TV-Series
Description
The Zetsuborg emerge as monstrous entities forged from despair. Agents of Dys Dark capture victims' dreams by trapping them within the Gate of Desperation (or Despair), forcibly extracting and sealing away these dreams. The Three Musketeers—Close, Shut, and Lock—perform this creation using specialized lock pendants and incantations. Close declares "Close Your Dream! Go Zetsuborg!", Shut commands "Shut Your Dream! Go Zetsuborg!", and Lock states "Lock Your Dream! Go Zetsuborg!". Later, the duo Stop and Freeze jointly invoke "Stop... Freeze... your dream!" for their summonings. Victims remain imprisoned in cages until purification occurs, requiring a Dress Up Key and the phrase "Open, Gate of Dreams!" to unlock them.
All Zetsuborg share a consistent bipedal structure featuring a large black lock centrally positioned on their bodies, its keyhole glowing red. Their physical forms directly manifest the victim's specific dream, such as a Picture Book for an aspiring children's author or a Soccer Trophy for an athlete. Base bodies typically exhibit dark red coloration. Variants appear throughout the series: Twilight enhances standard Zetsuborg using her Dress Up Key, granting them red locks and violet glowing eyes. Lock later deploys upgraded versions distinguished by horned locks and yellow eyes, while Stop and Freeze summon Zetsuborg with dual locks emitting green lights. Dyspear creates distinct Metsuborg using a unique horned lock resembling her headdress; these lack dream-based origins, feature a single red eye, and obstruct the restoration of the palaces' rainbows.
Purification alters their final expressions. Most defeated Zetsuborg utter "Dreaming..." as their central red light fades, resembling a closing eye. Cure Scarlet's purification causes them to say "Burning..." instead. Zetsuborg purified via the Princess Palace exclaim "Blooming...". Yui Nanase remains the sole known exception, awakening within her cage to aid the Cures. Non-human transformations occur, such as a cicada becoming a Zetsuborg, and multi-Zetsuborg manifestations emerge from a single victim (episode 17) or group (episode 27).
Spin-offs and films introduce further variants. The movie *Pretty Cure Dream Stars!* features Scissors, Paperclips, and Staplers Zetsuborg summoned by Kiinu and purified via Emerald Reincarnation. *Go! Princess Pretty Cure the Movie* includes Parfait, Dancers, Judges, Pumpkin Knights, and Pumpkin Warriors Zetsuborg, typically summoned by Warp or Night Pumpkin. Pumpkin-themed Zetsuborg lack facial locks, appearing as cyclopic pumpkins, and were destroyed when fairy captives broke their cages. Dyspear's movie summons include divine beast-inspired Metsuborg resembling the Four Symbols of Chinese mythology.
Their name derives from "Zetsubō" (despair) and "Cyborg." Metsuborg similarly combine "Metsu" (destroy/destruction) and "Cyborg". Unlike other monsters in the franchise, they form without fusing objects.
All Zetsuborg share a consistent bipedal structure featuring a large black lock centrally positioned on their bodies, its keyhole glowing red. Their physical forms directly manifest the victim's specific dream, such as a Picture Book for an aspiring children's author or a Soccer Trophy for an athlete. Base bodies typically exhibit dark red coloration. Variants appear throughout the series: Twilight enhances standard Zetsuborg using her Dress Up Key, granting them red locks and violet glowing eyes. Lock later deploys upgraded versions distinguished by horned locks and yellow eyes, while Stop and Freeze summon Zetsuborg with dual locks emitting green lights. Dyspear creates distinct Metsuborg using a unique horned lock resembling her headdress; these lack dream-based origins, feature a single red eye, and obstruct the restoration of the palaces' rainbows.
Purification alters their final expressions. Most defeated Zetsuborg utter "Dreaming..." as their central red light fades, resembling a closing eye. Cure Scarlet's purification causes them to say "Burning..." instead. Zetsuborg purified via the Princess Palace exclaim "Blooming...". Yui Nanase remains the sole known exception, awakening within her cage to aid the Cures. Non-human transformations occur, such as a cicada becoming a Zetsuborg, and multi-Zetsuborg manifestations emerge from a single victim (episode 17) or group (episode 27).
Spin-offs and films introduce further variants. The movie *Pretty Cure Dream Stars!* features Scissors, Paperclips, and Staplers Zetsuborg summoned by Kiinu and purified via Emerald Reincarnation. *Go! Princess Pretty Cure the Movie* includes Parfait, Dancers, Judges, Pumpkin Knights, and Pumpkin Warriors Zetsuborg, typically summoned by Warp or Night Pumpkin. Pumpkin-themed Zetsuborg lack facial locks, appearing as cyclopic pumpkins, and were destroyed when fairy captives broke their cages. Dyspear's movie summons include divine beast-inspired Metsuborg resembling the Four Symbols of Chinese mythology.
Their name derives from "Zetsubō" (despair) and "Cyborg." Metsuborg similarly combine "Metsu" (destroy/destruction) and "Cyborg". Unlike other monsters in the franchise, they form without fusing objects.