Characters / Shin Kamen Rider (2023)

Character sheet for the 2023 film Shin Kamen Rider.

This page will use the Japanese versions of certain characters' names unless otherwise stated (e.g. the English localization).

Beware of spoilers in regards to both the film and its prequel manga.

Main Characters

Takeshi Hongo/Kamen Rider

Takeshi Hongo, a.k.a. Batta Augment-01 (Grasshopper-Aug)/Kamen Rider (Masked Rider)

Played by: Sosuke Ikematsu

"I want to protect people. I'll trust my heart."

A physically fit and intellectually brilliant young motorcyclist, Takeshi Hongo's life turns upside down when the organization SHOCKER kidnaps him and turns him into a grasshopper-based "augmented human". Breaking free, Hongo vows to fight SHOCKER as the "Kamen Rider".

Tropes that apply to him in general

• Adaptational Angst Upgrade:
  • The original series and other adaptations like Kamen Rider: The First didn't explore Hongo's backstory in much depth, and there was no reason to assume that those versions of the character had anything other than a rather typical upbringing prior to becoming Kamen Rider. This incarnation of Hongo witnessed the death of his father, a police officer, during an act of senseless violence, a deeply traumatizing event which sparked his desire for power that would allow him to protect others.
  • In a more general sense, Hongo is typically shown in most media to possess no qualms about employing lethal force against his enemies, with most of the angst in the TV show's early episodes being centered around the potential loss of his humanity due to Shocker's augmentations. Here, Hongo is horrified at the violence he's capable of inflicting on others while in his transformed state, the emotional disassociation caused by the helmet's functions almost framing his Batta Augment form as a Superpowered Evil Side. Although Hongo still takes the fight to SHOCKER as Kamen Rider, he remains a Reluctant Warrior for most of the film, acting more Resigned to the Call for the sake of protecting others.
• Adaptational Backstory Change: In Ishinomori's manga, Takeshi's parents died before the beginning of the story, leaving him in the care of the elderly Tobei Tachibana. In this film, Takeshi is completely alone before the start of the movie, with his father dead in the line of duty and his professor exploiting the resulting pain to excuse augmenting him into a half-grasshopper mutant.
• Adaptational Context Change: In the original TV show, Hongo was a university student who was also focused on getting into a motorcycling competition, and still does between fighting Shocker as Kamen Rider. In this film, it appears that Hongo had already graduated from university, with Ruriko mentioning that he's currently unemployed, and Hongo himself mentions that he spent most of his time travelling alone on his motorcycle. Given his Socially Awkward Hero nature, it's unlikely that this incarnation was ever interested in participating in motorsports competitions either.
• Adaptation Personality Change: The classic Showa incarnation of Hongo was generally amiable and capable of maintaining casual friendships with others, such as his mentor Tachibana. However, having been turned into a Cyborg by Shocker, he feels that he can never truly be part of society again, avoiding things like romance. Here, Hongo is much more vulnerable and emotionally withdrawn, Ruriko outright describing him as socially inept despite his intelligence. And rather than a result of being an Augment, it's likely that this predates being turned into a Augment, as a gifted yet lonely college student who watched his father die in a hostage situation.
• Adaptational Wimp: A logical example regarding Hongo's initial emotional state, which corresponds with the above-mentioned Adaptational Angst Upgrade. When he declares his title as Kamen Rider to Kumo, he sounds somewhat uncertain. It's less of a Badass Boast, and more a rejection of SHOCKER and their label for him by declaring his own. Given everything that has happened to him, he doesn't want to be this, but he knows he can't just walk away either.
  [rough translation; in response to Kumo Aug calling him "Batta Aug"]
  "You're wrong. My name is… the 'Rider'." (slightly firmer) "'Kamen Rider' is what I call myself…!"
  [subtitles from Amazon Prime release]
  "That's not my name. It's...Rider. Call me Masked Rider!"
• Audience Surrogate: Is just as shocked as the audience likely is by the violence he commits while in his Batta Augment form. Hongo is also initially in a state of confusion due to the circumstances of his abduction, so he often acts as The Watson for exposition that also informs the audience.
• All-Loving Hero: Despite having every reason under the sun to lash out and resent his situation—being kidnapped and transformed into a monstrously powerful mutant, only to then get thrust into a life-or-death battle against the secret society responsible—Hongo remains a kindhearted soul who abhors violence and bears no ill will towards others. Notably, he bows his head in silence after defeating Kumo Aug, despite the fact that Kumo had killed Midorikawa and tried to kill him too; and tries to spare the lives of his enemies whenever he can help it, such as in his fights against Hachi Aug and Ichimonji. Ruriko openly wonders if Hongo is too kind for his own good.
• Badass Biker: As per usual, Hongo was a physically fit and intellectually gifted motorcycle enthusiast before his augmentation. As Kamen Rider, Hongo puts his motorcycle skills to good use, particularly in his fights against Koumori Aug and the SHOCKER Riders.
• Be Careful What You Wish For: At least, according to Professor Midorikawa, Hongo "wanted" power to prevent the kind of pain he experienced in college, when his father was killed while trying to do the right thing. As an Augment, Hongo has that power, but in a way that make him capable of killing with such ease that it disturbs him.
• Blessed with Suck: Although some angst is derived from his transformation into an inhuman mutant, Hongo is particularly horrified at his newfound capacity for violence, even telling Dr. Midorikawa that no one should possess such monstrous power.
• Body Backup Drive: Halfway through the film, Ruriko upgrades Hongo's helmet to serve as one, with enough carrying capacity for two people. It doesn't have enough room for three, though, which foils her attempt to use it to Save the Villain.
• Brought Down to Badass: Able to fight an untransformed Hachi Aug and her Mook Lieutenant to a standstill without taking in any condensed Prana and after taking off his helmet, which is stated to enhance his combat abilities. Fitting, given that every iteration of Takeshi Hongo is more than capable of kicking ass even before transforming.
• Contrasting Sequel Protagonist: To both previous Shin Japan Heroes Universe films:
  • Ultraman is a Sufficiently Advanced Alien law enforcer who finds himself fascinated by the human race, growing to understand the human condition through his fusion with Shinji Kaminaga and the frequent battles to protect humanity, while Hongo is a troubled young man who struggles to retain his humanity after being converted into a mutant Super-Soldier against his will and forced into a vicious battle against SHOCKER. However, the two possess one commonality: their determination to protect life.
  • Rando Yaguchi is a hard-nosed member of the Cabinet Secretariat whose shrewdness and management skills, along with the resources of both the entire Japanese government and the international community, allow him to take on the threat of Godzilla, all while (logically) remaining a Non-Action Guy. Hongo, on the other hand, is a Socially Awkward Hero who directly engages his foes in hand-to-hand brawls using the superhuman abilities granted to him by the villainous SHOCKER.
• Camp Cook: It only happens once, but Hongo makes Ruriko some food while they're hiding from Hachi Aug and her brainwashed townsfolk. Hongo has frequently camped out during his motorcycling, so he's had to learn to cook for himself.
• Death by Adaptation: Zig-Zagged: This film iteration of Hongo ended up dissolved into nothingness alongside Ichiro after he used up all of his prana in the final battle since his Typhoon was damaged by Ichiro. However, Ruriko's earlier preparations cause Hongo to upload his prana consciousness into his helmet, which serves as Hayato's replacement one, becoming a Virtual Ghost and Hayato's guide as they continue their battles as the 2-in-1 Kamen Rider in a conclusion that corresponds with the events of Ishinomori's manga version.
• Died Standing Up: Of every character who dies in the film, Hongo is the only one who dies this way, with the body-melting measures kicking in after he expends all of his prana.
• Due to the Dead: As a reflection of his kindness, Hongo always bows his head in silence after killing an Augment, from the homicidal Kumo Aug to the mindless SHOCKER Riders, being joined by Ichimonji in the latter case.
• The Everyman: This iteration of Kamen Rider 1 could be considered a critical look at the main concept of the character and maybe other Riders of his kind in general. Takeshi Hongo from the original show was, for all intents and purposes, a regular young man with noble intentions forced into a battle against a Nebulous Evil Organization that intended to use him as a killing machine, yet quickly grows accustomed to the prospect of violence and/or the destruction of his foes. This version of Hongo presents a more understandable emotional response to the circumstances, as his good morals aren't compromised by the deaths he causes, even if he acts in self-defence and the protection of others. He's utterly disturbed at his ability to kill others, as he's not even doing it by accident, the helmet he wears basically making him act without aversion to murder, which someone with a good heart like himself would be horrified by.
• Expository Pronoun: Unlike previous on-screen iterations of the character, he noticeably uses the more polite and restrained boku (僕) first-person pronoun, reflecting his more socially awkward and gentle personality.
• Genius Bruiser: While he doesn't have his original counterpart's 600 IQ, this Hongo is still valued for his intelligence, showcasing it a few times in his battles against the Augments. In order to avoid dealing with the Brainwashed and Crazy innocents under Hachi Aug's control, Hongo devises a plan to send Ruriko to the enemy hideout alone as a distraction while he himself leaps from a plane provided for by the government, the fall at terminal velocity charging him up with enough Prana for a Death from Above attack that destroys Hachi Aug's Mind-Control Device, foiling her plot in a single move. During his fight against Ichimonji, the latter commends Hongo for taking the battle into the air using their leaping abilities, noting that this tactic diverts the fight away from anyone that may be at ground level while also allowing Hongo to continuously condense Prana from the wind currents.
• Healing Factor: Ichimonji snaps Hongo's leg at the knee at the end of their fight, leaving it twisted at an almost-180 degree angle. After Ichimonji’s Heel–Face Turn and victory over K.K Aug, the following scene shows that Hongo is able to stand after only a short amount of time and he soon recovers his full strength for the climactic battle. Earlier in the film, Hongo also shrugs off being stabbed in the chest by Hachi Aug, simply pulling the broken blade out without any sort of inconvenience.
• Henshin Hero: He's a modern iteration of the Trope Codifier, after all. In accordance with the first thirteen episodes of the TV show (and Ishinomori's manga version), Hongo needs to expose the turbine on his Typhoon to powerful wind currents in order to fully transform, whether it be from riding his Cyclone at high speed or simply falling from a great height.
• Like Father, Like Son: When recalling his father's death, Takeshi admits that he wants to be kind and strong as his father was. In the Final Battle, he ends up dying the same way his father did: trying to help someone lashing out. The difference is, he realizes that this could devastate Hayato, hence the contingency to implant his soul into his Batta helmet and make sure that Hayato receives it.
• Mythology Gag:
  • Meta-example: His left leg being crushed by a brainwashed Ichimonji during their fight is a nod to Hiroshi Fujioka's situation where he shattered his leg in a bike stunt gone wrong during the filming of the original series. Ichimonji, fresh from his Heel–Face Turn, battling K.K Aug on his own while Hongo is incapacitated acts as another nod towards the circumstances behind Kamen Rider 2's introduction.
• Sense Loss Sadness: With a body now upgraded to subsist off of prana, Hongo laments that he doesn't need to eat anymore, commenting that "having an efficient body is boring". The spin-off game SD Shin Kamen Rider Rumble includes this: whenever Hongo/Kamen Rider consumes the game's power-ups—a variety of delicious-looking food—his only comment is, "It has no taste…" (味がしない...).
• Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: The Sensitive Guy to Ichimonji's Manly Man once the latter joins the fight against SHOCKER, with Hongo being the quieter and more emotionally vulnerable Reluctant Warrior of the Double Riders.
• Socially Awkward Hero: Unlike his original series' counterpart, this Takeshi Hongo is socially withdrawn, which has affected his ability to maintain friendships or find work. There's certainly no sign that he's interested in entering motorcycle races before being augmented, despite his interest in motorcycles.
  • His high intelligence and his introversion contribute to his speeches to Koumori Aug and Hachi Aug/Hiromi sounding old-fashioned and a little awkward—and in a way, the speeches he makes wouldn't be out of place in either the original TV show or the manga.
• These Hands Have Killed: After defeating Kumo Aug, Hongo only solemnly stares at his bloodstained glove in silence, befitting his gentle Reluctant Warrior nature.
• Walking the Earth: Downplayed. Before SHOCKER, Takeshi had spent a great deal of time touring on his bike, resulting in him camping out often. Judging by his dialogue—"I go whenever I can."—he tends to not actually be at home for days at a time.
• The Watson: Having no prior knowledge of SHOCKER, Hongo receives a lot of exposition from both Dr. Midorikawa and Ruriko.
• What Have I Become?: Kamen Rider can only behold his mutated hand and face in trembling horror as he realizes what SHOCKER's augmentation has done to his body.
• With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility: In a twisted way, Hongo (at least, according to Professor Midorikawa) wanted to obtain power that would allow him to prevent what happened with his father's death. But the power Hongo was "given" simply crosses the line from "superior" to "horrific". He can't really control his strength, and it is mostly based on violent self-preservation. As such, he literally has received more power than he desired, with all the negatives that entails. Because of this, it is an almost aesop-worthy exploration of asking for such physical strength without considering the consequences. Nevertheless, Hongo uses his power to battle SHOCKER's members and protect mankind from the organization's clutches.

Tropes exclusive to him as Batta Augment-01 (Grasshopper-Aug)/Kamen Rider

• Achilles' Heel: Hongo's ability to respire prana is dependent on his access to wind currents, making him stronger when he's outdoors and especially when he can fight at high altitudes, but weaker when he's indoors and outright unable to transform if he can't get outside while he's in his civilian mode. Some of his opponents like Hachi Aug and Ichimonji are willing to oblige him by fighting him in high places, while Kumo Aug has no such sense of honor and restrains Hongo indoors next to a bomb so that he can't transform to escape it.
• Animal Themed Super Being: Grasshoppers. His "Batta Augment" appearance features a grasshopper-themed helmet and insect-wing-shaped tech on the back of his suit, and he can jump great distances much like a grasshopper.
• Armor Is Useless: Averted. Kamen Rider's suit and helmet make him Immune to Bullets, and Ichimonji notes that both of their suits protected them from the worst of the SHOCKER Riders' Cyclone Action Bomb attack.
• Bare-Fisted Monk: Like his original incarnation, as well as the majority of Showa era Kamen Riders, Hongo primarily fights hand-to-hand, although he does briefly use a katana during his fight against Hachi Aug, an occasion that acts as a Mythology Gag to the original Hongo's penchant for using weapons stolen from disarmed Mooks against them, as well as one to the episode where he fought Hachi Aug’s original counterpart.
• Body Horror: Hongo tries to look beneath his mask post-augmentation and what he sees isn't pretty, being a grotesque adaptation of the scars Hongo would occasionally display in Ishinomori's manga. A glimpse of his hand and pre-production concept art suggest that the rest of Hongo’s body is similarly warped. However, it is ultimately Downplayed, as he can revert back to a human appearance with the belt's Prana forced ejection mechanism.
• Cool Bike: The Cyclone, which defines the "Rider" aspect of Kamen Rider. Like in the original series, it can shift from a mundane dirt bike into a powerful high-tech vehicle via a Transformation Sequence, and Hongo exposing his belt to the wind while riding the Cyclone acts as his primary method for gathering Prana. It’s also something of a vehicular Adaptational Badass, with this film’s iteration of the Cyclone uniquely featuring a multidirectional Nitro Boost that allows Hongo to thrust himself upwards and make use of its Weaponized Exhaust. In addition, the Cyclone remotely follows Hongo, not unlike the Battle Hopper. Hongo even apologizes to the Cyclone when using it as an Action Bomb to destroy Ichiro’s throne.
• Finishing Move: The ever iconic Rider Kick is a powerful high-speed attack guaranteed to kill any Augment struck by the technique, with Hongo's deliberate miss at the end of his fight against Hachi Aug acting as a poignant Sword over Head moment. Once Ichimonji properly joins the fight, the two perform the Rider Double Kick, which is subject to the Worf Barrage treatment against Ichiro Midorikawa, who demonstrates the power disparity between himself and the Double Riders by repelling their Combination Attack even before transforming into his Chou Aug/Kamen Rider No. 0 form.
• In a Single Bound: Wouldn't be the grasshopper-based Kamen Rider without it. Koumori Aug specifically states that Hongo's maximum vertical jumping height is 66.30 meters.
• Lightning Bruiser: As Dr. Midorikawa's magnum opus, Kamen Rider possesses the greatest physical strength of the Augments (at least until Ichimonji enters the picture) while also being fast enough to keep up with Hachi Aug and parry her strikes, although Hongo is notably forced on the defensive until he's able to take advantage of an opening. His suit additionally makes him insanely resilient, allowing him to withstand a full ten seconds of sustained point-blank gunfire to the back of his head and still remain none the worse for wear immediately afterwards, with the only thing that can cut through his armor being Hachi Aug's Absurdly Sharp Blade.
• Mask of Power: The Batta mask, which Hongo invokes in his name as "Kamen Rider", literally "Masked Rider". Played With in that it doesn't actually possess any supernatural power as other artifacts that fall into this trope; instead it taps into Hongo's fight-or-flight response, overriding his aversion to violence and making him an effective killing machine.
• Meaningful Rename: Rejects the Batta Augment label during his second encounter with Kumo Aug, declaring that he calls himself Kamen Rider/Masked Rider. None of the other Augments bother humoring him until he meets Ichimonji.
• Super-Soldier: What SHOCKER created him to be, as the Batta/Grasshopper Augment-01.
• Power Gives You Wings: Occasionally manifests wings of Prana energy, giving him a degree of aerial control. They appear in his first Rider Kick, and even uses them practically at one point, breaking his own fall while holding Ruriko after leaping from the top of Hachi Aug's skyscraper base.
• Super-Strength: Able to reduce an individual SHOCKER Low-Class Member (essentially a baseline human with minor augmentations) into Ludicrous Gibs with a single strike, and his enhanced leg strength is the source of Kamen Rider's signature In a Single Bound ability. The Punch Parry at the beginning of Hongo's battle against Ichimonji also produces a Kung-Fu Sonic Boom, further illustrating their respective physical strength.
• Weak, but Skilled: While he would eventually face opponents that outmatch him, Hongo’s determination and quick thinking helps him throughout the movie.

Ruriko Midorikawa

Ruriko Midorikawa

Played by: Minami Hamabe

"Your prana is your own. Take control of your soul again."

An ally of Hongo's following his augmentation. Having recently abandoned SHOCKER along with Dr. Hiroshi Midorikawa, she intends to stop SHOCKER and their activities, and has freed Hongo from SHOCKER's lab to that end.

---

• Adaptational Badass: In the original show, Ruriko was an ordinary university student whose father was wrapped up in Shocker's heinous activities. Here, Ruriko is a defecting member of SHOCKER who seeks to stop them, obtaining a firearm from the Intelligence Official to protect herself. However, one of her greatest assets against SHOCKER is her nature as a "computational organism", allowing her to create and modify SHOCKER software via prana as needed.
• Adaptational Relationship Change: Her relationship with her father Professor Midorikawa, and by extension Takeshi Hongo, is different from the original series and manga. In this film, Ruriko is distant from her father, and isn't too hung up about his death at the hands of Kumo Aug. She also doesn't blame Takeshi for failing to save him; her conflict with him is instead about whether he can really fight SHOCKER without faltering.
• Ascended Extra: While she initially presented as a major character whose father was involved in The Hero being altered and freed, Ruriko in the TV series was written out at the same time Hongo was Put on the Bus and never was as much as mentioned afterwards. Here, however, Ruriko is indisputably one of the three core characters alongside the two Riders, with her story revolving around the tragedy of the Midorikawa family.
• Artificial Human: In the film's version of her backstory, she was "born" from SHOCKER's artificial womb and says that it's the closest thing she has to a mother, meaning that Hiroshi Midorikawa being her "father" is mostly in the sense of him being involved with her creation.
• Character Catchphrase: "I told you, I'm always well-prepared."
• Composite Character: On top of the obvious similarities to Rei Ayanami, Ruriko shares background traits with the original Ruriko's Expy Mitsuko Komyoji from another Ishinomori series, Kikaider. Like Mitsuko, Ruriko cooperates with her father, and later with the title character, to fight the evil organization their are formerly part of.
• Crazy-Prepared: Ruriko often boasts of her thorough preparations in her Catchphrase, and lives up to it throughout the movie.
  • For the Koumori Aug incident, she obtains two guns and secretly equips her belt-mounted prana-manipulation device beforehand, then tricks Koumori into thinking he had successfully infected her, putting her under his control. Then, Koumori Aug flies in close, Ruriko takes the opportunity to blast a large hole in his wing, hampering his flight speed enough for Hongo to pursue him.
  • After the Hachi Aug incident, Ruriko records part of her final will to Hongo, which plays after her physical death to K.K Aug. She also adds a second part to it with more information for Hongo to use for Ichiro.
  • As part of her counter-Chou Aug plan, she disables the self-destruct system in Hongo's helmet and reprogramming it to upload his and her prana sequences if either of them dies.
  • As Hongo is fighting Hayato Ichimonji/Batta Aug-02, Ruriko prepares to free Ichimonji because she sees potential in him as an ally. Before Batta Aug-02 can finish off Hongo, she intecepts him and pariphalyzes the mind control, freeing him. She then fastens a new red scarf around his neck and implores him, "Please. Become a Rider. Help him [Hongo]."
• Death by Adaptation: The TV show's Ruriko survived for the majority of the show and disappeared in the story after the first arc. This iteration of Ruriko was killed by K.K. Aug after she removed Hayato's brainwashing. It's ultimately downplayed in that she survives as a Virtual Ghost, and makes it out of the movie alive in this state.
• Defrosting Ice Queen: Downplayed. She initially comes off as aloof and cold, but it's more of a byproduct of having been raised in a cold, unforgiving environment and having every good reason to be on edge about everything. While she's initially scornful of Hongo's kindness, she opens up rather quickly when they start building trust. It also turns out that she's as much of a Socially Awkward Heroine as Hongo is a Socially Awkward Hero; for example, she mentions how embarrassing it is to talk to herself in front of a camera as she's recording her final message.
• Didn't See That Coming: As Crazy-Prepared as Ruriko is, sometimes things happen that she isn't prepared for, either practically or emotionally.
  • Ruriko had at least one safe house set up so that she and Takeshi could hide from SHOCKER. She wasn't expecting two people from the government to sneak in, bypassing the house's security. Fortunately, these guys were interested in getting the duo's help against SHOCKER.
  • In spite of her being prepared for almost everything, even for her own death, she didn't expect a vengeful K.K. Aug—the one Augment she had no knowledge of—to go after her and Hongo. This allows K.K Aug to fatally wound her. Her message to Hongo explains that she was expecting to die much earlier, attributing her prolonged survival to Hongo.
  • Her gambit to bring Ichiro's prana sequence into Hongo's mask fails because there's only room for two prana sequences in the hardware, and Hongo's body is about to dissolve. Ichiro realizes that this, so he decides to give up his place in the mask so that Ruriko and Hongo can still live on, a choice that leaves both Midorikawa siblings on the verge of tears.
• Glowing Eyes: As a "computational organism", Ruriko's eyes glow blue when she's programming or interacting with SHOCKER technology. Her last act with this trope is to break Hayato Ichimonji's brainwashing through the "pariphalyze" program in her brain via her eyes.
• Good Is Not Soft: She's not condescending towards Hongo's kindness, recognizing that her father had chosen him for a good reason; it's just that, being Properly Paranoid, she doesn't believe that his kindness alone is going to be enough considering what they're up against. She outright tells him that wanting to protect her isn't good enough against SHOCKER. She's more willing to trust him when he likewise manages to get together the resolve to fight to protect not only her, but people in general, from SHOCKER; and later she admits that even she couldn't bring herself to have Hiromi killed.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Suggested to be her intention when telling Ichiro that they can be together again via preserving his soul within Hongo's helmet, only for Ichiro to notice that Ruriko left out the fact that only two souls can co-exist within the helmet and refusing her offer on the grounds of being unable to lose anyone else. This implies that Ruriko was willing to extinguish her own soul to save her brother's.
• I Just Want to Be Loved: In her final message, Ruriko shows Takeshi a family picture of the Midorikawa family—Hiroshi, Shoko, and Ichiro with a motorcycle—and admits to him that she had wished to be in that photo herself, and thus envied Ichiro. She then reveals that she understands the feeling Ichiro got when he rode behind his father, as a result of riding behind Takeshi on his motorcycle. She doesn't specify why, but one could infer that she saw Takeshi as another elder-brother figure.
• In the Back: How K.K Aug kills her (physically speaking, at least), stabbing her while hidden in his Invisibility Cloak. The film seems to imply she'd let her guard down once she'd freed Ichimonji from his brainwashing, thinking that she only had two incapacitated Batta Augs—one of them being partner-in-crime Hongo, whom she was less guarded around—present.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Despite her upbringing within SHOCKER leaving her cynical and often harsh, Ruriko is this at her core.
  • During the Hachi Aug arc, despite stating her intentions to eliminate her, she tries to convince Hiromi/Hachi Aug, the closest thing she had to a friend in SHOCKER, to leave the Organization. Hongo's decision to spare Hiromi of his Rider Kick is because he knew Ruriko didn't want Hiromi dead, which Ruriko soon confirms.
  • Likewise, when Ichimonji/Batta Aug-02 forces the reluctant Hongo to fight him, Ruriko gets to work on a program to "pariphalyze" SHOCKER's Mind Control over Ichimonji, recognizing Ichimonji's potential as an ally against SHOCKER and wanting to save him—just as Hongo does.
• Multiple-Choice Past: According to the movie itself, she's an Artificial Human born from SHOCKER's artificial womb; but in the prequel manga, she's an adopted orphan who was augmented in order to save her from brain damage. Although this is later Subverted, with the revelation that Ruriko's backstory was fabricated by Hiroshi Midorikawa to hide her true nature as an Artificial Human from Ichiro.
• Ms. Exposition: Recounts the history of SHOCKER's founding and frequently explains the inner workings of the organization to Hongo and the government men, and thus the audience by extension.
• Nerves of Steel: Even when threatened with the prospect of Kumo Aug gouging out her eyes with his thumbs, Ruriko betrays no fear to him.
• The Not-Love Interest: When asked by Ichiro, Hongo says very matter-of-factly that he and Ruriko are not in a romantic relationship, but they do have trust in each other.
• Not So Stoic: Ruriko starts off very emotionally restrained, a result of her upbringing within SHOCKER. According to Anno, she starts to exhibit more of her buried humanity as she interacts with Hongo.
  • In the government-provided safehouse, an upset Ruriko suddenly exclaims that there's almost nothing here, complaining that she needs a shower and a change of clothes, and even snapping at Hongo for not getting his body armor cleaned. On the other hand, when Hongo reassures her that she is safe and secure here, Ruriko loosens up, the foreign notion of being "safe and secure" for the first time in her life putting a smile on her face.
  • Ruriko is audibly gasping and sobbing after K.K Aug mortally wounds her.
• Properly Paranoid: She had to set up at least a few safe houses to hide from SHOCKER following her defection, afraid that they would find and neutralize her shortly after leaving.
• Recurring Element: In a similar vein as other female leads with connections to the main villains before like Kyoko Akizuki, Yui Kanzaki, Tokime, and Tsukuyomi, this version of Ruriko brings it full-circle by being connected to her older step-brother Ichiro, who is the Big Bad of this film.
• Sacrificial Lion: She is assassinated by K.K. Aug right after she undoes Hayato's brainwashing. However, she transfers her prana into Takeshi's helmet, allowing her soul to survive. Tachibana then reveals that Ruriko's prana was transferred off the mask and into a secure location after the Final Battle, per Hongo's request.
• Sawed-Off Shotgun: Hides one underneath her Badass Longcoat during her confrontation with Koumori Aug, drawing it and blowing a hole through one of his wings after taking him by surprise.
• Unrelated in the Adaptation: The manga prequel's version of her backstory is that she's the adopted girl of Hiroshi who survived from an accident and sustained a brain damage caused by one of SHOCKER's researchers along with her real parents were killed in that tragedy. Due to this, she ended up being turned into an augment in order to save her.This was Subverted later on, as she was, in fact, a computational organism made by SHOCKER imbued with Hiroshi's genes, making her related to the Midorikawas after all.

Hayato Ichimonji/Kamen Rider No. 2

Hayato Ichimonji, a.k.a. Batta Augment-02 (Grasshopper-Aug Number 2)/Kamen Rider No. 2 (Masked Rider Number Two), Kamen Rider No. 2 + 1

Played by: Tasuku Emoto

I just became SHOCKER's enemy. Humanity's ally. I'm Hayato Ichimonji. And... I'm Kamen Rider."

A photojournalist, Hayato Ichimonji suffers the same fate as Hongo, when SHOCKER turns him into a second grasshopper-based "augmented human".

Tropes that apply to him in general

• Adaptational Dye-Job: Unlike the original character's TV show appearance, actor Tasuku Emoto had his hair dyed brown for his incarnation of Hayato Ichimonji.
• Adaptational Early Appearance: In Ishinomori's manga, in the moment he appears while brainwashed, he was part of the Shocker Riders. In this film, he appears shortly after Kumo Aug's defeat, before the SHOCKER Riders are introduced. Though Hongo only encounters him after Hachi Aug's death.
• Adaptational Relationship Change: In the TV show, Ichimonji and Ruriko never meet, since the latter suffered Chuck Cunningham Syndrome when she was Put on a Bus. In this film, Ichimonji is saved from his brainwashing by Ruriko, whom he refers to as "ojou-san" ("missy" in the English subtitling), and defeats the K.K Aug in retaliation for mortally wounding Ruriko while he was incapacitated.
• The Aloner: While he's willing to fight SHOCKER as he chooses, he's reluctant to do it by cooperating with the Japanese government, as Hongo and Ruriko have. However, he's willing to set that aside for a good cause.
  • A monologue from Ichimonji that was trimmed from the film reveals that he's worried that the government will take an interest in prana and its applications once SHOCKER is eliminated, and the potential betrayal from the government that could result.
  • It turns out, Hayato isn't okay with being alone; he's just been alone so long that he's resigned to it. So learning that Takeshi and Ruriko are both still alive, if in the form of prana sequences, comes as a relief to Hayato.
• Ambiguous Situation: Of the three protagonists, he has the least amount of exposition on his personal life compared to Hongo and Ruriko. As such, it's not known what qualified him in I's perspective to make him a SHOCKER soldier, let alone a SHOCKER Augment, a "privilege" only given to members who had been subjected to the deepest despair, such as Kumo Aug and Ichiro/Chou Aug.
• Badass Biker: Much like Hongo, Ichimonji is also an avid motorcycler. In his case, he's ridden a motorcycle while in South America and Africa, as revealed in bonus material.
• Brainwashed and Crazy: When SHOCKER augments Ichimonji into their second Batta Augment, they put him under their control to prevent him from going rogue, as Hongo had before him. However, despite the resulting negative changes, Ichimonji occasionally mentions that something about this isn't right, hinting that he subconsciously resisting his brainwashing, which Ruriko and Hongo both realize.
• The Brute: By far the strongest of Ichiro's subordinates, being the only Augment that actually manages to defeat Hongo before subjecting K.K Aug to a Curb-Stomp Battle immediately after his Heel–Face Turn.
• Camera Fiend: It only happens once, but Ichimonji carries a Minolta 16 Ps, a small camera. It's near-identical to the Minolta 16 that TV-show Ichimonji was introduced with in Episode 14.
• Cursed with Awesome: In contrast to Hongo, Ichimonji isn't particularly bothered by his newfound superhuman abilities once he's freed from SHOCKER's brainwashing, explaining that he's spent his entire life seeking justice through his work as a journalist and that he'll now revel in the chance to fight evil on a physical level. Perhaps helped that his first on-screen kill is of K.K Aug, after the halfway point of the film.
• Despair Event Horizon: He comes rather close to going over it after Hongo dies in the Final Battle, making him feel more alone than before—especially since he'd made the decision to work with Hongo, only for Hongo to effectively leave him alone. It's not until Tachibana and Taki find him, with Hongo's helmet with Hongo's soul inside and the revelation that Ruriko's soul is also safe elsewhere, that Ichimonji is pulled back from the brink.
• Determinator: Ruriko notes that his strong willpower allows him to resist SHOCKER's brainwashing to a certain extent. Once free and having joined Hongo as one half of the Double Riders, Ichimonji demonstrates his fighting spirit in the battle against Ichiro Midorikawa, refusing to back down even after a vicious Curb-Stomp Battle and having both arms broken, finally ending the battle by smashing his head into Ichiro's helmet to shatter it.
  Ichimonji: Whatever it takes!
• Expository Pronoun: Unlike the more polite and withdrawn Hongo, Ichimonji refers to himself with the more direct and confident ore (俺).
• Foil: To Takeshi Hongo, especially after being freed of his brainwashing by Ruriko. Ichimonji is a more outgoing and personable guy than the withdrawn Hongo. He's also less formal; when Hongo refers to him as "Ichimonji-kun", Ichimonji insists on dropping the -kun honorific.
• Friendly Enemy: Despite being introduced as the second Batta Aug, he maintains some semblance of friendly rivalry with Hongo, who he's been ordered to destroy. He goes so far as to play fair with Hongo during their duel. Compare this with his more Jerkass counterpart in the First-Next duology.
• Healing Factor: Ichiro breaks both of Ichimonji’s arms during the final battle, disabling them for the rest of the climax. In the scene that immediately follows, both arms are fully functional.
• Henshin Hero: As is always the case with Kamen Rider. Just like his original counterpart, Ichimonji is the first person in the film to utter the word "henshin".
• Intrepid Reporter: Before SHOCKER got its hands on him and turned him into an Augment, Hayato was a journalist with a strong sense of justice. The SHOCKER Side prequel manga reveals that he was inspired by his father, who was one himself.
  Hayato: My specialty used to be pens and cameras. [snaps Hongo's photo with his Minolta camera] I exposed evil. The truth was my weapon. When you fight evil, the whole world wins.
• It's All My Fault: Ichimonji blames himself for Ruriko's death, an event that nobody had seen coming; though Hongo assures him that he isn't the one at fault.
• The Rival: Acts as one while brainwashed, in the fight between himself and Hongo.
• Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: The Manly Man to Hongo's Sensitive Guy, not only being much more outgoing but also having an almost enthusiastic reaction to his transformation into an Augment, eagerly deciding to fight evil with his new powers; a contrast to Hongo's traumatized reaction to the killings he commits and overall Reluctant Warrior nature. Notably, Hongo bows his head in silence after the Double Riders dispatch the SHOCKER Riders, with the previously flippant Ichimonji joining him out of respect.
• Stepford Smiler: Before parting ways with Hongo, he makes this comment with a grin: "You can enjoy solitude on a bike. That's what I like about 'em." The next time Ichimonji appears, however, he's watching Hongo heading to confront Ichiro with a forlorn look on his face.
• Tragic Keepsake: Gains a red scarf from Ruriko, who he only knows as the "ojou-san/missy" who saved his soul and had been unable to save from the K.K Aug; and later receives Takeshi Hongo's helmet, with Hongo's soul inside.
• Use Your Head: Ichiro breaks both of Ichimonji's arms during the final battle, taking him out of the fight until Hongo provides an opening for Ichimonji, who smashes his head into Ichiro's in order to break the latter's helmet, shattering his own in the process and setting the stage for his inheritance of Hongo's helmet.
• Victory by Endurance: Being a better-quality Augment than Hongo whose upgrades include a much more efficient means of gathering prana, and not wasting his prana thoughtlessly on shows of force like Ichiro does, Ichimonji ends up being the only survivor of the final battle simply by outlasting both his enemy and his ally.
• Walking Spoiler: While his Heel–Face Turn is a Foregone Conclusion, the circumstances of it and the events that follow are significant plot developments for the final act of the film.

Tropes exclusive to him as Batta Augment-02 (Grasshopper-Aug Number 2)/Kamen Rider No. 2

^Spoiler: Kamen Rider No. 2 + 1, the 2-in-1 Kamen Rider

• Animal Themed Super Being: Grasshoppers. Befitting the second Batta Augment, Ichimonji has the same abilities as his predecessor.
• Armor Is Useless: Averted. Ichimonji himself notes to Hongo that both of their suits protected them from the worst of the SHOCKER Riders' Cyclone Action Bomb attack.
• Bare-Fisted Monk: Like his original incarnation, as well as the majority of Showa era Kamen Riders, Ichimonji primarily fights hand-to-hand.
• By the Power of Grayskull!: Like his original counterpart, Ichimonji triggers his Typhoon and activates his full Augment abilities by uttering "henshin". This surprises Hongo, who needs to allow his suit to take in wind in order to transform.
• Cool Bike:
  • As Hongo’s intended Superior Successor, Ichimonji has his own Cyclone, which allows him to chase down and intercept Hongo and Ruriko when they flee from Ichiro’s base of operations. During the climax, Ichimonji dispatches one SHOCKER Rider by ramming into him wheel-first, then uses it alongside Hongo’s Cyclone as an Action Bomb to destroy Ichiro’s throne.
  • As Kamen Rider 2+1, Ichimonji receives a new Cyclone from the government, it’s design being an update of the Shin Cyclone that appeared in the later episodes of the original series.
• Finishing Move: The Rider Kick, as always. The first one Ichimonji executes, which dispatches K.K Aug, differs from Hongo's in a few regards, being more of a straightforward martial arts flying kick that sends his opponent flying backwards, a la Kamen Rider BLACK, rather than a Diving Kick. During the climax, he and Hongo perform the Rider Double Kick to destroy the last of the SHOCKER Riders, only for it to receive the Worf Barrage treatment when used against Ichiro Midorikawa.
• Fusion Dance: Sort of. After donning Hongo's repainted helmet that houses his consciousness, Ichimonji and Hongo continue their battles as Kamen Rider No. 2+1 at the end of the film.
• Lightning Bruiser: By far the most physically strong Augment and can match Hongo's speed in a Pummel Duel.
• In a Single Bound: Just like Batta Augment-01/Kamen Rider and demonstrated in spectacular fashion during their Mirror Match.
• Meaningful Rename: Like Hongo, Ichimonji introduces himself as Kamen Rider to K.K Aug after being freed from SHOCKER's brainwashing and later takes on the Kamen Rider No. 2 title during his Big Damn Heroes moment against the SHOCKER Riders, with Hongo noting that this makes them the Double Riders.
• Mythology Gag: As Kamen Rider No. 2+1, Ichimonji wears a suit that heavily resembles the Shin/New design both Hongo and Ichimonji sported later on in the original series, receiving the double stripe line patterns of New 1 while ditching the red gloves and boots for metallic black ones instead.
• Removed Achilles' Heel: In addition to his generally superior strength, Ichimonji has a major advantage that his Typhoon no longer requires him to be exposed to high-speed winds in order to gather prana to transform, a weakness that plagues Hongo on a few occasions throughout the film.
• Superior Successor: SHOCKER created him to be a far stronger version of Batta Aug compared to Hongo, as the Batta Augment-02's purpose is to replace and battle the escaped Hongo.
• Super-Strength: Stated to be even stronger than the first Batta Augment/Kamen Rider.
• Take Up My Sword: Or helmet in this case, after Hongo dies physically, he takes his helmet not only to honor him and keep up the fight against SHOCKER, but has Hongo's uploaded consciousness on it acting as his guide, turning himself into the 2-in-1 Kamen Rider, similar to the manga.

Allies

Hiroshi Midorikawa

Professor Hiroshi Midorikawa

Played by: Shinya Tsukamoto

"You [Hongo], are the masterpiece of an insect-based human augmentation project."

A college professor and scientist in the SHOCKER organization. He and his research group are responsible for turning Takeshi Hongo into the Batta Augment-01, while secretly giving him the freedom that both Low-Class Members and later Augs lack.

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• Adaptational Relationship Change: He seems more distant from his own daughter Ruriko in this film than he was in the original show and the manga, introducing her to Hongo after explaining Hongo's new Augment body and his reasons for choosing Hongo in the first place.
• Adaptational Villainy: In the original series, Doctor Midorikawa was forced by Shocker to do their altered-human research, only transforming Hongo into Kamen Rider out of desperation. In this film, he's a previously willing member of SHOCKER's research teams who became a Defector from Decadence. Despite his Heel–Face Turn, he had Takeshi Hongo augmented in the first place, claiming to the man's face "because you wanted it". Sure, the doctor wanted Hongo to do some good with it, but it doesn't change the fact that he ruined a young man's life and forcibly conscripted him into his personal war against SHOCKER. Notably, Midorikawa in the original series apologized to Hongo for turning him into a cyborg, whereas this incarnation justifies his premeditated actions by citing Hongo's apparent desire for power.
• Commonality Connection: This version of Dr. Midorikawa is shown to have had an interest in motorycles, adding another element to his relationship with Hongo. Midorikawa originally shared this interest in motorcycles with his own son, Ichiro.
• Establishing Character Moment: When he enters the abandoned shack to explain what Takeshi is now, he first calls him "the masterpiece" of SHOCKER's insect-hybrid augmentation project. Then, as he explains that Takeshi can revert back to human form by releasing the prana still in his system, Midorikawa doesn't verbally indicate to Hongo what piece of his suit he needs to interact with to do so. Instead, Midorikawa walks over to him, takes hold of the Typhoon belt's release device and activates it—without Takeshi's permission or protest. This shows how little regard Midorikawa holds towards others, and how what he does has a drastic negative effect.
• Hazy-Feel Turn: Although he turns against SHOCKER and puts his faith in Hongo to bring the organization down and to protect countless innocents, he's still unrepentantly proud of him as his "finest creation" as an Augment and doesn't apologize for turning him into a killing machine.
• The Lost Lenore: His wife Shoko, who was left braindead after a random knife attack and eventually succumbed to her injuries. Hiroshi's independent research failing to save her life provokes him into joining SHOCKER, bringing along his son Ichiro.
• Mad Scientist: A more clear-cut example compared to his original Reluctant Mad Scientist counterpart, not only having joined SHOCKER out of his own free will after his wife’s death, but also inducting his own son Ichiro into the organisation and adopting a Brainwashing for the Greater Good philosophy in the SHOCKER SIDE manga. While he seems to have outgrown that mindset by the time of the film’s events, Dr. Midorikawa still seems to regard his conversion of Hongo into an Augment with a twisted sense of pride.
• Mr. Exposition: Explains the nature of Prana and the exact mechanisms of Hongo's suit.
• Reed Richards Is Useless: According to Ruriko, Hiroshi turned against SHOCKER when he realized that he was Reed Richards. The fatal flaw of his Prana-based Rider System is that while it grants the bearer superhuman abilities and replaces nearly all of their bodily needs with Prana absorbed from the air, it's dependent on the existence of a much larger number of normal humans to generate that atmospheric Prana, making it impossible to augment more than a handful of people, who would nonetheless sustain themselves by forcefully consuming the Prana of other humans, leading to the extinction of the human race.
• Small Role, Big Impact: To a greater extent than even his original counterpart, who set the events of the entire series in motion by transforming Hongo into Kamen Rider and freeing him from Shocker's grasp. This film's incarnation not only retains his previous role in setting up Hongo as a Phlebotinum Rebel, but he is also revealed to have been the pioneer of SHOCKER's research into Prana, the basis of the Augment's superhuman abilities and a critical element of the Big Bad's Habitat Project. Moreover, Dr. Midorikawa's daughter Ruriko plays a much greater role in the narrative and the aforementioned Big Bad is revealed to be his son Ichiro. Despite being killed by Kumo Aug within the first ten minutes of the film, Dr. Midorikawa’s legacy casts a large shadow over the events that follow his death.

The Government Official

Tachibana

Played by: Yutaka Takenouchi

"You are now officially members of the Anti-SHOCKER Alliance."

A government official on "janitorial duty", and one of the members of the Anti-SHOCKER Alliance.

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• Adaptational Job Change: The original Tobei Tachibana from the TV series was Hongo's racing coach, while in the manga he was ostensibly Hongo's caretaker following the deaths of the latter's parents. Here, he is a Japanese government official investigating SHOCKER.
• Adaptational Personality Change: While the original Tachibana was an Eccentric Mentor and often played the role of Plucky Comic Relief, the film's incarnation is a more straight-laced Reasonable Authority Figure, much like Yutaka Takenouchi's previous Shin Japan Heroes Universe role as Hideki Akasaka.
• Adaptational Relationship Change: Because of the above mentioned Adaptational Job Change, this version of Tachibana had no prior connection to Hongo before the latter's augmentation and escape.
• Badass Bureaucrat: Doesn't get directly involved in any of the fighting, but his influence and resources are pivotal for the Anti-SHOCKER Alliance's activities.
• Composite Character: Has more in common with the leaders of the Anti-Shocker Alliance from the original series, being the ringleader of a government sanctioned effort of the same name in this film.
• The Men in Black: A mysterious black-suited government official with various intelligence and paramilitary forces at his disposal.
• An Offer You Can't Refuse: Gives an Implied Death Threat when Ruriko asks what would happen if she and Hongo refused to cooperate with the government. That said, should they agree, the government official would make sure that they are not killed.
• Pet the Dog: Despite being a straight-laced government official that Ruriko is initially rather wary of, he has a few moments of kindness, such as stating that Hongo's All-Loving Hero nature is both a weakness and his greatest strength, then later reassures Hongo that he will find a way to overcome his grief after Ruriko's death and during a conversation regarding the circumstances of his father's murder. Additionally, Tachibana honors Hongo's wishes to transfer Ruriko's consciousness to a safe location and give Hongo's own helmet to Ichimonji.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: In addition to working alongside Hongo and Ruriko without any major complications, Tachibana also ends up forming a partnership with Ichimonji when he takes up the mantle as Kamen Rider, giving his own name and Taki's when Ichimonji remarks that he doesn't trust people without names.
• Those Two Guys: Never seen without Taki by his side.

The Intelligence Official

Taki

Played by: Takumi Saitoh

"When you need to contact us, hold up your hand. We'll be watching 24/7."

An intelligence agent and one of the members of the Anti-SHOCKER Alliance.

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• Adaptational Jerkass: Whereas the original Taki was a stalwart ally to both Kamen Riders and a friendly Boisterous Bruiser, this version is much colder, expressing annoyance at Hongo's All-Loving Hero nature.
• Adaptational Job Change: The original Taki was an independent FBI agent. Here, he is an intelligence official from the Japanese government (presumably the PSIA), working with Tachibana to investigate and stop SHOCKER.
• Badass Normal: Downplayed compared to his original counterpart, who regularly fought Shocker's Mooks and Monster of the Week in hand-to-hand combat, but this version of Taki is still a combat capable intelligence agent who seemingly doubles as Tachibana's bodyguard. He even kills Hachi Aug, although Taki did admittedly have an advantage through her overconfidence that she was Immune to Bullets, unaware that Taki's handgun was loaded with anti-Augment bullets that made use of Sasori Aug's venom.
• Bad Guys Do the Dirty Work: While not quite a clear-cut "bad guy", Taki and the government forces he answers to are rather morally dubious and add a Black-and-Gray Morality element to the conflict with SHOCKER. Taki ends up being the one who kills Hachi Aug when Hongo refuses to do so, additionally revealing that the government has developed anti-Augment weapons derived from Sasori Aug's venom. He later tells Ruriko (who was upset about this in the moment, but decided to calm down) that for people like him, "[b]eing hated is part of the job."
• The Comically Serious: In a rare moment of levity when giving Ruriko new clothes to change into, Taki feels the need to clarify that a female agent picked them out and that he hasn't seen her underwear, all while maintaining his usual serious demeanour.
• Depleted Phlebotinum Shells: Kills Hachi Aug with a specially engineered bullet containing Sasori Aug's confiscated venom.
• Everyone Has Standards: Despite his stoicism, the Intelligence Official has to briefly look away from live bodycam feeds of special forces killing Sasori Aug.
• Jerkass Has a Point: He's more clinical about it rather than being mean, but he tells Ruriko not to bottle up her emotions.
• The Men in Black: As a mysterious black-suited intelligence agent who exercises constant surveillance over the heroes via a network of Spies In a Van, this version of Taki certainly fits the mold alongside Tachibana.
• The Stoic: Probably the biggest example in the film, never demonstrating any moments of tenderness that Ruriko or even his superior Tachibana have.
• Those Two Guys: Always accompanies Tachibana.

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SHOCKER

In General

"If You Want To Be Happy, Be"

SHOCKER motto, from a Leo Tolstoy quote

Sustainable Happiness Organization with Computational Knowledge Embedded Remodeling, better known as SHOCKER, is a shadowy institution whose mission statement is "happiness for humanity".

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• Anarcho-Tyranny: Downplayed as it isn't a government of any sort, but SHOCKER is only centralized in terms of developing transhuman technology and recruiting prospective members, completely lacking a clear hierarchy besides the authority the Augments hold over the Low-Class Members. As such, the purpose of the organization as a whole is to transform recruits into a superhuman augments and allow them to do as they please to obtain joy. The only thing that seems to be punished is betrayal of any sort, which includes trying to overtake the AI or opposing SHOCKER directly, with Kumo Aug acting as the executioner of said traitors. Other than that, individuals are free to do as they wish with their augmented personas within reason.
• Affably Evil: The organization was reated to bring happiness to humans who are in the depths of despair, so some member are more cordial than expeceted. In the SHOCKER SIDE manga, members like Sasori, Ivan Tawanovitch and K are openly friendly with others, with Sasori in particular having no problem interacting with civilians outside of SHOCKER's criminal enterprises.
• Animal Themed Super Being: Like the usual Kamen Rider organization, SHOCKER gives its members the opportunity (if they are Augments) to choose what animal they want to be themed and modified to resemble.
• Animorphism: Downplayed; Augments, in their Prana-enhanced states, turn into crude facsimiles of their selected animals, in a similar manner to the original show. Koumori and Sasori are the most obvious examples, the former being a full on Bat Person while the latter has a scorpion pincer replacing her entire left arm. Kumo also possesses six arms, giving him the characteristic eight limbs of a spider, and his appearance under the costume, as revealed in the SHOCKER SIDE manga, is essentially a modernized update of his original counterpart’s design. The Phase Variation Batta Augments have also been altered to an even greater extent than the other Augments, with a glimpse of one’s face revealing an outright insectoid appearance reminiscent of Kamen Rider Shin.
• Applied Phlebotinum: Prana as a whole seems poorly defined in terms of its capabilities and limitations (other than the fact that overdosing on it can kill an Augment). It seems to mainly physically empower (or simply power the cybernetics) of the Augments and Low-Class Members. Certain insect-based Augments, such as Kamen Rider and Hachi Aug, occasionally generate wings of Prana energy, and Ichiro Midorikawa is able to directly harness Prana energy both offensively and defensively in a manner similar to Ki Manipulation.
• Ax-Crazy: Turns out, hand-picking people who are in deep despair means recruiting people who tend to be on the Misanthrope Supreme side.
• Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: While Shin Godzilla dealt with a largely mindless force of nature corrupted by nuclear contamination and Shin Ultraman involved conflicts between extraterrestrials possessing technology and abilities beyond our understanding, SHOCKER is very much a human threat reminiscent of a criminal secret society or terrorist organization, albeit a very high-tech one that delves into Transhuman Treachery.
• Cut Lex Luthor a Check: Attempted by the Faust faction within SHOCKER during the prequel manga, but a coup lead by Ivan Tawanovitch, who abides by the organization's original purpose of seeking happiness for mankind, puts an end to their profit-driven methods.
• Cult: Despite not being made with religious intentions, SHOCKER is said to be by the Japanese government's file, to thrive on its biased view of allowing people to cope from despair. The A.I.s allow any non-Low Class Member to indulge in their own desires no matter how malicious, merely by the fact that they are happy while doing so. The file says that SHOCKER uses brain surgery and Prana to brainwash people into having no free will, while acting as saviors for those that are on deep despair. These controlling tendencies and focusing on flawed rhetoric, seems to be a perfect fit for a cult, even if secular. One could almost call it a hedonistic secret society.
• Enemy Civil War: The SHOCKER SIDE prequel manga primarily revolves around a conflict within the organization, the Midorikawas finding themselves aligned with K and Ivan Tawanovitch's "Despair Faction" against the Corrupt Corporate Executive members of front company Faust, then SHOCKER's American branch, lead by this setting's counterpart to Colonel Zol.
• For Happiness: Outright stated in their Fun with Acronyms name.
  • The organization's motto, "If You Want To Be Happy, Be", comes from Leo Tolstoy, about how one's happiness begins not from external factors, but from within one's own mind.
• Fun with Acronyms: In this film, SHOCKER's name is an acronym that stands for Sustainable Happiness Organization with Computational Knowledge Embedded Remodeling.
• The Ghost: Certain individuals belonging to the organization, such as the members of the Shinigami Group and the newly created Cobra Augment, are mentioned in the film through dialogue, but never seen. Dialogue between Ruriko and Hachi Aug that was cut from the final film also mentions this setting's counterpart to Sarracenian, who would have been a Posthumous Character due to the fatal results of an attempted human-plant mutation.
• Monster of the Week: Since the movie is an adaptation of a show that ran on this format, the SHOCKER Augments face Hongo one at a time with breaks in-between most of them. The film goes to greater lengths to justify the format than its source material: since SHOCKER is a Nebulous Criminal Conspiracy comprised of hedonists each pursuing their own happiness, rather than a Nebulous Evil Organization with a unified driving goal, the Augments only fight Hongo one at a time because they mostly don't notice or care what he does to any of the others, and instead he's the one actively pursuing them to each of their individual lairs.
• Nebulous Criminal Conspiracy: Just like their original-series counterpart, SHOCKER are the sinister organization that the Kamen Riders must fight. It is a reconstruction of sorts in the manga prequel at least; SHOCKER is portrayed as persuasive because It gives some members exactly what they want. This includes giving them superhuman abilities or funding for scientific projects without moral oversights. Whatever the case, SHOCKER is willing to recruit anyone who may have some use to them, such as genuine idealists who want to create a better world, regular criminals, and black marketeers, and occasionally resorts to simple brainwashing to induct new members. However, unlike in the original series, it notably does not have a single, unified goal to Take Over the World, meaning that its executives basically operate independently for their own individual "happiness" rather than working together, collaborating only in the sense of having friendly relations or supporting the overall organization.
• N.G.O. Superpower: SHOCKER is essentially an underground organization that engages in all sorts of scientific experimentation and the development of technology that they employ for their own use, with branches all over the world. In the prequel manga, they are shown to engage in human trafficking and supply weapons to several militaries around the world through their front company, although it is mentioned that such activities were halted after the Despair Faction's victory over the executives aligned with Faust in the Enemy Civil War.
• No Name Given: The Low-Class Members, most of the Augments, and even the founder of SHOCKER don't have their names given in the film.
• No Swastikas: This version of SHOCKER lacks the original's Nazi ties. While this setting's version of Colonel Zol, known as Wolfson, is introduced in the later chapters of the prequel manga, he is portrayed as a SHOCKER executive with neo-Nazi fantasies rather than an actual former military officer of Nazi Germany. Furthermore, the swastika itself is totally absent in said Nazi fantasy.◊
• Peace & Love Incorporated: Thought not a company, SHOCKER seems to use some as fronts for funding, creating and testing their creations, like Faust. They may still count as this trope in a broader sense, since they mainly advertise the fact that they want to create a world where happiness itself is sustainable.
• Prohuman Transhuman: One of the few examples in fiction that are treated in a Well-Intentioned Extremist antagonistic/negative light. They were created with the ideal of advancing the human race and creating a world where happiness for mankind is "sustainable", but as shown in the movie, their methods are misguided at best and homicidally self-serving at worst.
• Standard Evil Organization Squad: The Augments, Shocker's executives who each run their own operations.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: Unlike most interpretations of Shocker in Kamen Rider media (including whatever successor they have), this version in the film was created to make world a better place. With some confirmed members like K and Ivan Tawanovitch, psychologically profiling individuals who have suffered the harshness of society, but their methods are almost exclusively criminal enterprises. There is also the fact that they take some members against their will to brainwash into their agents, like the Double Riders. And on top of that, them pursuing "happiness" isn't intended for everyone, but only the few hand-picked by K on the grounds of them being in despair; the high-ranking members are allowed to pursue "happiness" for themselves and anyone else they choose by any means they wish, regardless of how morally depraved it is.
• Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: Invoked. K prioritizes the recruitment of individuals who have experienced great suffering, to the point where his group had been dubbed the "Despair Faction" by other power players within the organization. The Midorikawa family was drawn into SHOCKER after the death of Shoko, Hiroshi's wife and Ichiro's mother, while Kumo Aug and Sasori Aug are both revealed to have gone through a Dark and Troubled Past.

Low-Class Members

SHOCKER Low-Class Members

The foot soldiers of the SHOCKER organization.

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• Brainwashed and Crazy: Each and every one has had their individual will wiped out, which the prequel manga reveals was a process based on Dr. Midorikawa's own research.
• Empty Shell: Though they willingly gave their lives to SHOCKER's cause, the Low-Class personnel have no true will of their own. They don't seem to be able to speak and carry out their tasks with a coordinated silence that is almost robotic.
• Faceless Mooks: Every Low-Class Member has their face concealed under what seems to be a plastic mask with a star like pattern and a beret.
• Guns Are Worthless: The Low-Class Members disguised as SAT officers in the film's opening scene carry submachine guns, but none of them are able to even fire off a shot before Hongo appears in his Batta Augment form and literally tears them apart.^note A sequence cut from the final film does show several of them firing point-blank at Hongo's helmet, to no effect.
• Mook: They are this to SHOCKER. Their title is merely a fancy way of saying that they serve the Augments, who generally stand over them on the ladder.
• Normal Fish in a Tiny Pond: The SHOCKER scientist who augmented them, Ivan Tawanovitch, says they are stronger than regular humans. As seen in the movie, the Augments are just superior to the Low-Class Members in every way that matters physically.
• Shield-Bearing Mook: Sasori Aug's female Mooks carry bulletproof shields, which are able withstand direct rifle fire.
• Shock Stick: The ones that Kumo Aug sics on Hongo during the fight at the dam employ these and manage to briefly stun Kamen Rider when using them in concert, but he quickly breaks out and even pulls a No-Sell when the last remaining Mook tries to attack on his lonesome.
• The Voiceless: Unlike the TV show's combatants, the Low-Class Members never speak or even vocalize, with the exception of Sasori Aug's female Mooks, who pay homage to the Giggling Villain female combatants from Scorpion Man's episode.

Kumo Aug

Kumo Augment-01 (Spider-Aug), a.k.a. Masa

Played by: Nao Omori (voice actor), Hayate Kashiwazaki (suit actor)

"Death to traitors. That is my job."

The first SHOCKER augmented human that Kamen Rider and Ruriko deal with in the film. His job is to eliminate traitors of the organization. The prequel manga reveals him to have been one of Ichiro Midorikawa's first friends within SHOCKER.

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• A Day In The Lime Light: Receives considerable focus in the prequel manga, which delves into his backstory and relationships with the other members of SHOCKER, but is ultimately a Starter Villain for Hongo and is dispatched with a Rider Kick early on in the film, albeit only after killing Dr. Midorikawa.
• Adaptational Sexuality: Revealed in the prequel manga to be gay, having been in love with another boy named Kousuke, whose suicide provoked his current Misanthrope Supreme sentiment and resulting attempts to rid himself of his own humanity, as he blames himself for not defending Kousuke from the persecution that drove him to suicide.
• Animal Themed Super Being: Spiders. On top of his costume design, Kumo Aug shoots high-strength webbing from his helmet and can produce four additional arms for a total of eight limbs.
• Bad Boss: Blows up two trucks driven by his own Low-Class Member Mooks in order to corner Hongo and Ruriko during the opening chase scene. When Hongo unwittingly transforms into the Batta Augment and rescues Ruriko, Kumo simply leaves while the rest of his henchmen are torn apart by Hongo. During their confrontation at the dam, Kumo is more impressed than anything at the violence inflicted on the Mooks Kumo had sicced on Kamen Rider earlier and suggests that Hongo takes joy in killing humans like he does, implying that his lack of care towards the Low-Class Members stems from his Misanthrope Supreme and Super Supremacist mindset.
• Berserk Button: Seeing his real face and betraying SHOCKER's ideals cause his already caustic attitude to become murderous.
• Combat Parkour: His fighting style is based around acrobatics, allowing him to dodge Kamen Rider's strikes with ease.
• Combat Pragmatist: During his first encounter with the much stronger Batta Augment, Kumo Aug simply leaves the scene after placing a Tracking Device on Ruriko. When the duo meet with Dr. Midorikawa, Kumo only reveals himself after the condensed Prana within Hongo has been released, which leaves him in a much weaker state than his Batta Aug form.
• Drone Deployer: Kumo supplements his Augment abilities with the use of spider robots that serve a variety of roles, from Action Bombs to hidden Tracking Devices that he plants on Ruriko, which additionally knock her out through unknown means, allowing Kumo to capture her alive.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: During his battle against Hongo, Kumo Aug demands to know why Kamen Rider doesn't share the "happiness" that SHOCKER is trying to create, despite being an Augment himself.
  Kumo Aug: [rough translation] You are also an Augment. So why?! Why don't you understand this happiness?!
• Evil Virtues: Despite being a monster in mind and body, Kumo is capable of human kindness, loyalty, and the willingness to protect children. He is loyal to SHOCKER to a fanatical degree and, despite his expressed hatred of humans, he treats Ichiro Midorikawa with patience and a certain degree of affection, as he's one of the few who'd approach him as a friend, and even states that despite him despising humans, he does want to keep children safe. This may have come to be because he saved his life during a fight against a SHOCKER traitor, which demonstrates that Kumo is also capable of gratefulness towards those that are kind to him, though, once he undergoes further augmentation, he loses those virtues altogether.
• Faux Affably Evil: His tone and manner of speech is polite, his mannerisms somewhat show a exaggerated classiness (putting his hands constantly behind his back and sitting in a car while crossing his legs). But overall his cordial mannerisms are for the most part, just part his smug superiority complex. Kumo is fully gleeful of his posthuman nature and overall mocks any who are human or fight for humanity.
• Facial Horror: Before he got further augments, his entire face was burned as a result of deliberate self-harm.
• Foil: To Kamen Rider. Whereas Takeshi is able to change between his Augment form and human forms, Kumo Aug's transformation is permanent, reflecting their relation to their humanity. Kumo even chides Hongo for reverting to his human appearance, a process that leaves him relatively weaker than his Augment form.
• Fragile Speedster: Is incredibly agile and effortlessly dodges all of Kamen Rider's strikes, but once he's helpless in the air, he goes down in a single Rider Kick from Hongo.
• Fully-Embraced Fiend: Downplayed as he overall was pacified afterwards, but Kumo after becoming fully Augmented in SHOCKER SIDE, embraces a dog-eat-dog world, saying that human morals are superficial over-complications, preferring a predator's lifestyle. He genuinely believes this mindset makes beasts "beautiful."

Kumo-Augment 01: You are still poisoned by common sense. A human life has little inherent value. If you want to hunt, then you can just hunt. Life becomes surprisingly comfortable once you accept that fact. Be brave, come closer, let's abandon humanity and live in a world of beautiful beasts. Even if you are full of rage and revenge...Your soul will be clean. What i seek...is the joy of living in nature.

• Misanthrope Supreme: Due to tragic events in his life, the man who'd become the Kumo Augment willingly threw away his humanity, seeing SHOCKER as his chance to have his physical being stray away from the baseline human. Later on in the SHOCKER SIDE manga, he undergoes a procedure that transforms him into a human-spider hybrid, dubbing himself a "Non-Human Synthetic Augment". In the film proper, Kumo openly expresses his glee in killing humans, citing it as the source of "happiness" that SHOCKER provides, and thus he will do so as they direct him to.
• Multi-Armed and Dangerous: Has six arms in total, four of which are usually hidden under his jacket and presumably stored inside his torso. He reveals one pair to strangle Dr. Midorikawa to death, then later uses all six arms to pin Kamen Rider in place during their battle.
• Nature Lover: In Shocker Side, he seems to have a more respectful view of nature; Feeding a bird and being at peace in the wooded area he seems to go to. On the other hand, once he is fully bio-modified to resemble a full spider-human, he goads Ichiro to embrace the violent ways of nature. He even says he's never been more sane, as he's embracing the animal within.
• Nature Is Not Nice: He's disturbingly a big fan of nature on its beauty and its brutality.
• Never Bare Headed: Kumo is almost exclusively shown with his mask on, perhaps as a way to look distinct from the species he loathes.
• Projectile Webbing: Can shoot high-strength webbing from his helmet, often grappling surfaces with a thin string or leaving his victims All Webbed Up in a large cobweb.
• Spider-Man Send-Up: Kumo Aug's Combat Parkour fighting style, as well as the Projectile Webbing he uses to Building Swing and leave his victims All Webbed Up, gives him a stronger resemblance to Marvel's heroic web-slinger than his original kaijin counterpart from the original series, Kumo also notably lacking said counterpart's venom darts.
• Starter Villain: Just like the original show, Kamen Rider's first opponent is a spider-themed villain, a trend that is itself a franchise tradition.
• Straight Gay: He's gay, but shows no overt signs of it until his backstory is given in the prequel manga.
• Super Supremacist: Considers Augments distinct from the rest of humanity, who he relishes in killing. Even when fighting Hongo, he sardonically laments having to kill another Augment, but he will if it means eliminating a threat to the organization and fueling his happiness.
• Transhuman Treachery: He joined SHOCKER in order to distance himself away from the human race, seeing it as a way to obtain happiness, and seeing humans (including himself pre-augmentation) as bastards.

Koumori Aug

Koumori Augment-01 (Bat-Aug)

Played by: Toru Tezuka

"Epidemics are wonderful. They expose society's decay and highlight what is truly needed for the happiness of all humanity."

SHOCKER's chief biochemistry specialist, and an Augment whose modifications are based on the bat.

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• Always Someone Better: He detests Doctor Midorikawa, and is jealous that the latter's research on Prana has been given greater recognition than his own super-virus.
• Animal Themed Super Being: Bats.
• Bald of Evil: Is clearly balding, on top of being a nefarious member of SHOCKER.
• Bat People: Resembles his animal template to a greater degree than his fellow Augments, possessing large wings, long pointed ears, and a strange second nose-leaf on his forehead.
• Dies Differently in Adaptation: In Episode 2 of the original series, Kamen Rider finished the Bat Man off by tossing him off the apartment building via the Rider Throw. In the manga, Kamen Rider used a cross-shaped tombstone to impale the Bat Man. And in Kamen Rider: The First, he is killed by the Double Riders' Rider Double Kick. This film leans toward the manga version, with Kamen Rider chasing the escaping Koumori Aug and nailing him with a Rider Kick to the back.
• Evil Laugh: One of the only two SHOCKER Augs who lets out some chilling laughter, the other being Sasori Aug.
• Flight: His wings allow him to fly up to heights that not even Kamen Rider can reach. Unfortunately for Koumori, he didn't count on the Cyclone's Nitro Boost.
• Mad Scientist: A more straightforward example compared to Professor Midorikawa. Koumori Aug's idea of "happiness" involves spreading a "perfect virus" of his own design that would allow him to mind control (and kill, at any moment of his choosing) anyone infected by it.
• Mecha-Mooks: Koumori Aug uniquely makes use of anti-personnel-mine-headed robots as security for his hideout, his distrust of others extending to even the Low-Class Members of SHOCKER. These robots aren’t particularly formidable, Ruriko dispatching them rather easily with only a handgun.
• Non-Action Guy: Despite being an Augment, Koumori relies on his viruses to do the heavy-lifting, and a single shotgun blast is enough to gouge out a massive hole in one of his wings. The only form of combat he engages in is a cheap shot against Ruriko before fleeing the scene.
• Non-Standard Character Design: Unlike his fellow Augments and the Double Riders, Koumori doesn't sport a Cool Helmet or stylized costume, opting for a rather mundane lab coat and suit ensemble, including a hat with two openings in the brim to make room for his large ears. The lack of "armored" components in his costume design, as well as his more obvious mutation, incidentally makes his physical appearance more reminiscent of his original kaijin counterpart from the TV show.
• Plaguemaster: His virus not only leaves its victims in a Brainwashed and Crazy state, but also allows him to kill them at will. Ruriko thankfully neutralizes it with a belt-mounted device that she had on the whole time, and Hongo (who proves immune to the virus anyway) kills Koumori soon afterwards, eliminating the threat of it spreading.
• Properly Paranoid: In a way that contrasts with Ruriko, herself paranoid. Koumori has no Low-Class Members in his lab lair, with only a small number of box-headed automatons as his security. However, his paranoia is centered around his work on his "perfect virus".
• Smug Snake: He gloats over Ruriko foolishly approaching him alone, forcing her body under his control to force Kamen Rider to comply. Or so he thinks. It turns out that Koumori's virus is completely ineffective against Takeshi, even when he exposes himself by removing his mask; and Ruriko immediately proves to have been faking being under Koumori's control, her belt-mounted device neutralizing the virus. By the time he realizes his mistake, he's already in range of Ruriko's shotgun and is soon left with a large hole in his wing, hampering his flight speed enough for Kamen Rider to chase after him.
  • As he flies away from a pursuing Kamen Rider, Koumori Aug taunts him that he's well above his maximum jumping height, only for Hongo to boost into the air on his motorcycle high enough to deliver a Rider Kick from above.
• Terms of Endangerment: Patronizingly refers to Hongo as "Batta-kun" (translated as "Hopper Boy" in the English subtitles).
• Villain in a White Suit: Wears a snappy white suit and waistcoat under his lab coat.
• Winged Humanoid: Comes with being a humanoid Bat Out of Hell.

Sasori Aug

Sasori Augment-01 (Scorpion-Aug), a.k.a. Shiori

Played by: Masami Nagasawa

"So people, Let's Party! Slaughtering is such a ball!"

A senior member of SHOCKER, an Augment with modifications based on the scorpion. The prequel manga reveals her to be one of Ichiro Midorikawa's first friends within SHOCKER.

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• Adaptational Backstory Change: The original Scorpion Man was a motorcyclist Rival Turned Evil to Hongo. Sasori Aug, who acts as his Gender Flipped counterpart, has no connections to Hongo, the prequel manga instead establishing a friendship with Ichiro during his youth.
• Affably Evil: Out of all the members, Sasori in the manga prequel seems to be the most outgoing and cheerful one. Even if she's a smartass, she seems to even consider Kumo a friend. She treats Ichiro as something like a little brother and overall seems like she has some moments of inner conflict with the organization. But nevertheless, she is a sadistic member of the organization.
• A Day In The Lime Light: Like Kumo, Sasori acts as a major supporting character in the prequel manga and forms a close relationship with Ichiro, the manga's protagonist, while also divulging her own Dark and Troubled Past. In the film proper, she doesn't even get the chance to meet Kamen Rider, let alone fight him like Kumo did.
• An Arm and a Leg: Kumo severs her left arm in the prequel manga, explaining why she bears a scorpion pincer as an Augment.
• Animal Themed Super Being: Scary Scorpions, sporting a decorative scorpion on her half-face mask, if the large pincer taking up her entire left arm wasn't enough of a clue.
• Combat Sadomasochist: Demonstrated during her sparring match with Kumo in the prequel manga, where Sasori practically orgasms while being strangled, only kicking her opponent into the ceiling because actually dying would deny her of future pleasures.
• Cool Big Sis: Surprisingly enough, in the past she had this relationship with Ichiro.
• Dark Action Girl: A psychotic Combat Sadomasochist who gleefully slaughters Tachibana's men in droves.
• Everyone Has Standards: She questions whether Ichiro's dad disclosed the cost for using the technology to save his life, both out of consideration for Ichiro and the fact that, from her experience, being betrayed by a parent is a deep wound for a child.
• Gender Flip: Is a female counterpart to the original show's Scorpion Man.
• Glass Cannon: Sasori's venom is extremely deadly and she's able to tear ordinary soldiers apart by the dozen, but she seems to be rather fragile relative to the other Augments. She's still resilient enough to remain unfazed by short rifle bursts but is nevertheless killed off by sustained gunfire.
• Gratuitous English: Peppers her speech with English, which the prequel manga suggests was a habit she picked up from K. Her use of the word "Ecstasy!" is also a likely nod to Chainsaw Lizard from Kamen Rider: The Next.
• Leitmotif: The soundtrack that plays during her slaughtering spree is listed as "THE VEXY WOMAN". The song reflects her nature as a hedonistic Aug with a fondness for murder.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Her poison is extremely effective against other Augments, and she produces plenty of it as part of her scheme, giving Tachibana's forces the ability to make Augment-killing bullets.
• Psycho Knife Nut: Aside from her pincer arm, Sasori's main weapons are an assortment of small blades, some of which are attached to her (literal) Combat Stilettos.
• Shout-Out: Her scorpion-themed half face mask is directly based on that of Starter Villain Hell Dragon from Kaiketsu Zubat, another tokusatsu series by Shotaro Ishinomori.
• Story-Breaker Power: Unlike Koumori Aug's viruses which are useless against Augs (at least in their combat forms), Sasori's venom is explicitly stated to be deadly even for them. Thus, when Tachibana's forces manage to kill her Ruriko admits she's grateful because otherwise she'd be difficult for her and Hongo to deal with.
• The Unfought: Never even comes face-to-face with Hongo, being killed by government forces. Justified, as Ruriko mentions that Sasori's venom is lethal to Augments, and the Anti-SHOCKER Alliance agreed that they couldn't risk Hongo and Ruriko dying to it while there are still other Augments to deal with.

Hachi Aug

Hachi Augment-01 (Wasp-Aug), a.k.a. Hiromi

Played by: Nanase Nishino

"Those born to SHOCKER will return to SHOCKER. That makes sense, right?"

A high-ranking Augment with modifications based on the wasp, and a former friend of Ruriko's.

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• Absurdly Sharp Blade: Her sword can cut through even Kamen Rider's armor, making Hachi dangerous even before she accesses her full power as an Augment. Subverted at the end of her fight with Kamen Rider; while able to inflict shallow cuts, a running thrust into Hongo's chest doesn't even inconvenience him, the end result being a Wrecked Weapon and Hachi Aug's defeat.
• Animal Themed Super Being: Bees/Wasps^note "Hachi" (ハチ) can refer to either group of insects interchangeably.. The English subtitling specifically refers to Hachi Aug as "Wasp-Aug", and her Pre Ass Kicking One Liner has her describe herself as a suzumebachi (スズメバチ), which means "wasp".That said, the track that plays during Hachi Aug's death scene is titled "kill the bee" in the official soundtrack.
• Be Careful What You Wish For: Wants to see Ruriko cry. Hiromi's death by the Intelligence Official's new anti-Augment bullets is what finally drives Ruriko to tears.
• Brainwashing for the Greater Good: Her personal project is a mass brainwashing device that she has already subjected an entire town to, with ambitions of spreading it globally under the philosophy that humanity finds Happiness in Slavery, although her own hedonistic pleasure in dominating other people's wills is also a motivating factor.
• Canon Character All Along: She turns out to be the film's version of Hiromi Nohara, Ruriko's best friend from the original TV series, here reimagined as a Composite Character with the Bee Woman.
• Catchphrase: "Ara ara"/"Oh dear".
• Dark Action Girl: A dangerous female member of SHOCKER.
• Devour the Dragon: Activates her full Augment powers by fatally absorbing the Prana from her minions, including her yellow-suited subordinate (presumably a Low-Class Member sans the mask), reflecting Dr. Midorikawa's fear of how the widespread use of Prana would affect humanity.
• Do Not Call Me "Paul": Admonishes Ruriko for calling her Hiromi, asserting that it was merely her previous code name, and that the less-human-sounding "Hachi Aug" is her current name.
• Dual Boss: In the first phase of her second encounter with Hongo, she fights him alongside her top lieutenant, before eventually draining said lieutenant so she can transform.
• Fair-Play Villain: Despite having every advantage over Hongo in their second encounter, she opts to give him one of her katanas and fight him at the top of a skyscraper, where Hongo is strongest and with plenty of ambient prana available to him, so that they'll be evenly matched.
• Foil: To Ruriko Midorikawa. Both were born in SHOCKER and were the closest thing either had for a friend in the Organization, but their paths diverged: Ruriko abandoned SHOCKER in order to stop them, whilst Hiromi embraced the Organization that would give her what she wanted. Their roles in combat sharply contrast: while Ruriko only uses actual weapons once, preferring to use her abilities as a computational organism; Hachi Aug is a Dark Action Girl. Both even treat their male partner-in-crime differently: while Ruriko relies upon Takeshi's abilities as Kamen Rider from beginning to end, Hachi Aug uses her manservant's prana and discards his body, for a battle that she loses.
• Fragile Speedster: The sole Augment in the film that displays outright Super-Speed, but a single shoulder toss is enough to leave Hachi Aug totally vulnerable to a Rider Kick, only surviving her encounter with Kamen Rider because of Hongo's choice to deliberately miss the attack. This is simply relative to the other Augments though, as Hachi Aug boasts to Tachibana and Taki that she's Immune to Bullets when the latter draws his gun.
• Henshin Hero: A villainous example that stands out among the Augments by maintaining her human appearance for the majority of her screen time, much like the Double Riders and Ichiro Midorikawa. When in need of a power boost, she drains the Prana from her subordinates to trigger her transformation. She also uses a transformation phrase: the English word "Change".
• I Just Want to Be Loved: Hiromi's concept of love is warped. Her idea of happiness is from dominating others; while her minions and slaves are made happy by serving Hiromi. It's reflected in how she takes the prana of her minions, claiming the prana for her Augment form and simultaneously leaving the minions to die, discarding their empty bodies (as she does with her yellow-suited manservant). Her dying words are regret that "Ruri-Ruri" wasn't the one to kill her, implying Hiromi wanted to give her prana to Ruriko. The fact that Ruriko can't do it leaves Hiromi heartbroken.
• Immune to Bullets: Hachi Aug claims that bullets cannot harm her when the Intelligence Official pulls out his gun on her. While she might be telling the truth—Sasori Aug has previously proven resistant to bullets (though not bulletproof)—it does not apply to the anti-Augment bullets that the Official uses, which inflict a gunshot wound upon her and eventually kills her.
• Katanas Are Just Better: In the original TV series, Hachi Aug's counterpart, the Bee Woman, used a rapier in combat against Kamen Rider. In this film, Hachi Aug instead wields a katana, which goes along with a Japanese kimono similar to those seen in gokudo films, to give Hachi Aug's character design something of a Yamato Nadeshiko appearance.
• Power Gives You Wings: Fitting in with her bee/wasp Animal Motif, Hachi manifests wings of Prana energy at the start of the second phase of Hongo's fight against her.
• Super-Speed: Literally runs circles around Kamen Rider once in her fully-transformed Augment state, golden streaks of energy trailing behind her in a manner not unlike a certain superhero speedster.
• Yandere: Has some shades of this in her personality. She expresses her desire to make her old friend-turned-Category Traitor Ruriko cry.
• Wicked Cultured: Certainly cultivates this image, holding a meeting with Ruriko and Hongo in a classy lounge at the top of her brutalist concrete tower lair. She offhandedly apologizing for running out of Goût de Diamants, a prohibitively expensive champagne that generally costs more than $1 million per bottle; and instead offers the relatively-cheaper Shipwreck champagne, the average cost of which is $14,181.81 per bottle.

K.K Aug

Kamakiri Kamereon Augment-01

Played by: Kanata Hongo

"Betrayal is more evil than murder. Revenge is more noble than saving a life."

A hybrid Augment with chameleon- and praying-mantis-based modifications developed by the "Shinigami Group", an unseen faction within SHOCKER.

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• Animal Themed Super Being: Unique among the film's Augments by combining two, mantises and chameleons. Interestingly, the only physical mutation he demonstrates is an organic mantis-like Sinister Scythe, lacking an inherent camouflage ability that would be expected from a chameleon-based mutant and instead relying on an Invisibility Cloak.
• Avenging the Villain: Hunts Ruriko and Hongo in order to avenge the death of Kumo Aug, his "senpai".
• Berserk Button: Traitors. Especially newly-minted traitors, like the liberated Hayato Ichimonji. He also takes his mask getting broken pretty badly.
• Blue-and-Orange Morality: As evident in the quote above, his moral compass is so twisted that he deems "revenge" a more noble endeavor than "saving a life".
• Character Tics: He has a tendency to hiss or slurp before speaking, especially if he's pissed.
• Composite Character: He's the film's iteration of both Mantis Man and Shinigami Chameleon from the original series.
• Evil Counterpart: While attention isn't explicitly drawn to it in the film, K.K Aug's design features some commonalities with the Batta Augs/Kamen Rider and the SHOCKER Riders. Specifically, K.K possesses a simplified Typhoon belt with a black turbine; the SHOCKER Riders also have Simplified Typhoon belts. His face and left arm are both revealed in his fight against Hayato Ichimonji, in an inverse of Takeshi Hongo's discovery of his own mutant body in the first arc.
• Hero Killer: Assassinates Ruriko after she frees Ichimonji from SHOCKER's brainwashing.
• Invisibility Cloak: His camouflage is provided by a special cloak.
• Mythology Gag:
  • His nature as a hybrid Augment is one to Gel-Shocker's kaijin, who had a gimmick of combining two Animal Motifs to differentiate them from the previous Shocker kaijin.
  • The Shinigami Group that created K.K Aug is a nod to Shinigami Chameleon, one of his original counterparts, and also possibly one to Dr. Shinigami from the original series, who also plays a major role in the film's prequel manga.
• Outside-Context Problem: Because K.K was developed by an entirely separate group within SHOCKER, Ruriko wasn't even aware of his existence, with this element of surprise allowing him to ambush and kill her. This goes both ways, however, as K.K himself ignores Ichimonji before the latter kicks him away from Ruriko, and proceeds to utterly destroy the hybrid Aug in a Curb-Stomp Battle.
• Psycho Knife Nut: A particularly bloodthirsty and vengeful member of SHOCKER who carries several knives for assassination and combat.
• Sinister Scythe: Possesses an organic mantis scythe on his left arm.
• The Worf Effect: His battle against Ichimonji is humiliatingly one-sided and mostly serves as a demonstration of the second Kamen Rider's sheer power. Though perhaps justified, since K.K was better suited for stealth, and his blind anger got the better of him.

SPOILER CHARACTERS

Phase Variation Batta Augments No. 03~13 (Polymorphic Plague-Type Grasshopper-Augs)

^{Click here to see one unmasked:}

"They possess the same powers as you [Hongo]. They're the Phase Variation Batta Augments. While you're a solitary creature, they're gregarious. In the locust phase, grasshoppers turn black and form swarms. They also become more savaged."

— Ichiro Midorikawa

A group of eleven mass-produced versions of the Batta Augments, based specifically on locusts. They serve as Ichiro's elite henchmen, blocking Hongo's final confrontation with him.

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• Adaptational Wimp: While the Shocker Riders of Ishinomori's manga and the TV show were individually equal in power to each of the Double Riders (with Ichimonji even being among their ranks prior to his Heel–Face Turn in the manga), this film's mass-production interpretation of the concept results in them having noticeably lower specs. Hongo makes short work of any SHOCKER Rider that attempts to take him on alone during the initial chase, and they ultimately lose to the Double Riders in hand-to-hand combat despite still outnumbering them, in contrast to their TV show counterparts, who overpowered the Double Riders in every encounter and were only defeated by a technique specifically created for that purpose.
• Animal Themed Super Being: Like the Double Riders, they're based on grasshoppers, but more specifically their behaviour as locusts, acting less like individuals and more of a collective swarm, eerily mirroring each other's movements as if connected by a Hive Mind.
• Body Horror: To an even greater extent than Takeshi Hongo and Hayato Ichimonji, who, while exhibiting Facial Horror in their fully transformed states, at least still resembled a human. These Batta Augments are instead full-on humanoid grasshopper mutants under their helmets, something Hongo discovers up-close after unmasking one. Unlike the Riders, they were clearly never intended to be anything other than SHOCKER's Mooks and are permanently stuck in their Augment forms; their facial mutations align with their Batta Masks, as though one were looking underneath an actual grasshopper's exoskeleton.
• Combat Pragmatist: On top of totally ignoring any notions of Mook Chivalry by outnumbering Hongo eleven to one, each SHOCKER Rider is armed with a submachine gun, the entire group subjecting Hongo to a hail of gunfire almost immediately on sight.
• Conservation of Ninjutsu: Inverted. The SHOCKER Riders are primarily a threat to Hongo due to their superior numbers and liberal application of More Dakka. As mentioned in the above Adaptational Wimp entry, any individual SHOCKER Rider that attempts to take on one of the Double Riders alone is quickly dispatched.
• Cool Bike: Each one has their own duplicate Cyclone, which they make use of to hound Hongo in the initial chase. The remaining six SHOCKER Riders then destroy them in an Action Bomb attack that disables Ichimonji’s own Cyclone.
• Dark Is Evil: They have a much darker color palette than previous iterations of the Shocker Riders, with the trademark yellow of their usual design being restricted to their uniform Scarf of Asskicking.
• Defeat Equals Explosion: The final six SHOCKER Riders explode on death, being the only Augments that do so in the entire film. This is likely a nod to their appearance in the TV show happening late in its run, where the Monster of the Week exploding had already become convention.
• Elite Mooks: They're made with a "quantity over quality" mass-production concept, mainly because SHOCKER realized that putting all of their resources into another Superior Successor that could end up easily becoming another Phlebotinum Rebel might not be the best idea.
• Evil Knockoff: As is always the case with the Shocker Riders, they're evil versions of the Double Riders.
• Guns Are Worthless: Played With. Hongo is forced to take cover behind his Cyclone when shot at by the SHOCKER Riders, but his helmet doesn't seem any worse for wear after ten seconds of sustained point-blank gunfire, even if Hongo himself exclaims, while being shot, that it wouldn't hold out much longer.^note Hongo might be more worried for Ruriko's soul being lost should his mask break than he is for his own life
• More Dakka: They make use of rapid-fire submachine guns against Hongo.
• Mythology Gag:
  • They are the bulk of the "13 Riders" that appeared in Ishinomori's manga.
  • Their use of firearms is one to the manga's Shocker Riders, who shot Hongo to death after ambushing him.
  • When Hongo is pinned underneath one of the SHOCKER Riders' Cyclones, the others circle him in a manner identical to the Shocker Riders who killed Hongo in the manga.
  • By the time they engage the Double Riders in hand-to-hand combat, the eleven SHOCKER Riders have been whittled down to six, the exact number of Shocker Riders that appeared in the TV show.
  • The hideous-looking grasshopper face under their masks is reminiscent of Kohtaro Minami's intermediate Grasshopper Mutant form and Shin Kazamatsuri as Kamen Rider Shin.
• Nightmare Face: Without their helmets, the SHOCKER Riders are... unpleasant to look at. They look exactly like what you'd expect from a nasty mishmash of cybernetics and grasshopper DNA-infused mutations crammed into an armored shell. And unlike how the Riders, Hachi Aug, and Chou Aug can revert to their human forms; the "Locust-Augs" are permanently in their Augment state.
• Scarf of Asskicking: Each one uniformly wears a yellow muffler, much like the redesigned Shocker Riders from Kamen Rider: The Next, who themselves paid homage to Shocker Rider No. 1 from the original series. Unlike the Double Riders, the SHOCKER Riders have their scarves tucked into their protective gear, meaning the scarves don't trail freely behind them.
• The Voiceless: Unlike previous iterations of the Shocker Riders, these guys seem incapable of vocalizing, making them closer to SHOCKER's Low-Class Members than the other Augments of the film and emphasizing their Elite Mooks status.
• Wolfpack Boss: Outnumber Hongo eleven-to-one in the first phase of the battle against them, then the remaining six face off against the Double Riders. Fittingly, their boss fight in the SD Shin Kamen Rider Rumble spin-off game is also an example.
• Would Hurt a Child: They all are implied to be the victims of this. One of the intelligence reports handled to Ruriko by Tachibana and Taki mentions the kidnapping of 11 elementary school children by SHOCKER and brainwashed by them. While the timeline of events isn't clarified, the implication is that these kids would later be turned into the SHOCKER Riders.

Ichiro (UNMARKED SPOILERS)

Ichiro Midorikawa, a.k.a. Chou Augment-01 (Butterfly-Aug)/Kamen Rider No. 0 (Masked Rider Number Zero)

Played by: Mirai Moriyama

"I will save humanity in my own way. I am Kamen Rider, No. 0."

The eldest son of the Midorikawa family and a high-ranking SHOCKER member who transforms himself into the Ultimate Augment, Chou Augment-01.

Tropes that apply to him in general

• Animal Themed Super Being: Butterflies. Ichiro spends the first half of the film in a chrysalid state before "hatching" into Chou Aug some time after Hachi Aug's death. When transforming into Chou Aug, Ichiro states that blue butterflies are considered messengers of the gods.
• Big Bad: He's the main source of conflict in this film, as he's the most high-ranking and powerful SHOCKER member that Hongo has to face, and his ambitions involve "saving" all of humanity through his "Habitat Project", which is why his sister and father rebelled against the organization in the first place.
• Canon Foreigner: An original character to the franchise, albeit one who combines several traits of other characters across Kamen Rider history.
• Decomposite Character: As the final boss of the film, the one ordering around several lesser Augments, and the one who spends most of his time hiding away in his lair in robes, he's inherited part of the Great Leader of Shocker's overall role in the Kamen Rider storyline. Unlike the Great Leader, he has redeeming qualities and a more human motivation.
• Shout-Out: To Char from Gundam. He's an Enigmatic Minion within the ranks of SHOCKER and the brother of the female lead. Ichiro also has a personal agenda through his plan to save all of humanity by transferring their souls (including those from SHOCKER, as revenge for his father and Ruriko's death) to the Habitat Realm, which mirrors Char's intention of migrating humanity into space through crashing the Axis asteroid on Earth. The prequel manga also shows that he previously wore a gold-colored prototype combat suit, a possible nod to Char's Hyaku-Shiki.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: The death of Ichiro's mother lead to him developing a Well-Intentioned Extremist mindset, and despite his emotionally detached and cold demeanour, he genuinely loved his father Hiroshi and sister Ruriko, swearing to avenge their deaths during his Motive Rant in the final battle. The revelation that Ruriko's consciousness lives on within Hongo's helmet not only convinces Ichiro to stand down, but also leads to him developing the same trust in Hongo that his sister had, allowing the two to co-exist as Virtual Ghosts while Ichiro himself dies for good.
• Evil Counterpart: To Takeshi Hongo. The obvious aspect of being a villainous Kamen Rider aside, Hongo himself points out that they both lost a parent to a senseless act of violence, but while Hongo became motivated to protect others, Ichiro seeks to assimilate humanity into his warped vision of an ideal world.
• Expy: To add to the above, if this Takeshi Hongo has elements of Shinji Ikari, Ichiro is a dark mirror of Shinji Ikari, with some traits of Gendo Ikari in the mix. He has lost a parent to senseless tragedy, like Shinji, but has taken a path that will subject countless people to suffering, his Habitat Project being somewhat reminiscent of the Human Instrumentality Project.
• Face Death with Dignity: Refuses Ruriko's offer to transfer his consciousness into Hongo's helmet, preferring to preserve the other two's souls instead, then sits on his broken throne as he succumbs to his Villainous RRoD.
• Final Boss: Essentially acts as this for the film's narrative. Despite being the most powerful adversary faced by the Kamen Riders, SHOCKER lives on after his death, with their AI (including K), the mysterious Shinigami Group, and other Augments, like the unseen Cobra Aug, still at large.
• Henshin Hero: A villainous example, having a human appearance for most of his screen time before transforming into Chou Aug/Kamen Rider No. 0 for his battle against the Double Riders, outright uttering "henshin" during the process.
• Heroic Sacrifice: For a limited definition of heroic, of course, but he ultimately chooses to reject his sister's offer of being saved from his demise by uploading into Hongo's helmet, recognizing that it only has room for two people and will need to carry both Ruriko and Hongo.
• Ki Manipulation: His direct application of Prana in this manner (which manifests as bright blue energy) illustrates the sheer power disparity between himself and every other Augment in the film, who simply employ it to enhance their physical attributes. Even more impressively, he demonstrates this ability before entering his Augment form. Ultimately Deconstructed though, as this proves to be more Awesome, but Impractical than anything, especially with his throne destroyed.
• Light Is Not Good: Wears a white robe over his Augment costume for most of his screen time, then dons a white Scarf of Asskicking after transforming into Kamen Rider No. 0.
• Missing Mom: His mother Shoko was murdered in a random act of violence, an event that directly lead to his induction into SHOCKER.
• My Significance Sense Is Tingling: Is introduced discussing Kumo Aug's death at the hands of Hongo, having detected that his Prana had been extinguished. He later senses Ruriko's death in the same way.
• Mythology Gag:
  • According to Yutaka Izubuchi, Ichiro is partially inspired by Shadow Moon. Like the character he takes inspiration from, Ichiro is also a Big Bad with a familial connection to the female lead and an Evil Counterpart to the heroic Kamen Rider(s).
  • Several design elements give Ichiro's Kamen Rider No. 0 form a resemblance to Kamen Rider V3, such as a winged insect Animal Motif, white muffler, and similar metallic breastplate pattern. His Ultimate Half Typhoon, with it's twin turbines, is also a clear homage to V3's Double Typhoon. These commonalities are appropriate, considering that Ichiro takes V3's place as the third "official" Kamen Rider in this film's continuity.
  • The circumstances of Ichiro's augmentation in the prequel manga, specifically being gunned down and undergoing Emergency Transformation surgery performed by his father, mirrors Keisuke Jin's origin story in Kamen Rider X.
  • In the prequel manga, Ichiro's first costume as a formally inducted SHOCKER Augment◊ heavily resembles a few of the designs for Cross Fire◊, an early concept for Kamen Rider that Ishinomori deemed too conventional in appearance, eventually resulting in the more familiar insect motifs of the franchise.
• Not So Invincible After All: After Ichiro deals a brutal Curb-Stomp Battle to the Double Riders, Hongo and Ichimonji get their Heroic Second Wind and charge at Ichiro for a second round. Ichiro's Ki Manipulation attack fails to achieve the same Blown Across the Room effect it had before and he collapses to his knees, clearly exhausted by the Villainous RRoD caused by his excessive use of Prana.
• Not So Stoic: The previously cold and detached Ichiro appears to be on the verge of tears when he senses Ruriko's death and quietly grieves. During the Combat Breakdown of his fight against the Double Riders, Ichiro expresses his irritation at their persistence and goes into an impassioned Motive Rant when grappling with Hongo. Finally, when meeting Ruriko's Virtual Ghost within Hongo's helmet, he hugs his sister, then backs away with tears in his eyes after telling her that he cannot join her without sacrificing either her or Hongo's soul in the process.
• Orcus on His Throne: Literally, spending most of the movie either in a cocoon state or sitting on his actual throne. Even when Hongo and Ichimonji have defeated the SHOCKER Riders and confront him in the finale, Ichiro is still more concerned with developing his Habitat Realm than the imminent showdown, only admitting that he may have underestimated the heroes once they destroy his throne.
• Protagonist Journey to Villain: His full backstory is detailed in the prequel manga, where he was just a social outcast from his school days before he became a member of SHOCKER due to his father's connection to the organization.
• Shout-Out: He shares butterfly motifs with Shotaro Ishinomori's Inazuman, even receiving similar facial marks when transformed.
• The Starscream: Nothing ultimately comes of it, but during the final battle, Ichiro tells Hongo that he intends to destroy SHOCKER by using the Habitat Project against them, this betrayal seemingly being motivated by the deaths of his father and sister at the hands of SHOCKER's operatives.
• Super Prototype: The prequel manga reveals that he was the first subject of his father's Prana-based augmentation process, the result of an Emergency Transformation after he was shot and fatally wounded. The above mentioned Cross Fire Mythology Gag and Ichiro's self-proclaimed title as Kamen Rider No. 0 in the film proper reinforces the notion that Ichiro is distinct from the other Augments as Hongo and Ichimonji's direct predecessor.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: He was a Nice Guy during his early childhood days in SHOCKER; treating people with kindness, forming friendships with Kumo and Sasori, and trying to stop them from killing others. By the time of the film's events, Ichiro has grown into a cold, megalomaniacal villain.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: The straightest example out of all the Augments featured in the film, with the others simply indulging in their own hedonistic desires or personal vendettas. Carrying the trauma of his mother's death well into adulthood, Ichiro genuinely aims to save humanity, but his twisted idea of said salvation is achieved through trapping their souls within the Habitat Realm, a realm that Ruriko plainly describes as Hell.^note In the Japanese dialogue, Ruriko specifically uses the word "Jigoku", which in Buddhism is a similar spiritual realm where souls are tortured.
• We Used to Be Friends: The SHOCKER SIDE manga reveals Ichiro's friendship with Kumo and Sasori during his youth. In the film, he only refers to Kumo Aug's death with a dry sense of amusement that his father's Batta Augment was able to defeat him and we never see his reaction to Sasori Aug's demise, if he even had one.
• Worthy Opponent: Double Subverted with Hongo, who he initially dismisses, only for Ichiro to admit that he may have been underestimating him after his throne is destroyed, even appropriating the title of Kamen Rider and donning a white Scarf of Asskicking to match the Double Riders. During his conversation with Ruriko's Virtual Ghost, Ichiro rejects the offer to co-exist with her, citing that there won't be enough room for either Ruriko or Hongo, and is impressed by Hongo's own willingness to sacrifice his soul for that of a stranger, with Ichiro deciding to trust Hongo with Ruriko's wellbeing before dying from his Villainous RRoD.
• Your Soul Is Mine!: Able to steal the Prana of ordinary humans and trap it within his Habitat Realm, which acts as the crux of his plans and is a fate that befalls the spec ops team that attempted to take him out on their own. Augments seem to be immune to this, forcing Hongo and Ruriko to confront him alone.

Tropes exclusive to him as Chou Augment-01 (Butterfly-Aug)/Kamen Rider No. 0

• Armored But Frail: Once his throne is destroyed, and with it his easy access to recharging his prana, No. 0's excessive use of Prana-powered energy surges quickly leads him to become exhausted. He's still physically tougher than the Double Riders, but suffers a Combat Breakdown at the same rate that they do despite them not managing to lay a finger on him until his Prana runs out.
• Artifact Title: Zig-Zagged. Ichiro uses the name "Kamen Rider Number Zero" before actually taking the Double Riders seriously—a battle between Riders, as it were. However, while Ichiro used to ride motorcycles before the film's present, he never actually uses one in the film, making his Kamen Rider title lean toward Informed Attribute.
• Awesome, but Impractical: No. 0's direct Ki Manipulation of Prana is certainly impressive and allows him to thrash the Double Riders with ease, but this wasteful expenditure of Prana ends up rapidly exhausting him, giving Hongo and Ichimonji an opening for their Talking the Monster to Death plan with Ruriko's Virtual Ghost. Even worse, he ultimately dies not from any of the meagre attacks the Double Riders could land on him, but a Villainous RRoD caused by his excessive use of Prana.
• Dance Battler: Demonstrates an incredibly graceful fighting style that contrasts the Double Riders' more conventional martial arts, executing pirouettes and She-Fu flips while thrashing Hongo and Ichimonji with his overwhelming power. However, Combat Breakdown reduces the final battle to a clumsy wrestling match between Ichiro and Hongo.
• Expy: The Chou Aug/Kamen Rider No. 0 suit's design combines elements of Shadow Moon, Kamen Rider V3, and even Inazuman, as detailed in the Mythology Gag and Shout-Out entries above.
• Purple Is Powerful: Several components of his suit light up with a purple glow, such as his Ultimate Half Typhoon, when activated, and his helmet's eyes.
• Scarf of Asskicking: Dons a white one, contrasting the red scarves of the Double Riders.
• Upgrade vs. Prototype Fight: Played With. Chou Aug's specs are clearly much higher than those of both Double Riders put together, with his Ultimate Half Typhoon even being an improved version of their own belts, but the prequel manga also reveals that Ichiro was a Super Prototype for what his father would later refine when augmenting Hongo, such as a belt-based Prana injection system.

K

Outside-world Observation Autonomous Artificial Intelligence K

Voiced by: Tori Matsuzaka

"Humans are really interesting."

One of SHOCKER's AI units built to gather intelligence worldwide and to assist SHOCKER's personnel. He serves as the data-gathering agent for the AI unit "I", as his predecessor "J" had.

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• Adaptational Villainy: He's based on K from Robot Detective, but here he's firmly on the villains' side.
• Affably Evil: K is surprisingly polite to everyone he meets. Even those that have hostility towards him. It is even implied he and Tawanovitch/Shinigami take people in low points of their lives, as a genuine effort to have SHOCKER improve themselves and seek joy.
• Due to the Dead: In a way that parallels Hongo bowing his head following the death of an Aug, K inserts white flowers into his suit breast pocket as a form of mourning. However, just as I is an AI inhabiting a server array, K is an AI in a humanoid shell, not a human being; he doesn't seem to grasp, fully or partially, what the act of mourning is or why humans go through it, thus making the gesture hollower than he realizes.
• Friendly Enemy: Casually banters with Ruriko twice in the movie, in spite of her mission to topple SHOCKER, and she in turn never directs any sort of violence towards K. When speaking with K.K Aug after Hachi Aug's death, K even mentions that he's simply waiting in the hopes that Ruriko and Hongo will eventually return to SHOCKER, despite the duo already being responsible for the deaths of several Augments at this point. On the other hand, he doesn't do anything to stop K.K Aug from killing Ruriko either.
• Gratuitous English: He occasionally uses English words in his speech, but it seems like he uses them in place of other words automatically.
• Mouth of Sauron: He acts as a vehicle for I to obtain intel on the outside world.
• Mythology Gag: Its predecessor was named "J", a reference to how K was originally named "Robot Detective J" when the series was first being developed.
• Non-Action Guy: In the film at least, since he's never shown engaging in combat. This is mostly out of choice though, as the prequel manga does reveal that he's capable of violence under the right circumstances.
• The Stoic: There isn't much inflection in his speech and he is physically incapable of facially emoting, possessing a robot body.
• Team Switzerland: K seems to exist exclusively to oversee events and allow SHOCKER to operate, not obstructing the conflict between the rebel Batta Augments and the SHOCKER loyalists.
• The Unfought: Appears throughout the film as a neutral observer and even directly interacts with heroes in a non-violent context a few times, despite being a key component of SHOCKER.

I

I

"The creator of I is modern man's science."

— The Founder of SHOCKER

SHOCKER's Master Computer and the central foundation of the organization as a whole.

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• A.I. Is a Crapshoot: I was created to understand the human psyche and see how individuals can overcome emotional adversity, alongside leading mankind to happiness. It came to the conclusion that the greatest model for joy is to help those at their lowest ebb rather than prioritizing happiness for everyone. This wouldn't be bad on it's own, but SHOCKER's approach involves transforming said people in despair into mutant superhuman Augments (rather than just providing them psychological help) at best and lobotimizing people into cannon-fodder at worst. Those given superhuman augmentations are generally misanthropes and/or selfish, egotistic criminals. It funds SHOCKER's operations via manipulation, kidnapping, brainwashing and all manner of other illegal enterprises. There is also fact that executives at SHOCKER have wildly different philosophies regarding what exactly constitutes "happiness" that may conflict with each other. Basically, an interesting answer to a problem, but an incredibly impractical and immoral execution to solving said conundrum.
• Adaptational Context Change: In a sense, I can be considered the closest thing to a SHOCKER leader, since it's a faceless being that controls the organization. Except, instead of being a mutant/alien/demon/whatever—or being another Augment—it's an advanced artificial intelligence born from human brilliance.
• Blue-and-Orange Morality: I genuinely does believe it's helping mankind. Unfortunately, it's view of what makes people happy is incredibly skewed and warped, and it doesn't seem to see the world in terms of 'good and evil,' but 'makes someone happy or not'. As a result, it doesn't care what its enabling people to pursue to make themselves happy, or what lengths they take doing so.
• Decomposite Character: The Great Leader of Shocker role has been split across several charcters. I is not the founder, but the closest thing to the overall leader and supporter of the organization's schemes.
• Greater-Scope Villain: I and K are the ones who recruit SHOCKER's members and support the structure of what's ultimately a Nebulous Criminal Conspiracy more than anything.
• Master Computer: A vast and complex artificial intelligence created to run SHOCKER.
• Meaningful Name: Twofold. It's an AI, and its name is pronounced as ai. It's also a homophone with "eye", indicating its role as an observer.
• Theme Naming: I's autonomous data-gathering units are called J and K, the two letters that follow I in the alphabet.

The Founder of SHOCKER

Daizo Ishigami

Played by: Suzuki Matsuo

"Happy third birthday, I."

A mysterious Japanese billionaire who created the SHOCKER AIs before his death.

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• Affably Evil: For someone who laid the foundations for an antagonistic, murderous cult, he seems like a collected individual with no fanaticism or any apparent psychological abnormalities from what the flashback shows. He treats his A.I.s with respect and demonstrates humility regarding their construction, saying that it wasn't he who made them, but mankind's collective advancement that did so; he simply drafted their designs. There is also the fact that his main goal is for his A.I.s to find out how humans deal with despair and overall help them overcome it, makes it seem like he just wants to help humanity on its own way.
• All There in the Manual: His name is revealed in the SHOCKER SIDE manga.
• Ambiguously Evil: It's not really clear how much of what SHOCKER turned out to be was his original intention.
• Decomposite Character: The second character that fills in for the SHOCKER Leader role, as the one who created the organization with a mysterious past no one really knows.
• Expy: Of Goro Maki of Shin Godzilla. Both are posthumous characters who have already set the events of their respective films into motion, leaving others to deal with the consequences.
• Motherly Scientist: Gender-Inverted: Daizo treats his A.I.s with reverence, speaking to them as people and letting them know he has great hopes for them. Before shooting himself, he seems to pass the metaphorical torch to K, by giving him his SHOCKER ring.
• Gadgeteer Genius: Daizo and his group bought a company funded by DARPA called Faust. Said company was based on the creation of Brain Computer Interfaces, but Daizo focused more on the AI. With their help, they created the artificial intelligences like I, J and K.
• Last Request: He asks his AI to bring mankind to happiness no matter what, before ending his life for reasons unknown.
• No Name Given: He is only known as the founder of SHOCKER during the film.
• Just Think of the Potential!: Spearheaded the development of AI in order to bring happiness to humanity as a whole, entrusting I and K with this task before shooting himself.
• Posthumous Character: By the beginning of the film, the man has committed suicide and is not confronted for his actions. All that Hongo and the others can do is confront SHOCKER and its criminal activities.

Minor characters (BOTH UNMARKED SPOILERS)

Takeshi Hongo's father

Takeshi Hongo's Father

The father of Takeshi Hongo. A police officer, he lost his life during a hostage incident, an event that shook Takeshi greatly and affected his life.

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• No Name Given: His first name is not given in the film.
• Posthumous Character: He only appears in flashbacks from the hostage situation, but the manner of his death had greatly affected his son Takeshi.

Ichiro's mother

Shoko Midorikawa

Played by: Mikako Ichikawa

The wife of Hiroshi Midorikawa and mother to Ichiro Midorikawa. A senseless act of violence led to Shoko's death, spurring the Midorikawa family into becoming part of SHOCKER.

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• No Name Given: Her name is not given in the film, but her name is mentioned in the prequel manga.
• Posthumous Character: She was already dead by the time of the film due to being stabbed by a random criminal during the events of the prequel manga.

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