After already conquering hundreds of planets, the Great Star League Gozma sets its sights onto Earth. To defend the lands in such a great crisis, the military begins a special branch known as the Earth Defense Force, comprised of elite members from all areas of the military. Under the supervision of Commander Ibuki, the numerous gathered soldiers of the Earth Defense Force begin a harsh training.

Earth is invaded by the criminal organization known as Makuu, led by Don Horror, who had first destroyed a space colony near Earth. Don Horror wants to dominate the whole universe, and the Earth represents an obstacle that he has to overcome by turning it into a domain for all evil. In response to Makuu's attack, Space Sheriff Gavan of the Galaxy Federal Police is deployed to Earth to defend his mother's home world.

Space Sheriff Sharivan is the second installment in Toei's Metal Hero Series and aired on the TV Asahi network from 4 March 1983 through 24 February 1984. It served as a direct sequel to its predecessor, Space Sheriff Gavan and featured many of the same characters. For distribution purposes, Toei refers to this television series as Shariban, The Space Guardian.

Space Sheriff Shaider was a tokusatsu television show that aired on from 1984 to 1985. It is the last of the Space Sheriff Series, the previous two being Space Sheriff Gavan and Space Sheriff Sharivan. Action footage from Shaider was used for Season 2 of VR Troopers. For distribution purposes, Toei refers to this television series as Space Captain Sheider.

Abunai Deka, often shortened to AbuDeka, is Japanese television drama aired by Nippon Television between 1986 and 1987. Starring Hiroshi Tachi and Kyohei Shibata, the series became very popular and spawned films, spin-offs series, and books. The series follows a pair of detectives, Takayama and Oshita, from the Naka-ku branch of the Kanagawa Prefectural Police.

The Legend of Space Sheriff Gavan is a special DVD released with Televi-Kun in 2012 to promote the film Space Sheriff Gavan: The Movie. It features the second Space Sheriff Gavan, Geki Jumonji and his partner, Shelly as well as the members of the Space Mafia Maku.