Phoenix Man

In his base state he looks like a tall phoenix, feathered in red and gold with purple tail plumes and a pair of large green eyes; a set of human arms can slide out from the plumage when needed. His first resurrection reshapes the suit into avian armor with a more humanoid build, adding a second pair of wings, plated scales, a single great eye set in his chest, and a phoenix-headed helmet whose beak frames his shadowed human face.

From there he can shift into a falcon-like Fire Falcon mode, a bulked-up flaming Prominence Hawk mode, and a squat, bow-tied Penguin mode. Once broken down by the Tickle-Tickle Bug he shrinks into Monster Chick Man, a small chick still wearing his face inside a beak, later regaining his former height while keeping the chick look.

Poised and sharp-witted, Phoenix Man could speak the language of both the association's leaders and its rank and file, which made him an effective middle manager. He disliked pointless cruelty, favored civilized solutions, and often traded counsel with Gyoro Gyoro while directing subordinates such as Rhino Wrestler, Sludge Jellyfish, and Elder Centipede. Under that composure, though, sat the same derangement as his peers: once a fight started he turned arrogant and sadistic, and his fondness for gloating cost him his first bout with Child Emperor.

Learning how Orochi rose from human to monster king lit an ambition in him to claim that title himself, and after resurrecting he proclaimed himself the strongest living thing on the planet. He kept a genuine soft spot for children, a leftover from his days as a kids-show mascot, and he prized anyone powerful who wore a costume, which is why he pressed Child Emperor and Watchdog Man to join him. With the association gone and his strength lost, he mellowed, took a job as a school crossing guard, and told Child Emperor he no longer threatened anyone.

Every one of his abilities flowed from the phoenix costume; stripped of it, he was as weak as any regular man, and the suit even spoke to him telepathically to explain what it could do. His defining trick was resurrection: killed once by Child Emperor, he revived in a stronger, armored form, following the logic of the television hero he was based on who died and returned each episode. Rebirth vaulted him to Dragon level and unlocked a spread of elemental powers, chief among them fire so total he could wrap his whole body in flame and, in Prominence Hawk mode, push his temperature toward ten thousand degrees, hot enough to start melting Child Emperor's Brave Giant.

His Penguin mode added ice and energy blasts, while his light powers let him reanimate nearby corpses into single-minded attackers through his New King's Awakening Light. He could also draw an opponent into the Phoenix Space, a mental realm inside his costume, and he flew, struck, and endured blows well beyond human limits, even carrying a Monster Cell he tried to force down Child Emperor's throat. His growth had a ceiling, however: his last revival in the fight left him a chick ranked below Wolf, and Child Emperor's quick thinking ultimately undid him, making him the weakest classified monster in the series.