History IdiotBall / KamenRiderZeroOne

Almost every major character in ''Series/KamenRiderZeroOne'' gets passed the Idiot Ball at one point depending on the needs of the plot.

* ''Zero-One Others'': The duology is heavily reliant on its characters forgetting they're in a technological setting. Metsubojinrai makes no attempt to coordinate with any of their newfound allies (or even back-up their own data and/or bodies, which seems like a weird thing not to do for a group of robots that've upgraded themselves before) despite them having nearly been subsumed by the Mass Brain Key's Hive Mind once already rescuing Jin. After [[NiceJobBreakingItHero the four link themselves to the same hive the villain wanted them to a second time]] (preceding this with an ominous announcement that doesn't bother re-assuring people) and getting absorbed into what's now a hostile MechanicalAbomination, Fuwa and Yaiba then spend the second film [[CurbStompBattle mindlessly throwing themselves at said abomination]] instead of sabotaging it in any other way. (Like you'd expect a technologically-inclined police force led by a woman that's dabbled in data-transfer the whole show to attempt) Fuwa then writes the Metsu foursome off as dead/[[SuicideByCop wanting to die]] (despite a clear indicator they're FightingFromTheInside that saves Yaiba's life when she actually tries attacking the Rider's Driver) based on a vague conversation he had with Horobi once and is given the tool to kill them by the firmly pro-Humagear Hiden Intelligence, (the company that can produce Humagear bodies whenever they want) which he uses to MercyKill the berserk Rider [[HeroicSacrifice at great cost]]. The events of the V-Cinemas only end as tragically as they do because the heroes of both films forget they have arsenals and only half-heartedly coordinate, railroading them into making [[SenselessSacrifice Senseless Sacrifices]].
* The [=StoneBot Comics=] whiff in this regard compared to the other entries because they're explicitly early-show adventures with a CanonForeigner villain, but A.I.M.S. save Aruto once, then promptly spend the remainder of the comic series as TheLoad. Every one of Fuwa and Yaiba's appearances thereafter consist of showing up, calling Aruto a poopyhead and then leaving; giving Aruto hollow speeches on why he's destructive and shouldn't be a Rider as if he wasn't the only one directly opposing the obvious, ''clearly destructive'' threat. It isn't until the last issue that they involve themselves in the plot proper by serving as a distraction...which amounts to them scoring a single headshot each and calling it a day; leaving Aruto at the creature's mercy at the Sawai Power Station until after Ragnarok's been dealt with.

* The [=StoneBot Comics=] whiff in this regard cmpared to the other entries because they're explicitly early-show adventures with a CanonForeigner villain, but A.I.M.S. save Aruo once, then promptly spend the remainder of the comic series as TheLoad. Every one of Fuwa and Yaiba's consist of showing up, calling Aruto a poopyhead and then leaving; giving Aruto hollow speeches on why he's destructive and shouldn't be a Rider as if he wasn't the only one directly opposing the obvious, ''clearly destructive'' threat. It isn't until the last issue that they involve themselves in the plot proper by serving as a distraction...which amounts to them scoring a single headshot each and calling it a day; leaving Aruto at the creature's mercy at the Sawai Power Station until after Ragnarok's been dealt with.

* ''Zero-One Others'': The duology is heavily reliant on its characters forgetting they're in a technological setting. Metsubojinrai makes no attempt to coordinate with any of their newfound allies (or even back-up their own data and/or bodies, which seems like a weird thing not to do for a group of robots that've upgraded themselves before) despite them having nearly been subsumed by the Mass Brain Key's Hive Mind once already rescuing Jin. After [[NiceJobBreakingItHero the four link themselves to the same hive the villain wanted them to a second time]] (preceding this with an ominous announcement that doesn't bother re-assuring people) and getting absorbed into what's now a hostile MechanicalAbomination, Fuwa and Yaiba then spend the second film [[CurbStompBattle mindlessly throwing themselves at said abomination]] instead of sabotaging it in any other way. (Like you'd expect a technologically-inclined police force led by a woman that's dabbled in data-transfer the whole show to attempt) Fuwa then writes the Metsu foursome off as dead/[[SuicideByCop wanting to die]] (despite a clear indicator they're FightingFromTheInside that saves Yaiba's life when she actually tries attacking the Rider's Driver) based on a vague conversation he had with Horobi once and is given the tool to kill them by the firmly pro-Humagear Hiden Intelligence, (the company that can produce Humagear bodies whenever they want) which he uses to MercyKill the berserk Rider [[HeroicSacrifice at great cost]]. The events of the V-Cinemas only end as tragically as they do because the heroes of both films forget they have arsenals and only half-heartedly coordinate, railroading them into making [[SenselessSacrifice Senseless Sacrifices]].

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[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fuwas_idiocy.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Dangling evidence in the villain's face. [[SarcasmMode Smart move, Fuwa]].]]

*** Probably his dumbest mistake of all was creating the Metal Cluster Hopper key and forcing it on Aruto. While it initially made sense since it locked him into a form he couldn't control he's able to regain control AND use Metal Cluster himself which ended the power gap between him and Gai and lead to him using the form to constantly thwart him for the next dozen episodes. Even if the theory was sound, one would think Gai would lock him into a form that was average at best if not totally weak and not a heavily armored nanomachine controlling super form that was better than everything else at the time so even if he unlocked the Driver it wouldn't help him.

* Jin and Yua both take hold of the Idiot Ball pretty firmly later on with their plan to destroy the Ark. You'd think since the Ark is an AI residing in an unguarded sunken satellite near Daybreak Town, the easiest and most risk-free option would be to track down the satellite and destroy it, or even contact Aruto who has possession of [[SuperNotDrowningSkills Biting Shark]]. Instead, Jin and Yua go along with the Ark's plan to give itself a physical body, so they can fight it and destroy it once it becomes Ark-Zero. Ignoring the fact that how strong Ark-Zero would be apparently never occurred to them, even if they had destroyed Ark-Zero the Ark still would have been able to revive so long as its satellite body (or whatever it was using as a hot) was intact, meaning their plan would have failed no matter what they had done. And because of their actions, [[NiceJobBreakingItHero the entire "Ark-Zero" arc kicks off]].

* No one tries to make Gai face proper justice for his crimes post-"[[EasilyForgiven redemption]]". While this can explained for some characters who are very forgiving like Aruto, others like Yaiba still clearly [[ForgivenbutNOTforgotten resent]] Gai for the trauma and abuse he put her through. By this point Gai has lost his position as CEO of ZAIA Japan and the influence that comes with it, and he's not an especially strong fighter, so there's no real pragmatic reason to let him stay free, and it's been shown there's ample evidence of his wrongdoing. Despite this, the most Yaiba does to hold Gai accountable is shoot him a disapproving look once in a while.

** ''Zero-One Others'': The duology is heavily reliant on its characters forgetting they're in a technological setting. [[spoiler:Metsubojinrai makes no attempt to coordinate with any of their newfound allies (or even back-up their own data and/or bodies, which seems like a weird thing not to do for a group of robots that've upgraded themselves before) despite them having nearly been subsumed by the Mass Brain Key's Hive Mind once already rescuing Jin. After [[NiceJobBreakingItHero the four link themselves to the same hive the villain wanted them to a second time]] (preceding this with an ominous announcement that doesn't bother re-assuring people) and getting absorbed into what's now a hostile MechanicalAbomination, Fuwa and Yaiba then spend the second film [[CurbStompBattle mindlessly throwing themselves at said abomination]] instead of sabotaging it in any other way. (Like you'd expect a technologically-inclined police force led by a woman that's dabbled in data-transfer the whole show to attempt) Fuwa then writes the Metsu foursome off as dead/[[SuicideByCop wanting to die]] (despite a clear indicator they're FightingFromTheInside that saves Yaiba's life when she actually tries attacking the Rider's Driver) based on a vague conversation he had with Horobi once and is given the tool to kill them by the firmly pro-Humagear Hiden Intelligence, (the company that can produce Humagear bodies whenever they want) which he uses to MercyKill the berserk Rider [[HeroicSacrifice at great cost]]. The events of the V-Cinemas only end as tragically as they do because the heroes of both films forget they have arsenals and only half-heartedly coordinate, railroading them into making [[SenselessSacrifice Senseless Sacrifices]]]].

* No one tries to make Gai face proper justice for his crimes post-"[[EasilyForgiven redemption]]". While this can explained for some characters who are very forgiving like Aruto, others like Yaiba still clearly [[ForgivenbutNOTforgotten resent]] Gai for the trauma and abuse he put her through. By this point Gai has lost his position as CEO of ZAIA Japan and the influence that comes with it, and he's not an especially strong fighter, so there's no real pragmatic reason to let him stay free, and it's been shown there's ample evidence of his wrongdoing. Despite this, the most Yaiba does to hold Gai accountable is shoot him a disapproving look once in a while.

* Jin and Yua both take hold of the Idiot Ball pretty firmly later on with their plan to destroy the Ark. You'd think since the Ark is an AI residing in an unguarded sunken satellite near Daybreak Town, the easiest and most risk-free option would be to track down the satellite and destroy it. Instead, Jin and Yua go along with the Ark's plan to give itself a physical body, so they can fight it and destroy it once it becomes Ark-Zero. Ignoring the fact that how strong Ark-Zero would be apparently never occurred to them, even if they had destroyed Ark-Zero the Ark still would have been able to revive so long as its satellite body (or whatever it was using as a hot) was intact, meaning their plan would have failed no matter what they had done. And because of their actions, [[NiceJobBreakingItHero the entire "Ark-Zero" arc kicks off]].

** Aruto also grabs the Idiot Ball by just watching Fuwa and Gai fight rather than transforming to help Fuwa, even though he's just as invested in exposing Gai's crimes as Fuwa was ''and'' had the only Progrise Key stronger than Gai at the time.

* No one tries to make Gai face proper justice for his crimes post-"[[EasilyForgiven redemption]]". While this can explained for some characters who are very forgiving like Aruto, others like Yaiba still clearly resent Gai for the trauma and abuse he put her through. By this point Gai has lost his position as CEO of ZAIA Japan and the influence that comes with it, and he's not an especially strong fighter, so there's no real pragmatic reason to let him stay free, and it's been shown there's ample evidence of his wrongdoing. Despite this, the most Yaiba does to hold Gai accountable is shoot him a disapproving look once in a while.

* Fuwa takes hold of the Idiot Ball one last time when he goes to confront Aruto right before his showdown with Horobi. Considering Fuwa had lost his ability to transform and that Aruto very likely wasn't aware of the Humagear protests that were going on and the RobotWar that was imminent, the most immediate and rational option for Fuwa would be to explain the current state of things to Aruto and try talking him down from being Ark-Zero. ''Instead'', Fuwa just tells him not to fight Horobi and gives vague reasons why, not empathizing with him over Izu's death at all, and when that (unsurprisingly) doesn't work tries attacking Aruto, even though Aruto far outclassed him on the power scale at that point. Even if Aruto had taken Fuwa's advice and backed down, Horobi by that point was a genocidal terrorist plotting a FinalSolution for all of humanity and had become an incarnation of the Ark. Aruto was the only Rider left who could have taken him down, so telling Aruto not to fight Horobi instead of just telling him to put down the Ark-Driver would have left an active threat at large.

** Aruto also grabs the Idiot Ball by just watching Fuwa and Gai fight rather than transforming to help one of them, even though he's just as invested in exposing Gai's crimes as Fuwa is.