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* Within the first ten episodes, ''Series/KamenRiderRevice'' is already becoming this in spite of the premise being more akin to a BuddyCopShow, being more gritty and down-to-Earth than its fantastical predecessor. One of the two main Riders is a vicious demon who would be out eating people if not kept in check by his partner (with one of his first actions trying to eat Ikki's mother), the villains are an evil {{cult}} who use dysfunctional people to summon demons and there's a mini-arc about the protagonist's brother being possessed by his ''own'' jerkass inner demon and tormenting his family.
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* Within the first ten episodes, ''Series/KamenRiderRevice'' is already becoming this in spite of the premise being more akin to a BuddyCopShow, being more gritty and down-to-Earth than its fantastical predecessor. One of the two main Riders is a vicious demon who would be out eating people if not kept in check by his partner (with one of his first actions trying to eat Ikki's mother), the villains are an evil {{cult}} who use dysfunctional people to summon demons and there's a mini-arc about the protagonist's brother being possessed by his ''own'' jerkass inner demon and tormenting his family.family.
* ''Series/KamenRiderGeats takes it up to 11 in only the first two episodes. This is easily the darkest of Takahashi's series, with less bright and colorful suits, a much less friendly atmosphere, and the premise of a bunch of people being forcibly thrust into a survival game where they have to kill rampaging monsters to acquire points. It's very easy to die in the Desire Grand Prix too, as dozens of Riders have already died in a very short span of time, and characters advertised as supporting characters have already died in battle in the first few episodes. If the opening theme is indication enough, the series is set to get even darker as it goes along.
* ''Series/KamenRiderGeats takes it up to 11 in only the first two episodes. This is easily the darkest of Takahashi's series, with less bright and colorful suits, a much less friendly atmosphere, and the premise of a bunch of people being forcibly thrust into a survival game where they have to kill rampaging monsters to acquire points. It's very easy to die in the Desire Grand Prix too, as dozens of Riders have already died in a very short span of time, and characters advertised as supporting characters have already died in battle in the first few episodes. If the opening theme is indication enough, the series is set to get even darker as it goes along.
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This edit is a correction.
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* Within the first ten episodes, ''Series/KamenRiderRevice'' is already becoming this in spite of the premise being more akin to a BuddyCopShow, being more gritty and down-to-Earth than its fantastical predecessor. One of the two main Riders is a vicious demon who would be out eating people if not kept in check by his partner (with one of his first actions trying to eat Ikki's mother), the villains are an evil {{cult}} who use dysfunctional people to summon demons and there's a mini-arc about the protagonist's brother being possessed by his ''own'' jerkass inner demon and tormenting his family.
* ''Anime/FuutoPI'' zig-zags this. While it's still as humorous as [[Series/KamenRiderDouble the original live-action series]], it's clearly a {{Seinen}} manga due to [[BloodierAndGorier showing murders and dead bodies in full detail]] as well as [[HotterAndSexier straight-up nudity]]. Most of the Riders' Dopant opponents here are flat-out bastards too. Compared to ''W'', whose target audience are kids and teenagers, the {{Sequel}} is aimed at older audiences.
* ''Anime/FuutoPI'' zig-zags this. While it's still as humorous as [[Series/KamenRiderDouble the original live-action series]], it's clearly a {{Seinen}} manga due to [[BloodierAndGorier showing murders and dead bodies in full detail]] as well as [[HotterAndSexier straight-up nudity]]. Most of the Riders' Dopant opponents here are flat-out bastards too. Compared to ''W'', whose target audience are kids and teenagers, the {{Sequel}} is aimed at older audiences.
to:
* Within the first ten episodes, ''Series/KamenRiderRevice'' is already becoming this in spite of the premise being more akin to a BuddyCopShow, being more gritty and down-to-Earth than its fantastical predecessor. One of the two main Riders is a vicious demon who would be out eating people if not kept in check by his partner (with one of his first actions trying to eat Ikki's mother), the villains are an evil {{cult}} who use dysfunctional people to summon demons and there's a mini-arc about the protagonist's brother being possessed by his ''own'' jerkass inner demon and tormenting his family.
* ''Anime/FuutoPI'' zig-zags this. While it's still as humorous as [[Series/KamenRiderDouble the original live-action series]], it's clearly a {{Seinen}} manga due to [[BloodierAndGorier showing murders and dead bodies in full detail]] as well as [[HotterAndSexier straight-up nudity]]. Most of the Riders' Dopant opponents here are flat-out bastards too. Compared to ''W'', whose target audience are kids and teenagers, the {{Sequel}} is aimed at older audiences.family.
* ''Anime/FuutoPI'' zig-zags this. While it's still as humorous as [[Series/KamenRiderDouble the original live-action series]], it's clearly a {{Seinen}} manga due to [[BloodierAndGorier showing murders and dead bodies in full detail]] as well as [[HotterAndSexier straight-up nudity]]. Most of the Riders' Dopant opponents here are flat-out bastards too. Compared to ''W'', whose target audience are kids and teenagers, the {{Sequel}} is aimed at older audiences.
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* ''Anime/FuutoPI'' zig-zags this. While it's still as humorous as [[Series/KamenRiderDouble the original live-action series]], it's clearly a {{Seinen}} manga due to [[BloodierAndGorier showing murders and dead bodies in full detail]] as well as [[HotterAndSexier straight-up nudity]]. Most of the Dopants here are flat-out bastards too. Compared to ''W'', whose target audience are kids and teenagers, the {{Sequel}} is aimed at older audiences.
to:
* ''Anime/FuutoPI'' zig-zags this. While it's still as humorous as [[Series/KamenRiderDouble the original live-action series]], it's clearly a {{Seinen}} manga due to [[BloodierAndGorier showing murders and dead bodies in full detail]] as well as [[HotterAndSexier straight-up nudity]]. Most of the Dopants Riders' Dopant opponents here are flat-out bastards too. Compared to ''W'', whose target audience are kids and teenagers, the {{Sequel}} is aimed at older audiences.
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* ''Anime/FuutoPI'' zig-zags this. While it's still as humorous as [[Series/KamenRiderDouble the original live-action series]], it's clearly a {{Seinen}} manga due to [[BloodierAndGorier showing murders and dead bodies in full detail]] as well as [[HotterAndSexier straight-up nudity]]. Most of the Dopants are flat-out bastards here as well. Compared to ''W'', whose target audience are kids and teenagers, the {{Sequel}} is aimed at older audiences.
to:
* ''Anime/FuutoPI'' zig-zags this. While it's still as humorous as [[Series/KamenRiderDouble the original live-action series]], it's clearly a {{Seinen}} manga due to [[BloodierAndGorier showing murders and dead bodies in full detail]] as well as [[HotterAndSexier straight-up nudity]]. Most of the Dopants here are flat-out bastards here as well.too. Compared to ''W'', whose target audience are kids and teenagers, the {{Sequel}} is aimed at older audiences.
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* ''Anime/FuutoPI'' zig-zags this. While it's still as humorous as [[Series/KamenRiderDouble the original live-action series]], it's clear a {{Seinen}} manga due to [[BloodierAndGorier showing murders and dead bodies in full detail]] as well as [[HotterAndSexier straight-up nudity]]. Most of the Dopants are flat-out bastards here as well. Compared to ''W'', whose target audience are kids and teenagers, the {{Sequel}} is aimed at older audiences.
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* ''Anime/FuutoPI'' zig-zags this. While it's still as humorous as [[Series/KamenRiderDouble the original live-action series]], it's clear clearly a {{Seinen}} manga due to [[BloodierAndGorier showing murders and dead bodies in full detail]] as well as [[HotterAndSexier straight-up nudity]]. Most of the Dopants are flat-out bastards here as well. Compared to ''W'', whose target audience are kids and teenagers, the {{Sequel}} is aimed at older audiences.
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* ''Anime/FuutoPI'' zig-zags this. While it's still as humorous as [[Series/KamenRiderDouble the original live-action series]], it's clear a {{Seinen}} manga due to [[BloodierAndGorier showing murders and dead bodies in full detail]] as well as [[HotterAndSexier straight-up nudity]]. Most of the Dopants are flat-out bastards here as well. Compared to ''Double'', whose target audience are kids and teenagers, the {{Sequel}} is aimed at older audiences.
to:
* ''Anime/FuutoPI'' zig-zags this. While it's still as humorous as [[Series/KamenRiderDouble the original live-action series]], it's clear a {{Seinen}} manga due to [[BloodierAndGorier showing murders and dead bodies in full detail]] as well as [[HotterAndSexier straight-up nudity]]. Most of the Dopants are flat-out bastards here as well. Compared to ''Double'', ''W'', whose target audience are kids and teenagers, the {{Sequel}} is aimed at older audiences.
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* ''Anime/FuutoPI'' zig-zags this. While it's still as humorous as [[Series/KamenRiderDouble the original live-action series]], it's clearly a {{Seinen}} manga due to being both BloodierAndGorier ''and'' HotterAndSexier. Most of the Dopants are flat-out bastards here as well.
to:
* ''Anime/FuutoPI'' zig-zags this. While it's still as humorous as [[Series/KamenRiderDouble the original live-action series]], it's clearly clear a {{Seinen}} manga due to being both BloodierAndGorier ''and'' HotterAndSexier.[[BloodierAndGorier showing murders and dead bodies in full detail]] as well as [[HotterAndSexier straight-up nudity]]. Most of the Dopants are flat-out bastards here as well. Compared to ''Double'', whose target audience are kids and teenagers, the {{Sequel}} is aimed at older audiences.
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* Within the first ten episodes, ''Series/KamenRiderRevice'' is already becoming this in spite of the premise being more akin to a BuddyCopShow, being more gritty and down-to-Earth than its fantastical predecessor. One of the two main Riders is a vicious demon who would be out eating people if not kept in check by his partner (with one of his first actions trying to eat Ikki's mother), the villains are an evil {{cult}} who use dysfunctional people to summon demons and there's a mini-arc about the protagonist's brother being possessed by his ''own'' jerkass inner demon and tormenting his family.
to:
* Within the first ten episodes, ''Series/KamenRiderRevice'' is already becoming this in spite of the premise being more akin to a BuddyCopShow, being more gritty and down-to-Earth than its fantastical predecessor. One of the two main Riders is a vicious demon who would be out eating people if not kept in check by his partner (with one of his first actions trying to eat Ikki's mother), the villains are an evil {{cult}} who use dysfunctional people to summon demons and there's a mini-arc about the protagonist's brother being possessed by his ''own'' jerkass inner demon and tormenting his family.family.
* ''Anime/FuutoPI'' zig-zags this. While it's still as humorous as [[Series/KamenRiderDouble the original live-action series]], it's clearly a {{Seinen}} manga due to being both BloodierAndGorier ''and'' HotterAndSexier. Most of the Dopants are flat-out bastards here as well.
* ''Anime/FuutoPI'' zig-zags this. While it's still as humorous as [[Series/KamenRiderDouble the original live-action series]], it's clearly a {{Seinen}} manga due to being both BloodierAndGorier ''and'' HotterAndSexier. Most of the Dopants are flat-out bastards here as well.
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Up To Eleven is a defunct trope
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* Taken to [[UpToEleven frightening extremes]] with the adult-oriented ''Series/KamenRiderAmazons'', the darkest ''Kamen Rider'' entry in the ENTIRE franchise overall (even more so than ''Shin''), as the Amazon Riders brutally kill their enemies. The original ''Series/KamenRiderAmazon'' was already this, a BloodierAndGorier series where AllOfTheOtherReindeer means the public is often against him to boot, but its SpiritualSuccessor takes it UpToEleven, with the story running on GreyAndGreyMorality. The second season is full of {{Tragedy}}, being bleaker and more violent than the first due to increasing amounts of Amazons.
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* Taken to [[UpToEleven frightening extremes]] extremes with the adult-oriented ''Series/KamenRiderAmazons'', the darkest ''Kamen Rider'' entry in the ENTIRE franchise overall (even more so than ''Shin''), as the Amazon Riders brutally kill their enemies. The original ''Series/KamenRiderAmazon'' was already this, a BloodierAndGorier series where AllOfTheOtherReindeer means the public is often against him to boot, but its SpiritualSuccessor takes it UpToEleven, up to eleven, with the story running on GreyAndGreyMorality. The second season is full of {{Tragedy}}, being bleaker and more violent than the first due to increasing amounts of Amazons.
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* ''Film/ShinKamenRiderPrologue'' is the darkest and grittiest interpretation of Kamen Rider to date barring Ishinomori's own manga works, prior to ''Amazons''. In fact, it might even surpass those in the level of darkness. Rather than a traditional super-suited human like most Riders, Shin is genetically altered and undergoes a horrifying transformation. The fight scenes are visceral and bloody. And if that weren't bad enough, almost everybody in the film [[KillEmAll dies]].
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* ''Film/ShinKamenRiderPrologue'' is the darkest and grittiest interpretation of Kamen Rider to date barring Ishinomori's own manga works, prior to ''Amazons''. In fact, it might even surpass those in the level of darkness. Rather than a traditional super-suited human like most Riders, Shin is genetically altered and undergoes a horrifying transformation. The fight scenes are visceral and bloody. And if that weren't bad enough, almost everybody in the film [[KillEmAll dies]].dies.
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* ''Series/KamenRiderZiO'', despite being an anniversary series, has managed to became darker than it's spiritual predecessor ''Decade''. It features [[Main/TheHero titular Rider]] being an Main/EvilOverlord that caused a [[Main/BadFuture dystopian future]] in which he [[Main/TakeOverTheWorld took over the world]] and had many time travelers from that future come to the present time and prevent it from happening. Even with its fair share of lighthearted moments, [=Zi-O=] [[Main/CerebusSyndrome eventually became more intense]] with [[spoiler: Sougo finally coming face to face with Oma Zi-O, resulting in his temporary Main/HeroicBSOD, White Woz's presence in the show, [[Main/ChronicBackstabbingDisorder the zero amount of loyalty among the Time Jackers]], Sougo spending about 5 episodes with Geiz and Tsukuyomi against him, the fact that Sougo [[Main/FriendlessBackground never had friends prior to them]], and the [[Series/KamenRiderKiva Kiva]] tribute in general. Not to mention how Sougo and Hiryu lost his parents plus more of Tsukuyomi's past, all courtesy of [[Main/TheChessmaster Swartz]] himself; the fact that he was Tsukuyomi's brother and erased her memories out of the fact that she was next in line to rule instead of him as well as being responsible for the accident that led to loss of those parents and being the reason Sougo had time powers and how Oma Zi-O's future came to be - all so he can become king himself and obtain power. Plus the final arc deals with time paradoxes that leads to monsters from all over the Heisei area in one world with Tsukasa dealing with the possibiity of destroying Zi-O's world and unlike previous final battles, the climax of Sougo's involves Geiz [[HeroicSacrifice taking a critical hit for him from Swartz and dying]], prompting Sougo to tearfully become Oma Zi-O and viciously finishing Swartz off once he decimates Tsukuyomi for her deception.]]
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* ''Series/KamenRiderZiO'', despite being an anniversary series, has managed to became darker than it's spiritual predecessor ''Decade''. It features [[Main/TheHero titular Rider]] being an Main/EvilOverlord that caused a [[Main/BadFuture dystopian future]] in which he [[Main/TakeOverTheWorld took over the world]] and had many time travelers from that future come to the present time and prevent it from happening. Even with its fair share of lighthearted moments, [=Zi-O=] [[Main/CerebusSyndrome eventually became more intense]] with [[spoiler: Sougo finally coming face to face with Oma Zi-O, resulting in his temporary Main/HeroicBSOD, White Woz's presence in the show, [[Main/ChronicBackstabbingDisorder the zero amount of loyalty among the Time Jackers]], Sougo spending about 5 episodes with Geiz and Tsukuyomi against him, the fact that Sougo [[Main/FriendlessBackground never had friends prior to them]], and the [[Series/KamenRiderKiva Kiva]] tribute in general. Not to mention how Sougo and Hiryu lost his parents plus more of Tsukuyomi's past, all courtesy of [[Main/TheChessmaster Swartz]] himself; the fact that he was Tsukuyomi's brother and erased her memories out of the fact that she was next in line to rule instead of him as well as being responsible for the accident that led to loss of those parents and being the reason Sougo had time powers and how Oma Zi-O's future came to be - all so he can become king himself and obtain power. Plus the final arc deals with time paradoxes that leads to monsters from all over the Heisei area in one world with Tsukasa dealing with the possibiity of destroying Zi-O's world and unlike previous final battles, the climax of Sougo's involves Geiz [[HeroicSacrifice taking a critical hit for him from Swartz and dying]], prompting Sougo to tearfully become Oma Zi-O and viciously finishing and brutally obliterating Swartz off once he decimates Tsukuyomi for her deception.]]
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* Within the first ten episodes, ''Series/KamenRiderRevice'' created this tone in spite of the premise being more akin to a BuddyCopShow by having the main Rider's partner be just as much of a {{jerkass}} as the villains (with one of his first actions trying to eat the protagonist's mother) and later said protagonist's brother being possessed by his ''own'' jerkass inner demon.
to:
* Within the first ten episodes, ''Series/KamenRiderRevice'' created is already becoming this tone in spite of the premise being more akin to a BuddyCopShow by having BuddyCopShow, being more gritty and down-to-Earth than its fantastical predecessor. One of the two main Rider's Riders is a vicious demon who would be out eating people if not kept in check by his partner be just as much of a {{jerkass}} as the villains (with one of his first actions trying to eat Ikki's mother), the protagonist's mother) villains are an evil {{cult}} who use dysfunctional people to summon demons and later said there's a mini-arc about the protagonist's brother being possessed by his ''own'' jerkass inner demon.demon and tormenting his family.
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* ''Series/KamenRiderZeroOne'' initially started out fairly light with an optimistic perspective on technology and AI. As the show goes on, it continuously gets more depressing with each consecutive arc, with losses becoming more common for the main characters and villains coming out victorious more often than not. Even with the many victories that come for the heroes after the Workplace Competition Arc, [[spoiler:the Ark-Zero and Ark-One arcs completely erase all of those victories with the revival of the Ark]]. Aptly put, the trajectory of the series' main plot goes from a optimistic PostCyberpunk story revolving around a AllLovingHero trying to fight for the future of AI to a downright tragic story revolving around a [[spoiler:FallenHero and TragicVillain, driven by loss and revenge]] ''Zero-One Others'' tops it up with having a villain [[HappyEndingOverride undoing some of heroes' victories]], and has [[DownerEnding one of the darkest endings in the franchise]].
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* ''Series/KamenRiderZeroOne'' initially started out fairly light with an optimistic perspective on technology and AI. As the show goes on, it continuously gets more depressing with each consecutive arc, with losses becoming more common for the main characters and villains coming out victorious more often than not. Even with the many victories that come for the heroes after the Workplace Competition Arc, [[spoiler:the Ark-Zero and Ark-One arcs completely erase all of those victories with the revival of the Ark]]. Aptly put, the trajectory of the series' main plot goes from a optimistic PostCyberpunk story revolving around a AllLovingHero trying to fight for the future of AI to a downright tragic story revolving around a [[spoiler:FallenHero and TragicVillain, [[spoiler:UnscrupulousHero driven by loss and revenge]] ''Zero-One Others'' tops it up with having a villain [[HappyEndingOverride undoing some of heroes' victories]], and has [[DownerEnding one of the darkest most gratuitously bleak endings in the franchise]].
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* ''Series/KamenRiderKiva'' is created to be much darker tone in comparison to it's LighterAndSofter predecessor ''Den-O''. While it has fair share of comedic moments, themes such as human prejudice towards a monster race and frequent death counts towards random civilians perpetrated by the MonsterOfTheWeek is quite common not unlike Toshiki Inoue's [[Series/KamenRiderAgito previous]] [[Series/KamenRider555 Rider shows]].
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* ''Series/KamenRiderSaber'' manages to become this despite its FairyTaleMotifs, especially when compared to Takuro Fukuda's ''[[Series/KamenRiderGhost Ghost]]''. While it started out to be a bit more bright and upbeat than ''Zero-One'' due to delving into ThePowerOfFriendship and TrueCompanions as well as having a fair share of funny moments, things are starting to turn for the worse in the following {{Story Arc}}s, such as more fatalities, {{Heel Face Revolving Door}}s, and an ArcVillain running TheOrder while conspiring against humanity by working with another villain, [[spoiler:who is later revealed to be an OmnicidalManiac near the end of the series]].
to:
* ''Series/KamenRiderSaber'' manages to become this despite its FairyTaleMotifs, especially when compared to Takuro Fukuda's ''[[Series/KamenRiderGhost Ghost]]''. While it started out to be a bit more bright and upbeat than ''Zero-One'' due to delving into ThePowerOfFriendship and TrueCompanions as well as having a fair share of funny moments, things are starting to turn for the worse in the following {{Story Arc}}s, such as more fatalities, {{Heel Face Revolving Door}}s, and an ArcVillain running TheOrder while conspiring against humanity by working with another villain, [[spoiler:who is later revealed to be an OmnicidalManiac near the end of the series]].series]].
* Within the first ten episodes, ''Series/KamenRiderRevice'' created this tone in spite of the premise being more akin to a BuddyCopShow by having the main Rider's partner be just as much of a {{jerkass}} as the villains (with one of his first actions trying to eat the protagonist's mother) and later said protagonist's brother being possessed by his ''own'' jerkass inner demon.
* Within the first ten episodes, ''Series/KamenRiderRevice'' created this tone in spite of the premise being more akin to a BuddyCopShow by having the main Rider's partner be just as much of a {{jerkass}} as the villains (with one of his first actions trying to eat the protagonist's mother) and later said protagonist's brother being possessed by his ''own'' jerkass inner demon.
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None
Changed line(s) 20 (click to see context) from:
* ''Series/KamenRiderZeroOne'' initially started out fairly light with an optimistic perspective on technology and AI. As the show goes on, it continuously gets more depressing with each consecutive arc, with losses becoming more common for the main characters and villains coming out victorious more often than not. Even with the many victories that come for the heroes after the Workplace Competition Arc, [[spoiler:the Ark-Zero and Ark-One arcs completely erase all of those victories with the revival of the Ark]]. Aptly put, the trajectory of the series' main plot goes from a optimistic PostCyberpunk story revolving around a AllLovingHero trying to fight for the future of AI to a downright tragic story revolving around a [[spoiler:FallenHero and TragicVillain, driven by loss and revenge]].
to:
* ''Series/KamenRiderZeroOne'' initially started out fairly light with an optimistic perspective on technology and AI. As the show goes on, it continuously gets more depressing with each consecutive arc, with losses becoming more common for the main characters and villains coming out victorious more often than not. Even with the many victories that come for the heroes after the Workplace Competition Arc, [[spoiler:the Ark-Zero and Ark-One arcs completely erase all of those victories with the revival of the Ark]]. Aptly put, the trajectory of the series' main plot goes from a optimistic PostCyberpunk story revolving around a AllLovingHero trying to fight for the future of AI to a downright tragic story revolving around a [[spoiler:FallenHero and TragicVillain, driven by loss and revenge]].revenge]] ''Zero-One Others'' tops it up with having a villain [[HappyEndingOverride undoing some of heroes' victories]], and has [[DownerEnding one of the darkest endings in the franchise]].
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Changed line(s) 21 (click to see context) from:
* ''Series/KamenRiderSaber'' manages to become this despite its FairyTaleMotifs, especially when compared to Takuro Fukuda's ''[[Series/KamenRiderGhost Ghost]]''. While it started out to be a bit more bright and upbeat than ''Zero-One'' due to delving into ThePowerOfFriendship and TrueCompanions as well as having a fair share of funny moments, things are starting to turn for the worse in the following {{Story Arc}}s, such as more fatalities, {{Heel Face Revolving Door}}s, and an ArcVillain running TheOrder while conspiring against humanity by working with another villain, who is later revealed to be an OmnicidalManiac near the end of the series.
to:
* ''Series/KamenRiderSaber'' manages to become this despite its FairyTaleMotifs, especially when compared to Takuro Fukuda's ''[[Series/KamenRiderGhost Ghost]]''. While it started out to be a bit more bright and upbeat than ''Zero-One'' due to delving into ThePowerOfFriendship and TrueCompanions as well as having a fair share of funny moments, things are starting to turn for the worse in the following {{Story Arc}}s, such as more fatalities, {{Heel Face Revolving Door}}s, and an ArcVillain running TheOrder while conspiring against humanity by working with another villain, who [[spoiler:who is later revealed to be an OmnicidalManiac near the end of the series.series]].
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Changed line(s) 21 (click to see context) from:
* ''Series/KamenRiderSaber'' manages to become this despite its FairyTaleMotifs, especially when compared to Takuro Fukuda's ''[[Series/KamenRiderGhost Ghost]]''. While it started out to be a bit more bright and upbeat than ''Zero-One'' due to delving into ThePowerOfFriendship and TrueCompanions as well as having a fair share of funny moments, things are starting to turn for worse in the following {{Story Arc}}s, such as more fatalities, {{Heel Face Revolving Door}}s, and an ArcVillain running TheOrder while conspiring against humanity by working with another villain, who is later revealed to be an OmnicidalManiac near the end of the series.
to:
* ''Series/KamenRiderSaber'' manages to become this despite its FairyTaleMotifs, especially when compared to Takuro Fukuda's ''[[Series/KamenRiderGhost Ghost]]''. While it started out to be a bit more bright and upbeat than ''Zero-One'' due to delving into ThePowerOfFriendship and TrueCompanions as well as having a fair share of funny moments, things are starting to turn for the worse in the following {{Story Arc}}s, such as more fatalities, {{Heel Face Revolving Door}}s, and an ArcVillain running TheOrder while conspiring against humanity by working with another villain, who is later revealed to be an OmnicidalManiac near the end of the series.
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Changed line(s) 21 (click to see context) from:
* ''Series/KamenRiderSaber'' manages to become this despite its FairyTaleMotifs, especially when compared to Takuro Fukuda's ''[[Series/KamenRiderGhost Ghost]]''. While the first arc is a bit more bright and upbeat than ''Zero-One'' due to delving into ThePowerOfFriendship and TrueCompanions as well as having a fair extra dose of funny moments, things are starting to turn for worse in the following {{Story Arc}}s, such as more fatalities, {{Heel Face Revolving Door}}s, and an ArcVillain running TheOrder while conspiring against humanity by working with another villain, who is later revealed to be an OmnicidalManiac near the end of the series.
to:
* ''Series/KamenRiderSaber'' manages to become this despite its FairyTaleMotifs, especially when compared to Takuro Fukuda's ''[[Series/KamenRiderGhost Ghost]]''. While the first arc is it started out to be a bit more bright and upbeat than ''Zero-One'' due to delving into ThePowerOfFriendship and TrueCompanions as well as having a fair extra dose share of funny moments, things are starting to turn for worse in the following {{Story Arc}}s, such as more fatalities, {{Heel Face Revolving Door}}s, and an ArcVillain running TheOrder while conspiring against humanity by working with another villain, who is later revealed to be an OmnicidalManiac near the end of the series.
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* ''Series/KamenRiderSaber'' manages to become this despite its FairyTaleMotifs, especially when compared to Takuro Fukuda's ''[[Series/KamenRiderGhost Ghost]]''. While the first arc is a bit more bright and upbeat than ''Zero-One'' due to delving into ThePowerOfFriendship and TrueCompanions as well as having a fair extra dose of funny moments, things are starting to turn for worse in the following {{Story Arc}}s, such as more fatalities, {{Heel Face Revolving Door}}s, and an ArcVillain running TheOrder while conspiring against humanity by working with another villain, who is later revealed as an OmnicidalManiac near the end of the series.
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* ''Series/KamenRiderSaber'' manages to become this despite its FairyTaleMotifs, especially when compared to Takuro Fukuda's ''[[Series/KamenRiderGhost Ghost]]''. While the first arc is a bit more bright and upbeat than ''Zero-One'' due to delving into ThePowerOfFriendship and TrueCompanions as well as having a fair extra dose of funny moments, things are starting to turn for worse in the following {{Story Arc}}s, such as more fatalities, {{Heel Face Revolving Door}}s, and an ArcVillain running TheOrder while conspiring against humanity by working with another villain, who is later revealed as to be an OmnicidalManiac near the end of the series.
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* ''Series/KamenRiderSaber'' manages to become this despite FairyTaleMotifs, especially when compared to Takuro Fukuda's ''[[Series/KamenRiderGhost Ghost]]''. While the first arc is a bit more bright and upbeat than ''Zero-One'' due to delving into ThePowerOfFriendship and TrueCompanions as well as having a fair extra dose of funny moments, things are starting to turn for worse in the following {{Story Arc}}s, such as more fatalities, {{Heel Face Revolving Door}}s, and an ArcVillain running TheOrder while conspiring against humanity by working with another villain, who is later revealed as an OmnicidalManiac near the end of the series.
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* ''Series/KamenRiderSaber'' manages to become this despite its FairyTaleMotifs, especially when compared to Takuro Fukuda's ''[[Series/KamenRiderGhost Ghost]]''. While the first arc is a bit more bright and upbeat than ''Zero-One'' due to delving into ThePowerOfFriendship and TrueCompanions as well as having a fair extra dose of funny moments, things are starting to turn for worse in the following {{Story Arc}}s, such as more fatalities, {{Heel Face Revolving Door}}s, and an ArcVillain running TheOrder while conspiring against humanity by working with another villain, who is later revealed as an OmnicidalManiac near the end of the series.
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* ''Series/KamenRiderSaber'' manages to become this despite FairyTaleMotifs, especially when compared to Takuro Fukuda's ''[[Series/KamenRiderGhost Ghost]]''. While the first arc is a bit more bright and upbeat than ''Zero-One'' due to delving into ThePowerOfFriendship and TrueCompanions with a fair extra dose of comedy, things are starting to get nastier in the following {{Story Arc}}s, such as more fatalities, {{Heel Face Revolving Door}}s, and an ArcVillain running TheOrder while conspiring against humanity by working with another villain.
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* ''Series/KamenRiderSaber'' manages to become this despite FairyTaleMotifs, especially when compared to Takuro Fukuda's ''[[Series/KamenRiderGhost Ghost]]''. While the first arc is a bit more bright and upbeat than ''Zero-One'' due to delving into ThePowerOfFriendship and TrueCompanions with as well as having a fair extra dose of comedy, funny moments, things are starting to get nastier turn for worse in the following {{Story Arc}}s, such as more fatalities, {{Heel Face Revolving Door}}s, and an ArcVillain running TheOrder while conspiring against humanity by working with another villain.villain, who is later revealed as an OmnicidalManiac near the end of the series.
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* ''Series/KamenRiderZeroOne'' initially started out fairly light with an optimistic perspective on technology and AI. As the show goes on, it continuously gets more depressing with each consecutive arc, with losses becoming more common for the main characters and villains coming out victorious more often than not. Even with the many victories that come for the heroes after the Workplace Competition Arc, [[spoiler:the Ark-Zero and Ark-One arcs completely erase all of those victories with the revival of the Ark]]. Aptly put, the trajectory of the series' main plot goes from a optimistic PostCyberpunk story revolving around a AllLovingHero trying to fight for the future of AI to a downright tragic story revolving around a [[spoiler:FallenHero and TragicVillain, driven by loss and revenge]].
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* ''Series/KamenRiderZeroOne'' initially started out fairly light with an optimistic perspective on technology and AI. As the show goes on, it continuously gets more depressing with each consecutive arc, with losses becoming more common for the main characters and villains coming out victorious more often than not. Even with the many victories that come for the heroes after the Workplace Competition Arc, [[spoiler:the Ark-Zero and Ark-One arcs completely erase all of those victories with the revival of the Ark]]. Aptly put, the trajectory of the series' main plot goes from a optimistic PostCyberpunk story revolving around a AllLovingHero trying to fight for the future of AI to a downright tragic story revolving around a [[spoiler:FallenHero and TragicVillain, driven by loss and revenge]].revenge]].
* ''Series/KamenRiderSaber'' manages to become this despite FairyTaleMotifs, especially when compared to Takuro Fukuda's ''[[Series/KamenRiderGhost Ghost]]''. While the first arc is a bit more bright and upbeat than ''Zero-One'' due to delving into ThePowerOfFriendship and TrueCompanions with a fair extra dose of comedy, things are starting to get nastier in the following {{Story Arc}}s, such as more fatalities, {{Heel Face Revolving Door}}s, and an ArcVillain running TheOrder while conspiring against humanity by working with another villain.
* ''Series/KamenRiderSaber'' manages to become this despite FairyTaleMotifs, especially when compared to Takuro Fukuda's ''[[Series/KamenRiderGhost Ghost]]''. While the first arc is a bit more bright and upbeat than ''Zero-One'' due to delving into ThePowerOfFriendship and TrueCompanions with a fair extra dose of comedy, things are starting to get nastier in the following {{Story Arc}}s, such as more fatalities, {{Heel Face Revolving Door}}s, and an ArcVillain running TheOrder while conspiring against humanity by working with another villain.
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* ''Series/KamenRiderBlack'' deals with the titular protagonist, Kotaro, having to deal with a cult attempting to make him their new Black Sun king and later on has him deal with his corrupted stepbrother as his [[TheRival rival]], [[spoiler:plus the fact that said rival nearly kills him and by the end, Kohtaro's two close friends at the time left Japan, never having made contact due to failing to fulfill their promise of saving his stepbrother.]].
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* ''Series/KamenRiderBlack'' deals with the titular protagonist, Kotaro, having to deal with a cult attempting to make him their new Black Sun king and later on has him deal with his corrupted stepbrother as his [[TheRival rival]], [[spoiler:plus the fact that said rival nearly kills him and by the end, Kohtaro's Kotaro's two close friends at the time left Japan, never having made contact due to failing to fulfill their promise of saving his stepbrother.]].
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* ''Series/KamenRiderBlack'' deals with the titular protagonist, Kohtaro, having to deal with a cult attempting to make him their new Black Sun king and later on has him deal with his corrupted stepbrother as his [[TheRival rival]], [[spoiler:plus the fact that said rival nearly kills him and by the end, Kohtaro's two close friends at the time left Japan, never having made contact due to failing to fulfill their promise of saving his stepbrother.]].
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* ''Series/KamenRiderBlack'' deals with the titular protagonist, Kohtaro, Kotaro, having to deal with a cult attempting to make him their new Black Sun king and later on has him deal with his corrupted stepbrother as his [[TheRival rival]], [[spoiler:plus the fact that said rival nearly kills him and by the end, Kohtaro's two close friends at the time left Japan, never having made contact due to failing to fulfill their promise of saving his stepbrother.]].
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* ''Series/KamenRiderDrive'', while [[LighterAndSofter not as dark]] as ''Gaim'', has [[DownerBeginning the most brutal opening scene]] in ''Kamen Rider'' history and its plot gets progressively darker in the second half, especially [[spoiler:after Banno is introduced]]. The Roidmudes' backstory only makes it even worse.
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* ''Series/KamenRiderDrive'', while [[LighterAndSofter not as dark]] as ''Gaim'', has [[DownerBeginning the most brutal opening scene]] in ''Kamen Rider'' history and though it has a period of light-heartedness, its plot gets progressively darker in the second half, especially [[spoiler:after Banno is introduced]]. The Roidmudes' backstory only makes it even worse.
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* ''Series/KamenRiderBuild'' starts off with a DownerBeginning which is easily the darkest of all the TV Kamen Rider series, topped only by the aforementioned ''Amazons'' in-franchise. It features unethical human experimentation, humans being turned into [[MonsterOfTheWeek Smashes]], one of the main characters being framed for murder - and mind you, that's just within ''the first episode''. The first part of the series ends with the villains finally managing to spark the civil war that's been brewing, and the show does not hesitate to demonstrate that WarIsHell. In addition, the heroes end up feeling responsible for the rapidly escalating conflict due to having played right into the villains' hands. And it still gets worse - [[spoiler: like ''Gaim'', this series is also a CosmicHorrorStory. TheStarscream DragonWithAnAgenda turns out to an alien who goes around destroying planets for fun, just because he can, and everything, including the war, has been part of a years-long plan to not only regain his world-destroying power so that he can do so to Earth, but also become powerful enough to destroy the ''universe''.]]
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* ''Series/KamenRiderBuild'' starts off with a DownerBeginning which is easily the darkest of all the TV Kamen Rider series, topped only by the aforementioned ''Amazons'' in-franchise. It features unethical human experimentation, humans being turned into [[MonsterOfTheWeek Smashes]], one of the main characters being framed for murder - and mind you, that's just within ''the first episode''. The first part of the series ends with the villains finally managing to spark the civil war that's been brewing, and the show does not hesitate to demonstrate that WarIsHell.WarIsHell, with the hero going through PTSD after [[spoiler:accidentally killing someone]]. In addition, the heroes end up feeling responsible for the rapidly escalating conflict due to having played right into the villains' hands. And it still gets worse - [[spoiler: like ''Gaim'', this series is also a CosmicHorrorStory. TheStarscream DragonWithAnAgenda The true BigBad turns out to an alien who goes around destroying planets for fun, just because he can, and everything, including the war, has been part of a years-long plan to not only regain his world-destroying power so that he can do so to Earth, but also become powerful enough to destroy the ''universe''.]]
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* ''Series/KamenRiderZiO'' has its [[Main/TheHero titular Rider]] being an Main/EvilOverlord that caused a [[Main/BadFuture dystopian future]] in which he [[Main/TakeOverTheWorld took over the world]] and had many time travelers from that future come to the present time and prevent it from happening. Even with its fair share of lighthearted moments, [=Zi-O=] [[Main/CerebusSyndrome eventually became more intense]] with [[spoiler: Sougo finally coming face to face with Oma Zi-O, resulting in his temporary Main/HeroicBSOD, White Woz's presence in the show, [[Main/ChronicBackstabbingDisorder the zero amount of loyalty among the Time Jackers]], Sougo spending about 5 episodes with Geiz and Tsukuyomi against him, the fact that Sougo [[Main/FriendlessBackground never had friends prior to them]], and the [[Series/KamenRiderKiva Kiva]] tribute in general. Not to mention how Sougo and Hiryu lost his parents plus more of Tsukuyomi's past, all courtesy of [[Main/TheChessmaster Swartz]] himself; the fact that he was Tsukuyomi's brother and erased her memories out of the fact that she was next in line to rule instead of him as well as being responsible for the accident that led to loss of those parents and being the reason Sougo had time powers and how Oma Zi-O's future came to be - all so he can become king himself and obtain power. Plus the final arc deals with time paradoxes that leads to monsters from all over the Heisei area in one world with Tsukasa dealing with the possibiity of destroying Zi-O's world and unlike previous final battles, the climax of Sougo's involves Geiz [[HeroicSacrifice taking a critical hit for him from Swartz and dying]], prompting Sougo to tearfully become Oma Zi-O and viciously finishing Swartz off once he decimates Tsukuyomi for her deception.]]
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* ''Series/KamenRiderZiO'' ''Series/KamenRiderZiO'', despite being an anniversary series, has its managed to became darker than it's spiritual predecessor ''Decade''. It features [[Main/TheHero titular Rider]] being an Main/EvilOverlord that caused a [[Main/BadFuture dystopian future]] in which he [[Main/TakeOverTheWorld took over the world]] and had many time travelers from that future come to the present time and prevent it from happening. Even with its fair share of lighthearted moments, [=Zi-O=] [[Main/CerebusSyndrome eventually became more intense]] with [[spoiler: Sougo finally coming face to face with Oma Zi-O, resulting in his temporary Main/HeroicBSOD, White Woz's presence in the show, [[Main/ChronicBackstabbingDisorder the zero amount of loyalty among the Time Jackers]], Sougo spending about 5 episodes with Geiz and Tsukuyomi against him, the fact that Sougo [[Main/FriendlessBackground never had friends prior to them]], and the [[Series/KamenRiderKiva Kiva]] tribute in general. Not to mention how Sougo and Hiryu lost his parents plus more of Tsukuyomi's past, all courtesy of [[Main/TheChessmaster Swartz]] himself; the fact that he was Tsukuyomi's brother and erased her memories out of the fact that she was next in line to rule instead of him as well as being responsible for the accident that led to loss of those parents and being the reason Sougo had time powers and how Oma Zi-O's future came to be - all so he can become king himself and obtain power. Plus the final arc deals with time paradoxes that leads to monsters from all over the Heisei area in one world with Tsukasa dealing with the possibiity of destroying Zi-O's world and unlike previous final battles, the climax of Sougo's involves Geiz [[HeroicSacrifice taking a critical hit for him from Swartz and dying]], prompting Sougo to tearfully become Oma Zi-O and viciously finishing Swartz off once he decimates Tsukuyomi for her deception.]]
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* Compared to ''Franchise/SuperSentai'', ''Franchise/KamenRider'' has numerous character deaths sprinkled throughout each series, has plenty of tragic and nightmarish moments, and tends to be aimed at older audiences. Although it should be mentioned that Kamen Rider is older than Sentai.
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* ''Series/KamenRiderV3'', in comparison to its predecessor, deals with the Riders going on a RoaringRampageofRevenge against an enemy organization. Not to mention that the DownerBeginning shows that Shiro's entire family were brutally murdered by the first Destron Kaijin.
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* ''Series/KamenRiderV3'', in comparison to its predecessor, deals with the Riders going on a RoaringRampageofRevenge RoaringRampageOfRevenge against an enemy organization. Not to mention that the DownerBeginning shows that Shiro's entire family were brutally murdered by the first Destron Kaijin.
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* Compared to ''Franchise/SuperSentai'', ''Franchise/KamenRider'' has numerous character deaths sprinkled throughout each series, has plenty of tragic and nightmarish moments, and tends to be aimed at older audiences. Although it should be mentioned that Kamen Rider is older than Sentai.
* ''Series/KamenRiderV3'', in comparison to its predecessor, deals with the Riders going on a RoaringRampageofRevenge against an enemy organization. Not to mention that the DownerBeginning shows that Shiro's entire family were brutally murdered by the first Destron Kaijin.
* ''Series/KamenRiderX'', in contrast to the previous two shows, has noticeably higher number of on-screen deaths and the overall tone is much more grimmer and depressing, ranging from Keisuke losing his father to his girlfriend's chicanery.
* ''Series/KamenRiderBlack'' deals with the titular protagonist, Kohtaro, having to deal with a cult attempting to make him their new Black Sun king and later on has him deal with his corrupted stepbrother as his [[TheRival rival]], [[spoiler:plus the fact that said rival nearly kills him and by the end, Kohtaro's two close friends at the time left Japan, never having made contact due to failing to fulfill their promise of saving his stepbrother.]].
* ''Film/ShinKamenRiderPrologue'' is the darkest and grittiest interpretation of Kamen Rider to date barring Ishinomori's own manga works, prior to ''Amazons''. In fact, it might even surpass those in the level of darkness. Rather than a traditional super-suited human like most Riders, Shin is genetically altered and undergoes a horrifying transformation. The fight scenes are visceral and bloody. And if that weren't bad enough, almost everybody in the film [[KillEmAll dies]].
* ''Series/KamenRiderKuuga'', especially when compared to some of the older series before or since, deals with a race of ancient serial killers, the tremendous power level disasters of Kuuga himself, [[BewareTheNiceOnes Yusuke once going berserk on a monster for his horrific deeds]], and the final battle ending in a bloody fist fight. The only brighter part itself is the Rider starts out as a normal human instead of being modified like the predecessors.
* ZigZagged with ''Series/KamenRiderAgito'' as 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. 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 DomCom, and any interactions between Hikawa and Shouichi quickly turn into a StraightManAndWiseGuy sketch.
* ''Series/KamenRiderRyuki'', even within the franchise as a whole, has most of the Riders as bad as their monsters they fight, ''revolving'' around humans trying to kill humans more than anything else; some have sympathetic reasons for seeking the wish the winner will receive but are still trying to kill people; some are as murderous as any villain. Of thirteen Riders, fifteen if the Alternatives count, there are ''two'' that you would consider pure "good guys" and they spend most of the series unable to actually steer the course of events as the BigBad holds all the cards. [[spoiler: In the end, everyone dies, and to reset it, one of the remaining main characters must also die. It's complicated, but not only is she gone, but in the new, reset world, no one will ever know that she was their friend, or what she did to save them. One of the final scenes is her aunt, all alone in the LocalHangout that they once ran together.]]
* ''Series/KamenRider555'' became a very dark point in the franchise, with the focus on the monsters being as human as the people they try to kill, [[HumansAreBastards the humans themselves not always being quite so innocent]], and the themes of death, betrayal and [[{{Irony}} fittingly for a show with a phone]] TransformationTrinket, [[PoorCommunicationKills communication problems up the wazoo]]. Taken to new heights in the novel, including Kusaka's [[RapeAsDrama raping of Mari]], [[DeathByChildbirth Yuka getting pregnant by Keitaro]] and Yuji beating the shit out of Kusaka for that.
* ''Series/KamenRiderBlade'', while it greatly tones down the blood, graphic violence and terrifying content of its predecessor ''555'', still has its fair share of dramatic moments. The first arc of the series deals with Tachibana making a DealWithTheDevil with Isaka to help rid of his fear at the cost of becoming his unwilling soldier which culminated in Sayoko being killed by the Undead when she tried to cure her lover. Even after that's done, there's also the factor of the improperly sealed Spider Undead repeatedly and gradually corrupting Mutsuki until he becomes fully evil with the heroes failing to save him in spite of their efforts. Other factors include Hajime's reveal as the Joker, whose presence as the last standing Undead destroys the world, Kenzaki's rapid unstable evolution by the time he attained King Form, and in the end, [[spoiler:Kenzaki forgoes his humanity and becomes a Joker to ensure the planet's safety and Hajime's happiness at the cost of the two having to stay away from each other]].
*''Series/KamenRiderDragonKnight'', in a similar tone to the Japanese ''Kamen Rider'' series, is this for North American tokusatsu. ''KRDK'' regularly dealt with betrayal, distrust, questionable motives and underlying truths in initially good-looking characters, and the [[TheMenInBlack MIB]] were "good guys" with highly questionable methods and even played a part in TheSociopath JTC's StartOfDarkness. It also did away with the formulaic MonsterOfTheWeek in lieu of the "season-long movie chopped into episode-length segments" format the Japanese KR series used from ''Kuuga'' through ''Kabuto.'' There was comic relief in the form of Lacey, Trent, and Aunt Grace, but Aunt Grace got ChuckCunninghamSyndrome midseason and Lacey said ScrewThisImOuttaHere once things started to get too hot. They had to deal with NeverSayDie... and did it by replacing death with ''something worse.'' While still considerably lighter than ''Ryuki'', ''Dragon Knight'' deserves mention for making itself a name in tokusatsu circles as an attempt to make a US ''Kamen Rider'' without tampering with what makes a Kamen Rider a Kamen Rider by toning it down to a ''Power Rangers'' rip-off/copy.
* ZigZagged with ''Series/KamenRiderWizard'', which, in comparison to its other Heisei Phase 2 predecessors, is a lot more intense, going back to some of the older Heisei roots; Phantoms are made from people falling from despair while all against Haruto are AlwaysChaoticEvil, Haruto spending most of his series surpressing his inner Phantom, and Koyomi's backstory plus the revelations regarding her are shown in a more tragic light, right during the second Sabbath. On the upside, it is nowhere near as dark as its successor ''Gaim'', the Phantoms consistently fail to make another of their brethren onscreen, the comical antics of Shunpei, Donut Shop Hungry staff, and Nitoh, and generally follows the same lighthearted 2-episode formula the other Heisei Phase 2 seasons before it did.
* ''Series/KamenRiderGaim'' might have a bright fruit theme to it, but its head writer is Creator/GenUrobuchi of ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' infamy. For those not familiar with ''Madoka Magica'', the fact that he's nicknamed [[AnyoneCanDie "Urobutcher"]] and that he specifically named ''Black, Ryuki'' and ''Faiz'' as influences on ''Gaim'' should start ringing alarm bells. It starts out with {{Deconstruction}}s of {{Mons}} and the KidHero before getting to a situation similar to ''Ryuki'' with multiple Riders of which only Gaim himself has a fully functional moral compass; the rest range from {{AntiVillain}}s using questionable methods for good goals to {{Social Darwinist}}s pursuing power at any cost to a {{Jerkass}} who uses his influence to pick on children. But the real trap was sprung a quarter of the way in: [[spoiler:a supporting character is turned into a monster, but unlike other recent Rider series he ''isn't saved'' and is killed despite Gaim's best efforts. The one who did the deed proceeds to rub it in by stating he did a heroic thing by eliminating a threat to innocents. And even as Gaim asserts that he [[ThouShaltNotKill can't kill]] [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman a human]], we find out that some of the monsters are ''also'' transformed humans - one (the first one he faced, in fact) was even a friend of his that had gone missing.]] A few episodes later makes it even worse - [[spoiler:it's a CosmicHorrorStory, the thing making the monsters had already overtaken at least one alien world (meaning that even the monsters that weren't once human were still people), and Earth will likely be overtaken within ten years.]] Even its BittersweetEnding has some ominousness: [[spoiler: Specifically, while the heroes do save the world, the CosmicHorrorStory elements are something that will ''always'' continue on other worlds, and there's no restoring those who were lost.]]
* ''Series/KamenRiderDrive'', while [[LighterAndSofter not as dark]] as ''Gaim'', has [[DownerBeginning the most brutal opening scene]] in ''Kamen Rider'' history and its plot gets progressively darker in the second half, especially [[spoiler:after Banno is introduced]]. The Roidmudes' backstory only makes it even worse.
* Taken to [[UpToEleven frightening extremes]] with the adult-oriented ''Series/KamenRiderAmazons'', the darkest ''Kamen Rider'' entry in the ENTIRE franchise overall (even more so than ''Shin''), as the Amazon Riders brutally kill their enemies. The original ''Series/KamenRiderAmazon'' was already this, a BloodierAndGorier series where AllOfTheOtherReindeer means the public is often against him to boot, but its SpiritualSuccessor takes it UpToEleven, with the story running on GreyAndGreyMorality. The second season is full of {{Tragedy}}, being bleaker and more violent than the first due to increasing amounts of Amazons.
* ''Series/KamenRiderExAid'', despite the gaming theme, sports a much darker CrapsaccharineWorld tone than its [[Series/KamenRiderGhost predecessor]] as it resembles a medical drama rather than a regular heroes show. Bugsters are SeriousBusiness in this [[CrapsaccharineWorld setting]], most of the Riders are either amoral [[AntiHero Anti-Heroes]] or flat-out {{Jerkass}}es as they are forced to make difficult disease in medicine just like RealLife, a special surgery is required to become a Rider, the [[spoiler: Proto Gashats]] having severe side effects if overused, [[spoiler: which leads to the permanent death of the user]] .
** The medical theme means we do sometimes encounter real life diseases. It's the only series where you have one Rider keeping the monster outside a hospital so the other can perform surgery on a cancer patient whose disease was so far along that other surgeons had ''refused to treat him because his inevitable death would [[ItsAllAboutMe tarnish their reputations]].'' Dear God. Worse, it was pancreatic cancer, which in RealLife has a habit of popping up again and killing sufferers right on schedule even when doctors are sure it's been eliminated. This isn't discussed, but anyone familiar with the disease will expect Hiiro to not really have bought the patient a great deal of time despite the successful procedure, ''and'' to know that Hiiro and the patient both know this. Due to the comparison, the ending was treated rather realistically as the patients who died from the disease do not return from the dead but despite that still ends with a [[HopeSpringsEternal hopeful]] note that one day such diseases can be cured.
* ''Series/KamenRiderBuild'' starts off with a DownerBeginning which is easily the darkest of all the TV Kamen Rider series, topped only by the aforementioned ''Amazons'' in-franchise. It features unethical human experimentation, humans being turned into [[MonsterOfTheWeek Smashes]], one of the main characters being framed for murder - and mind you, that's just within ''the first episode''. The first part of the series ends with the villains finally managing to spark the civil war that's been brewing, and the show does not hesitate to demonstrate that WarIsHell. In addition, the heroes end up feeling responsible for the rapidly escalating conflict due to having played right into the villains' hands. And it still gets worse - [[spoiler: like ''Gaim'', this series is also a CosmicHorrorStory. TheStarscream DragonWithAnAgenda turns out to an alien who goes around destroying planets for fun, just because he can, and everything, including the war, has been part of a years-long plan to not only regain his world-destroying power so that he can do so to Earth, but also become powerful enough to destroy the ''universe''.]]
* ''Series/KamenRiderZiO'' has its [[Main/TheHero titular Rider]] being an Main/EvilOverlord that caused a [[Main/BadFuture dystopian future]] in which he [[Main/TakeOverTheWorld took over the world]] and had many time travelers from that future come to the present time and prevent it from happening. Even with its fair share of lighthearted moments, [=Zi-O=] [[Main/CerebusSyndrome eventually became more intense]] with [[spoiler: Sougo finally coming face to face with Oma Zi-O, resulting in his temporary Main/HeroicBSOD, White Woz's presence in the show, [[Main/ChronicBackstabbingDisorder the zero amount of loyalty among the Time Jackers]], Sougo spending about 5 episodes with Geiz and Tsukuyomi against him, the fact that Sougo [[Main/FriendlessBackground never had friends prior to them]], and the [[Series/KamenRiderKiva Kiva]] tribute in general. Not to mention how Sougo and Hiryu lost his parents plus more of Tsukuyomi's past, all courtesy of [[Main/TheChessmaster Swartz]] himself; the fact that he was Tsukuyomi's brother and erased her memories out of the fact that she was next in line to rule instead of him as well as being responsible for the accident that led to loss of those parents and being the reason Sougo had time powers and how Oma Zi-O's future came to be - all so he can become king himself and obtain power. Plus the final arc deals with time paradoxes that leads to monsters from all over the Heisei area in one world with Tsukasa dealing with the possibiity of destroying Zi-O's world and unlike previous final battles, the climax of Sougo's involves Geiz [[HeroicSacrifice taking a critical hit for him from Swartz and dying]], prompting Sougo to tearfully become Oma Zi-O and viciously finishing Swartz off once he decimates Tsukuyomi for her deception.]]
* ''Series/KamenRiderZeroOne'' initially started out fairly light with an optimistic perspective on technology and AI. As the show goes on, it continuously gets more depressing with each consecutive arc, with losses becoming more common for the main characters and villains coming out victorious more often than not. Even with the many victories that come for the heroes after the Workplace Competition Arc, [[spoiler:the Ark-Zero and Ark-One arcs completely erase all of those victories with the revival of the Ark]]. Aptly put, the trajectory of the series' main plot goes from a optimistic PostCyberpunk story revolving around a AllLovingHero trying to fight for the future of AI to a downright tragic story revolving around a [[spoiler:FallenHero and TragicVillain, driven by loss and revenge]].
* ''Series/KamenRiderV3'', in comparison to its predecessor, deals with the Riders going on a RoaringRampageofRevenge against an enemy organization. Not to mention that the DownerBeginning shows that Shiro's entire family were brutally murdered by the first Destron Kaijin.
* ''Series/KamenRiderX'', in contrast to the previous two shows, has noticeably higher number of on-screen deaths and the overall tone is much more grimmer and depressing, ranging from Keisuke losing his father to his girlfriend's chicanery.
* ''Series/KamenRiderBlack'' deals with the titular protagonist, Kohtaro, having to deal with a cult attempting to make him their new Black Sun king and later on has him deal with his corrupted stepbrother as his [[TheRival rival]], [[spoiler:plus the fact that said rival nearly kills him and by the end, Kohtaro's two close friends at the time left Japan, never having made contact due to failing to fulfill their promise of saving his stepbrother.]].
* ''Film/ShinKamenRiderPrologue'' is the darkest and grittiest interpretation of Kamen Rider to date barring Ishinomori's own manga works, prior to ''Amazons''. In fact, it might even surpass those in the level of darkness. Rather than a traditional super-suited human like most Riders, Shin is genetically altered and undergoes a horrifying transformation. The fight scenes are visceral and bloody. And if that weren't bad enough, almost everybody in the film [[KillEmAll dies]].
* ''Series/KamenRiderKuuga'', especially when compared to some of the older series before or since, deals with a race of ancient serial killers, the tremendous power level disasters of Kuuga himself, [[BewareTheNiceOnes Yusuke once going berserk on a monster for his horrific deeds]], and the final battle ending in a bloody fist fight. The only brighter part itself is the Rider starts out as a normal human instead of being modified like the predecessors.
* ZigZagged with ''Series/KamenRiderAgito'' as 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. 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 DomCom, and any interactions between Hikawa and Shouichi quickly turn into a StraightManAndWiseGuy sketch.
* ''Series/KamenRiderRyuki'', even within the franchise as a whole, has most of the Riders as bad as their monsters they fight, ''revolving'' around humans trying to kill humans more than anything else; some have sympathetic reasons for seeking the wish the winner will receive but are still trying to kill people; some are as murderous as any villain. Of thirteen Riders, fifteen if the Alternatives count, there are ''two'' that you would consider pure "good guys" and they spend most of the series unable to actually steer the course of events as the BigBad holds all the cards. [[spoiler: In the end, everyone dies, and to reset it, one of the remaining main characters must also die. It's complicated, but not only is she gone, but in the new, reset world, no one will ever know that she was their friend, or what she did to save them. One of the final scenes is her aunt, all alone in the LocalHangout that they once ran together.]]
* ''Series/KamenRider555'' became a very dark point in the franchise, with the focus on the monsters being as human as the people they try to kill, [[HumansAreBastards the humans themselves not always being quite so innocent]], and the themes of death, betrayal and [[{{Irony}} fittingly for a show with a phone]] TransformationTrinket, [[PoorCommunicationKills communication problems up the wazoo]]. Taken to new heights in the novel, including Kusaka's [[RapeAsDrama raping of Mari]], [[DeathByChildbirth Yuka getting pregnant by Keitaro]] and Yuji beating the shit out of Kusaka for that.
* ''Series/KamenRiderBlade'', while it greatly tones down the blood, graphic violence and terrifying content of its predecessor ''555'', still has its fair share of dramatic moments. The first arc of the series deals with Tachibana making a DealWithTheDevil with Isaka to help rid of his fear at the cost of becoming his unwilling soldier which culminated in Sayoko being killed by the Undead when she tried to cure her lover. Even after that's done, there's also the factor of the improperly sealed Spider Undead repeatedly and gradually corrupting Mutsuki until he becomes fully evil with the heroes failing to save him in spite of their efforts. Other factors include Hajime's reveal as the Joker, whose presence as the last standing Undead destroys the world, Kenzaki's rapid unstable evolution by the time he attained King Form, and in the end, [[spoiler:Kenzaki forgoes his humanity and becomes a Joker to ensure the planet's safety and Hajime's happiness at the cost of the two having to stay away from each other]].
*''Series/KamenRiderDragonKnight'', in a similar tone to the Japanese ''Kamen Rider'' series, is this for North American tokusatsu. ''KRDK'' regularly dealt with betrayal, distrust, questionable motives and underlying truths in initially good-looking characters, and the [[TheMenInBlack MIB]] were "good guys" with highly questionable methods and even played a part in TheSociopath JTC's StartOfDarkness. It also did away with the formulaic MonsterOfTheWeek in lieu of the "season-long movie chopped into episode-length segments" format the Japanese KR series used from ''Kuuga'' through ''Kabuto.'' There was comic relief in the form of Lacey, Trent, and Aunt Grace, but Aunt Grace got ChuckCunninghamSyndrome midseason and Lacey said ScrewThisImOuttaHere once things started to get too hot. They had to deal with NeverSayDie... and did it by replacing death with ''something worse.'' While still considerably lighter than ''Ryuki'', ''Dragon Knight'' deserves mention for making itself a name in tokusatsu circles as an attempt to make a US ''Kamen Rider'' without tampering with what makes a Kamen Rider a Kamen Rider by toning it down to a ''Power Rangers'' rip-off/copy.
* ZigZagged with ''Series/KamenRiderWizard'', which, in comparison to its other Heisei Phase 2 predecessors, is a lot more intense, going back to some of the older Heisei roots; Phantoms are made from people falling from despair while all against Haruto are AlwaysChaoticEvil, Haruto spending most of his series surpressing his inner Phantom, and Koyomi's backstory plus the revelations regarding her are shown in a more tragic light, right during the second Sabbath. On the upside, it is nowhere near as dark as its successor ''Gaim'', the Phantoms consistently fail to make another of their brethren onscreen, the comical antics of Shunpei, Donut Shop Hungry staff, and Nitoh, and generally follows the same lighthearted 2-episode formula the other Heisei Phase 2 seasons before it did.
* ''Series/KamenRiderGaim'' might have a bright fruit theme to it, but its head writer is Creator/GenUrobuchi of ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' infamy. For those not familiar with ''Madoka Magica'', the fact that he's nicknamed [[AnyoneCanDie "Urobutcher"]] and that he specifically named ''Black, Ryuki'' and ''Faiz'' as influences on ''Gaim'' should start ringing alarm bells. It starts out with {{Deconstruction}}s of {{Mons}} and the KidHero before getting to a situation similar to ''Ryuki'' with multiple Riders of which only Gaim himself has a fully functional moral compass; the rest range from {{AntiVillain}}s using questionable methods for good goals to {{Social Darwinist}}s pursuing power at any cost to a {{Jerkass}} who uses his influence to pick on children. But the real trap was sprung a quarter of the way in: [[spoiler:a supporting character is turned into a monster, but unlike other recent Rider series he ''isn't saved'' and is killed despite Gaim's best efforts. The one who did the deed proceeds to rub it in by stating he did a heroic thing by eliminating a threat to innocents. And even as Gaim asserts that he [[ThouShaltNotKill can't kill]] [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman a human]], we find out that some of the monsters are ''also'' transformed humans - one (the first one he faced, in fact) was even a friend of his that had gone missing.]] A few episodes later makes it even worse - [[spoiler:it's a CosmicHorrorStory, the thing making the monsters had already overtaken at least one alien world (meaning that even the monsters that weren't once human were still people), and Earth will likely be overtaken within ten years.]] Even its BittersweetEnding has some ominousness: [[spoiler: Specifically, while the heroes do save the world, the CosmicHorrorStory elements are something that will ''always'' continue on other worlds, and there's no restoring those who were lost.]]
* ''Series/KamenRiderDrive'', while [[LighterAndSofter not as dark]] as ''Gaim'', has [[DownerBeginning the most brutal opening scene]] in ''Kamen Rider'' history and its plot gets progressively darker in the second half, especially [[spoiler:after Banno is introduced]]. The Roidmudes' backstory only makes it even worse.
* Taken to [[UpToEleven frightening extremes]] with the adult-oriented ''Series/KamenRiderAmazons'', the darkest ''Kamen Rider'' entry in the ENTIRE franchise overall (even more so than ''Shin''), as the Amazon Riders brutally kill their enemies. The original ''Series/KamenRiderAmazon'' was already this, a BloodierAndGorier series where AllOfTheOtherReindeer means the public is often against him to boot, but its SpiritualSuccessor takes it UpToEleven, with the story running on GreyAndGreyMorality. The second season is full of {{Tragedy}}, being bleaker and more violent than the first due to increasing amounts of Amazons.
* ''Series/KamenRiderExAid'', despite the gaming theme, sports a much darker CrapsaccharineWorld tone than its [[Series/KamenRiderGhost predecessor]] as it resembles a medical drama rather than a regular heroes show. Bugsters are SeriousBusiness in this [[CrapsaccharineWorld setting]], most of the Riders are either amoral [[AntiHero Anti-Heroes]] or flat-out {{Jerkass}}es as they are forced to make difficult disease in medicine just like RealLife, a special surgery is required to become a Rider, the [[spoiler: Proto Gashats]] having severe side effects if overused, [[spoiler: which leads to the permanent death of the user]] .
** The medical theme means we do sometimes encounter real life diseases. It's the only series where you have one Rider keeping the monster outside a hospital so the other can perform surgery on a cancer patient whose disease was so far along that other surgeons had ''refused to treat him because his inevitable death would [[ItsAllAboutMe tarnish their reputations]].'' Dear God. Worse, it was pancreatic cancer, which in RealLife has a habit of popping up again and killing sufferers right on schedule even when doctors are sure it's been eliminated. This isn't discussed, but anyone familiar with the disease will expect Hiiro to not really have bought the patient a great deal of time despite the successful procedure, ''and'' to know that Hiiro and the patient both know this. Due to the comparison, the ending was treated rather realistically as the patients who died from the disease do not return from the dead but despite that still ends with a [[HopeSpringsEternal hopeful]] note that one day such diseases can be cured.
* ''Series/KamenRiderBuild'' starts off with a DownerBeginning which is easily the darkest of all the TV Kamen Rider series, topped only by the aforementioned ''Amazons'' in-franchise. It features unethical human experimentation, humans being turned into [[MonsterOfTheWeek Smashes]], one of the main characters being framed for murder - and mind you, that's just within ''the first episode''. The first part of the series ends with the villains finally managing to spark the civil war that's been brewing, and the show does not hesitate to demonstrate that WarIsHell. In addition, the heroes end up feeling responsible for the rapidly escalating conflict due to having played right into the villains' hands. And it still gets worse - [[spoiler: like ''Gaim'', this series is also a CosmicHorrorStory. TheStarscream DragonWithAnAgenda turns out to an alien who goes around destroying planets for fun, just because he can, and everything, including the war, has been part of a years-long plan to not only regain his world-destroying power so that he can do so to Earth, but also become powerful enough to destroy the ''universe''.]]
* ''Series/KamenRiderZiO'' has its [[Main/TheHero titular Rider]] being an Main/EvilOverlord that caused a [[Main/BadFuture dystopian future]] in which he [[Main/TakeOverTheWorld took over the world]] and had many time travelers from that future come to the present time and prevent it from happening. Even with its fair share of lighthearted moments, [=Zi-O=] [[Main/CerebusSyndrome eventually became more intense]] with [[spoiler: Sougo finally coming face to face with Oma Zi-O, resulting in his temporary Main/HeroicBSOD, White Woz's presence in the show, [[Main/ChronicBackstabbingDisorder the zero amount of loyalty among the Time Jackers]], Sougo spending about 5 episodes with Geiz and Tsukuyomi against him, the fact that Sougo [[Main/FriendlessBackground never had friends prior to them]], and the [[Series/KamenRiderKiva Kiva]] tribute in general. Not to mention how Sougo and Hiryu lost his parents plus more of Tsukuyomi's past, all courtesy of [[Main/TheChessmaster Swartz]] himself; the fact that he was Tsukuyomi's brother and erased her memories out of the fact that she was next in line to rule instead of him as well as being responsible for the accident that led to loss of those parents and being the reason Sougo had time powers and how Oma Zi-O's future came to be - all so he can become king himself and obtain power. Plus the final arc deals with time paradoxes that leads to monsters from all over the Heisei area in one world with Tsukasa dealing with the possibiity of destroying Zi-O's world and unlike previous final battles, the climax of Sougo's involves Geiz [[HeroicSacrifice taking a critical hit for him from Swartz and dying]], prompting Sougo to tearfully become Oma Zi-O and viciously finishing Swartz off once he decimates Tsukuyomi for her deception.]]
* ''Series/KamenRiderZeroOne'' initially started out fairly light with an optimistic perspective on technology and AI. As the show goes on, it continuously gets more depressing with each consecutive arc, with losses becoming more common for the main characters and villains coming out victorious more often than not. Even with the many victories that come for the heroes after the Workplace Competition Arc, [[spoiler:the Ark-Zero and Ark-One arcs completely erase all of those victories with the revival of the Ark]]. Aptly put, the trajectory of the series' main plot goes from a optimistic PostCyberpunk story revolving around a AllLovingHero trying to fight for the future of AI to a downright tragic story revolving around a [[spoiler:FallenHero and TragicVillain, driven by loss and revenge]].
