Kamen Rider Black

Kohtaro Minami (南 光太郎 Minami Kōtarō) is the main protagonist of both Kamen Rider Black and Kamen Rider Black RX. Starting with Kamen Rider Decade and continuing onto most of the later crossover movies, there are two Kohtaro Minamis who are independently Black and RX.

## History

Kohtaro was born on the day of a solar eclipse, along with his stepbrother Nobuhiko Akizuki, within the same hospital. Gorgom noticed this, and both brothers were entitled heirs to their leader, the Creation King's throne. After Kohtaro's parents both died (when Kohtaro was around 3 years old) as a result of an apparent accident, Prof. Akizuki then adopted Kohtaro alongside Nobuhiko as if they were brothers. On the night of their 19th birthday, they were captured by Gorgom and were remade into cyborgs and infused with King Stones. Kohtaro received the "Stone of the Sun" to become Century King Black Sun. However before the final brainwashing Soichiro Akizuki interrupted the final stage of the process with Kohtaro barely escaping.

Having been pursued by Gorgom after his escape, Kohtaro discovers his newfound ability to turn into the a grasshopper humanoid as a result of their surgery, along with his newfound super strength and cyborg abilities.

After receiving a letter from Soichiro, Kohtaro secretly meets with his foster father and learns the truth about his childhood. Soichiro reveals to Kohtaro that he agreed to join Gorgom in order to receive funding for his archaeological research in exchange for Kohtaro and Nobuhiko to be operated on during their 19th birthdays. When Kohtaro's father had refused to join the organization, Gorgom had him and Kohtaro's mother assassinated. After Prof. Akizuki is killed by five of Gorgom's Spider Mutants, Kohtaro transforms once again and takes the title of "Kamen Rider Black." He then vows vengeance against Gorgom and seeks to rescue Nobuhiko from their clutches. As Black, Kohtaro gains support from Nobuhiko's younger sister, Kyoko, as well as Nobuhiko's girlfriend Katsumi. He would often be found working part-time with the two girls at the Capitola café. He would also gain allies in fight against Gorgom, such as Interpol officer Ryusuke Taki and Gorgom's own Whale Mutant.

Eventually Kohtaro reunites with Nobuhiko; however, Nobuhiko was converted into the perfected Century King, Shadow Moon. In their fight, just when Kohtaro was winning the fight, the Creation King temporarily turned Nobuhiko back into human form again. This caused Kohtaro to lose the fight as Nobuhiko turned back into Shadow Moon and launched a surprise attack. He then tried to convince Shadow Moon that Earth belongs to all living things and was landed a finishing blow. As he turned back into human form thus causing Shadow Moon to hesitate and decide against taking Kohtaro's King Stone, Kohtaro was killed and his family had to evacuate from Gorgom's reign over Japan. Eventually Black was resurrected and fought his way through hordes of monsters until fighting Shadow Moon and unwillingly defeating him. Kohtaro was then mercilessly taunted by Shadow Moon who told him that he shall feel regret for the rest of his life knowing that he killed his best friend and step-brother Nobuhiko. Despite these cruel words, Kohtaro told Shadow Moon to stay alive so they can later escape together.

Using the Satan Sabre used by Shadow Moon, Black then fought against the Creation King of Gorgom and destroyed him. The base soon started to self destruct which prevented him from getting Shadow Moon out to safety. Kohtaro then looked at the ruins while saying Nobuhiko's name. With the Gorgom defeated, Kohtaro visited the Capitola bar before leaving for unknown parts.

After the defeat of Gorgom, Kohtaro is left homeless until he is adopted into the Sahara family. He became a helicopter pilot for his new family's business due to their connections, beginning a new life for himself. Unfortunately, Kohtaro was later abducted into the Crisis Empire's mother-ship. The Crisis Empire was aware of his identity as Black and gave him an offer to join them. Kohtaro refused and fought back but was incapacitated when his King Stone is damaged and his transformation ability eliminated. He was ejected into space to float aimlessly until the sun's radiation altered his King Stone. When his pod entered Earth's atmosphere, Kohtaro miraculously survives and immediately discovers he had gained a new power in the shape of an evolved rider form. With his new power, Kohtaro engaged the Crisis Empire forces as Kamen Rider Black RX.

Kohtaro's campaign was long and grueling. In one instances, his adoptive sister Hitomi is kidnapped by Maribaron into the the Desert of Death in a plot to make her the Crisis Empire's only living heir. Kohtaro attempts to rescue her using Deathgaron, only to discover a trap set by Maribaron. Deathgaron kills Hitomi, but in his grief and sorrow, RX invokes a new Rider power, RoboRider. Using his power, RoboRider fatally wounds Deathgaron before learning that the Hitomi killed was a fake and the real one was being taken to the Miraculous Valley. On his way, he meets Joe the Haze who is under the control of Nexticker, freeing him before they and Shigeru are captured by Maribaron and Princess Karuoriya. It was after they break free that Kohtaro realizes the princess is Hitomi, who was abducted to replace the real princess who died and was force grown by the nearby waterfall. When he attempts to restore Hitomi's memory, Kohtaro is forced to surrender when the Triplon captured Shigeru and Joe. Kohtaro was then placed into a room for a hole designed to counter his abilities as both RX and RoboRider for a slow painful death. His rage to save those he love invokes another new form, Bio Rider. After killing Triplon, with Shigeru's help, Kohtaro succeeded in having Hitomi regain his memory as she and the others are returned to their original ages by the people who originally resided in the valley. With only Joe and Shigeru knowing his identity, Kohtaro returns to Earth.

During the middle of the series, Shadow Moon mysteriously returns to seek revenge against him, shortly after, Shadow Moon was finally defeated when RX thrust the Revolcane through Shadow Moon's King Stone, seemingly effectively turning him good shortly before he died after saving two kids. With a sorrowful look of sadness as he saw Nobuhiko's corpse, Kohtaro remembered Shadow Moon's actions and decided that in the end, Shadow Moon truly turned back into Nobuhiko as he swore in his heart that he would defeat the Crisis Empire and bucked up his determination. He then carried the now human form Nobuhiko's body to presumably bury him. In the finale, he was helped by the 10 veteran Kamen Riders to destroy the Crisis Empire.

Later, the remnants Crisis Empire devise a plan to defeat Kohtaro Minami by reverting him back to his old form of Kamen Rider Black and sending out several revived monsters after him. However, Kamen Rider Black is assisted by another RX, who used a time warp to help his past self.[1] The two are joined by RX's alternate forms of Robo Rider and Bio Rider, and the four Kamen Riders combine their powers to defeat the revived monsters. Remaining as Black, Kohtaro would continue his fight against the various evil organizations of the world.

It is not until the interference of Dai-Shocker does he finally consider Decade as an ally, revealing that he has been fighting Dai-Shocker with the aid of Joe the Haze.

When Tsukasa makes it back to World of Black RX, he uses his Kamen Rider Black card to summon this Kohtaro (in person, and not as a manifestation). Kohtaro and his counterpart battle side by side.

Joining the Rider tournament that was supposed to stop the fusion of worlds, he made it to the finals, fighting alongside Kamen Rider Super-1 and Kamen Rider V3. They're defeated by Decade and are taken for dead after disappearing in a dimensional wall. However, the Riders were just regrouping while waiting to mount an offensive against Dai-Shocker, and they all reappeared to help Kamen Rider Decade when he attempted to face Dai-Shocker's troops alone.

## Personality

Kohtaro is an emotional man which has served both good and bad for him. After seemingly losing his step-brother when he became Shadow Moon, Kohtaro tried very hard to get Nobuhiko back while being saddened at having to fight him. He also didn't truly give up on Nobuhiko and tried to save him even as Shadow Moon. Towards the end of his first series, Kohtaro had to part with not only Battle Hopper who thanked him for everything, but also with Shadow Moon who he unwillingly defeated in combat serving as a maturity point for him. As saddened as he was for failing to save the both of them, Kohtaro chose to keep on living for himself showing strength for his character.

## Stats

* Rider Height: 197cm
* Rider Weight: 87kg
* Jump: 30 meters
* Punch: 15 tons (normal), 30 tons (powered up)
* Kick: 30.5 tons (normal), 61 tons (powered up)

As Black, Kohtaro utilized his power through physical brawling while effectively using his King Stone Flash against his opponents. He was also able to pilot a helicopter as shown in RX. After becoming RX, he has relied more on his weapons and didn't use his King Stone Flash or physical moves as effectively as his previous series hinting a drop in physical skills. He does however, become adept at sword fighting and shooting with precise marksmanship. In his later battles, Kohtaro seems to have regained his physical skills through training with his seniors.

## Trivia

* Unlike the main universe, the Kohtaro Minami of this universe is Black, with the A.R. version being RX.