After numerous Terror-Beasts fell to the power of Zone Fighter, the Garogas devised a new plan to undo their mortal enemy. They launched a Terror-Beast Missile to Earth during one of Hikaru's patrols, spying from afar as Hikaru stumbled upon the mysterious glowing sphere released from the missile. Suddenly, the floating orb charged Hikaru, forcing him to transform into Zone Fighter and blast the thing to pieces. At some point before, his shadow was replaced by Shadorah, and the "Miracle Ray" released by the glowing sphere was absorbed by the monster, triggering it into action. Hikaru noticed the subtle differences almost immediately, but was forced into battle when Shipdraw was unleashed on the city. The hero easily overpowered the strange kaiju, but just before he could deliver the death blow, his shadow revealed its true nature. Having leeched enough of Zone Fighter's energy, as well as being secretly fed solar energy by the Garoga, Shadorah appeared out of the shadows and attacked. None of Zone Fighter’s powers could harm it. Weakened by its Atomic Beams almost instantly, the Garogas seemed to have finally found their answer to the nuisance that was Zone Fighter. Leaving the hero behind, Shadorah ushered Shipdraw to safety before returning to the warrior’s shadow.
Returning to his human form, Hikaru became bedridden and battled with the monster from the inside. However, he still couldn’t defeat it and chose to face it the next day for round two. No sooner than he transformed, Shadorah emerged from his shadow. Like before, it was immune to all of his attacks. Not even the Meteor Missile Might fazed it. This time, it deployed Miracrogas alongside its beams. Once again, Zone Fighter was bested. With nothing to stop it, Shadorah turned its focus to a nuclear reactor and began ravaging a city in its wake, its Miracrogas causing explosions to rise from the outskirts of the city.
Meanwhile, as Shadorah moved deeper into the city, Raita was able to pinpoint a location where Shadorah was secretly being given energy. Zone Junior and Zone Angel moved quickly and found a secret Garogas base hidden within a sunken ship. They attacked and destroyed it, along with Shadorah’s control device. Without this, the remnants of the Miracle Ray disappeared, and the shadow monster stopped in its tracks. Green mist erupted from its entire body as it self-destructed. At long last, the deadly Shadorah had met its untimely end.
Powers / Weapons
Atomic Beams
From its eyes, Shadorah can emit extremely bright flashes of light. Not only did these appear to temporarily blind Zone Fighter once used, but they also stunned him and left him open for follow-up attacks.
Miracrogas
From its jaws, Shadorah can launch a stream of thick, green mist. On the environment, this acidic mist generates small explosions on whatever it touches. When used against an opponent, not only does it appear to have a choking effect, but Shadorah is also able to sap the foe's energy.
Living shadow
Shadorah is a living shadow and can take on the form of its host’s shadow at will, choosing when to expose its true self. It also leeches on its host’s energy while as a shadow.
Immunity from host's attacks
Shadorah is completely immune to its host’s attacks, even capable of absorbing their energy. This allowed it to completely shrug off even Zone Fighter’s Meteor Missile Might, an attack that effortlessly destroyed numerous monsters beforehand.
Weaknesses
Destruction of control center
As it is powered by solar energy, Shadorah will perish if the control center responsible for feeding it is destroyed.
Though immune to everything Zone Fighter threw at it, when Zone Angel and Zone Junior manage to obliterate the energy-giving control room in the underwater Garoga base, Shadorah's body became wrapped in green smoke and disappeared, ridding the world of the monster for good.
Background and Trivia
According to Toho Special Effects: All Kaiju Illustrated Encyclopedia, its place of birth was on the planet Garoga Baron (ガロガバラン星 - Garogabaran Hoshi), the homeworld of the Garoga aliens. While its subtitle is listed as being "Energy Terror-Beast" (エネルギー恐獣 - Enerugi Kyoju), it is merely referred to as "Terror-Beast" (恐獣 - Kyoju) during its entrance in the show.
When the mysterious orb is destroyed, it explodes in a thick black smoke, which temporarily envelopes Zone Fighter. However, it is never explained if Shadorah was created as a result of this smoke or if it was merely lying dormant beforehand.
Makes a cameo appearance in Episode 25 encased in a capsule. There is no mention whether this Shadorah is a revived version of the one Zone Fighter previously fought, or if it is some kind of clone.
Supplementary details, such as the names of its "Atomic Beams" (原子光線 - Genshi Kosen) and energy-sapping "Miracrogas" (ミラクロガス - Mirakurogasu), can be found in All Kaiju Kaijin (First Volume) (ISBN: 4766909623).
