Line #29 Film/KamenRiderZO


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kamenriderzo.jpg]]
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3	''Kamen Rider ZO'' is a 1993 ''Franchise/KamenRider'' film produced to celebrate the franchise's [=20th=] anniversary.
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5	Geneticist Dr. Mochizuki splices grasshopper DNA into his lab assistant, Masaru Aso, who stumbles from the lab and goes comatose in the middle of the woods. Mochizuki's next experiment has even more dire results: He creates the Neonoid, a [[EldritchAbomination diabolical mutant life form]] that holds him hostage when he won't complete its development. It creates a separate body for itself, Doras[[note]]which can be called just that, or "Neonoid Doras"[[/note]], and tries to kidnap Hiroshi, Mochizuki's son, to force him to do as it demands, but he sends a telepathic call for help to Masaru, who transforms into Kamen Rider ZO to battle Doras.
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7	Footage from the movie was used in Saban's ''Series/MaskedRider'', with ZO appearing only in faraway shots as a stand-in for the Series/KamenRiderBlackRX suit.
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9	The movie was also adapted into an InteractiveMovie video game by [[Creator/TelenetJapan Wolf Team]] for the Platform/SegaCD under the title ''[[TheForeignSubtitle The Masked Rider: Kamen Rider ZO]]'', where it received a poor dub into English and also had scenes deleted. [[TheProblemWithLicensedGames It was not well received.]]
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11	There is also a novelization (which greatly expands on both Dr. Mochizuki and Neonoid's motivations) and a manga (which adds a character [[spoiler:and makes Dr. Mochizuki more of a traditional MadScientist]]).
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13	ZO would appear in several later ''Franchise/KamenRider'' movies, with the cameos being more minor as the years go on.
14	* ''Film/KamenRiderWorld'' (1994) - Platform/ThreeDMovie {{crossover}} with ''Film/KamenRiderJ''
15	* ''[[Film/KamenRiderDecadeAllRidersVsDaiShocker Kamen Rider Decade: All Riders vs. Dai-Shocker]]'' (2009)
16	* ''[[Film/OOODenOAllRidersLetsGoKamenRiders OOO, Den-O, All Riders: Let's Go Kamen Riders]]'' (2011)
17	* ''Film/KamenRiderXSuperSentaiSuperHeroTaisen'' (2012)
18	* ''Film/HeiseiRiderVsShowaRiderKamenRiderWarsFeaturingSuperSentai'' (2014)
19	''Kamen Rider Decade x Double: Movie Wars 2010'' only features Doras and the Neonoid [[spoiler:as the true FinalBoss.]]
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21	----
22	!!''Kamen Rider ZO'' provides examples of:
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24	* AbsentMindedProfessor: Hiroshi's grandfather. (The adaptations expand his role a little, and a DeletedScene, where he shows up ready to protect Hiroshi ''with a lightning gun-rod'' and meets ZO, would've given him more of a BunnyEarsLawyer feel.)
25	* AdaptationalVillainy: [[spoiler:Dr. Mochizuki easily acts as TheDragon to the Neonoid, taunting Masaru rather than being held as a hostage in the movie]].
26	* AdvertisingOnlyContinuity: An early teaser for the film had the new Rider represented by the costume of Series/KamenRiderBlack, standing in the shadows, since ZO had not yet been constructed.
27	* AllThereInTheManual: ZO is a prototype for Neonoid, and wasn't supposed to be strong enough to win in a straight fight with Doras. However, Masaru absorbed enough energy from nature while asleep in the mountain for 4 years, and even gained certain abilities he didn't originally have, being able to return to his human form among them.
28	* AscendedExtra: In the film, Reiko was just one of the four Karate dojo members that were friends with Hiroshi. In the manga, [[AdaptationNameChange Naomi]] becomes Masaru's mentor.
29	* BadassBiker Masaru on the Z Bringer.
30	* BodyHorror: Neonoid's true form.
31	** [[spoiler: What it does to Dr. Mochizuki after capture.]]
32	* {{Claymation}}: ZO vs. Spider Woman Doras
33	* CoolBike: The Z(et) Bringer. Transforms with Masaru, and is wreathed in green flames while doing so.
34	* {{Crossover}}: With ''Film/KamenRiderJ'' in the short 3D movie ''Kamen Rider World''.
35	* DaddyHadAGoodReasonForAbandoningYou: Dr. Mochizuki, though the reason for his becoming a MadScientist really isn't clear in the movie.
36	* DarkReprise: The main song instrumental plays [[spoiler: after the Neonoid absorbs ZO into it's body.]]
37	* EvenEvilHasStandards: Dr. Mochizuki may be a MadScientist, but he draws the line when it comes to [[PapaWolf putting his own son into his experiments]], given that [[spoiler:he's the one who guided Masaru to protecting him in the first place. He also has a moment in the manga where he's disgusted that the Neonoid merged part of himself with a human.]]
38	* GenreShift: The manga, in accordance with ReverseCerebusSyndrome, shifts from the RevisitingTheRoots {{biopunk}} movie it was adapting to a more FightingSeries feel, complete with a scene where [[TimeToUnlockMoreTruePotential Masaru has to be taught to train harder]].
39	* GigglingVillain: Neonoid, though in this case it comes off as it being too young to pull off an EvilLaugh. [[spoiler:The one it gives when ZO puts his fist into Doras during their last fight is extremely unsettling, with ''rising inflection''.]]
40	* {{Homage}}: To the original ''Series/KamenRider''. Most of the story elements, if you squint a little, are very similar to what was done in that show. There's even an instance of the spider-and-bat in joke.
41	* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: ZO ends most of his fights by impaling his enemy on something, either a weapon of some sort or his own fist with a Rider Punch.
42	* ImplacableMan: Doras. no matter what he did, Hiroshi simply ''couldn't'' escape this thing. ZO takes its arm off? It just builds a new one. He runs it over with a motorcycle out a several story window, resulting in it falling on a jagging piece of metal and being impaled? It's put out of commission for the moment, but just gets back up and sends two monsters after the kid. It could give a Terminator a run for its money.
43	* ImprovisedWeapon: ZO has no explicit weapon of his own, but uses objects in his environment several times in battle. [[spoiler:He even impales the Kumo Woman on a piece of her own leg he broke off to kill her.]]
44	* KnightOfCerebus: Inverted in the Manga, in which Naomi's appearance shifts the overall tone to a much more HotBlooded feel as she motivates Masaru into being a Kamen Rider.
45	* LaserGuidedAmnesia: Averted. While it appears that Masaru wakes up with no knowledge of who he is other then ''needing'' to protect Hiroshi, aside from being out of the know for a few years he actually remembers everything and is simply very single-minded about his new mission.
46	* {{Leitmotif}}: ''Ai ga Tomaranai'''s melody plays at several points during the film's soundtrack, often serving as Masaru's theme.
47	* LighterAndSofter: In direct comparison to [[Film/ShinKamenRiderPrologue it's predecessor]], although admittedly, ''any'' entry barring manga works by Ishinomori' and season 2 of ''Series/KamenRiderAmazons'' would be this in comparison to ''Shin''. The manga adaptation takes it a step further via the GenreShift to a more FightingSeries feel.
48	* MadScientist: Dr. Mochizuki. The novelization [[spoiler:gives his StartOfDarkness as being intense sadness when his wife died, with Neonoid being an attempt at a lifeform that would never need to feel such pain.]] The manga adaptation amps this up even more by [[spoiler:just outright having him work with Doras]].
49	* MechanicalMonster: The 'body' Neonoid constructs out of junk is called Doras[[note]]again, it can be referred to as "Neonoid Doras" as well[[/note]]. It is entirely unstoppable, and ZO has to settle for ramming it out a building from several stories up onto a sharp piece of metal, the first time they tangle. It doesn't seem to have any sapient intelligence at all until Neonoid reveals itself at the factory - afterwards, Neonoid appears to take direct control of Doras.
50	* MookMaker: The Neonoid is not only capable of creating Doras, but other monsters as well.
51	* MythologyGag: Doras' henchmonsters are based on a spider and bat. And killed in that order, reflecting the first two {{Monsters Of The Week}} in the [[Series/KamenRider original series]].
52	* NakedOnArrival: Masaru Aso. (It's not clear in the movie if he was released or if he escaped from the operation that turned him into ZO[[note]][[AllThereInTheManual the latter, apparently]][[/note]], but he apparently ran for a while before falling asleep in a mountain.)
53	* NoNameGiven: Masaru Aso is never actually referred to by name in the movie. ([[DeletedScene A cut scene]] indicates that Hiroshi's grandfather would've called him by name in his ZO form.)
54	* NostalgicMusicBox: Hiroshi's musical watch.
55	* {{Novelization}}: Entitled ''Kamen Rider ZO: Boy in the Dark''.
56	* TheOner: It's only about 1:40 long, but the first fight scene with Doras at the factory is all one take. The camera isn't mounted, and they fight around a central pillar - at one point, the camera operator is ''lifted up onto a walkway 3 meters up and lowered again'' as the fight continues below him.
57	* PunnyName: ZO's name was chosen because it resembled the number "20". The film was a commemoration of the franchise's [=20th=] anniversary.
58	* RoboCam: Doras has this ability and uses it to identify Hiroshi and ZO.
59	* ShoutOut:
60	** From Masaru's portrayal to [[ShapeshifterDefaultForm Doras]]'s initial formation, the movie has a lot in common with another early 90s movie about [[Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay a mysterious protector trying to save an initially distrustful targeted child]].
61	** It's not too dissimilar to early episodes of [[Series/KamenRider the original series]] either; even Doras' shapeshifting isn't out of character for '[=70s=] Rider monsters.
62	* UncannyValley: Neo Organism looks like if an entity with no idea of how to be human saw a human kid and tried to emulate him. ''Vaguely'' looks and sounds like Hiroshi - looks like a marionette and speaks like a kid reciting off a script. Brrr.
63	* TheUnintelligible: In the American version of the video game, Doras's voice was distorted so badly he's practically impossible to understand. Even worse, responding incorrectly to some of his dialogue will instantly kill you.
64	* UnwillingRoboticisation: Masaru Aso was turned into ZO by Dr. Mochizuki against his will.
65	* UpgradeVsPrototypeFight: ZO is the prototype Neonoid, while the Neonoid is the perfected version. Played with, as ZO was given an upgrade by the earth itself.
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Context Film / KamenRiderZO