Series / Kamen Rider Agito

Due to its nature as an indirect sequel to Kamen Rider Kuuga, all spoilers for it may have been unmarked. You Have Been Warned!

Awaken the Soul!

Kamen Rider Agito (Masked Rider ΑGITΩ) is the 2001-2002 entry in the Kamen Rider franchise, and second in the Heisei Era.

Set in the year 2003, two years following the Unidentified Lifeforms case (portrayed in Kamen Rider Kuuga), mysterious and impossible murders are taking place all across the city, carried out by angelic creatures which are Immune to Bullets and seem to be hunting very specific families.

In response, the Metropolitan Police Department formed a new division called the Squad Against Unidentified Lifeforms (S.A.U.L.), and commissioned their best technical geniuses to create an effective countermeasure should their city ever be plagued by monsters again. The result was the Generation 3 (G3) Powered Armor, worn by capable-but-klutzy police officer Makoto Hikawa. In response to these supernatural beings, codenamed "Unknown", S.A.U.L.'s G3 Unit is mobilised to protect the city and solve the mystery behind the murders. They find an uphill struggle ahead of them: not just against the Unknown, but against the corrupt elements within their own police department who would seek to use the G3 System for their own gain.

Ryo Ashihara once had a promising career as a competitive swimmer, until he was involved in a near-fatal car accident. After his body had healed, he discovered that he had undergone a horrifying metamorphosis, one that would drive all of his former friends and confidants away from him. Soon after this occurs, he receives an anonymous letter containing a list of passengers from the Akatsuki-Go cruise liner: the same cruise liner that his father boarded shortly before committing suicide. Ryo resolves to uncover the reason why his father committed suicide, driven by his loneliness and the new power he has attained: to transform into the feral creature known as Gills.

Shouichi Tsugami is a man without a past. Months ago, he washed up on a beach with no memory and an empty envelope addressed to himself. Taken in by the Misugi family, he enjoys nothing more than a simple life tending a vegetable patch and looking after the household. However, when an Unknown is about to attack a human, he feels an overwhelming compulsion to go to their defense, summoning a mysterious power he knows nothing about but holds the key to everything: the ability to transform into Kamen Rider Agito.

This show links the stories of all three men together as they attempt to uncover the mysteries surrounding the Unknown and the source of the Agito power, clashing not only with the Unknown but with their own insecurities, pasts, and each other.

Partnered with the Super Sentai show Hyakujuu Sentai Gaoranger after initially airing alongside the final episodes of Mirai Sentai Timeranger in what would later be known as the Super Hero Time block.

In addition to the main series, Kamen Rider Agito has three spinoffs. Kamen Rider Agito: Three Great Riders is a DVD episode that was distributed by Televi-Kun magazine. Kamen Rider Agito Special: A New Transformation is a TV special that led into Kamen Rider Agito The Movie: Project G4, the first in a series of theatrical tie-ins to the Kamen Rider TV series. Agito also appears in the following year's Televi-kun episode, Kamen Rider Ryuki: Ryuki vs. Kamen Rider Agito, though it's not canon to the series as it's All Just a Dream of Ryuki's.

---

Recurring Kamen Rider tropes:

• All There in the Manual: So, so much in terms of names. Agito's forms, the name Another Agito, the monster names, and even the Unknowns' also being the Lords? Never mentioned in-show. Even the names "Malakh", "El", and "Theos" were seen written down very briefly in #40, but "Lord" and "Overlord" were never used. The same goes for weapons and most vehicles. (Including the Tornador, if its name being in one of the battle songs doesn't count.)
  • The full Creation Myth wasn't revealed until Bandai released the Kamen Rider Agito Art Archive Icon Painting in 2014, though the first part of it was actually seen on screen in blink-and-you'll-miss-it form.
• All Your Powers Combined: Agito Trinity Form is the combination of Ground, Storm and Flame Form.
• Badass Biker: Naturally.
• Big Bad: The Overlord of Darkness. The name's a subtle hint, isn't it?
• Calling Your Attacks: Averted, this being an early Heisei Rider series. Played straight however in the Three Great Riders video special ("Double Saber Slash!", "Gills Hell Stab!").
• The Cameo: Hiroshi Fujioka appears in Project G4 as the MPD superintendent general and briefly interacts with Shouichi, showing approval for the young man.
• Cool Bike: Normally this is the part where we say "Kamen Rider, of course," but many Turn of the Millennium series only have the bike in an episode or three for Merchandise-Driven purposes and not everyone gets one. This series is not like that. All the Riders do plenty of riding, their civilian-used machines transforming with them (how does a semi-mystical evolution-mutation-thing do that? Best not to ask.) except for non-morphing G3, of course. There are several bike chases as well.
• Clothes Make the Superman: A major plot point of the G3 System. Hikawa's role as the wearer of the G3 comes into question a few times and as a result, other characters get their chance to wear the armor as well.
• Dual Wielding: In Three Great Riders, Agito summons a second Flame Saber.
• Elemental Powers: Each of Agito's forms have one.
  • Dishing Out Dirt: Ground Form
  • Blow You Away: Storm Form
  • Playing with Fire: Flame and Burning Forms.
  • Light 'em Up: Shining Form
• Finishing Move: Like nearly every Rider in existence, the leads in this series all have their own. Agito, in fact, has one for every form. Gills (and his Mid-Season Upgrade form Exceed Gills) has the Heel Claw. And Another Agito has the Assault Kick.
  • G3 might be an averted example, but its successor G3-X has something akin to a finisher in the form of his Cerberus Gatling Gun. G3-X generally starts a fight with his other weapons before breaking out the Cerberus to finish off his enemy.
• Henshin Hero: Averted with the G3 and its cousins, who, unlike most Riders, cannot "henshin" but must don their armor the old-fashioned way (see Homage below).
• Mid-Season Upgrade: After the G3 is torn apart by Gills, it gets rebuilt as the better, stronger G3-X equipped with More Dakka and one hell of an AI.
• Multiform Balance: Agito gets multiple forms to choose from: Ground Form is a Jack of All Stats, Storm Form is a Fragile Speedster, Flame Form is a Stone Wall, and combining all three into Trinity Form makes him a Lightning Bruiser. He then gets a Mighty Glacier Burning Form before his final Super Mode, Shining Form.
• The Movie: Notable for introducing the concept of movie-exclusive Riders (in this case, G4).
• Transformation Trinket: Zig-Zagged depending on the Rider.
  • Played straight with Agito, who uses the Alter Ring to transform. Unlike Riders in later series, though, the Alter Ring is part of him and appears when he wills it to; someone else can't just pick it up and use it to transform.
  • Averted with G3, who isn't a Henshin Hero at all: he has to manually put on his Powered Armor piece by piece.
  • Averted with Gills, though with a slight teaser: he does have a belt, called the Meta Factor, but it's not part of his transformation sequence at all.
  • Played straight with Another Agito, who uses the Ankh Point to transform. As with Agito, the belt is part of him and can't be given to someone else.
• Villains Act, Heroes React: While the mystery of Agito and the Unknown is pursued, our heroes are generally forced to wait until an Unknown shows up and inevitably starts killing people before the Riders stop them.

Awaken the Tropes!:

• Absurdly Sharp Blade: G3's GS-03 "Destroyer"^note G3 is wearing it in the page image and G3-X's GK-06 "Unicorn", a vibration arm-sword and handheld knife.
  • The former is something of a subversion as, due to its design, it never lands a hit on anyone. Ever. The latter, despite being maybe half as strong, is effective against the series Dragon.
• Abusive Precursors: The Overlord Theos. Though to be fair, he's more afraid of humanity overpowering him than outright evil.
• Accidental Misnaming:
  • Type C: As a Running Gag, Shouichi will often refer to other characters, particularly Hikawa, as "Kongouji".
  • In the movie, this is reversed onto Shouichi. In a brief scene, he's stopped by someone when he leaves a restaurant. The person has mistaken him for an old classmate named, you guessed it, "Kongouji".
• Adaptational Villainy: The Lords normally get hit with this in appearances after the series ended, being upgraded from Anti Villains to full blown villains. Basically, in the teamup movies, hordes of past monsters from all seasons attack the combined Riders, often ignoring how they originally worked and what their motivations were. Using major Nightmare Fuel magical methods to kill people with powers that are a sign of their Seed of Agito waking up so humanity can't overthrow the Overlord of Darkness isn't exactly compatible with attacking non-Agito-related Riders with their bare fists.
• Alcohol Hic: Ozawa comically downs whole pitchers of beer (when offscreen for a moment, the full pitcher will return half full, and again and be empty, and then get refilled. This process repeats multiple times during this scene.) and at no point appears to be even a little impaired. She leaves, creates G3-X, then gives a hiccup.
• Back from the Dead: Ryo Ashihara, after dying in episode 27, is brought back to life in episode 32 courtesy of Mana's healing abilities.
• Badass Normal: G3/G3-X. They're just normal humans wearing a high tech battle suit, and yet still manage to kick butt. In fact, in a way, this gives him some added benefit, as the Lords are forbidden from killing a normal, non-evolved human or the Overlord will kill them.
• Bait-and-Switch Credits: The second opening introduced in episode 36 features scenes that ultimately never occur, such as Shouichi bittersweetly parting ways with Mana, Hikawa angrily turning in his badge, and even pointing his gun at Ozawa while helmetless and later taking off G3-X's helmet. The only exception to this is Ryo raising his arm up before dropping dead, referencing his death earlier in the show before being resurrected by Mana, which actually did happen prior to this opening.
• The Berserker: Gills is given to primal screams and wild attacking that gets him compared to Kamen Rider Amazon. Agito himself is much less this, but is mostly driven by instinct, rarely speaking during battle, and, once in an early episode, nearly attacking Hikawa right after the monster before he manages to stop himself.
• Bilingual Bonus: Gills' name seems like it has a straightforward origin (a play on the fact that Ryo is a swimmer), but there's another level to it. There's an archaic Japanese word for gills, 顎 — and it's pronounced "agito".
• Body Horror: Gills. Aside from the painful side-effects of being an imperfect Agito, Ryo's entire body transforms into a feral insectoid with fangs and claw protrusions. Unlike G3 or Agito, who are clothed in armor, Ryo's body literally becomes a monster.
  • Double points for Mid-Season Upgrade Exceed Gills, who has tentacles that emerge from folds on his back, and causes his mouthplate to open up and reveal that that's just his actual mouth.
• Boring, but Practical: G3/G3-X compared to most other Riders. He can't transform and has to put his suits on like a normal person and is armed with guns instead of supernatural weapons. However, his suits do exactly what they were designed to; keep the user alive and fight the Unknown. In fact he has the highest defense of any Rider in Agito. In fact, take a look at Badass Normal above, and you'll see that BECAUSE the users are normal, the Unknowns aren't even allowed to kill them.
• BFG/Gatling Good: The G3-X System's GX-05 "Cerberus", roughly the length of the suit actor's leg. It can even launch grenades.
• Blade Below the Shoulder: G3's GS-03 "Destroyer" is an arm-mounted vibration sword. Strangely, it's also a Deconstruction of the trope, as it's inherent design makes it inaccurate - the hilt is the size of the user's forearm, which makes it that much easier to grab.
• Blessed with Suck: getting psychic powers in this world (themselves typically not particularly useful) = marked for death by the Unknowns.
• Brand X: Averted with G3's Guardchaser - it's apparently made by Honda in-universe^note it has the Honda logo prominently on the cowl - which the real-life bike the Guardchaser is built on doesn't have. Which makes sense; it's a souped-up cop bike.
• Broad Strokes: Agito was originally written as a sequel to Kamen Rider Kuuga, but the writers of Kuuga objected to the idea since it would've made Godai's battles meaningless. Instead, Agito was rewritten to work as its own standalone story with certain details between Kuuga and Agito changed. Word of God says it's your choice whether or not you should watch it as a Kuuga sequel/continuation/parallel universe, however, since the Continuity Nods (mostly the first few episodes and the whole reason for G3-X existing), supplementary backstory tie-ins, and similarities are still present either way.
  "You're free to enjoy Agito as a continuation of Kuuga if you so wish, or imagine it takes place in a parallel world, if you so choose. I appreciate this may sound like an asspull, however, so I guess I would say that while Agito takes place '2 years after #4 destroys the Unidentified Lifeforms', it is not a sequel to Kuuga, so take to the show with that in mind."

  —Kamen Rider Agito Production Site.
• Broken Pedestal
  • Hojo's mentor turns out to be a murderer. For once in his life, Hojo actually does the right thing and turns him in.
  • Ozawa's mentor reveals he has a long-standing grudge against her. He still ends up doing her a favor in the end by giving her the G3-X's limiter chip, but it's only to prove that her creating something that's better than everything else means it's actually worse.
• Calling Your Attacks: Like its predecessor Kuuga, it's averted and never happens. Although aversion of the trope was fairly common for most of the early Heisei series.
• Cape Busters: G3 Team is technically this. They're normal people who fight mystic beings with just Powered Armor and some hightech weapons. At one point, they are sent after Agito.
• Cats Are Mean: The entire class of Leopard Lords qualify.
• Coconut Superpowers: The Machine Tornador's hoverboard form looks cool and seems useful - but the extreme CG cost meant that it only made 3 appearances over the course of 51 episodes, with 1 more in the movie.
• Combat Tentacles: Gills has these.
• Continuity Nod: The G3 suit was originally designed to fight Grongi. In fact, it looks like a robotic version of Unidentified Life Form #4 and is referred to as such. SIC Hero Saga ups the reference by showing the G-1 as looking near-identical to Kuuga.
  • G3's bike, the Guardchaser, also takes its name from Kuuga's Try/Beatchaser.
• Continuity Snarl: Numerous references made over the course of the series place Agito (2001-02) and Kuuga (2000-01) as taking place in their year of broadcast. The problem is, Agito is supposed to be two years following Kuuga, making its connection to the former series more of a Broad Strokes deal. Notably, the crossover video game Kamen Rider: Seigi no Keifu places its Agito story in the months following the fall of the Unknown in 2004, taking Kuuga's side despite not featuring that series in its line-up.
• Cosmic Plaything/Yank the Dog's Chain: The universe seems bent on making Ryo's life as full of suffering as possible. Whenever it seems it will get better for him, it's just going to last for a really short while before his life get worse again. Hell, in the epilogue, he is the only one who is shown without friends or family and only has a puppy as his companion in Walking the Earth. Poor guy....
• Crazy-Prepared: Dr Kino carries a set of surgical tools on his person at all times.
• Creation Myth: There is a rather detailed backstory behind the origins of humanity. Part of it is written down in Yukina's letter to Shouichi, which is only shown on screen for a few frames, and other parts of it are hinted at in the tapestry that appears in the opening credits, but the full story wasn't revealed to the public until 2014 when Bandai began selling prints of the tapestry, which included a copy of the story with it. The full story is a cross of The Bible's creation myth, including the story of Noah's Ark, combined with Rage Against the Heavens and the story of Prometheus from Classical Mythology. The story also explains the origin of Gills and the significance of Agito's Flame Form, and it gives names to a number of characters who were only known by their titles in most materials: including Theos (the Overlord of Darkness), Promes (the Overlord of Light), and the Malakh (the regular Unknowns).
• Creepy Child: The Overlord of Darkness first appears this way
• Darker and Edgier: Zig-Zagged, it deals with more darker moments such as genocide from a god, how gruesome the kills are, and how bad two Riders reached their low points and overall, it is still considered one of the darker entries in comparison to its predecessor, its successor, and the next series by the same writer. On the lighter side, it's the only one of the first four Heisei shows with a significant comedy component, but while not to the extent of, oh say Den-O. A good many of the scenes with Shouichi and his adopted family are written as scenes from a Dom Com, and any interactions between Hikawa and Shouichi quickly turn into a Straight Man and Wise Guy sketch.
• Dark Is Not Evil: The Overlord of Darkness isn't exactly evil, just afraid humanity will overpower him and trying to wipe out those who could do so. And in the end decides to let mankind move on.
• The Day the Music Lied: In #13, when Shouichi fights Leiurus Acutia, the battle music plays like it always does when he has a fight ending the monster being blown up. But this time the music abruptly stops because the scorpion stings Shouichi, and gets away while he's lying on the ground, poisoned.
• Deadly Upgrade: The G4 Armour from The Movie. G3-X as well, but only initially.
• Determinator: Hikawa. When your Powered Armor is thoroughly outclassed by both your enemies and your allies, you have to be a Determinator just to stay in the game.
• Deity of Human Origin: According to spinoff materials, the Overlords have actually originated from the Linto Tribe, who were the ancestors of humans.
• Delayed Reaction: The Lords, at least early on, tend to have this when they're killed by Agito's Rider Kick. In one instances, the Lord in question stands up, brushes herself off and laughs...then explodes suddenly. G3's Salamander gets this as well on one monster as well. The only Rider whose finisher seems unable to get this is Gills, but in his case it probably has to do with the long blade driven about an inch or two into their shoulder.
• Devil, but No God: The Overlord of Light was killed by the Overlord of Darkness. But the former got the last laugh by implanting humanity with the Seed of Agito so that they might surpass the control of the Overlord of Darkness. Though to be fair, the Overlord of Darkness isn't exactly evil, he just was afraid of humanity and never truly understood them.
• Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: In #46, Shouichi decks the Agito-verse's equivalent of God. This leads him to decide humanity is too dangerous to keep around anymore... And in the final episode, he tops it off with a Rider Kick.
• Disposable Woman: Several.
• Distant Finale
• The Dragon: El of the Water. The other two El Lords may qualify as well.
  • Before them, Sawaki.
• Early-Installment Weirdness: Agito's connection to Kuuga. Beyond a handful of references to the Unidentified Lifeorms and No. 4 in the first few episodes, nothing comes out of it ultimately, with the name S.A.U.L. being the only remaining relic of it.
• Even Evil Has Standards: The Unknown will only kill humans who have the potential to become Agito. One Unknown that kills an ordinary human is later forced to kill itself by the Overlord of Darkness.
  • Though he hardly does anything to prevent it, the Overlord of Darkness evidently disapproves of murder amongst humans. Using Hydrozoa Ignio as a mouthpiece, he proclaims "humans shall not kill other humans", refering to Ryuji Tsukasa.
• Evolutionary Levels: The entire premise of the series, the Overlord of Light gave humans the ability to evolve into something that could overpower the Overlord of Darkness someday.
• Face–Heel Revolving Door: Kaoru Kino is introduced as a mentor figure, pulls a Face–Heel Turn when he decides to kill all the other Agito, and eventually pulls a Heel–Face Turn when he has a change of heart.
• Family-Unfriendly Death: Many of the Unknown's modi operandi fit the bill. The Tortoise Lords bury their victims alive, the Zebra Lords cause rapid decay, and the Bee Lords phase their victims into walls.
  • In the TV special A New Transformation, the Beetle Lord shoots a dart that causes its victims' bodies to collapse into ash. Has shades of Body Horror - especially when one victim tries to runs away from the Lord with a limp. Cue him looking down to find his left leg having vanished into a pile of ash.
• Fragile Speedster: Gills fits under this archetype the most.
• Fun with Acronyms: S.A.U.L., the Squad Against Unidentified Lifeforms, invokes yet more Rule of Symbolism.
• God: The Overlord of Darkness and his brother, The Overlord of Light, split this between them.
• God Cannot Comprehend Humanity: In the final episode when the Overlord of Darkness returns to the realm where the human he revived and borrowed the appearance of is about to die, he says his purpose for reviving that man was to have him become the Overlord's angel who would kill Agito. However, even though he had been defeated by humans and Agito working together, the Overlord of Darkness believed that humans would one day kill Agito. The man he had borrowed the appearance of called him on it, saying that even if the Overlord of Darkness created humanity, he has absolutely no idea what humans are like, and that they will be able to accept Agito. The Overlord of Darkness responds by saying that they will wait and see together.
• God Is Dead: Sort of. Only one of the two is. Also, at some point Overlord of Darkness did physically "die", so he sealed his DNA into a giant puzzle.
• God Is Evil/Satan Is Good: The Big Bad, the Overlord of Darkness is actually the creator of humanity, who sees them as his pets. His ancient adversary, the Overlord of Light, is The Trickster who gives humanity the means to free themselves from control of the Overlord of Darkness. That said, they're both closer to the Zoroastrian ideal of a God of Good and a God of Evil at war rather than one being a former servant of the other.
• God Is Flawed: While Overlord of Darkness isn't actually evil, he has little understanding of humanity.
• Gone Horribly Right: The problem with the G3-X's AI isn't that it doesn't work: instead, it works too well; it's so perfect that only a perfect man can keep up with it.
• Grappling-Hook Pistol: averted: the GA-04 "Antares" fits on G3-X's arm like an Arm Cannon and looks mechanically plausible. But he doesn't use it to Building Swing; instead using it to keep a fast Unknown from running away from its GX-05-related death.
• Gratuitous Foreign Language: Lots of different languages, mostly those associated with The Bible.
  • Gratuitous Latin: Latin crops up in a few places.
    • All the Unknowns except the El have Latin genus and species names. The Latin is surprisingly good (maybe not quite perfect, but still...). The genus names sometimes come from real genera, while the species names are usually meaningful Latin words (and the genus names sometimes also fall under this). The given katakana spellings indicate a surprisingly good knowledge of Latin pronunciation.
    • Agito is Latin for "I set in motion", referencing the constant evolution of those who possess the Seed of Agito.
  • Gratuitous English: Yukina Sawaki's letter to Shouichi is finally seen in full in #40, and it's written entirely in English using a faux-Greek font and in a writing style reminiscent of the King James Version of The Bible. It's also full of spelling and grammatical mistakes.
  • Gratuitous Greek: The true names of the Overlords, among other examples.
    • The Overlord of Darkness is named Theos, which is Greek for "God" and the name used for God in the oldest manuscripts of the New Testament.
    • The Overlord of Light is named Promes, presumably short for "Prometheus", the Titan from Classical Mythology who gave fire to humans.
    • Agito is always written ΑGITΩ, so it begins with Alpha and ends with Omega. The use of omega in place of O even extends to the Blu-ray box logo, which is spelled "Blu-ray BΩX".
  • Gratuitous Hebrew: The classes of Unknown have Hebrew names.
    • The regular animal-themed Unknowns are called Malakhs, where malakh is Hebrew for "angel". The anglicized plural "Malakhs" is seen written, instead of the proper Hebrew Malakhim.
    • The highest-level Unknowns are called Els, where El is one of the Hebrew words for "God". As above, the plural is seen written as "Els" instead of the grammatically-correct Elim or Elohim.
• Harmony Versus Discipline: Shouichi is Harmony, Hikawa is discipline. This becomes a plot point during the G3-X arc, as Shouichi's harmony works better with the G3-X's AI than Hikawa's discipline.
• Healing Factor: Gills, somewhat. He shows able to regenerate some injuries, particularly when the Ant Lord Queen tears his arm off; transforming into his Super Mode causes it to regenerate.
• Healing Hands: Mana, of all people, turns out to have this, but she burns it away when she revives Ryo, curing his Rapid Aging in the process.
• Heel Realization: In the end, the Overlord of Darkness finally realizes that his assault on humanity may have been misguided and decides not to destroy them.
• Hidden Heart of Gold: Hojo despite being a jerk, does seem to genuinely have one from all the Pet the Dog moments he has (see below).
• Homage: The G3 System and related department (S.A.U.L.) is similar to an older Metal Heroes show, Blue SWAT (right down to the need for a support van), while using arm weaponry not far removed from that of Riderman. The competing V-1 system goes further, visibly resembling Space Sheriff Gavan and using a surviving Blue SWAT prop as its main weapon (the customized Dictator handgun).
  • Kaoru Kino's brilliant but unlicensed medical background seems familiar. The emphasis placed on his replaced right arm is also similar to Riderman's.
  • Gills's transformation and brawling fighting style seem very similar to another feral Rider.
• Humans Are Special: In the finale, the Overlord is convinced of this and decides allowing humanity to evolve isn't such a bad thing.
• Immune to Bullets: The Unknowns, most of the time. Makoto is very surprised to find this out the first time since the G3's GM-01 "Scorpion", while likely averting this trope against the Grongi, packs more power than a rifle.
  • Subverted later with the G3-X's GM-05 "Cerberus" - turns out they're not totally immune...
• Leitmotif: The Overlord is the most obvious example: nearly every appearance by him on-screen comes with dramatic orchestral music.
• Karma Houdini: Hojo, who, despite having been a total dick throughout the series, escapes with his ass unkicked. However, he is satisfyingly cowed the first time he fights an Unknown. The assholery ends there.
  • While he is an ass, he never quite does anything that would make him a corrupt cop.
  • And he does get a few Break the Haughty moments for being an asshole. He even gets a What You Are in the Dark moment when he learns about a case-breaking clue in a murder. He was forced to decide if he should keep quiet about it and let the G3 Unit be reformed as he wanted, or make the murderer face justice and give the G3 Unit another break as a consequence. He chose the latter. So the Karma Houdini trope is voided. Not to mention the pet the dog moments (see below).
  • The Overlord of Darkness himself seems to get off scot-free. That said, he can't be permanently killed, only having his body destroyed, so this might be the best Agito and his allies could do to him. He does get his ego shattered quite a few times over the course of the show....
• The Lad-ette: Sumiko Ozawa is exceedingly blunt, making it a point to slag off anyone she has a problem with to their face. She's also a heavy drinker; in one episode, she had no less than seven pints of beer in one sitting, and she didn't come off as even slightly drunk afterwards. Then you add the fact that she's got some aspects of Wrench Wench (with her being the creator of the G3 System and all)...
  • Best part? She designs the G3-X pretty much immediately after drinking the 7+ pints of beer. And this is a kid's show!
• Laser-Guided Amnesia: The title protagonist was found washed ashore with no memory of his identity; because he was clutching a letter addressed to Shouichi Tsugami in his hand, it was assumed that that was his name
• Lighthearted Rematch: In the Distant Finale, Ozawa and Hojo insult each other as usual upon running into each other again, but as they walk away from each other, each smiles.
• Locked Room Mystery: Every murder by the Unknowns. Except there's never a lock, and only rarely do they happen indoors.
• Lucky Charms Title: Agito is spelt "AGITΩ" in the show and all official merchandising.
• Meaningful Name
  • The villains of the show have a double meaning. Their first meaning, the Unknown, as in their motives at the start of the show were unknown. Their second meaning comes when the show digs deeper in their story. The Lords, fit their very power.
  • The name "Agito", is a Latin word meaning "to put into motion", referencing Shouichi's evolving powers.'
  • The name of the boat that Shouichi gained his powers from is called the Akatsuki, which means Dawn... as in the dawn of a new generation of humanity.
• Metaphorgotten: In #32, Hikawa tries to explain to Professor Misugi why he should go easy on Mana, but the Professor takes his comparison and runs with it.
  Hikawa: No, no violence! You have to treat girls like glass goods.
  Misugi: Glass goods... But, how much is this glass good?
  Hikawa: Huh?
  Misugi: There are various types of glass goods. You care for them depending on their value.
  Hikawa: That's... Maybe she's about 50,000 yen?
  Misugi: You'd only pay 50,000 yen for Mana?!
• Mundane Made Awesome: Shouchi eats the hell out of a bento.
• Mythology Gag
  • Not only is Another Agito's design meant to invoke the Showa Kamen Riders (it even comes with a Scarf of Asskicking of sorts), but his motorcycle resembles the one used by Kamen Rider BLACK.
  • And the finale mimics that of Kamen Rider Kuuga in more ways than one. Distant Finale format, filled with Where Are They Now, and the lead protagonist doesn't show his face till the end of it.
  • The first group of monsters are big cats, and the second are turtles. This homages Kamen Rider V3, where the first monsters of the week were Scissors Jaguar and Turtle Bazooka. Especially fitting because Agito is the second series of the revived franchise, just as V3 was the second series of the original franchise. V3 and Agito also both follow series where the first monsters were a spider and a bat.
    • Another V3 Monster of the Week reference comes from the Scorpion Lord, Leiurus Acutia◊, who is modeled after V3's Dragon - Doktor G. The Lord's design is clearly based on the Doktor's monster form - Kani Laser◊ - right down to the axe, shield, and general head shape. The reference is further enforced by the fact that they both make their first appearances on the 13th episodes of their respective shows.
    • The Shout-Out takes a step further when you realize that Doktor G's organization is Destron - the V3 baddies with this logo◊. Scary Scorpions, indeed.
    • The Riders themselves have references to V3 - e.g. Another Agito's two scarfs resemble V3's own double-scarf fashion choice, and the G3-X's GA-04 Antoures is modeled after Riderman's Rope Arm.
  • Agito's Cross Horns opening up for finishers was inspired by an unused concept for Kamen Rider Stronger.
  • G3-X's red eyes and mouth guard are apparently called the Red Eyeser and Perfector after similar parts on Kamen Rider X.
  • Agito, the main character of the second Heisei Rider show, evolves into an asymmetrical red-and-blue form, and is paired with a robotic policeman who relies on firearms (G3) and an organic being with supernatural powers (Gills). Kamen Rider V3, the second Showa show, was aired right before Ishinomori's own Kikaider / Kikaider 01, and alongside Robot Detective and Inazuman^note Technically, the last episode of Henshin Ninja Arashi was aired a day before the second V3 episode..
• Ominous Latin Chanting
• Our Angels Are Different: Ones who would protect you from monstrous humanoids, but kill those with a potential superpower.
• Palette Swap: Several of the Unknowns, typically to show that they're related somehow.
• Passive-Aggressive Kombat: Hojo is a MASTER of this, displaying it almost every other time he opens his mouth around the G3 unit.
• Pet the Dog: Despite being a selfish Jerkass, Hojo has two Pet the Dog moments:
  • When Hojo discovers his mentor is a murderer, he turns the guy in despite the massive amount of respect he has for his mentor.
  • When Hikawa starts going blind from stress, Hojo acts as Hikawa's eyes to help him fight an Unknown, with no apparent ulterior motive.
• Phlebotinum Breakdown: Gills' transformations cause rapid cellular delay, greatly shortening Ryo's lifespan.
• Physical God: The Overlords.
• Poor Communication Kills: Ryo/Gills thinks Agito is responsible for the death of his girlfriend, and goes after him at every chance. Ryo and Shouichi are unaware that the other is Gills/Agito, but are familiar with each other. Rather thoroughly averted (especially when compared to Kamen Rider 555) when they finally find out - Ryo's reaction is a surprised "You're Agito?!", followed by forgiveness and cooperation. It does help that there is justification for this in that the Overlord of Darkness was manipulating him thanks to his confusion as to why he gained his power.
  • This was the first season with Toshiki Inoue (who is a signature user of this trope) as the head writer, after all.
• Powered Armor: G3, G3-X, G3-MILD, V1 and The Movie's G4. They're heavy armor over an artificial muscle suit.
• Power Degeneration: A side effect of transforming into Gills, in the form of post-fight Rapid Aging. Healed out of existence (as a side-effect, apparently) when Mana revives Ryo.
• Psychic Powers: Mana is an ESPer. Most of those who have the potential to become Agito are telekinetics, and the rest are ESPers like Mana.
• Rearrange the Song: Starting with #36, the opening theme is replaced by "Kamen Rider AGITO ~24.7 version~," a remix with different lyrics and a heavier rhythm.
• Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies: In-universe. The Overlord of Darkness still likes 'normal' humans just fine while battling the Riders who got their powers from the Seed of Agito. But then, Hikawa lands a decent hit on him in his purely manmade armor. This makes him decide humans in general were a bad idea and he should kill them all, setting up the final few episodes.
• Rule of Symbolism: Agito is full of Judeo-Christian symbolism, with some Greek symbolism thrown in as well.
  • The Unknowns have wing-like protrusions from their backs.
  • The Unknowns have halos that flash above their heads when they want to summon a weapon or right before they die.
  • The Unknowns cross themselves to ask their Overlord for permission to sin before they kill someone.
  • The regular Unknowns are called the Malakh, which is Hebrew for "angel".
  • The highest-level Unknowns are called the El (a Hebrew name for God).
  • The real name of the Overlord of Darkness is Theos, which is Greek for "God" and the name used for God in the original manuscripts of the New Testament.
  • The real name of the Overlord of Light is Promes, which presumably comes from Prometheus, as he is the El of Fire who gave power to humans.
  • Gills is based on the Nephilim, a race of creatures from The Bible that were implied to be the result of angels breeding with humans. The original Gills was the biological child of Promes (an El) and a human woman.
  • The design of Agito's Burning Form is based on the Sacred Heart.
  • The G3 unit is named the Squad Against Unidentified Lifeforms, or S.A.U.L. for short. In The Bible, Saul was the first king of a united Israel and Judah.
  • "Amazing Grace" plays a few times in the last episode, and goes out on it.
• Sealed Evil in a Can: Or rather, sealed DNA in a can.
• Shared Universe: Agito takes place in the same continuity as Kuuga, since the police force developed the G3 system based on Kuuga.
• Shoot the Shaggy Dog: Saeko Shinohara
• Shout-Out: The official English subtitles on Toei's Youtube channel had a clever way of translating some Japanese wordplay:
  Yoshihiko: "Spinach?"
  Shouichi: "Strong to the finich!"
• So Last Season: The G3 proves to be largely ineffective against the Unknown because it was made to fight the Grongi from Kamen Rider Kuuga. It gets a minor upgrade, after which it is more effective, eventually destroying an Unknown with a couple of grenades. It then gets a proper, much needed Mid-Season Upgrade in G3-X, able to both give as much as it takes.
• Stone Wall: G3 isn't initially effective against the Unknowns, but it definitely keeps the wearer(s) alive (in fact, the Generation Series has the best defense of all the Riders in Agito). G3-X, on the other hand, is more of a Lightning Bruiser.
• Superpower Lottery: The various powers gained by people before they complete their evolution into an Agito. Frequently of the Blessed with Suck variety. Zigzagged with Shouichi: He doesn't get any powers at all as a human other than the ability to sense when Lords are attacking. In exchange, he gets to be a Kamen Rider, with no ill effects besides.
• Super Prototype: G3, as it turns out (while also a subversion - it's the only G series unit we see until G3-X comes out). The base of every G unit afterward, and stronger than the production (prototype) G3-MILD.
• Transforming Mecha: Though not technically a mecha, Agito's bike transforms into a hoverboard.
• Unstoppable Rage: somewhere between this and Superpowered Evil Side is the original G3-X AI. Hikawa actually goes unconscious from the stress it puts on him, while the G3-X goes on beat up Hojo in the V-1 suit, kill an Unknown, and nearly shoot Agito.
  • Agito's Burning Form operates on this. The angrier Agito gets, the more powerful he becomes in the form.
  • Agito's debut was also this, as Shouichi was controlled by pure instinct. Things would've been FAR easier if a.) Shouichi hadn't attacked G3 during their first meeting, thereby leaving a horrible first impression and b.) he actually talked in the suit.
• The Voiceless: Agito while transformed, for the first 2/3 of the series or so. When Shouichi senses an Unknown and is sent by pure instinct to fight, he drops what he's doing and runs off without a word, then fights equally wordlessly. In #14, he speaks for the first time to say "what?" when his bike transforms into a hoverboard (he didn't know it could do that). The next time he speaks is in #21, when he finds Aki's dead body after a fight: he calls her name multiple times before cursing the Unknown. He is more talkative in Rider form near the end of the series, even saying full sentences. There are still entire extended battles fought without a word, though. Considering that a major conflict in the show kept going because of a lack of clear communication, this became a plot point.
• "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue: One year later...
  • Ryo has left town is wondering the world with a puppy.
  • The G5 Unit, a thirty-man unit established to replace the retired G3 Unit, has finished their training.
  • Hikawa is back to regular police duties with Koji Kono.
  • Ozawa moved to England to work at the University of West London as a professor.
  • Omuro is captain of the G5 Unit (and has grown a moustache).
  • Toru meets Ozawa at university, suggesting that he has fallen in love with her, but rescinds this as a joke and they remain rivals despite hard-won mutual respect.
  • Shouichi has opened up his own restaurant, named Agito, where he treats his adopted family to the Shouichi Special.

---