Nightmare Fuel / Kamen Rider Outsiders

Moments subpages are Spoilers Off. Read at your own discretion. You Have Been Warned!

No Outsider is safe.

Banno: This isn't good! Zein isn't just coming after us, it wants humanity to destroy itself!
Ecole: (both he and Rando share the same horrified expression) Could you... please repeat that again?

Being one of the, if not, darkest Kamen Rider spin-offs in modern history where the bad guys from previous seasons are the main characters gathered to oppose a tyrannical artificial intelligence bent on wiping out humanity in the name of culling off malice. The list of unsettling moments below serves as a reminder that so long as Zein maintains its presence across the Internet; then no one is safe, even the villains themselves.

In general

• Everything about Zein, both the AI and its namesake Rider form. Zein stands out as one of the, if not, most disturbing and realistic examples of Beware the Superman not only just for the entirety of the franchise, but for tokusatsu as a whole. As a stark contrast to the Ark, who got reduced to a Generic Doomsday Villain thanks to Motive Decay, Zein is programmed to be a tyrant whose only sole objective is to exterminate malice at all costs, but without all of the heroic Riders' genuine altruism, empathy, and respect for human freedom. Every time Zein makes a physical appearance, or by just the mere mention of its name, its Leitmotif plays an Ominous Latin Chanting that's enough to make anyone's legs tremble in fear.
  • As established in episode 0, Zein can place the entire world under surveillance to enforce its idea of order by just merely existing in the Internet, further placing evil organizations such as Smart Brain and Foundation X on its watchlist. This is further reflected on the fact with the disadvantages of using surveillance devices violates a person's privacy, and how it forcibly changes people how the way they speak and act, which is enough to be a cause for alarm for people who are not even engaged in any wrongdoing (even if they had in the past).
    • Following Zein's guest appearance in Kamen Rider Gotchard, we finally get to look into the full details of Zein's suit. Its helmet comes equipped with various surveillance devices: the Multi Compound Eye in particular has the ability to collect real-time video data from reconnaissance satellites, security cameras, and various AI-equipped devices by connecting to several computer networks. Good luck in trying to avoid of being constantly watched.
  • Digitial Holy Halos appear behind Zein and its host during the Transformation Sequence into the namesake Rider. These aureoles project multiple timelines, to prove Horobi was telling the truth in episode 2, Zein had somehow merged not just all the Kamen Rider worlds, but also alternate timelines through the Zein Driver. As Banno and the Ark found out the hard way in episodes 3 and 4, respectively; they were not fighting an AI equivalent of God; but they instead found themselves in the presence of the AI equivalent of The Antichrist bent on wiping all human life on Earth to ensure its utopia a reality.
  • Zein's transformation jingle, while it may seem sounding so breathtakingly epic due to the orchestral chorus and righteous phrasing which somehow reflects matching the eponymous AI proclaiming itself as embodiment of benevolence. However, the tone and delivery instead give a feeling of ominous dread.
  "Zeinrise! Justice! Judgment! Seigi! Zein! Salvation of humankind."
• The fact that Earth's heroic Riders willingly gave their powers to Zein (even unassuming of its true intentions) throws their reliability into question. If they're willing to create a Knight Templar just to demolish the villains (especially so soon after the last global AI went mad and genocidal) or even have humanity submit to said A.I., sacrificing freedom for the sake of forced peace, where is the line drawn?
  • The real kicker? Once a Zein Card is used, that Rider along with their powers are permanently deleted due to the fact that Kamen Rider Chronicle is programmed into the Zein Driver as Tachibana explains in episode 4 that Zein is using the Kamen Riders' powers to create a card game version of Chronicle.

Main Series

ep.0: End of Genms and Beginning of the Plan

• As mentioned in the In general section, even Smart Brain, a MegaCorp run by Orphnochs find themselves in Zein's watchlist of villains it's targeting raises a cause for alarm. One should take into consideration that not all Orphnochs are bent on subjugating humans or an evil species of monsters when most of them want to live in peace in human society. The fact that an artificial intelligence like Zein having the entire world under its watchful eyes to impose its vision of its ideal world poses a threat to the private lives of every Orphnoch when most of them are not even engaged in any wrongdoing to begin with.

ep.1: Mirror World Treasure and Return of Ouja

• The way Takeshi Asakura catches up to Nezu by emerging from the Mirror World, just as the latter was about to transform into Scissors, the psycho appears behind him and when he looks back, there's nothing there until he knew firsthand that he now has an Advent Deck, Nezu starts stuttering as he's reduced to a whimpering wreck as Asakura returns to the real world through Nezu's mirror, giving the impression of a Jump Scare. Then again, this is Asakura at his most unpredictable, the second his victims lower their guard means he can swiftly bear his fangs on them.
• Nezu getting stabbed repeatedly on the jugular with a large mirror shard by Asakura, leaving behind a trail of blood around Asakura. Again, Asakura is a magnet for blood and violence, and his killing methods by stabbing are all too common in real life. This is how Asakura, as Ouja Survive, finished off Odin to become the winner of Foundation X's Rider Fight.

ep. 2: Omen of Destruction and Desast's Resurrection

• Ren being taunted by what appears to be his Enemy Within. Even though he along with Touma and the other swordsmen saved the world, the world being at peace makes him unsure of what lies ahead for a warrior like him. That's assuming peace can even last in a world where humans are capable of evil.
  • His confrontation with Horobi. He seeks Ren to join Zein's faction, and Horobi further elaborates that it is trying to combine all the Rider worlds to bring order to the world. Ren refuses instinctively, knowing that it is proven to be a much more dangerous threat. Given Horobi attacks him a few minutes later for even being around Desast, Ren was right not to jump the gun.

ep. 3: The Battle Fight Resumes and Birth of Zein

• If getting axed by his own son in his home series was played for catharsis, the way Kamen Rider Zein butchered Bronze Drive is anything but. And it's not hard to see why, even if Banno truly deserved every second of it. In his introduction, Zein stops time, presumably from Zi-O's own Time Master ability, and uses Hyper Muteki's Finishing Move to beat Banno within an inch of his life, reducing him into a whimpering mess. This is followed by Xross Saber's own finisher, Zein's version of the Haou Xross Seiretsuzan is far more brutal and graphic to the point that the Seikens skewering Banno causes him to bleed out oil from his Humagear body. Even though Banno survived the following episode, the ordeal with Zein turned to be his most harrowing and horrific experience in comparison to how Go killed him.
• Also, the way Banno gets turned into a Human Pincushion, with the Seikens impaling him from top to bottom is downright torturous. Zein, the AI, uses the brutal beating of Banno as an ominous warning to the villains and anyone opposing its malice-free utopia, all while believing that even the vilest of villains like Banno are deserving a grisly death. Remember how Banno tortured the Roidmude that would become Heart, whose appearance is copied from a businessman who rejected him? Zein's punishment for Banno is far more barbaric and inhumane compared to the physical abuse he put Heart through. What's worse though, is the way Zein launches the Seikens at Banno like guided missiles while the latter was trying hopelessly to escape Zein's wrath. It shows that Zein is more than happy to think of other ways to kill Banno (and by association, anyone associated with Foundation X) over and over again, no matter how many times he tries to come back.
• The simple fact that Yuto Sakurai, of all people being the person who transforms into Kamen Rider Zein makes it even more jarring as everything related above acts as an Hourglass Plot of Banno's abuse towards Heart, with Banno himself being the victim and Yuto being the abuser; made doubly ironic given how Yuto turns Deneb into his punching bag for his constant showboating. It even gives the interpretation of Yuto's physical abuse of Deneb taken to disturbing levels rather than comedic.

ep. 4: Crazy Time and Zein's Identity

• This episode casts a darker light in Zein's goal to exterminate mankind to enforce its idea of good; by using Kamen Rider Chronicle to create a cannon fodder of Ride Players to be used as Sacrificial Lambs against the Outsiders, essentially tricking humanity into engineering their own self-destruction to speed up the process. This gives the horrifying notion of Zein's belief that so long mankind is capable of malice, so is their desire to destroy one another.
• The episode is subtle about it, but the implications surrounding the Outsiders version of Yuto Sakurai are scary. Not only does it confirm that his Airi suffered a tragic fate of some sort but whatever befell humanity afterward was so horrible that Yuto thinks Horobi exterminating everyone like the Ark originally wanted would've been preferable. He even says to Horobi that he came to "return everything to zero," implying that he's joined Zein to finish what the events of Zero-One started.
• Tachibana, of all people, threatens Nico with a gun pointed at her head when she objects the idea of relaunching Kamen Rider Chronicle to the public. Rather than having someone de-escalate the tension, Zein is actually emboldened by the idea of viewing everyone, including its own followers, as expendables. This foreshadows Zein's true nature at the end of the episode as explained below. And followed by Horobi's falling out with the group isn't helping matters either.
• Much like with Banno's firsthand experience with Kamen Rider Zein, the Ark is completely helpless against Zein, despite the last-ditch effort to draw out Zein by hijacking Horobi and incapacitate Kamen Rider Garren. Zein overpowers the Ark into submission to the point the Ark is paralyzed with fear even after Brain's intervention.
• Seeing Yuto as Zein nearly killing Horobi (along with the Ark) if not for Brain's interference, and the idea of a heroic Rider doing something morally reprehensible without understanding the possible consequence that could send them straight into full-blown villainy comes off as unsettling; it further shows that this Yuto is more willing to cross the line for the benefit of a greater good, something that almost every heroic Riders are not supposed to considering the track record of main characters in the Reiwa era going rogue.
• Tachibana singlehandedly destroys a weakened Ark-Zero through King Form and by doing so he injures Horobi, much to Yuto's horror.
• Zein's social debut is uncomfortable, further cementing its status as the anthology's Knight of Cerebus. Unlike the Ark (which can only hijack Humagears) Zein can puppeteer people and chooses Yuto (who Brain had just talked into a Heel–Face Turn) as its mouthpiece. As a halo flashes behind the AI calling itself "humanity's savior," its expression neither changes nor wavers. It only manages a Thousand-Yard Stare during its monologue; contrasting the Ark's cartoonish supervillainy with dead monotone. The kicker? Right after it imitates Nico Saiba, it appears to resist the urge to smile. Whether it's Yuto Fighting from the Inside or Zein trying to keep its composure, it's clear that whatever Zein is, it's wrong.
• The Ark's desperate attempt to stop Zein by possessing Horobi being rendered moot only made the episode's Downer Ending even more foreboding as it is already somber. By the end of the episode, Zein is the one who emerges triumphant, overthrowing the Ark as the only AI with the right to decide humanity's fate. Brain, Horobi, and Tachibana can only react in utter despair by the revelation, not helped by the heroes blindly following Zein after believing it to be a Benevolent A.I.. With the entire human race now under the mercy of a tyrannical AI with little to no hope of opposing it, Zein can now proceed to cleanse humanity of malice unimpeded by relaunching Kamen Rider Chronicle to create an army of players to be sacrificed to the villains.

ep. 5: Goddess of Creation and the Third Singularity

• The teaser for this episode shows Zein wielding, out of all the Rider weapons: the Perfect Zecter with all three Zecters combined. Not to mention, one of its Finishing Moves, the Maximum Hyper Cyclone, has the potential to atomize numerous enemies at once. The end result is not only terrifying, but also captures a picture on what would happen if the Perfect Zecter falls into the wrong hands.
• Genm getting stabbed by (Kamen Rider) Zein with the Revicelasher even after unlocking Hyper Fumetsu is an unpleasant sight to behold. If that wasn't enough, Zein grabbing Kuroto by the throat completely derailed of whatever hope left of defying the technological oppressor.

---