Fanfic / Koihime†Musou: Tales of the Armored War Gods

Koihime Musou: Tales of the Armored War Gods is a crossover fanfic between Kamen Rider Gaim and Koihime†Musou, written by Kamen Rider Chrome and Ten-Faced Paladin. This pairing of authors shouldn't be surprising to some readers, given they also did Rosario to Kiva , Kamen Rider OOO: The Metals of Ikki Tousen, and Love Hina Double Trouble.

Nagata Oda is an average Japanese teen who loves Tokusatsu and happens to be quite knowledgeable in both that and Romance of the Three Kingdoms. However, all that changes when he just happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and ends up transported into an alternate version of ancient China. Upon a run in with a group of bandits, he discovers that his Sengoku Driver and Lockseeds have become real, allowing him to transform into Kamen Rider Gaim. At the same time, he meets a girl introducing herself as Kanu Unchou (Guan Yu), much to his confusion. Kanu, thinking that he is the Messenger of Heaven, pledges her loyalty to him, to which he ultimately decides to follow her as he literally has nowhere else to go, deciding to give his supposed role a shot. However, further complicating things is the appearance of the Confrontation Beast-Fist (Rinjuken) Akugata who seem intent on changing history, along with the news that he is not the only one who had come to this world, as word of various other riders who have joined various factions reach him.

The fanfic is part one of a series of fics called the "Sangokuden Armored War Gods Saga", with six sequels published.

• Legends of the Armored War Gods (Part two)
• Destiny of the Armored War Gods (Part three)
• Alliance of the Armored War Gods (Part four)
• Age of the Armored War Gods (Part five)
• End of the Armored War Gods (I) (Part six)
• End of the Armored War Gods (II) (Part seven; falsely claimed to be final)
• End of the Armored War Gods (III) (Part eight; after another extension)

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This fanfic contains examples of:

• Action Girl: Its Koihime†Musou, duh.
  • Faux Action Girl: Though in reality, all of the female characters accomplish nothing of note, never win any fights, nor are they even shown fighting in favor of the guys.
• Adaptational Wimp: ** The Rin-Jyu-Ken went back in time to gather Rinshi from ancient China because they feared modern weapons. Anyone who's watched Juken Sentai Gekiranger can tell you that people with modern weapons are helpless against them.
• Alternate Universe: The Koihime Musou version of China is already an Alternate Universe, and this fic is essentially an Alternate Universe of canon, as it follows the anime storyline, but still has aspects of the visual novel, particularly the part about the 'Messenger of Heaven'.
  • Its later revealed that the Armored War Gods belonged to a world where almost every single anime character, alternate versions might add lived there but lived normal lifes. For example:
    • Kurokage's parents are the AU version of Kirito and Asuna from SAO and his older sister is Yui.
• Amazon Chaser: Played with, since it varies from rider to rider. Masataka (Kamen Rider Zangetsu), Hideyoshi (Kamen Rider Gridon) and Kenshin (Kamen Rider Kurokage) play this straight, while Iori (Kamen Rider Ryugen) and Nagata (Kamen Rider Gaim) play with it, since they already end up in a relationship. Inverted with Haru (Kamen Rider Knuckle). In the second season, it is revealed that Mitsuki had been playing it straight secretly, and has ultimately ended up in an actual relationship as of chapter 4 of Legends.
• Anachronism Stew: Lampshaded by Nagata, as well as a few other Riders, on how different this version of China is.
• Ascended Fanboy: Most of the Riders were fans of the show before coming to ancient China and gaining actual powers.
• Big Bad: The Rinjyuken, particularly the Five Femme Fists at first. Turns out that its actually Ukitsu and the Genesis Riders
• Big Good: As per the visual novel, Chosen fills this role.
• Black Comedy: Nagata and the chicken
  Nagata: Die, you evil chicken! Die! You're Dinner! Die!
• Catapult Nightmare: After having a nightmare of a bloodied Gaim, Nagata wakes up in fright due to the experience.
• Combat Pragmatist: As the Riders are all quite Genre Savvy (some more than others), they aren't shy to break a few traditions. Top of the list being that they are not afraid to hit below the belt, especially against the Rinrinshi.
• Compelling Voice: Introducing another addition to the list of MacGuffins is the "Crucial Keys to the Way of Peace" which allowed the Chou Sisters to hypnotize people by the power of their songs.
• Cool Versus Awesome: When against four big Evolved Inves, Gaim and Zangetsu take out the big guns... or watermelons, rather. Suika Arms SMASH!
• Curb-Stomp Battle: One clear example would be at the beginning of the first chapter of Legends. This is also related to Too Dumb to Live. You'd think by now the bandits would have learned from their previous encounters against teens with Kamen Rider powers.
  • In the first arc of "End of the Armored War Gods", when Braco shows up, he easily trounced the Armored War Gods and the Sovereigns.
  • The new Bujin Gaim has also shows he's able to fight the four Sovereigns singlehandedly. He also defeated the Genesis Riders with ease.
• Chef of Iron: Nagata Oda
• Darkest Hour:
  • In the finale chapter of Ages, The Armored War Gods were defeated and poisoned by the Five Poisons supercharged by the Seal of Heaven, and the Femme Fatales are kicked out of their base.
  • Bujin Gaim succesfully taking possession of Nagata's body and soul.
  • A point of contention is the fact that this story has hit so many of these that it's gotten hard to care.
• Darker and Edgier: As soon as the existence of the Genesis Riders is revealed, the story takes a noticeably darker turn.
• Deus ex Machina: In chapter 8 of Destiny, Chosen comes out of nowhere and helps the Armored War Gods.
• Don't Touch It, You Idiot!: When Ensho picked up Sonshoko's Lockseed and fiddles with it, she accidentally summons the Shinka Inves who startles her, leading to the Lockseed to be dropped. This and it being unlocked leads to not only the Inves to go berserk, the portal remains open allowing more Inves to enter.
• Doorstopper: If given the Omnibus treatment, the series weighs at a hearty 770,072 words. Adding the Spirit of Heroes anthology, as of its 4th chapter, boosts it further to 782,613.
• Evil Counterpart: The Genesis Riders are this to the Armored War Gods.
• Fangirl: Ryuubi is this to Nagata.
• Fan Disservice: Again, Chosen. Lampshaded quite nicely by the Riders.
• Fate Worse than Death: What happens to the fake Ryuubi in the epilogue. May also double as Karmic Death or Laser-Guided Karma.
• First Girl Wins: All the Riders who are in a relationship are with the first girl (within an 'acceptable' age range) whom they meet upon appearing in China
• Flashback: When a new rider appears, that said rider will tell a story to our main characters (usually Nagata) about the events prior to the current events.
• Flat Character: All of the Armored War Gods receive little characterization except which is told to the audience in Info Dumps when they first show up. Nine times out of ten they're just watered-down versions of the main cast of Kamen Rider Gaim.
• Foreshadowing: At the end of chapter 10, Masataka pulls something out of his pocket and it turns out to be the Melon Energy Lockseed which indicates a future appearance of the Genesis Riders. They finally show up in chapter 6 of Legends.
• From Bad to Worse: Elementary and Beserker State Inves are bad enough, but it takes to a whole new level when Sonshoko accidentally drops her Lockseed near her summoned Inves who devours it and transforms itself into its Evolved State.
• Gender Flip: The Riders who were familiar with Romance of the Three Kingdoms were VERY confused by this.
• Genre Savvy: A good number of the Riders are quite familiar with Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the armor they're using, as well as various common tropes in entertainment, which they often use to their advantage.
• Groin Attack:
  • In Chapter 4, Mitsuki calls Sousou a Loli (something she hates) several times during their argument, resulting in Sousou to aim for the 'unit' much to his dismay.
  • In Season 6, during the fight against the Venom Fists, Chulainn falls victim to this. First by Sorisa and then by Braco.
    Chulainn: "She keeps hitting me in the dick! Why!? Why does she keep hitting me in the dick!?"
• Happily Married: Iori (Kamen Rider Ryugen) and Kochu
• Hostage For Macguffin: Iori and Kochu are forced to do horrible deeds to save Riri's life.
• Lighter and Softer: Especially when compared to Kamen Rider Gaim, since despite their rivalries, all the riders are on good terms with each other, rather than practically being at each others throats like in canon. It helps that all of them are from the real world and thus have different (though they are all expies to a certain extent of characters from Gaim) personalities than the original riders in Gaim, added with a good dose of Genre Savvy and With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility for each Rider. It also probably helps that the person writing the story is NOT the Urobutcher. Special mention goes to Mitsuki Akechi (Kamen Rider Baron), who despite having a somewhat similar backstory to Kaito Kumon, is depicted as having stronger morals than Kaito. Also, Iori Tokugawa (Kamen Rider Ryugen), who despite having an almost identical backtsory to Mitsuzane Kureshima, is shown as being more trustworthy. However, the series' bloated lifespan has given way to more dark twists and topics like murder, slavery, rape and the horrors of war, leading the fic to actually become Darker and Edgier than Gaim. The fact that the series has had multiple Darkest Hours should be a red flag that this isn't a lighter version of Gaim.
• Love Triangle: Played for laughs in Legends between Ryuubi, Kanu, and Nagata, since Ryuubi tries a little too hard (with some VERY obvious attempts), yet somehow Kanu remains more or less oblivious to the girl's rather obvious crush on her boyfriend, and all the while Nagata is PAINFULLY aware of Ryuubi's attempts, but still remains loyal to Kanu while not really doing anything, most likely to avoid hurting Ryuubi's feelings. Of course, it helps too that Nagata seems to think of Ryuubi as more of a Fangirl.
• Make My Monster Grow: FINALLY happens in chapter 8 of Destiny.
• Messianic Archetype: All the Riders are thought to be Messengers of Heaven, making them VERY desirable for all factions.
• Misapplied Phlebotinum: The Rin-Jyu-Ken had a one shot time travel spell that they used to go back in time to gather the Rinshi to revive their defeated leader, Dai Shi. If they could time travel you've gotta wonder why they never bothered to go back and just prevent Dai Shi's original defeat instead.
• Mutagenic Food: While we get to see Helheim Forest in its first debut, we get to see the dangers of it as well. The Mandrill Rinshi, Sarugoku, ate the forest's fruit, turning him into an even more monstrous version of himself.
• New Powers as the Plot Demands: The Armored War Gods tend to get power ups that are never foreshadowed and with no build up or explanation like the Parka Ghosts or being the reincarnation of Oda Nobunaga simply for the sake of having the powers.
• Nosebleed: When Masataka first arrived at Ancient China, he finds himself in the women's bath used by Sonsaku and Shuyu, the two having their 'private time' at the time. Upon seeing them nude, the poor boy commences the geyser of blood, much to the listener's (Nagata's) amusement and Masataka's embarrassment.
  • Kakuka whenever she has her 'fantasies'. It actually helps stop an attempt to assassinate Sousou in the bath
• Odd Couple: While these two may have their squabbles, Hideyoshi and Kenshin can cooperate as was shown when they both took on the Wolf Ririnshi and succeed unlike the original Gridon and Kurokage.
• One-Man Army: From the Showa Era to the Heisei Era, Kamen Riders are a force to be reckoned with. So far, Nagata and the others have done this tradition proud.
• Only Sane Man: Very much averted (thankfully), as most of the cast, and ALL the Riders are more or less perfectly stable, sane, and down to Earth young men who all have working moral compasses, unlike their counterparts in Gaim. Of course, it helps that they WEREN'T picked by the local jerkass Lock dealer Sid who picked the people most likely to escalate conflicts. The list is as follows:
  • Nagata Oda: Similar to Kota in idealism and personality, but more down to Earth and pragmatic. He also shows a better acceptance to the reality that sometimes taking lives is inevitable, but still tries to solve issues peacefully whenever possible.
  • Mitsuki Akechi: Shares a similar backstory to Kaito, but instead of gaining an obsession with strength, he simply dislikes people who simply talk without the strength to back it up, or people who take credit that they do not deserve (example: fake Ryuubi). While he still likes to test his strength, he doesn't go to the crazy extent that Kaito does, and he is also quite friendly in certain situations, making him more of a Jerk with a Heart of Gold. Also, he doesn't have Kaito's over-sized pride.
  • Iori Tokugawa: Shares an almost identical backstory to Mitsuzane, but unlike Mitsuzane, he only resents his parents and does understand that his older brother really did care for him. Also, while he does have his trickster side, he doesn't have the darker side that Mitsuzane has and is quite happy being Happily Married to Kochu and being a Papa Wolf to Riri. Until the Yomutsuheguri Lockseed came into play.
  • Takada Hideyoshi: While he plays a similar role to Jonouchi in the dynamic duo of Gridon and Kurokage (him being the brain), its shown that unlike Jonouchi, he is not a Manipulative Bastard and really does care for Kenshin as his friend. He also works better with Kenshin and as a result, has better fighting skills than Jonouchi.
  • Ushio Kenshin: Like Hideyoshi, he plays a similar role to Hase in the dynamic duo of Gridon and Kurokage (him being the brawn), and while he does have quite a lot of similarities to Hase, the biggest difference is that he and Hideyoshi share a real bond of friendship, allowing them to work together more effectively, thus making them much better fighters than Jonouchi and Hase ever were.
  • Haru Hattori: Not enough info, as Zack has barely enough screen time to flush out a character. Though Haru seems to enjoy fighting more than Zack does.
  • Masataka Miyamoto: Unlike the others, he is by far the most radically different rider, mainly because he has little to none of Takatora's character traits. Unlike Takatora, Masataka isn't a loner, shows far more emotions, and is far less rigid than Takatora (he does have a strong conviction, but he isn't shy to listen to others). All in all, he is a MUCH more likeable character compared to Takatora.
  • Marcus Date: Similar to Orren, he has a strong love of arts, particularly fine arts, tends to pepper his speech with french words, AND even has some basic military training. However, what really sets Marcus aside from Orren, is that while he shares quite a bit of Orren's eccentric personality, Marcus respects other people's views of art and doesn't go out of his way to force his views of art on other people the way Orren tries to do to the Beat Riders in canon.
• Pre-Asskicking One-Liner: Each Rider has their own line that they like to say before fighting.
  • Gaim: Kamen Rider Gaim! Arriving on stage!
  • Baron: Kamen Rider Baron! Advancing!
  • Ryugen: Kamen Rider Ryugen! I always hit my mark!
  • Zangetsu: Kamen Rider Zangetsu...Authorized by Divine Providence
  • Gridon: Kamen Rider Gridon! It's Hammer Time!
  • Kurokage: Kamen Rider Kurokage! Ready to strike!
  • Knuckle: Kamen Rider Knuckle! Sanjou!
  • Bravo: Kamen Rider Bravo! Let's rock and roll!
  • Sigurd: Kamen Rider Sigurd. Unbreakable under God.
• Red Baron: Each Rider has one thanks to how they were seen by the locals.
  • Gaim: Armored War God of the Ultimate Sword
  • Baron: Armored War God of the Ultimate Spear
  • Knuckle: Armored War God of the Ultimate Fist
  • Ryugen: Armored War God of the Ultimate Eye
  • Zangetsu: Armored War God of the Ultimate Shield
  • Gridon: Armored War God of the Ultimate Hammer
  • Kurokage: Armored War God of the Ultimate Cutter
  • Bravo: Armored War God of the Ultimate Fury
• Riddle for the Ages: It's never explained how being sucked into China somehow makes Kamen Rider toys real.
• Rogues' Gallery Transplant: Instead of the Inves, the major antagonistic force are the RinJyuKen (with a dash of Dai Shi).
• Satellite Love Interest: Every Koihime Musou girl is one of these. They have no personality but loving the Armored War God that is their designated boyfriend.
• Screw Destiny: What the RinJyuKen, and to a lesser extent, Masataka (Kamen Rider Zangetsu), intend to do. However, only the RinJyuKen are portrayed as being with malicious intent.
• Sequel Hook: The Femme Fatale Fists punishing Fake Ryubi and plan their next attack against the Armored War Gods
  • Happens again in Legends as Ukitsu's faction make further plans, as well as reveal that they are the Genesis Riders
  • Really it'd be easier to say every single installment ends on one since the author can't commit to an endgame.
• Ship Tease: Nagata and Kanu, who are often mistaken as a married couple. They become an official couple at the end.
• Sneeze Cut: When Haru mentions about Nagata's excellent cooking, the scene shifts to Nagata sneezing who comments about someone talking about him.
• Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism: Discussed several times, particularly for Nagata, who dislikes killing, but admits that it is necessary at times.
• Stout Strength: Despite Knuckle being based on the Medieval squire and is using a Lockseed, ranked lower than notable A Classes like Gaim's, Haru, having being trained in hand-to-hand combat was able to fully utilize the Kurumi Arms at its peak when he hold his ground against the Rhino Beast.
• Team-Up Series: Each time a new Rider is introduced, the chapter always culminates in Nagata working together with said Rider. Also, as a whole, despite being on different sides, the Riders are on good terms with each other.
• Theme Naming: All the Riders have family names based on Japanese figures from the country's own Sengoku period.
• Took a Level in Badass: Remember that loser "Nise"? Yeah, the guy who had to steal someone's name so he can become famous? Remember how he ran like a bitch? Remember how he tried to become Gaim? Remember how he became pale imitations of Bujin Gaim and Zangetsu-Shin? Well, in the recent "End of the Armored War Gods", Nise is back but he's not the same guy. Ryugen killed him but his vengeful spirit could not rest. Now, Bujin Gaim is back and he's not the wimp he used to be? How does he prove it? By surviving Ryujin Gaim's finisher, possessing Nagata's body, and curb stomping the Sovereigns all on his own! He even beat the Genesis Riders without breaking a sweat! Talk about Villain Upgrade.
• Trapped in Another World: What happens to Nagata and all the other Riders.
• Two Guys and a Girl: Hideyoshi and Kenshin comically fight for Ryofu's affections.
• Underestimating Badassery: When Bandits confront an Armored War God for the first time, they just think they can mob him since he is just one man. Sadly, they are wrong. DEAD wrong
• Villain Ball: Every villain holds this. They are written to be as foolish and sleazy as possible solely to make the heroes look good.
• Villain Team-Up: Had it with the Armored War Gods getting in their way, the Rinshi and Bandits form an alliance to take out their common enemies once and for all, starting with the Armored War God of the Ultimate Sword. It didn't work.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: Mitsuki and Sousou or Hideyoshi and Kenshin.
• With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility: Despite being in a PERFECT position to either use their powers for their own gain, or even manipulating events, none of the Riders have abused their power OR their knowledge, with the farthest any of them going being using their powers to make a living (often as bandit hunters at that, which is actually a public service). Even Masataka's actions which are more or less giving Go an advantage are all done with good intentions.
  • The Genesis Riders on the other hand... Justified, as the leader of their group is the Big Bad of the Visual Novel