History Characters / KamenRiderZeroOneZAIAEnterprise

* MultiEthnicName: He has an English given name and a Japanese surname.

* HoistByTheirOwnPetard: Their proposed solution to an outbreak of [=[=HumaGears=]=] being hacked en masse is the Giger, a gigantic mammoth-themed robot capable of hacking [=[=HumaGears=]=] en masse. While it's ''supposed'' to have this feature to stop an outbreak by shutting the rogue machines down, no internal counter-hacking measure was implemented by ZAIA. This means it takes [=MetsubouJinrai=].net all of fifteen minutes to hack one of the Gigers directly, at which point it not only produces a mass outbreak far beyond what they could have done alone but foils the Hiden security that ''did'' work on [=MetsubouJinrai=].net's own attempts. ZAIA Japan then proceeds to build even more Gigers ''without'' correcting the security flaw, this time giving Jin a small army of them to rampage with.
* {{Hypocrite}}: ZAIA Japan spearheaded the campaign against [=[=HumaGears=]=] and artificial intelligence, yet their leader tries to abuse the Ark for his own benefits, and even manufactures Gigers, '''autonomous''' HumongousMecha that makes them Humagear in all but appearance and sizes.

* PragmaticHero: Williamson's character arc acts to deconstruct this trope. He wants to do the right thing that ensures the safety of the people, and as such he takes the pragmatic approach of using A.I.M.S., Gai, and Jin to shut down the situation as quickly and efficiently as possible. When the opponent is someone trying to stir up a CycleOfRevenge, though, Williamson's tactics only play into As's hands, as any violence no matter how well-intentioned only further elevates the racial tensions between humans and [=[=HumaGears=]=]. It takes Yua going up against a bunch of rioting [=[=HumaGears=]=] with nothing but her empathy and leadership skills for Williamson to see the error of his ways.

* WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer: Despite generally being reasonable, Williamson attempts to solve most problems through violence, either by ordering Jin to assassinate key targets or by ordering A.I.M.S. forces to suppress the rioting [=[=HumaGears=]=] by force. While well-intentioned, these tactics ultimately do nothing to address the root of the problem, and in fact push humanity to the brink of war.

* VillainOverride: The Gigers are nothing more than massive combat [=[=HumaGears=]=], so it takes little effort for [=MetsubouJinrai.net=] to hack them as their combatant.

ZAIA's latest product. A wearable glasses device that gives the user learning and processing speeds that exceed [=[=HumaGears=]=].

Cybernetic monsters transformed from humans using a [=RaidRiser=] and a Progrisekey. The humans are provided with the devices by Naki to allow them to seek vengeance against [=[=HumaGears=]=].

** Tatsumi became the Splashing Whale Raider out of sheer pettiness, destroying houses and assaulting [=[=HumaGears=]=] to have them become Ark Magia to fight against.

* {{Jerkass}}: Bullies Smile during the real estate competition, [[spoiler:to the point that she experiences a negative Singularity and becomes an Ark Neohi Magia. It ends up exposing him, as he desire to attack [=[=HumaGears=]=] as the Raider causes Fuwa to catch him transforming against an Ark Mammoth Magia.]]

* WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity: While his arrogance and disdain of [=[=HumaGears=]=] are apparent from the beginning, he is rather well-intentioned and harmless all things considered. One Raidriser later, he is destroying whatever property Smile is trying to sell, while a bad talk from Gai forces him to hold back on using his Raidriser and resort to publicly humiliating her instead.

After ZAIA Enterprise won the Competition and took over Hiden Intelligence, they also took control of A.I.M.S, whose troopers were given mass produced [[GiantEnemyCrab Invading Horseshoe Crab]] Progrise Keys and [=RaidRisers=] to become Battle Raiders, to help in taking down [=[=HumaGears=]=] who haven't been shut down. They're always deployed in pairs, but the actual pair varies from episode to episode.

* JerkassHasAPoint: Unlike other representatives who redeemed themselves and come to like [=[=HumaGears=]=], he’s the only one who is a full-blown jerk who despises [=[=HumaGears=]=]. At the same time, he isn't wrong in his critique that [=HumaGears=] can be hacked into threatening humanity, and is even proven right at the end of his episode when MC Check It Out turns violent entirely of his own volition, makes threats against him and even willingly becomes a Magia.

A multinational technology {{megacorp}} with offices based around the world. One of its subsidiaries, ZAIA Japan, was involved with the production of prototype Humagears in the Daybreak incident. ZAIA Japan also acts as the main benefactor of A.I.M.S., supplying them with their equipment and Progrisekeys to fight [=MetsubouJinrai.net=] and the Magia, while also seeking to make use of the conflict to seize control of Hiden Intelligence.

* HoistByTheirOwnPetard: Their proposed solution to an outbreak of [=HumaGears=] being hacked en masse is the Giger, a gigantic mammoth-themed robot capable of hacking [=HumaGears=] en masse. While it's ''supposed'' to have this feature to stop an outbreak by shutting the rogue machines down, no internal counter-hacking measure was implemented by ZAIA. This means it takes [=MetsubouJinrai=].net all of fifteen minutes to hack one of the Gigers directly, at which point it not only produces a mass outbreak far beyond what they could have done alone but foils the Hiden security that ''did'' work on [=MetsubouJinrai=].net's own attempts. ZAIA Japan then proceeds to build even more Gigers ''without'' correcting the security flaw, this time giving Jin a small army of them to rampage with.
* {{Hypocrite}}: ZAIA Japan spearheaded the campaign against [=HumaGears=] and artificial intelligence, yet their leader tries to abuse the Ark for his own benefits, and even manufactures Gigers, '''autonomous''' HumongousMecha that makes them Humagear in all but appearance and sizes.

* PetTheDog: Although he is willing to destroy protesting Humagears, he was genuinely happy that Yua was able to dissolve the situation without violence, which causes him to entrust Jin's earpiece to Gai, who gives it to Yua and Isamu to resurrect Jin in order to stop Horobi without needless bloodshed.
* PragmaticHero: Williamson's character arc acts to deconstruct this trope. He wants to do the right thing that ensures the safety of the people, and as such he takes the pragmatic approach of using A.I.M.S., Gai, and Jin to shut down the situation as quickly and efficiently as possible. When the opponent is someone trying to stir up a CycleOfRevenge, though, Williamson's tactics only play into As's hands, as any violence no matter how well-intentioned only further elevates the racial tensions between humans and [=HumaGears=]. It takes Yua going up against a bunch of rioting [=HumaGears=] with nothing but her empathy and leadership skills for Williamson to see the error of his ways.

* WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer: Despite generally being reasonable, Williamson attempts to solve most problems through violence, either by ordering Jin to assassinate key targets or by ordering A.I.M.S. forces to suppress the rioting [=HumaGears=] by force. While well-intentioned, these tactics ultimately do nothing to address the root of the problem, and in fact push humanity to the brink of war.

* TheEvilsOfFreeWill: It's implied in Project Thouser that while they were designed to prevent another Humagear outbreak, they were also intended to supress regular Humagears, rendering them no more than slaves to humanity. Upon learning this, Naki decides to betray Gai by revealing their existence to Horobi.

* VillainOverride: The Gigers are nothing more than massive combat [=HumaGears=], so it takes little effort for [=MetsubouJinrai.net=] to hack them as their combatant.

ZAIA's latest product. A wearable glasses device that gives the user learning and processing speeds that exceed [=HumaGears=].

Cybernetic monsters transformed from humans using a [=RaidRiser=] and a Progrisekey. The humans are provided with the devices by Naki to allow them to seek vengeance against [=HumaGears=].

** Tatsumi became the Splashing Whale Raider out of sheer pettiness, destroying houses and assaulting [=HumaGears=] to have them become Ark Magia to fight against.

* {{Jerkass}}: Bullies Smile during the real estate competition, [[spoiler:to the point that she experiences a negative Singularity and becomes an Ark Neohi Magia. It ends up exposing him, as he desire to attack [=HumaGears=] as the Raider causes Fuwa to catch him transforming against an Ark Mammoth Magia.]]

* WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity: While his arrogance and disdain of [=HumaGears=] are apparent from the beginning, he is rather well-intentioned and harmless all things considered. One Raidriser later, he is destroying whatever property Smile is trying to sell, while a bad talk from Gai forces him to hold back on using his Raidriser and resort to publicly humiliating her instead.

After ZAIA Enterprise won the Competition and took over Hiden Intelligence, they also took control of A.I.M.S, whose troopers were given mass produced [[GiantEnemyCrab Invading Horseshoe Crab]] Progrise Keys and [=RaidRisers=] to become Battle Raiders, to help in taking down [=HumaGears=] who haven't been shut down. They're always deployed in pairs, but the actual pair varies from episode to episode.

* JerkassHasAPoint: Unlike other representatives who redeemed themselves and come to like [=HumaGears=], he’s the only one who is a full-blown jerk who despises [=HumaGears=]. At the same time, he isn't wrong in his critique that Humagears can be hacked into threatening humanity, and is even proven right at the end of his episode when MC Check It Out turns violent entirely of his own volition, makes threats against him and even willingly becomes a Magia.

* VillainyFreeVillain: He's a politician who uses some sleazy tactics, but apart from that he never does anything villainous and even makes [[JerkassHasAPoint valid points about the dangers Humagears pose]].

* TheBadGuysWin: Despite being a CorruptPolitician, he had managed to win the hearts of people with the help of Gai during the final round of the Workplace Competition.
* CorruptPolitician: He bribes the folks into voicing for him in order to win the round.
* FantasticRacism: An advocate of anti-[=HumaGear=] propaganda who believes they shouldn't co-exists with humanity.

* HateSink: Among the representatives of ZAIA during the 5-Round workplace competition, Masamitsu is the only one who shows unpleasant hatred towards Humagears who never shows any repentance due to his disappearance after winning the 5th round.
* {{Jerkass}}: Unlike other representatives who redeemed themselves and come to like [=HumaGears=], he’s the only one who is a full-blown jerk who despises [=HumaGears=].

Chiharu Ebii's childhood friend Teruo Nikaido, who is given a [=RaidRiser=] and Progrise Key by Naki to transform into the [[EverythingsBetterWithPenguins Storming Penguin Raider]], out of his jealousy from the former's crush on the [=HumaGear=] Match Enmusubi.

* EnergyWeapon: His main weapon, the [[AwesomeMcCoolName Dead Monochrome]] laser cannon, which counts as a {{BFG}} due to its large size.

A ZAIA Enterprise employee named Daiki Kyogoku, who stole a [=RaidRiser=] and Progrise Key from his own company to transform into the [[PandaingToTheAudience Scouting Panda Raider]] in order to destroy 119nosuke and ensure Takeshi Homura wins his round of the Workplace Competition for ZAIA Enterprise.

* AnimalMotifs: Like the Magia, Raiders are modeled after monstrous mechanical animals. Unlike their counterparts, Raiders use common living animals as their templates rather than extinct SeldomSeenSpecies.

* {{Hypocrite}}: ZAIA Japan spearheaded the campaign against [=HumaGears=] and artificial intelligence, yet their leader try to abuse the Ark into his own benefits and even manufacture Gigers, '''autonomous''' HumongousMecha that makes them Humagear in all but appearance and sizes.

** Additionally, [[spoiler:his motive was to boost ZAIA's standing by stealing gear and rigging the fourth round. In doing so, he exposed that the [=RaidRiser=] and by proxy the Raiders are ZAIA products, harming ZAIA's standing.]]

* PunchClockVillain: Beyond being chosen as Zaia's representative for the third round, there really isn't anything villainous about him. He doesn't stoop to belittling his opponent, he isn't swayed by Gai's speeches, and when Bingo decisively proves his client he simply concedes the round.
* RedHerring: Served as one for the Dynamiting Lion Raider's identity.

[[center: [- [[Characters/KamenRiderZeroOne Main Character Index]] | [[Characters/KamenRiderZeroOneHidenIntelligence Hiden Intelligence]] ([[Characters/KamenRiderZeroOneArutoHiden Aruto Hiden]]) | [[Characters/KamenRiderZeroOneAIMS AIMS]] | [[Characters/KamenRiderZeroOneMetsubouJinraiNET MetsubouJinrai.net]] | '''ZAIA Enterprise''' | [[Characters/KamenRiderZeroOneOtherCharacters Other Characters]] | [[Characters/KamenRiderZeroOneMovieExclusiveCharacters Movie-Exclusive Characters]]]] -]

!!Gai Amatsu/Kamen Rider Thouser
!!!'''Portrayed by:''' Nachi Sakuragi (live), Yuji Nakata (suit)\\
'''Young Gai Portrayed by:''' Seiru

-->''"This is going according to my scenario. 100%... no, 1,000%."''

Yua's superior and the enigmatic CEO of ZAIA Enterprise Japan. He provides Yua new Progrise Keys for her and Fuwa to use. He is later removed as ZAIA Japan's CEO for repeated failures in regards to the Ark and replaced by Williamson Yotagaki.
!!!Tropes that apply to him in general
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gai_3.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:250:CEO of ZAIA Enterprise Japan]]
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/production_image1_2.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:250:Gai as a child]]

* ZeroPercentApprovalRating: While Gai may be a VillainWithGoodPublicity, ''none'' of the main characters like him regardless of what side they're on. And it's not just the main characters, either. As it turns out, he's had 1,843 complaints made against him in regards to his actions and behavior.
* TwentyPercentMoreAwesome: He likes to use percentages for things that aren't easily measured in numbers. This is also usually in contexts for which a number above 100% wouldn't make any sense at all, such as saying something is going 1000% to plan, or insisting that Tatsumi should be 1000% sure of victory. He's so in love with this trope that when he says something is ''100%'' according to plan, it draws a suspicious look from Yua.
* AbusiveParents: [[spoiler:#38 reveals Gai had a FantasyForbiddingFather who expects him to score an impossible ''1000%'' in school, and [[EducationPapa would punish him for performing not up to expectations]]. It gets to the point where his father treats a 99% as if it were TheBGrade and scolds Gai out for "wasting too much time" with his robot dog Thouser. This lead to Gai returning Thouser to Hiden Intelligence, [[StartOfDarkness whilst believing he has no one else -- human nor A.I. -- but himself to rely on to obtain that 1000% his father desperately expects of him]].]]
* AllForNothing: [[spoiler:Since Korenosuke patented all Humagears and Zero-One-related technology under his own name rather than his company's, the entire Workplace Competition arc ultimately amounted to Gai buying out a shell corporation. Making matters worse for him is that even with his workaround of recalling Humagears, he's still met with heavy resistance from the public.]] The only valuable thing that he got was the President's seat itself, which he clings to for an entirely different reason: [[spoiler:Hiden Intelligence made [[MoralityPet his robot dog Thouser]]]].
** [[spoiler:Gai manages to delete all the evidence that Shesta collected of his misdeeds, but mere seconds later he's goaded into attacking untransformed civilians while being recorded, creating fresh grounds to call for his dismissal.]]
* ArchEnemy: Gai considers Aruto this as a proxy for his vendetta against Korenosuke, and by the end of the Workplace Competition arc, the feeling is mutual.
* ArmorPiercingResponse: PlayedForLaughs when Gai mentions to Aruto that thanks to Aruto's actions, the sales of the new ZAIA Spec have gone up 724% from what was previously projected. Aruto mocks Gai for this number not being 1000%, a fact which actually irritates Gai enough to prompt a death glare.
* ArmsDealer: Gai aims to weaponize and sell Kamen Rider technology, and buys out Hiden Intelligence in part to gain a monopoly on that tech.
* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: In #37, a list of Gai's crimes have been found, and one of the crimes includes “buying needless amounts of expensive tea”.
* TheBadGuyWins: Both the first and second arcs end with Gai having succeeded in everything he set out to do during them until the opening of the third arc reveals that all of it was for a MeaninglessVillainVictory.
* BerserkButton: Fitting his ControlFreak nature, Gai ''really'' dislikes being defied, especially by his subordinates or opponents that he perceives as being weaker than him.
* BigBadEnsemble: Shares the role of ArcVillain with the Ark Satellite and Naki in the ''Hiden Intelligence vs. ZAIA Enterprise'' Arc. Gai is responsible for ZAIA's buyout of Hiden and is the one driving most of the plot as the central antagonist, but he is not the one creating the Raiders that have started to crop up and interfere in the Workplace Competition or the one hacking [=HumaGears=] remotely to turn them into Ark Magia. [[spoiler:Except he is behind the Raiders -- with Naki working for him. It is still an ensemble with him and the Ark.]]
* BigDamnHeroes: [[spoiler:In #38, when Ark-Zero is about to deliver the finishing blow to Aruto, Gai arrives just in time to deflect the attack and proceeds to back Aruto up.]]
* BigEgoHiddenDepths: Gai comes off as a serious {{Jerkass}} with a major ItsAllAboutMe, ControlFreak complex and all around terrible person - but deep beneath that despicable attitude lies a man with some ''very'' serious self-esteem issues.
* BitchInSheepsClothing: In public, he acts like a visionary executive who wants to advance humanity. Behind closed doors, he's a smug asshole who only cares about feeding his own ego.
* BloodKnight: He has no qualms in using a [=ZetsumeRiser=] to force [=HumaGears=] to turn into Magia, just for an excuse to transform and off them as Thouser. He even challenges Zero-One [=MetalCluster=] Hopper in battle during his first rampage to test the extent of the Ark's power, [[HoistByHisOwnPetard only to be swiftly overpowered and defeated]].
* BreakingSpeech: Gives one to Tatsumi, telling him that his failure will ensure humanity becomes obsolete and face extinction. Tatsumi doesn’t take it well.
* BrokenPedestal: Korenosuke Hiden was his idol in the A.I. industry. However due to their conflicting views on how A.I. technology should be used, with Korenosuke refusing to collaborate with ZAIA as a result, as well as having [[EnsignNewbie his grandson]] named as his UnexpectedSuccessor, Gai makes it part of his vendetta to take over and surpass everything Korenosuke left behind, which includes turning his beloved [=HumaGears=] into Magia while framing Hiden Intelligence up for a takeover bid, as well as creating his own Kamen Rider to outperform Zero-One in all aspects.
* ButtMonkey: Ever since the third arc started, Gai has been hit by a series of failures and humiliation that he seems to have no answer for.
* CantTakeCriticism: Gai's response to Match describing him as a [[ItsAllAboutMe self-centered]], arrogant {{narcissist}}? Nonchantly stating that he knew [=HumaGears=] were worthless in the matchmaking business.
* TheChessmaster: Gai is an excellent long term planner, and set in motion the events of the series 12 years ago as part of a plan spanning over a decade to buy out Hiden. Fittingly enough, Gai spends most of the show's first quarter sitting in front of a chessboard. That is also how he is introduced in the opening.
* ClothingDamage: His clothes are notably tattered when he is defeated by the main characters. At one point he was stripped to nothing but boxer briefs courtesy of Naki giving him a personal "message".
* CombatAndSupport: In the latter half of the series, where he finds himself fully overwhelmed by Metal Cluster Hopper, his standard tactic is to be supported by two Raiders who provide diversionary tactics while he engages Zero One. It's a practice with mixed success as it takes everything he has to damage Zero One and with the advent of Jin Burning Falcon and Vulcan Rampage Gatling, it's frequently a case where he finds Zero One taking out the Raiders while he has the undivided attention of one of the other riders capable of handing him his ass.
* ColdBloodedTorture: Tortures Fuwa using his AI chip in #29 as a way of demonstrating his hold over him.
* CompositeCharacter: Gai combines traits of both Kuroto and Masamune Dan from ''Series/KamenRiderExAid.'' Like Kuroto, Gai provides many of the Riders with their equipment to further his own ends. Like Masamune, he manages to maintain being a VillainWithGoodPublicity despite marketing a highly dangerous and destructive product and manages to temporarily turn some formerly good Riders to his side through a combination of mundane methods and mind control. Like both, he's a ControlFreak whose affable facade crumbles into a violent madman the moment he doesn't get his way, and a deeply untalented fighter who has what would be a StoryBreakerPower if it was in the hands of someone who could use it wisely.
* ControlFreak: It is eventually revealed that Gai [[spoiler:uses his technology to control his subordinates, his main go-to being inflicting pain to keep his subordinates in line, and for one unfortunate Rider, straight out MindControl on top of it]].
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: In contrast to [[HonestCorporateExecutive Aruto and Korenosuke Hiden]], Gai is basically {{Greed}} embodied. He is out to acquire Hiden and boost ZAIA's sales and is willing to utilize underhanded tactics to do so.
* CurbStompBattle: His first few encounters see Gai dish these out, demonstrating the enormous power advantage that his suit has over everyone else's. Once the other Riders get used to fighting him and gain suits more equal to his in power, though, Gai starts ''receiving'' curbstomps regularly.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: [[spoiler:As shown in #38, Gai's father only expected the best out of him, at one point demanding an impossible ''1000%'' on his schoolwork. ''Years'' of this along with having no actual outlet besides himself (and Thouser, until the dog was shut away) clearly contributed to how he is today.]]
* DemotedToDragon: Essentially what his new position in the Thouser Department is for: To become Thouser and do whatever he is told.
* DidntSeeThatComing: Gai makes a habit of seeing his opponents as idiots, leading him to be caught off-guard whenever they do something that isn't according to his script. Most often, this consists of handing his opponent a power-up and then being surprised when they turn it against him. [[spoiler:The Raiders, however, are ''not'' this, as he was behind them all along with the sole exception of Scouting Panda.]] His biggest failure of foresight is [[spoiler:not checking who owns the patents for Hiden Intelligence's technology]].
* DidntThinkThisThrough: For all of his long-awaited schemes coming into fruition, the third arc of the show exposes three major problems with what Gai had in mind:
** [[spoiler:Gai never actually checked the patents for Hiden Intelligence's technology to see who they were registered to. If he had, he would have known that his entire takeover scheme would be all for naught the moment Aruto quit the company. ''[[AllForNothing Everything]]'' [[MeaninglessVillainVictory he was after in the takeover remains in Aruto's possession]].]]
** Thanks to his FantasticRacism clouding his business savvy, Gai has completely ignored the fact that what he wants to do is get rid of an entirely effective and functional workforce that fill in positions human beings are just not capable of substituting in a feasible or even efficient way. [[spoiler:When he takes over Hiden Intelligence and recalls all Humagears, he attempts to provide the ZAIASPEC to customers as an alternative, however, this instead allows Aruto's new company to benefit from high-profile customers that want support for the Humagears that have been made an ''essential'' part of their companies and could not be made up for by the ZAIA Spec.]]
** And then there's the matter of sticking Naki's AI on a chip to implant into an A.I.M.S. officer. Not only do they actively rebel and take a new body, but Naki has an intimate understanding of how ZAIA's tech works. Naturally, they exploit this and crack ZAIA's networks open, allowing Ark to seize control of both the ZAIA Spec users and Naki themself a small army of A.I.M.S. personnel.
* DirtyCoward: He can enjoy demolishing his foes only thanks to the technological advantage of his suit and every underhanded tactic in the book. Deprived of that, he has no other option than to scuttle away in anger [[spoiler:or as #33 shows, in fear.]]
* DissonantSerenity: He generally acts as if the events of the show are just a play he is directing, no matter how dangerous they are. He admits to having caused the Ark to become an enemy of humanity without even changing his usual demeanor. Dude's messed up.
* EasilyForgiven: Zigzagged. [[spoiler:After his turn in the ''Ark-Zero'' Arc, the other Riders certainly haven't forgiven him for what he's done, but they are at least willing to work with him. And they never actually try to hold Gai accountable for his crimes, even after he's lost his position and power as CEO of ZAIA.]]
* EngineeredHeroics: His use of Thouser is partly to improve his own image by taking down "rogue" Humagears. This is despite the fact that as the Ark's programmer, ''he is responsible for the Magia.''
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Gai declares his intent to prove ZAIA's superiority to Hiden Intelligence fair and square, even threatening to sue his own competitors if he catches them cheating. [[spoiler:He's lying through his teeth, and rigs the contest at every turn by sending Naki to create the Raiders. For the final round of the contest, he abandons all pretense of playing fair and picks a contest where he's allowed to have a corrupt politician be his champion while Aruto has to settle for a rapper due to laws forbidding [=HumaGear=] politicians. Then on top of that, Gai astroturfs his way to victory by seeding the crowds with ZAIA employees.]]
** PlayedForLaughs in regards to his ambitions compared to Kuroto Dan's. Even at his worst, Gai never actually had [[AGodAmI any real delusions of godhood]] like Kuroto did, so he honestly has no idea what the latter is talking about.
* EvilCounterpart: To the entire Hiden family. Both Gai and Aruto are the Presidents of their own companies, but Gai represents the exact opposite of the ideals Aruto has. Whereas Aruto is an HonestCorporateExecutive who fights for the sake of co-existence between [=HumaGears=] and humanity, Gai is a CorruptCorporateExecutive who poses as a human supremacist, but really cares for nothing but himself. Where Korenosuke was a good father whose children want to build on his vision, Gai is an abusive father whose mistreatment of his child sends echoes of that same mistreatment across multiple generations.
* EvilIsPetty: Gai stands out among Rider villains for being one of the very few who doesn't want to take over or destroy the world. His goal is simply wealth, power, and satiating his ego.
* EvilVersusEvil: Although Gai created [=MetsubouJinrai.net=], all of its members hate him just as much as everyone else does. Gai is ''such'' a monster that he manages to be the one who's EvilerThanThou, making [=MetsubouJinrai.net=] come out looking like the more heroic party.
* FatalFlaw: A combination of {{Greed}} and {{Pride}}. Gai risks a twelve-year scheme falling apart by giving Hiden Intelligence a chance to avoid their buyout, purely because the spectacle of the contest will improve the sales of ZAIA products. [[spoiler:Even when he wins, he assumes that Aruto's an idiot and won't have ''any'' contingency plan, while he never would have enacted the scheme in the first place if he'd bothered looking up the relevant patents.]] In general, his scheme relies on thinking he's always going to be one step ahead of the monster he's created.
** His ControlFreak nature also serves as one. Gai ''has'' to be in control of the situation and the people around him. When his control breaks in the third arc, it marks the start of his VillainousBreakdown.
* FantasticRacism: [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed.]] He is much worse than the likes of Isamu and Yua, as his ambition is to shut down all [=HumaGears=] due to his petty hatred toward his former idol Korenosuke Hiden. However, Gai's attitude toward [=HumaGears=] causes him to downplay and even outright dismiss their value to society as a whole, resulting in him not factoring in that many people in high-profile positions are definitely adverse to the very idea of replacing [=HumaGears=] due to how beneficially remunerative and practical they have proven to be in their particular area of business. Later on, it is revealed that he himself doesn't care about humanity, but simply sees people as tools, which in turn results in him having a personal hand in creating his biggest threats.
* FauxAffablyEvil: As much of a {{Jerkass}} as he is, Gai is good at acting amicable when the cameras are on him (it's part of why he is a VillainWithGoodPublicity) and in most of his media appearances he comes off as polite, if a little smug.
* {{Foil}}: To Jun Fukuzoe. Both dislike Aruto because he gained the position of President through nepotism, and seek to claim it for themselves. Where Jun genuinely cares about Hiden Intelligence, and comes around to Aruto's side once he sees how hard Aruto works to protect the company, Gai cares about nothing but himself.
* TheFriendNobodyLikes: [[spoiler:Even after he joins the heroes, Thouser is ''barely'' tolerated by the others; when he offers Yua, Isamu, Horobi and Jin employment in the Thouser Division (after Yua points out that Fuwa doesn't have a job anymore), none of them hesitate to tell him "no thanks".]]
* GoofyPrintUnderwear: Wears ZAIA brand underwear.
* GreaterScopeVillain: Gai is the man responsible for shaping the tragedy that molded Aruto and Isamu into who they are now, as well as the man responsible behind the rise of [=MetsubouJinrai.net=] by corrupting the Ark. [[NeverMyFault When pointed out, Gai states that it was the Ark who decided it should destroy humanity after being shown how low they could sink.]]
** This extends to him being the true villain of ''Film/KamenRiderZeroOneRealXTime'' as well, even if [[spoiler:he's [[HeelFaceTurn no longer a villain]]]], since S only became a villain because of a tragedy he suffered in the Daybreak Town Incident.
** Ironically, him being behind the Ark also makes him this to the ''Genms ~The Presidents~'' special since the Ark is responsible for Kuroto's return, even though Gai is the ''protagonist'' in that special.
** The only works that avert this are the ''Zero-One Others'' movies as the BigBad there is Lyon Arkland, Gai's boss.
* {{Greed}}: At the end of the day, Gai just wants to make more money and doesn't believe in his HumanityIsSuperior philosophy at all, given how he's perfectly willing to throw his fellow humans under the bus to boost the sales of his products.
* HateSink: Gai has almost no redeeming qualities whatsoever, making him far worse than ''Horobi'' in terms of depravity. He is directly responsible for the Daybreak Incident that killed hundreds of humans, seeks to turn Kamen Riders into super-soldiers, and does everything in his power to destroy Hiden Intelligence seemingly out of pure spite towards Korenosuke for not agreeing with him and [=HumaGears=]. Even outside of that, Gai is thoroughly unpleasant to be around. He acts condescending and demeaning towards everyone he meets, pins the blame on the heroes for disasters he himself caused, and takes every available opportunity he can to torment [[AllLovingHero Aruto]] by destroying his creations. Notably, actor Nachi Sakuragi has said in interviews that not only does he deliberately makes Gai as despicable via his acting, his goal is to make Gai even more hated than [[Series/KamenRider555 Masato Kusaka]], who is one of if not '''the''' single biggest Hate Sink in the entire ''Franchise/KamenRider'' franchise ([[EvilerThanThou other candidates being outright villains]] like [[Series/KamenRiderRyuki Takeshi Asakura]] or [[Series/KamenRiderDrive Tenjuro Banno]]). Gai is such a hate sink that it actually becomes a plot point, [[spoiler:as the idea of someone so despicable performing a HeelFaceTurn was ''so'' implausible that the Ark is completely blindsided by it and handed its first legitimate defeat as a result]].
* HeadsIWinTailsYouLose: This is ultimately his plan with the Five-Stage Workplace Competition against Hiden Intelligence. He sets up the contest to ensure that many of the [=HumaGears=] involved will be bullied into turning into Magia, allowing him to destroy Hiden Intelligence's reputation regardless of the outcome. He then makes the final round a ''political contest'', ensuring that there's nothing Aruto can do to win it, as [=HumaGears=] can't hold public office. [[spoiler:''Inverted'' as it turns out thanks to Korenosuke patenting all the technology he actually ''wanted'' from acquiring Hiden Intelligence in his family name rather than the company. Thus, win or lose, Gai would've never gotten what he wanted anyway.]]
* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler:Pulls one in #38, thanks to Aruto and Ai-chan. [[ReformedButRejected That said, some haven't quite forgiven him for his past actions.]]]]
* HiddenAgendaVillain: His plan in the second arc seems to just be to acquire Hiden and boost ZAIA's sales, though it is alluded to several times that Gai has something much grander in mind.
* HiddenDepths:
** As greedy as the man is, he is not without a sense of honor: it does say something about Gai's character when he offers Aruto a chance to avoid the buyout instead of just taking Hiden Intelligence right then and there. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, this turns out to be a lie, as he was rigging the competition from the very beginning by ordering Naki to hand out [=RaidRisers=]: no matter who wins, Gai either obtains Hiden Intelligence or the repeated showcasing of how "easily" [=HumaGears=] can become Magia will ruin Hiden Intelligence's reputation.]]
** In #18, Is analyzes his personal history:
--->N.E. 1974: Born on 10 October.\\
N.E. 1991: 17 years old, Thousand Network …\\
N.E. 1992: 18 years old, Stanford Graduate School of Business … (MBA Program)\\
N.E. 1996: 22 years old, ZAIA Enterprise AI Team.\\
N.E. 2007: Moved to ZAIA Enterprise Japan. As the Project Manager, participated in the … project which involves a number of technology companies, including Hiden Intelligence.\\
N.E. 2009: Assigned as the President. Currently gathering attention from the world as “charismatic president” …
** #25 reveals he is looking to find someone to marry.
** Despite being one of the {{Big Bad}}s of the second arc and otherwise condescending attitude towards Aruto, someone who became a Kamen Rider to help Humagear and humans co-exist, he has a surprising view towards the overall role of the Kamen Riders as a whole:
--->"Even if Kamen Riders are weapons, we're the ones who choose if we want to be weapons of destruction, or weapons to protect those who can't protect themselves!"
** #38 shows that he's an emotional wreck, whom since childhood desired ''some'' sort of recognition for his efforts and a companion that he could open up to. Fast-forward to today, and he didn't receive ''any'' of that. What's worse, is that his feelings worsened as time went on, and had basically become a cry for help.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Gai creates no less than three powerful Progrise Keys that end up in the hands of someone who wants to kick his ass, and two of those times involve him ''forcing'' the upgrade on his opponent because he thinks he'll be able to control them. [[spoiler:Even after taking over Hiden Intelligence he still falls into this trap: his [=HumaGear=] recall simply gives Hiden Manufacturing a whole clientele to reach out to and cultivate.]] It gets to a head by the very end, when [[spoiler:Ark, the very system he corrupted for his overall plan, got so powerful to a point where his [=ThousanDriver=] was destroyed, permanently defeating Thouser for the series...at least until the ending credits where it's shown that he has rebuilt his TransformationTrinket.]]
* HumanityIsSuperior: He professes to be a human supremacist, claiming machines like [=HumaGears=] can't keep up with human evolution. Ironically, his profit-driven mindset is more cold and data-focused than any [=HumaGear's=], his suit is designed to already be "perfect"[[note]]The [=ThousanDriver=] isn't designed to work properly for any Keys besides the ones it comes with, meaning Thouser can never receive an upgrade without changing to another Driver[[/note]], and he shows no signs of improving his skills through experience, making him the only Rider who ''isn't'' evolving. Shortly before forcing the [=MetalCluster=] Hopper Progrise Key upon Aruto, however, Gai professes a rather darker view of humanity, claiming that the Ark's judgment is exactly what mankind deserves.
** Eventually his true view for humanity is revealed, at is more about using them as tools for his own gain.
* HumansAreTheRealMonsters: Gai is eventually outed as TheManBehindTheMan to [=MetsubouJinrai.net=] and the one responsible for the formation, which he ironically caused by invoking this trope on the Ark.
* HumiliationConga: Gai has routinely been on the receiving end of an [[CurbStompBattle ass kicking]], usually by someone with a power-up that he himself has created. Also his plans to own the Humagear patent went down the drain when he found out Aruto inherited it and all other related patents due his grandfather [[CrazyPrepared being one step ahead, and making it so in his will]].
* {{Hypocrite}}: As noted in HumanityIsSuperior above, Gai's talk of human evolution is contrasted against Gai himself being a parasite whose only growth comes from stealing the powers of the more talented people around him.
* IControlMyMinionsThrough: While a good number of his henchmen and associates follow him willingly, for some of his more higher ranked assets, like Yua, Gai uses [[spoiler:AI chips implanted in their heads to MindControl them]] to ensure their loyalty.
* IJustWantToHaveFriends: Deep, ''deep'' down behind that cold, unlikable exterior, is a longing desire from his childhood for a friend - someone that he could open up to. Thouser was the only thing that he could consider a friend.
* InsufferableGenius: He loves to flaunt his superior intellect.
* InvincibleVillain: While the heroes become able to physically outmatch him, they haven't managed to deal with his resources and aren't able to get lasting wins against him. He loses some invincibility in the third arc; when his ManipulativeBastard behavior stops working, [[spoiler:and he fails to acquire Zea, the Zero-One Driver, and the [=HumaGear=] patents,]] his enemies start gaining ground against him.
* ItsAllAboutMe: Despite [[FauxAffablyEvil coming off as charming and savvy]], Gai's only concern at the end of the day is his agenda. Humagears, his competition representatives, and even his right-hand Yua are nothing more than pawns to him, and he makes no effort to hide it.
* {{Jerkass}}: Even when he is not being villainous, Gai is still incredibly insufferable and takes every opportunity he can to talk down to Aruto.
* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: Gai [[KickTheDog takes every available opportunity to demean Aruto whenever the latter feels down from something related to the competition]], outwardly protests against cheating while rigging the contest at every turn, and viciously slaughters [=HumaGears=] whenever given the opportunity. Any time he's shown to have any sort of redeeming quality, it's later revealed to be a lie.
** JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Downplayed, but it turns out there is still ''someone'' that he actually cares about other than himself, even after everything he went on to do. [[spoiler:His childhood robot dog, Thouser.]]
* KarmicButtMonkey: During the third arc Gai has been hit with series of humiliation and defeat in the hands of Aruto, Yua and [=MetsubouJinrai.net=] and you won't feel sorry for all the troubles he had been through, considering his actions during the second arc.
* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler:While he loses his position as CEO in the end, and gets some well-deserved beatdowns as well, Gai is never held fully accountable for his actions in corrupting the Ark and setting off the Daybreak Incident, or his numerous other crimes in the series. In fact, he arguably ends the series in a better place than Aruto, seemingly content with his now position now that he has dozens of [[RobotDog Thousers]] to accompany him. As of the end of ''Zero-One Others'', he's probably come out the best of the main characters. All of Metsuboujinrai.net is KilledOffForReal, Fuwa is possibly dead and Yua has lost her ability to transform and her best friend (possibly). Gai meanwhile survives ZAIA Japan's destruction and gets back his Thousan-Driver after Lyon's demise.]]
* KickTheDog: It is almost OnceAnEpisode for him. Whether it is forcing Aruto's Humagear to turn into Magia and destroying them out of spite, to torturing Fuwa with [[spoiler:his AI chip]], to trying to scrap Is because of her value to Aruto, Gai always finds a new way to be nothing but an insufferable man he is.
* LackOfEmpathy: The only feelings he will ever care for are [[ItsAllAboutMe his own.]] He doesn't even flinch when he sees someone suffering in front him and is perfectly fine with [[ColdBloodedTorture torturing others]] just to make a point.
* LaserGuidedKarma: [[spoiler:The same method he used to sow chaos in ousting Aruto from HIDEN Intelligence by showcasing [=HumaGears=] going berserk; he is finally brought down by his record of abuse of power via going berserk to his own employees recorded and forwarded to ZAIA by Shesta, a [=HumaGear=] he very despised.]]
* LightIsNotGood: He wears a white suit and dons gold and silver armor as Thouser, but he is anything but a good guy.
* ListOfTransgressions: ''Hoooo boy'', he has a long one. Specifically, one consisting of ''1,843 complaints'' that were made against him. Some translated entries include:
** Age spoofing
** Buying unnecessarily large quantities of expensive tea
** Faking reasons of absence
** Illegal auction bidding
** Illicit sales
** Misappropriation of company finances for personal benefit (i.e trips to beauty salons and hot springs, haircuts, etc.)
** Plagiarizing technology from other companies
** Possession of a fake bank account
** Sexual/Moral harassment
** Tax evasion
** and many, ''many'' more complaints!
* TheManBehindTheMan: Project Thouser reveals that he was backing [=MetsubouJinrai.net=], through Naki, along with A.I.M.S., being the one responsible for giving them the first 8 Zetsumerise Keys and later Jin's [=ForceRiser=]. Once [=MetsubouJinrai.net=] is defeated, Gai openly admits to being ''personally'' responsible for the Ark's belief that HumansAreBastards, and thus the Daybreak Incident. He later turns out to be behind Naki and the Raiders as well.
* ManipulativeBastard: He engineered a panic over berserk [=HumaGears=] by having Yua tamper with Little Assassin's LED earpieces to make it seem like any [=HumaGear=] can go berserk at any time for the ''express'' purpose of putting Hiden Intelligence in such a bad place that they'd have no choice but to allow him to perform a buyout and hostile takeover. He also destroys evidence that prove his company's or his own wrongdoings. [[spoiler:This ultimately extends to the entirety of the buyout competition, as he was the one setting up distribution of the [=RaidRisers=] to begin with and lied about it until he had literally no other choice.]]
* MeaningfulName: His first name Gai (垓, Gai) is a numeral character which means 10^20[[note]]100 quintillion[[/note]] in Japanese.
** "Thouser" sounds like "Thousand", calling to mind his motif.
** [[spoiler:It's eventually revealed that Kamen Rider Thouser takes its name from the robot dog he owned as a child, which his {{Jerkass}} EducationPapa father ordered him to get rid of since it "distracted" him from achieving his full potential.]]
* MeaninglessVillainVictory: [[spoiler:Gai manages to complete his hostile takeover of Hiden Intelligence, which should mean he now has all ownership and control of its technology, including the Zero-One Driver, Zea and [=HumaGear=] tech in general.]] Unfortunately for him, all of his hard work turns out to be for naught as [[spoiler:Korenosuke never patented the tech under Hiden Intelligence. He patented it under the ''Hiden family name'' and gave all the patents to Aruto in his will.]] As a result, Gai was not happy to learn about this.
* MoralityPet: [[spoiler:Thouser, a robot dog from his childhood made by Hiden Intelligence, which he shut away during his StartOfDarkness enforced onto him by his abusive father. He eventually relents and breaks down in tears after reuniting with an upgraded Thouser specially made for him.]]
* NeverMyFault: When Aruto confronts him over his programming of the Ark and by proxy, his responsibility for the [=MetsubouJinrai.net=] incident and all the ''deaths'' that resulted from their activity, he simply says that he's not responsible since ''the Ark'' made the decision to become genocidal after being swamped in data of human malice.
* NotSoStoic:
** One of the few ways to break his smugness for a moment is to point out his real age or state that he is, in fact, a narcissistic prick. Not even a possible death at the hands of [=MetalCluster=] Hopper actually fazes him that much.
** He actively shouts at Yua [[spoiler:for refusing to destroy G-Pen Morifude in #31]], and at Aruto once [[spoiler:he and Jin team up to take him down when he tried destroying Hiden Manufacturing.]]
** He flips out again in 35 when Horobi beats him, knocking away the AIMS troops trying to help him up.
* OlderThanTheyLook: Gai looks (and claims to be) "eternally 24". A quick scan from Is reveals he is 45. Eyebrow raising as that is, it is compounded by the fact that based on a photograph of himself with Aruto's grandfather, he hasn't aged a day in at least 12 years. #37 goes so far as to suggest Gai's insistence runs so deep that he's received numerous complaints about downright committing age fraud, presumably in things like official documents.
* ThePerfectionist: Basically, Gai is built on this trope, as anything less than 1000% is unacceptable.
* PetTheDog: Literally, in fact. When he's reunited with Thouser, now with a new body, he finally breaks down in tears of joy.
* PlayingBothSides: The benefactor of AIMS and TheManBehindTheMan to [=MetsubouJinrai.net=], who he isn't above using to sink Hiden's stocks.
* ThePowerOfHate: Much like the Raiders his [=ZAIASPEC=] enables, Gai is motivated by a cold and petty hatred for his [[BrokenPedestal former idol]] Korenosuke Hiden due to being snubbed out of a collaboration between ZAIA and Hiden Intelligence because of their conflicting views on A.I.
* PragmaticVillainy: Gai won’t allow his competition representatives to cheat in ways that can be traced back to him. If it ''can't'' be traced back, though, then all bets are off.
* ReformedButRejected: [[spoiler:Even after his HeelFaceTurn, Aruto and the other Riders don't accept him, though they are at least willing to work with him.]]
* ShadowArchetype: Gai is basically what Aruto could be like not only if the latter allowed his position as CEO of Hiden Intelligence to go over his head, [[CorruptCorporateExecutive but have the willingness to resort to morally questionable, and if not all, criminally underhanded methods to preserve his company.]]
* SmugSnake: Gai is smugly convinced of his own superiority and genius, but this also leads him to underestimate his enemies, which hinders the effectiveness of his plans. The entire idea of the Workplace Competition was meant to let him crush Hiden Intelligence and [=HumaGears=], but [[spoiler:even though he won]] his overconfidence led him to literally give his enemies the power they needed to fight him evenly.
* TheSociopath: Gai is the type of person whose expression of genuine happiness mainly come from whenever [[ItsAllAboutMe he benefits from something]], [[LackOfEmpathy has little to zero consideration of others, even those that work closely with him]], has no problem being [[ManipulativeBastard underhanded and manipulative towards]] [[PlayingBothSides heroes and other villains alike]], and was the instigator of the series' events that [[NeverMyFault he never takes responsibility or shows remorse for]], all while having a [[VillainWithGoodPublicity decent public image]].
* SpotOfTea: Gai favors drinking tea as part of his wealthy tastes (or as wealthy as taking money from the corporate budget to finance his habit can be.)
* StartMyOwn: [[spoiler:After ZAIA Japan collapses in the ''[=MetsubouJinrai=]'' film, Gai moves to start his own tech company - Thouser-Intellion.]]
* TheStoic: Gai's attitude throughout the first quarter is never anything but calm and collected. Even when Aruto gains what Gai estimates to be an increase in strength of 500% through the Shining Hopper Progrise Key, all Gai has to say in response is that he can't wait to see Aruto fight Thouser. Considering he ''is'' Thouser, this takes on [[BloodKnight another meaning]].
* StupidEvil: He's rather prone to bouts of this.
** His plan in the Workplace arc to use Naki to possess Fuwa and make him hand out Raidrisers, in order to use the Workplace Competition as a testing ground for them. Not only did he not need to do it (he could have tested them in secret someplace else), all it did was lead to his crimes being exposed.
** Him giving Naki access to ZAIA's network and planning to have all the ZAIA Spec wearers go berserk, in order to boost up sales of the Raidriser, is also this. Apparently Gai was so focused on making the sales for the Raidriser go up he forgot about making sure his other product (which he spent the entire Workplace arc trying to market) didn't go down in sales.
* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome:
** The third arc sees this trope come down on Gai hard, with his {{Fatal Flaw}}s on top of his ManipulativeBastard and ControlFreak behavior from the second arc resulting in massive consequences when the heroes wise up to those behaviors. By #32, it's clear that whatever advantage he'd had in keeping ahead of everyone else is ''gone'', and his inability [[NeverMyFault to grasp that it's his own fault]] is effectively taking chunks out of his power. He loses Yua's service soon after (for the ''exact same set of reasons Naki had rebelled earlier'', no less), and whatever control and goodwill he'd had left rapidly begin to evaporate when a revived Naki hacks [=ZAIA=]'s tech twice in a short period of time: The first time to hook the ZAIASPEC system and its users to Ark (who understandably sends them on a rampage), and then the A.I.M.S. troopers' tech simply as a distraction so Horobi could get a second wind.
** ThePlan to have his ZAIASPEC replace [=HumaGears=] is also hit severely by this. Even with his well-aimed MaliciousSlander, [=HumaGears=], an efficient and proficient workforce that doesn't need to eat, sleep, or even get paid, have proven to be almost indispensable in practically any position society has to offer, with many industries having a vested interest in seeing them continued to be manufactured, risks be damned, due to [=HumaGears=] being ''that'' valuable for any business company to have.
** #37 reveals that there were a whopping ''1,834 complaints'' made against Gai for a litany of legal and HR problems, including tax and identity fraud, harassment, misuse of corporate assets, general laziness and overindulgence, illegal corporate warfare tactics, and participation in illicit auctions. Despite his ego and popularity, regular people ''will not'' hesitate to call him out if there's a problem with his behavior.
** #42 shows that, despite his HeelFaceTurn, he's still the CEO of a predatory company. Said company has found issues with his failures since aquiring Hiden Intelligence (failure to control the Ark, failure to succesfully recall Humagears and replace them with ZAIASPEC, numerous cases of ZAIA products being hacked and relinquishing Hiden Intelligence entirely) and has voted Gai out of his CEO position. However, he's still allowed to keep his position as Thouser, which allows his to continue to aid our heroes.
* TakeOverTheWorld: On the eve of his triumph, he declares his intent to dominate the world with ZAIA's technology.
* TeenGenius: In his younger years, Gai founded the Thouser Network at the age of ''17'', and had an [=MBA=] degree at Stanford University a year later. He then joined [=ZAIA=] at the age of 22, rising through the ranks of the company until he became president ''despite his own company having been bought out by [=ZAIA=].''
* TeethClenchedTeamwork: What his team-up with Aruto against Ark-Zero basically amounts to. [[spoiler:He still doesn't accept Aruto, his love for [=HumaGears=], and the way he runs a company, but he still loves Hiden Intelligence. For Gai, that's all that he needs.]]
* ThenLetMeBeEvil: A possible interpretation of his actions in the ZAIA vs Hiden Arc, given his views about how Kamen Riders themselves decided whether or not they will pursue a path to destruction or fight to protect others. If he isn't just saying that to make himself look good, then Gai willingly pursued the path of a villainous Rider if only to prove that HumanityIsSuperior. Later it turns out that he really ''is'' evil and sees other people more as a means to an end.
** [[spoiler:His DarkAndTroubledPast with his EducationPapa]] further implies this.
* ThirdActStupidity: It's right around the third arc that Gai loses his edge and goes from an InvincibleVillain to being overshadowed by the return of the [[BigBad Ark]].
* TransformationIsAFreeAction: Even putting his belt needing two keys to function aside, his transformation sequence is decadently long.
* TriggerPhrase: [[spoiler:The words "tool" or "my tool" seem to be one that he uses on Yua to ensure her compliance; when he says it to her in #31, she winces much like Fuwa did under mind control before acknowledging his order. Later appearances show that he's capable of doing this through his [=ZAIASpecs=] or remotely as Thouser, so the above just might Gai subtly reminding Yua of her place through her chip.]]
* TranshumanTreachery: His desire for humans to "evolve" so as to not be made redundant by [=HumaGears=] might seem laudable, but his willingness to stomp on both man and machine alike to achieve this most definitely isn't.
* VerbalTic: He loves describing things in terms of percentages, with his favorite number of course being 1000%.
* VillainHasAPoint: While the show does try to portray him in the wrong, Gai is correct when he points out that the Humagear are a liability for how often they get hacked into Magia, especially since his first full #shows that it can be done remotely.
* VillainInAWhiteSuit: The villainous CorruptCorporateExecutive Gai can always be seen clad in a white suit.
* VillainousBreakdown:
** [[spoiler:Starts in #30 when he finds out that no, he ''doesn't'' own the technology he was after when he acquired Hiden Intelligence, and kicks into high gear in #31, finally breaking his composure after losing ''again'' to Zero-One with the help of Jin. He angrily swears to get back at Aruto before pushing away Eida and Ono who were both trying to help him get back up. It gets even worse in #35 where he loses to Horobi and furiously declares Horobi as [[ThisIsUnforgivable absolutely unforgivable.]]]]
** [[spoiler:First half of #38 is this as it finally comes to head when Jun and Sanzo with help of Shesta threatens to bring all 1,841 complaints to the board meeting; he goes into panic by shutting them out of the lab and desperately deleting all evidence of unethical behavior, then gets angrier when Satellite Zea rejects his request to mass-produce the [=Raidrisers=], Aruto coming in via emergency entrance to help unlock the lab entrance and Jun cancelling the pre-orders of [=RaidRisers=] leads to Gai going on the deep end and taking out his rage on both as Thouser. After he's finally stopped, Shesta forwarded footage of attacking the VP as clear abuse of power and Gai becomes utterly depressed over while clinging to the President chair because that's all what he wanted. Ironically, what happens after starts his HeelFaceTurn.]]
* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Firmly settles into this role at the end of the Workplace Competition arc, having successfully painted himself and ZAIA as heroes to the public. Presumably it's revoked when Naki hacks the [=ZAIASPEC=]s en masse and hooks them to Ark to send their users on a rampage in #34.
** #37 doubles down on this by revealing he has a record of ''1,834 complaints'' made against him for a number of legal and HR issues. It's safe to say that Gai isn't popular with ''anybody'' at this rate.
* VisionaryVillain: Averted. Gai claims to want to see humanity evolve, but he's perfectly willing to throw even the humans who embrace his vision under the bus if it allows him to make more money in some way.
* WalkingSpoiler: Gai has his fingers in just about everything that happens in the show, so it's hard to talk about him without spoiling his role in the plot.
* WarForFunAndProfit: While it isn't his main goal, Gai isn't above using the [=MetsubouJinrai.net=] crisis as an excuse to sell weapons. In #25, he even openly admits that the return of the terrorist group would be good for ZAIA since they could make more money selling weapons to A.I.M.S. #35 showed how flawed this belief is, since it shows that ''everything'' Gai sold to A.I.M.S. can be seized by Naki's hacking as easily as the [=ZAIASPEC=]s when the [=MetsubouJinrai.net=] does make its return.
* WellDoneSonGuy: He ultimately boils down to this as his motivations are all stemmed from him complying with his abusive father's standards, even if they are ridiculous, to the point of willingly sacrificing his friendship with Thouser to prove that he ''can'' achieve the 1000% in life his father wanted.
* WhamLine: #15 puts a new angle on Gai's relationship with [=MetsubouJinrai.net=]:
-->'''Gai:''' As [[BigBad the Ark]] guides us, we approach an age of our new mythology. [...] Yes, the mythology of the Kamen Riders.
* YouHaveFailedMe: As Gai's control of the situation starts to slip, he becomes increasingly brutal towards his own subordinates, eventually escalating to where it's implied that he has the second set of Battle Raiders executed by the third for failing him.
!Tropes exclusive to him as Kamen Rider Thouser:
[[quoteright:210:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kr01_thouser.png]]
[[quoteright:210:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kr01_zaia.png]]

[[caption-width-right:210:''[=PerfectRise!=]''\\\
'''''When the five horns cross, the golden soldier Thouser is born.'''''\\\
[[AC:''Presented by ZAIA.'']]]]

* AnimalMotifs: Comprises of two, which mainly makes up his five horns: His two silver horns are from the [[RhinoRampage Arsinoitherium]], an extinct animal that closely resembled a rhino with two big horns, and his three black horns are from the [[BigCreepyCrawlies caucasus]] [[ToughBeetles beetle]][[note]]part of the {{scarab| power}} family[[/note]].
* AssistCharacter: In a similar manner to Horobi, Thouser can summon the Rider Model of the copied Progrise Key in his Thousand Jacker to assist him in battle, such as summoning the Flying Falcon Rider Model to help him fly across the battlefield.
* BlingOfWar: He is fancy enough to fit his gold-silver-black suit as Thouser.
* CripplingOverspecialization: All of Thouser's powers beyond his brute strength are tied up in the Thousand Jacker, making him exceptionally vulnerable to being disarmed.
* CrutchCharacter: Is effectively this trope in Kamen Rider form. Thouser starts the second arc able to thrash every other combatant with little effort, but by its end his lack of growth comes home to roost, and by the beginning of the third arc, he's become a jobber.
* DarkIsEvil: Subverted. When he was infected by the Bugster Virus in the Kamen Rider Genm special, his suit turned black. %%Later played straight when he gets access to ''Thousand-Ark'', which has him take the Ark-Driver and insert an unique Progrisekey that resembles the Ark-One Progrisekey that resembles Thouser's head instead.
* EvilKnockoff: His suit is perfectly identical to Zero-One's in every regard except for the colors and some additional armor laid on top, in a manner reminiscent of the infamous [[https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/097/245/4prcm.jpg Tian-xiang-er-hao statue]].
* EvilSoundsDeep: Thouser's belt and Progrise Keys have a substantially deeper and more menacing voice than the usual Keys.
* FinishingMove: Like the other Riders, Thouser has different finishers depending on whether he uses his Driver or a weapon to execute them:
** [=ThousanDriver=]: '''Thousand Destruction:''' Executed by pressing inward on the Amazing Caucasus Progrise Key.
*** Thouser leaps into the air and rapidly delivers several flying kicks with his foot before landing in victory.
*** Thouser does a jumping knee strike to lift his opponent in the air and perform a diving stomp.
*** Thouser does a spinning back kick along with a sidekick to follow.
*** Thouser delivers a backwards kick covered in purple and gold energy.
*** Thouser delivers a spinning roundhouse kick covered in gold energy.
** Thousand Jacker: The weapon is capable of performing 3 finishers; '''Jacking Break''' [[note]] He pulls the Jack Ring in the handle out first, then presses the Attack Trigger[[/note]], '''Hacking Break''' [[note]] He inserts a Progrise Key into the Thousand Jacker, then presses the Attack Trigger [[/note]], and '''Thousand Break''' [[note]] [[BreadEggsBreadedEggs He inserts a Progrise Key into the Thousand Jacker, then pulls the Jack Ring, and then presses the Attack Trigger]] [[/note]].
*** '''Jacking Break''' (Flying Falcon): After initially drawing energy from the Flying Falcon Progrise Key, he can summon a construct of its Rider Model, either to attack the target or to help him move quickly across the battlefield.
*** '''Jacking Break''' (Shooting Wolf): After initially drawing energy from the Shooting Wolf Progrise Key, he generates either 1 huge construct or multiple smaller constructs resembling a wolf's head, which he fires at the opponent.
*** '''Jacking Break''' (Biting Shark): After drawing energy from the Biting Shark Progrise Key, he slashes the opponent with a whip-like chain of energy "shark fins".
*** '''Jacking Break''' (Punching Kong): After drawing energy from the Punching Kong Progrise Key, he fires a construct of the Knuckle Demolition at the opponent, which, after hitting, splits into multiple Demolitions and repeatedly strikes the opponent.
*** '''Jacking Break''' (Flaming Tiger): After initially drawing energy from the Flaming Tiger Progrise Key, he coats the Thousand Jacker with fire and launches a flaming slash at his opponent. Alternatively, he can use it to remotely release fire to attack enemies.
*** '''Jacking Break''' (Shining Assault Hopper): After initially drawing energy from the Shining Assault Hopper Progrise Key, he is able to generate his own purple variant of Assault Hopper's Shine System. Alternatively, he can fire a purple version of the Authorise Buster's '''Zero-One Dust'''.
*** '''Jacking Break''' (Breaking Mammoth): After initially drawing energy from the Authorize Buster's Breaking Mammoth Buster Bomber, he can fire a purple construct of a mammoth's tusk at the opponent.
*** '''Jacking Break''' (Freezing Bear): After initially drawing energy from Freezing Bear Progrise Key, he creates a construct of its Rider Model, which then rushes toward its opponent and turns into a icicle before impact. Alternatively, he unleashes a wave of ice from his Thousand Jacker, freezing his targets in place.
*** '''Jacking Break''' (Lightning Hornet): Thouser channels Lightning Hornet's power and fires lightning at his target.
*** '''Jacking Break''' (Sting Scorpion): After drawing energy from the Sting Scorpion Progrise Key, he fires a yellow and purple construct of the Acid Analyze on a chain at his opponent.
*** '''Jacking Break''' (Japanese Wolf): After drawing energy from the Japanese Wolf Zetsumurise Key, he pins the Thousand Jacker into the ground and performs a Tiger feint kick, creating a whirlwind of snow to attack multiple opponents.
*** '''Hacking Break''' (Rushing Cheetah): After inserting the Rushing Cheetah Progrise Key into the Thousand Jacker, Thouser speeds around the target, surrounding them with energy slashes, which all strike at once after a couple of seconds.
*** '''Thousand Break''' (Lightning Hornet): After inserting the Lightning Hornet Progrise Key into the Thousand Jacker, he delivers powerful strikes with lightning generated from his Thousand Jacker.
*** '''Thousand Break''' (Dynamiting Lion): After inserting the Dynamiting Lion Progrise Key into the Thousand Jacker, he creates two large Gatling gun constructs to mow down his opponent.
*** '''Thousand Break''' (Amazing Caucasus): After inserting the Amazing Caucasus Progrise Key into the Thousand Jacker, he spins the Thousand Jacker around, [[AllYourPowersCombined creating constructs of the Rider Models of all the Progrise Keys he's absorbed so far, which then he fires them all at once to overwhelm the opponent.]]
*** '''Thousand Break''' (Sting Scorpion): After inserting the Sting Scorpion Key into the Thousand Jacker, Thouser stabs down, launching a purple construct of the Acid Analyze unit on a chain at the opponent. It then stabs its opponent, lifting them up in the air before exploding.
* ForgotAboutHisPowers: While Thouser uses Jacking Break at least once in every fight, he often doesn't think to use situational powers that would be effective for the battle he's in, instead defaulting to Shining Assault Hopper because it's the easiest to use.
* GoldColoredSuperiority: Befitting his regal theme, Thouser's suit is primarily golden.
* GratuitousEnglish: All of his FinishingMove cards are spelled out in English instead of Japanese, to represent ZAIA's multinational reach.
%% HeadSwap: Thousand-Ark is essentially Ark-One but with Thouser's head instead.
* {{Irony}}: He is the only Rider in-series to have his finishers copyrighted, but most of them are actually based on powers he stole from other Riders.
* LinearWarriorsQuadraticWizards: At first, Thouser held a major AdvantageBall by having a suit with greater physical prowess than the other Riders as well as the use of the Thousand Jacker's PowerCopying to add other Riders' powers to his arsenal. However, the other Riders began adapting to and outmatching him, whether through a NextTierPowerUp (Jin), [[AwesomenessByAnalysis observational skill]] (Horobi), [[WeakButSkilled natural fighting abilities]] (Valkyrie) or [[StrongAndSkilled the combination of raw power and experience]] (Zero-One, Vulcan). Without an innate special ability of his own, Thouser is only left with the Thousand Jacker to even the field, and Gai wasn't a much of a fighter to begin with, so he never has the chance to make a proper adjustment to the sudden changes.
* LogicalWeakness: Thouser's Thousand Jacker works by attacking a Rider, and then absorbing their energy to become stronger. Doesn't mean ''jack'' to an opponent who can create shields to keep Thouser's Jacker from absorbing their energy, which [=MetalCluster=] can do. MCH also showed that if Gai is separated from his weapon, he can't use the powers he's stolen.
** He deliberately designed his belt to ''only'' work with his original keys. While he was unquestionably the most powerful Rider yet at the time of his introduction, it also put a hard cap on his potential growth and prevented him from using other Progrise Keys with more situationally useful abilities. He’s able to get around this to a point using the Thousand Jacker to copy abilities, but its constructs don’t match the utility someone capable of transforming with multiple Keys could have.
** And then there's the point made under VillainForgotToLevelGrind below: Gai never bothers to improve his combat skill ''at all'', relying completely on the Thousand Jacker and his suit's strength.
* MasterOfNone: Overusing his PowerCopying ability slowly turns him into this. He eventually gains so many abilities in his roster than having to sort through them all slows him down in battle and his lack of practice with them limits his usage to the most basic applications of each. Without the Thousand Jacker, he is limited to pure strength and durability while all the other Riders have some innate special ability.
* MagicallyIneptFighter: Thouser, for all intents and purposes, fits this to a T. His suit has immense physical statistics, but lacks any natural abilities provided from his Progrise Keys: he has to rely on the Thousand Jacker to provide anything else.
* MeaningfulName: The name Thouser comes from the word '''Thousand''', a number Gai favors quite a bit for boasts about his company's success rate.
* MightyGlacier: On paper, Thouser should be a LightningBruiser who vastly surpasses everything that came before him in every category: he's faster than Rushing Cheetah, stronger than Assault Wolf, and can out-predict Shining Hopper. In practice, however, Gai's poor reflexes mean that he's even less agile than Assault Wolf. However, his armor is so insanely tough that he's able to easily recover after being pushed back by a high-speed onslaught.
* NighInvulnerability: At the time of his reveal, Thouser is so tough that he can NoSell anything from the show's previous two Lightning Bruisers. Shining Hopper (who emphasizes the Lightning) can barely make him move and Assault Wolf (who emphasizes the Bruiser) can do little more than make him stumble. Shining Assualt Hopper (who acts as a medium between the two) can fight Thouser [[CurbStompCushion relatively more evenly]]. It takes something as powerful as [=MetalCluster=] Hopper to overpower Thouser, [[TheBerserker and that comes with caveats]].
* NoNonsenseNemesis: Thouser's ''laser focused'' during battle, focusing on either eliminating his enemy or clearing his path to his decided target. Due to the sheer power the Thousandriver grants him, doing so is child's play.
* PowerCopying: Thouser can use his Thousand Jacker sword like a syringe and steal the powers of an opponent's Progrise Key for himself. This temporarily weakens the power's original user, but even after they've recovered, Thouser retains any powers he previously jacked, allowing him to use them anytime.
* RedemptionPromotion: A minor example, but turning face gives Thouser some reprieve from his UnskilledButStrong status, enough so that he and Zero-One are able to overwhelm the previously unstoppable Ark-Zero. This fight stands out as the ''only'' defeat that Ark-Zero suffers that doesn't involve Zero-Two.
* SecondaryColorNemesis: Thouser has a regal gold and silver color scheme on the outer layers of his armor, with a more menacing set of black and purple tones on the suit beneath. The combined result is the image of a villain doing everything in his power to look like a hero.
* SpikesOfVillainy: The five horns on Thouser's helmet count as this. They are also made to resemble a CoolCrown, fitting for his king-like aesthetics.
%%* SuperMode: Thousand-Ark, which is essentially Ark-One, but has Thouser's head replacing its head instead.
* SuperpowerLottery: Once he's stocked up on every other Rider's powers through various uses of Jacking Break, Thouser has a combination of an enormous physical advantage and the ability to do anything that his rivals can do, sometimes better. The downside of this trope rears its ugly head as time passes, however: having too many superpowers and not enough training or experience with any of them means Thouser fares ''worse'' against Zero-One after stealing all of his abilities than he did before.
* {{Tradesnark}}: ''All over the place.'' The transformation announcement even ''sounds like a commercial jingle'', and his FinishingMove cards have ZAIA copyright information.
* UnskilledButStrong: Thouser's enormously powerful suit and PowerCopying weapon make him monstrously strong on paper: the data books put him just a little bit behind [=MetalCluster=] Hopper and Rampage Vulcan in terms of raw power. In practice, Gai himself is an unimpressive fighter by Rider standards--he lacks the skills to capitalize on his suit's full capabilities, and shows no signs of improving with experience, choosing to rely primarily on the Thousand Jacker. Eventually Aruto, Horobi, and Yua are all able to fight Gai with nothing but their base forms just by being ''that'' much more skilled than him.
* VillainDecay: Thouser is an unstoppable force when he first appears, and for several episodes afterwards...until he's finally beaten. He then gets beaten again in practically ''every episode he appears in,'' each more humiliatingly than the last.
* VillainForgotToLevelGrind: Unusually for this trope, Thouser ''does'' actually level grind in nearly every episode that he appears in, making use of the Thousand Jacker to steal more and more powers that he can use at the push of a button. Throughout it all, however, he does nothing to address his real problem in a fight, which is his lack of combat skills. This causes his level grinding to be a ''hindrance'' rather than a help since he doesn’t bother to learn how to use any of his stolen powers effectively. When facing opponents powerful enough to be a threat, he tosses out his powers haphazardly or forgets about them entirely. By midseason, the finite number of Riders actually imposes a level cap on the Thousand Jacker's primary function, and ''every'' opposing Rider has either gained power roughly on par with his (Vulcan, Jin), can match him based solely on their exceptional skill (Horobi, Valkyrie), or in Zero-One's case, ''both''.
* WeaponOfChoice: He uses his personal CoolSword, the Thousand Jacker. After he gains it, his most used power is using Shining Assault Hopper's [[AttackDrone Shine System]].
* WeNamedTheDogIndiana: [[spoiler:Turns out the name Thouser came from this RobotDog toy Gai used to have.]]
* YinYangBomb: Thouser uses both a Zetsumerise key and a Progrise Key.

* DarkIsEvil: Subverted. When he was infected by the Bugster Virus in the Kamen Rider Genm special, his suit turned black.

[[caption-width-right:250:CEO 9f ZAIA Enterprise Japan]]

[[caption-width-right:210:The new president of ZAIA Japan]]

[[caption-width-right:250:''"This is going according to my scenario. 100%... no, 1,000%."'']]

Yua's superior and enigmatic CEO of ZAIA Enterprise Japan. He provides Yua new Progrise Keys for her and Fuwa to use. He is later removed as ZAIA Japan's CEO for repeated failures in regards to the Ark and replaced by Williamson Yotagaki.

* FantasticRacism: [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed.]] He is much worse than the likes of Isamu and Yua, as his ambition is to shut down all [=HumaGears=] due to his petty hatred toward his former idol Korenosuke Hiden. However, Gai's attitude toward [=HumaGears=] causes him to downplay and even outright dismiss their value to society as a whole, resulting in him not factoring in that many people in high-profile positions are definitely adverse to the very idea of replacing [=HumaGears=] due to how beneficially remunerative and practical they have proven to be in their particular area of business. Later on, it is revealed that he himself doesn't care about humanity, but more on how he sees people as tools, which in turn results in him having a personal hand in creating his biggest threats.

* DarkAndTroubledPast: [[spoiler:As shown in #38, Gai's father only expected the best out of him, who at one point expected an impossible ''1000%'' out of him. ''Years'' of this along with having no actual outlet besides himself (and Thouser, until the dog was shut away) clearly contributed to how he is today.]]

Yua's superior and enigmatic CEO of ZAIA Enterprise Japan. He provides Yua new Progrise Keys for her and Fuwa to use. He is later removed as ZAIA Japan's CEO for repeated failures in regards to the Ark and replaced by Williamson Yotagaki.
!!!Tropes that apply to him in general

* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: In episode 37, a list of Gai's crimes have been found, and one of the crimes includes “buying needless amounts of expensive tea”.

* ColdBloodedTorture: Tortures Fuwa using his AI chip in episode 29 as a way of demonstrating his hold over him.

** Played for laughs in regards to his ambitions compared to Kuroto Dan's. Even at his worst, Gai never actually had [[AGodAmI any real delusions of godhood]] like Kuroto did, so he honestly has no idea what the latter is talking about.

* EvilVersusEvil: Although Gai created [=MetsubouJinrai.NET=], all of its members hate him just as much as everyone else does. Gai is ''such'' a monster that he manages to be the one who's EvilerThanThou, making [=MetsubouJinrai.NET=] come out looking like the more heroic party.

** In Episode 18, Is analyzes his personal history:

** Episode 25 reveals he is looking to find someone to marry.

** Episode 38 shows that he's an emotional wreck, whom since childhood desired ''some'' sort of recognition for his efforts and a companion that he could open up to. Fast-forward to today, and he didn't receive ''any'' of that. What's worse, is that his feelings worsened as time went on, and had basically become a cry for help.

* HumansAreTheRealMonsters: Gai is eventually outed as TheManBehindTheMan to [=MetsubouJinrai.NET=] and the one responsible for the formation, which he ironically caused by invoking this trope on the Ark.

* TheManBehindTheMan: Project Thouser reveals that he was backing [=MetsubouJinrai.NET=], through Naki, along with A.I.M.S., being the one responsible for giving them the first 8 Zetsumerise Keys and later Jin's [=ForceRiser=]. Once [=MetsubouJinrai.NET=] is defeated, Gai openly admits to being ''personally'' responsible for the Ark's belief that HumansAreBastards, and thus the Daybreak Incident. He later turns out to be behind Naki and the Raiders as well.

** He actively shouts at Yua [[spoiler:for refusing to destroy G-Pen Morifude in Episode 31]], and at Aruto once [[spoiler:he and Jin team up to take him down when he tried destroying Hiden Manufacturing.]]

* OlderThanTheyLook: Gai looks (and claims to be) "eternally 24". A quick scan from Is reveals he is 45. Eyebrow raising as that is, it is compounded by the fact that based on a photograph of himself with Aruto's grandfather, he hasn't aged a day in at least 12 years. Episode 37 goes so far as to suggest Gai's insistence runs so deep that he's received numerous complaints about downright committing age fraud, presumably in things like official documents.

* PlayingBothSides: The benefactor of AIMS and TheManBehindTheMan to [=MetsubouJinrai.NET=], who he isn't above using to sink Hiden's stocks.

** The third arc sees this trope come down on Gai hard, with his {{Fatal Flaw}}s on top of his ManipulativeBastard and ControlFreak behavior from the second arc resulting in massive consequences when the heroes wise up to those behaviors. By episode 32, it's clear that whatever advantage he'd had in keeping ahead of everyone else is ''gone'', and his inability [[NeverMyFault to grasp that it's his own fault]] is effectively taking chunks out of his power. He loses Yua's service soon after (for the ''exact same set of reasons Naki had rebelled earlier'', no less), and whatever control and goodwill he'd had left rapidly begin to evaporate when a revived Naki hacks [=ZAIA=]'s tech twice in a short period of time: The first time to hook the ZAIASPEC system and its users to Ark (who understandably sends them on a rampage), and then the A.I.M.S. troopers' tech simply as a distraction so Horobi could get a second wind.

** Episode 37 reveals that there were a whopping ''1,834 complaints'' made against Gai for a litany of legal and HR problems, including tax and identity fraud, harassment, misuse of corporate assets, general laziness and overindulgence, illegal corporate warfare tactics, and participation in illicit auctions. Despite his ego and popularity, regular people ''will not'' hesitate to call him out if there's a problem with his behavior.
** Episode 42 shows that, despite his HeelFaceTurn, he's still the CEO of a predatory company. Said company has found issues with his failures since aquiring Hiden Intelligence (failure to control the Ark, failure to succesfully recall Humagears and replace them with ZAIASPEC, numerous cases of ZAIA products being hacked and relinquishing Hiden Intelligence entirely) and has voted Gai out of his CEO position. However, he's still allowed to keep his position as Thouser, which allows his to continue to aid our heroes.

* TriggerPhrase: [[spoiler:The words "tool" or "my tool" seem to be one that he uses on Yua to ensure her compliance; when he says it to her in Episode 31, she winces much like Fuwa did under mind control before acknowledging his order. Later appearances show that he's capable of doing this through his [=ZAIASpecs=] or remotely as Thouser, so the above just might Gai subtly reminding Yua of her place through her chip.]]

* VillainHasAPoint: While the show does try to portray him in the wrong, Gai is correct when he points out that the Humagear are a liability for how often they get hacked into Magia, especially since his first full episode shows that it can be done remotely.

** [[spoiler:Starts in Episode 30 when he finds out that no, he ''doesn't'' own the technology he was after when he acquired Hiden Intelligence, and kicks into high gear in episode 31, finally breaking his composure after losing ''again'' to Zero-One with the help of Jin. He angrily swears to get back at Aruto before pushing away Eida and Ono who were both trying to help him get back up. It gets even worse in episode 35 where he loses to Horobi and furiously declares Horobi as [[ThisIsUnforgivable absolutely unforgivable.]]]]
** [[spoiler:First half of Episode 38 is this as it finally comes to head when Jun and Sanzo with help of Shesta threatens to bring all 1,841 complaints to the board meeting; he goes into panic by shutting them out of the lab and desperately deleting all evidence of unethical behavior, then gets angrier when Satellite Zea rejects his request to mass-produce the [=Raidrisers=], Aruto coming in via emergency entrance to help unlock the lab entrance and Jun cancelling the pre-orders of [=RaidRisers=] leads to Gai going on the deep end and taking out his rage on both as Thouser. After he's finally stopped, Shesta forwarded footage of attacking the VP as clear abuse of power and Gai becomes utterly depressed over while clinging to the President chair because that's all what he wanted. Ironically, what happens after starts his HeelFaceTurn.]]

* WarForFunAndProfit: While it isn't his main goal, Gai isn't above using the [=MetsubouJinrai.NET=] crisis as an excuse to sell weapons. In episode 25 he even openly admits that the return of the terrorist group would be good for ZAIA since they could make more money selling weapons to A.I.M.S. Episode 35 show how flawed this belief is, since it shows that ''everything'' Gai sold to A.I.M.S. can be seized by Naki's hacking as easily as the [=ZAIASPEC=]s when the [=MetsubouJinrai.net=] does make its return.

* WhamLine: Episode 14 puts a new angle on Gai's relationship with [=MetsubouJinrai.NET=]:

* GiantMook: Once [=MetsubouJinrai.NET=] hacks them, they act like larger, much more powerful Magia.

* VillainOverride: The Gigers are nothing more than massive combat [=HumaGears=], so it takes little effort for [=MetsubouJinrai.NET=] to hack them as their combatant.

* {{Foil}}: To the Magia, as the former are androids that achieved Singularity and hacked by [=MetsubouJinrai=].NET using Zetsumerise Keys themed after obscure extinct species, while Raiders are humans that mostly chosen by ZAIA as their representatives during the Workplace Competition and become monsters by using Progrise Keys themed after common living animals.

A master florist named Rentaro Tachibana, hired by ZAIA Enterprise to represent their ZAIASPEC product for the first round of the "5-Stage Workplace Competition" against Hiden Intelligence, in flower arrangement. After being [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech called out]] and attacked by his competitor, the [=HumaGear=]-turned-Magia Sakuyo, for cheating and betraying her trust, Gai threatens him with a potential lawsuit for tarnishing ZAIA Enterprise's image. Under the immense pressure to win the rematch, he encounters the Hooded Person, and is given a Progrise Key to transform into the [[ALoadOfBull Crushing Buffalo Raider.]]

* NotSoDifferent: The headpieces that cover the wearer's ears make them look just like the [=HumaGears=] that they are intended to surpass. Especially now that [=MetsubouJinrai.NET=] can hack them.

[caption-width-right:210:Prosecutor for ZAIA.]]