Kit Taylor

Kit Taylor is the main protagonist of Kamen Rider Dragon Knight. He is a young man who discovers an Advent Deck in his apartment and transforms into the second Kamen Rider Dragon Knight. After being vented by Xaviax, he was revived by Eubulon as Kamen Rider Onyx until he re-inherited Dragon Knight from his Ventara-counterpart Adam following the latter's retirement.
==History==
After turning 18, he makes his way to the apartment he spent his childhood in and found an Advent Deck that opened his senses to the presence of the monsters abducting people. He gains the ability to transform into Kamen Rider Dragon Knight armed with the Dragon Advent Deck that he obtained. He would later meet Len (Kamen Rider Wing Knight), with whom he agreed to help fight Xaviax's monsters in the hopes of finding his father.
He did so after failing to heed Len's advice about re-establishing the Contract with the Advent Beast associated with the Deck, Dragreder, by activating the Contract Card in the Deck and fully reactivating his Dragon Knight armor powers. He nearly got duped into helping Drew (Kamen Rider Torque) before his true motive is revealed. After discovering the truth about the Advent Decks, Len believes that Xaviax probably played a part in helping Kit find the Advent Deck but Kit believes that he was guided here by his father and it was by his own will that he became Dragon Knight.
After fighting for a long time, becoming more experienced, and even becoming a threat to Xaviax, Len decides that Kit should replace Adam and become a true Rider and not just an Earth substitute. However, the process will involve leaving Earth behind for good. Though honored, Kit decides to wait to answer until he feels he's thought it through enough. Later, when Kit confronts Axe for the first time, he tries to vent Axe, but can't find it in himself to do so. This would immediately haunt him as Axe holds him back, not allowing him to stop JTC from venting Chris.
He is later confronted by the Cho brothers who intimidate and defeat him easily but don't vent him. After receiving a message from JTC about his father, Kit and Maya both go to him only to run into a trap consisting of JTC and the Cho brothers. Kit successfully repels them and can vent Albert, leaving Danny furious. He begins to feel remorse for venting Albert, as he had purposely never vented anyone before that point. Following Albert's venting and Kase's return, he begins to feel useless, due to losing to both Danny and Kase and hearing his dad saying that he disapproves of Kit's actions.
He is then attacked and pushed through a mirror by a mysterious Kamen Rider with the same armor as Dragon Knight but black. However, he wakes up discovering that the fight with the mysterious Rider was but a dream. He is then approached by Michelle Walsh who identifies him upon Kit evading her and getting to the bookstore, he, Maya, and Trent discover the information was downloaded. Following this incident, he goes off to fight attacking monsters to discover Len and Kase taking them out quickly. He leaves angrily with Kase noting the similarities between him and Adam (stating that it was his attitude was how it started before betraying the others) but Len believes otherwise. Going off to visit his father again he finds Xaviax waking up his father but only for a short time.
Kit discovers that everything that has happened to him thus far was because of Xaviax and that he was manipulating his father. Xaviax gives him a very simple offer, vent Wing Knight and Siren to bring his father back. Afterward, he has another nightmare, this time becoming a black version of Dragon Knight and venting Wing Knight and fighting Siren before waking up. While reflecting he is once again confronted by Danny. When Danny got the upper hand, he sees JTC vent him and hinting at Kit's conversation with Xaviax. He talks about this to Len and Kase and decides to go against Xaviax saying that saving his father through those means is wrong and is ready to become a real Kamen Rider.
When going to inform his father of his future course of action, he is kidnapped and arrested by the No-Men. They trick him into battle against a mirror monster to test his skills as a Kamen Rider. Michelle Walsh later interrogates him until he craftily escapes using a reflection from a spilled glass of water. He finds a Mirror Monster on the way out and manages to defeat it, but ends up attacked by Kamen Riders Strike and Wrath. He injures his leg in the fight, but Len and Kase save him in time and manage to escape. They later regroup in the bookstore, where Kase heals his injured leg. While regrouping, Kase shows Kit his Survive card as they engage Strike and Wrath once again. Kit, who was fighting JTC and is about to get vented, is saved by Len. They both witness JTC capture Metalgelas and Evildiver and unite them into Cerebeast.
Overpowered by Wrath and Strike, they fail to save Kase from being vented. Both wanting revenge for her, they go after JTC, with Kit finding him first. After surviving his Final Vent, he watches Len use his Survive Mode, venting Strike in the process. Len and Kit chase after Wrath both using their Survive Modes. When Len is cornered, Kit readies his Final Vent, but after using too much energy, Survive Mode deactivates at an inopportune moment. In a final desperate attack to save Len, Kit uses his normal Final Vent only to miss and get hit with Wrath's Final Vent. He ends up being vented by Wrath, making him the tenth Rider vented in the series. Xaviax steals the Dragon Knight deck and claims that he has a surprise waiting for Len and gives the Dragon Knight deck to the original owner, Adam. When Eubulon is revived, Kit is rescued from the Advent Void.
Waking up from the Advent Void, he finds Kase and Eubulon, who is weakened from traveling through the Advent Void and is given the Onyx deck. He was initially put off due to his dream but Kase and Eubulon reassure him that those were only nightmares. Taking the deck he finds Len and assists him in taking out some of Xaviax's monsters and reunites with him and meets some of the Ventaran Riders, initially put off due to his experience with their Earth counterparts. He soon goes off to save Maya when Eubulon senses that she's in danger. He meets up with Adam but is not easily swayed by his wanting to return to the Riders. They argue about how their situation with Xaviax is worse in which both mirror twins activate their Rider forms and fight. Kit overpowers Adam and is about to vent him until Eubulon stops the fight not wanting Kit's nightmare to turn into reality, venting someone out of anger. He returns with Maya with Eubulon and Adam following.
Interestingly enough, so far he's the only Kamen Rider who had to find his Advent Beast (or more specifically have his Advent Beast, Dragreder, find him) as opposed to the other Kamen Riders who were all given their Advent Decks with their respective Advent Beast already in place and contracted to them (the exceptions are Len and Kase who were some of the original Kamen Riders and the only Riders not separated from their respective Advent Deck and Advent Beast in the battle on Ventara).
Unlike the other Riders who were simple to manipulate by just giving them a simple desire, Kit had no real vice or ambition meaning that just simply giving him something was not enough. Xaviax had to take a more precise and lengthy process to acquire him. Xaviax kidnapped his father and then framed Kit for his misunderstandings. However, he didn't join Xaviax and became a Rider opposing Xaviax. Eventually, Xaviax approaches Kit and reveals everything to him using his love for his father to betray Wing Knight, the one who trusts Kit the most. However, after everything he's been through, Kit realizes that saving him that way would be wrong and decides to continue fighting against Xaviax.
Following the final battle against Xaviax, Kit re-inherits the Kamen Rider Dragon Knight moniker following Adam's retirement.
==Personality==
Kit is a brave and fairly easygoing individual, being firm in his moral compass, even when faced with uncertainty. At the same time, like most teenagers his age, he can struggle with negative emotions, initially handling Kase's appearance in a poor manner. In such cases though, Kit will eventually learn from his mistakes, openly apologizing when needed. 
Having lost his father once, Kit is strongly loyal to him, to the point of becoming a victim of Xaviax's manipulations while nearly falling for them in the process. Gradually though, coming to terms with his role as Kamen Rider Dragon Knight, Kit ultimately decided to continue his given mission, having completely moved past his hesitation at venting Xaviax's pawns. 
When faced with confusing situations, Kit is shown to have a tendency for snark, making dry quips to others that antagonize him.
== Fighting skills ==
Unlike Shinji Kido/Kamen Rider Ryuki, who was initially a complete novice at fighting, Kit proved himself to be a very skilled fighter since before gaining Dragon Knight's powers; combating several monsters while untransformed. However, whereas Shinji gradually grew capable of facing any threat he encountered, Kit did not show the same level of growth as a Kamen Rider, failing to defeat foes such as Kamen Rider Strike in single combat. 
Much like Shinji, Kit refuses to kill any humans in battle, hence his hesitancy to "vent" the other Riders. Even after uplifting this restriction, Kit still struggled as Dragon Knight, leading to several near defeats. Making up for this was Kit's assistance and cooperation with other Riders, giving him the means to stop General Xaviax's forces. 
==Forms==
==Behind the scenes==
===Portrayal===
Kit Taylor was portrayed by Stephen Ford, replacing Matt Smith who initially portrayed him in the Kamen Rider Dragon Knight unaired pilot. As Kamen Rider Dragon Knight, he was portrayed by suit actor from the reused footage from Kamen Rider Ryuki. As Onyx, his suit actors were Jiro Okamoto (岡元 次郎 Okamoto Jirō) and Jun Watanabe (渡辺 淳 Watanabe Jun), from reused footage from Ryuki. For the original American footage for stunts, was the suit actor.
In the Japanese dub of Dragon Knight, Kit was voiced by , who would provide the voice of Kamen Rider Ryuki himself in the place of his original actor in Kamen Rider × Super Sentai: Super Hero Taisen. In the Kamen Rider Dragon Knight video game, Kamen Rider Dragon Knight/Onyx was voiced by Johnny Yong Bosch, who is known for his portrayal of in Power Rangers.
==Notes==
*In American footage, Dragon Knight's suit actor was Hiroshi Maeda.
*Unlike Kamen Rider Ryuga (Onyx' Japanese counterpart), Kamen Rider Onyx was a good Kamen Rider during the period when his "good" counterpart, Dragon Knight, was being used for nefarious purposes.
*Kit is the only Earth Rider to have met his Ventaran twin in the TV series.
*Drew Lansing and Kit Taylor were the two Earth Riders who vented the fewest other Riders with one each (among those that vented more than zero, at least).
*Kit is the only Earth Rider to have fought in the final battle against Xaviax.
*Onyx was not part of the original roster of Ventara Riders, instead being newly created for Kit after Eubulon rescued him from the Advent Void.
*After Adam's debut, Kit's attire began to become consistent throughout the remainder of the series in order to differentiate the two, as both were played by the same actor.
*During A Dragon's Tale, in the scene where Kit had to choose between the Dragon Knight and Onyx Deck, Actor Stephen Ford had an on-going where Kit chose the Onyx Deck.
*The cards which are shared between the two decks (e.g Strike, Guard, Sword) seemed to be flipped. E.g on the Strike vent card, for Dragon Knight the Dragon is entering the card from the right, while for Onyx the Dragon is entering the card from the left.
*Dragon Knight and Onyx are the only two riders to wear their symbols on their armor (helmets).
*Kit is the only rider to have four different visors: Blank Knight Visor, Dragon Knight Visor, Onyx Visor, and Survive Mode Visor.
==Appearances==
==See also==
*Adam - Kit's Mirror Twin from Ventara
* 
* (as Dragon Knight)
* (as Onyx)
==References==
===Footnotes===
==Navigation==
Category:Dragon Knight Riders
Category:Adaptation Riders
Category:Heroes
Category:Dragon Knight Characters
Category:Primary Riders
Category:Supporting Riders