Kamen Rider

Kamen Riders 1 through OOO (and New Den-O). Almost too many to be listed in one caption.[1]
"Won't you believe in him? Even if there is no God or Buddha... there is Kamen Rider."
—Taki Kazuya, Kamen Rider Spirits

Kamen Rider (formerly romanized as Masked Rider prior to Kamen Rider Double, wherein Double and all successive riders are now officially romanized by their actual Japanese monikers) is a franchise of tokusatsu series created by Shotaro Ishinomori and produced by the Toei Company. A brother show to Super Sentai. Typically has a smaller main cast than Sentai (the title of each series refers to a single main Rider instead of Super Sentai's Five-Man Band), but not always. Some series feature huge numbers of Riders, with the most extreme example being Kamen Rider Ryuki and its 13 Riders (although Kamen Rider Hibiki has a lot more if you count all the Riders seen briefly, or even just briefly mentioned).

Often involves insect-themed armour (concept partially ditched for the Heisei Riders, in which only a minority is directly insect themed and mainly maintain just the general helmet design reminiscent of insect eyes). And motorcycles. Rather short on Combining Mecha (although Kamen Rider Faiz and Kamen Rider Fourze feature some nice Mini-Mecha, and Kamen Rider Den-O had artillery-loaded, flying train cars).

More recently, the first 10 or so riders have been revived in a manga series: Kamen Rider Spirits. As Badass as they originally were, they become even more so.

The Kamen Rider franchise is generally divided into two distinct "eras", using the Japanese names for the time period in which they were made. The Showa Era[2] consists of:


In the 1990s, while the series was on hiatus, a trio of movies was made; though produced after the end of the Showa period (1989), English-speaking fans typically place them with the Showa series because of Ishinomori's involvement:


Every series created after Ishinomori's death is referred to as the Heisei Era[3]:

The first two series were retooled for a Darker and Edgier movie reboot franchise, consisting of two films: Kamen Rider the First (2005) and Kamen Rider the Next (2007). The first movie was an action-romance and was received relatively well. The second movie, which traded the romance for horror, was not so well received.

2009 also had Kamen Rider G, a TV special that was an Affectionate Parody of all things Kamen Rider, starring veterans from the show and members of the idol group SMAP. G also served as a teaser for Decade, with Tsukasa and the other nine Heisei Riders showing up to give G a pep talk during the final battle.

Namco Bandai has a video game series called Kamen Rider Climax Heroes, which is basically a fighting game featuring all of the Heisei-era protagonists. It started with a PlayStation 2 game to tie into the Decade movie and has followed with Updated Rereleases on the Wii each following year; these updates mainly consist of adding that year's new Rider and some others to the roster. In the West, the Climax Heroes engine was Remade for the Export as a Dragon Knight game.

An arcade game also exists, Kamen Rider Battle: Ganbaride, that works by collecting cards and scanning them into the machine. It was being ported to the Nintendo DS under the name of Kamen Rider Ganbaride: Card Battle Taisen, covering the first ten or so expansion sets.

One series (Black RX) was brought over to the US, Power Rangers-style, as Masked Rider (1995-1996). Although it got fair ratings and good toy sales it ended with many plot points not tied up due to there being no more Rider series to adapt. Another series (Ryuki) has been similarly adapted as Kamen Rider Dragon Knight (2009). While the new adaptation was much closer to the spirit of the original, and quite well-liked by the adult Periphery Demographic, it didn't fare well in the ratings overall but is much more liked than Masked Rider in the Kamen Rider fanbase. Recently Toei has anounced there will be a third attempt to bring Kamen Rider in America. Around the same time, Saban trademarked "Power Rider", which fans speculate to be this third attempt.

May 2012 sawy the release of Kamen Rider X Super Sentai Super Hero Taisen, a full-fledged crossover between the two franchises with 240 heroes joining forces. The star on the Kamen Rider side will be Tsukasa Kadoya/Decade, with Gentaro Kisaragi/Fourze, Eiji Hino/OOO, the Den-Liner crew, and Daiki Kaitou/Diend playing prominent roles.

Tropes used in Kamen Rider include:
  • The Ace - Shigeru Jo and Soji Tendo, Jo perhaps even more
  • Alternate Continuity - The Heisei-era movies play it straight, but a few (most prominently Den-Os Ore, Tanjou!! and Doubles The Gaia Memories of Fate) are in-canon. Kabuto has an interesting twist on this, with movie!Tendou changing the past and bringing the TV series continuity into existence.
  • Anyone Can Die - Not every season features this, but on occasion, you will get people dropping like flies within the last ten episodes.
  • Artifact Title
    • Some of the main Riders don't actually go by the "Kamen Rider" title in-universe at first. Showa Riders like Stronger popularized the practice of 'earning' that title via a crossover with previous Riders; Kuuga and Agito revived this practice in the Heisei era, which got pretty inconsistent after that (Hibiki is the best known aversion), but thanks to Kamen Rider Decade, the title of Kamen Rider would become Insistent Terminology in future seasons.
    • For a more literal version, some of the Riders don't use their bikes that much and others (like Amazon and Shin) don't even wear masks at all, they physically transform into their Rider alter-egos.
  • Asskicking Pose - Earlier series usually depend on a series of this in order to Henshin.
    • There are some exceptions, though: Hibiki and Ryuga do not pose when they Henshin, for example.
    • BLACK (later BLACK RX) is pretty extreme with this. Not just henshin, they use them AS! EMPHASIS!
  • Badass - Shiro Kazami, Shigeru Jo, etc.
    • More visible in the Showa series, where the Riders often fight mooks while untransformed. Minami Kotaro (Kamen Rider Black & Black RX) was notable for going toe-to-toe with monsters of the day while still in human form since that particular series had no mooks. Justified by the fact that they are all cyborgs or enhanced humans (or, in the case of Amazon, Tarzan) who are stronger than the average human. Of course, there are also exception in the Heisei series, such as Hibiki where the Oni are all good fighters even in human form and can fight untransformed.
    • Badass Abnormal - All of the Showa riders except Riderman.
    • Badass Biker - It's there in the title, after all. Again, more apparent in the Showa series where more attention was drawn to them.
    • Badass Normal - Taki Kazuya regularly faces cyborgs hand-to-hand despite being completely human. Riderman (V3's Rival) was, in his original appearance, basically a Mook with a swappable right forearm - he Took a Level in Badass between that and SPIRITS.
  • Bare-Fisted Monk - Most of the Showa Era Kamen Riders didn't use any weapons. Instead, they relied on good old martial arts.
  • BFG - Hyper Kabuto's Perfect Zecter in Kabuto, Zolda's final weapon in Ryuki. Riderman's Machine Gun Arm is literally that., Faiz's Faiz Blaster, Zeronos' Denebick Buster
  • BFS - Zeronos' ZeroGasher in Den-O, Kabuto's Perfect Zecter in Kabuto, Den-O's DenKamen Sword in Den-O, Blade's King Rouzer, Kiva's Zanvat Sword
    • Special mention goes to the "Blade Blade", a BFS for Decade that is made out of the body of Kamen Rider Blade.
  • Blessed with Suck - more prominent in Old Generation Riders; Gills is a prominent New Gen example. Some New Gen Riders get retconned to invoke this for Decade. Then there's Shin...
  • Body Horror - Implied in any season where the Rider is created on the Big Bad's operating table. Played completely straight with Shin Kamen Rider, in ways that Amazon and Gills can only hope to accomplish. His face broke open!
  • By the Power of Greyskull - "Henshin!", and variations thereof.
    • Only modified with Amazon, whose henshin cry is his own name: "A-MA-ZOOON!"
    • Averted with the Riders (actually Oni) in Hibiki, who don't have henshin calls.
  • Calling Your Attacks - RIDER KICK!
  • Cannot Spit It Out/Poor Communication Kills - Writer Toshiki Inoue includes extremely heavy doses of this, with tragic results, in every single series or movie he writes. Inoue was the head writer of Kamen Rider Agito, Kamen Rider Faiz, the second half of Kamen Rider Hibiki, and Kamen Rider Kiva, plus The Movies based on those four shows, Kamen Rider the First, Kamen Rider the Next, and the Non Serial Movies for Kamen Rider Ryuki and Kamen Rider Blade, in addition to fill-in episodes on every Heisei Rider series he wasn't head writer of, with three exceptions. You can guarantee that if a Rider series or movie involves tragedy resulting from the main characters not wanting to simply sit down and explain the situation to each other, it was written by Toshiki Inoue. Or Shouji Yonemura, who has made a career of copying and Flanderizing Inoue's style. Of course, if characters do confront each other over something, either a Rider vs. Rider battle will ensue, or one character will punch the other in the face and leave the room. Neither will resolve anything.
  • Catch Phrase - several characters; by far much more prevalent in the newer series. A fine example is Momotaros' Ore, Sanjo! (I, have Arrived!)
    • Den-O as a series, while not the first to have catchphrases, was the most well known for them, and started a trend of just about every rider after it having a catchphrase (though not always stated by the rider himself, as is the case with "Kivatte Ikuze"(Let's go Kiva!) wherein Kivat says the phrase instead)
    • Most Showa Riders have "Rider ______" as their attacks.
  • Character Tic - Most of the Riders have at least one, especially if Seiji Takaiwa is in the suit. For example, it distinguishes who's using the Faiz gear: a hand flick for Takumi and adjusting the collar for Kusaka.
  • Conflict Ball/Let's You and Him Fight - When it comes to Rider-versus-Rider battles. The original happened back in V3. Taken Up to Eleven with Decade, which has pretty much everyone fighting everyone else. Largely rolled back in recent series like Double and OOO, though.
  • Cosmic Retcon: Of a complicated sort. The parallel universe premise of Decade has since disappeared, while a new unified continuity has started from Double onward. The Continuity Reboot is cemented by Movie War Megamax, which states the Showa era are Urban Legend, while Double to Fourze are the "new" Kamen Riders, with nary a mention of any Heisei series since Decade.
  • Cliff Hanger - Rider series are notorious for showing something cool and unexpected in the next episode previews, and then not revealing said cool thing until the last 30 seconds of the episode.
    • The original series (and especially V3) would sometimes show the Rider mere moments from death at the end of the episode... then be doubly awesome in the next one.
    • Kamen Rider Decade ends the last episode on a cliffhanger, with the finale only being available in theaters months year later.
      • And even then, it wasn't a very good finale due to a whole heaping bunch of Executive Meddling...More than the rest of the series, anyway.
  • Creator Cameo: Shotaro Ishinomori has been on screen a few times. He's the guy with the Funny Afro planting the bug in the beginning of Shin Kamen Rider.
    • He also played the fisherman who tells Kotaro Minami about Onigashima in the Kamen Rider Black movie "Hurry to Onigashima". And he made an appearance in episode 84 of the original Kamen Rider series, playing yet another fisherman who encounters Isogin Jaguar, that episode's Monster of the Week. Though he looks different from how people might remember him because he doesn't have the Funny Afro or glasses.
  • Darker and Edgier - Compared to Super Sentai. Although it should be mentioned that Kamen Rider is older than Sentai.
    • Specific series invoking this trope compared to other KR series include Kamen Rider Amazon, Shin Kamen Rider Prologue, Kamen Rider Faiz, and Kamen Rider Blade.
    • There's even an entire darker and edgier toyline, S.I.C., which reimagines the Riders in a more organic form. More recent entries are tamer, but the initial figures in the line were somewhat twisted.
    • Very rarely does a Kamen Rider Series get to be Lighter and Softer. The only known ones at the moment are Black RX, Den-O and Fourze (though OOO can be a contender for this sometimes).
    • Kamen Rider Black, already at the dark and gritty end of the spectrum for the series, has a manga adaptation drawn and written by Ishinomori himself that's straight-up Nightmare Fuel material.
  • Deadly Upgrade - Stronger's Charge Up, Kuuga Ultimate Form, the first version of G3X, the G4 Armour, Gills Exceed (subversion), the Kaixa and Delta Gear in 555, Blade King Form in Blade, the Hopper Riders in Kabuto.
  • Deconstruction - Brutally in Shin--so brutal that it caused a huge Broken Base among the fandom! Not to mention the Body Horror example above.
    • Though the series itself has other examples and can vary sometimes. Ryuki while not as brutal as Shin really tears into the concept of Mons and what is a Kamen Rider, and Kuuga itself is a Deconstructor Fleet by being a more realistic take on the genre.
  • Elemental Powers - some Riders have them, and here's a notable list.
  • Enemy Within - subverted in Den-O - and how!
  • Evil Twin - Shocker Riders, Shadow Moon in Black, Ryuga in Ryuki, Dark Kabuto in Kabuto, Dark Kiva is arguably an inversion, as regular Kiva could be considered his good twin. Rider 2 was this, in the original manga.
    • Den-O had the rare monster version with Momotaros and Negataros. Of course, he also gets to be Nega Den-O.
    • Decade travels to an entire world of evil counterparts.
    • In the Double movie the Cyclone, Heat, Luna, Metal, and Trigger Dopants.
      • Who are evil counterparts to both Double, and then Kamen Rider Joker when Phillip is absent.
  • Finishing Move - Rider... KICK!(and Punch, Chop, Slash, etc.)
  • Fun with Acronyms - Example: GOD = Government Of Darkness, from Kamen Rider X.
  • Genre Motif - Starting with Kiva, each show's background music has a distinctive genre. This also shows up in the releases of the opening and ending songs, which usually get a remix in the style specific to the show. Kiva has violins, Decade has both a full orchestra and hard rock, Double throws in some jazz, OOO's seems to be ska and Fourze uses both techno and classic rock.
  • Gorn- The manga of the older series gets quite gory at times...
  • Gratuitous English - most of it from the talking henshin devices.
  • Henshin Hero - You really need explanation?
  • Hey, It's That Guy! - The first Kamen Rider = Segata Sanshiro
  • Hey, It's That Place! - Some locations are not only repeated in the same season, but occasionally will repeat in multiple seasons.
    • This might as well as be called "Hey! It's that Gravel Pit!", as it applies to Tokusatsu, Because both Kamen Rider AND it's sibling Super Sentai have, for the past few years, made use of the same gravel pit for every big mass battle they have, to the point where Hikounin Sentai Akibaranger, a parody of Super Sentai intended for the adult Periphery who grew up watching Sentai as kids, made use of it in their first episode.
    • There is also a particular rooftop that has seen use in basically every Heisei-era Rider series.
  • Homage
  • Hot-Blooded - Some of the Kamen Riders. Kuuga tops them all. Or Den-O Sword Form. Most of the Riders have their moments too.
    • Also the theme songs of most Kamen Rider series. The original series, Kuuga, Agito, and Ryuki are just examples.
  • Humongous Mecha - King Dark from Kamen Rider X.
    • Castle Doran and Powered Ixer from Kamen Rider Kiva. (The former isn't quite a mecha, but the intent is there.)
  • In the Name of the Moon - Most of the original series does this, but Kamen Rider Stronger took it to the next level by giving the main character a tell-tale whistle whenever he wanted to drop in on the bad guy, and an entire speech - from higher ground! Later, he does this while handing out beatings.
    • Decade also does this when he's about to take down the Big Bad of each world he visits.
  • Japanese Beetle Brothers - Either as heroes or villains, depending on the series. This is most prevalent in Kamen Rider Kabuto with the main protagonists, Kabuto and Gatack.
  • Last Villain Stand: Many of the Generals/Commandants/Warlords, whatever they were called in their specific organization, would face down their Rider after he'd slaughtered their armies and ruined their plans enough, transform into a monstrous form with incredible power behind it, and fight the Riders one on one.
  • Long Runner: As the trailers for the Let's Go Kamen Riders" film point out, 2011 is the franchise's 40th anniversary. Like another popular science fiction franchise, there was a lengthy gap in the middle, but Shin, RX and J kept the franchise going.
  • Love Hurts - Boy howdy, does it.
    • Literally in Kamen Rider X, where the titular character originates after being gunned down by his fiance, a spy for GOD...and later lost another love interest.
  • Masquerade - most seasons include enhanced humans or monsters trying to pass themselves off as normal people until the hero uncovers them. Also the whole point of the Riders needing to transform.
    • Which gives meaning to the title, Kamen (Masked) Rider.
    • Averted with Kamen Rider Double, however. The whole city knows about Dopants (but not who's responsible for them) and Shotaro's willing to transform in front of people, though never in a large group.
      • Additional: There is a Masquerade-type Dopant. Instant faceless henchmen.
      • Actually, it seems that most Riders are OK with transforming in front of people, just as long as there's not a lot of them.
    • Also averted in Kamen Rider OOO. The monsters of the day don't even bother with a human disguise unless they happen to be the type that walk around IN humans first and Eiji is perfectly willing to transform in public.
    • And subverted in Kamen Rider Kuuga, what with the police realizing that covering up the Grongi incidents would be too impractical.
  • Massive Multiplayer Crossover: Decade was a series devoted to this, but the All Riders vs. Dai-Shocker and Let's Go Kamen Riders films reunite all of the Riders. The latter featured other Ishinomori creations, including Inazuman, Kikaider (both of them) and Zubat.
  • Meaningful Name/Punny Name: Plenty there, if you're really knowledgeable in Japanese.
  • Meaningful Titles: Kamen Rider. Some use it right, some use it wrong. It has been an important plot point in several series, most notably the entire Showa Era, W and Fourze.
  • Merchandise-Driven - anything from multiple Riders to multiple power-ups, season depending. Much more pervasive in the newer series.
    • Many series will have the official toys as their props.
    • In their defense, they make the henshin devices too awesome to resist.
  • Moe Anthropomorphism - Ever try Google Search with term "Rider-tan"?
  • Mons - Noticeably embraced by the Heisei Riders from Ryuki onwards (though Gouram in Kuuga can also count). Ranging from Deconstructions (Ryuki, Kiva), played straight (Blade, Hibiki, mechanical ones in Faiz) and parodied (Den-O)
  • Monster of the Week - in the case of Den-O onwards, Monster of the Fortnight(thanks to two-week mini-arcs). Though Kuuga also did it.
  • Multiform Balance - First started with Black RX. Since then, it has become a tradition for Heisei-era Kamen Riders.
  • Mythology Gag - The first Monster of the Week in nearly every season is based on a spider, the second is just as likely to be based on a bat. Blade turned its one spider-based MotW into a recurring villain of sorts, while the first episode's monster was based on a grasshopper, much like the first Kamen Rider was. And the first use of a Giant Spider in Hibiki paved the way for more massive CGI monsters, after the one in Kamen Rider J had been all but forgotten.
    • Kamen Rider Kiva had both the spider and bat. The spider was technically the first monster to appear, but wasn't the first MOTW and in fact managed to survive for almost half the series. Being vampire-themed, the bat motif was used for Kiva, Kivat, and the King Fangire.
      • Kamen Rider Blade actually has Kamen Rider Leangle, a spider-themed Rider. We are through the looking glass.
    • Kamen Rider Double has gadgets based on a spider, a bat, and a stag beetle. The spider and bat are both Shout Outs to the MOTW, whereas quite a few Riders have been beetle-themed.
      • Movie War Core shows that when Sokichi Narumi first became Kamen Rider Skull, his first opponents were indeed the Bat and Spider Dopants.
    • Kamen Rider Den-O, on the other hand, had a bat monster first, and didn't have a spider monster until much later on. Instead, the first few monsters parallel the Contract Monsters of several Riders from Ryuki (bat for Knight, chameleon for Verde, crustacean for Scissors, crow for Odin, and rhino for Gai).
    • Ryuki alos had an example: The first monster was a spider while the first Rider, Knight, was a bat.
      • Thinking about it; if Shinji had used his Contract Card on the spider, he and Knight would have become the first (anti-)heroic example of the spider & bat combo.
    • Kamen Rider Agito has another gag. Being direct sequel to Kuuga, the first two monsters are jaguar and turtle. Just like the first sequel of Showa series.
    • After running the gamut of belt designs in the Showa era, the Heisei era begins with Kuuga and Agito, whose belts may have been all about the bells and whistles, but in fact maintained design elements from the iconic No. 1 belt - a horizontal oval structure with a spinning circular hub, and two boxy units at the side with some important function built in. In addition to this, the silver straps on Kuuga's belt were a parallel to Hongo Takeshi's original white belt while Agito's red straps similarly mirrored Hayato Ichimonji's belt.
    • See Asskicking Pose above. Rider-1's right-arm-thrust-to-the-upper-left pose is so iconic that it's been reused several times - every other Showa rider, and Kuuga, Ryuki, Blade, Den-O in concept art, even Double to a small degree (just Shotaro). That's not counting the examples under Shout-Out.
  • Names to Know in Anime - Shotaro Ishinomori - actually, a pretty good name to know in general.
  • Non-Serial Movie - Most Heisei series have one; Agito, Den-O, Decade, and Double avert it.
    • Subverted in Kabuto. 99% of the movie is set in an After the End alternate universe, but at the end Tendou goes back in time and alters history, creating the T.V series timeline. Rather than creating a Timey-Wimey Ball, this time travel actual explains some of the plot points of the series (i.e. how Tendou got the Rider Belt and Hiyori's obsession with drawing bug-winged people).
    • Movie Wars CORE averts this trope and plays it straight simultaneously, being a crossover between Kamen Rider Double and Kamen Rider OOO. While it fits neatly into Double's continuity, trying too hard to work it into OOO's chronology will just give you a migraine.
  • Not Using the Z Word - Most of the Heisei era shows tend to avoid using the term "Kamen Rider" in series, except for the purpose of crossovers.
    • Subverted in Double. In the beginning the titular Rider/Riders just called "Double", but the public eventually started referring to the mask-wearing, motorcycle riding hero as a "Kamen Rider" and since then all the Riders in the show introduced themselves as Kamen Rider so-and-so.
    • Also subverted in Fourze, where the Kamen Rider Club is an important part of the plot.
  • "On the Next Episode of..." Catchphrase
  • Painful Transformation - Subverted in almost all cases - including the organic Riders like Amazon and Gills, the latter of which suffered from aftereffects. Played very straight, however, with Shin Kamen Rider.
  • Palette Swap - For budget reasons, monsters in the new-gen series are sometimes given repaints or differently colored wardrobes to make "new" monsters. Sometimes happens with Riders too, particularly the movie-centric Riders. Justified on occasion, where the monsters are representatives of the same type or species - an example being that the first three monsters Agito fights are essentially siblings.
  • People in Rubber Suits - The extent to which they are rubbery depends on the series and design, not so much on the era. Played straight with the Mooks from the recent Kamen Rider THE FIRST and THE NEXT: they wear gas masks and corresponding uniforms.
  • Phantom Zone
  • Phlebotinum Rebel - This one dates back to the very first series, and extends into the New-Gen; Shotaro Ishinomori's trademark, actually.
  • Pragmatic Adaptation: Kamen Rider Dragon Knight, to certain degree, rather successful (not rating based, sadly).
  • Product Placement - Honda makes all the bikes in the Heisei era since Kamen Rider Agito (Gas Gas made the bikes in Kamen Rider Kuuga) and Suzuki in the Showa era, but it's nowhere as obvious as the Shoei helmets that all Riders tend to wear. Not averted till the Heisei era - Shinji of Ryuki uses a moped, and Ryotaro of Den-O use a bicycle, both of which do not require the full face helmet.
    • Subverted in Kamen Rider Double, where while main rider Shotaro/W rides a Honda, second rider Ryu Terui AKA Accel rides a red Ducati named Diablossa.
  • Real Time - While the episodes aren't filmed in a real time format, dates in the Kamen Rider universe sync up with the broadcast dates. (For example, when Japan is celebrating New Year's, the Kamen Rider characters are celebrating New Year's too. The same with Christmas, often with ...amusing... results.)
  • Ripple-Effect-Proof Memory - Ryuki & Den-O: this is critical to the plot in the latter.
  • Scarf of Asskicking - Another part of the Rider package, almost as iconic as the kick, the belt and the bike.
    • Unfortunately, the recent series (actually, since BLACK) seems to have dropped the whole scarf thing in favor of just armor. Lampshaded or subverted, depending on your point of view, when the Evil Twin from Kamen Rider Blade is only distinguishable by the fact that he's wearing a scarf.
    • Completely inverted in Kamen Rider Hibiki, where the Mooks are the ones wearing the scarves.
    • Ryotaro Nogami, the protagonist of Den-O, occasionally wears a red scarf(though really a muffler) as part of his street clothes in what is assuredly a Shout-Out to his precursors; however, he doesn't really do any ass-kicking while wearing it. When Momotaros possesses people during the Den-O arc of Decade, they gain a ridiculously long red scarf.
    • Returned with Kamen Rider W/Double, who has a silver scarf while the Cyclone GaiaMemory is active, but the subsequent series haven't used it as of yet.
      • Along with the Nazca Dopant, who sports V3-style double scarves.
      • In fact, the scarf is a part of W's suit - we just don't always see it because it isn't tied around his (their?) neck(s); instead, it sticks out through an opening at the back of the suit.
  • SH Figuarts
  • Shout-Out - Kamen Rider is a prolific franchise, and a lot of other Japanese-based creations occasionally do shout outs to it, usually in the form of Scarf of Asskicking. One example is the Kicker Skeleton enemy in Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow for Game Boy Advance, who's entire shtick is jumping in the air and Rider Kicking you. It drops the Red Scarf and Ancient Belt items, and if you absorb its soul, you can learn said kick ability.
    • The manga Change 123 features the Lawyer-Friendly Cameo Kamen Raider as a recurring background element. The series represented by Raider seem to draw more from the Old-Gen than the New-Gen, possibly due to Small Reference Pools.
    • Detective Conan has Kamen Yaiba/Masked Yaiba, which is the favorite show of the Detective Boys.
    • Amagamis Sae Nakata is a fan of Inago Mask ("The Masked Locust"). We also see Ai Nanasaki putting on a belt, then placing a blue grasshopper on it. The TV series version of this belt, from the same brand, speaks like a Zecter and has a logo that resembles Smart Brain's.
    • In King of Fighters, one of Leona's supers makes her impale her opponent on her claws, everyone freezes as sparks fly out of the enemy, and then Leona pulls out her claws and poses while the opponent blows up, all done in a fashion that suspiciously resembles Kamen Rider Black RX's finishing attack (although RX does it with a sword instead of claws). Also notable is that her jumping CD attack is identical to the iconic Rider Kick, right down to the inexplicably glowing foot.
    • Several fighting games contain characters who are massive Kamen Rider Shout Outs, including Skullomania from Street Fighter EX and May Lee from King of Fighters.
    • The RaiOh and especially DaiRaiOh from Super Robot Wars are basically Kamen Rider as Super Robot.
    • Mashiro from Bleach. The mask, the scarf, the kicking techniques...
    • Two of the Lucky Star live-action EDs involve Minoru Shiraishi playing with a Den-O belt ("Shi-kaaaaaaideeeeerr!!") and mimicking Rider-1's henshin pose on a hillock (the sped-up Motteke! Serafuku).
      • Don't forget about Konata's father (playing with static electricity). "STUROOONGAAAAA!!!"
    • Light Novel Haiyore! Nyarko-san. Turn out that Nyarlathotep is Kamen Rider's big fan. To the point that she made henshin pose on the cover for most volumes.
    • Crayon Shin-chan has a character called "Action Kamen" (called "Action Bastard" in the dub) who is basically a Kamen Rider clone. Humorously enough, it comes full circle with a 60-minute special that featured a crossover between Kamen Rider Den-O and Crayon Shin-chan.
    • Ramen Rider in Ninja High School
    • In Heartcatch Pretty Cure, Tsubomi's grandomother's maiden name was Kaoruko Godai. Within a day of this being revealed, this piece of fanart hit the internet.
    • The Great Saiyaman from Dragonball Z downright parodies Kamen Riders yet still manages to be awesome
    • Miyo Hatoyama of Cahe Detective Club is a huge fan of Toku in general and Kamen Rider in particular, so any scene with her usually contains at least one Shout-Out.
    • The Squid Girl Show Within a Show, "Nohmen Rider", goes the extra mile with its own Expository Theme Tune.
    • Eureka Seven : New Wave, the video game of the franchise has a move called Rider Kick, usable by the protagonist and the last melee move you can learn in the game.
    • Asura's Wrath: Along with wearing a mask (Though not beetle like) Yasha from Asuras wrath uses the Mother of all Rider Kicks to Deflect a giant DEATH STAR LIKE LASER CANNON forming from the Karma Fortresses giganticly huge head bigger than THE MOON!
    • Mirai Nikki has one in Episode 4 about one of the Diary users hilariously attempting to do a henshin in front of the Ninth user. He even has a henshin belt. Watch this
  • Signature Device: The transformation belts.
  • Signature Move: RIDER KICK! Also RIDER PUNCH! and RIDER CHOP!, but these tend to get dropped in the newer series.
  • Sixth Ranger - or in this case, Second Rider. Kamen Rider 2 from the original series, but more often done in the Heisei series with, among others, Gatack, Zeronos, IXA, Diend, and Accel. (for that matter, every Heisei series except Kuuga has a second rider... and in some cases, a third, fourth, or even tenth.)
  • Slice of Life - The first half of Hibiki in particular has elements of this, as does Kuuga.
  • Space Is Noisy - with the sounds of beatings.
  • Stupid Statement Dance Mix - A side effect of New Gen Rider belts having electronic voices.
    • It's gotten so bad that someone spawned this insanely catchy mv, with almost every single New Gen henshin voice or phrase.
    • This not only takes the Henshin sounds, but other voices from the various Kamen Rider shows.
  • Super Drowning Skills - Falling into a large body of water is almost always a KO, whether you're a monster or a Rider. The exceptions to the rule are Drake, Den-O Rod Form, and OOO ShaUTa Combo - and Kamen Rider X, who's built for underwater combat.
  • Super Mode - Started with Stronger's charged-up form, but doesn't become a staple until the Heisei series, where it's commonly referred to as an 'Ultimate Form' in honor of Kuuga's final form. While some Riders, Kuuga in particular, went through several intermediate forms, the Super Mode is the bare minimum (eg. Ryuki and Decade).
    • In an interesting twist, Decade's Super Mode has the power of summoning duplicates of the other Riders' Super Modes to fight alongside him.
  • Super Speed - seen in several seasons, but taken to ridiculous extremes in Kabuto - expected extremes, if you know your Ishinomori.
  • Swiss Army Hero: Started with Black RX and has been a series staple since.
  • Theme Music Power-Up - When the current Ending Theme kicks in, you know the battle is on. That, and older series had actual ass-kicking battle themes - several of them - which gets used to magnificent effect in the SPIRITS manga.
    • There's actually a number of battle themes in the recent series, as well. Kamen Rider Double has three of them, for example.
  • Numerical Theme Naming: The Kamen Riders after Kiva all took on number-related names. Decade (10), Double (2), OOO (3) and Fourze (4).
    • Several other riders took numerical names as well, like ZO (which is shaped like 20, signifying the 20th anniversary of Kamen Rider) and Faiz (which sounds like Fives, as in 555)
      • If all goes well, an adaptation of Faiz made by the Wang Bros. (who made Dragon Knight), complete with a Japanese re-dub, will be the number 5 in this series of numeral themes, possibly book-ending it.
  • The Movie - double-featured with the current year's Super Sentai movie in a "summer roadshow".
    • Starting with Decade and Double, apparently there are plans for annual Christmas-time movies as well.
  • The Musical - There's been a few, including a 2010 show simply called Masked Rider Live & Show 2010 which is a Decade themed show, but actually focuses on Decade!Kuuga and a Not So Evil member of Dai Shocker who eventually does a Heel Face Turn. It also features gratuitous appearances by Riders from just about every possible show, from both eras.
  • The Rival - prepare for many a Face Heel Turn and Heel Face Turn in newer series - Riderman in V3.
  • There Can Be Only One - The central concept of Ryuki. Also featured in Kuuga and Blade, interestingly between the bad guys. Kabuto forced this point somewhat with its BFS, and Faiz came up with a new definition for it. Agito... erm, suggested it would happen. Decade does this with entire worlds.
  • The Wiki Rule - There's one here, but it's still improving.
  • Time Travel - Den-O(one of the series' main themes), Kabuto and Kiva to an extent. Riders 1 and 2, V3, Black, and Agito also meet up in the game Seigi no Keifu, sorta.
  • Trademark Favorite Food - seems to be a recurring theme in recent years; Tendou liked tofu and both he and Kagami loved Hiyori's mackrel miso, Otoya in Kiva liked Yuri's Omurice and Megumi liked seafood, Owner and his fried rice and pudding in Den-O, Akiko liked takoyaki and everyone loved ramen in Double, and in OOO there's Ankh and his ice pops, Kougami and his birthday cake and Date with his oden. It's inverted in Decade because Tsukasa hates sea cucumber. Kougami could be a subversion since he's never shown eating them himself.
  • Transformation Trinket - While its gimmicks may vary from year to year, the Henshin (transformation) Belt is an important part of any Rider's arsenal. Heisei series varies pretty widely in what they actually do.
    • Kamen Rider Hibiki subverts the traditional belts by using handheld items and braces to transform while the belts house part of their weaponry.
    • TheBee, Drake, Sasword, Hercus, Ketaros and Caucasus from Kamen Rider Kabuto, as well as Diend use different kind of trinket other than the traditional buckle.
    • Sole exception from Showa series is Kamen Rider Amazon who's trinket is actually a bracelet (later two bracelets) on his forearm.
  • True Companions
  • Utopia Justifies the Means - Faiz, Blade, Kabuto and Den-O
  • What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome? - Especially more in the newer series.
  1. ↑ Starting in the upper-left corner, moving left to right then down: Ryuki, Agito, Kuuga, J, ZO, Shin, RX, Hibiki, Blade, Faiz, Black, ZX, Super-1, Den-O, Kabuto, Sky Rider, Stronger, Amazon, Decade, Kiva, X, Riderman, W, Rider 2, V3, New Den-O, Rider 1, and OOO. That's every main Kamen Rider from every television season and movie (except Kamen Rider G) from 1971 to 2011!
  2. ↑ Named for the last era of Japan.
  3. ↑ Named for the current era of Japan
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