Do you think Kamen Rider’s abilities all come from justice? In fact, he is no different from his enemy. It is even said that Kamen Rider is equal to weirdo, and weirdo is equal to Kamen Rider! If you don’t believe it, just read on.
Kamen Rider’s power source
In fact, one of the core themes of the Kamen Rider series is that “knights and monsters have the same origin.” How to put it, starting from the Showa era, almost every generation of Kamen Rider’s energy comes from hostile enemies or organizations. No. 1 and No. 2 are actually locust monsters who were transformed by the card repair organization. From a biological point of view, there is no essential difference between them and the enemy monsters. It’s just that most Kamen Riders escape brainwashing (or are later persuaded to return to justice), but use the abilities created by the enemy to deal with those evil organizations. To put it simply, if those organizations “catch bugs in their own butts”, they will destroy themselves.
Not all Kamen Riders in the Showa era were transformed by evil organizations, such as Kamen Rider X, Amazon, SkyRider, and Super One, but they all have one thing in common, they are all transformed people.
Although most people in the Heisei era were not transformed, they still had “weirdos come from the same origin” as the core, and most of their transformation abilities were obtained from evil organizations. For example, Kamen Rider Ryuki’s belt comes from Kanzaki, Kamen Rider Kabuto’s belt was actually developed by Protozoa and humans, Kamen Rider Decade’s transformation belt is actually designed by Overhaul Card, and Kamen Rider Bulid’s transformation belt is also designed based on Evolt.
The evil Decade actually didn’t say anything about his origin, but the later movie version explained that his power came from the Overhaul Card, in order to destroy all Kamen Riders, but Xiao Ming finally used this power to destroy the Overhaul Card. However, there is no explanation of how the “passionate state” came about. It is as much a mystery as the magenta belt Decade.
The Reiwa Era also continues its core of “weirdos from the same origin”. The power source of Kamen Rider Zero One’s “Shining Hopper” and “Metal Cluster Hopper” are also from Ark, the ability of Kamen Rider Geats to transform is also from that group of future people, and the power of Kamen Rider Revice is from demons.
Being a monster is not scary
The biggest difference between Kamen Riders and their enemies is actually only one word: “heart”. In order to protect the weak, they will insist on using it no matter which force gradually turns them into monsters. In the Kamen Rider series, most monster transformations started in Heisei. The reason why this setting is popular is that it strengthens the theme of “self-sacrifice”. Although their appearance becomes a scary weirdo in the eyes of the world, their firm and protective heart makes them more like “heroes” than anyone else, even reaching the level of “tragic heroes”.
Kuuga, the eldest brother of Heisei, used the energy of the spiritual stone Yamadam (the stone in his belt) many times in the late fifth generation to transform. His body muscles and nerve tissue gradually became dehumanized, and his self-healing ability after injury gradually became exactly the same as that of his enemy Gurangji. In the end, fortunately, he kept his kind heart and was not swallowed up by the power. He turned into Kuuga, the world-destroying black eye, and fought for mankind until the last moment.
Kuuga and Unknown Creature No. 0 actually have the same power. If you look carefully, the designs of both sides are the same, with four corners and so on. After all, they both use the same energy (one has the spiritual stone Yamadam in his belt, and the other has the spiritual stone Yamadam directly implanted in his body). It’s just that Kuuga remains human at heart, while No. 0 transforms into a pure killing weapon.
The masterpiece of monster transformation must be mentioned: Kamen Rider Blade. Because the protagonist of Kamen Rider Blade has a high fusion index, he can give full play to his Undead power and evolve into the final form, King Form. However, the problem is that when the King Form ability is used multiple times, the cells in the protagonist Kenzaki’s body will be deeply integrated with the Undead energy, which will turn him into a monster. But after defeating all the Undead, only one Joker (Hajime, who is also Kenzaki’s good comrade) is left. If Joker is not defeated, the world will be destroyed. In order not to kill his comrades, he decided to become a monster and let the world maintain two Undead. He chose to leave everyone, remain anonymous, and live alone. A great sacrifice that moved the audience and fans for his sacrifice.
For the sake of a comrade who could leave his body to him, Kenzaki finally transformed into Joker, with blue blood flowing out of his hands and a helpless smile on his face, which is indeed heartbreaking.
The sacrifice of monster transformation has also become the inescapable fate and core content of the protagonists of the Heisei series Kamen Rider. Kamen Rider OOO and Kamen Rider Gaim’s monster transformation have the same thing in common: “I can’t taste it.” They are ridiculed by fans as protagonists who cannot be gourmets.
Weird people can also be heroes
The ancient great man Tang Seng You said: “So being a monster is like being a human. If you have a kind heart, you will no longer be a monster, but a human monster!” In addition to the fact that humans can become monsters in order to protect them, there are also many weirdos in the series who have become heroes in order to protect them.
Hajime Aikawa in Kamen Rider Blade was Undead’s Joker at the beginning, but under the influence of human Undead (sealed card), he began to understand human life, transformed into Kamen Rider Chalice, and finally fought to protect human emotions.
The protagonist of Kamen Rider Faiz, Qianqiao, is an example of the opposite of monster transformation. At the beginning, he already knew that he had evolved into a monster Orphenoch, but he still chose to protect the weak and justice, even if his secrets were exposed, he was not afraid!
In addition, in the Kamen Rider Kabuto series, one of the protagonists, Jindaiken, is himself the incarnation of a zerg. He killed the real Jindaiken himself, but because of the real Jindaiken’s strong sense of revenge, the fake Jindaiken that mimicked him was determined to defeat all the zerg. Although the false god knew that he was a zerg in the later period, he still chose to inherit the consciousness of the true god and became the Kamen Rider Sasword to destroy the enemy zerg. In the end, he did not let go and asked the protagonist Tiandao to destroy himself.
In fact, no one would like Kamidao Sword at the beginning. He is a typical second-generation ancestor who knows nothing about the world. But in the later stage, he is willing to end his life and fulfill the last wish of the true Kamidai. What a real man!
Summarize
I really like what Wizard said in the 2013 Kamen Rider movie “Kamen Rider Power is neutral. If you use it for justice, you will be a Kamen Rider. If you use it for evil, you will be a Kamen Rider.All evilDecadewack.
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