Nico Saiba

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 is a professional gamer and Taiga Hanaya's assistant. During the events of the Kamen Rider Chronicle crisis, she transforms into .
==History==
===Early Life===
Nico Saiba was a professional gamer since the age of 12, going by the alias of "N". During a tournament in 2010, Nico was observing Emu Hojo as Genius Gamer M winning against another player. She later made it to the final round playing against M but lost, attaining second place in the tournament. Though M was impressed by her gaming skill as he express hopes to play against her again, Nico was dissatisfied and developed a grudge against M.
Nico would later go on to win numerous game tournaments as N, earning a huge amount of income. As her only loss in gaming was her loss to M, she vowed to avenge this, waiting for a chance where she could defeat M once and for all.
===Meeting Taiga Hanaya===
During Christmas Day 2016, Nico first appears in Taiga Hanaya's clinic, asking if he could defeat M for her as introduces herself. After the new year, she visits Taiga again during his investigations into Kuroto Dan and Genm Corp.. While pretending to have Game Illness, Nico revealed she has been keeping tabs of Emu Hojo and the Doctor Riders on the internet and surprise to learn Genm Corp.'s games were used as medical equipment.
Nico eventually pushed Taiga too far by attempting to move into his clinic, to which he finally kicked her out. Taking matters into her own hands, she stole Taiga's Gamer Driver and Bang Bang Shooting, and created a false call to CR. Once Emu arrived, Nico attacked him and attempted to transform. However, without the compatibility surgery, she instead awakened the dormant Bugster Virus inside of her. While Nico was brought to CR, she refused Emu to treat her and openly antagonized him. Eventually, Taiga came to retrieve her from CR and begrudgingly invites Nico to stay in his clinic.
After a chain of events that involved Genm Corp. member Tsukuru Koboshi as a victim, Kuroto finally revealed Emu's true background as Patient Zero of the Bugster Virus. Although this surprised Nico, this caused Emu to experience a fatal outburst that seemingly subsided. Upon returning to Taiga's clinic, she stated that if she didn't actually lose to M himself, but rather the Bugster inside him.
Nico accompanied Taiga as he commissioned Tsukuru Koboshi to create a Gashat that can defeat zombies, which ended up becoming the base of the Maximum Mighty X Gashat. The new Gashat was given to Emu and provided the Riders with the advantage to surpass Kuroto's immortality before defeating him for good. After Kuroto's death at the hands of Parado, Nico was relieved that Kuroto is no longer a threat anymore, but Taiga replied that even after Kuroto is gone as of now, the remaining Bugsters like Parado are still on the loose.
===Becoming Ride-Player Nico===
Nico disovered Genm Corp. went through with releasing Kamen Rider Chronicle, now orchestrated by the Bugsters as a game to destroy humanity. Tantalized by the prospect of becoming a hero, Nico bought her own Rider Chronicle Gashat. Christening herself as "Ride-Player Nico", Nico's skills as a gamer allowed her to become the first player to defeat a Bugster and rewarded with a Gashatrophy. Although Taiga harshly disapproved of her actions, he permitted Nico to continue being a Ride-Player under the condition that she never leaves his side so he can cure her Game Illness every time.
During the course of the events, Nico learned Parado was indeed Emu's Bugster and Kuroto Dan has surface under Poppy's supervision. As CR faces off against the high tier Bugsters, Kuroto's father Masamune Dan who reveals himself to be the true mastermind of Rider Chronicle and transforms into Kamen Rider Cronus. Because of his exploitation in the use of Pause and holding the Proto Gashats that held the Game Over victims, he would become a formidable foe to the CR.
Taiga and Nico would continue to collaborate with CR as they continue to collect the majority of the Gashatrophies. Snipe would fight against the low-tier and mid-tier Bugsters and allow Nico to take the final hit. Additionally, she became more eager to face Parado after learning his true nature as "M". Nico would be present to witness Emu Hojo's evolution into Ex-Aid Muteki Gamer, finally able to overcome Cronus' Pause ability.
During Taiga's battle against Graphite, Nico stood beside him after being critically injured from the fight. This caused Hiiro to returning back to the hospital and save his life. Once the others learnt of Masamune's order to him to kill Taiga in the operating table, Nico berated Hiiro for choosing to risk Taiga's life over Saki's. Ultimately, he went through with the surgery and saved Taiga's life. Nico greeted an awake Taiga after recovering post-surgery.
However, this victory is short lived as Nico became infected with Gamedeus' virus due to being the only Ride-Player close of reaching the final stage of the game. Although she tried to keep it a secret from him, Taiga learnt of her condition and tearfully begged her to hang on. Her condition was undone after Masamune Dan displayed his Reset ability. She participated in Brave and Snipe's final battle against Graphite where Nico fired the final shot. As their progress is saved by Kuroto Dan, the game continued to progress as the last boss, Gamedeus, had finally approached.
===The Gamedeus Pandemic===
With Gamedeus and his Bugster Virus pandemic spreading rapidly, Ex-Aid and Para-DX fought against him while Nico accompanied Poppy to take care of the patients. She also comforted a boy named Riku Suzuki and his mother by playing video games with him. After Masamune merged with the Gamedeus to become Gamedeus Cronus, Nico would be abucted in a plan to reset Kamen Rider Chronicle with her death. However, Taiga pursued them and took her place as Cronus instead. However, due to him sporting a Gamer Driver, Taiga lacked ability to activate Pause and was defeated by Gamedeus Cronus. With the help of Ex-Aid and Brave, Snipe to defeat Gamedeus Cronus together and free Nico back to reality.
Through the sacrifice of Poppy and Parado, the Kamen Riders were able to neutralize Super Gamedeus's virus and defeat Kamen Rider Cronus for good. During the aftermath, Nico returned to school and used her income from her pro gaming tournaments to invest in Genm Corp.'s stocks. Becoming the majority share holder, Nico appointed Tsukuru Koboshi as the new CEO of Genm Corp. Soon after, Nico graduated and returned to Taiga's clinic, volunteering to become his assistant in treating the Game Disease.
===Kamen Rider Ex-Aid: True Ending===
Set after the Kamen Riders defeated Kamen Rider Cronus, a new outbreak of the Bugster virus occurs one rainy day as Kamen Rider Fuma and his Ninja Gamers attack the civilians. Nico and Taiga were infected and his mind is sent into the Game World where he assumes the role as one of the runners in Madoka Hoshi's race and later laying around with Taiga. After Ex-Aid arrived and used the power of Mighty Creator VRX to teleport everyone back to the real world, Nico's consciousness was returned to her body.
When Madoka Hoshi's condition was getting worse from her Game Illness, the doctors of CR managed to operate on her. After the operation ended, Nico and Asuna watched Madoka's bedside as her father, Kagenari Nagumo, arrived to support her and seeing her wake up.
One year later, Nico is relaxing in Taiga's clinic while he complains about the "embarrassing" pink poster she made that promotes his clinic's examinations as she made Taiga into a roaring anthropomorphic cartoon tiger that frightens cartoon animal patients. The two comically fight about it until a patient enters the clinic, with Nico putting on her lab coat and going to the waiting room to greet the patient.
===Kamen Rider Heisei Generations Final: Build & Ex-Aid with Legend Riders===
One week after Kamen Rider Build stole Emu's powers, Nebula Bugsters start to appear due to the effects of Enigma, an inter-dimensional gateway connecting his reality to the Build's world. This alerts the CR, who attempt to solve the issue without Ex-Aid, but they are also rendered powerless due to the effects of Enigma, controlled by Right Kaiser. When Nico helps the civilians to safety, she nearly gets hurt by the new Bugsters, only to be saved by Takeru Tenkuji. While the Doctor Riders to continue fight as their Earth and Build's Earth were vast approaching, their worlds were saved by the united forces between Ex-Aid & Build.
===Kamen Rider Ex-Aid Trilogy: Another Ending===
Two years after the Enigma crisis, Nico continued to stay beside Taiga as his assistant. When her rival from America, Luke Kidman, had arrived and afflicted by Loverica's infection, Nico was torn between staying with Taiga or going to America with Luke. While Taiga fired her as a way of pushing her to pursue her gaming career, Nico prepared to leave to her trip to America and said her goodbyes. Taiga assured her that in the end, he will always be Nico's doctor.
During the Zombie Chronicle crisis, Nico used her role as Genm Corp.'s stockholder to produce the Bang Bang Tank Gashat, which proved to be valuable for Taiga's battle against the Zombie Gamer.
===Kamen Rider Outsiders===
Nico became an ally of Horobi some time after he was rebuilt and defected from Foundation X. They chose to side with Zein to eradicate Ark's evil influences in the world. When Horobi was injured by Kamen Rider Desast after his body was temporarily possessed by Ark, Nico stepped in to protect him. Once Desast retreated, Nico discussed with Horobi about their situation and came to a conclusion that they needed the help of Hiden Intelligence to support Zein through Kamen Rider Chronicle. She called Tsukuru Koboshi to summon a shareholder meeting. 
==Video Game appearances==
===Kamen Rider Battle: Ganbarizing===
Rider Player Nico is a playabled character in Kamen Rider Battle Ganbarizing, alongside other Heisei, Showa and Reiwa Kamen Rider.
Ride-Player Nico in Ganbarizing.png
3e7d1e7ece8ebf53734a1fbffb6cb4c5.jpg|Rider Player Nico card
==Personality==
Nico has a tomboyish yet bubbly personality, but is immature and incredibly childish. Competitive to a fault, she had a vendetta against Emu simply because he beat her in a gaming tournament. She has shown herself to be bossy and manipulative: completely redecorating a room in Taiga's hospital and CR during her stay (done in both instances without permission), and faking a Game Illness outbreak in an attempt to defeat Emu (ironically, this attempt actually triggered an outbreak). Her bark is much worse than her bite: she often boasts and makes claims that can't be backed up, particularly in regards to the other Riders.
Despite her somewhat unlikable demeanor, Nico is not completely self-absorbed as she helped civilians escape during Genm's attack on Genm Corp. Nico has also shown to act somewhat as a moral compass for Taiga, occasionally asking him questions about his true intentions that break through his tough demeanor. Later on, after defeating Lovelica, she even helped him locate the Bugsters they needed to beat to clear Kamen Rider Chronicle, even if they both have their own reasons for playing.
Nico is also shown to have somewhat of a sincere side. After learning that the person she lost to six years ago was not really Emu but in reality Parado who was possessing Emu, she feels apologetic towards Emu for the unnecessary trouble, and now resolves to settle things with Parado instead.
Eventually, after Nico got infected with Gamedeus' virus, she decides to let go of her childish demeanor and realizes that she didn't want to just beat Emu or Parado for losing to them, but that she wanted to beat someone strong instead.
==Powers and Abilities==
*Genius Gamer: Nico is a professional gamer who goes by the alias "N", a reference to the genius gamer M. Her skills are such that she was able to be the runner-up in a gaming tournament at the age of only 12. According to Taiga, she makes around ¥100 million a year in winnings. This is also shown as she becomes a Ride-Player, beating Revol easily with a coordinated use of Energy items and her skills.
===Weaknesses===
*Bugster Virus: Nico is the only ally of CR to lack a natural immunity to the Bugster Virus, to have not underwent compatibility surgery, or a Bugster herself. This makes her easily susceptible of becoming affected by game illness as she can get infected by activating a Rider Gashat. As Ride-Player Nico, she would continuously be affected by a new Bugster Virus, forcing her to fight against the Bugster she contracted with.
==Forms==
==Equipment==
===Devices===
*An unknown silver colored version of Para-DX Buckle
*Kamen Rider Chronicle Gashat
*Gamer Driver - Transformation belt as Nico Snipe
===Weapon===
*Gashacon Magnum - temporary weapon borrowed from Taiga Hanaya/Kamen Rider Snipe
==Behind the Scenes==
===Portrayal===
*Nico Saiba is portrayed by and by as a child. *As Ride-Player Nico, her suit actor is .
===Design===
*In the Korean dub of Kamen Rider Ex-Aid, which aired in South Korea, Nico Saiba is renamed Anna Hee.
===Etymology===
*Nico's surname, Saiba, is a word pun on the English word "Cyber"
**This word pun was intentionally put on the show because when she transformed to be a Ride-Player via the Kamen Rider Chronicle Gashat, she customized herself with accessories with the sticker being one of them which has the picture of a cat and the name "Cyber Nico".
==Notes==
*Nico's video game nickname "Genius Gamer N" mimics Emu's nickname of "Genius Gamer M", but while "M" is a homonym of Emu's given name, "N" is the first letter of Nico's given name.
*Nico is the first Ride-Player to both successfully perform a Critical finisher and actually defeat a Bugster on screen.
*Despite her major role in participating in Kamen Rider Chronicle with CR, Nico Saiba is not considered a Kamen Rider according to an interviewhttps://www.kamen-rider-official.com/columns/4 on the official Kamen Rider website.
**Further indication of this is found in the method of transformation, as other known Rider-Troop types used devices that either simulated standard Drivers, but simplified for mass production, or had aspects that were taken from a previous Rider. Nico's method did not use a Driver, despite still being designed for its use.
*In Kamen Rider Outsiders, her name is alternatively spelt as Niko Saiba.
==Appearances==
==References==
==External links==
*Kamen Rider Zukan page on Nico Saiba.
*Kamen Rider Zukan page on Ride-Player Nico.
==Navigation==
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