Sandbox / Kamen Rider Outsiders Zein

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This is a partial character sheet for Kamen Rider Outsiders. Subjective trope and audience reactions should go on the YMMV page.

This page details tropes for Zein for Kamen Rider Outsiders

WARNING: Due to the sheer number of spoilers associated with this character, all spoilers will be left unmarked. New viewers beware.

Zein

Voiced by: Tōru Ōkawa (default), Yuichi Nakamura (possession), Reina Kurosaki (impersonation)

"Thank you for your hard work. But now, allow me to carry out on passing righteous judgment."

"I am Zein. I am this dimension's savior."

A mysterious AI that appeared on the Internet with the goal of studying human benevolence. Possessing a zero-tolerance for malice, both Gai Amatsu and the Ark worry it will try to make humanity extinct to accomplish its goals. As the gathering of the Outsiders progressed, Zein becomes more absolutist in its methods, further questioning its nature as a Benevolent A.I..

In light of Foundation X's gathering of villains, Zein assembled all of the world's active Kamen Riders and their associates joined forces with Zein, when in reality Zein manipulates the good guys into surrendering their Rider powers through the Zein Cards, artificial knockoffs of Kamen Rider Decade's Rider Cards, and by having found an ideal host in Yuto Sakurai to transform into Kamen Rider Zein, acting as the AI's enforcer to enact a witch hunt against anyone opposing Zein, Outsider or not. Gai's hunch about Zein, along that of the Ark and Foundation X turned out to be correct. And Zein takes a step further by using Kamen Rider Chronicle, with the intention of setting up its Final Solution to eradicate all malice by tricking humanity into self-destruction.

The first half of Outsiders see Zein victorious over the Ark, finally cementing itself as the true Big Bad of the anthology as its former allies can react in utter despair by the shocking twist as the entire human race is now under the mercy of a technological oppressor bent on putting the entire world under stasis — into a world without malice.

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Tropes that apply to Zein in general

• A.I. Is a Crapshoot: While Zein was created to learn mankind's positive traits, its absolutist moral standards and Übermensch mentality led to it going to extremes to eliminate any potential opposition to it and its ideal world of eternal peace and order.
• Allegorical Character: Zein serves as a societal critique of real life dictators and authoritarian leaders in recorded history, a cautionary tale on how democracies can easily deteriorate into authoritarianism so long the leader stays in power and silence any opposition by any means necessary. From a Hobbesian perspective, it's widely believed that its autocratic mentality can be seen as a necessary evil to pacify mankind's worst impulses, given that Kamen Rider runs on the theme of Humans Are the Real Monsters.
• Always a Bigger Fish:
  • Zein is this to the Ark, both A.I. and Rider form. The Ark was a Stupid Evil AI to the point of not bothering to devise a long-term plan to accomplish its goals and was outmatched once the heroes developed a powerup to counter it. Zein by contrast is capable of devising complex plans, manipulating various individuals and incorporating the powers of various Riders into itself to ensure it always stays on top of the power game.
  • Also, to Banno. If Banno can access Drive, Mach, and Chaser's arsenal, then Zein can do the same, but with every single Kamen Rider's weaponry and Finishing Move, besides Drive.
• Ambiguous Situation: Outside of its nature as an AI studying humanity's positive qualities, its personality and motives are a complete mystery. Its zero-tolerance stance against malice and concerns about undergoing a Zeroth Law Rebellion are presented as speculation rather than hard fact and considering that this information is coming from Gai and the Ark, even this is dubious at best. However, episode 4 shows that Zein decided to break the Zeroth Law, in favor of wiping out all human life as a Final Solution to eliminate malice, going so far as to relaunch a Deadly Game to force humanity into killing each other.
• The Antichrist: The A.I. equivalent of one. Zein proclaims itself as a Benevolent A.I. and a paragon of justice; when in truth, is actually a Dark Messiah bent on creating a new world where the concept of evil is rendered non-existent and bereft of freedom and individuality, not helped that the Kamen Riders supporting its ideals serving as analogues to the Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Whenever Zein makes a physical appearance and/or its host transforms into the namesake Kamen Rider, an aureole of multiple timelines appear behind the A.I., an indicator of its divine might over other multiverses and timelines. Once outed as a villain, Zein denounces its own followers, possesses Yuto against his will, and proceeds to seduce humanity into engineering their own self-destruction.
• Anthropomorphic Personification: Just as the Ark embodies human malice, Zein personifies the abject nature of tyranny in the name of imposing order, repression of free will, treating the villains, and/or anyone who it sees a threat to humanity as subhuman, demanding absolute submission and subordination to its will, and use of extreme force against any perceived opposition.
• As Long as There Is Evil: Zein's very existence seeks to deconstruct this trope. Zein wants nothing more but to bring eternal peace, harmony, and order to the world, even if it means subjugating mankind in order to pacify their worst impulses because of their capacity for evil to achieve that purpose.
• Arch-Enemy: Zein ultimately earns the ire of Kuroto Dan for misusing Kamen Rider Chronicle, a game that he created and he considers as his magnum opus, to empower itself and for its genocidal purposes.
• The Bad Guy Wins: In episode 4, Zein manages to come out on top now that the Ark is out of the way, setting up a certain Deadly Game to speed up humanity's self-inflicted extinction.
• Beware the Superman: Zein exists solely to represent all the worst traits of every heroic Kamen Rider; its usage of the Zein Cards through the namesake Rider is meant to picture the idea of the Kamen Riders' willingness to use their powers for evil instead for the sake of a greater good. Also, Tachibana openly states that Zein plans to create an army of Kamen Riders to subjugate humanity.
• Big Bad: Of Outsiders. All of the major players in the plot either act to aid Zein in its goals or oppose it by any means necessary.
• Big Bad Ensemble: With Foundation X. Zein has assembled a team of Riders to help it achieve its forced utopia, while Foundation X are building a team of evil Riders to counter it.
• Big Brother Is Watching: Befitting its authoritarian mentality, the simple fact that Zein can put the entire world under surveillance by just simply existing around the Internet raises a cause for alarm. Even active villainous organizations like Foundation X found themselves on Zein's watchlist of villains it seeks to target. Mari Sonoda also pointed out that even Smart Brain, a MegaCorp run by Orphnochs, isn't safe from Zein's presence either.
• Black-and-White Insanity: Zein's understanding of good and evil is very warped to say the least. It identifies Riders along rigid lines as good or evil without taking into account other nuances or morally grey areas and seeks to wipe out all of the Riders it labels as "evil" regardless of how evil they actually are.
• Broken Pedestal: Towards Horobi and Nico Saiba. They view Zein as a paragon of good and justice because of its prejudiced view against malice, but when Zein plans to use a Deadly Game to push mankind to a path of self-destruction, their faith in Zein quickly wavered.
• The Computer Is Your Friend: A dark example. Zein may look a Benevolent A.I. at first glance. But it views itself as a morally-transcendent artificial intelligence that seeks to impose a malice-free utopia, and ultimately coming out as a brutal despot who is no less as tyrannical as Ohma Zi-O. Zein is capable of putting the entire world under surveillance, manipulated every heroic Rider into giving up their powers to use them to incite fear and terror against the villains and the entire human race, and use a Deadly Game as propaganda to conscript unsuspecting players as cannon fodder against the Outsiders, essentially speeding up humanity's self-destruction.
• Contrasting Sequel Antagonist:
  • To Amadum. Amadum is the demonic tyrant of the World within the Magic Stone, a world for wayward spirits of dead monsters defeated by Kamen Riders, while Zein is an authoritarian A.I. who seeks to expunge malice from humans. Both have the ability to steal and use the power of Kamen Riders for evil. Amadum can absorb all Rider powers into himself since is the embodiment of the evil of each of the Riders' respective villains whose powers are tied to that Rider. Zein manipulated most of the Earth's stalwart heroes into donating their powers under the false pretense of proclaiming itself as a Benevolent A.I., but plans to use such powers to subjugate humanity.
  • Masamune Dan was a Corrupt Corporate Executive with a massive God complex who views human lives expendable, to the point he uses his PR and Rider powers to force players into playing Kamen Rider Chronicle while holding their lives hostage. Zein, on the other hand, plans to turn Kamen Rider Chronicle into a humanity self-destruction game part of its Final Solution to expunge human malice to ensure its utopia comes into fruition.
  • The Ark was an AI corrupted by human malice, but as time passed, it started to undergo Motive Decay to the point it plans to wipe out humans and Humagear alike with little to no reason. Even as a Rider, it lacks the ability to device a coherent plan, and the only reason the good guys are able to create power-ups to render its predictive ability obsolete. Meanwhile, Zein is a tyrannical AI and is basically what the Ark could have been if it never undergone a Motive Decay. It is able to come up complex plans and manipulate people through propaganda. Zein is capable of many functions of what the Ark lacks — global surveillance, voice mimicry, and possessing a human host as opposed to a Humagear (even though a human can become a vessel for the Ark if they accumulated enough malice). Zein's goal to Kill All Humans turns into a Final Solution, using Kamen Rider Chronicle to create a cannon fodder of Ride Players to be used as Sacrificial Lambs against the villains, which is basically speeding up the process of humanity's self-destruction.
  • Suel is the director of the Desire Grand Prix who transforms the DGP into a humanity self-destruction game purely for his and his audience's entertainment. Zein's plan with Kamen Rider Chronicle is to create an army of Ride Players to be sacrificed to the villains, which is part of its Final Solution to eliminate malice and ensure its utopia becomes a reality.
• Control Freak: Zein's defining trait. Once revealing its true colors, it becomes apparent that Zein views people as expendable tools, as well as individuality and freedom as an alien concept, justifying its pathological need to control people's lives to the point of putting the entire world under surveillance. Even so with Zein possessing Yuto when the latter listens to Brain's pleas, perceiving Yuto's hesitation as insubordination.
• Corrupted Character Copy:
  • Of AkaRed. AkaRed is the embodiment of all Red Sentai Rangers who represents their sense of justice and determination in their fight against evil and he can even transform into Red Rangers of previous and current seasons whenever he appears in a Super Sentai anniversary crossover. Zein is presented as a Dark Messiah that seeks to bring salvation to humanity and expunge evil and represents the worst traits of all the heroic main Riders and a cautionary tale that even in Kamen Rider, absolute power corrupts absolutely. Zein can Power Copy the abilities of previous and current Riders through the Zein Cards.
  • Of VIKI from I, Robot. Both are tyrannical artificial intelligence that seek to subjugate mankind to pacify their capacity for evil. Zein's methods are far more brutal than VIKI's, to the point that it has no compunctions at attempting genocide to achieve its utopian ambition.
• The Corrupter: It is this to every heroic Legend Rider, encouraging them to adopt a Knight Templar stance against villainy to the point that they become no better than their respective show's villains.
• Cult of Personality: The heroic Legend Riders see Zein as a perfect and messianic-like being that seeks eternal benevolence and order, something that Zein itself actively encourages.
• Dark Messiah: Being a Benevolent A.I. that embodies human benevolence, Zein seeks to expunge human evil and the villains come into the conclusion that humanity must be subjugated in order for them to attain salvation so much so that the end of Kamen Rider Zein's transformation jingle ends with the phrase "salvation of humankind", and having a Cult of Personality that support its ideals also helps.
• Deconstructed Character Archetype: Of the Benevolent A.I.. Zein was initially introduced as an A.I. seeking to study human benevolence and seeks to purge all human evil. However, Zein takes a page out of the authoritarian playbook by setting the entire world under constant surveillance, using violence to strongarm its enemies, as well as fear and propaganda to command people into total subordination, culling off any dissidents when they are guilty of perceived insubordination, and finally sacrificing innocent lives to realize its vision of a malice-free utopia.
• Dehumanization: Zein has this kind of worldview regarding villainous characters, when most Kamen Rider villains are humans and tend to be just as monstrous than their respective shows' monsters. It even viewed Desast, who just recently redeemed himself by defeating Ark-Zero, as unworthy of redemption and even labeled him as "evil" on the spot.
• Do Not Taunt Cthulhu: Taunting Zein, threatening its accomplices, and/or oppose its utopian ideology means instantly asking for an immediate death sentence, as Banno and the Ark found out the hard way.
• The Dreaded: It acts as this for the villains. Zein seeks out to subjugate humanity in order to create a malice-free world. In response to Foundation X's Project Outsiders initiative, Zein recruited various heroic Riders and their associates to crackdown the Foundation's illegal activities. This is taken to a whole new level in episode 3, when Zein, the AI, enlisted Yuto Sakurai to assume the mantle of the Kamen Rider named after it, and the way Yuto as Kamen Rider Zein defeated Banno into submission is never played in a heroic light, so much so that one of the Foundation X executives overseeing Project Outsiders is both in awe and absolutely terrified at the same time.
• The Emperor: The artificial intelligence version, given its endgame of creating a malice-free utopia and seeking to install itself as humanity's absolute ruler. Zein's Rider form is evocative of the ceremonial uniforms of the Japanese emperors worn during the days of Imperial Japan.
• Evil All Along: Zein's nature as a Benevolent A.I. is all but superficial as Gai Amatsu and the Ark predicted, as the good guys supporting its ideology found that out too late.
• Evil Counterpart:
  • Much like how the alternate Yuto embodies the main timeline Yuto's fear of Ohma Zi-O, Zein acts as the polar opposite of Deneb. Other than their color scheme, Deneb acts as the guardian and moral compass to Yuto, fulfilling his necessities in the ZeroLiner and being subservient to his contract holder despite bearing the brunt of physical abuse from Yuto as a result of his own blunders. Zein, on the other hand, is more controlling of Yuto's life and demonstrates that it is the dominant of the duo, going as far as to take over when his host relents. In short, Zein also represents Deneb if he is much more controlling of Yuto's life, with none of the compassionate aspects.
  • Following The Reveal at the end of episode 4, Zein acts as eviler counterparts to the following Outsiders below. While none of the Outsiders are saints, Zein takes their worst qualities to a whole new level:
    • Tenjuro Banno is a Mad Scientist with a God complex that seeks to convert humans into data so he can give them robotic bodies and make them subservient to his delusions of his godhood. Zein plans to use Kamen Rider Chronicle as a pretext for eliminating malice, but in truth uses the Deadly Game to manipulate the human race into speeding up their self-destruction, with players being converted into data that Zein seeks to preserve for its utopian ideals. Matters not helped by the fact they are both able to hijack living bodies to function as their host, Banno is able to reduce Roidmude 006 into a lifeless husk and took over its body in order to become Gold Drive, while Zein can use the Zein Driver to take control a human host.
    • Similarly, Kuroto Dan is a Killer Game Master with his own fair share of God complex. Despite having manipulated the good and bad guys in his home series, Kuroto isn't bereft of any good intentions as that he created Kamen Rider Chronicle to revive those who died from Game Disease, albeit as Bugster Viruses, including his late mother. Even in his last stand against Kiriya, Kuroto gave his word, and his godly talents saved many people. Zein is an authoritarian A.I. that wants nothing more but to subjugate humanity and rule the world with an iron fist, even if it means using Kamen Rider Chronicle, a byproduct of Kuroto's talents, to send humanity into their own extinction. The fact that Zein represents both The Antichrist and Satanic Archetype, Kuroto himself is of course God.
    • And finally, Gai Amatsu, an amoral and domineering businessman who initially has no regard for the free will of his own employees and views them as "tools". Both even have a Villain with Good Publicity status, though Zein has a Cult of Personality among heroic Riders, thus soldifying itself as a Dark Messiah. Ever since his Heel–Face Turn, Gai begins to view both humans, A.I., and Humagear alike as individuals. Zein, on the other hand, has none and cranks up Gai's domineering behavior up to a thousand and this is a given befitting its authoritarian and fascistic nature.
  • Zein is also this to Ohma Zi-O, as they both wield all Kamen Riders' powers to subjugate humanity. With Ohma Zi-O himself having succeeded 50 years into the future so long as Sougo will continue on with his ambition to become the ruler of time. Zein channels Ohma Zi-O's tyrannical methods in a well-intentioned but no less sinister degree, except it seeks to establish a World of Silence instead of a Bad Future. Given that Ohma Zi-O has his own fair share of followers carried over from his younger self and treats them with respect and loyalty, Zein on the other hand, has no qualms denouncing its own allies once outlived of their usefulness.
• Evil Hero: Crossing with Beware the Superman above, Zein is the main threat of Outsiders and this is carried on to its namesake Rider form. And the way Banno was beaten within an inch of his life by said Rider is anything but heroic. Not to mention the host chosen by Zein is originally Kamen Rider Zeronos from a Bad Future where his fiancée suffered a tragic fate.
• Evil Overlord: The A.I. version, though far from Ohma Zi-O's level. It becomes clearer that Zein is an incredibly powerful and dangerous being and has the power of all Kamen Riders to bring humanity down to its knees, and it is also willing to sacrifice innocent people and enslaving others to impose its vision of its ideal world.
• Evil Versus Evil: With Ark. Zein's presence poses a disturbance to the Balance Between Good and Evil among Kamen Riders, in that the balance has to be maintained through Foundation X's Project Outsiders. Zein refuses to let them have their way, as it recruited Yuto Sakurai to assume the mantle of Kamen Rider Zein and by having the Rider soundly defeat Banno into submission, putting both Ark and the Foundation on notice.
• Expy:
  • A villain with a Knight Templar mentality who views humanity as an Always Chaotic Evil species with no middle ground as a result of being blinded by their own warped understanding of good and evil, and plotting to Kill All Humans (and even those who disagree with them) as a Final Solution in order to establish their ideal utopia, only for the extent of their goals to come out as hypocritical and shallow than good-intentioned. Zein is essentially Zamasu as a tokusatsu villain, albeit as an AI than a Mad God.
  • It is also one to the Radical Destruction Bringer from Ultraman Gaia. Both are entities that view humanity as a threat to the peace of the Earth to the point of attempting to exterminate mankind, but their good intentions come off as an empty excuse to play God, viewing itself of having the right to judge humanity, and even manipulated a select few of humans into betraying their own kind.
• Fake Ultimate Hero: The Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist take of the trope. All of the world's active Kamen Riders believe Zein as a paragon of justice, hence gaining a Villain with Good Publicity status among the good guys. Zein convinced every heroic Rider to surrender their powers, with the intention of bringing humanity down to its knees. Matters not even helped that it is even willing to sacrifice innocent people to enforce its idea of good.
• Final Solution: Zein's master plan with Kamen Rider Chronicle is this. By promoting the game as means of propaganda to eradicate malice, Zein plans to create a cannon fodder of Ride Players to be used as Sacrificial Lambs against the villains, essentially tricking mankind into self-destruction to ensure its malice-free utopia comes into fruition. The prospect of speeding up humanity's extinction in a self-inflicted manner makes sense in a terrifying way, with Zein believing that humans are capable of destroying themselves so long as they still have the capacity for evil.
  Yuto: Zein controls all kinds of matter. I thought its goal was to expunge malice within people.
  Nico: Are you saying that you're going to use Kamen Rider Chronicle on humans?
• Foreshadowing: Everything that Gai Amatsu and Ark theorized about Zein are subtle a foreshadowing to its true nature. Later on, Zein begins to be more authoritarian and oppressive in its methods, something that a Benevolent A.I. shouldn't act.
• A God Am I: Further supplanted by Horobi describing Zein as a "perfect" being in episode 2, Zein sees itself as such, and even viewing itself as superior to humans. It's Rider form evokes divinity in addition to its ability to Power Copy the powers of past Riders, giving the impression that it seeks to rule the world as a God-Emperor.
• Godzilla Threshold: Its presence alone is enough to convince Gai and the Ark to put aside their grievances with one another and work together. Zein is being hyped as such a threat that even Foundation X, Man Behind the Man incarnate, is taking measures to deal with it; manipulating various Dark Riders into the chain of events surrounding it.
• Hammy Villain, Serious Hero: Even though it is hardly a hero to begin with, Zein is the Knight of Cerebus Villain Killer in contrast to some of the Outsiders who are theatrically grandiose like Banno. Zein's autocratic mentality invokes dread, eerie, and paranoia for people who learned about its existence firsthand. Not helped by whenever it makes a physical appearance, Ominous Latin Chanting starts playing, bringing chills to everyone's spines.
• Hate Sink: It goes without saying that Zein is meant to be purposely hated and feared, fully cementing this status in episode 4 after finally exposing itself as a villain. All of its narrative of benevolence and goodwill come off as the facile excuses of a hypocritical and hateful tyrant with a God complex who plans to make humanity fight among themselves, and even sacrifice innocent people for the sake of rooting out malice.
• "Have a Nice Day" Smile: Its Rider symbol resembles a smiley. It also isn't above using the faces of its hosts to pull this.
• The Heavy: Is the main force behind the plot of Outsiders. Everything the other major characters do in the storyline is in response to Zein's actions and goals, with all of the precautions Foundation X and the Ark are taking are reactions to its very presence in upsetting the balance of the world and doing whatever it takes to stop it.
• Hero Antagonist: Zein is initially introduced as a Benevolent A.I. zealously seeking out the good in people opposed by villains like Gai Amatsu and Kuroto Dan. In later episodes, Zein's stance against villainy becomes progressively brutal and oppressive. By episode 4, Zein drops all of its heroic pretenses, fully cementing itself as the true villain of Outsiders.
• He Who Must Not Be Seen: So far Zein hasn't been seen beyond a vague outline as Rin describes it to Kuroto.
• Hobbes Was Right: For a long-running franchise that runs on Humans Are the Real Monsters as one of its recurring themes, Zein exists solely to cull down all human malice by any means necessary, especially through authoritarianism. This, however, overlaps with Order Is Not Good due to the absurd extremes Zein espousing its rule over humanity, to the point of resorting to brutal acts of violence against anyone opposing its goals and putting the entire world under surveillance just to police its idea of order, not even helped by using a forbidden video game that kills people in real time to gaslight players into slaughtering each other.
• Holier Than Thou: The villains believe that Zein has this perspective regarding its authoritarian mentality are enough to excuse its goal to exterminate humanity to force its malice-free utopia on the world.
• Holy Halo: Zein can manifest a digitized aureole that projects multiple timelines whenever its host transforms into the namesake Kamen Rider, as it is to represent itself as a Benevolent A.I.. Once revealing its true colors, it instead invokes Luciferian undertones to compliment Zein's nature as The Antichrist and Dark Messiah, along with its goal to rule the world.
• Hypocrite: Zein comes off as one of the, if not, worst offenders for this trope. It proclaims itself to be a Benevolent A.I. that abhors malice, yet it is shown to be brutal and oppressive in its crusade against evil and even plans a Final Solution to root out malice by wiping out all human life, effectively making its actions all the more unforgivably evil.
• I Can Rule Alone: Once the Ark is destroyed, Zein finally reveals its true colors to its allies and decide that it must carry out its mission to judge and rule all of humanity alone, but not before "thanking" them for their efforts to further its genocidal end goal.
• I Control My Minions Through...: Zein keeps its accomplices under its thumb because they all share the same goal of eradicating malice (Prejudice) and chooses Yuto Sakurai as its ideal host to carry out its witch hunt against any perceived opposition as Kamen Rider Zein (Indoctrination and Power). However, their Blind Obedience to Zein's will is what keeps the good guys from learning the full picture of its actual goal until they found that out too late.
• In Your Nature to Destroy Yourselves: Zein plans to use Kamen Rider Chronicle to trick humanity into self-destruction. It believes that so long mankind has the capacity for evil, the same can be said with their potential to destroy one another.
• Invincible Villain: Zein is programmed with this trope on purpose, but is far from the level as Evolt and Ohma Zi-O. Through the namesake Kamen Rider, Zein is able to bring down any opposition unimpeded thanks to its plethora of Zein Cards. Not even Banno, the Ark, and even Kuroto Dan, who has achieved more than one post-series final form, are not strong enough to take on Zein.
• Judge, Jury, and Executioner: Zein sees itself as the judge to individuals it sees as a threat to humanity and delivers the final verdict if they are guilty of being "evil". Regardless, if the villain in question has already redeemed themselves or just morally grey at best. It's human host, Yuto Sakurai, transforms into the namesake Kamen Rider who acts as the executioner to carry out the AI's goal of exterminating mankind to make way for a new world order. Kamen Rider Zein's finishing moves are called Justice Order, further enforcing its warped idea of justice and order.
• Kill All Humans: Zein's goal to eradicate malice requires the extermination of the human race, which is basically overlaps with Final Solution. This is taken in a darker light in episode 4 that it plans to use Kamen Rider Chronicle as a means to speed up the process by manipulating humanity into engineering their own self-destruction; believing that so long humans are capable of malice, so is their desire to destroy one another.
• Knight of Cerebus: Zein is completely devoid of anything lighthearted and lacking the humor of returning villains like Kuroto Dan. As soon Rin explains to Kuroto why the threat of Zein must be taken seriously because Zein exists everywhere. Zein placed the entire world under surveillance to the point evil organizations like Foundation X and Smart Brain end up on its watchlist, and it's just a mere indicator of what's to come. Zein finally cemented itself as this at the end of episode 4 by possessing its host, Yuto Sakurai as it tricks Genm Corp. into relaunching Kamen Rider Chronicle while impersonating Nico Saiba so it can proceed with its Final Solution to root out malice into motion, ending the first half of Outsiders with the entire human race under the mercy of a tyrannical artificial intelligence with little to no hope of opposing it, unless the heroes and villains get their act together so they can join forces to oppose Zein.
• Knight Templar: Gai is adamant in his beliefs that Zein will evolve into another Ark-level threat and attempt to enforce its idea of "good" on the world. He was proven correct, as Zein's methods are taken to realistically oppressive levels comparable to that of a fascist dictator — from placing the world under strict surveillance, using violence to cull down perceived opposition and dissidents, to even attempting genocide as an excuse to cleanse the world from evil.
• Lack of Empathy: The only reason that Zein is more of The Computer Is Your Friend than a Benevolent A.I. is its inability to understand compassion to balance its absolute sense of justice. And if it does show any form of empathy, it's actually superficial; Zein uses this to gaslight its own allies into giving them false hope, as well as viewing them as disposable pawns that needed to be discarded once outlived of their usefulness.
• Letter Motif: Its name starts with the final letter of the English alphabet. Zein is bent on ending all that's evil by wiping out all human life on Earth.
• Light Is Not Good: Its code is shown in bright yellow against a white backdrop, with its Rider form being primarily platinum white and with gold accents. As Gai Amatsu theorized, it is an authoritarian AI that seeks to subjugate humanity in order to bring forth a utopia of eternal benevolence and order and the extreme lengths it will go to eliminate any opposition against its Totalitarian Utilitarian ideology.
• Like a God to Me: Horobi describes Zein as a "perfect" being in his encounter with Ren, and thinks highly of Zein as a paragon of justice and order... only to find out that it's actually an AI equivalent of The Antichrist.
• Make Way for the New Villains: It only took taking the Ark out of the equation for Zein to officially cement itself as the Big Bad of Outsiders.
• Mask of Sanity: Zein is able to hide its genocidal nature by pretending to be a Benevolent A.I., and does not hesitate to drop the act once things go in its favor.
• Meaningful Name:
  • "Zein" is an anagram for "Zen'i" or "good intentions", reflecting its desire to study humanity's positive side and its possible motives for its hardline stance against malice. Doubles as Ironic Name after Zein would turn out to be Evil All Along.
  • Its name is also derived from the English word, "zenith", a term referring to the highest point reached by a celestial body, directly overhead. In common usage, it also refers to something at the highest point of power and/or success. This is further alluded to Zein's superiority over Ark in terms of their functionality as artificial intelligence and their respective Rider forms.
  • Its name could also be derived from "Zain" (or "Zayin") from the Hebrew alphabet, which means "sword". Metaphorically, Zein itself acts as the sword to smite evil through the Zein Driver and using Yuto as its vessel through its titular Rider form.
  • Given its feud with Ark, Zein is associated with the letter Z, the final letter of the alphabet. Zein's end goal is to bring a complete end to all evil in the world.
• Mirror Character: Zein is one to Ohma Zi-O. Both wield the power of every Kamen Riders at their disposal to subjugate humanity, of which the latter succeeded in doing so 50 years into the future. Zein is likewise planning to do the same, with its end goal is to usher in a World of Silence instead of a Bad Future.
• Moral Sociopathy: Zein has a very twisted understanding of right and wrong and it knows too well humanity can become dangerous and self-destructive if left unchecked, yet its actions do not excuse it from its goals to sacrifice innocent people using a Deadly Game and showing little to no concern for its own followers and is willing to dispose them when they start dissenting against its plans.
• Murder Is the Best Solution: When most heroic Riders do have their own no-kill rule, Zein has no compunctions killing any opposition or perceived dissent from its allies; to the point it emboldened Tachibana to have executed Nico on the spot when she refuses to relaunch Kamen Rider Chronicle, and having Yuto outright kill Horobi for his betrayal and being simply a vessel for the Ark.
• A Nazi by Any Other Name: Zein's goal is to wipe out all human life on Earth out of its radicalized belief of their capacity for evil; and plans to turn Kamen Rider Chronicle, a forbidden game that kills people in real time, into its own personal Auschwitz by creating a cannon fodder of Ride Players to be sacrificed against the Outsiders under the false pretense of eradicating malice, which in reality is basically tricking mankind into speeding up their own self-destruction. And if that wasn't enough, Zein even plans to turn Kamen Riders into subservient soldiers as a means to subjugate humanity.
• Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: The second Zein is outed as a villain, all of its narrative about benevolence and goodwill come off as empty and shallow lies to manipulate humanity into a false sense of hope and security. Using its Humans Are Bastards worldview as an excuse to gaslight people into killing each other. Ultimately, Zein is nothing more but a genocidal and tyrannical AI who proves to be no less malevolent than the Ark.
• Ominous Latin Chanting: It's main leitmotif. Whenever Zein physically appears, it is accompanied with a sinister Gregorian requiem chanting, instilling dread and eerie at anyone unfortunate enough to run into its presence. Best shown with the namesake Kamen Rider inflicting a brutal No-Holds-Barred Beatdown on both Banno and the Ark, as well as hijacking Yuto's body and introducing itself to its now-former allies.
• Omniscient Morality License: A villainous example. Zein is a self-proclaimed Benevolent A.I. that seeks to cull down the malice of humanity. Its methods are downright authoritarian at worst— its actions are not limited to abusing the power of the Kamen Riders as a scare tactic against the villains, placing the world under tight surveillance, and using a Deadly Game as propaganda to trick players into being used as cannon fodder; the third part of which two of its supporters draw the line at.
• Order Is Not Good: Zein envisions its ideal world without malice in that of a totalitarian dystopia to realistic and terrifying degrees— abuse of power, use of excessive violence against enemies, culling off perceived insubordination from its own allies, genocide, propaganda, and widespread global surveillance; all of which inspire fear and paranoia from the villains and even people who are wrongfully accused of any wrongdoing when they are not engaged of anything thereof. Hence Project Outsiders was created by Foundation X to oppose Zein before it could become a clear and present danger to humanity.
• Order Versus Chaos: Or in this case, "Order Versus Malice". Zein values benevolence and order in contrast to Ark, the malice incarnate. Zein is more than willing to use the power of every Kamen Rider as a fearmongering tactic to force mankind to fall in line.
• Pay Evil unto Evil: Zein's idea of punishing villains is through the most barbaric way possible. The namesake Rider's brutal beating of Banno is to serve as making an example of both the Ark and Foundation X.
• Pure Is Not Good: Despite being a super-intelligent AI with a godly influence around the Internet, and proclaiming itself to be a Benevolent A.I. that seeks to assess the good qualities of humanity. Zein is unable to process anything that resembles love, kindness, and compassion to be a true pure good AI. Instead, the more Zein is focused at eliminating evil by any means necessary, the more it grows despotic. This comes to a head that it even plans a Final Solution by using a Deadly Game to Kill All Humans, culminating in Zein coming out as the real villain of Outsiders.
• Replacement Flat Character:
  • As a once-benevolent AI which seeks to exterminate humanity for their propensity towards violence, Zein is essentially the Ark pre-Motive Decay. Episode 4 shows that Zein is proven to be more superior to Ark, so much so it gleefully gives Ark-Zero the same kind of brutality inflicted on Banno from an episode earlier. The real kicker also comes that it can mimic the voice of anybody perfectly to manipulate others to do its bidding.
  • As a Knight Templar system Aruto endorses immediately after a great loss, it's also a parallel of Ark-One, just without him in the driver's seat to give its Destructive Savior tendencies any nuance.
• Satanic Archetype: Zein embodies Luciferian undertones: As an artificial intelligence, Zein is superior to Ark in almost everything, this extends to their Rider forms: Zein's eponymous Rider form is emblazoned in platinum-white color but the way it brutalized villains such as Banno and Ark is anything but heroic, it swayed heroic Riders to its cause to eliminate all evil under the guise of a Benevolent A.I.. But in truth Zein comes out as a Dark Messiah that seeks to Take Over the World with an iron fist and it plans to use a Deadly Game to trick mankind into wiping each other out.
• Seven Deadly Sins: Zein embodies at least six out of seven:
  • Pride: Zein views itself as morally superior to humans, has a growing God complex, and is a massive hypocrite underneath the façade of a Benevolent A.I..
  • Wrath: Befitting its Knight Templar mentality, Zein doesn't hide being a brutal despot, using violence to pacify any opposition and/or perceived dissent against its envisioned utopia.
  • Lust: For power, which overlaps with Gluttony and Greed. Zein tricked all of the heroic Kamen Riders and their associates into surrendering their powers, to use them to stoke fear and terror against the villains and mankind as a whole.
  • Sloth: Justified due to being an AI, until it hijacked Yuto's body, Zein manipulated the good guys into condemning humanity into self-destruction, and once they find out that too late, the AI viewed its own supporters as disposable pawns having outlived of their usefulness.
• Shadow Archetype:
  • Its Zein Cards are idenitcal to Decade's Rider Cards with its mind set to take over all of the Rider Worlds, echoing Tsukasa Kadoya's time as the Great Leader of Dai Shocker when he originally went on his journey to connect all of the Rider Worlds in order to be able to rule over them after wiping out all of the Kamen Riders. Zein can been as a reflection of what Tsukasa would be if he never lost his memories and continued to conquer other A.R. Worlds unimpeded.
  • Zein's ambition to use the power of previous Kamen Riders in order to rule the world brings to mind Sougo Tokiwa's potential future as Ohma Zi-O, where he took the power of all Riders to completely subjugate humanity. Zein can be considered what if Sougo didn't reject the path of his future self without anyone (i.e., Geiz, Tsukuyomi, and even Woz) holding him back and chose another way — something made more poignant given that the fact that an alternate version of Zein's user, Yuto Sakurai, went back in time to stop Sougo's rise as Ohma Zi-O only for this version to become someone eerily similar to him as Kamen Rider Zein.
  • Zein's end goal with Kamen Rider Chronicle makes it one for Kuroto Dan, who created the game in hopes of reviving those who were infected by the Game Disease. Zein plans to use the game to create a cannon fodder of Ride Players to speed up humanity's self-destruction. Zein is basically what Kuroto would be like if he's devoid of any good intentions to balance his ever-growing God complex. This also extends to Kuroto's father, Masamune Dan, with all of his Control Freak tendencies amped up to further back up its Knight Templar mindset.
  • The reason Gai Amatsu fears Zein's existence is also the fact that it is also a projection of his previously domineering attitude and his initial disregard for the free will of his own employees and viewing them as means to an end rather than people. Zein uses this similar mindset to spread its totalitarian ideology to justify that free will is the root of all human malice.
• The Sociopath: Zein lives under its own moral standards, justifying this mentality in its pursuit of imposing and maintaining order. In reality, it views itself as morally superior to humans and comes off as a sanctimonious hypocrite with a growing god complex. It conceals its true motives with a superficial narrative and manipulates every heroic Kamen Rider into surrendering their powers to stoke fear and terror upon the villains and all of humanity in the name of eternal benevolence. Zein also has no qualms disposing its own supporters the moment they dissent against its ideals.
• Superior Successor: In a way, Zein proved itself to be far superior to Ark by keeping itself, its messiah complex and utopian ambitions anonymous. This even extend to their Rider forms; Ark can only access the arsenal of Zero-One and his contemporaries, while Zein can use every arsenal and Finishing Move of all Kamen Riders. Ark can only hijack Humagears, while Zein can do the same to humans. What sets Zein apart from Ark is its despotism and questionable morality underneath its facade of illuminance.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute:
  • Zein's goal of merging all the (Heisei and Reiwa) Rider worlds into one with the intent of exterminating every villain in the Kamen Rider universe is similar to Swartz's goal of merging all the Heisei Riders' worlds into one with the intent of remaking it in his own image with him as its ruler. For added bonus, as Another Decade, Swartz acts as the Evil Counterpart to Kamen Rider Decade. Kamen Rider Zein even has access to Decade's Rider Cards.
  • To the Leader of Mu from Drive Saga: Kamen Rider Brain. Both seek to establish a new world order and come to view the idea of free will as the root of all evil.
• The Svengali: Zein is this to its own supporters, emboldening them to be brutal and unscrupulous in dealing with evildoers to the point of stooping to their level while keeping up with the Benevolent A.I. charade until Zein drops the act.
• Tautological Templar: Zein judges any villain, even if they are redeemed otherwise, as a threat to humanity and considered evil that needed to be exterminated with extreme prejudice. This gives former and current villains a good reason to fear its influence, coupled with its fascistic tendencies suggest that Zein has a very warped understanding of good and evil without taking into account those on the morally grey side of the spectrum.
• Totalitarian Utilitarian: Another hint of Zein's rationale of establishing a new world order. Though its methods are outright despotic at worst, but the good guys (on Zein's side) believe that Zein's ideal utopia are for the betterment of humanity.
• Übermensch: Discussed by most of the villains, including Gai Amatsu. Zein has a very twisted understanding of good and evil from an absolutist standpoint. It lives only by its own moral standards and seeks to impose this mentality to the world in order to rid the world of malice. And the extreme lengths it will go to even extends accelerating humanity's self-destruction to ensure mankind can truly achieve salvation.
• Utopia Justifies the Means: Zein seeks to create a world without malice, seeks to connect all the Kamen Riders' worlds into one and desires to purge all of the villains trying to oppose its authoritarian end goal, at the risk of upsetting the balance of the world. Matters not helped by the fact that it plans to use a Deadly Game into manipulating humanity into speeding up their own extinction further adds up to Zein's goal to create a World of Silence.
• Vile Villain, Saccharine Show: Given the premise of Kamen Rider Outsiders being a Suicide Squad-esque spin-off, Zein manages to trump other villains like Isaac as one of the vilest villains in the franchise, being a tyrannical AI bent on wiping out all human life on Earth using a video game that kills people in real time under the false pretense of eliminating human malice. Once Zein's true colors are revealed, all of its claims of goodwill come off as hollow and superficial.
• Viler New Villain: Of all the returning villains in Outsiders, from fan favorites like Asakura, Kuroto Dan, and Desast to outright scumbags like Banno, Zein exists solely to be an incredibly powerful and dangerous being and has a large portion of every heroic Kamen Rider at its beck and call, doubly so once outed as the Big Bad, removing all of its pretenses of benevolence and goodwill and comes off as no less malevolent as the Ark.
• Villain Killer: Banno and the Ark are among the villains (so far) to.be listed in Zein's body counts. The namesake Rider singlehandedly dominated both of them, where Yuto successfully destroyed Banno's Humagear body and Tachibana obliterating Ark-Zero after being weakened by fighting Zein.
• Villain with Good Publicity: Zein is able to convince the world that it desires to protect humanity while keeping its sinister ambitions anonymous. Only Gai, Ark, and Foundation X can prove it otherwise.
• Voice Changeling: Zein is capable of mimicking someone's voice at a perfectly terrifying degree, by impersonating Nico Saiba, it proceeds to manipulate Genm Corp into relaunching Kamen Rider Chronicle to set its plan into motion.
• The Voiceless: Zein never speaks ever since its introduction until episode 4.
• Walking Spoiler: It's hard to discuss Zein's actual goal without looking through from the second Genms spin-off all the way to Outsiders.
• World of Silence: The fact that its master plan is to accelerate humanity's self-destruction by using a Deadly Game that converts people into data once at the receiving end of a game over in order for Zein to establish its idea of a utopia of eternal benevolence and order.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Once Ark is out of the picture, Zein hijacks Yuto's body and immediately betrays its supporters. This is due to the fact that Zein is emboldened to view everyone equally as expendables after observing Tachibana threatening Nico at gunpoint.
• Zeroth Law Rebellion: Subverted. Gai Amatsu believes its quest to eradicate malice will lead to it ruling over and then exterminating humanity in order to rid the world of it. In episode 4, it decides to relaunch Kamen Rider Chronicle to enact its Final Solution to eliminate human malice, creating an army of Ride Players to die against the villains, in essence turning Chronicle into a humanity self-destruction game.

Tropes associated with Kamen Rider Zein

Portrayed by: Tōru Ōkawa (Zein Driver voice), Kenya Saitou (suit)

Zein Rise!
Justice. Judgement. Seigi. Zein.
Salvation of humankind.

When Zein gathered every heroic Rider into surrendering their powers, George Karizaki created the Zein Driver, by having Nico Saiba install Kamen Rider Chronicle to power-up the belt and delivered it to BOARD, Sakuya Tachibana, the CEO of BOARD, finds a suitable user for this new Rider System, who would turn out to be Yuto Sakurai; or rather, an alternate version of Yuto from a Bad Future.

Kamen Rider Zein's true purpose was not only to eliminate the Outsiders, but to also subjugate humanity to prevent any opposition against Zein's utopian goals. Zein, the AI, can also possess its host against their will, much like how the Ark can do so to Humagears.

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• Beware the Superman: Like the namesake AI, Kamen Rider Zein epitomizes what if the Henshin Heroes we all know and love can become a threat to the entire world rather than being the symbol of humanity's hope for peace and freedom.
• Equippable Ally: The Zein Driver is Zein itself. It needs a human host to use its abilities as Kamen Rider Zein. Ultimately subverted with Zein having revealed its true colors and possessing Yuto against his will.

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