Kamen Riders

The Kamen Riders (Japanese: 仮面ライダー, Hepburn: Kamen Raidā, Masked Riders) are the titular group of fictional superpowered characters that appear in the Kamen Rider Series. They usually take the form of insect-resembling, full-face helmeted individuals who are enhanced by the powers given to them. These powers are accessed by transforming from their day-to-day human guises into their costumed forms.
The exact clauses that classify individuals as Kamen Riders have varied over the franchise’s history.
According to the in-universe picture book The Great Path of Alchemy (錬金術の大いなる道, Renkinjutsu no Ōinaru Michi), featured in the 2023 instalment Kamen Rider Gotchard, 120 years prior the title was first used by an individual known as the Alchemist of Daybreak, who fought those who became Malgams (the main monsters of the series) by breaking the rules of alchemy. Afterwards the title was given to those who saved lives and whose hearts were as kind as the legendary figure. Generally speaking, many definitions given elsewhere in the franchise state Riders are heroes who protect peace on Earth.
However, several people known as Riders have malicious intent, most of them originating from the Heisei era onwards. As a result, some commentators and producers, including Shin-Ichiro Shirakura, define Kamen Riders by the fact that their powers are in some way connected to the villains they fight. 2012 instalment Kamen Rider Wizard expands upon this concept via the Cross of Fire, a belief that every Rider shares this connection. However, as noted in Wizard, some notable Riders have weaker ties to this theory. Nonetheless, according to University of Tokyo researcher Haruka Tsutsui, "Kamen Rider is a being who wanders on the line between enemy creatures and humans, unable to rest comfortably on either side." Others define successive Riders by comparing them to the two "originals", Kamen Rider 1/Takeshi Hongo (仮面ライダー1号, Kamen Raidā Ichi-Gō) and Kamen Rider 2/Hayato Ichimonji (仮面ライダー2号, Kamen Raidā Nigō) respectively. It is perhaps due to these conflicting definitions that conflict has sometimes occurred between multiple, usually heroic Riders.
Despite debatable definitions of what a Kamen Rider is, almost all of them share a group of abilities they are capable of mastering.
Transformation from civilian form into Rider form is achieved using a Henshin Belt (変身ベルト, Henshin Beruto, or transformation belt, also known as a "Driver"), often used in conjunction with a signature pose and the calling out of Henshin! (変身!, Transform!). Many Riders are also equipped with optional weapons of choice and multiple forms they can alter from. Their main mode of transport, usually a motorcycle, is referred to as a Rider Machine (ライダーマシン, Raidā Mashin).
The most iconic and commonly-used finishing move is the Rider Kick (ライダーキック, Raidā Kikku), a dive attack mainly used when an opponent is severely weakened by previous attacks by the Rider, whose kick utilises such strength as to explode them afterwards.
The Kamen Riders that debuted during the Shōwa period of Japanese history (1926-1989, the Kamen Rider franchise began in 1971), as well as those featuring the involvement of creator Shotaro Ishinomori before his death in 1998, are referred to as Shōwa Riders.
With the exceptions of Kamen Riders X, Amazon, Super-1 and J, their powers were all given to them by the malevolent organisations they eventually fought against, and in the case of the first ten, sometimes referred to as the Ten Veteran Kamen Riders (歴代の１０人ライダー, Rekidai no Jūnin Raidā), applied via cybernetic surgery. Their initial motive for using their powers for good involved avenging those close to them that were killed by their respective enemies, with the initial exception of Hayato Ichimonji/Rider 2, until his battles alongside Hiroshi Tsukuba/Skyrider (スカイライダー, Sukairaidā) to avenge those who were victims of Neoshocker.
The Shōwa Riders’ abilities are all reliant on their Henshin Belts, which rely upon wind energy to ensure transformation. As a result, they perform their signature poses to stimulate the mechanical workings inside the belts, which may also possess alternative weapons. Most of the Riders, following the stimulation, jump into the air to complete the transformation, landing onto higher places to ensure their identities are kept secret. They have also undergone upgrades to their cybernetics, giving them different forms. As well as the main, heroic Riders, the Shōwa era also saw those loyally serving the side of evil, mainly monsters using disguises resembling their opponents.
Due to their unwanted enhanced strength, the Shōwa Riders are at odds with the rest of human society, and have taken a disliking towards the prolonged fighting whenever they are needed, no longer with anyone to avenge or to fight for.
Following Kamen Rider Black RX’s conclusion in 1989, the Kamen Rider franchise went on hiatus (barring the Shin, ZO and J movies) until 2000, two years after Shotaro Ishinomori’s death, with the premiere of Kamen Rider Kuuga. Since then no further hiatus has occurred, allowing the current run of the series to encompass both the Heisei period of Japanese history and the Reiwa period (2019-present).
Due to concern over both occupational discrimination and the growing prominence of technology used in daily life, these Riders’ powers are not given to them via cybernetic surgery. Instead, the sources are either mystical or technological in nature, and usually are not intended for nefarious purposes, but rather are neutral, utilised differently by the heroic protagonists and their opponents. As a result, a lot of the lead villains in the post-Shōwa seasons are classified as Kamen Riders.
Although the initial design of the Henshin Belt was similar to those used by the Shōwa Riders, 2002 instalment Kamen Rider Ryuki introduced external devices to be inserted into the belts to enable transformation. When fitted, the name of the device is usually spoken by the belt, which transforms the user without requiring them to engage its mechanisms via poses and jumping into the air. Many Riders’ belts have expanded upon this by combining melodious words, jingles and music, usually ensuring high sales of their toy counterparts. It is also through these belts that the Riders can access their alternative forms.
Ryuki also popularised the idea that, as long as they can successfully use the devices in conjunction with the belts, anyone can become a Kamen Rider. This has led to an increase in evil Riders with unique appearance and set of abilities, few eventually reverting to the side of good. Although earlier instalments of the Heisei era maintained a lamentation of being a Rider, 2007 instalment Kamen Rider Den-O popularised characters’ enjoyment of their status, relishing the idea of Riders being protectors of Earth.
Unlike many Western superhero characters such as Batman and Spider-Man, whose original incarnations are frequently rebooted or split into a multiverse, the Kamen Rider franchise revolves around a mostly consistent continuity, allowing for multiple crossovers between Riders of differing instalments. These team-ups have led to the formation of multiple sub-groups of Riders within the larger category of them, such as the Ten Veteran Kamen Riders, the Ninja Riders and the Kamen Rider Outsiders. The main protagonists of each instalment are grouped under the name All Riders (オールライダー, Ōru Raidā).
All Shōwa era instalments are confirmed to take place in the same continuity. Team-ups usually involved the participating Riders fighting the Great Leader (大首領, Daishuryō), a mysterious entity revealed to have been behind most of the organisations they opposed. Some involved the protagonist of the then-current iteration becoming officially recognised as part of the defined group of Kamen Riders.
The early Heisei instalments were initially intended to be self-contained and possessed no connection between one another. This ended with the 2008 film Kamen Rider Den-O & Kiva: Climax Deka, which led to Kamen Rider Decade featuring multiple team-ups with alternative reality versions of the Heisei Riders up to that point. Decade’s summer film All Riders vs. Dai-Shocker features every main Heisei Rider, as well as the first appearance of the Shōwa Riders since Kamen Rider Black RX and the debut of Double, the protagonist of Decade’s successor Kamen Rider W. This began a tradition in Kamen Rider summer films to debut the next Rider in a film mostly dedicated to the then-current.
The Movie War series that began with 2009’s Kamen Rider × Kamen Rider W & Decade: Movie War 2010 connects the instalments broadcast since the 2010s, however 2018 instalment Kamen Rider Zi-O reveals that the 20 Heisei Riders each inhabited a separate world, which was temporarily merged to become the World of Kamen Rider (仮面ライダーの世界, Kamen Raidā no Sekai) before being split again.
This table refers to each main protagonist of every major instalment of the franchise, including those considered part of All Riders.