Salty Bugster

**Salty Bugster**(ソルティバグスター *Sorutibagusutā*) is a Bugster from Episode 1 of Kamen Rider Ex-Aid.

He is voiced by **Takeshi Maeda**.

## Personality

Salty Bugster is a confident Bugster who seeks a body of his own and underestimates his enemies.

## Appearance

Salty Bugster has a dark yellow-colored upper body-half and a white-colored lower body half while being covered with blue armor on the torso, pelvis, shoulders, and thighs. He has black arms with his left arm covered with a blue armored gauntlet and a large head that holds blank purple-colored eyes. He is also wearing a black cape and a black top hat.

## Biography

At a hospital, one of the patients, a little boy named Sota, tries to run away while his doctor, a student named Emu Hojo, chases after him. During the chase, Emu runs into a woman, named Asuna, who was carrying a case containing a device called Gamer Driver and a Gashat. When they collide into each other, Asuna drops the case and the contents spill out. Sota sees the Gashat is a video game, Mighty Action X, and asks if he can play with it. However, when Asuna says he can’t because it’s more than just a game, Sota becomes saddened and suddenly collapses from his illness. Asuna checks on him and discovers that he’s infected by the Buster Virus.
After Asuna takes him to the hospital’s CR and place him in the Rescue Center, where she meets up with the Director, she heads out give the Gamer Driver to a genius gamer named M. As Sota is being isolated, the Buster virus suddenly rises out of his body, only to find that Sota isn’t fully infected so he heads back inside his body.
Emu checks on Sota and finds out he’s stressing out because he’s missing a chance to play the new Mighty Action X game being launched today after 5 years of development. Thinking the stress is the cause of his illness, Emu takes him to the launch event to get a chance to play the game. However, Asuna arrives at the event, hoping to find the genius gamer, and is shocked to find Emu and Sota there. She tries to take Sota back to the hospital just as he’s about to play the game next. Becoming even more stressed out, the virus rises out and takes over Sota’s body as a big monster called Bugster Union.
The Bugster Union terrorizes the event, causing everyone to rush out. As the virus continues to rampage, Asuna explains the Bugster virus to Emu and that the only way to save Sota is by using the Gamer Driver to become a Kamen Rider to perform the operation.
Emu, wanting to save Sota like how a doctor saved his life years ago, takes the Gamer Driver and the Gashat and uses it to transform into Ex-Aid’s Action Gamer Level 1, turning the area into a gaming stage and making Asuna suspect that he’s the genius gamer, M.
In his Level 1 form, Ex-Aid jumps around and fights with the Bugster Union with the Gashacon Breaker. Using one of the power-ups provided by the Driver’s stage, Ex-Aid lays multiplie blows on the Bugster Union until it finally explodes and separates from Sota.
Despite the virus separated from Sota’s body, the game isn’t cleared yet and the separated Bugster virus forms into the final boss of the Mighty Action X game, Salty, and summons Bugster Virus combatants.
Seeing that he has to take down the Salty Bugster, Ex-Aid levels himself up to Action Gamer Level 2 and fights off the Bugster Viruses with the Gashacon Breaker. Once finishing them off the Gashat Breaker’s blade, Ex-Aid fights with the Salty Bugster and manages to beat him down with the blade.
Once Salty Bugster is down, Ex-Aid activates the finishing move, Mighty Critical Strike, and lays multiple kicks on the Bugster, causing it to blow up, clearing the game and curing Sota of his illness.

## Powers/Abilities

* Bugster Union
* Salty Bugster
**Bugster Union**

Powers/Abilities
* **Enlarging Fists**: The Bugster Union can shrink down one its arms to transfer the mass into its other arm, enlarging it, so it can smash anything in its sight.

**Salty Bugster**

Powers/Abilities
* **Salty Knuckle**(ソルティナックル *Sorutinakkuru*): Salty Bugster is equipped with a gauntlet with two short electrodes that can generate electricity, allowing him to shock his enemies upon contact.
	+ **Gauntlet Bolts**: Salty Bugster can shoot blue bolts of electricity from the electrodes on his gauntlet when swinging punches with it.

## Trivia

* For the Salty Bugster’s design, the designer, Katsuya Terada, tried to put out a design that “feels like a count” as the boss character from the Mighty Action X game, Count Salty, was the motif.
	+ However, in the show, Katsuya had the impression that his design on Salty Bugster and the required settings did not mesh well and he felt it was lacking in ability.