History Film / K20LegendOfTheMask

* RescueRomance: Yoko starts to fall for Heikichi after he rescues her from K-20, unfortunately [[TriangRelations she is engaged to Akechi]]. [[spoiler: Then Akechi turns out to be K-20 and is killed trying to activate the Tesla device.]]

* WeCanRuleTogether: [[spoiler: In the final confrontation, K-20 asks Heikichi to join him in his plan, Heikichi calls him out on being NotSoDifferent to the people who control the world and turns him down.]]

Our hero is Heikichi Endo, a poor circus performer who is framed and arrested for K-20's crimes. Heikichi is broken out of custody by Genji and Kikuko, two ex-criminals who worked with him at the circus. They eventually convince Heikichi to train how to be a thief so he can fight K-20 and stop his plans. In his first direct confrontation with K-20, he stops him interrogating Duchess Yoko Hashiba, heir to the oil magnate who built the Tesla device and she joins their group. Unfortunately, Yoko is engaged to Baron Kogoro Akechi, the famous detective and far as the police are concerned she was kidnapped by Heikichi.

* AlternateHistory: The film is set in a timeline where Japan never entered UsefulNotes/WorldWarII and never abolished the Meiji era class divide. Most of the population live in poverty, barred from higher ranking jobs because of which class they were born into.

* ArrowCatch: Part of Heikichi's circus act is dodging arrows, finishing with him catching one and pretending to be hit, only for a "miraculous recovery". [[spoiler: These skills save Genji's life when he catches a blade shot from a booby trapped safe.]]
* BathOfPoverty: When Yoko is bathing in Genji and Kikuko's home, she keeps asking if they have a shower and shampoo, the sort of thing that the poor circus performers are not be able to afford. They don't even know what shampoo ''is''.
* BeatThemAtTheirOwnGame: In order to beat K-20, Heikichi trains in the skills of a thief. The books he learnt the skills from may even be the ones that K-20 may himself used to train.

* CriminalMindGames: K-20 is cocky enough to send messages of what he is going to steal and challenges Akechi to catch him. [[spoiler: Subverted when it is revealed that Akechi ''is'' K-20 and he sent the messages. He does this so his Akechi persona would be brought into protect against the crime and he would be at the centre of any security around his targets.]]
* DoesntLikeGuns: Despite being the villain, K-20 says he detests using guns. [[spoiler: He makes exception to shoot Heikichi in the final fight. This backfires since he uses the gun Genji gave Heikichi which was a trick circus gun that only shot fake-blood paintballs.]]
* FacelessMooks: The soldiers guarding the camera wear face concealing balaclavas for no discernable reason. As one [[http://tarstarkas.net/2009/10/k-20-legend-of-the-mask/ reviewer]] said, it made them look like [[Franchise/GIJoe COBRA mooks]].

* FrameUp: Heikichi starts off as a poor circus performer and jumps at the opportunity when a man offers him a high paying {{Paparazzi}} job, so he can pay for the ringmaster’s medical bills. All he has to do is use his circus skills to get some photos of the wedding between Akechi and Yoko. Unfortunately the man was really K-20 and he had planted explosives that are triggered by the camera he gave Heikichi. On top of that K-20 plants diamonds that he stole in Heikichi's sleeping quarters. This quickly leads to Heikichi getting arrested for being K-20.

* GrapplingGun: Genji builds a wrist mounted grappling gun for Heikichi after he sees the injuries from his failure to jump a gap during his training.

* JustLikeRobinHood: Heikichi initially dislikes the idea to training to become a thief to combat K-20. It is not until he sees the poor shanty town that Shinsuke and his fellow orphans live in that he decides train to be a thief so he can support them as well.
* LatexPerfection: The title K-20 or the longer version, Kaijin Nijū Mensō Den (roughly translated to The Fiend with Twenty Faces) comes from the thief's use of masks that perfectly disguise himself as other people. The police do not even known what K-20 truly looks like. [[spoiler: He is caught out when Yoko recognises his uncovered hands.]] Heikichi picks up some similar disguise skills during his own training.

* LeParkour: Most of Heikichi's training consists of doing a parkour run over the city. Mastering this somehow translates into learning WireFu.
* MalevolentMaskedMan: When K-20 is not wearing one of his disguises, he wears a stern looking black and silver mask.

* WellIntentionedExtremist: [[spoiler: K-20 was born to the lower classes and faked the records necessary to pretend to be a Baron using the proceeds of his crimes. His resentment of the society that forced him to do this subterfuge to join the higher ranks led him to the plan of using the Tesla device to destroy important places across the world and use his control of the power from the Tesla device to control what was left. He would then rebuild civilisation without the social gap. His plans may have changed society for the better but would have killed countlesss people in the process and would have set himself up as dictator.]]

* AlternateHistory: The film is set in a timeline where Japan never entered UsefulNotes/{{WWII}} and never abolished the Meiji era class divide. Most of the population live in poverty, barred from higher ranking jobs because of which class they were born into.

* TokyoTower: Despite being set in 1949, the shots of the Japanese capital city of Teito include a rusting Tokyo Tower. Presumably the Tower was built earlier since Japan never participated in UsefulNotes/{{WWII}}.

* FrameUp: Heikichi starts off as a poor circus performer and jumps at the opportunity when a man offers him a high paying {{Paparazzi}} job, so he can pay for the ringmaster’s medical bills. All he has to do is use his circus skills to get some photos of the wedding between Akechi and Yoko. Unfortunately the man was really K-20 and had planted explosives that are triggered by the camera he gave Heikichi. On top of that K-20 plants diamonds that he stole in Heikichi's sleeping quarters. This quickly leads to Heikichi getting arrested for being K-20.

* StagedShooting: [[spoiler: Akechi uses squibs to make it looklike K-20 shot him so that they wouldn't suspect that K-20 was actually him.]]

* ShelteredAristocrat: Yoko is shocked that there are orphans living on the street and the government is not doing much to help them.

** The creepy guy following Akechi around turns out not be K-20 but [[spoiler: an agent of the government that is investigate whether Akechi is really part of nobility.]

* RedHerring: [[spoiler: Yoshio Kobayashi, assistant to Akechi gets many moments when it is hinted that he is K-20. He seems angry when Genji says Heikichi may surpassed K-20 in skill, he has an almost manic glee at the idea of K-20 using the Tesla device and happens to out of the room when Akechi is "[[FakingTheDead shot]]". In the end it is all just a coincidence.]]

''K-20: Kaijin nijû mensô den'' (English title: ''K-20: Legend of the Mask'') is a 2008 Japanese action film. It is based upon the Sō Kitamura [[TheFilmOfTheBook book]], Kaijin Nijū Mensō Den, itself based upon the characters from Edogawa Rampo's stories.

''K-20: Kaijin nijû mensô de''n (English title: ''K-20: Legend of the Mask'') is a 2008 Japanese action film. It is based upon the Sō Kitamura [[TheFilmOfTheBook book]], Kaijin Nijū Mensō Den, itself based upon the characters from Edogawa Rampo's stories.

K-20: Kaijin nijû mensô den (English title: K-20: Legend of the Mask ) is a 2008 Japanese action film. It is based upon the Sō Kitamura [[TheFilmOfTheBook book]], Kaijin Nijū Mensō Den, itself based upon the characters from Edogawa Rampo's stories.

* ContrivedClumsiness: At one point Yoko tries to delay Akechi by pretending to trip and spill a plate of food on to him. Akechi offhandedly catches the plate and the food on it without looking.

Our hero is Heikichi Endo, a poor circus performer who is framed and arrested for K-20's crimes. Heikichi is broken out of custody by Genji and Kikuko, two ex-criminals who worked with him at the circus. They eventually convince Heikichi to train how to be a thief so he can fight K-20 and stop his plans. In his first direct confrontation with K-20, he stops him interrogating Duchess Yoko Hashiba, heir to the oil magnate who built the Tesla device and she joins their group. Unfortunately Yoko is engaged to Baron Kogoro Akechi, the famous detective and far as the police are concerned she was kidnapped by Heikichi.

* [[spoiler: FakingTheDead: Akechi fakes his own death using {{squib}}s to make it look like K-20 shot him.]]

* [[spoiler: IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: Yoko offers to stay with Heikichi even though he would have to stay on the run. Heikichi turns her down rather than take her from her life.]]

* [[spoiler: LegacyCharacter: An unwanted version. Heikichi is forced to take the identity of K-20 in the end as the police believe he is K-20 and the only man who could exonerate him, Akechi is dead.]]

* [[spoiler: WeCanRuleTogether: In the final confrontation, K-20 asks Heikichi to join him in his plan, Heikichi calls him out on being NotSoDifferent to the people who control the world and turns him down.]]
* [[spoiler: WellIntentionedExtremist: K-20 was born to the lower classes and faked the records necessary to pretend to be a Baron using the proceeds of his crimes. His resentment of the society that forced him to do this subterfuge to join the higher ranks led him to the plan of using the Tesla device to destroy important places across the world and use his control of the power from the Tesla device to control what was left. He would then rebuild civilisation without the social gap. His plans may have changed society for the better but would have killed countlesss people in the process and would have set himself up as dictator.]]

* CreatorCameo: Sō Kitamura makes a cameo when K-20 steals a small Tesla device.

* LatexPerfection: The title K-20 or the longer version, Kaijin Nijū Mensō Den (roughly translated to The Fiend with Twenty Faces) comes from the thief's use of masks that perfectly disguise himself as other people. The police do not even known what K-20 truly looks like. [[spoiler: He is caught out when Yoko recognises his uncovered hands.]] Heikichi pick some similar disguise skills during his own training.

K-20: Kaijin nijû mensô den (English title: K-20: Legend of the Mask ) is a 2008 Japanese action film. It is based upon the Sō Kitamura book, Kaijin Nijū Mensō Den, itself based upon the characters from Edogawa Rampo's stories.

* GadgeteerGenius: Genji was a prop maker at the circus and is able to use his mechanical skills to equip Heikichi with various homemade gadgets. [[spoiler: Also he is able to rewire the Tesla device to target itself while K-20 and Heikichi are fighting.]]

* [[spoiler: WellIntentionedExtremist: K-20 was born to the lower classes and faked the records necessary to pretend to be a Baron using the proceeds of his crimes. His resentment of the society that forced him to this subterfuge to join the higher ranks led him to the plan of using the Tesla device to destroy important places across the world and use his control of the power from the Tesla device to control what was left. He would then rebuild civilisation without the social gap. His plans may have changed society for the better but would have killed a lot people in the process and would set himself up as dictator.]]

Our hero is Heikichi Endo, a poor circus performer who is framed and arrested for K-20's crimes. Heikichi is broken out of custody by Genji and Kikuko, two ex-criminals who worked with him at the circus. They eventually convince Heikichi to train how to be a thief so he can fight K-20 and stop his plans. In his first direct confrontation with K-20, he stops him interrogating Duchess Yoko Hashiba, heir to the oil magnate who built the Tesla device and she joins their group. Unfortunately Yoko is engaged to Baron Kogoro Akechi, the famous detective and far as the police are concerned she was kidnapped.

* AntagonistTitle: K-20 is defiantly the villain of the movie. [[spoiler: At least until Heikichi takes over the persona.]]