Real
Name: Yamashiro Takuya
Identity/Class: Human mutate
Occupation: Motor cross champion
Affiliations: Garia (last survivor of planet Spider, deceased)
Enemies: Professor Monster; the Iron Cross Army; Amazon, Boukunryu
Known Relatives: Professor Yamashiro (father, deceased), Takuji (brother), Shinko (sister)
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Japan
First Appearance: Spider-Man (Japanese live-action TV show made by Toei Company, 1978)
Powers/Abilities: The bracelet worn by Yamashiro gives him the powers of a spider by injecting him with "spider extract." It contains his costume until needed, and is also capable of dispensing webbing. It can call Garia's alien space ship, the Marveller, to him. When the Marveller is linked to Yamashiro's flying race car, the Spider Machine GP-7, it transforms into a giant robot, known as Leopardon.
History: Yamashiro Takuya followed a series of visions he was having to discover his scientist father about to die next to a crashed alien spaceship. Investigating further, he found the craft's inhabitant, Garia, inside. Garia was the last survivor of the planet Spider, which had been devastated by the evil Professor Monster and his Iron Cross Army. With his dying breath Garia gave Yamashiro his bracelet. The youth swiftly discovered that the jewellary gave him special powers, which proved just as well, as Professor Monster and his minions also wished to possess it and weren't ready to take "no" for an answer. Yamashiro became Spider-Man, a costumed hero.
Comments:
Having licensed the rights to use Spider-Man for a Japanese TV show, Toei
put that unique Japanese spin on it to produce something quite unlike the
source material. In fact, if it wasn't for the costume and the webbing, this
would be completely unrecognisable.
Spider-Man has the historic distinction of being the first
Japanese show to feature the idea of the hero battling a normal sized foe,
then facing them a second time using his giant robot, Leopardon (after the
monsters have grown in size).