw up!”
(Ultraman Taiga, Episode 16, 20:27)
Tregear’s first choice when having to admit to being wrong is most often self-destruction. Any chance at redemption he receives. he rejects. In the end, the hurt from his past is too great for him to care about anything else or accept help. Through his own doing, he has essentially lost everything. As a result, he offers himself to Grimdo to be devoured, a final destructive act that kills him permanently. In many ways, Grimdo can be viewed as a metaphor for Tregear’s self-destructive bitterness. However, unfortunately, that’s a topic for another time.
In the text, Tregear engages in self-destructive and harmful behaviors that directly relate to his bitterness. Such examples include absorbing Grimdo, refusing help after his color timer restraint came loose, and finally, letting himself be devoured by Grimdo.
Self-destructive behaviors are a common trait in BPD, especially during splitting. These behaviors often limit the life expectancy of those with BPD. Relating this to Tregear, his unhealthy behavior and inability to admit his wrongdoing ultimately lead to his death, thus signifying a tragic end to his story by his own hand. As he dies, he cries out for Taro, who can only solemnly call out to him in response.
Conclusion:
Untreated mental illness and an unwillingness to accept help lead to the end of Tregear’s story. Whereas other villains in the series, like Belial, have simple motivations and satisfying endings, Tregear differs in this regard. Ultraman Tregear is ultimately a tragic character who meets a horrific end at his own hands.
One might ask if things would have been different if he had gotten help or if Taro had stayed. This author can only answer with a hard maybe. It’s clear from his side story that Tregear was predisposed to darkness. Until his corruption, he tried to keep this darkness in check for Taro’s sake. While some of the blame falls on Taro for not looking for Tregear during Tregear’s self-exile, Tregear is ultimately responsible for himself.
In many ways, Tregear, being in Taro’s shadow, parallels Taiga, the Ultra whose villain he became. Both were desperate for Taro’s acknowledgment, which led them down a path of darkness. However, whereas Taiga is brought back from darkness and learns to value himself and his friends, Tregear sinks further. Throughout his appearances, Tregear serves as a constant reminder of Ultraman’s 50-year-long thesis: Ultramen are not gods. No one else in the series is inherently better than Tregear for not entering the downward spiral he did. Given a different set of resources and circumstances, Tregear might have turned out very different. However, no one, not even himself, cared nearly enough to try and preserve whatever good was left in him. This author knows better than anyone that successfully managing mental illnesses, especially those like BPD, doesn’t make someone better than others. It just makes them lucky…
“Blue Phantom” can be found and read here.
