This is a partial character sheet for Kamen Rider 555. Visit here for the main character index. Subjective trope and audience reactions should go on the YMMV page.
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Orphnochs in general
A race of monsters who are the next evolutionary stage for humankind, created from humans who possess a specific gene which allows them to revive after dying.
- Animal Themed Super Being: Each Orphnoch is based on a monstrous humanoid version of an existing creature. Usually an animal, but some have been plants or fungi. Nearly all Orphnochs are usually referred to either by their human name or the creature they represent (Horse Orphnoch, Wolf Orphnoch, ect).
- Came Back Strong: All Orphnochs were once normal humans who transformed after death to gain their power.
- Color Motif: Orphnochs are characterized by being uniformly gray in color. This represents their semi-undead status and gives them the appearance of living statues.
- Death-Activated Superpower: A person with latent Orphnoch genes will only gain their powers after death. Others can become Orphnochs if they are "sired" by another Orphnoch killing them.
- Hollywood Evolution: Stated to be the next evolution of humanity, yet such an evolution can only be triggered if someone with the Orphnoch gene either dies or is sired by another Orphnoch. It's eventually revealed that transforming into an Orphnoch is such a rapid "evolution" that all Orphnochs will die soon after their revival.
- Living Shadow: The Orphnochs' shadows tend to shape themselves into the image of their human selves. It becomes a Rule of Symbolism in the final episodes to reference an Orphnoch's lingering humanity.
- Monster of the Week: Most episodes see a new Orphnoch showing up to either target Mari for the Faiz Belt, kill humans on order of Smart Brain or just use their powers for mischief.
- Mutant: Each was once a human before having their Orphnoch genes awakened.
- Not Always Evil: It's established at many points that a lot of Orphnochs are still people who would be happy to carry on with their daily lives. Several heroic characters, including the main protagonist, are Orphnochs.
- Reduced to Dust: Orphnochs collapse into piles of dust upon death, whether in human or Orphnoch form at the time.
- Technically-Living Zombie: An Orphnoch can only be born when a human with the Orphnoch gene rises from death in a monstrous form. They're considered living, but in a fundamentally different way than the traditional definition of "life".
- Transhuman Treachery: Quite a few reject their humanity upon becoming Orphnochs and turn their powers against the species they were once a part of.
- Voluntary Shapeshifting: Orphochs can shift between human and monster form at will, leading to much in-universe paranoia that any random person on the street could be an Orphnoch in disguise waiting to strike.
- Your Days Are Numbered: An Orphnoch's second chance at life is only temporary. Due to a flaw in their genes caused by their rapid mutation, all Orphnochs are doomed to die shortly after their initial revival. The exact time they can live varies based on circumstances, particularly depending on if they revived naturally or were "sired" by another. In either case, they seem to have a few years to live at absolute best. One of the main goals of the lead Orphnochs is to find a way to fix this genetic flaw.
Smart Brain
General Tropes
Smart Brain
Life is frail. Life is limited. So, why don't you think about true life? Be smart! True life is your start!
The company that manufactures the Rider Gears, secretly they are a front for a large coordinated-group of Orphnochs seeking to increase the number of Orphnochs by wiping out humanity.- Back from the Dead: In spite of being defunct after the Orphnoch King was left under stasis by Saeko Kageyama after he was critically injured by Faiz, Kamen Rider Genms -Smart Brain and the 1000% Crisis- shows that they're still up-and-running in the 2020s.
- Create Your Own Hero: The Faiz, Kaixa and Delta belts were all made by them, yet wind up being used to fight against them instead of for their original purpose to protect the Orphnoch King.
- Expy: They're basically a MegaCorp version of Shocker, being a Nebulous Evil Organisation dedicated to creating a new transhuman race to supplant humankind.
- Greater-Scope Villain: Even Kyouji answers to the so-called "Wire Pullers" of Smart Brain, at least in Paradise Lost (it's not clear if they were also in the main series continuity). We never see them besides some projected images on screens, but their voices are provided by voice actors who have voiced other Big Bad roles in Toei's toku series for years, including Seizō Katō and Gorō Naya, which could imply that Smart Brain might just be another attempt by the Great Leader.
- Kill All Humans: Their end goal is the elimination of humanity, through awakening the ones who can become Orphnochs and killing the ones who can't. Then it gets inverted in Paradise Regained with the Orphnochs being targeted for death by Smart Brain.
- MegaCorp: They're one of the leading manufacturers of electronics in the world of Kamen Rider 555, and they have branches in plenty of other industries too.
- N.G.O. Superpower: They have enough resources to form their own private police and in Paradise Lost they've effectively become the world government.
- One Nation Under Copyright: In the Bad Future of Paradise Lost they seem to have become the ones in charge of the new order put in place following the Orphnoch revolution.
- Sigil Spam: They love to plaster their company name and logo on their products.
Kyouji Murakami
Kyouji Murakami/Rose Orphnoch
Portrayed by: Katsuyuki Murai (live), Jiro Okamoto (suit)
- 0% Approval Rating: Everyone appears to dislike him to some degree, and he once suffered an assassination attempt at hands of his own employees for using dirty methods to gain his position at Smart Brain. When Hanagata returns he has little effort convincing Smart Brain's board to vote him out.
- Affably Evil: He may be the one behind Lucky Clover, but he's a cordial and well spoken person in all of his interactions with others.
- And Your Little Dog, Too!: Threatens Jay's dog Chaco to get him to go out after Faiz when he's on his last life.
- The Bad Guy Wins: Although he dies, he's able to ensure the Orphnoch King remains stable and allow Kiba to later awaken it, giving Orphnochs a chance to correct their genetic instability.
- Big Bad: He is the chief of Smart Brain for most of the series and driving force behind the attacks from Orphnochs towards humanity.
- Brain in a Jar: In the Paradise Lost movie he's been reduced to a head in a glass tank for some reason. It later gets an explanation in the SIC Hero Saga story Kamen Rider 555: Lost World.
- The Chessmaster: An expert when it comes to having multiple plans at once and taking advantage of opportunities as they arise in order to further his agenda.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: The chief of Smart Brain and secretly an Orphnoch who plans the genocide of the human population.
- Cynicism Catalyst: He doesn't give any details, but in #44 he alludes to something that convinced him that peace between humans and Orphnochs was impossible.
- Devour the Dragon: Voluntarily on his behalf. He offers himself up to the Orphnoch King to correct its genetic instability.
- Diabolical Mastermind: Runs Smart Brain and uses their resources to gather Orphnochs into a covert front against humanity, whilst employing an elite team of assassins to hunt down any threats to his plans.
- Homage: The Rose Orphnoch's glass dome-like head is a nod to Hakaider.
- Knight Templar: Believes humans will always act hostile to Orphnochs, and that the only way to ensure a future for Orphnochs is to wipe them all out before they wipe Orphnochs out.
- Leitmotif: A track of Ominous Latin Chanting can be heard whenever he's plotting. He even keeps a music player at his desk to play it.
- Manipulative Bastard: In Paradise Lost he has Smart Lady trick Yuji into thinking Mari betrayed him in order to break his spirits and get him to turn against humanity.
- Rank Scales with Asskicking: He's the chief of Smart Brain and shows himself to be one of the toughest Orphnochs in the series whenever he takes to the field, even managing to outmatch two of the Riders at once.
- Something about a Rose: His Orphnoch form is the Rose Orphnoch.
- The Usurper: Seized power in Smart Brain after Hanagata mysteriously vanished.
- Wicked Cultured: He is always well-dressed, likes exquisite cuisine and appreciates art.
Smart Lady
Smart Lady (I)
Portrayed by: Hitomi Kurihara
- Affably Evil: She may be the mascot for an evil MegaCorp, but she's very upbeat and friendly, if excessively so.
- Ambiguously Human: She's working for a company controlled by Orphnochs, yet never displays anything that would suggest she's an Orphnoch herself or anything apart from a normal human. She is, however, associated with blue morpho butterflies.
- Genki Girl: Always acts super cheerful, to the point where it annoys her co-workers.
- Gold Digger: After Murakami gets ousted as CEO, she implies the reason she was so close to him was for his money.
- Mascot: She's the living mascot of Smart Brain.
- My Master, Right or Wrong: While she has affections for certain people like Murakami, she's ultimately loyal to whoever sits in the president's chair.
- The Scrappy: In-universe. She is seen as this by Smart Brain's employees for her overly-cheery personality.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Her fate after the series is a mystery, but she is likely replaced by Smart Queen in Outsiders and a second Smart Lady in Paradise Regained.
Riotroopers
Riotroopers
- Canon Immigrant: Created for a Non-Serial Movie but ended up being incorporated in the series itself.
- Evil Knockoff: Riotroopers use modified and re-colored versions of the Faiz Gear, and, as such, their Rider forms are very similar to Kamen Rider Faiz. However, they are overall weaker in power compared to the real deal.
- Mooks: In Paradise Lost they're the main henchmen used by Smart Brain.
- Private Military Contractors: They're Smart Brain's own private military.
- The Psycho Rangers: They resemble less detailed versions of each of the three main Riders.
- Sharp Dressed Men: They wear black tuxedos, fedoras, and shades before transforming. It helps keep their identities secret and it identifies when they're on the job.
- Swiss-Army Weapon: Their weapons are the Axel Ray Gun, a short blade that can bend at the hilt to use it's blaster mode.
- Zerg Rush: Since they're weaker than the main Riders in terms of power, they are shown to fight together in teams.
Lucky Clover
General Tropes
Lucky Clover
- Artifact Title: The name "Lucky Clover" becomes this when they lose one of their members, resulting in them having the same number of members as a normal clover rather than a lucky one.
- Bad Guy Bar: They run their own bar, the Clover Bar.
- Elite Four: They're four of the strongest Orphnochs around. They wind up as an Elite Three for a portion of the series though thanks to the death of Jay.
- Four Is Death: There's four of them and they're all skilled assassins.
- Homage: Each of their Orphnoch forms shares a motif with a different member of the Hakaider Squad.
- Quirky Miniboss Squad: They're stronger than the regular Orphnochs and each member has their own eccentricities, although for the most part they're deadly and dangerous rather than "quirky".
Jay
Jay/Crocodile Orphnoch
Portrayed by: Kenneth Duria (live), Jiro Okamoto (suit)
- Back from the Dead: He can revive himself twice, meaning he has to be killed three times in order to fully defeat him.
- Black Dude Dies First: He's the first of the Lucky Clover to go down.
- The Brute: He seems to be Murakami's go-to-guy for missions that require assassination and brute force.
- Forced into Evil: After getting killed twice Jay was reluctant to continue to pursue Faiz, until Murakami threatens Chaco.
- Never Smile at a Crocodile: He's the Crocodile Orphnoch.
- Pet the Dog: Literally when it comes to his pet dog Chaco. The only reason he continues going after Faiz is because Murakami threatens it.
- Scary Black Man: He's a black man which, in a cast of mostly Japanese actors, certainly makes him stand out.
Itsuro Takuma
Itsuro Takuma/Centipede Orphnoch
Portrayed by: Jun Yamasaki (live), Seiji Takaiwa (suit)
- Butt-Monkey: Once Kitazaki appears, Takuma often gets bullied by the former and is on the receiving end of a few comical moments. Not even the end of the series spared him from this, as in his new life as a construction worker, he tumbles down and accidentally spills his wheelbarrow, prompting his boss to pinch his cheeks and makes him get back to work.
- Creepy Centipedes: He's the Centipede Orphnoch.
- The Dog Bites Back: Towards Kitazaki twice. #41 has him gently sending down Kitazaki down the stairs while he was injured, claiming that "his hand slipped" and still snickered even as the latter retaliated. Then in #49, after Kitazaki was weakened from the fight, Takuma gleefully took the opportunity to whip him right before Teruo arrives to finish the deed.
- Evil Genius: He's much more cunning in comparison to the other members of Lucky Clover, preferring to analyze the situation and strategize rather than rush into battle.
- Heel–Face Turn: In the end, he abandons Smart Brain's cause upon seeing the Arch Orphnoch evolve Saeko and instead starts a new life in human society as a construction worker.
- Inelegant Blubbering: Upon seeing Teruo become the Arch Orphnoch and devour Kitazaki, he became scared and stuttered while attempting to tell Saeko about it.
- Poisonous Person: In his Orphnoch form, he's capable of emitting toxic substances that cause pain.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: The Arch Orphnoch evolving Saeko horrified him so much that he fled the scene in fear and decided to spend his remaining days as a human.
- Smug Snake: He seems like a competent villain at first and manages to lay down a Curb-Stomp Battle to the heroes several times. Getting his ass kicked by Faiz's Axel Form takes him down a few pegs.
- Villain Decay: Starts off as a formidable-enough threat but by the end of the series he's become little more than Kitazaki's whipping boy.
- Weapon Specialization: Wields a whip in battle.
- Wicked Cultured: He can wax poetical whilst kicking ass.
Saeko Kageyama
Saeko Kageyama/Lobster Orphnoch
Portrayed by: Waka (live), Takeshi Mizutani (suit)
- Dark Action Girl: The seductive but ruthless female member of Lucky Clover, as well as the who runs the Lucky Clover's Clover Bar.
- Determinator: Is wholly devoted to the Orphnochs' cause, intends on surviving, and her final scene has her awaiting her king's recovery.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Downplayed. When Kitazaki decided to kill Teruo in hopes of being the new king, Saeko and Takuma turn on him to protect their king, though she also did this out of the intent to survive.
- Evil Feels Good: Her conversation with Takumi in #37 inferences that she enjoys being an Orphnoch because it lets her harm others.
- Faux Affably Evil: She acts comforting to her victims, though its often while she's in the process of killing them.
- Karma Houdini: Killed Yuka and thus set off Kiba's Face–Heel Turn, yet she managed to survive the end of the series, albeit insane and trapped in her Orphnoch form. Also, if one were to take OOO, Den-O, All Riders: Let's Go Kamen Riders into account, then it's subverted when Faiz voids the Lobster Orphonoch's warranty.
- Kick the Dog: She really didn't have any reason to kill Yuka. Even by Smart Brain's own standards, she wasn't a target for them because of all the Asshole Victims she killed. Yet she murders her anyway solely out of spite.
- One Last Smoke: Invoked by her. She always sends her targets a bottle of wine before she kills them.
- Pet the Dog: Occasionally comforts Takuma from any of his distresses such as his conflicts with Kitazaki.
- Perpetual Smiler: Unless she's in battle or furious (the latter of which is extremely rare), she's always smiling. This isn't benevolent at all; it just shows how unhinged she is.
- Sadist: Really seems to enjoy watching her victims suffer.
- Team Mom: While she has difficulty caring for anyone, she does at least try to mitigate the tensions between Kitazaki and Takuma, if only to keep them working as a team.
- Transhuman Treachery: More so than the other Orphnochs, she allowed the Arch Orphnoch to destroy the vestiages of her humanity to be a perfected Orphnoch.
- Unlimited Wardrobe: Has been seen in numerous outfits, ranging from her proprietor uniform to anything that's conservatively casual, and alternates between tying her hair and letting it loose.
- Villain Takes an Interest: Became interested with Takumi during the latter's short tenure with the Lucky Clover up until he made a challenge to fight her, Takuma, and Kitazaki.
- Villainous Friendship: She's at the very least close enough with Murakami to speak to him more casually and personally.
Kitazaki
Kitazaki/Dragon Orphnoch/Kamen Rider Delta (II)
Portrayed by: Ray Fujita (live), Jun Watanabe (suit)
- Ax-Crazy: Kitazaki is clearly the most unhinged Orphnoch among Smart Brain's elite.
- Big Bad Wannabe: Kitazaki desires to be the strongest Orphnoch, but the awakened Arch-Orphnoch is on another level and his refusal to accept that gets his face ripped off.
- Blood Knight: Kitazaki likes a good fight just as he likes killing, considering "fighting" and "playing" to be the same thing.
- The Bully: What he really is at his core, an obnoxious, disrespectful teenager who torments everyone around him and still thinks he is the best.
- Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: To Takeshi Asakura, each being a murderous Blood Knight who end up a Big Bad Wannabe. But while Asakura is actually shown to be dangerously intelligent, Kitazaki has a self-inflated ego and nearly got himself killed when facing an opponent vastly stronger than himself.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: Kitazaki got his face is ripped off by the Arch Orphnoch, not that he didn't deserve it. Becomes a double subversion during the events of Paradise Regained as a robot duplicate of Kitazaki is made.
- The Dragon: The Lucky Clover's strongest member and the one who gets sent in when they really mean business. Rather appropriate considering his dragon motif. Ends up a subverted Dragon Ascendant by "Paradise Regained", being the only remaining member of the old Smart Brain regime to have a robot created in his likeness to lead current Smart Brain while answering only to the government.
- Dragon with an Agenda: He cares little for the Orphnochs' cause, but works under Murakami solely to have his fun.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: The only person to show respect for him is Saeko Kageyama, and that's because she's the Team Mom. The moment Kitazaki decides to despose the Arch Orphnoch, Saeko loses her respect for him and conspired with Takuma to betray him.
- Good Hair, Evil Hair: His hair is always messy and unkempt, and so are his signature clothes, reflecting on how he ignores his own appearance to give more importance to things he considers to be fun.
- Hate Sink: Not to the same level as Kusaka, but from his arrogant attitude to his treatment of Takuma, it's hard not to hate him.
- Jerkass: Aside from his love of violence, he displays an extreme amount of arrogance and disregard for others.
- Lack of Empathy: As far as he's concerned, other people are nothing more than toys to be broken and thrown away.
- Narcissist: Thinks he is better than his king, and tries to kill him just to prove it. He soon learns that trying it wasn't a good idea.
- Psycho for Hire: It's pretty clear that he is just following Murakami's orders to satisfy his boredom.
- Psychopathic Manchild: Kitazaki tends to act childish and treats his killings like a game.
- Serial Killer: All Orphnochs working for Smart Brain qualify to a degree, but Kitazaki comes the closest to being the most accurate depiction of one in the series.
- Soft-Spoken Sadist: He rarely raises his voice, and it's rare for him not to smile or laugh while killing someone.
- The Sociopath: What Kusaka has in charisma, Kitazaki has in cruelty. Unlike Kusaka, Kitazaki makes no attempt to hide this, and shows that he's a heartless person even if he's not in battle.
- Stupid Evil: Tries to kill the Orphnoch King, even though doing so would have doomed the entire Orphnoch race, including himself.
- Teens Are Monsters: The worst Lucky Clover has to offer, and not even an adult.
- Touch of Death: Even outside of his Orphnoch form, he has the ability to cause organic matter he touches to disintegrate into ash.
- Villainous Breakdown:
- In #40, after barely surviving the fight against Faiz Blaster Form, Kitazaki went on a madness rant and screamed in anger.
- Kitazaki did not take Saeko and Takuma's betrayal very well, attacking both in retaliation and led to him being barely taken down by Faiz and Delta. Afterwards, Takuma took the opportunity to whip Kitazaki, with Teruo showing up after to chase and petrify a disillusioned Kitazaki.
Aki Sawada
Aki Sawada/Spider Orphnoch
Portrayed by: Gō Ayano (live), Naoki Nagase (suit)
- Easily Forgiven: Even after Mari nearly died because of him, she and Takumi still came to check up on Sawada during his final moments.
- Enigmatic Minion: Seems to have his own agenda apart from the rest of Lucky Clover.
- Heel–Face Turn: Gives the Delta Belt to the surviving Ryusei students, leading him to be kicked out of Lucky Clover and branded a traitor.
- Love Makes You Crazy: In love with Mari, but seeks to kill her to destroy what's left of his humanity.
- The Rival: To Kaixa. Both are in love with Mari, but Sawada seeks to kill her while Kusaka wants to have her all to his own.
- Sixth Ranger: Joins the Lucky Clover to replace Mr. J.
- Spiders Are Scary: The Spider Orphnoch.
- Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Mari remembers him as being a kind kid, a start contrast from the cruel assassin he is now.
Other Orphnochs
The Orphnoch King (MAJOR SPOILERS!)
Teruo Suzuki/Arch Orphnoch
Portrayed by: Kayako Watanabe (child), Shun Kobayashi (shadow), Hiroshi Yanaka (Arch Orphnoch's voice), Jun Watanabe (suit)
WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS
An orphaned boy rescued by Kaido who, unbeknownst to everyone, is the Arch Orphnoch, the most powerful Orphnoch in the series.
- Alas, Poor Villain: For what is worth, Teruo was once just a normal child who lost his parents, was placed in an institution where other kids bullied him and is ambiguous if he's aware of being the Arch Orphnoch.
- Big Creepy-Crawlies: While it's never commented on by the other characters, in a nod to the franchise's roots, he's themed after a humanoid grasshopper.
- The Bus Came Back: While the Arch Orphnoch monster suit appears among many a Legion of Doom's forces in plenty of crossovers, he doesn't come back as an actual character after the end of the series until Kamen Rider Outsiders.
- Creepy Child: When we first meet him, he's not more than an emotionless, anti-social child with no personality. Then we find out he's the Arch Orphnoch, the Final Boss of the series and he starts acting bizarre.
- Dark Messiah: The literal savior of the Orphnoch race, as only he can correct their genetic instability.
- Greater-Scope Villain: The Orphnoch King is dormant and out of the picture for most of the series, but finding and awakening him is Smart Brain's ultimate goal.
- Internal Homage: A grasshopper man with a scarf? Hmmmm...
- The Juggernaut: He proves all but unstoppable once he's fully awakened. It takes Kiba holding him in place to give the Riders a chance to defeat him.
- Last of His Kind: He's implied to be one of if not the only Orphnochs to survive beyond his series.
- Literal Split Personality: The Arch Orphnoch operates as a being separate from Teruo who surfaces whenever he wants to kill people, though he always returns to him.
- Not Quite Dead: Got defeated by both Takumi and Kiba, the latter sacrificed his life as a result. He got gravely wounded and placed under stasis under Smart Brain.
- One-Winged Angel: As the Arch Orphnoch, he's an overpowered nearly unstoppable nightmare with it's host having no proper control and letting the Orphnoch take over.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: His barely-alive body has been kept in stasis by Smart Brain since his defeat at the end of Faiz.
- True Final Boss: While Murakami and the Lucky Clovers are the main antagonists for most of the series, Teruo's eventual awakening as the Arch Orphnoch makes him the last threat the riders has to face in the end.
