Amazoness is the field commander and second-in-command of the Iron Cross Army, Professor Monster's enforcer and the secondary antagonist of Toei's 1978 Spider-Man tokusatsu series. Her human guise is that of Saeko Yoshida, the editor-in-chief of the "Weekly Woman" magazine.
She is portrayed by Yukie Kagawa who more famously later plays Amazon Killer in Taiyou Sentai Sun Vulcan.
Biography[]
Past[]
Amazoness was created by Professor Monster when he founded the Iron Cross Army to conquer the universe over 400 years ago. 400 years ago, Professor Monster led the Iron Cross Army in destroying Planet Spider.
Spider-Man[]
Professor Monster's origins and real identity are unknown but he founded the Iron Cross Army to conquer the universe over 400 years ago. 400 years ago, Professor Monster led the Iron Cross Army in destroying Planet Spider.
When Professor Monster comes to Earth hundreds of years later, he was followed by Garia, a man from Planet Spider, in his Marveller. After the Marveller crashes in Japan, Professor Monster worries that that whoever finds it will gain power that will threaten the Iron Cross Army. Thus, the Professor sends his general, Amazoness, to kill anyone who stumbles across it with one of their Machine BEM. Amazoness takes a force of Ninders with her to go capture the ship and came across Dr. Hiroshi Yamashiro, who is investigating the ship as well, leading Amazoness to kill him to eliminate any witnesses. However, his son Takuya manages to find Garia and was bestowed the power to become Spider-Man, receiving Marveller to use to battle the Iron Cross Army and avenge his father.
After Amazoness is continually bested by Spider-Man, Professor Monster becomes increasingly satisfied with her performance. At the same time, Bella and Rita, two ancient Amazonian women who the Professor had awakened to serve him, become increasingly close with the Professor, leading Amazoness to grow envious of them. Amazoness later learns of Professor Monster's scheme to retreat into space on a rocket and bombard the world with missiles so he can rule over what was left over. As the rocket only had three seats, one for Professor Monster himself and two for his loyal minions, Amazoness vows to defeat Spider-Man in order to prove herself to the Professor so she will be allowed to accompany him into space on board the rocket. Professor Monster sends Amazoness on a final mission to kill Spider-Man, though he makes it clear that, if she fails, she should not return.
Deducing a connection between Takuya Yamashiro and Spider-Man, Amazoness attacks Takuya's apartment and kidnaps his girlfriend Hitomi in order to lure him out. In the process, Amazoness slaps Takuya with a staff laced with poison and tells him to tell Spider-Man to come to a specific location if he wanted to see Hitomi alive again. After Amazoness leaves, Takuya becomes Spider-Man to confront Amazoness at the specified location. While he is facing her however, the poison Amazoness infected him with starts to take effect, leading Amazoness to confirm that he is really Takuya Yamashiro. Amazoness then knocks the weakened Spider-Man into the sea before having her Ninders shoot at him. Believing Spider-Man to be dead even though his body is missing, Amazoness returns to the Iron Cross Army's secret headquarters and proudly announces to Professor Monster that she killed Spider-Man. Hearing this, Professor Monster informs her that she will be given a spot on the rocket when it takes off, much to Amazoness' pleasure. Unbeknownst to Amazoness however, Spider-Man had survived and, having pulled off one of her wrist gauntlets, is able to trace the signal emitted by it to the Iron Cross Army's secret headquarters underneath the Shingensan railroad.
Upon seeing that Spider-Man is alive as he fights off the Iron Cross Army's Ninders, Professor Monster believes that Amazoness is trying to deceive him and orders Bella and Rita to execute Amazoness for her failure. The two shoot at Amazoness with their bows and machine guns but Amazoness, fatally wounded, boards the rocket and causes it to take off without them on board out of spite. As the rocket flies, it is shot down and destroyed by Spider-Man; taking Amazoness with it.
Appearance[]
Amazoness changed appearance several times throughout the series. Her initial outfit for the first 18 episodes was a black sleeveless leotard with white leggings and a dark green cape. Starting with episode 19, Amazoness would switch to a silvery dress, as well as having red hair and a golden tiara worn on her head. In episode 31, her hair colour changed back to black though her outfit stayed the same, and starting from episode 33 her hair colour would remain black as it had been previously. At episode 39, Amazoness would return to her original outfit, though she would keep the golden tiara she had worn with her second one.
Personality[]
Amazoness was a very ruthless and cruel woman. Utterly devoted to the Iron Cross Army, she was willing to do almost anything to further its cause, including killing countless people. She was even willing to harm children if needed, and frequently attempted to so whenever one of them stumbled upon an operation being done by the Iron Cross Army. While cold to most, she was loyal to Professor Monster and sought to enable him to take over the world. Amazoness was also shown to grow jealous when the Army's new members, Bella and Rita, started to grow closer to the Professor than she was. Her loyalty was not absolute though and, when Professor Monster ordered her executed in the final episode, she stole his escape rocket and took of in it as a final act of spite.
Crimes[]
Amazoness executed a variety of evil plans throughout the series, some of which include:
- Episode 15: Used an ill child to lure out Spider-Man so she can kill him.
- Episode 16: Kidnapped the designer of a dam, which she planned to blow up so water would flood a nuclear plant and carry radioactive waste all throughout Japan.
- Episode 18: Framed high-profile and respected individuals for crimes in order get newspapers to write about it and spread fear and mistrust all throughout Japan, leading some who were falsely accused to commit suicide.
- Episode 19: Cooperated with the head of a secluded village of aliens who landed on Earth in the distant past to deceive them into worshipping a Machine Bem and believing that they needed to make sacrifices to it, leading them to attempt to sacrifice a young village girl named Miyo.
- Episode 24: Opened up a loan shark business and kidnapped people who were in debt to them to force them to work in a factory making poison gas, which she intended to spread across several cities in Japan.
- Episode 31: Used the Machine Bem Kinokongar to produce a drug called "mash" which caused those who took it to dance and act erratically before falling over dead, and cooperated with crime syndicates to distribute the drug all throughout Japan in order to kill as many people as possible.
Gallery[]
Quotes[]
| “ | It is definitely Marveller. But Garia should have died a long time ago. More importantly, we should be worried about Professor Yamashiro. I am sure Yamashiro will discover Marveller. | „ |
| ~ Amazoness' first words to Professor Monster when Marveller appeared outside Earth. |
| “ | Who are you?! Bonkuryu, get him. | „ |
| ~ Amazoness when meeting Spider-Man for the first time. |
| “ | You are not getting away... You are not getting away... | „ |
| ~ Amazoness' last words. |
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 Villains
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Iron Cross Army | ||