Polymer

Real Name: Yoroi Takeshi

Identity/Class: Human, technology user

Occupation:  Assistant to Private Detective

Affiliations: Kuruma Jo (employer), Nanba Teru, Daisaku (his pet St.Bernard), Dr. Oregara Gestell

Enemies: Devil Lizard Gang

Known Relatives: Yoroi Onitora (father, Chief of WashinKyo’s International Police Department)

Aliases: Hurricane Polymer

Base of Operations: WashinKyo (an amalgam of Washington and Tokyo)

First Appearance: Hariken Porima (a.k.a. Hurricane Polymer, aired on the Asahi Network, October 4, 1974)

Powers/Abilities: Even without the suit, Takeshi is a highly skilled martial artist, trained in the art of Ha Ri Ken (Internal Destructive Fist) Karate. With it enhancing his abilities, he is almost unbeatable. When the suit is activated by the trigger phrase "Tenshi Polymer", it pours out of the helmet to envelope his body. As Polymer he has superhuman strength, speed and agility. The last two, combined with his martial arts prowess, allows him to perform a variety of special combat moves impossible for a normal human - most notably his “Geien Hakai Ken” (Destructive Illusion Fist) manoeuver, where he hits his opponent so fast and so often that he leaves after images of himself behind, confusing his target as to where Polymer really is. He also regenerates from wounds very quickly, and is protected from bullets, heat (but not cold) and deadly gases.

The suit is a kind of "memory plastic", and so can assume a variety of shapes, each one stored in the helmet's memory. The change between forms is activated by voice command. Among the different shapes assumed are the Polymer Machine, an all-terrain racing car; Polymer Drill, an underground vehicle which can bore through the earth; Polymer Hawk, a jet; Polymer Grandplus, a submarine; Polymer Roller, a tank. Because of limitations to his power supply, he can only keep his powers activated for just over forty-six minutes - any longer and the suit could malfunction and kill him. A warning bell alerts him of the dwindling power after forty-five minutes. The suit is also vulnerable to both intense cold and electromagnetics, either of which can disrupt its functions and endanger the wearer.

History: Yoroi Takeshi was the son of Chief Onitora, senior officer in WashinKyo's International Police Department. His father hoped that his son would one day follow his footsteps and become a respected law enforcer too, and so, in spite of Takeshi only being sixteen, he asked the boy to look after noted scientist Oregara Gestell.

The scientist was on the verge of perfecting a special bodysuit, which he termed Polymer. If it worked the way Dr.Oregara intended it to, then the wearer would be granted superhuman strength and agility, and even more incredible, would be able to alter their shape to assume the form of a number of different human sized vehicles. This invention interested a number of criminal groups, who wanted to use the technology for themselves. One of them, the Devil Lizard Gang, attacked the lab, and Takeshi attempted to repel their invasion. Good as he was, one sixteen year old wasn't going to stop the determined gang. The boy was severely injured and would have died, had not Dr.Oregara decided to use his invention to save him. The scientist placed his "Poly-Met" helmet on the lad's head, and turned on it's power supply. Takeshi was swiftly healed as the suit covered him, changing him into the costumed hero who would soon become known as Polymer. Thus revitalised and empowered, Takeshi returned to the fight, successfully driving off the gang, though not before Dr.Oregara lost his life in a fire which consumed his lab.

Realising that the secret of creating the suit had died with the scientist, and feeling in part the cause of the man's death, Takeshi vowed to make sure the power never fell into the wrong hands, and to bring criminals like the Devil Lizard Gang to justice, so they could no longer harm innocents. He ran away from home, and created a new identity working as an assistant for bumbling detective Kuruma Jo. The only being he has shared his new identity with is his pet dog, a St.Bernard called Daisaku.

Comments: Created by Tatsuo Yoshida, produced by Tatsunoko Productions. Polymer was voiced by Kazuyuki Sogabe.

Hurricane Polymer was a half hour anime show which aired in Japan in 1974. It lasted 26 episodes. A remake OAV, Shin Hurricane Polymer, was made in 2000, but only laster for two episodes.

Images on this page courtesy of Anime Cel.Com. Used with their kind permission.

CLARIFICATIONS: Not to be confused with

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