History Franchise / Kamenrider

The central concept is that a lone hero undergoes some great tragedy at the hands of an evil far bigger than they are ([[TheConspiracy usually a large organization with a secret and sinister agenda]]), but rises to [[BadPowersGoodPeople use the technology of the villains against them and as a general force for good]]. While the interpretation of this theme can vary wildly from year to year, every single Kamen Rider series embodies this in one way or another. Another important theme is that the hero regrets the act of fighting, but is forced to do so for the sake of humanity; this is shown by the iconic "teardrops" coming from the eyes of the helmet.

** ''Geats'": Desire and Fighting for it

** ''Geats'': Desire and Fighting for it

-->--'''Kazuya Taki''', ''Manga/KamenRiderSpirits''

* StatisticallySpeaking: Toei publishes statistics for nearly every Rider during the run of their show, which since the beginning of the Heisei era has been standardized as a measurement of punching power and kicking power in tons, jump height in meters, and running speed by how fast the character can run a 100-meter dash. More often than not, [[LiesDamnedLiesAndStatistics these numbers are totally arbitrary nonsense]] and have little to no bearing on the character's actual performance in the show -- as an extreme example, Kamen Rider Poppy (a side character from ''Ex-Aid'' who rarely fights) boasts numbers far higher than Kamen Rider Gaim Kiwami Arms (not just a main character's SuperMode, but in-series he's treated as approaching demigodhood).

It typically has a smaller main cast than the relatively more well-known (in the West) ''Franchise/SuperSentai'' (the title of each series refers to a single main Rider instead of ''Super Sentai''[='=]s FiveManBand), but not always. Some series feature huge numbers of Riders, with the most extreme examples being ''Kamen Rider Ryuki'' and its 13 Riders and ''Kamen Rider Gaim'' with 18.[[note]]Although ''Hibiki'' has far more if you count ones which were only mentioned, and technically ''Wizard'' has approximately 7 billion, as the summer movie is set in a place where everyone on Earth has Rider magic.[[/note]]

** ''Kamen Rider Amazons: The Last Judgement'' (2018, movie conclusion to ''Amazons'')

* ''Anime/ShockerDuringTheDay'' (2022, Anime focused on SuperDeformed versions of the Shocker staff)

* ''Anime/ShockerDuringTheDay'': (2022, Anime focused on SuperDeformed versions of the Shocker staff)

** Zig-zagged with the Showa shows...while they do have more graphic violence, they also have a lot more {{Camp}} and focus on child characters due to differences in storytelling expectations of the eras.

* ''Anime/ShockerDuringTheDay'': Anime focused on SuperDeformed versions of the Shocker staff.

* AnimalMotifs: While not as prevalent as ''Super Sentai'', Kamen Rider still has these on the grounds that most of the Showa Riders were themed after insects as well as having many animal monsters and having a few series utilizing motifs based on other animals; ''Ryuki'' does this with its Riders, ''OOO'' with its titular Rider and his forms, ''Build'' with most of the Organic Bottles and Riders, ''Zero-One'' with the Riders and their forms, and ''Revice'' with mixing random animals with Legend Rider themes for the Vistamps and the Riders using them. Even if the season doesn't show at first glance, it is still shown with the animal-based arsenal such as ''Blade's'' Rouze Cards, ''Hibiki's'' Disk Animals, etc.

* ArchnemesisDad: Heisei and Reiwa have a notable tendency to make one of the heroes fight their father near the finale, with seasons like [[spoiler:''Kiva'', ''Double'', ''Wizard'', ''Drive'', ''Ex-Aid'']] having fathers as the BigBad, while fathers in [[spoiler:''Ryuki'', ''Blade'', ''Ghost'', ''Amazons'', ''Build'', ''Zero-One'', ''Saber'']] have [[UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom inadvertently created]] the conflict in the first place.

* BackToBaseForm: Despite the many forms, {{Mid Season Upgrade}}s and {{Super Mode}}s that post-Showa Riders gain throughout their series, you can expect some of them to finish the battle with their base forms instead; with good examples being Den-O, Fourze, Wizard, and Ex-Aid. Reiwa series have even finished with the hero getting a new EleventhHourSuperpower that has enough strength to confront the BigBad but still ''looks'' like the base form.

** ''OOO'': Desire

** Phase 2 Heisei era shows made it a tradition to have a finale where multiple Riders band together.
* CrossoverComboVillain: ''Ninninger vs. Drive'' has Roidmude 089, who not only derives his human persona from a dead Shocker scientist, but transforms into a Kibaoni Yokai.

* ExtradimensionalEmergencyExit: Typically done using the Aurora Curtains from ''Decade''.
** Apollo Geist flees from the World of Black RX whilst under attack by both Black RX and Black.
** Later, he flees the World of Amazon after being injured by Amazon's Big Slice.
** In ''Super Hero Taisen'', Narutaki takes his leave after the Riders and Sentai defeat his Doktor G form.

* FunWithAcronyms:
** Example: GOD = Government Of Darkness, from ''Kamen Rider X''.
** In an extreme case, Shocker is given a [=Backronym=] in ''Kamen Rider The First'': [[GratuitousEnglish Sacred Hegemony Of Cycle Kindred Evolutional Realm]].

* JapaneseBeetleBrothers: Either as heroes or villains, depending on the series. This is most prevalent in ''Blade'' and ''Kabuto'' with the main protagonists, Blade and Garren, and Kabuto and Gatack respectively.

* TheMusical: There's been a few, including a 2010 show simply called ''Masked Rider Live & Show 2010'' which is a ''Decade'' themed show, but actually focuses on Decade!''Kuuga'' and a not-so-evil member of Dai-Shocker who eventually does a HeelFaceTurn. It also features gratuitous appearances by Riders from just about every possible show, from both eras.

** Going in the other direction, ''Televi-kun'' magazine regularly promotes ''Kamen Rider'', and ever since the Heisei era started they've distributed a "Hyper Battle" [[invoked]]BonusEpisode DVD each year (and for ''Drive'', ''Ghost'', and ''Ex-Aid'' they've released ''multiple'' Hyper Battles). These episodes in turn often reference ''Televi-Kun'', and many later series include promotional TransformationTrinket collectibles featured in the episodes and packaged with the magazine. In ''Saber'', said trinket is a toy version of ''Televi-Kun'' itself.

* ThereCanBeOnlyOne: The central concept of ''Ryuki'' and ''Gaim''. Also featured in ''Kuuga'' and ''Blade'', interestingly between the bad guys. ''Kabuto'' forced this point somewhat with its BFS, and ''Agito''... erm, suggested it would happen. ''Decade'' does this with entire worlds.

** ''Geats'' plays with this trope by making it ''DeadlyGame of the week'' due to its BattleRoyale focus. As such the enemies the Kamen Riders face each round are a mix of Jyamato monster {{Mooks}}, EliteMooks and an occasional BossBattle, all of which have variations tailored to the goal/theme of the game being played at the time.

** ''Geats'' plays with this trope by making it ''DeadlyGame of the week'' due to its BattleRoyale focus. As such the enemies the Kamen Riders face each round are a mix of Jyamato monster {{Mooks}}, EliteMooks and an occasional BossBattle, all of which have variations tailored to the goal of the game being played at the time.

* ''Kamen Rider BLACK SUN'' (2022, reboot of ''BLACK'')

* MonsterOfTheWeek: In the case of ''Kuuga'' and from ''Den-O'' onwards, Monster of the Fortnight (thanks to two-week mini-arcs). Monsters in the Showa series were almost always altered humans ([[TranshumanTreachery sometimes willingly]], [[TragicMonster sometimes not]]) except for Black RX which used alien warriors instead. The Heisei shows have more variety.

** The beginning of the Neo-Heisei era saw an attempt to create more of a coherent continuity between the seasons in that era, with recurring plot elements like [[GreaterScopeVillain Foundation X]]. [[AbortedArc This ended up not panning out]]. Still, several of the [[CrisisCrossover Movie Wars]] fit neatly enough into the continuities of the series involved to imply a shared timeline between most of the Neo-Heisei shows, including ''[[Film/KamenRiderXKamenRiderWizardAndFourzeMovieWarUltimatum Movie War Ultimatum]]'' and the first ''[[Film/KamenRiderHeiseiGenerationsDrPacManVsExAidAndGhostWithLegendaryRiders Heisei Generations]]'' film. ''[[Film/KamenRiderHeiseiGenerationsFinalBuildAndExAidWithLegendRiders Heisei Generations Final]]'' also fits in pretty well if one assumes it takes place right before the TimeSkip in ''Ultimatum''.

** The beginning of the Neo-Heisei era saw an attempt to create more of a coherent continuity between the seasons in that era, with recurring plot elements like [[GreaterScopeVillain Foundation X]]. [[AbortedArc This ended up not panning out. Still, several of the [[CrisisCrossover Movie Wars]] fit neatly enough into the continuities of the series involved to imply a shared timeline between most of the Neo-Heisei shows, including ''[[Film/KamenRiderXKamenRiderWizardAndFourzeMovieWarUltimatum Movie War Ultimatum]]'' and the first ''[[Film/KamenRiderHeiseiGenerationsDrPacManvsExAidAndGhostWithLegendaryRiders Heisei Generations]]'' film. ''[[Film/KamenRiderHeiseiGenerationsFinalBuildAndExAidWithLegendRiders Heisei Generations Final]]'' also fits in pretty well if one assumes it takes place right before the TimeSkip in ''Ultimatum''.

** The beginning of the Neo-Heisei era saw an attempt to create more of a coherent continuity between the seasons in that era, with recurring plot elements like [[GreaterScopeVillain Foundation X]]. [[AbortedArc This ended up not panning out. Still, several of the [[CrisisCrossover Movie Wars]] fit neatly enough into the continuities of the series involved to imply a shared timeline between most of the Neo-Heisei shows, including ''[[Film/KamenRiderXKamenRiderWizardAndFourzeMovieWarUltimatum Movie War Ultimatum]]'' and the first ''[[Film/KamenRiderHeiseiGenerationsDrPacManvsExAidAndLegendaryRiders Heisei Generations]]'' film. ''[[Film/KamenRiderHeiseiGenerationsFinalBuildAndExAidWithLegendaryRiders Heisei Generations Final]]'' also fits in pretty well if one assumes it takes place right before the TimeSkip in ''Ultimatum''.

* HumansAreTheRealMonsters: As part of the franchise's "humanity vs. monstrosity" theme, the monsters frequently have an all-too-human element to them. Often the ultimate villain is a human who is far more evil than the monsters were, and has turned himself monstrous in the pursuit of his goal. This trope was more varied in the Showa era however, where the {{Big Bad}}s tended to be inhuman forces which the human villains consorted with, seeking to use cybernetics to transcend their own humanity and rule over their fellow humans, while most of the {{cyborg}} heroes had their conversions given to them by the villains and sought to hold onto their humanity in spite of them.

* SlidingScaleOfGenderInequality: ''Kamen Rider'' is a well-known instance of "Men Are More Equal". There's always a female lead who is one of the Riders' closest allies, but for all her importance she stays in a support role. Women who take combat roles as Riders themselves are rare, and they usually get killed off or suffer some other indignity that male Riders don't have to. That said, it has improved over the course Heisei Phase 2, and the Reiwa series so far are making great efforts to have at least one female Rider: ''Zero-One'' has a female Rider who was part of the initial group of Riders (though she very quickly becomes a FauxActionGirl), ''Saber'' features a female Rider who's a legitimate ActionGirl able to fight on par with most of the male Riders, and ''Revice'' has all three siblings become Riders including the only sister of the group.

* ShapeDiesShifterSurvives: A trope shared with sister franchise ''Franchise/SuperSentai''. Normally, a Rider who takes overwhelming damage will detransform. However, there will sometimes be climactic fights where a character manages to stay in their transformed form through HeroicWillpower, instead suffering [[BrokenFaceplate helmet damage]] which exposes part of their face.

* LongRunner: 2021 was the franchise's 50th anniversary. Like [[Series/DoctorWho another popular science fiction franchise]], TheNineties marked a long period of absence during which the franchises' only screen presence was in the form of movies.

* HumansAreTheRealMonsters: As part of the franchise's "humanity vs. monstrosity" theme, the monsters frequently have an all-too-human element to them. Often the ultimate villain is a human who is far more evil than the monsters were, and has turned himself monstrous in the pursuit of his goal.

* BodyHorror: Implied in any season where the Rider is created on the BigBad's operating table. Played completely [[UpToEleven straight]] with Shin Kamen Rider, in ways that Amazon and Gills can only hope to accomplish. His face ''broke open!''

* ConflictBall: When it comes to Rider-versus-Rider battles. The original happened back in ''V3''. Taken UpToEleven with ''Ryuki'', ''Decade'', and ''Gaim''; which have pretty much everyone fighting everyone else. Justified by ''Ryuki'' and ''Gaim'' though, as the antagonists specifically picked the Riders that could escalate conflicts. ''Double'' and the following series largely avert this. Post-''Gaim'' series vary.

** The adult-oriented Amazon Prime web series ''Amazons'' goes UpToEleven, by having it [[BloodierAndGorier more focused on violence and straight-up horror]] that's not for kids anymore. This is why ''Amazons'' was streamed on web service first.

** For a number of years starting with ''Kiva'', each show's background music has a distinctive genre. This also shows up in the releases of the opening and ending songs, which usually get a remix in the style specific to the show. ''Kiva'' has violins, ''Decade'' has both a full orchestra and hard rock, ''Double'' throws in some jazz, ''OOO'''s seems to be ska and ''Fourze'' uses both techno and classic rock. ''Gaim'' takes this UpToEleven with different Riders having different motifs based on their costume.