History YMMV / KamenRiderZiO

** Kamen Rider Tsukuyomi never actually fights once she appears, the most being [[spoiler:a stab to the back to Swartz, which she likely could have done in her human form anyways.]] ''Film/KamenRiderReiwaTheFirstGeneration'' rectifies this by giving her a fight scene alongside Kamen Riders Woz and Geiz. ''[[Recap/KamenRiderZiONextTimeGeizMajesty Next Time: Geiz Majesty]] carries on what the earlier named film did and even showcases her FinishingMove.

** Daiki's characterization in this series also got redeemed in the eyes of fans after his controversial portrayal in ''Film/KamenRiderXSuperSentaiSuperHeroTaisen'' that landed him to scrappy status in the first place.

** Daiki's characterization in this series also got redeemed in the eyes of fans after his controversial portrayal in ''Film/KamenRiderXSuperSentaiXSuperHeroTaisen'' that landed him to scrappy status in the first place.

* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap: Tsukasa was a BaseBreakingCharacter [[Series/KamenRiderDecade in his home series]] but here, he's shown to have matured significantly and even when he sided against Sougo, it was for really good reasons rather than just being a jerk. It also helps that he plays a StealthMentor to both Sougo and Tsukuyomi very well.

* MagnificentBastard: [[HammyHerald Woz]] is a prophet from the future seeking to ensure the rise of Oma Zi-O. Once captain of a [[LaResistance resistance]] cell, Woz infiltrated Oma Zi-O's forces while secretly defecting to his side for real, feeding the resistance faulty information in order to lure them into a trap. Traveling back in time to ensure Tsukuyomi and Geiz do not prevent Oma Zi-O's rise, Woz gives Sougo the Ziku Driver that allows him to become Kamen Rider Zi-O and assists him by providing him with data on various past Kamen Riders. When his AlternateSelf "White" Woz travels back in time to stop Sougo's rise, Woz [[EnemyMine temporarily allies]] with the Time Jackers and tricks White Woz into giving him his Rider powers. In the end, Woz was successful in bringing about Sougo's ascension as Oma Zi-O, and when Sougo chose to use his new powers to [[ResetButtonEnding restore everything to normal]], Woz accepted his decision, forever loyal to his Demon King.

* WTHCastingAgency: While it may have been due to the returning actors’ schedules, some fans have this reaction to news of well-known actors of the ''Kamen Rider'' franchise reprising their ''lesser-known roles'' compared to their more popular ones.[[note]]Rina Akiyama as Mana Kazaya instead of Naomi, Yuichi Nakamura as Kyosuke Kiriya/Kamen Rider Kyoki instead of Yuto Sakurai/Kamen Rider Zeronos, Kenji Matsuda as Jiro/Garulu/Kamen Rider Ixa instead of Zaomaru Zaitsuhara/Kamen Rider Zanki - although in the case of the last of the 3, it's somewhat justified, since the ''Hibiki'' arc didn't change the past, meaning that [[spoiler:Zanki is still dead]].[[/note]]
** Adding to this is the fact that Creator/TomokazuSugita, well-known for his voice role of ''Kivat-bat the 3rd'' in ''Series/KamenRiderKiva'', was announced to return in the shared ''Kiva/Ginga Arc'' but was casted to voice new character ''Kamen Rider Ginga'' instead of reprising his role of ''Kivat''.
** As it was eventually confirmed that Yuichi Nakamura would still also play Yuto Sakurai/Kamen Rider Zeronos, some fans still have this reaction anyways, with others expecting an IAmNotSpock joke to be made in the show, which ''does'' happen, which is in ''2007: [=DenLiner=] Crash!''

** Another one related to ''Outsiders'': Sougo's journey to become Ohma Zi-O has him collecting all Rider powers entrusted to him by his predecessors through Ridewatches become this when almost every heroic Rider, Sougo included, [[spoiler:surrendered their Rider powers to [[TheComputerIsYourFriend Zein]], an authoritarian A.I. bent on purging all malice in the world. In essence bringing forth an artificial, present-day version of Ohma Zi-O to the surface who is no less far worse than the Overlord of Time himself.]]

** Another one related to ''Outsiders'': Sougo's journey to become Ohma Zi-O has him collecting all Rider powers entrusted to him by his predecessors through Ridewatches become this when almost every heroic Rider, Sougo included, [[spoiler:surrendered their Rider powers to [[TheComputerIsYourFriend Zein]], an authoritarian A.I. bent on purging all malice in the world. In essence becoming an artificial, present-day version of Ohma Zi-O who is no less far worse than the Overlord of Time himself.]]

*** Bow Mode Sound = [[JustForPun You bow to me!]][[note]]Episodes past its first appearance simply use "Bow!" instead.[[/note]]

** Yuto Sakurai's appearance in the ''Den-O'' tribute episodes with his mission to defeat Sougo to prevent Ohma Zi-O from rising to power becomes more ironic in [[spoiler:''Series/KamenRiderOutsiders'' when he is revealed to be Kamen Rider Zein. [[BewareTheSuperman Where he plays along with Zein's goal of eradicating all villainous Riders]], making him more and more like Ohma Zi-O.]]

** Hiryu/Another Zi-O II on the receiving end of Grand Zi-O's beatdown at the end of #43 was extremely satisfying to watch, after seeing how he continued to [[MisplacedRetribution blame Sougo for something he didn't do]], [[RedemptionRejection threw Sougo's offer for redemption back in his face]] and [[EvilerThanThou became a tyrant worse than Oma Zi-O]] purely [[EvilIsPetty out of spite]]. Best part? Said beatdown is so powerful that it ''[[WorldHealingWave fixes all of time and space]]'', causing Hiryu to lose his position as Oma Zi-O. [[BroughtDownToNormal He also loses his Another Zi-O Watch for good]] after [[KickTheSonOfABitch Diend and Swartz take it from him]], while the heroes sees Hiryu as an AssholeVictim for becoming far worse than he initially was.

** Rentaro Kagura/Kamen Rider Shinobi was seemingly meant to be a one-off Rider for his arc, but gained immense popularity due to having an awesome fighting style, suit design and being played by Hideya Tawada (who previously played [[Series/ShurikenSentaiNinninger Starninger]]), to the point of even getting his own spinoff elaborating on his timeline. Many fans are hoping that he gets an official full Shinobi series in 2022, and there were fans who were genuinely disappointed when the 2022--23 season turned out to be ''Series/KamenRiderGeats'', although it's mitigated by Shinobi's return in a Toei Tokusatsu Fan Club web special where he teams up with that show's own ninja-themed Rider in 2023. A year late, but still.

* TakeThatScrappy: The ''Hibiki'' arc pretty much bashed on how Kyosuke Kiriya is not a good successor to Hibiki and that it was his behavior that caused his former pupil to become Another Hibiki. Even after he become Hibiki, he immediately gave his Ride Watch to Sougo, knowing that he’s not on the same level as his master.

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Hiryu Kakogawa/Another Zi-O, who is often seen as a one or two-dimensional character who doesn't do much besides oppose Zi-O. While he had somewhat sympathetic motives for revenge in the beginning (Sougo and Tsukuyomi [[spoiler:seemingly]] caused his parents' deaths), he [[MotiveDecay quickly devolves]] into [[Series/KamenRiderDecade Narutaki]]-levels of opposing the hero just for the sake of it, leaving him a flat and annoying character who lacks the [[LargeHam hamminess]] that made Narutaki or fellow EvilCounterpart [[Series/KamenRiderExAid Kuroto Dan]] fun, or any further sympathetic qualities like [[Series/KamenRiderGaim Mitsuzane]] (Though he certainly has the latter two's [[ThePowerOfHate wrath]] and [[GreenEyedMonster jealousy down]]). It reaches truly absurd levels in the "Another Zi-O II" sub-arc, where Hiryu becomes Oma Zi-O instead ''just to spite Sougo'', and when defeated again, makes no further apperances '''[[WhatHappenedToTheMouse and isn't even brought up again for the rest of the series.]]''' Though as explained under CatharsisFactor and TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter, there are still those that nevertheless understood that he was still a TragicVillain and/or at least enjoyed [[CurbStompBattle watching his ass get handed to him]], with both sides sometimes agreeing that not much was done with him afterward. Some even consider his appearance in ''Final Stage'' an improvement, where finally defeating Sougo is treated more as killing two birds with one stone with his next goal, [[BornInTheWrongCentury his]] additional [[WeHaveBecomeComplacent motivations]] are [[DespairEventHorizon given]] more [[StrawNihilist emphasis]], and can be considered the closest thing to a proper conclusion to his character for the moment.

** Rentaro Kagura/Kamen Rider Shinobi was seemingly meant to be a one-off Rider for his arc, but gained immense popularity due to having an awesome fighting style, suit design and being played by Hideya Tawada (who previously played [[Series/ShurikenSentaiNinninger Starninger]]), to the point of even getting his own spinoff elaborating on his timeline. Many fans are hoping that he gets an official full Shinobi series in 2022, and there were fans who were genuinely disappointed when the 2022--23 season turned out to be ''Series/KamenRiderGeats''.

* ContestedSequel: In comparaison to [[Series/KamenRiderBuild Kamen Rider Build]], Zi-O remains a divisive season among Rider fans. Fans praises it for being a [[GrandFinale spectacular send-off to the Heisei Era of Kamen Rider]] with an endearing cast of characters and creative concepts that [[MST3KMantra doesn't let it's rules or worldbuilding bring it down]]. Detractors, however criticize how Zi-O is so tunnel-visioned on its tributes that it completely ignores it’s underwhelming characters [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter who's writing and development are either insufficent at best or non-existent at worst]] and [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot the sheer amount of plot lines and concepts that go nowhere and are handwaved with little fanfare ]] such as the whole arc surrounding Geiz Revive or the day of Ohma. Nowadays, Zi-O is either seen as an fun, turn-your-brain-off season with fanservice galore or an shallow, bare-bones, [[Series/KaizokuSentaiGokaiger discount Gokaiger]] with flawed writing that prioritize spectacle and fan-service over having good writing with interesting characters.

** On top of that, it's pretty obvious this was meant to be the ''Gokaiger'' of ''Kamen Rider''. However, as listed on the Trivia page for ''Zi-O'' and the main page for ''Gokaiger'', that show's unexpected influx of returning veteran cameos and proper tribute to each series, and all mostly seamlessly integrated due to Naruhisa Arakawa's superior writing, was due to the 2011 Tohoku quake and tsunami. Since no such incident occurred during the production of ''Zi-O'', Toei had to manually call back its franchise veterans. In addition, in ''Gokaiger's'' case, the returning veterans all went above and beyond to return even for just a cameo appearance, to the point of some even coming out of retirement. No such luck with ''Zi-O'', leading to the absences of several lead Riders''. Overall, this was an attempt to FollowTheLeader that could not make lightning strike twice due to missing key factors that allowed it to.