"CAKE, heat up!"
- ―CAKE's captain calling them to deploy
"Piece of cake."
- ―CAKE officers after completing a mission
CAKE (Crew of Anti-Kaiju Experts) is the attack team in Ultraman Lightning.
History[]
When planning the newest attack team to replace GUYS, the Japanese government took note of the destruction of several past attack team bases. To avoid future incidents like this in the future, it was decided that the new team's base should be kept hidden from the public under the guise of another venue. As such, CAKE was founded, with military veteran Ida Hara being chosen as CAKE Japan's first captain.
Appearance[]
All CAKE headquarters take the appearance of small bakeries. The buildings can be identified by their bright red and silver color scheme, and the logo "X's Bakery and Cafe," with X being the first name of the attack team branch's captain. The inside of each building is homey and cozy, with comfy seats and a large bar. The workers prepare different kinds of baked goods from all over the world.
In the kitchen, each base has a password-locked door that leads to an elevator to the real HQ, underground below the bakery.
CAKE Japan's HQ is built into a street corner on the outskirts of Seikumo City, near the airport. Uniquely, their base entrance uses a teleporter rather than an elevator, thanks to Member Wakako Narashi managing to reverse engineer a piece of alien technology.
Although each HQ has a set main team, there are various supporting officers to do other jobs, and a few backup chefs to bake and take orders while the team is out fighting monsters.
Members[]
Ultraman Lightning Era[]
- Ida Hara: Age 43. The captain of CAKE and the owner of the bakery in which they work. On the outside, Ida is a no-nonsense, stoic woman, but she is very compassionate and treats her crew like her own family. She wishes for monsters and humans to coexist in peace one day.
- Wakako Narashi: Age 26. The inventor and the token female, she not only designs the weapons and vehicles, but comes up with the bakery recipes too. Wakako is very smart, but can be a little bossy. She's recovered from a severe vendetta against monsters of any kind, and thus doesn't like having her past brought up. She's initially the second-in-command of CAKE, but later abdicates this spot to Gabara when her and Ida agree he does a better job.
- Gabara Tendou: Age 31. When you see Gabara charging headfirst into combat, often taking on human-sized enemies with his bare fists, you wouldn’t expect him to be the best baker on the staff. Despite his “hit first, ask questions later” mentality, he has a heart of gold. He and Wakako perpetually flirt with each other. Surprisingly, when in moments of disorder, Gabara is able to rein the rest of the team and make order from the chaos, which is why he would eventually be appointed Deputy Captain rather than Wakako.
- Alec Craig: Age 24. A transfer from the North American branch, Alec is stated to have the greatest aim of any CAKE officer worldwide. He’s usually immature and comedic, but when he needs to make a precise shot, a whole other side of him comes out. At the bakery, he takes customers' orders, as he isn't very good at baking himself. Dedicated to his job and willing to sacrifice himself for the greater good.
- Isaac: Age unknown. Isaac usually stays at the base, but is proficient in hand-to-hand combat when he needs to go. Can't help but spew facts and stats on every kaiju he recognizes. He bonds to Taji almost immediately, as he matches him in rugged good looks, incredible kaiju knowledge, and something else. Nobody knows his last name.
- Taji Kawabata: Age 6,600... scratch that, 21. Having skipped Earth class at the Space Patrol Academy and only just begun reading the Space Ranger’s Guide when he arrived on Earth, Lightning wasn't prepared for his job at all. He only took on this human form at the very end of episode 1, and even then has no knowledge of human customs; not even eating! He’s a tourist in a strange foreign country, and wants to see all he can, but won’t let that distract him from his job as guardian of the Earth.
- Lilac the Gyabish: The Gyabish are a species of monster with a phoenix-like life cycle: starting as small babies, they grow to human and then kaiju size, being reborn as babies upon death. They lived on Planet Dais of the Baas Galaxy, until a mad scientist named Nanzo developed a serum that rapidly accelerated their growth and made them highly aggressive. Using the species as bioweapons, Nanzo's crusade was attempted against by the development of a box device to keep his mutant monsters from growing, but he still laid waste to Planet Dais and several other planets. Pursued by Muzan bounty hunter Xash and later contacted by fellow scientist Deox, Nanzo came to Earth to destroy it with a Gyabish, but his plans were foiled and Perfect Gyabish returned to normal by Lightning. Xash suggested that they keep Gyabish, as she had seemingly grown attached to Taji and Wakako. Wakako named the Gyabish Lilac, after the main character of her favorite video game. She now serves as CAKE’s mascot.
Ultraman Charge Era[]
- Gabara Tendou:
- Wakako Narashi:
- Laiha Toba:
- Naruto Kaya:
Gear[]
- CAKE Wear: The uniforms of CAKE, which visually resemble the Ultra Garrison's uniforms, but with red instead of gray. They are resistant to lasers, electricity and extreme temperatures.
- Battle Apron: Apron-like white vests worn over the CAKE Wear. Provide extra protection, and contain life support technology.
- CAKE Wear Custom: Ida’s uniform is more stylized, with shoulder pads and additional protection, to signify her rank as captain.
- Defense Hat: CAKE’s high-tech helmets, which are twice as durable as the rest of their CAKE Wear. Their main function is actually to protect the wearer's own ears against the Beam Sounders. They have spherical bumps which make them vaguely resemble chef's hats.
- Brace Com: A mobile device which can be worn on a member's wrist or detached for use as a phone. It can function as a watch, communicator, map, or scanner/analyzer for monsters and materials.
- Mebium Brace Com: A red and gold version of the Brace Com worn by Ida during her time as Mebius' host. When needed, it turns into the Mebius Brace for transformation.
- Beam Sounder: CAKE's standard weapon, a gun-like device that shoots waves/bolts of sonic energy, which can shatter solid objects or cause lethal injuries to human-sized foes. It also has a weaker setting to disorient or stun opponents.
- Ultimate Ray Pad: Ida's tablet which converts into a blaster resembling the Gunpad, it can only be authorized to use by the captain of CAKE. This is due to its intense power, as it can fire beams of Specium, Emerium, Cinerama or Metallium energy after the respective button is selected. The Ultimate Ray Pad also serves as the authorization device for the Giga Oven.
Machines[]
- Giga Oven: A large land vehicle, it looks like DASH Mother and a Clone Turbo Tank have fused together. Teleports from the base, and stores the other vehicles and CAKE's gear, which can be teleported out to the members. Usually operated by Ida and Isaac, as the former's Ultimate Ray Pad is the device to activate the machine.
- Air Baker 1: A red jet aimed more towards power than speed, with heavy weaponry. It looks like a fusion of a Jedi Starfighter and an A-Wing Fighter. It can drop Falling Flare bombs, fire the Homing Hyperion missiles, and is armed with a powerful Emerium Cannon. Usually piloted by Alec and copiloted by Wakako.
- Air Baker 2: A high-speed jet usually used for rescue and patrol rather than combat. It looks like a slightly less armored, blue version of Air Baker 1. It is armed with Paralyzer Payload stun missiles, Descend Douser extinguisher cannons for fighting fires, and can drop an energy Flexibarrier to trap monsters. Usually piloted by Gabara and copiloted by Taji.
- Land Baker 1: An armored car with heavy weaponry in the form of an Emerium Bullet Gun mounted above the roof.
- Land Baker 2: A fast-moving car with light weaponry in the form of Hyperion Launchers located under the hood.
- CAKE Platter: A hoverboard/flying disc. Used later in the series and during Ultraman Charge.
Trivia[]
- As you can imagine, CAKE's acronym was the first thing Kit thought of, then he built the group around it.
- Most of their equipment is based on devices from Super Sentai (such as the Brace Com) and Star Wars (the Beam Sounder and their vehicles.)