The Doctor Who franchise is a long‑running British science‑fiction series centred on the Doctor, an alien Time Lord who travels through time and space in the TARDIS. Since its 1963 debut, it has expanded into television, audio dramas, novels, comics, and a global cultural legacy.
The Kyodai Hero or Giant Hero in english, is a tokusatsu television subgenre centred on Japanese superheroes or robots who either possess the ability to grow to enormous size to battle giant monsters or who exist as giants by nature. These characters are consistently portrayed as defenders of humanity, and the genre emerged during the 1960s as part of Japan’s expanding special‑effects television landscape.
The Kamen Rider franchise is a long‑running Japanese tokusatsu series in which masked, motorcycle‑riding heroes—often transformed through belts or devices—battle monsters and sinister organisations. Since its 1971 debut, it has expanded into television, films, manga, stage shows, and a major cultural legacy across multiple generations.
The Metal Hero franchise is a long‑running tokusatsu series produced by Toei, featuring armored heroes, often androids, cyborgs, or humans in metallic suits, who battle threats using technology‑driven powers, beginning with Space Sheriff Gavan in 1982 and spanning numerous subseries including Space Sheriffs, Rescue Police, and B‑Fighters.
Power Rangers is an American multimedia superhero franchise that began with Mighty Morphin Power Rangers in 1993 and adapts action footage, characters, and concepts from the Japanese Super Sentai series to create stories about teams of young heroes who morph, wield special powers, and pilot giant Zords to defend Earth.
The Sentai franchise is a Japanese superhero tradition predating Super Sentai, consisting of early team‑based tokusatsu series where colour‑coded heroes with specialised skills fight criminal or supernatural threats. Beginning with Ninja Captor (1976) and Battle Hawk (1976), these proto‑sentai works helped establish the team‑action format that later evolved into the modern Super Sentai brand.
Star Trek is an American science‑fiction franchise created by Gene Roddenberry in 1966, which has expanded into numerous television series, films, novels, comics, and games, becoming one of the most recognizable and highest‑grossing media franchises of all time.
Star Wars is a multi‑genre space‑opera franchise created by George Lucas in 1977, which has since expanded into films, television, novels, comics, games, and other media, becoming one of the most influential and highest‑grossing entertainment properties in history.
Supermarionation is Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s advanced puppetry and production technique used throughout the 1960s in series such as Thunderbirds, Stingray, Captain Scarlet, Fireball XL5, and Supercar. It combined electronically enhanced marionettes with cinematic model work to create a more lifelike, science‑fiction‑oriented form of puppet television.
Super Sentai is a long‑running Japanese tokusatsu franchise featuring color‑coded superhero teams who transform, fight evil organizations, and pilot giant combining mecha, beginning with Himitsu Sentai Gorenger in 1975 and produced primarily by Toei Company.
The Ultraman franchise is a long‑running Japanese science‑fiction series in which giant heroes from the Land of Light protect Earth from monsters and alien threats. Since its 1966 debut, it has expanded into television, films, manga, and global pop‑culture icon status.
