Characters / Kamen Rider Ex-Aid (Emu Hojo)

Main Character Index | Protagonists (Emu Hojo) | Bugsters | Others (Kuroto Dan) | Movie-Exclusive Characters

This is a partial character sheet for Kamen Rider Ex-Aid. Visit here for the main character index. Subjective trope and audience reactions should go on the YMMV page.

Emu Hojo/Kamen Rider Ex-Aid

Portrayed by: Hiroki Ijima (live), Satoshi Fujita (LV1 suit), Seiji Takaiwa (LV2 suit)

The Genius Gamer

"I'll change the fate of my patients."

The main protagonist of the series. A video game expert currently at an internship in the pediatric department of the Seito University Hospital, he is given the Gamer Driver by Asuna Karino in order to cure patients infected by the Bugster's virus as Kamen Rider Ex-Aid. He is actually the genius gamer "M", a legend in the gaming community.

Tropes that apply to him in general

• All-Loving Hero: As a doctor, Emu is a compassionate person dedicating his job to save the lives of others, whenever they are good or bad.
• Anti-Hero: His gaming persona "M" is a complete opposite of his normal self who doesn't have any concern about the lives of others and he treats his world view as a game. Subverted; M is Parado, and not a hero at all, until his repentance in #40.
• Badass Bookworm: Is as powerful as any Kamen Rider worth his salt (even at his weakest form he's got several tons worth of power), but he's also rightfully considered a genius in universe when it comes to gaming, which is very helpful in combat when your superpowers are based around video games. He's also knowledgeable about medical world in general, as in the ending of series he becomes a full-fledged doctor.
• Badass Labcoat: Part of his regular attire, since he works in a hospital.
• Bash Brothers: Gains a strong mutual respect with Hiiro and they work well together. Best shown in #27 where they drudge back to CR soaked with similar looks of disbelief on their face at Taiga and Nico's attitude. His Mighty Brothers XX Gashat also lets him become this with himself by splitting into two. Later, he became this with Parado.
• Battle Aura: As Emu's Bugster virus has evolved over the course of the series, it has manifested in differing colors. The first outbreak was orange and green, for the Mighty Brothers XX; while his (not quite) "total outbreak" was colored yellow. When he draws on his virus to create Maximum Mighty X, it changes to the same shade of pink as Mighty. And more interestingly, for the first, and third instances his very DNA changes color to match, showing that his very biology is now altered.
• Be Careful What You Wish For: Back when he was a little kid, Emu loved video games, but always wanted a friend to play them with him. That friend he got was Parado.
• Being Good Sucks: Emu takes up so much emotional and physical abuse that almost every episode he experiences some form of suffering. Poor guy just needs a hug. And yet he takes it in and knows he has to do a job.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Emu is a very compassionate person who takes his job as a doctor seriously. However, he will do whatever it takes to save his patient. He's also someone you don't want to piss off.
  • This is the point of #39. With Nico's life at stake, Emu finally decides to knock some sense into Parado the hardest way possible.
• Blood from the Mouth: Happens after the fight with Genm in #14. Taiga uses it to get a sample of his blood for tests that later reveal that Emu has the Game Disease.
• Break the Cutie: It all started with Emu sending fanmail to Kuroto containing game ideas that his life turned upside down, especially in the Gorider special.
• But for Me, It Was Tuesday: Zig-zagged. The reason Nico Saiba hates Emu is because he managed to beat her in a gaming tournament, the only loss on her perfect winning streak. While he did remember it, Nico saw it as the beginning of her long-lasting grudge, while Emu just saw it as another victory against another worthy opponent. Subverted that it was Parado who defeated her that day.
• Butt-Monkey: Early on, Emu was on the receiving end of most of the slapstick and is disrespected by just about everyone else in the hospital. Over the course of the show he gains more respect from his peers, but the Trauma Conga Line that replaces it ensures he still suffers aplenty. The web specials ease up on the emotional abuse, since they're not about him, but replace it with plenty of physical abuse by putting him on the receiving end of some rather brutal and bloody assaults whenever he's not transformed.
• Broken Hero: Emu's idealism is genuine, but it all comes out of a series of traumatic events in his past, a lot of which even he himself is unaware of or unconsciously tries not to acknowledge. Having an artificial Split Personality unconsciously cultivated within you for years before having it be secretly extracted does that to you. Mighty Novel X takes it even further by revealing that he'd had suicidal ideation tendencies as a child, and while he's already been working past it and trying to move forward, Hiiro notes that he has Stepford Smiler tendencies of suppressing his own negative feelings instead of being honest about them.
• Catchphrase: "Let's clear this with no continues!"
  • He has another: "I'll change X's fate with my own hands!" This turns into Deadly Euphemism when it comes to Parado and Masamune.
• Character Tic:
  • Before inserting his Rider Gashat for his Finishing Move, he blows the very bottom first before inserting it into the slot holder. Truth in Television, as this was common practice among gamers in the old days whenever a video game cartridge malfunctioned.
  • Another one he has is when he says his catchphrase, he flicks his hand out.
• Combat Medic: Played straight as Ex-Aid, but ultimately subverted when he's not transformed as shown in the Heisei Generations movie where the most he can do without becoming a Rider is run, dodge, and block with every attempt at hitting back horribly backfiring on him. In fact, amongst the Gamer Riders there, he's the worst at untransformed combat.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Emu isn't taken very seriously by his patients and is often the butt of jokes. However, when he plays video games, he becomes incredibly competent. This carries over to him as Ex-Aid and shows why he is a good choice for the Gamer Driver. There's a reason he's called the "Genius Gamer".
  • With that said, the true reason he was chosen was for reasons unrelated to his gaming skills.
  • Befitting a gamer, he's surprisingly skilled at manipulating people who wouldn't normally work with him into helping him one way or another. The best examples are tricking Hiiro, Taiga, and Kiriya into working together to use the Drago Knight Hunter Z Gashat by framing it as a contest, and then tricking Parado into getting into Poppy's Gashacon Bugvisor II to seemingly replicate Kuroto's scheme of infiltrating Cronus' Driver... only to instead absorb Parado to be able to use Hyper Muteki and reclaim the power of Genius Gamer M.
• Deadly Upgrade: His first use of the Mighty Brothers XX Gashat causes him to begin suffering blackout-inducing headaches that reduce in intensity but grow in frequency with time, even when not using the Gashat. He eventually overcome this drawback via Character Development.
• Death Glare: One early clue that Emu can be a lot more ruthless than he seems at first is that he has a tendency to suddenly put on a very cold facial expression (jokingly compared by Japanese fans to that of a Tibetan sand fox) whenever he's particularly angry at something. This is most prominent in #39 when (when he momentarily seems to kill Parado in cold blood to teach him a lesson), indicating he's more than capable of being just as cold as the expression suggests. Mighty Novel X reveals this is likely a momentary relapse into the Empty Shell he would be if it weren't for his idealism.
• Demonic Possession: Whenever his "M" personality becomes dominant, it's actually Parado taking over. This is played even straighter in #29-30 when Parado just flat out takes over his body and leaves it whenever he wants.
• Determinator: #3 has a standout moment when his health drops down to 5% and he still keeps going through a barrage of fire to save his patient.
• Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: When Parado's sacrifice lets him No-Sell Cronus's Pause even without Hyper Muteki or his own transformation, he stops Cronus from using it all together by punching and cracking the Bugvisor Zwei so hard he sends Cronus flying into his clock with enough force to destroy it.
• Driven to Suicide: Happened to him once, as mentioned in the follow up novel.
• Enemy Without: Parado is his Imaginary Friend come to life as a Bugster, and the true identity of his M persona.
• Expository Hairstyle Change: In Another Ending and his appearance in Kamen Rider Zi-O, his hair is styled differently to make him look older and indicate that time has passed.
• Expository Pronoun: Emu uses "boku" and M aka Parado uses "ore" with no exception. In #30, it was Parado's slip-up of using "ore" that tips off everyone into finding out he wasn't Emu. And in #45, a clue that Parado hasn't really died was that Emu can still transform into Ex-Aid and uses "ore".
• Fake Ultimate Hero: Genius Gamer M is hailed as the greatest gamer in the community. It turns out that "M" is not Emu in any way but really Parado possessing his body. It’s however subverted in that while he isn’t M, he does have superb gaming skills on his own, as shown in Tricks: Para-DX and Another Ending.
• First-Name Basis: Emu usually calls other people by first names, up to and including Hinata Kyotaro. The only aversion is Kagami Haima (last name) and Dan Masamune (full name).
• The Fool: He spent the entirety of his youth thwarting Kuroto's various attempts to ruin/end his life completely by accident.
• Forgotten First Meeting: It takes him a while to remember his earlier encounter with Nico and thus the reason why she is mad at him. Unfortunately, she remembers it all too well.
• Friend to All Children: He's a pediatrician, so being good with kids is something that comes with the trade.
• Genre Savvy: The only Rider with much in the way of gaming knowledge, he's the only one other than Parado to make consistent use of power-ups and game objects. It occasionally turns to Wrong Genre Savvy, like trying to skip using Level 1 early in the show without realizing it actually serves a purpose, but usually means that the idealistic Rider is the only Combat Pragmatist of the bunch.
  • When "battling" Burgermon, he explains to Taiga that Ju Ju Burger isn't a combat game and approaches it as such, by making Burgmon a burger using the Ju Ju Critical Strike. This cures the patient.
  • In #44, he's the one realizing that the cartoonish Level 1 form is the only one able to defeat Gamedeus' Bugster Union Form.
• Gone Horribly Right: Parado schemed for Emu to become a Worthy Opponent he could fight on even grounds. This led to Emu getting strong enough he could ignore him in favor of more important matters for most of the story onwards. That was actually good for Parado as when Emu finally decides to fight him, it's light year away from duel on even grounds.
• Good Is Not Dumb: A few characters have assumed Emu is naive, and sometimes he is, for his idealism. Mistaking this for stupidity is often a terrible mistake, as Emu has a good knowledge of how to work other people with Batman Gambits and has come up with multiple, brilliant plans for defeating the villains that generally work very well. He's not called a 'Genius Gamer' for nothing.
• Good Is Not Soft: Is exceptionally cruel towards his targets if doing so gets him and his friends what he wants, either as an act or genuine furiosity. Kiriya can attest to the former after telling Emu to play along with his ruse, while Parado learns the latter the hard way after Emu mortally injures him just to prove a point.
• Guile Hero: Emu Hojo is a baby faced pediatric intern, whose dislike for callousness, manipulation and violence may cause him to appear as an example of Good Is Impotent. To the surprise and horror of many, being a sweet, gentle soul doesn't stop him from utilizing his vast capabilities of a ruthless Social Expert and Chessmaster to make sure that everyone is alive and healthy at the end of the day. Preferably also happy, as the mental state of his patients and coworkers is also important to him, but he is aware of how much harder that is to achieve.
• Healing Hands: Feels that this is only half of his job, with ensuring his patients' happiness being the other. This puts him at odds with Hiiro early on, who also cares for the lives of his patients, but only as far as their lives.
• The Heart: He has this position among the Doctor riders, being the only one to genuinely care for those around him. He is also the teamwork guy. His efforts usually have only mixed success, though.
• The Hero: And not just because he's the main protagonist. At the start of the show he's the only Doctor Rider to be fully heroic and committed to his role as a doctor.
• Heroic BSoD: After Emu learned that he's the Patient Zero of the Bugster Virus, he has doubts of transforming into Ex-Aid as he might lose his existence. Luckily, he snapped out of his doubts after he resolves to fight again as a doctor and a rider.
• Hidden Depths: Mighty Novel X recontextualizes his actions throughout the series to the point of Cerebus Retcon. His tendencies of being The Klutz come from having constantly engaged in deliberate Self-Harm because he felt the doctors in the hospital were taking better care of him than his father's Parental Neglect, and he'd figured out Parad's behavior came from a simple lack of understanding the value of life because he himself had been Driven to Suicide as a child for the exact same reasons. After years of having his personality messed with, Emu clings onto his idealism because on top of having personally experienced how doctors can "save" someone both physically and mentally, said idealism is also the only thing keeping him from relapsing into being an Empty Shell. This also means that the unusually cold and empty facial expression he sometimes exhibited during the series comes from dregs of that "emptiness" coming back to the surface. All of this is unconscious on Emu's part, but it results in him refusing to acknowledge anything of the above about himself and secretly terrified that others won't accept him if they knew anything about it, to the point of hitting a Heroic BSoD anytime it starts being uncovered. Contrary to his fears, the other doctors are horrified on his behalf when they find out and emerge with even more respect for him.
• Hit Me, Dammit!: An invoked lethal variation in #28. Since Emu knows that not all Bugsters are evil (such as Burgermon), he resorted to use this method by pointing Poppy's Bugvisor at his chest and daring her to fire. It works out in his favor in the end, since Poppy's refusal to hurt anyone is his real aim, not the other way around.
• I Know Mortal Kombat: Pretty much the exact reason he was chosen to be a Rider. His pro-level reflexes and encyclopedic knowledge on video games makes him a damn near perfect operator for the Gamer Driver.
• The Intern: Emu is a pediatrician resident at the Seito University Hospital. Later he graduates from pediatrics and begins a surgery internship under Hiiro for 3 months, until #24. After the series ends, he becomes a pediatrician at the hospital.
• I Owe You My Life: A flashback showed that he was hospitalized as a kid, but a doctor (later revealed to be the current Secretary of Ministry of Health) saved him and gave him a WonderSwan. It inspired him to become a doctor and a gamer, and he now holds saving lives dearly, as he feels it is his turn to pay back. In fact, it's why he's anxious in #9, as Dr. Kyotarou Hinata is infected by game disease and so Emu scrambles to be the one person who will save him.
• Jerkass: As M, he's an arrogant and competitive bastard who shows no concern for his patients. Normally this aspect is tempered by Emu into just making him cockier than normal while gaming, but whenever the two are separated it becomes much more evident. For instance, whenever M is separated as Parado.
• King of Games: M has quite a reputation in the gaming community, with many characters calling him a genius gamer (to the point that "The Genius Gamer, M" is a Share Phrase used to describe him by pretty much everyone.) This is why CR went looking for him in the first place; they have doctors who know what they're doing medically, but they needed someone who knew the gaming side of things.
• The Klutz: Seems to be prone to injuring himself, like falling down or being stepped on by other people. Mighty Novel X reveals this is because of untreated self-harming compulsions he later ended up internalizing due to Parental Neglect.
• Lack of Empathy: When M is surfacing from Emu, he becomes a Jerkass who only cares about gaming and fighting Bugsters.
• Letter Motif: Emu is pretty much the syllabic pronunciation of the letter M. M is his gamer persona. All the Gashats that give him important forms also has M in it - Mighty Action X, Mighty Brothers XX, Maximum Mighty X, and Hyper Muteki.
• Literal Split Personality: When using Mighty Brothers XX, Ex-Aid splits into two halves: Ex-Aid XX R, the orange-colored right half who acts like "M" (a cocky individual that prioritizes defeating the enemy to ensure his victory) and Ex-Aid XX L, the cyan-colored left half who acts like Emu (a calm individual that prioritizes his patient's safety first). Played with in that M isn't Emu's personality at all, though the two are connected.
• Magic Eye: When he first activated the Mighty Brothers XX Gashat, his right eye became orange-colored and his left eye became cyan-colored, reflecting the colors of the forms.
• Married to the Job: Internal monologue from the novel reveals that while Poppy would be his ideal dating partner (on both the grounds of the fact he prefers "cute" girls like her and the more pragmatic reasons of sharing similar hobbies and goals), he's busy enough with his work that he's not interested in having a relationship. Given that the same novel also reveals that he experienced severe Parental Neglect from his father caring more about his work than his own son, it's understandable that Emu wouldn't be inclined to attempt juggling his work with a personal relationship.
• Meaningful Name:
  • "Emu" is spelt with the kanji characters for "eternal dream"; appropriate for someone who spends a lot of his time immersed in virtual worlds. And when you pronounce it quickly, it sounds like "M", which is his game persona.
  • His last name, Houjou, is written with the kanji for “precious” (宝) and “life” (生) respectively, which fits how much he treasures lives.
• Misblamed: In-Universe. In Gorider, Kaoru Kino/Another Agito suspects that Emu has a secret plan after he and four other deceased Riders (Lazer, Baron, Marika, and Blade^note actually Genm in disguise at this point) somehow was grouped together along with Emu. In truth, Emu doesn't even know how he even manages to get there in the first place.
• Naïve Newcomer: Played With. Being new to the CR, Emu's knowledge about Bugster and the Rider system is unsurprisingly lacking and he often has to be guided by Asuna. But, thanks to his skills and knowledge as a gamer, not only does he learn pretty quickly, he also knows how the games the Bugster appear from work and how to complete them.
• Nice Guy: He is overall a friendly young doctor ready to help his patients.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero:
  • He wanted to save Kuroto Dan, so he used his reprogramming ability to remove his resistance to Bugster virus. That in turn allowed Parado to kill Genm by infecting him with massive amount of the virus. Then again, he didn't know Parado was going do that.
  • Then he did it again by smacking Parado with a Maximum Critical Finish while they were sharing a body through Double Action Gamer. This allowed Parado to reprogram himself to steal a copy of Emu's DNA, making him compatible with the Gamer Driver.
• Non-Uniform Uniform: Emu does wear the required labcoat of Seito Hospital (the same kind as Hiiro’s), but underneath that are colorful T-shirts and pants (up to and including bright yellow T-shirt and bright red pants) rather than Hiiro’s more proper and darker dress shirt and dress pants. Sometimes, he even replaces the plain white required labcoat with another more decorated one; and he wears mismatched sport shoes rather than dress shoes. He is also noticeably the only one at the hospital to modify his uniform like this, but oddly enough, no one - not even Hiiro - has ever taken notice of this.
• Older Than They Look: For a 24-year-old adult, he looks youthful enough to be a teenager. Justified because his actor was only 20 years old at the time.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: People who knew him from the gaming community, such as Nico, only know him as "Genius Gamer M" and calls him as such. Nico was actually surprised to see him act polite, as she only knew him in his cocky "Genius Gamer" persona.
• Only Sane Man: Played With. Emu is the sole kind person in a group consisting of a narcissistic colleague with no bedside manner, a Back-Alley Doctor with no interest in his patients, and a secret keeper with Mad Scientist aspirations respectively. Unfortunately, they are all way better-informed than Emu (at first) in just about everything going on and serve as foils that remind him of certain realities that can come with his chosen profession.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Kiriya just needs to tell Emu... something and it's enough to make him mad and punch Kiriya in the face. Apparently invoked to help Kiriya keep up the act.
  • He is uncharacteristically cruel while beating Parado in #39. This was to add the last layer of horror to Parado's Villainous BSoD.
• Or Was It a Dream?: Mistook the surgery him was performed on six years ago as a dream.
• Patient Zero: Sixteen years before the series, Emu acted as a breeding ground for the Bugster virus. Later on, he was operated on when the virus matured in order to extract the virus. He survived the ordeal, and this experiment allowed him to use a Gamer Driver without the need for the special operation.
• Personality Blood Types: Revealed to be an AB+. One peculiar trait AB's have? Split personality. Also fits with the gaming motif, with AB representing the usual action buttons on most controllers, while the + references D-pads.
• Phrase Catcher: Said by the other characters to Emu, usually when commenting to his naivette: "you fail as a doctor".
• Psychopathic Manchild: Emu's M persona is unbelievably cocky and apathetic, and sees everything as stuff to have fun with, even screwing with Poppy in the DoReMiFa Beat machine. Fits just right in with Parad's mindset...
• Real Men Wear Pink: Aside from his very pink Ex-Aid form, Emu also occasionally wears a pink T-shirt under his labcoat.
• Red Baron: Genius Gamer "M". Masamune calls him "Hyper Muteki".
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: While it takes a bit to start happening, after a few episodes Emu's eyes begin glowing red whenever he switches his persona. This is a clue that he's infected with the Bugster virus, as this usually happens to those infected by the virus.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Red to Hiiro's Blue. Even the colour of his armour is light pink which is close to red.
  • Mighty Brothers XX has him do this to himself, thanks to separating his personalities. The suit colors are even really close to the personalities.
• Secret Test of Character: His Batman Gambit towards Parado in #39 was also this, as he wanted to know if Parado was really malicious in casually disposing of humans' lives or if he just genuinely didn't understand there was such a thing as an eternal death and simply thought everyone could just be revived when needed. After Parado came back to him, confessing that he was really scared, admitting that what he did was unforgivable, and keeping on apologizing while sobbing hard on the ground; Emu finally forgave him and formed an alliance with him for real.
• Self-Harm: The real reason Emu is The Klutz. The lack of a parental figure in his childhood caused him to develop self-harming tendencies so that he could see the only profession he knew that would treat him like a Parental Substitute, which ironically were never treated and became internalized as an adult.
• Self-Serving Memory: Mighty Novel X reveals that while the version of Emu's backstory presented in the TV series (that he got in a car accident due to a game disease-induced attack and came to appreciate the value of life, the importance of doctors, and the fun of gaming thanks to Hinata giving him a game console), it's missing some very key details such as the fact that Emu was already playing games as a coping method for loneliness even long before the accident, and said accident came not only from his disease-induced attack, but also because he'd given up on life and had been Driven to Suicide. Emu had omitted this fact partially because he himself didn't want to remember or admit it.
• Serious Business: Being a doctor, and one who nearly died once as a child, Emu takes life very seriously, respecting his Hippocratic Oath more than any of the other Riders. A huge Berserk Button of his involve killing innocents or disregarding lives as insignificant, regardless of morality, practicality, or whether they are a Bugster or a human.
  • When he heard that the Gashat thief was the Black Ex-Aid, Hiiro and Taiga were willing to let him die when they saw that he had Game Disease, feeling that a life is important regardless of whether the patient is good or bad. As it turns out, the patient was Graphite and he was never in danger because he was a Bugster anyway.
  • Despite Kuroto killing Kiriya and spreading Game Disease everywhere, Emu refuses to let him get arrested when he got Game Disease. Even after discovering that Kuroto made him Patient Zero of Game Disease, he still treated him because it's his responsibility as a doctor, which is what Kuroto wanted all along.
  • After Kamen Rider Chronicle is completed, he's more focused on saving lives and a brainwashed Poppy rather than fighting Parado, which causes the latter to kill Ride-Players to get his attention and obtain a more powerful form to fight him on even terms.
  • He's refused Enemy Mine with both Kuroto and Parado for ideological reasons. Emu does not like how Kuroto sees the Bugster Virus as a better form of medicine that grants immortality since it has led to the death and suffering of many patients. Likewise, he has a greater amount of disgust for Parado for killing the Ride-Players and treating their deaths as it were a game. It takes Parado finally learning to fear death after a Trauma Conga Line before Emu forgave him.
  • His appreciation for life extends to Bugsters as well. He figures out Poppy is a good Bugster due to his videogame knowledge and doesn't treat her any different in comparison to the Bugsters he fights. He's also the only one of the Doctor Riders who keeps supporting her even after she's been turned against them by the Bugsters as an enemy of Kamen Rider Chronicles. Additionally, he liked Burgermon and was angry when Genm killed him out of spite.
• Soul Jar: Not in the traditional sense, but Emu would permanently lose his ability to transform if his Bugster, Parado were to be destroyed. It becomes particularly relevant once Emu's acquisition of Hyper Muteki makes defeating him in direct combat a dubious prospect, prompting his opponents to target his much more vulnerable jar. Unfortunately for Emu, his jar also wants to kill him at first.
• Split Personality: There's a distinct difference between his doctor-self and his gamer-self. He's a bit clumsy but well-meaning as a doctor, but he becomes eager and confident as the legendary gamer M. He even changes pronouns^note From a boyish "Boku" to a more masculine "Ore". It was originally presented as just a confidence boost thanks to being in his element, but the glowing red eyes quickly caused it to take on a darker tone. Much later, it's revealed that "M" isn't Emu at all, but is instead Parado taking control.
• Split-Personality Makeover: When he activates a gashat and becomes M, wind blows his hair back. His expressions and body language become more confident. The difference is most apparent early into the story.
• Split-Personality Merge: Emu must do this with Parado to use Hyper Muteki as the Genius Gamer M is the only one capable of using it. Unlike most examples, it's only temporary, as Parado splits off after detransforming.
• The Strategist: His biggest advantage: yes, Emu is Genre Savvy, but more importantly he knows how to use that knowledge. Most of Emu's wins over stronger opponents are based on better use of power-ups and strategy. It even shows in his social interactions at times: while his allies are unreliable at best, Emu knows how to leverage their personal hangups to get them to agree to a teamup.
• Strange Minds Think Alike: In #33. Kuroto is the first person to realize what Emu came up with in order to defeat Cronus. The fact that Emu is pointing at him, ridiculously gleeful, may help.
• The Social Expert: The only doctor with people skills, which often plays a part in his contribution to their treatment. This proves very important, since Bugster infections are based on the patient's stress, and knowing more about them allows him to anticipate the Bugster's movements. On occasion he even applies it to his fellow Riders, such as appealing to Hiiro's ego when faced with a patient in need of a high-risk surgery that only he could perform.
• Sympathy for the Devil: He ultimately doesn't want to kill Kuroto, as he is a doctor first before being a Kamen Rider. He even goes through lengths to make sure Kuroto is unable to transform anymore so he could face justice and eventually reform because he believes deep down the man enjoys making games. The fact that Parado kills Kuroto even after doing that shocks him to the core that we later see him shed tears.
• Token Good Teammate: The other Riders gradually come around, but for a good chunk of the early episodes, Emu is the only Rider who looks to have a functioning moral compass.
• Trauma Conga Line: There's a series of events that shaped his life without him knowing, all resulting in him being hurt and giving him despair. And even with his victories, the happiness he gets are merely temporary. His oath to keep people happy and healthy is what's keeping him from breaking down.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Turns out he was a factor in the show's events going into motion: Kuroto chose him to be the breeding ground for stronger Bugsters because Emu sent him fanmail of all things. Definitely not Emu's fault, since it was Kuroto who thought that Emu's ideas on said fanmail were too good.
  • He encouraged Hiiro to pursue reviving Saki from Proto Dragon Knight Hunter Z Gashat in #33. This leads Hiiro to take up Masamune's offer, backstabbing everyone in the process.
• Unwitting Pawn: To Parado. All his successes for the first 28 episodes were because the Bugster let him.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Emu is rightfully pissed off at Hiiro, Taiga, and Nico over their attempted Player Killing of Poppy despite her current mental condition in #28. When Hiiro protested about not killing Poppy, Emu shuts him up.
• Wide-Eyed Idealist: The most idealistic and optimistic Rider, who always try to save and see the best in everyone, even the worst people. He also literally has very large eyes (perhaps the largest eyes in the series).
• Would Hit a Girl: Not Emu, obviously, but Parado made him do it to Poppy (via Demonic Possession) in #28.
• You Are Better Than You Think You Are: His internal monologue in Mighty Novel X reveals that he's afraid to open up about his Dark and Troubled Past to others because he's afraid they won't accept him if they found out, with Poppy as the only one he remotely considered would possibly be accepting, to the point his subsequent brainwashing is implied to have shades of More than Mind Control as he tries to prevent the other doctors from learning more about his background. Once the perspective shifts, however, it turns out this couldn't be further from the truth, because after everything Emu had done for them, everyone has such a high opinion of him that they're mortified to learn he ever had such poor regard for himself (Hiiro even gains more respect for him after realizing that Emu's idealism came from the trauma of personal experience instead of arbitary naivete). This results in them desperately trying to convey this to Emu in various ways over the course of the story, with Taiga especially losing his composure because Emu's self-deprecation got to him too deeply.

Tropes exclusive to him as Kamen Rider Ex-Aid

Gashat! Let's Game! Metcha Game! Mutcha Game!^note Click and load! Let's Game! Super Game! Ultra Game! What's your name?! I'm a Kamen Rider!

Gachan^note Click and open: Level Up! Mighty Jump! Mighty Kick! Mighty Mighty Action X!

Gachan: Double Up! Ore ga Omae de! Omae ga Ore de!^note Click and open: Double Up! I am You! You Are Me! (We Are!) Mighty! Mighty! Brothers (Hey!) Double X!

Gachan: Level Max! Saidaikyuu no Powerful Body! Dariragan! Dagozuban!^note Click and open: Level Max! The highest level, the most Powerful Body! Wham and Kerblam! Zippy-Zabang! Maximum Power~ X~!

Pakan: Muteki! Kagayake! Ryuusei no Gotoku! Ougon no Saikyou Gamer!^note Click open wide: Invincible! Shine Bright! Like A True Shooting Star! The Ultimate Gamer, Clad In Gold! Hyper Muteki Ex-Ai~d!

• Action RPG: Drago Knight Hunter Z, more specifically based on Monster Hunter and similar games. The basis for all four Hunter Gamer Level 5 forms, with each carrying a piece of the full armor, Ex-Aid's piece being the chest-mounted body armor/biter "Fang". Ex-Aid can also take the full armor for himself as Full Dragon rather than share it, but despite looking much more impressive, this form is considerably weaker and harder to use.
• Anime Hair: Ex-Aid proudly sports a set of spiky pink hair on his helmet. Double Action Gamer replaces it with a half-shaved head and spiky cyan/orange hair on the other half, while Muteki Gamer instead sports long golden dreadlocks.
• Art Attacker: Gains a paintbrush with the Novel Gamer.
• Badass Longcoat: Sports pink coat tails as Creator Gamer.
• Cool Sword:
  • The Gashacon Breaker can switch into sword mode.
  • Gets a second in the Gashacon Keyslasher.
• Cool Helmet: Gains one in his Robot Action Gamer Level 3 form, which comes with a familiar V-fin.
• Double X: His Double Action Gamer Level XX form(s) from using Mighty Brothers XX Gashat; The Gamer Level is read as the Roman numeral twenty while the Gashat is pronounced as Double X.
• Explosive Overclocking: Hyper Muteki can only be used for ten seconds by other Riders in order to prevent this, while Ex-Aid's Muteki Gamer form instead features hair that vents the excess heat and prevents the suit from exploding from just how overclocked it is.
• Faster Than They Look: With how tall and bulky Maximum Gamer Level 99 is, one would expect it to be a Mighty Glacier. As Genm would attest to though, it's as fast as it is tough.
• Finishing Move:
  • Mighty Critical Strike: Charging energy into his right foot, Ex-Aid performs an acrobatic display of kicks, hitting the target multiple times. Alternatively, with the Creator Gamer, fires a series of rockets drawn by him.
  • Mighty Critical Finish:
    • Hammer Mode: The Gashacon Breaker is swung into the ground, the energy within knocking a foe away.
    • Blade Mode: Ex-Aid slashes an enemy with the Gashacon Breaker.
  • Bakusou Critical Strike: Ex-Aid rams an enemy with the Bike Gamer. Alternatively, with the Proto Bakusou Bike Gashat, he throws the Armed Units at the enemy and does a flying kick similar to a pincer attack.
  • Bakusou Critical Finish: Using the Gashacon Breaker on Blade Mode, Ex-Aid slashes an enemy while riding the Bike Gamer.
  • Taikono Tatsujin Critical Strike: An Attack Reflector using taiko sticks by matching the rhythm of the enemy's attacks.
  • Pac Critical Strike: Ex-Aid leaps at the enemy, generating a giant Pac-Man which bites down on its target.
  • Kaigan Critcal Strike:: Ex-Aid, alongside Ghost, performs a flying kick into the enemy while enveloped in spiritual energy.
  • Full Throttle Critical Strike: Ex-Aid focuses power on his right leg, causing it to glow red before slamming it into the enemy through a flying kick. Alternatively, he summons Tridoron to form a whirlwind around his enemy, before he jumps at the Tridoron and kicks off of it, then strikes his enemy, which sends him back to Tridoron, happening multiple times until Ex-Aid comes in for the final kick, similar to Drive's Speedrop.
  • Toukenden ^note Legendary Blade Critical Strike: Ex-Aid jumps, engulfed with orange energy before striking his opponent with a kick.
  • Toukenden Critical Finish: Using the Gashacon Breaker on Blade Mode, Ex-Aid traps his enemy with a giant energized orange before slashing them with orange slices.
  • Ganbarizing Critical Finish: Channeling the power of all previous Kamen Riders before him, forming the Ganbarizing logo as a result, Ex-Aid uses the Gashacon Breaker on Hammer Mode to smash an enemy, causing the logo to explode thunder and create a massive explosion.
  • Gekitotsu Critical Strike: Charging energy into the robot fist, Ex-Aid fires it at his target which rockets them forward until they collide with something, at which point Ex-Aid rushes forward and punches his fist back into the robot arm, hitting the target with a massive amount of force.
  • Ju Ju Critical Strike: Ex-Aid prepares a dish of hamburger to deliver to his client.
  • Drago Knight Critical Strike: Charging energy, Ex-Aid breathes fireballs at his foe.
  • Mighty Taddle Critical Finish: Using the Gashacon Breaker on Blade Mode and the Gashacon Sword on Ice Mode, Ex-Aid creates an ice path with the sword while also freezing the enemy, before sliding on it to perform two powerful slashes against them.
  • Mighty Double Critical Strike: Charging energy into opposite feet, the Brothers perform a series of rapid acrobatic kicks, rejoining into Lv. 10, before hitting the target again and jumping into the air, and ending with a double Diving Kick.
  • Mighty Brothers Critical Finish: The Brothers use both their Gashacon Key Slashers, either in Axe or Blade Mode to slash the enemy.
  • Robots Action Critical Finish: Inserting the Gekitotsu Robots and Mighty Action X Gashats on their Gashacon Key Slashers, the Brothers deliver two energy blast that materialize in the form on the Mighty and Robot Gamers.
  • Knock Out Critical Knuckle: Ex-Aid alongside Para-DX delivers a powerful punch at an enemy.
  • Maximum Critical Break: Ex-Aid punches into the ground to send the enemy flying into the air, then jumps after it and delivers a kick to it as the enemy descends. It also contains the Reprogramming effect, removing any of opponent's enhancement.
  • Maximum Mighty Critical Finish:
    • Blade Mode: Ex-Aid charges the Gashacon Key Slasher with fire before slashing an enemy with it.
    • Gun Mode: Ex-Aid surrounds himself with energy before shooting an enemy with the Gashacon Key Slasher.
  • Hyper Critical Sparking: Ex-Aid delivers a series of Flash Step kicks that do no apparent damage until a few moments after all of them connect. A variant with the Gashacon Keyslasher sees him deliver a barrage of blindingly quick golden slashes with the same delayed reaction effect.
  • Doctor Mighty Critcal Finish: Using the Gashacon Key Slasher on Blade Mode, Ex-Aid slashes the enemy with it. This attack is capable of depleting Gamedeus' virus.
  • Novel Critical Destiny: Ex-Aid delivers a Rider Kick.
• Flash Step: Muteki Gamer's Hyper Critical Sparking looks like a Teleport Spam, but is officially him moving with such Super-Speed it looks like he's teleporting. Turns out he can do it without the Finishing Move, but has some difficulty actually controlling it, as the first time he did it he actually stepped passed the target.
• Fragile Speedster: JuJu Burger has no real upgrades to physical combat, being based off of a game about cooking. On the other hand, its skates give the user great agility and speed, to the point of dodging shots from Snipe without trouble.
• Game Maker: Mighty Creator VRX, the basis for Ex-Aid's movie-exclusive Creator Gamer form. Based on games like Super Mario Maker, as well as VR gaming, it features Mighty and Ex-Aid himself wearing a transparent VR headset. It provides Ex-Aid with an Imagination-Based Superpower in the form of being able to create sketch-like constructs of any object or weapon he can imagine.
• Golden Super Mode:
  • Muteki Gamer, his final form. Notably, it's the first Rider of the 2010s to have a Golden Super Mode that's not just a movie exclusive recolor of their normal Super Mode and the first one period since Kiva's Emperor Form. Judging by the 'box art', it represents one for Mighty (the character he's based off of) as well.
  • His Bike Action Gamer Level 0 form is this to an extent as it greatly enhances Ex-Aid's strength and speed while giving him a bright yellow color scheme and additional weapons courtesy of fusing with Lazer's Bike Gamer.
• Healing Shiv: He heals patients of the Bugster virus by whacking'n'slashing the infection out of the patient. And they actually call this an "operation".
• Infinity +1 Sword: Invoked with the Hyper Muteki Gashat, which was intentionally made by Kuroto to counter and replace the power of Cronus (the original Infinity +1 Sword for Kamen Rider Chronicle that Masamune hijacked) and make defeating both Kamen Rider Cronus and Gamedeus possible.
• Invincibility Power-Up: It's the basis for the Hyper Muteki Gashat. When it's used by another rider, it gives 10-seconds of super speed and invincibility, also immunity to Cronus' Pause. As for Ex-Aid...
  "My invincibility has no time limit!"
• Jack of All Stats: He's not as strong as Brave or Snipe, and he's not as fast as Lazer. However, he has better agility than Brave, can take more hits than Snipe and Lazer, and, unlike Lazer in his Level 2 form, is physically capable of fighting without aid. His higher forms also follow this trend, with Sports Action Gamer, Hunter Action Gamer, Double Action Gamer and Maximum Gamer all being all-around upgrades rather than emphasizing any one statistic. Only Robot Action Gamer and Burger Action Gamer buck the trend.
• Lightning Bruiser:
  • Maximum Gamer Level 99 is one of the few forms that retains this status for a considerable period. Despite its size and bulk, Ex-Aid remains quite fast while wearing the armor, and by ejecting from it he can regain the mobility of his Level 2 form while retaining the raw power of Level 99. These features are often more useful than the reprogramming function of the Gashat, which is difficult to use except as a surprise attack and on one occasion (against Parado) even proves an active hindrance.
  • Muteki Gamer is even stronger than Maximum Gamer, dominating every other Rider in the show in terms of strength, speed, and durability alike. After this form debuts, the Big Bad has to resort to underhanded methods to defeat Emu, as beating him in direct combat is no longer an option. While Gamedeus and Gamedeus Cronus can provide Emu with a suitable challenge in this form by being able to knock him back by impact and endure Ex-Aid's attacks, they cannot give him a Game Over nor force him out of his transformation, and at seven episodes before they appear it holds the record for the longest period that a Rider form stays unchallenged at the top in Ex-Aid.
• Meaningful Name: The "ex" in Ex-Aid's name stands for "extreme". So his full Rider name would be "Extreme Aid". Fitting, as he's curing the Bugster virus first via a hammer on a cellular level and then by kicking them into oblivion.
• Mecha Game: Gekitotsu Robots, the basis for Ex-Aid's Robot Action Gamer Level 3 form. It equips him with a huge robotic hand on his left arm and greatly increases his physical power. Maximum Mighty X is also based on this genre, specifically on games like Kirby: Planet Robobot where a platformer hero pilots a Mini-Mecha.
• Mid-Season Upgrade: Double Action Gamer Level XX and Maximum Gamer Level 99.
• Mighty Glacier: Downplayed. In Robot Action Gamer form, he loses a bit of agility, but it's a rather small price to pay in exchange for the large amount of power he gets.
• No-Sell: Kamen Rider Cronus's Time Stands Still ability simply doesn't work against his Muteki Gamer form. Even if he's mid transformation at the time.
• Numerological Motif: Maximum Gamer Level 99. Besides the level number, all of its stats are associated with 99. ^note  It can punch and kick with the force of 99 tons, jump 99 meters in the air, and run 100 meters in 0.99 seconds. Hyper Muteki is instead associated with 128, the value of a signed byte.
• Obvious Rule Patch:
  • Maximum Mighty X was created to be the patch. It allows Emu to access Maximum Gamer, which has the power to apply Nerfs via reprogramming, it was the only way to counter Zombie Gamer's Resurrective Immortality and make Genm vulnerable again.
  • Likewise Hyper Muteki was created to be one for Kamen Rider Cronus, basically being another Infinity +1 Sword so something could stand up to the other Infinity +1 Sword.
• Original Character: In universe. Mighty Brothers XX is based off drawings Emu made as a child, given life by his Bugster infection. Again with Maximum Mighty X as it's created by Emu's imaginations as the progenitor of all Bugsters and Rider Gashats.
• Palette Swap: His Pac Action Gamer form is just his Robot Action Gamer form with two gauntlets and a golden-colored breastplate. Ex-Aid himself can be considered a pink palette swap of Genm given how the so-called "Black Ex-Aid" was created first.
• Platform Game:
  • Mighty Action X, the basis for Ex-Aid's primary Action Gamer Level 1 & 2 forms. It bestows great mobility, allowing amazing jumps in a Mario-esque fashion. It also gives him the same ability as Genm to summon digital platforms in midair while he's fighting.
  • Mighty Brothers XX is also based on this genre, but more specifically on 2-player co-op platformers like New Super Mario Bros. Wii.
• Power Fist: Gekitotsu Robots gives him one for his left arm.
• Power-Strain Blackout: Triggered by his first few uses of Mighty Brothers XX. It gets better.
• Prehensile Hair: As shown in #40, Muteki Gamer's dreadlocks are capable of grabbing onto enemies to toss them around.
• Primary-Color Champion: Inverted. Ex-Aid is mostly pink with green accents and orange eyes but is firmly on the side of the heroes. The same can be said with his Double X form(s), where both halves are colored bluish-green with orange, albeit reversed.
• Purposefully Overpowered: Muteki Gamer is definitely overpowered, but it was also created to counter the equally Purposefully Overpowered Cronus and Gamedeus.
• Puzzle Game: Juju Burger, the basis for Ex-Aid's Burger Action Gamer Level 4 form. It equips him with rollerblades as well as ketchup and mustard guns on his wrists. The game itself combines elements of puzzle games like Diner Dash with what appears to be Jet Set Radio.
• Real Men Wear Pink: Ex-Aid's main color is pink.
• Rocket Punch: Naturally, being a mecha themed form, Robot Action Gamer Level 3 Ex-Aid's finisher is this.
• Rollerblade Good: Juju Burger grants him a pair of rollerblades and a helmet.
• Service Sector Stereotypes: Burger Action Gamer screams the Burger Fool stereotype. He has the helmet and skates often seen on drive-thru fast food waiters, and even has condiments on his arms.
• Sports Game: Shakariki Sports, the basis for Ex-Aid's Sports Action Gamer Level 3 form. It equips him with a set of shoulder-mounted Deadly Discs and improves his all-around performance.
• Star Power: The whole motif of Hyper Muteki is this. Using it as a secondary Gashat gives the user invincibility shown by star glitters like a certain game. Meanwhile, Muteki Gamer form evokes that of a shooting star, with the dreads always flowing to give an effect of a star's trail, more prominent in this◊ image.
• Story-Breaker Power: Hyper Muteki was created to be completely invincible, and whenever it's used, it more than lives up to that intention. Unlike most Super Modes in Kamen Rider though, rather than introduce an enemy that can overpower it, there are usually circumstances that keep Emu from actually using it. Furthermore, every battle is under a strict time limit to cure the patient so outright defeating Hyper Muteki isn't required for the villains to win. And for the record, this Super Mode is actually unbeatable by any villains of the series, the first in any Second Phase Heisei series!
• Strong and Skilled: Once he gets his Super Modes, he becomes this. He's not only the physically most powerful Rider and has invincibility, he's still the 'Genius Gamer' and by far the most skilled Rider in terms of their video game powers. This is especially true when fighting Cronus, who is Unskilled, but Strong.
• Swiss-Army Weapon:
  • Ex-Aid's Gashacon Breaker can switch between hammer mode and sword mode with just a press of the "A" button. B increases the number of blows that land, based on the number of presses.
  • The Gashacon Keyslasher doesn't require a physical change to utilize its three modes. Just hit the button of the mode you need (Sword, Gun, Axe) and you're set. Multiple presses increase damage done.
• Sword of Plot Advancement: Mighty Brothers XX is the Gashat that first grants the sword which serves as Ex-Aid's primary weapon for the remainder of the show, and long after its utility as a combat tool has passed, the Gashat itself and the truth of what it actually does drives a considerable segment of the plot.
• Technician Versus Performer: The performer to Genm's technician. While his fighting style is flashy, focuses on agility, and makes use of energy items to win, Genm uses simple, yet effective brutal attacks to overpower his opponents and keep them down.
• Technicolor Eyes: Muteki Gamer's eyes are rainbow colored.
• Video Game Genres: Ex-Aid has access to a wide array of game-based powers, depending on what game in the form of a Gashat is inserted in his Gamer Driver.
• Visual Novel: Mighty Novel X, the basis for Ex-Aid's Novel Gamer Level X form. Turning him into a monochrome version of his Action Gamer Level 2 form, it has Reality-warping powers that surpass Hyper Muteki.
• Weak, but Skilled: His Level 2 is the Jack of All Stats when it comes to statistics and powers, but he's by far the most skilled in regards to actual video game mechanics and taking advantage of them. It's eventually averted, as he grows into the highest-level Rider of all.
  • Of his 3 notable power ups Mighty Brothers becomes this once the other 2 are introduced. While it lacks the power and reprogramming ability of Maximum Mighty X or the outright invincibity of Muteki Gamer, it still turns him into two Rider's and gives Emu a number advantage and allows for cooperative attacks. Especially once Parado teams up with him and becomes the other Ex-Aid in the combo.
• You Are Already Dead: Muteki Gamer's Hyper Critical Sparking does this: with Ex-Aid delivering a Flash Step combo kick that seems to do no damage... then all the damage hits them at once a few seconds later. He even plays this trope straight almost word for word after unleashing another Hyper Critical Sparking in the form of sword slashes upon a Bugster.

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