This is a partial character sheet for Kamen Rider Drive. Visit here for the main character index. Subjective trope and audience reactions should go on the YMMV page.
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Akira Hayase
Akira Hayase
Portrayed by: Yukihiro Takiguchi
Shinnosuke's friend and former partner on the force, who was injured during the Global Freeze incident due to Shin's actions. Six months later, he's still recouping at the hospital.
- Bash Brothers: Episode 0 shows that him and Shinnosuke used to be a well-oiled fighting machine before his injury.
- Career-Ending Injury: He had to quit his job because of the injuries he sustained during the Global Freeze put him in a wheelchair.
- He Knows Too Much: Since he's been with Shinnosuke for quite some time, he has some dirt on him, to the point where Shinnosuke doesn't want him anywhere near Kiriko.
- Hope Spot: His plight during the Global Freeze was a cruel sequence of these. The sudden Density Shift caused Shinnosuke's aim to go wild, sending a bullet meant for an armed criminal hurtling Hayase's way, but it didn't hit him. Instead, it struck a nearby generator, which exploded. The flames only singed him, but the force of the blast knocked him off of the scaffolding he was standing on. Because of the way Density Shifts work, in spite of falling a few stories, Hayase was relatively uninjured, but the explosion knocked loose a truly staggering amount of construction materials that subsequently fell on top of him.
- Put on a Bus: He makes a few recurring appearances at the beginning of the series, but soon fades into the background since he's recovering from an injury and can't help fight the Roidmudes.
- The Bus Came Back: He returns in the finale after the Drive Pit is wrecked, as he had been spending his time since his last appearance setting up an emergency backup base.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Episode 0 shows he used to be the calmer, more level-headed partner to Shinnosuke's impulsiveness.
- Take Up My Sword: Urges Shinnosuke to do this, saying that he doesn't blame him for the incident and if he's feeling guilty, he should repent by protecting the citizens in his stead as well.
Tenjuro Banno (Major Spoilers)
Tenjuro Banno/Gold Drive
Portrayed by: Masakazu Morita (live), Kazuya Okada (suit)
A colleague of Krim Steinbelt, Banno is the creator of the Roidmudes, and Go and Kiriko's father. He had let himself be killed by them 15 years ago, but not before he is able to transfer his consciousness into Brain's tablet to survive.
- 0% Approval Rating: The only Roidmude who's genuinely loyal to him is 004, and that's only because Banno programmed him to be. When he takes control of the Roidmudes, they all only submit to him out of fear and the ones who keep their free will betray him the first chance they get.
- Abusive Parent: Treats his children like crap, and has outright tried to kill Go on several occasions. And then there's his treatment of the Roidmudes.
- Ain't Too Proud to Beg: Once he's reduced to a belt with no host in his final moments, he pleads for mercy to Go, who has none of it whatsoever.
- And There Was Much Rejoicing: Quite literally NO ONE cares that he's dead with no way to come back a second time. In fact, one of his offspring is elated that he's dead, while the other is more apathetic.
- Ax-Crazy: The man is in no way mentally stable, as half his entry can attest to.
- Bad Boss: After being rejected by the investor, he had 002 (who would become Heart) take the investor's likeness and tortured his own creation for his satisfaction. He also implanted most of the Roidmudes (later including Mr. Belt in the present) with a "special" chip.
- Beneath the Mask: Is very capable of putting on a mask of benevolence and friendship, but underneath it is an unrepentant Sociopath with a god complex who doesn't even see his own family as anything more than pawns.
- Big Bad: Once Banno is set loose he hijacks control of his Roidmude creations and repurposes the Promised Number for his own goals, becoming the main villain of the final stretch of episodes.
- Body Snatcher: Hijacks Medic's body to temporarily fight off Mach, and then after purging 006, uses 006's body as his physical avatar to transform into Kamen Rider Gold Drive, which is just as powerful as a Roidmude that has attained its Ultimate Evolution.
- Book Ends: His first death prior to the beginning of the series occurred at the hands of the Roidmudes, his creations. His second death, at the end of the series, is at the hands of his own son, Gou.
- Brain Uploading: Preserved his mind after his death by digitizing his consciousness.
- Came Back Strong: He's obviously a much bigger threat after his resurrection as a Virtual Ghost than he ever was alive.
- Can't Take Criticism: His response to Go calling him a monster? Freezing the heroes in place, retorting by calling Go the worst thing he's ever created, and declaring him the first to die.
- Catharsis Factor: A dark in-universe example. He got Heart to take the form of an investor that turned him down purely so he could torture him and relieve his stress on something that did nothing wrong.
- Consummate Liar: Poor Go found this out the hard way. Banno was an evil monster, who played his own son like a fiddle.
- Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Anyone who's ever trusted and worked with him has been betrayed and exploited.
- Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: To DJ Sagara from Kamen Rider Gaim. Both are the Greater Scope Villains who played a role in the power source used by both the heroes and villains of their respective shows, but whereas Sagara was chummy, jovial and genuinely believed he was helping other lifeforms evolve, Banno is a selfish egomaniac who seeks to obtain ultimate power for himself and subjugate everyone else. Also, Sagara first appeared as an antagonist but gave genuine help to Kouta throughout Gaim, Banno feigns being on the side of the protagonists before betraying them and showing his true colors. And whereas Sagara was a sentient forest mimicking the appearance of a human, Banno is a human who sacrificed his humanity to become a transcendent being.
- Costume Copycat: In the Bad Future, he uses his Gold Drive identity to further tarnish the memory of Shinnosuke and Krim by terrorizing his subjects under the guise of the hero that once protected them.
- Cut Lex Luthor a Check: The guy really is a legitimately brilliant scientist, and has the knowledge to turn the entire world into immortal, powerful beings with a process he, Krim, and Lupin have proved is entirely possible to do safely...but chooses to use this to attempt to Take Over the World and rule it as a god. Justified, as it's clear the man isn't sane at all.
- Death by Irony: After spending years copying everything Krim ever built, Banno meets his end by dying the same way Krim did too.
- Dirty Coward: When he's actually defenseless and about to be killed, he freaks out and desperately begs his killer not to end him. He especially comes off as this compared to most other Heisei Kamen Rider main villains, who generally react to their impending demises with either resignation or defiance.
- Evil All Along: While the waters were murky for awhile due to Go's bias and Banno's aiding the heroes, he shows his true colors when he betrays his own son and Shinnosuke, whom Mr. Belt already warned about Banno's hidden evil agenda, thus revealing him to be Gold Drive leading most of the Roidmude generals.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Is confused that Krim has moral qualms about his torture of 002.
- He believed that programming the Roidmudes with negative emotional traits would hasten the manifestation of Super Evolutions, but of the mere 7 (out of the 108 he created) that achieve it, only 3 do so as he intended with the rest either using positive emotions or unorthodox schemes.
- To show he has no concept of emotion or morality, once he's at Go's mercy, rather than trying to remind Go that he's murdering his family or he could revive Chase, he tries to guilt him out of "robbing the world of [his] glorious intellect".
- Evil Counterpart: To both Kamen Rider Drive (obviously) and Krim Steinbelt. Both he and Krim are brilliant scientists, with Banno lacking any morals Krim does have. They also uploaded their souls into a Rider Belt after their human bodies died, but Banno's belt acts is completely the opposite of Krim. While Krim works together with his human host, Banno lobotomized his Roidmude host, taking complete control of its body. Their deaths also mirror each other as both are killed by the Signal Axe. However, when Krim was destroyed by Shinnousuke in Surprise Future, he fully accepted his death, selflessly sacrificing himself to prevent a Bad Future. Banno on the other hand pathetically begs for his life when Go raises the Signal Axe while walking towards him, while screaming in terror when Go strikes at him.
- Eviler than Thou: His Control Freak and Abusive tendencies is the main reason Heart thinks that all Humans Are Bastards, and the Roidmude leader outright says that Banno is much worse than any Roidmude.
- Evil Feels Good: He clearly has fun when doing morally reprehensible acts, enjoying whatever pain he inflicts on his victims.
- Evil Former Friend: He and Krim were once colleagues and it was Krim's assistance that helped Banno complete the Roidmudes, until Krim broke off their partnership after discovering Banno was abusing his creations.
- Evil Gloating: Rarely will a scene pass of him after becoming Gold Drive that doesn't involve him gloating about how amazing he thinks he is. Justified, as he's an A God Am I Narcissist. This ultimately gets him killed, as he can't resist bragging when Sigma activates, exposing the fact he's not dead and resulting in Go finishing the job.
- Evil Is Hammy: He starts off calm when he's interacting with Gou and the Special Investigation Unit, but when he shows his true colors as a sociopath he really lets loose.
- Evil Is Petty: The entire reason that Heart has the appearance of an investor who snubbed him was so he could torture someone with the guy's face.
- Evil Is Sterile: While Banno has some ingenuity and creativity, his genius pales in comparison to Krim's and much of his technology is either stole from Krim or a rip-off of something he invented.
- Evil Knockoff: Gold Drive in particular, but Steinbelt calls Banno out repeatedly for stealing and twisting his work: his Brain Uploading technology, his Drive system, his very identity (by proxy, thanks to 004 copying him)...
- Expy:
- Of Ryoma Sengoku, for being an Evil Former Friend to some protagonists, and their ultimate ambitions to attain godhood for their own purpose. For added bonus, he and Ryoma are the only Big Bads that had their deaths caused by the secondary riders of their respective shows.
- Once he revealed himself to be Evil All Along he becomes KARR to Krim's KITT.
- False Innocence Trick: How he managed to KO Heart and surprise the fanbase to the fact that this tablet has teeth.
- The Farmer and the Viper: Trusting this guy is terrible mistake, the problem is he's very good at making you do it. Krim and Go's reward for showing him kindness was being thrown away the moment he got what he wanted.
- Fatal Flaw: While he's clearly got lots of problems, his worst has to be his cockiness and arrogance, which is what ultimately gets him killed.
- Faux Affably Evil: He's very good at hiding his rotten nature-at least until things stop going his way.
- Foil: To his own creations, particularly Heart, in a way. The Roidmudes "evolve" by copying human emotions and growing to understand them is what leads many of them to turn good, while Banno despite being human lacked any sort of empathy to begin with, and becomes more inhuman as the series progresses by returning as a Virtual Ghost and plotting to elevate himself to godhood.
- The Ghost: For most of the series, his physical body had not been seen in person, only in flashbacks. His consciousness, on the other hand, survived through unknown means.
- A God Am I: Has a rather pronounced God Complex, viewing himself as entitled to admiration and respect. He believes than anyone who doesn't see things his way is too far beneath him to understand his genius, and even his own family were little more than possible research subjects to him.
- Greater-Scope Villain: While Banno caused the Roidmude uprising with his mistreatment of them, he was killed prior to the series and his Virtual Ghost spends most of it stuck in a tablet, unable to directly influence anything until his tablet gets retrieved by the heroes. Once he is released he proves to be far worse than the Roidmudes, something made apparent by Heart's confrontation with Go in #40.Heart: He is a monster, far worse than the Roidmudes you despise. The marathon of torture that man inflicted upon me... It has been burned into my memory...
- Handicapped Badass: Don't be fooled by his commonplace appearance, he's no mere soul stuck inside a handheld computer.
- Hated by All: Everyone hates Banno, human or Roidmude.
- Hate Sink: Banno is an absolute monster that both humanity and Roidmudes alike revile the most who goes out of his way to be as depraved as possible, whether it be torturing Heart by using cattle prods as part of revenge by proxy, mistreating his children, stomping on a Reaper Legion, intentionally having Medic undergo a dangerous procedure that would end in her demise once one of his accomplishments were met, attempting to Take Over the World, or just being a backstabber in general. While most Roidmudes have likable moments in the series, he is completely devoid of any positive and redeeming qualities whatsoever.
- Hidden Villain: He's the hidden Greater-Scope Villain who set the series in motion, but this isn't revealed until late into the series.
- Horrifying the Horror: Heart is absolutely disgusted by him. While 006 was cocky towards him, he quickly found out that was a fatal mistake a few seconds too late, and by the end of #41, Brain is terrified of him, and Medic got possessed by him temporarily. And worse of all, this guy is (or was) completely human.
- Humanoid Abomination: Becomes this when he possesses 006. When untransformed, 006 is just walking like a puppet on strings rather than a living thing, making him quite disturbing. While he looks less like one while transformed, he's still a Virtual Ghost possessing a robot's corpse.
- Humans Are the Real Monsters: Is the one who inspired this belief in the Roidmudes, and quite justifiably so. The Roidmudes' crusade against humanity is entirely due to Banno's spiteful abuse of them. It's telling that by the end of the story he comes off as more inhuman than his own creations. The Roidmudes who turned good were able to do so partly because they not only copied human forms embraced the human emotions they were programmed with, while Banno abandoned his human body to become a Virtual Ghost in a bid to rule over humanity and attain godhood.
- Irony: He created robots able to develop and experience emotion to the point of becoming humanlike, while being a completely soulless and misanthropic individual himself.
- It's All About Me: Even when begging for mercy from his son, it's still just him boasting about his intelligence. No points for guessing what happens to him.
- Jerkass: Despite his civilized facade, he's a cold and callous manipulator who views everyone around him with contempt.
- Karmic Death:
- Is slain by the son he abused and manipulated, using the very weapon he tried to use to kill him the previous episode. For extra irony, said weapon belonged to one of the very creations he'd abused and used so horribly.
- For even more irony, he dies the same way Krim did in Surprise Future, for which he was (indirectly) responsible. Even more karmic, he made a habit of knocking off Krim's work only to receive Krim's death in the end.
- Is slain by the son he abused and manipulated, using the very weapon he tried to use to kill him the previous episode. For extra irony, said weapon belonged to one of the very creations he'd abused and used so horribly.
- Kick the Dog: He sets Medic up to be brainwashed just as she reaches her Ultimate Evolution from feeling unconditional love. For bonus points, that love had just been directly compared to an actual dog's devotion to its master.
- Lack of Empathy: In his mind, even his own family are nothing more than research subjects.
- Laser-Guided Karma: He is such a villain he got three instances.
- Tried to kill the heroes by having 004 self destruct. Guess what Chase does to him when mortally wounded an episode later?
- After abusing his son for so long, he ends up in his lack of mercy.
- Laughing Mad: His reaction to Brain's death throwing a massive wrench in his plans.
- Mad Scientist: Seeing his human appearance of having messy long hair, and sporting a lab coat? Yes. Emphasis on mad, as his actions and Evil Laugh make it rather clear he's by no means sane.
- Manipulative Bastard: Including to his own family. Even the "Promised Number" plan that the Roidmudes thought they had stolen from him was a lie as even if they had managed to gather four or more Super Evolution Roidmudes, they would not have had the power to enact a second everlasting Global Freeze without Sigma.
- Mask of Sanity: When he's first rescued and brought to the Drive Pit, he does a very good job of putting up a helpful facade and hiding his inner megalomania, up until he's ready to pull his betrayal.
- Misplaced Retribution: Had 002 take a form of a businessman to vent his spite out on.
- Mook Horror Show: Banno reacts with fear and terror once Go was about to axe him while he is helpless now that his Roidmude body is destroyed.
- My Death Is Only The Beginning: Apparently allowing himself to die and uploading his mind was all part of his plan.
- Narcissist: The guy has all the symptoms. In addition to his A God Am I, he can't comprehend the idea he's not as great as he thinks he is, considering any who don't think likewise to be idiots who can't comprehend his genius, but also going to measures to take petty vengeance on them any chance he gets such as making Heart take the form of an investor who snubbed him solely so he could torture someone with the guy's face. He repeatedly boasts about his accomplishments and genius, casually glossing over the fact that most of them are due to him piggybacking off of or outright stealing most of Krim Steinbelt's inventions and perverting them for his own purposes. In his mind, even his own family are nothing more than research subjects in his eyes, and his response to Krim having moral qualms about his actions is to think the guy is joking. His Control Freak tendencies also lend to this disorder.
- He manages to be this trope while begging for mercy!
Banno: You cannot rob the world of my glorious intellect! - Never My Fault: He is unable to comprehend the fact Krim cut off their relationship due to faults on his part, let alone that he showed what's Beneath the Mask by torturing Heart in front of him, instead believing Krim just didn't understand him.
- Offing the Offspring: The fact Go is his son means absolutely nothing to him, and he's very willing to kill him. And would have had Chase not saved Go.
- Oh, Crap!: Has his first real (though minor) one when he realizes that he can't steal the Tridoron Shift car anymore after the heroes modify it.
- Has a much bigger, and very very cathartic, one upon realizing Go has every intention of giving him a coup de grace with the Signal Ax.
- Older Than They Look: Considering his actor is well-known for voicing young and middle aged characters in anime and video games.
- Personality Powers: He made a habit of stealing and corrupting Krim's work for his own insidious devices, so naturally his primary power as Gold Drive is stealing his opponent's weapon or Shift Car/Bike.
- Posthumous Character: Letting himself be killed by the Roidmudes before the story began.
- Power Parasite: As Gold Drive has the ability of stealing weapons from others, and can even hijack the Shift Cars, though he can't change form himself. Eventually, the group finds a way to block this ability.
- Powerful and Helpless: His Brain Uploading scheme preserved his consciousness in cyberspace, giving him access to tremendous amounts of knowledge and energy to the point that he can lash out at and manipulate the outside world through a computer tablet or monitor, but on the whole, he's stuck there as there's no other system on the planet vast or complex enough to house his mind apart from Krim's Drive Driver.
- Pre-Final Boss: Fought and killed by Mach and Chase right before Drive and Heart confront the actual Final Boss, Sigma Circular.
- Properly Paranoid: Medic was a major target for him from the moment he becomes Gold Drive as he's wary of her healing abilities giving the remaining Roidmudes to stand against him indefinitely. Ultimately, it's her using her powers to heal Shinnosuke, a human, that help ensure Sigma's destruction.
- Psychopathic Manchild: There's a very good reason why Heart hates humanity; Banno, out of a childish and petty desire to take out his anger treated Heart like a toy he tries to break out of fury, he never wants to accept when things won't go his way, and makes sure to taunt his enemies whenever he's got the advantage. Ironically, Heart was cared for by Krim himself, who treats him as a living being and not a puppet.
- Revenge by Proxy: When a young investor declined to fund Banno's research, he had 002 (the future Heart) copy the man's appearance so he could indulge in this trope. Is it any wonder Heart thinks Humans Are Bastards?
- Sadist: And HOW!
- Sealed Evil in a Can: Turns out that the Roidmudes keeping him captive was probably for the best, as when released he proves to be much more morally depraved than they are.
- Soul Jar: At first it seemed unwilling. Banno's consciousness is stored within Brain's stolen tablet. It later turns out Banno stole Krim's technology and used it to purposely upload his mind.
- Shout-Out: Banno's vines seem to be inspired by Hermit Purple.
- The Sociopath: Saw absolutely nothing wrong with making Heart, then simply 002, take the form of a businessman who declined to fund his experiments and then beating him viciously with what seems to be a cattle prod. And when Krim decided to end his partnership and friendship with Banno out of disgust, Banno thought he was joking. He's got a grandiose sense of self-worth.
- He doesn't even love his own wife and children, seeing his kids as nothing more than test subjects. How this man not only had a wife, but had two kids with her is a mystery for the ages.
- It's heavily implied that the reason this character trait is the reason he chose to steal a Roidmude body instead of just uploading his consciousness into one in the first place. Being as cold and callow as he was, he'd have no way of attaining the emotional highs necessary to attain Ultimate Evolution. To get around this, he opted to wait until one of his own creations did so and then hijacked its enhanced form.
- Snakes Are Sinister: Steals the body of Roidmude 006, a Cobra Roidmude. Given the symbolism of snakes, it's a fitting motif.
- Start of Darkness: He is this for the Roidmudes. Especially Heart, who got to witness his cruelty firsthand.
- Stealth Pun: Banno's surname is a homophone for the word "omnipotent", referring to his powers and even moreso to his opinion of himself.
- Stupid Evil: Banno may be a genius inventor, but his extreme egomania and wrathful nature repeatedly prove to be his undoing. He deliberately corrupted the Roidmudes with negative emotions and abused them so they'd rampage, simply to spite Krim, only to end up as the first victim of their rampage. While he had the foresight to prepare a way to preserve his mind digitally upon death, he still spends most of the series held captive by the Roidmudes and unable to influence anything outside his tablet. It's only when Gou retrieves him that he's able to put in motion his plans, at which point he immediately throws his son under the bus and takes every opportunity to demean him, and when he winds up at Gou's mercy the best he can come up with to convince Gou not to kill him is to boast about his genius.
- Thanatos Gambit: His death allowed him to digitize his consciousness and become a Virtual Ghost.
- This Cannot Be!: His reaction to Go, in Chaser Mach form, overpowering him.
- This Is a Drill: How he performs his Rider Kick.
- Too Dumb to Live: He'd have been just fine if he hadn't started gloating about how he could repair and transfer his data.
- Transhuman Treachery: Cast aside his own humanity to become a Virtual Ghost in the name of becoming a god and gaining the power to subjugate humanity.
- Unable to Retreat: Banno being reduced into a belt after his defeat did not guarantee him a chance to escape as his son is about to kill him.
- Villainous Breakdown: The result of Brain foiling his plans to kill Medic with the Sigma Circular's energy run off (thus making Heart suffer but taking out the Roidmudes healer and preventing anyone from being healed so they could oppose him). He goes utterly Laughing Mad and unresponsive for several minutes, and even after he snaps out of it, he can't seem to stop laughing and his voice becomes even more unhinged. Even if he succeeded in getting the Sigma Circular active, he certainly didn't emerge unscathed.
- Has more of one when Go moves in to kill him, being reduced to desperately trying to convince Go not to do so.
- Villainous Legacy: Banno is killed separately from the battle with Sigma, which continues to attempt to carry out his plan in spite of his death.
- Villains Want Mercy: Even with his body destroyed, he remains smug and arrogant...until Go drags the Signal Axe over and preps the Full Throttle. Unfortunately for the psycho, Go has none.
- Virtual Ghost: Like Krim, he's the consciousness of a dead person who's been digitized.
- Walking Spoiler: Any discussion about him that isn't "he died" and "he made the Roidmudes" counts as a spoiler. The reason that big warning is in the folder title is because the entire folder would be spoiler text otherwise.
- What Does She See in Him?: Remember, this guy got married and had two children. Though he is good at lying...
- What Measure Is a Non-Human?: Is confused as to why Krim would object to him torturing a Roidmude. Although ultimately Banno is shown to not care about humans either.
- Xanatos Speed Chess: With Freeze and Brain becoming too smart and powerful for his liking, he actually spends over half-a-dozen episodes helping the heroes so he can buy himself more time to copy Krim's belt and find himself a suitable new body.
- You Monster!: As stated, Go had this perspective of him. As does Heart, who considers him far worse than any Roidmude, and Krim, who outright calls him a demon.
- You Will Be Assimilated: His ultimate plan involves using Sigma to catalogue and digitize the entirety of mankind. If you swear loyalty to or please him, you get to exist on the material plane. Refuse and he'll just delete you.
Sigma
Sigma/Sigma Circular
Voiced by: Ayumi Fujimura (female voice), Masakazu Morita (male voice)
- I am Sigma. Ignition complete.
Banno's ultimate weapon intended to cause the second Global Freeze using the combined energy of four Super Evolved Roidmudes and allow him to Take Over the World. While starting out as a orb-shaped machine, it becomes a mecha capable of combat and with some form of AI in time for Banno's end game and fights Drive and Heart.
- All Your Powers Combined: Has the combined energy of the four Super Evolved Roidmudes.
- Ambiguous Gender: Has a somewhat female shape, but its Nonstandard Character Design makes gender difficult to discern. Even its voice seems to have a man and a woman speaking at the same time.
- Beam Spam: One of its prime modes of attack.
- Combat Tentacles: Can use these.
- Doomsday Device: Will cause a complete Global Freeze and allow Banno to begin his take over.
- Dragon-in-Chief: Banno's plans hinged entirely on Sigma Circular completing its directive. Notably, when Banno is defeated, it's not until Sigma is stopped that the conflict is resolved.
- Dragon Their Feet: Sigma ends up outlasting its creator and becomes Dragon Ascendant, still trying to complete Banno's plan even after his demise.
- Early-Bird Cameo: Not Sigma itself but one of its attacks is the tooth-like mechanical structures that had been appearing in the opening credits sequence from the very first episode.
- Final Solution: Of an incredibly horrifying variety. Sigma is meant to create a Density Shift so strong it practically freezes time, this time globally instead of just 1/4 of the Earth. In addition, all humans caught in the Freeze are then converted into data and stored away so that only those who Banno himself chooses can exist in the world... and since he's dead that means that Sigma continuing his plan would mean Game Over.
- Handicapped Badass: You wouldn't think something without arms and legs would be a major threat, but it definitely is.
- I Am Legion: How it introduces itself to both Drive and Heart."We are Sigma. Created by Tenjuro Banno, we are the deity that will oversee mankind."
- Machine Monotone: Its default manner of speaking.
- Meaningful Name: The uppercase letter Sigma is commonly used in mathematics to represent the sum. It is the sum of everything Banno's been working for.
- Mechanical Abomination: It's a reality-warping monstrosity capable of affecting the whole of planet Earth.
- Nonstandard Character Design: Is one of the few completely inhumanoid Rider villains. While having a somewhat feminine body shape, it lacks arms and legs and seems to move by floating and attacks with energy.
- Power Floats: Justified, as it doesn't have legs.
- Teleport Spam: It moves by teleporting rapidly, making its movements completely unpredictable. Of course, it could be moving so quickly it just looks like teleportation
- Time Stands Still: Why Banno made it: to cause this on a global scale.
- True Final Boss: Even though Banno is killed, it continues attempting to carry out his plan anyway and serves as the final foe Drive must face.
- Walking Spoiler: Its existence, or even that it has an AI period, are both spoilers.
Harley Hendrickson
Harley Hendrickson
Portrayed by: Ulf Ōtsuki
Krim Steinbelt's American mentor who was also the creator of Kamen Rider Mach.
- Big Damn Heroes: Saves the guys from an attack from Voice, by siccing the completed Dead Heat on him. All the while making one heck of an entrance, as noted below under Dynamic Entry.
- Cool Old Guy: Picture Santa with a Harley and biker gear and you'd have a pretty good approximation of what this guy is like.
- Gratuitous English: Seeing as he's supposed to be American, or at least live there primarily, this is to be expected.
- Dynamic Entry: "STOOOOP!!!"
- Large Ham: Loud and bombastic.
- Meaningful Name: Named after the American motorcycle company, Harley Davidson.
- The Mentor: To Go and Krim.
- Someday This Will Come in Handy: Before he leaves the Drive Pit, he gives a box to Rinna. It held vital info that would later serve to help complete the Trailer Cannon and the Shift Pit Crew hidden in confection wrappers.
- The Voice: Until #17, he's only been heard talking to Mr. Belt.
Kamen Rider Proto-Drive
Kamen Rider Proto-Drive
Portrayed by: Yasuhiko Imai (suit), Taiko Katono (voice), Daichi Endo (voice, Kamen Rider Chaser)
His true identity is the Roidmude Proto-Zero, who is now the assassin Mashin Chaser. See here for tropes specific to Chase.
- Badass Biker: Seen riding a motorcycle in his debut.
- Chekhov M.I.A.: Six months after saving the world during the Global Freeze crisis he's nowhere to be seen.
- Mr. Belt says he fell in battle, defeated by Heart.
- It turns out he's Chase.
- Dark Is Not Evil: He's colored black and has a grim personality but died defending humanity.
- The Dreaded: The Roidmudes called him a Kamen Rider, for fear of the masked warrior on the motorcycle.
- Expy: Of Kamen Rider Skull, being the predecessor to the series Rider and even died in the beginning of the story.
- Finishing Move: The SpeeDrop Full Throttle, which is a traditional Diving Kick.
- Flawed Prototype: According to Mr. Belt, Proto-Drive could not destroy Roidmude cores.
- He noticeably has trouble fighting an unevolved Roimude when Shinnosuke easily defeated three of them during his first fight.
- Zig-zagged when you realize that he died beating most Roidmudes into submission during the Global Freeze.
- He noticeably has trouble fighting an unevolved Roimude when Shinnosuke easily defeated three of them during his first fight.
- Foil: To his successor, Shinnosuke. Drive is dramatic, chatty, and sarcastic while Proto-Drive is a grim, no-nonsense, hunter.
- The Greatest Story Never Told: Apparently, he saved the world during the Global Freeze, but it seems no one even knows this guy existed.
- A bit of it is seen in a special DVD for movie goers of Movie War Full Throttle, titled "Episode 0".
- Henshin Hero: The original Drive that inspired Kiriko to fight the Roimudes and Shinnosuke took up his title of Kamen Rider.
- Knight in Shining Armor: In Kiriko's eyes at the very least, since he saved her during the Global Freeze incident, even going so far as to preform a post-rescue Bridal Carry. Shinnosuke quickly identifies this trope.
- The Minion Master: As he lacked the ability to exchange tires, Proto-Drive supplemented his fighting skills and limited gear by actively commanding the original Shift Cars to strike and disorient his enemies.
- Posthumous Character: He unfortunately lost his life fighting the Roidmudes. Or not...
- Purple Is Powerful: Subverted. Purple is a major part of his color scheme but his red successor has stronger powers.
- Pre Ass Kicking One Liner: "I don't need to introduce myself to something I'm going to destroy".
- Significant Double Casting: Savvy viewers will realize he has Chase's voice.
- Sinister Silhouettes: A heroic example. He is almost completely silhouetted in shadow in every flashback he appears in (though at least one sequence gives us a glimpse of some strangely purple armor). We finally see him fully in Episode 0 — turns out he's always in silhouette because his armor's mostly black.
Mitsuhide Nira
Mitsuhide Nira
Portrayed by: Kisuke Iida
- Accidental Truth: Subverted. Nira spread lies regarding Drive being a usurper of the Roidmudes, seeking to rule over them. Krim, episodes later, confirms that this is actually true... except that Krim was Brainwashed and Crazy by the time the announcement was made.
- Arc Villain: Becomes one for #34-36, in a Big Bad Duumvirate with Brain.
- Bait the Dog: Just when he apparently has a change of heart by helping the Special Crimes Unit, he's later revealed to be the killer of Shinnosuke's father years ago.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: As disgusting it must be to be around him, he must have done something right to be ranked high in the Police Department to be Genpachiro's boss and manager of the First Division.
- Don't Celebrate Just Yet: Made one last sleazy statement to Shinnosuke about the fight between the Riders and the Roidmudes as he is arrested.
- Evil Counterpart: To Da Chief. Both are Cloud Cuckoolander Bunny-Ears Lawyer types, but Nira is an obnoxious Obstructive Bureaucrat and The Mole while Jun is extremely competent behind his quirks.
- Evil Hero: Nira is a part of the police force, but he is sided with the Roidmudes.
- Giggling Villain: He loves giggling and skipping about whenever he's being a jerk. He really ramps it up after it's revealed that he killed Shinnosuke's Dad, and if he wasn't pointing a gun at Shinnosuke at the end of #35 it'd be almost funny. It evolves into full on Laughing Mad at the end of #36 when he's arrested.
- Hated by All: Shinnosuke's dad was shown as one of the only people who was willing to help him, only for it to be part of the reason why Nira killed him.
- Hate Sink: He's s an unrepentant bastard who cheated his way to his position by killing Shinnosuke's father, his partner, out of spite and jealousy.
- Heel–Face Turn: After Makage/001 tells him he no longer needs him he starts helping the Special Crimes Unit. Subverted when it's revealed he was working with the Roidmudes all along, had murdered Shinnosuke's father out of jealousy, and afterward began teaming up with Brain to ruin Shinnosuke completely.
- Jerkass: Taunting Shinnosuke about his dead father is enough to put him here, but the fact that he's willing to obstruct the Special Unit for petty reasons even if it means Roidmudes run free solidifies it.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: It's a minute one, but it's there. When he realized that Makage had been playing him and the entire police force, he helps out the Special Crimes Unit, and even apologizes for his previous behavior. Jerk he may be, he's still an officer.
- Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: And then it turns out that he's the one who killed Shinnosuke's father, putting him right back into Jerkass territory and then-some. He then solidifies it by going out to kill Shinnosuke and destroy everything he holds dear.
- Large Ham: And how! He's easily one of the hammiest characters in the franchise.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Even before his true crimes are revealed, he still manages to get it as early as in #28, where the Special Crimes Unit stage an attack on their office where Chase in his Roidmude form pretends to choke him. Since the suspension prevents Shinnosuke from "saving" him, he has no choice but to lift it.
- Named After Somebody Famous: Akechi Mitsuhide, conveniently enough.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Had he not talked about his father's murder to him, Shinnosuke wouldn't have been driven to find out his killer. To be fair, Nira didn't realize he was the killer until after the supposed murderer revealed that he didn't kill him.
- No Sense of Personal Space: He likes to get up and personal when he is taunting someone.
- Obstructive Bureaucrat: Interferes with the Special Crimes Unit in #27 when after Shinnosuke attacks Brain, Mitsuhide files a suspension so that Shinnosuke cannot transform into Drive while the case is still active, impounds Tridoron, and is for all intents and purposes taken off the case. He and Brain later ramp it up and frame the Unit for treason. Lampshaded in his first appearance in #25, where Kyu and Rinna observe that he's like the cliché "obnoxious authoritarian" or crooked politician straight out of a Jidaigeki.
- Smug Snake: Ultimately, he's little more than a bully who uses his authority to get away with his actions. He's not nearly as clever as he thinks he is, though.
Eisuke Tomari
Eisuke Tomari
Portrayed by: Tareyanagi
- Badass Normal: Suggested by Honganji, who says that everyone on the force knew his name.
- His reaction to seeing a Roidmude? Attempt to arrest it. The man has a brass set on him.
- Heroic Willpower: Correct on both parts. Not only was Eisuke a model officer whose example made Shin want to follow in his footsteps, but his will was so strong that he was able to resist 001's memory erasing powers. It's likely what got him killed, but still. No wonder Shin's worthy of the Rider Mantle.
- Immune to Mind Control: This is what caused the Roidmudes to target him, seeing how he is able to resist Freeze's power.
- Posthumous Character: Died twelve years ago, when Shinnosuke was a child. His death becomes the subject of quite a number of arcs that string together to a larger arc.
- Taking the Bullet: This is how he died, jumping in front of a young Yukari to take a shot aimed at her. Thanks to 001, nobody knew that Nira was the real shooter, not Negishi.
Yukari Karasawa
Yukari Karasawa
Portrayed by: Coco Koizumi
- Dark and Troubled Past: The bank robbery incident was this for her.
- Girlish Pigtails: Her hairstyle.
- Immune to Mind Control: Like Eisuke, Yukari's memories related to the incident were not altered at all, allowing her to help the heroes in revealing 001's prescence in the robbery.
- She Knows Too Much: Her presence in the incident is why Negishi and later also Nira decided to target her.
- Small Role, Big Impact: In the small amount of episodes she was in, Yukari managed to be a very contributing factor for Shinnosuke finding out what happened with his father's murder.
- Spanner in the Works: Had a role in both unraveling 001's involvement and exposing Nira's colors.
- Victim of the Week: For #29-30 and #35-36.
Koichi Kano
Koichi Kano
Portrayed by: Taiko Katono
- By-the-Book Cop: He insists on checking the registration number of Shinnosuke's car despite Shinnosuke identifying himself as a police officer. He also apologises for the inconvenience once he confirms everything is on the up-and-up.
- In Kamen Rider Drive Saga: Kamen Rider Mach, he ends up ruining a good moment between Go and Reiko near the end of the movie and arrests him because Go punched him earlier. To Kano, Go is charged with assaulting a cop.
- Consummate Professional: Extremely businesslike. When Shinnosuke presents his police ID, he states that he stills needs to check the car's registration number even though Shinnosuke is a fellow police officer.
- Friendless Background: When Shinnosuke bluntly asks him if he has no friends, he is actually taken aback and blurts out, "How did you know?!" before regaining his composure. He then rebuffs Shinnosuke's offer of friendship and insists he needs no friends.
- Last Episode, New Character: The purpose of his appearance showcases who was the human Chase copied.
- Meaningful Name: The "Ka" portion of his name contains the kanji for "to chase".
Mystery Character
Takeru Tenkuji/Kamen Rider Ghost
Portrayed by: Seiji Takaiwa (suit), Shun Nishime (voice)
A mysterious man who appears when Shinnosuke nearly died following the battle with the Sigma Circular. He is the main character of the next Kamen Rider series.- Big Damn Heroes: Arrives to warn Shinnosuke away from an ominous black fog, and later battles the ghost Roidmudes to allow him to escape.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: His cameos in Surprise Future and the later episodes of Drive have him acting somewhat differently and playing up his ghostly nature far more than he tends to do in his own show.
- Magic Versus Science: Compared to the technology-based Kamen Rider Drive, our friend Kamen Rider Ghost is clearly mystical in nature.Shinnosuke/Drive: Mr. Belt, what is this?!Mr. Belt: I have no data on this! Whatever this is, it is beyond the bounds of science!
