History YMMV / KamenRiderDouble

* EvilIsSexy:
** Saeko and, to a lesser extent, Wakana. As rich villainess, the Sonozaki sisters' vast wardrobes consist of glamourous dresses, expensive jewelry, and sharp skirt suits with a new hairdo every episode.
** Fallen cop Aya Kujo also wears a skirt suit (with a pretty necklace) which shows off her legs as she fights Saeko.
** From TheMovie, we have Reika Hanehara/Heat Dopant, a KickChick dressed in form-fitting leather and short shorts.
** Phillip never really turns evil to begin with, but in TheMovie [[http://morningglorydew.tumblr.com/post/10812679497/ikemenrider-philip-kamen-rider-w-never he winds up wearing NEVER's jacket for no apparent reason]]. Many fans thought he looked much sexier that way.

* IAmNotShazam: It's a bit complicated as [[SpellMyNameWithAnS both the show and rider have used "W" or "Double" at various points in time]]. The offical international romanizations for both averts this out right with both being "MASKED RIDER DOUBLE". In spite of this, western fans tend to go with "W" (one notable exception being [[https://kamenrider.fandom.com/wiki/Kamen_Rider_Double the Fandom wiki]], which [[TakeAThirdOption splits the difference]] by referring to the show as ''Kamen Rider W'' and the main Rider as Kamen Rider Double).
* JerkassWoobie: Did bad stuff happen to the [[spoiler:Puppeteer Dopant]]? Yes. Should you feel pity for the poor guy? Yes. Does that excuse any of the shit he pulls? ''No''.

** Ryubee is supposed to be a WellIntentionedExtremist trying to ensure humanity’s future. But with the fact he treats his entire family horribly (having tried to murder his wife) and his plan likely would result in a massive death toll, it can be hard to identify with him.

* IAmNotShazam: It's a bit complicated as [[SpellMyNameWithAnS both the show and rider have used "W" or "Double" at various points in time]]. The offical international romanizations for both averts this out right with both being "MASKED RIDER DOUBLE". In spite of this, western fans tend to go with "W" (one notable exception being [[https://kamenrider.fandom.com/wiki/Kamen_Rider_Double the FANDOM]] [[TheWikiRule wiki]], which [[TakeAThirdOption splits the difference]] by referring to the show as ''Kamen Rider W'' and the main Rider as Kamen Rider Double).

** Episode 36 isn't [[Series/KamenRiderBlade the first time]] that a villain named Isaka gets his ass kicked by a red, vengeance-filled secondary Rider.

* Adorkable: Shotarou. If he's not all-out serious on a case, then he's happily and shamelessly listening and even ''dancing'' to ''idol music'', and he can do something as silly as impersonating a cat with a ''completely straight face''.

** Saeko and, to a lesser extent, Wakana. As rich villainess, the Sonozaki sisters' vast wardrobes consist of glamourous dresses, expensive jewellery and sharp skirt suits with a new hairdo every episode.

* RetroactiveRecognition: Dango from "[[Recap/KamenRiderDoubleE7E8FindTheC Find The C]]" is played by Win Morisaki, who would become the singer of the OP and ED of ''Series/AvataroSentaiDonbrothers''.

** The actual FinalBoss, [[spoiler:Utopia/Jun Kazu]], despite being initially portrayed as downright unstoppable for much of the climax due to his power to use the emotions of others as a power source, ends up countered incredibly easily on part of Double's dual-mind nature causing him to overload. The resulting fight lasts only a few minutes, and the underdeveloped nature of [[spoiler:Kazu]] as a character makes the fight stick out even more.

** Kirihiko is the show's first ArcVillain who's mostly there to act as Double's rival and ceases being relevant to the story after his death at the end of [[Recap/KamenRiderDoubleE17E18FarewellN Farewell, N!]]. However, those episodes shed light on his hidden noble qualities, which combined with the Nasca Dopant's sleek, almost heroic design made him explode in popularity. Many have deemed him a Rider in spirit and wished for a proper Kamen Rider Nasca, or at least have Double use [[TakeUpMySword Nasca Joker]]. He's gone on to be the other default villain representative for the series besides Isaka/Weather Dopant, [[spoiler:and even got to perform a plot-important HeroicSacrifice in ''VideoGame/KamenRiderMemoryOfHeroez''.]]

** Sokichi Narumi/Kamen Rider Skull. Despite being a PostumousCharacter whose only appearances are [[AllThereInTheManual outside the main series]], he is easily one of the most beloved characters in the series, due to being a badass HardBoiledDetective who doubles as an excellent tribute to Ishinomori's work. For a time, getting the Figuarts of Skull was ''very'' difficult.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: While the movie intends on showing Katsumi Daido's more human side, the fact that his character prior to his DespairEventHorizon is effectively the same as ''after'' said event, especially considering how he was already planning on creating the X-Bicker and declared his intent to show up Foundation X for not funding NEVER, it can lead to the interpretation that he ''hasn't'' changed and merely used Mina's death as an excuse to attack Futo.

* MagnificentBastard: The mysterious bandaged woman known as "[[EvilMentor Shroud]]" starts off as a ruthless onlooker on the sidelines of the conflict between the Kamen Riders and Museum. "Shroud" is actually Fumine Sonozaki, the wife of Museum's head Ryubee, who seeks one thing alone: vengeance on her husband for scarring her face and using their child Raito as a tool. Shroud manipulates both the heroes and the villains with ruthless efficiency, arranging for the genesis of both the mass-murdering Weather Dopant and Kamen Rider Accel to use them both as pawns in her plan. While she's unfettered enough to coldly try and arranges the death of Ryu Terui--the man who became Accel--when he fails to meet her criterion as the weapon with which she will destroy Museum, Shroud retains enough humanity to regain the love for Raito buried beneath her persona and finally acknowledge that the heroes can stop Museum without succumbing to their own hatred.

* AntiClimaxBoss: Once Shotaro and Philip got their act together, [[spoiler:Terror]] was surprisingly easy to beat in a straight fight, most likely due to the point of the Gaia Memory being to [[spoiler:terrify your opponents into a state of helplessness.]]
** [[spoiler:Make that Double/Accel worked together. Once Ryu drew the Terror Dragon off and beat it, Ryubee's combat effectiveness was drastically reduced (also notice the fact that Ryubee can only create those liquids when Terror Dragon stayed in his headdress)]].
** Unstoppable one-on-one. Easy when you work together. Not so much AntiClimaxBoss so much as [[FridgeBrilliance re-affirming the whole point of the entire series.]] [[spoiler:Utopia]] would be the exact same way.
** [[spoiler:Utopia]] as well. Despite defeating Accel and the Taboo Dopant with no effort, Double makes surprisingly short work against him. Justified in that his strongest ability, absorbing emotions to power himself up, [[TooSpicyForYogSothoth was used to overload him]].
*** He gets defeated again in a spin-off movie, though this time it's because his opponent is DeadToBeginWith and thus did not qualify as a "living" person to draw power from.

** In short, this series is to ''Franchise/KamenRider'' what ''[[Series/SamuraiSentaiShinkenger Shinkenger]]'' is to ''Franchise/SuperSentai''. Being a very well-loved season that's often considered to be one of the best GatewaySeries to the franchise. [[note]]Almost fittingly, they shared some time together on the Series/SuperHeroTime Block.[[/note]]
** Specific examples from within the series include Kamen Rider Joker, Sokichi Narumi/Kamen Rider Skull, and Kirihiko.
*** Skull especially. His Figuarts is notorious for managing to find popularity with people who weren't fans of the franchise and fans who weren't collectors.
* EpilepticTrees: No, for once, it's not the "Female Riders, No Survivors" one. [[spoiler:A single picture of the [[Series/KamenRiderOOO Core Medals]] set off a wildfire, convincing people that Foundation X would be the next Shocker. Seriously. While it didn't get an expected pay off, one aspect of the foreshadowing, the "King Medal" does make it into the finale of OOO...]]
** [[spoiler:The much later appearance of Foundation X in Series/KamenRiderFourze would eventually confirm that Double, OOO and Fourze all do in fact take place within the same canon]].
** Although [[spoiler:Akiko did henshin into Double with no ill effects...unless you count getting her face being sucked by the Utopia Dopant as the ill effect]].
*** She only henshined in a dream and it was to combat the Nightmare Dopant. Utopia Dopant came 17 episodes later and [[spoiler:sucked the faces off of pretty much everyone in Fuuto.]]

** Two words: "Heaven's Fall".

* SpecialEffectFailure: [[spoiler:Isaka]]'s defeat. You'd think that by now they've stopped getting sloppy with the enemies exploding.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: TheMovie features Dopants that use the T2 versions of 5 of the memories used by Shotaro and Phillip[[note]]the Cyclone, Heat, Metal, Luna, and Trigger memories, to be specific[[/note]]. Too bad we never see a Dopant based on the T2 Accel memory[[note]]while it's understandable why we never see a Joker dopant, since the person who's the most compatible with said memory, Shotaro, would never use the memory to become a dopant, and one can assume that the T2 versions of the Fang and Xtreme memory were presumably recovered by Katsumi's group before Shotaro and co could find it, no such excuse exists for the T2 Accel memory, since it didn't go to Ryu Terui, and it's given to Shotaro by Queen and Elizabeth, who had to have found it before it could turn someone into a Dopant. The best we have is that the memory did land in Ryu's location but he was unable to see it, otherwise he would have destroyed it[[/note]].
* UnintentionalUncannyValley: Claydoll's face is [[https://static.myfigurecollection.net/pics/figure/big/128091.jpg?rev=1350678611 disturbingly human]] and has glassy, lifeless eyes, befitting a Dopant based on a CreepyDoll.

* WhatAnIdiot: Episode 40 has the MonsterOfTheWeek defeated surprisingly early on, and the Agency get hold of the Gene Memory. Akiko, however, decides that she wants to help Tooru, the week's victim.\\
'''You'd Expect''': Akiko, knowing that a non-destroyed Gaia Memory causes its user to act strangely, to hand the Memory off to Double to be destroyed.\\
'''Instead''': Akiko, for some unknowable reason, keeps the Memory on her person at all times, refusing to allow Double to destroy it.\\
'''As a Result''': The Memory is stolen back by Tooru. This causes the Agency ''far'' more problems down the line [[spoiler:thanks to Wakana needing the Gene Memory to make use of the Gaia Progressor]]. In fairness, Akiko had no way of knowing this, but it's a problem that could've been completely avoided if she'd just allowed for the Memory to be destroyed immediately, as has been done throughout almost the whole series.\\
'''Furthermore''': The Agency had absolutely nothing to lose by destroying the Memory immediately, and Akiko doesn't even try to justify why the Gaia Memory shouldn't be destroyed.

** In [[Recap/KamenRiderDoubleEp31Ep32TheBCarriedOnTheWind The B Carried On The Wind]], when Shotaro and Philip were walking towards the Beast Dopant near the end, Philip falls down, as usual when they transformed. What makes it hilarious is that they transform in a semi-slowmo fashion, with the music "Nobody's Perfect", sung by Koji Kikkawa, the actor who plays Sokichi Narumi, their boss, and Philip literally falls on his face...In slowmo.

* BaseBreakingCharacter: The fandom's general opinion of Akiko earlier in the series. Very few people in the fandom took the middle ground, but both sides mellowed out over time.

* UncannyValley: Claydoll's face is [[https://static.myfigurecollection.net/pics/figure/big/128091.jpg?rev=1350678611 disturbingly human]] and has glassy, lifeless eyes, befitting a Dopant based on a CreepyDoll.

** From TheMovie, we have Reika Hanehara/Heat Dopant, a KickChick dressed in form-fitting leather and [[WhoWearsShortShorts short shorts]].

* FoeYay: Done to creepy lengths courtesy of [[CampGay Izumi]]/Luna Dopant in the movie ''A to Z - The Gaia Memories of Fate'', from his speech mannerisms to the way how he ''gyrates''.
--> '''Izumi[=/=]Luna Dopant''': *seeing [[Series/KamenRiderOOO the early bird cameo]]* Who's this handsome man? Just who's this handsome man?

* AdaptationalAttractiveness: Masaki Sato's art style gives the core casts of ''W'' this effect.

** In [[Recap/KamenRiderDoubleEp31Ep32TheBCarriedOnTheWind The B Carried On The Wind]], when Shotaro and Philip were walking towards the Beast Dopant near the end, Philip falls down, as usual when they transformed. What makes it hilarious is that they tranform in a semi-slowmo fashion, with the music "Nobody's Perfect", sung by Koji Kikkawa, the actor who plays Sokichi Narumi, their boss, and Philip literally falls on his face...In slowmo.