Fridge / Kamen Rider Ex-Aid

Fridge pages are Spoilers Off by default, so all spoilers were removed and all examples folderized. Proceed with caution. You Have Been Warned.

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Fridge Brilliance

• The Bugsters being based off of viruses actually fits perfectly with the video game motif. What is usually a player's number one enemy while playing a video game? Game Breaking Bugs!
  • Most of the Riders are doctors. Who else can you call for help during a virus outbreak?
  • Their gimmick of stress also makes sense. If a gamer's worst enemy is game breaking glitches, it stands to reason that a huge glitch, or a number of them, would stress said gamer out a considerable amount.
• Also, the Ex-Aid Riders seems to avert the Not Using the "Z" Word trope, with all of them being given the coveted title of 'Kamen Rider'. This makes sense because those who have undergone the proper surgery can fight the Bugsters as a Kamen Rider, but there's also Emu who never had the surgery. However, the Gamer Driver can recognize those who have the ability to be a Kamen Rider, and every time someone like that uses it, the Driver proudly announces that "[They're] a Kamen Rider!"
• The Doctor and Game motif mashup might be a little strange; how can one blend a job that involves both entertainment and curing people at the same time? It initially doesn't make sense, at least until you know that there are many "games" used for scientific research, education, and even medicine, like the study over the spread of disease in World of Warcraft or the usage of games to cure psychological issues in patients and soldiers.
  • Numerous research has also been done in improving the performance of doctors and surgeons using video games. For the most part, the results are actually good.
• The environment becomes game-like in the battle of the Gamer Riders and the virus-like Bugsters. They're in literal gamification!
• The idea of the Bugsters becoming stronger through stress is probably representative of the harmful psychological and physical impacts overuse of games can have.
• The Super-Deformed Level 1 designs for the Riders are meant to represent 8-bit and 16-bit character sprites found in old-school games, like Super Mario Bros. or Dragon Quest. Think about it - how many of them actually had necks?
• When Ex-Aid blows on the Gashat before inserting it into the Kimewaza Slot Holder for his Mighty Critical Strike...he's blowing off the dust, like you would do with old retro cartridges. Someone who's supposed to be a pro gamer would know about this sorta thing - it's more a wonder why he doesn't do it before his LV1 henshin, actually.
  • It also explains how he's able to fight so efficiently and plow through the monsters so easily. He's already a pro at these sorts of games.
  • As for why he blows on it before using his Mighty Critical Strike, if it's one thing in a game you absolutely need to work, it's your Finishing Move.
• The 3 recent Drivers (and gadgets) tend to speak both English and Japanese with little to no results aside for Rule of Cool (for English) or making the target audience (Japanese children) understand what the Drivers (and gadgets) say. But in the case of the Gamer Driver, BOTH reasons actually make sense in-universe because how can you sell a game if it's not cool and if the player can't understand how to play the game itself?
• When compared to Ex-Aid and his Evil Knockoff Genm, Brave is somewhat lacking in the agility department, but is physically stronger. After all, platform games focus less on combat and more on traversing the environment via jumps, while RPGs rely more on combat rather than jumping over obstacles.
  • Brave also seems to be designed with older RPG games in mind. Old RPG games where combat is turn based.
• Connections between the Rider's main Gashat and their professions:
  • Ex-Aid and Mighty Action X - Emu is a pediatrician, a job where he meets with children daily. What child wouldn't love an action-packed superhero like Ex-Aid?
  • Brave and Taddle Quest - Since Hiiro's main job is a surgeon, he is required to know his tools and remember very intricate procedures in order to complete operations. In Role Playing Games, the player must know their party, their abilities, and their equipment, plus they must devise strategies based on what they have in order to complete a goal.
  • Snipe and Bang-Bang Shooting - Taiga is an unlicensed doctor, an illegal profession that could get him arrested or killed if he doesn't know exactly what to do. In shooting games, it's important to memorize the map's layout and the movements of opponents in order to catch them off-guard or not be surprised yourself. Taiga also used to be a radiologist and therefore, would know exactly where to shoot to cause the most damage to a human body. This is actually confirmed in the Kamen Rider Snipe spinoff series, where Taiga outright states that his incredible gunplay came from his experience as a radiologist.
  • Lazer and Bakusou Bike - Kiriya, as a coroner, doesn't need to worry about the state of his patients. His game is indicated to be one in the vein of Mario Kart or Carmageddon, battle racing games where the player gets knocked around a lot.
  • Genm and Proto Mighty Action X - Kuroto Dan, as the CEO, is one of the first and leading members of the hospital and has the most power, but there will still be constant changes to the hospital. Proto Mighty Action X is the first version of Mighty Action X, and is the buggier version, but in battle, is far more powerful than the other Riders.
• Brave initially starts out with a basic sword...until Genm destroys it. However rather fortuitously, his Gashat generates the Gashacon Sword upon his level map generating inside the church. In RPGs, very rarely do characters start out with good gear, often having to find it later. Furthermore, the Gashacon Sword appeared only after the basic sword was wrecked. When removing a Gashat it shouts "CLICK TO SAVE!", which means Taddle Quest saved his progress in between game sessions.
• Gashacon Sword has two modes: Fire Mode and Ice Mode, both of which represent how we can preserve foods and kill bacteria on medical equipment, either by pasteurizing (which is basically "heat it to the all-germ-gone temperature") or freezing (which, much like how the Alhambra Bugster can't cast any spells after being hit by the Gashacon Sword's Ice Mode multiple times, stops/slows down any viral activity.)
• Sadly, the conflict of the 4 Doctor Riders (Ex-Aid, Brave, Snipe, Lazer) represents the motivations of Real Life doctors: Ex-Aid represents the doctor who "cures" the patient while Brave represents the doctor who "cures" the disease, Snipe (for now) the doctor who's Only in It for the Money, and Lazer, who is a coroner, the doctor who wants to study the virus.
  • Genm, Kuroto Dan, meanwhile represents those individuals who aren't doctors but still have considerable power over the hospital and its doctors thanks to their money and connections.
• Snipe's fighting style revolves around a lot of movement. It makes sense, considering his basis in First Person Shooters. In an FPS, if you stay still for too long you're likely to get shot or killed. Him not moving around constantly would be suicide by FPS-logic.
• Snipe being the FPS-themed Rider and being the WORST at working with others makes sense, when you consider how toxic FPS players can get in multiplayer. Sometimes, so bad that they can get kicked out of normal matchmaking or banned...
  • Taiga was also banned from the CR and being a Rider, which means he's evading a ban - just the sort of thing a really toxic player might do.
• Why does the RPG- and knight-based Brave get the rhythm-game-based DoReMiFa Beat Gashat? Considering who his dad is as well as the fact that he seems to know about its game avatar, Poppy Pipopapo, it more or less makes sense.
• Laser being unable to reach top speed without a rider pays tribute to co-op games.
• Zero Day in Ex-Aid is a cover-up incident where the Bugster Virus infected a lot of people, resulting in multiple disappearances. In computer terms, Zero Day refers to hacking attacks that use unknown vulnerabilities at the time, causing severe amounts of damage.
• The Kamen Riders who are good are based off of games with heroic protagonists while the Kamen Riders who are either amoral or evil are based off of games with like minded protagonists.
  • Ex-Aid and Brave are based off classic Platformers and RPGs respectively, thus reflecting characters akin to Mario and Hero.
  • Snipe is based off FPS games, which feature mostly edgy heroes. The Call of Duty cast comes to mind.
  • Lazer's game is explicitly said to be a racing game where destruction and sabotage are encouraged. Reminds you of anything?
• Connections between the Riders' primary and secondary Gashats:
  • Mighty Action X and Gekitotsu Robots - Platform games are known to have simple controls, but the player needs to be aware of their surroundings and enemies in order to navigate quickly throughout the level. Gekitotsu Robots is indicated to be a robot boxing game akin to Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots, with easy-to learn controls, but the difficulty comes from the player's ability to move and act fast enough to win.
  • Taddle Quest and DoReMiFa Beat - In RPGs, one must be aware of multiple complex stats and attacks in the game and strategize based on those stats to make sure they don't get overwhelmed. In dancing and rhythm games, it's encouraged to learn multiple movements and patterns to beat the game so the player doesn't fall behind too quickly.
    • Alternatively, their clashing nature reflects Hiiro's general ineptitude with video game mechanics.
    • Seeing Hiiro actually use DoReMiFa Beat reveals another connection. Both Gashats have analogues in medicine. Taddle Quest's sword allows Hiiro to apply the cutting skills he gained as a surgeon while DoReMifa Beat allows him to apply his knowledge of CPR.
    • Also worth noting here is the introduction of the ATB in RPGs, where supposedly turn-based combat is affected by your stats so the turns are no longer in order, meaning that you'd have to punch in each character's specials depending on which one is up next and forget their actual order basically, mimicking rhythm games even more. Of course, the most blatant reference here is the gunblade triggering system in Final Fantasy VIII, which is a straight-up rhythm game.
    • Also some Role Playing Games like Paper Mario and Mario and Luigi series have action commands where you insert commands like in rhythm games during attacks to increase damage or dodge attacks.
  • Bang Bang Shooting and Jet Combat - FPS games encourage players to focus on both attacking the enemy quickly and keeping constant movement to dodge attacks from the enemies themselves, as staying still and firing is suicide and moving around while not attacking is simply tedious. Shoot em' up games require the player to dodge constant streams of attacks from enemies while shooting at them, as standing still and firing will get them killed quickly, and simply dodging is going to make the fighting longer than it has to be.
  • Bakusou Bike and Giri Giri Chambara - Racing games like Bakusou Bike don't take much skill to play, but become significantly easier if one learns how. Hack and slash games like Giri Giri Chambara also have a deceptive learning curve that makes the game easier as the player learns. Both games are usually single player experiences, which meshes with Lazer's mindset. Kiriya's death brings a much more depressing connection. It's far easier to get a Game Over in a Racing Game than any of the other Gashat Genres.
    • On the other hand, in games like Mario Kart, if you get hit by a powerful item, it's a lot easier to come back...which is unsurprisingly what Kiriya does. And as it just so happens, when Kiriya did come back, he arguably was more powerful due to the Proto Gashats, just like how if you're far behind in Mario Kart, you get access to better powerups.
  • Mighty Action X and Shakariki Sports - Much like the above, but the thinking on your feet is more in line with being a corrupt CEO, akin to how Taiga works. Shakariki Sports may seem out of left field until you remember that there have been incidents where sports companies like the NFL had actually butted heads with doctors before over controversial medical risks. After all, sports have more popularity and more immunity to backlash than doctors have, so if anything goes to pot, the doctors will be affected while the corporations get away scot free.
• Why does Emu immediately overpower Genm's Level 3 form with his own Level 3 form despite having less experience with said Level 3 form? Genm transforms to Level 3 with Shakariki Sports, a sports game while Emu transforms to Level 3 with Gekitotsu Robots, a fighting game. Of course he'd have better combat abilities!
  • In addition Kuroto Dan may be the CEO of a gaming company, but Emu is an ace gamer. While Kuroto might have an advantage when he has the power edge or they're even, he doesn't have the skill Emu does to compensate for being weaker than his opponent, so the massive power boost Ex-Aid got from his Level 3 form took him off guard.
• Graphite's Bugster form resembles a mishmash of different monster parts cobbled together with little symmetry or reason. After all, in monster-hunting games, a player's first instinct is to usually put as many armor parts together out of any monsters they've killed for protection and later fights, not to complete a full set.
  • Graphite also proves to be a few levels stronger than normal Bugsters. Since Bugsters are normally bosses in the games they come from, this means Graphite is a boss character from a monster-hunting game. Bosses in Monster-Hunting games tend to be far stronger than any other monster in the game, requiring a team of monster hunters or overwhelming skill like Emu's.
• As completely unexpected as the appearance of Pac-Man is, it makes sense. First, Pac-Man's a well-known icon of video games worldwide. Second, the other main rider is Ghost. Now, what are the main enemies you encounter in Pac-Man?
  • It also makes sense in a meta way. Namco are the creators and owners of Pac-Man. Namco is a subsidiary of Bandai. Bandai makes the toys for Toei. Toei makes Kamen Rider. This way, they don't have to pay for the rights to a big name video game character owned by a different company.
• The Rider's Transformation Sequence.
  • Ex-Aid's Level Up to Level 2 has Ex-Aid jump and pose like Mario does while the background might remind one of backgrounds from early Sonic games.
  • Brave's Level Up to Level 2 has the man opening a pair of doors when the transformation is finished. He's a surgeon entering an operation room and getting ready to fight for the patient's life.
  • Snipe's Level Up to Level 2 has him shoot directly up in the air. An easy way of getting everyone's attention (and indicate who's in charge) if you have a gun is to shoot straight up into the air...and usually, whenever Taiga battles the other riders, he's the one in charge.
• Brave using CPR to follow the beat of DoReMiFa Beat makes the form's ability, increasing the strength of your attacks so long as you follow the rhythm, even more effective than it usually is. Almost all of Brave's attacks were aimed at hitting Graphite's heart! In real life, hitting the heart with enough force can cause a multitude of serious problems. Now imagine getting constantly hit in the chest with attacks that get stronger with every hit. No wonder Graphite was clutching his chest after Brave finished his combo.
• The Gamer Driver affecting the surrounding environment when activated, can easily be seen as a reference to Augmented Reality, considered by many to be the next big step in gaming.
• Why does the Drago Knight Hunter Z Gashat's powers need to be split across the four riders? Monster Hunting games are heavily co-op orientated as many boss encounters are so incredibly powerful that groups are needed to clear it.
• Emu was eight when he had the accident that required a doctor to heal him and the span between that and the time the show begins proper is sixteen years. In short: 8-bit became 16-bit.
• Why Kaigan Ghost Gashat, the Gashat based from Kamen Rider Ghost, has the Level 2 sound similar to Brave's? Brave motif is knight in the past, while Ghost motif is, aside from ghost, historical figures from past.
  • For Let's Go Ichigou's sound similarity to Mighty Action X's, it is obviously from the fact that Mighty Action X's sound is Shout-Out to Kamen rider's opening song.
  • Drive's and Den-O's Gashat sounds like vehicle-based rider Gashat, Lazer.
  • Gaim's Gashat sounds obviously like Giri Giri Chanbara for very obviously reason (Samurai motif.)
  • Decade's Gashat, of all sound, gets Dangerous Zombie sound. Not quite surprise, as they're tied to "10" (Decade is 10 and Zombie is Level X (10)) and destruction (World destroyer and that 'Genocide' sound)
• Continuously using a Gashat can cause serious damage is pretty much reference to many illness cause by overusing computer (and digital devices), for gaming or not, ranged from shortsightness to office syndrome.
  • Using a Prototype Gashat can be worse. Not surprising, you can expect sudden crash (or worse) from a buggy beta game.
• Some subtle brilliance from a non-electronic game for once - look at the ping-pong scores on that table in Kuroto's office. Kiriya and Graphite are the ones winning. Bear in mind their basic temperaments - Kiriya is the Consummate Liar, more likely to make feints and spin balls; Graphite is the Blood Knight, more likely to make aggressive smashes. Both are perfectly legit ways to beat ping-pong (and lose friends!)
  • Also note that Pong was one of the first video games ever made.
• The different ways the rider act is probably a reference to different types of players in multi player games.
  • Emu being the task oriented team player who tries to keep everyone in line
  • Hiiro is the player who plays solely to the objective without thinking about anyone else on the team.
  • Taiga is the skilled solo player who just wants to win and tends to just run off on his own which nets him some kills but gets him into trouble when he runs into someone who is equal to or better than him
  • Kiriya is one of those players who you can't tell if he's screwing with you or if he's actually trying to help that no one likes.
  • Genm is either a pub stomper who goes into low level servers just to get easy kills or a moderator who abuses his powers to ruin everyone’s day. The latter works particularly well after his Level X form debuts, which is not only overpowered compared to everyone else, but has what amounts to infinite lives in a Rogue Like game.
• Someone already talked about the Riders' personalities matching up to gamer types, but any good diagnosis needs a second opinion.
  • Emu is a pro who plays for the fun of the games.
  • Hiiro is a completionist who just wants to see the game through to the end.
  • Taiga is an achievement hunter, always looking to get more out of the game, even if it means taking from other players. You could also see him as a mean-spirited FPS player, not caring about other players and taking away from their experience.
  • Kiriya is a troll, misleading and deceptive.
  • Kuroto is a special case. There isn't a category for "insane" gamers, but the way he provides his opponents with the necessary tools and powers that are capable of leading to his own destruction points to him being a tryhard, someone who follows the philosophy of "The greater the challenge, the sweeter the victory".
• It might be confusing as to why Kamen Rider Para-DX has both a Fighting and Puzzle motif to him, until you remember that Street Fighter did a Puzzle Fighter spinoff before.
  • It could also be a literal homage to his name: Fighting and puzzle games are considered by most to be opposites, and that a single person using them both is rather paradoxical.
• These days, thanks to the internet and such, there's no limit to how many people can play together in a multiplayer game other than technical limits. But back in the day, what were usually the player limit for consoles and multiplayer games? Four players.
• Genm gaining his Level X form with his death as the catalyst, referencing video game bosses that have another phase triggered by their original health bar being depleted.
• The Mighty Brothers XX Gashat, besides furthering the Mario reference, also pays homage to games where the player controls 2 characters. And what kind of games were those, in the early days? Often, they were sequels to popular games where a secondary protagonist was introduced.
• Genm's Level X form being intentionally overpowered compared to the other Riders and powers none of the other Riders have could be compared to a developer or designer giving themselves an overpowered weapon never intended for player usage for ease of play testing and/or to goof around, both of which aren't entirely uncommon in real life.
• Zombie Gamer has a transmitter that blocks a Driver's Gashat from forcefully ejecting to protect them when it goes critical. The transmitter, as it turns out, is located in the head. So, what's the best strategy for surviving a Zombie attack? Removing the Head or Destroying the Brain!
  • In addition, a recurring glitch in a lot of games tends to be "zombie character" glitches, that can cause the player to keep living despite having no health due to an underflow error in how health is calculated. One of the major ways the glitch is fixed on the player's side is to end up finding a way to add health back to the character.
• Why is Asuna the only good Bugster? The other Bugsters are all based off enemy data, most of them being bosses, with the exception of the four using Gashats (which are based off protagonist by default). Asuna is the odd one out by being based off of mascot/protagonist.
• Since the rights to Mighty Action X probably belongs to the Genm Corporation, Kuroto is essentially trying to personally give Emu a Cease and Desist order when the Rider creates the Mighty Brothers XX Gashat, a fan made game of Mighty Action X.
• There's a reason "Genm" is spelled like that. It's not just a pun on "mugen" (infinite), but also short for "genome", since the company is secretly doing biological experiments, not just making video games.
• The names of Para-DX's game titles, Perfect Puzzle and Knockout Fighter, both begin with the little announcement in most games of their genres when the player's beaten the level or opponent. Remember that Kuroto made the Gashat Purposely Overpowered so Parado could just beat the crap out of everyone. In other words, it's a reminder the second Parado started playing, he's basically already won.
  • Connected to that, the sounds of the Gashat Gear Dual are wildly different and have a much higher sound quality than the other Gashats. It's the exclusive game for the exclusive player!
• Currently, only Dangerous Zombie lacks of any cartoonish, retro-like graphics, unlike other Gashats, as even the Gashat Gear Dual has some. It is a Survival Horror Game after all, and when the enemies need to kill off someone, ruining their courage with a look that's pretty damn threatening is a good choice.
  • Also worth noting is that survival horror is a pretty recent genre compared to platformers and JRPGs, hence the updated artwork. This also explains why Kuroto didn't create an upgraded version of the game.
• The design similarities between the Gekitotsu Robots and Knock Out Fighter Rider forms makes perfect sense considering they're both fighting games.
• One form of the Gashacon Sparrow is two kama, a variation of scythe. This combined with Kamen Rider Genm's new Zombie Gamer form makes him the grim reaper.
• #17 has Ex-Aid clearing Burgermon Bugster's game by serving him burger. Now go back to #4 where Motors Bugster survived Ex-Aid + Lazer's Finishing Move. They didn't clear the game by defeating the Bugster; they did so by being the first to finish the race.
• Gashat Gear Dual Beta and its games, Taddle Fantasy and Bang Bang Simulation. Kuroto made it by using those two stolen Gashats. Basically those uncreative names are in fact Foreshadowing.
• Why two different genres of games were put together into the Gashat Gear Dual Beta. Together, it's a genre of Tactical RPGs as it incorporates both of the main themes Brave and Snipe have (Brave's strategic style and Snipe's military style) into one Gashat.
  • Also, why does this Gashat have a beta in the end? These games were never tested or completed like the original 10 gashats, so they weren't given any buffs or fixes.
  • Similarly, it makes sense for these games to be one cartridge instead of two - not only would Kuroto only need one of the helper robots at a time, but if the Dual Gear Beta fell into the hands of one of the heroic riders, he would only have 1 LV 50 rider to worry about.
• With the reveal that Emu hasn't had the Bio-Augmentation that the other Riders had to use a Game Driver, he now has a very Punny Name. After all, something that runs a game without the required hardware is called and Emulator.
• With the reveal of what Kamen Rider Chronicle really is, it suddenly makes a lot of sense why Parado's so obsessed with playing it. It's a game that turns the entire world into a game area, allows anyone to be a Kamen Rider, and goes on forever with them fighting monsters. To Parado, it means that the game never ends, everyone has a fair shot at fighting him, and that there's never a place that has no opportunity to play.
• Kuroto's reaction to Mighty Brothers XX makes a huge amount of sense when you see his Start of Darkness: Emu's letter suggesting said game pissed him off. Seeing it being a realized game pretty much sets him over the edge. It also explains why he began undergoing a Sanity Slippage after the episode it debuts. Emu pressed the Berserk Button so hard, it's stuck there.
• The fact that Parado was nonchalant about Emu losing his Driver and by extension not being able to 'play' against Parado anymore, especially when a couple episodes earlier, when Emu got taken over by his Bugster and not being himself anymor] made him flip his shit: Parado probably realized that Emu will use Kiriya's Driver, since he might have seen Kiriya give Emu it when he died.
• #17 actually Foreshadowed the Heel–Face Turn of Parado in #40 and how he and Emu will become real friends onward. #17 features a healthy, friendly relationship between Tsukuru and his Bugster Burgermon, and how Burgermon only wants to live with Tsukuru, not to take over his body and kill like other Bugsters. This is very similar to Parado's nature. As the real-life manifestation of Emu's wish to have a friend to play with, that's his life purpose - to be Emu's friend and play with him, and while he has taken over Emu's body a few times, they are just to force Emu to play, not to kill him. As a result, after Parado is knocked some sense into himself by Emu and realizes his wrong-doings, he is able to genuinely form a friendship with Emu, who reciprocates this time.
• At first, it seemed off for Parado to refer to Emu as "M". Given that he called every one else except for his fellow Bugsters by their Riders' names (Genm, Brave, Snipe, and Lazer for instance), he should have called Emu "Ex-Aid". Even if he might know that Emu is Genius Gamer M, that was still a bit off. However, it makes sense after The Reveal in #29 that he is Emu's Bugster, and that he is the Genius Gamer M personality. Parado was not calling him "M", he has been referring to him as "Emu" the whole time! This is also a brilliant way of taking advantage of the similarly pronounced "M" and "Emu", as it revealed their relationship in plain sight and yet revealed nothing at the same time.
• Parado's Heel–Face Turn is met with not a single protest aside from Hiiro expressing his surprise that Parado would join them, while Kuroto is (rightfully) treated with suspicion and discrimination at first, and just the mere idea of a possible Heel–Face Turn from Graphite causes Hiiro, Taiga, and Nico to flip their shit. However, this is totally understandable, considering that unlike the other two, Parado has absolutely no personal beef with the other Doctor Riders. He only ever focused on trying to play with Emu and defeating him while treating the other Riders with equal nonchalance. As such, after Emu managed to knock some sense into Parado and forgave him, there would be no reason for Parado's Heel–Face Turn to be objected to. The fact that Parado was not at all Easily Forgiven and that he's instrumental to Emu's ability to transform and defeat Cronus also helps.
• Kuroto Dan using the Dangerous Zombie Gashat makes sense as the usual cause of a zombie outbreak are viruses.
• Conversely, Tsukuru making games with monks and chants to defeat Zombie Gamer is because he's thinking more along the lines of an exorcism.
• The Charlie Bugster never seems to want to harm anyone or evolve, but instead prefers to just play all day and anyone he hurts seems to be accidental. Besides him being from a Sports Game, Kuroto injected himself with the virus on purpose so he could hide from the authorities. Of course he'd choose to use the Charlie Bugster. He wanted a distraction, not something that would actively try to kill him.
• Genm corrupts Emu's Driver by summoning a lot of copies of himself. He basically performs Denial Of Service on Ex-Aid(s) and destroying his 'server' AKA Gamer Driver.
  • Likewise, Emu using Kiriya's driver after Genm corrupted Emu's old driver brings to mind a fan mod coming back as an official stand-alone game - kind of like Team Fortress Classic or, more appropriately, Galaxy in Turmoil^note the game had originally started out as a fan made Star Wars game aimed at recapturing the spirit of the first 2 Battlefront games; however, as they were using the license without permission, EA, who held the rights to make Star Wars games, ordered them to shut the project down; it was relaunched as a stand-alone project without using any Star Wars likenesses.
• The Riders defeating Level 30 Bugsters using the weaker Gashats like Drago Knight Hunter or Gekitotsu Robots is just like an experienced player purposefully doing a low level run on a game and being able to defeat much stronger opponents by taking advantage of the game's mechanics.
• It might seem odd that Taiga can resist the effects of LV 50 longer than Hiiro can...until you remember that Taiga used a Proto Gashat in the past, while Hiiro hasn't. Because of the Proto Gashat, it's possible that Taiga has a higher resistance to the Bugster Virus.
  • Inversely, this also explains Kuroto's actual death from a large amount of the Bugster Virus - had he still been alive when Parado gave him the virus, he might have lasted long enough for the heroic riders to treat him. However, because he was already "dead", and his "death" had allowed him to access a new game, he had lost that resistance - kind of like a twisted New Game Plus, or Final Death Mode.
• While there's an obvious connection between Taiga's 3 exclusive Gashats (Bang Bang Shooting, Jet Combat, and Bang Bang Simulation - Army, Air Force, and Navy), there's a more subtle one with Hiiro's. His exclusive Gashats are Taddle Quest, DoReMiFa Beat, and Taddle Fantasy - the former represents the hero, the second represents a neutral party, and the latter represents the villain - all 3 representing the 3 alignments a character can have.
  • They could also represent the three stereotypical archetypes in Fantasy games: Taddle Quest for the hero and Taddle Fantasy for the Monstrous evil overlord antagonist. DoReMiFa Beat could represent the Princess, since that's the game Poppy came from as she's the female supporting character, while Taddle Legacy represents the Fallen Hero or the Anti-Hero.
  • Brave's Lv 4 "Night of Safari" could be based off of Monsters used in Role Playing Games for random encounters.
• In a fan club special episode in which Hiiro must face off against Takeshi Asakura, aka Ouja from Ryuki, when Ouja is defeated, he vanishes in the way of someone disappearing in the Mirror World - even though he's not in the mirror world. Why? Simple. The very same effect is used when a NEVER is defeated, Foundation X was involved with them and, it turns out, orchestrated all this. Foundation X reviving him as a NEVER explains the look of his final death... and the fact that he's back at all.
• Parado's reasoning for why he wants to create Kamen Rider Chronicle makes his earlier beatdown of Kuroto all the more sensible: Kuroto had been killing Bugsters and treating it all like some sort of game, not unlike how most gamers just casually kill NPCs for shits and giggles.
• While Kamen Rider Chronicle being rated the equivalent of E for Everyone may just be for Rule of Funny, the game's violence is cartoony with no blood, there aren't any adult themes, since it's seemingly just beating up monsters, and language isn't any sort of issue. Also, Parado may have left out one little detail...
  • Kamen Rider Chronicle being rated the equivalent of E for Everyone can also be because the Kamen Rider franchise as a whole is made for the young child audience.
• In Kamen Rider Chronicle, the Ride-Players aren't players, they're the game's version of Mooks!
• Genm not being replaced by Parado during the next episode preview makes sense on two points. First and most obvious, Parado doesn't have a Level 1 or similarly designed form. Second and less obvious, Parado isn't a player; he's a boss character.
  • Or maybe he's already there. Ep 28's revelation that he's Emu's Bugster means that Parado is already present, just not who you'd expect.
  • More likely the latter, since in the Super Hero Time Bumper that began running when Kyuranger joined Ex-Aid, Para-DX is the only Ex-Aid rider aside from Emu that can be seen.
• Related to the Fridge Brilliance concerning Riders and their professions, Asuna/Poppy gets the Tokimeki Crisis Gashat, a Dating Sim game. Asuna is a nurse, a profession that can lead to patients getting Nightingale's syndrome especially when said nurse is an attractive young woman like Asuna.
• The Gashacon Key Slasher's almost comically oversized buttons suddenly make much more sense when they're used with Maximum Gamer's similarly large fingers.
• Why does Poppy's Kamen Rider form have the stats of a Level 50 despite being a Level X? The X doesn't mean 10, it's the same as Genm's Level X. After all, Genm's Level X was based on the unknown that is death, some would say another equivalent unknown is love, something that would easily come from a Dating Sim game.
• You might not catch it at first, but every part of Poppy's Critical Crews-Aid attack is a pun. She's a nurse, was part of the CR (a crew that delivers aid), and a dating sim can be described as a protagonist's crusade for romance.
• How is Nico's Ride-Player form so powerful? Being a professional gamer, she would know how to find and use exploits in games and if Kamen Rider Chronicle has a Level Up system she could have easily been grinding on Mooks considering they're everywhere.
  • In addition, Salty, the weakest of the Bugster bosses, is Level 10. As such, it makes sense she'd grind up to that level before confronting any of the bosses.
  • Another possible reason is because Nico added her own tastes to the Ride-Player's suit design, essentially making her a more elite variant of normal Ride-Player mooks.
  • This might be more akin to WMG, but remember that Nico was also infected with the Bugster Virus before. While becoming an Elite Mook makes sense, she also may have started with a higher level game, so to speak.
• Aside from the instances of foreshadowing, there are more than a few elements of Blade that hints towards Kenzaki's true identity.
  • Kenzaki was famous for asking (badly) whether Tachibana was a traitor (the Ondul meme). He's the traitor in Kamen Sentai Gorider, or rather, his imposter.
  • Other than Lazer, Kenzaki is the only dead Rider based on a game, and it's a rather old game as well. Kuroto did always like to think of himself as the Game Master after all...
  • Kenzaki, thanks to a gambit at the end of the series, was able to become an Undead. Not only is Genm's Zombie form undead-themed, it was thanks to a gambit that allowed him to become undead.
• It may be obvious, but here are some comparisons to Ex-Aid's standard forms to his more powerful forms:
  • Action Gamer & Hunter Gamer -> Double Action Gamer: Double Action Gamer is a mixture of the platforming action of Action Gamer and the co-op abilities of Hunter Gamer. Additionally, while Hunter Gamer's Co-op is based on four people working together, Double Action Gamer is only two, making agreements and decisions more quickly between two.
    • Also, think for a moment how some players use two controllers at once to clear co-op games. Emu is basically using this idea with two personalities (his doctor and "M" personas).
  • Robot Gamer -> Maximum Gamer: Both form are based on the mecha genre, but while Robot Gamer relies on heavy punches to defeat enemies, Maximum Gamer is more on exploration and maneuverability, making the form more versatile. This also makes sense, as it combines what was originally thought to be just a combination between Ex-Aid's levels 1 and 2 forms.
  • Burger Gamer -> Muteki Gamer: While this one might seem like a subversion at first, both are very fast forms, have powers that allowed Emu to solve the situation he was in when he first used them, (had Kuroto not confiscated Ju Ju Burger, it's likely that we would have seen Emu use it against another bugster, meaning that it could be useful in normal combat; additionally, Hyper Muteki allowed Emu to No-Sell Cronus's time control), both require the use of another Gashat in order to function properly, and both are relatively fast in comparison to the previous level; additionally, both are based on game modes that would require the player to move very fast (invincibility power-ups usually last for a very short amount of time unless acquired by cheating, and games like Diner Dash are usually timed).
• #28 reveals that Parado and Emu are two sides of the same coin (i.e. they appear to be one and the same). Ex-Aid's main colors are magenta and green. What happens when you invert those colors? Blue and red, which happen to be Para-DX's colors.
  • Also, there's another layer added to this. Curing a patient is like solving a very complex puzzle, while participating in a game competition - specifically, a fighting game - is like stepping into a combat tournament.
• Emu went berserk when Kuroto revealed he killed Kiriya. Parado's breaking point with Kuroto was after he destroys the Motors Bugster a second time. Motors is the Bugster of Bakusou Bike, Kiriya's main Gashat, and as #28 showed, this is not a coincidence.
• During the time the doctors got Poppy back on their side through talking, why did Game Clear appear when Poppy's game is DoReMiFa Beat, a dancing game? Well look at the scene playing out. A man convincing a young attractive woman that she's not a monster and wins when he succeeds in making her smile. It's most likely the game cleared was Tokimeki Crisis!
• Why does Taddle Fantasy have the advantage over Perfect Puzzle? Perfect Puzzle requires the strategic use of Energy Items to control the flow of the game, Taddle Fantasy's Dispel Magic however renders any and all power-ups useless, thus Parado must use Knock-Out Fighter to bring the fight into a direct brawl where special abilities have less meaning. The inverse is true between Bang Bang Simulations and Knock-Out Fighter, Bang Bang Simulations is completely focused on long range combat making it almost impossible for Parado to close in with Knock-Out Fighter, thus Parado must use Perfect Puzzle so he can use Energy Items to strategically move in to attack. Kuroto may have created the Gashat Gear Dual β in order to deal with the Doctor Riders but he also designed its powers as the perfect counter to Parado's Gashat in case Parado ever betrayed him.
  • It's also another reason why he might have had such a breakdown upon seeing Mighty Brothers XX - since Emu is in two places, he can attack from both long range and close range, meaning that he could keep Knock-Out Fighter far enough away using the Gashacon Key Slasher's Gun Mode, whereas the Axe and Sword modes could be used to attack rapidly and prevent Perfect Puzzle from gathering Energy Items (not to mention it's a lot harder to focus when you have two people attacking you as opposed to just one, something neither Taddle Fantasy or Bang Bang Simulations could handle) - it wasn't in Kuroto's plans.
• Why does Para-DX Level 99's weapon, the Gashacon Parabladegun, have multiple combo attacks for its special ability? It ties in with the Perfect Puzzle half but it also ties into Ex-Aid's Gashacon Breaker, having the same ability just ramped up to Level 99 power. Fitting considering Parado is Emu's Bugster.
  • That, and both fighting games and puzzle games have "combos".
• At first, it might make no sense as to why Parado would go through such lengths as to start up Kamen Rider Chronicle just to kill off humanity as a whole. Then after The Reveal that he's the physical form of Emu's wish to have a friend to play games with, you realize that his goal might not be that after all; it's just a threat to get Emu to play with him.
• The revelation that Poppy is the Bugster who manifested from Kuroto Dan's mother makes his breakdown before his first death in #23, and subsequently being Put on a Bus until #30 seem more reasonable as opposed to just a standard Villainous Breakdown. It's likely that the reason he didn't go after Poppy isn't because he didn't know that she was the DoReMiFa Beat Bugster, but rather, because at that point, the only way that data could be gathered for Kamen Rider Chronicle was by killing the Bugster for each respective Gashat... and in his eyes, having to do the same to Poppy would basically be the equivalent of having to kill his own mother!.
• Kuroto's Proto Mighty Action X Origin has been shown to lower the level of any Rider he touches as well as giving him 99 lives. In addition, Genm's level is 0 rather than a high level like Ex-Aid or Para-DX. But as Kuroto stated, Proto Mighty Action X Origin is an Alpha Build, meaning that the game's playable, but heavy testing still needs to be done, thus the game will have some debug options, like lowering the difficulty on the fly and granting the player a huge amount of lives to help get through stages. And at this stage of development, they haven't really implemented level growth yet, thus the player will be at Level 0.
• Masamune Dan being Kamen Rider Cronus makes sense, considering that Cronus is a rider who can control time, and he's Kuroto Dan's father - in other words, he's father time!.
  • Cronus is also known as the 'father of gods'. Kuroto has always liked to think of himself as a god.
• Masamune explained that he can permanently kill off Bugsters because he kills them off while they're frozen in time, making it so that continuing is impossible, since they stay in a state of death. Basically, he's making it so that their game freezes up and crashes.
  • Masamune, before killing the Loverica Bugster, says that Tokimeki Crisis is no longer in stock. Being the CEO of Genm Corporation, he does have the power to discontinue production of his company's games. It makes sense he also has the power to kill Bugsters, beings born from his company's games, permanently.
• The reveal of Masamune as the true Big Bad is essentially like the reveal of a True Final Boss in a video game, complete with revealing the previously believed to be Big Bad was his pawn all along.
• Kamen Rider Cronus' ultimate power is essentially giving him the power to pause an MMO game, games that don't have the ability to pause.
  • By gaining the power to reset time, Cronus gains the two powers most gamers take for granted, the power to pause and give themselves time to think or reset the game if things aren't going well for them.
• While Poppy's host being Kuroto's mother might seem a bit out of left field at first, but if you think back to her interactions with Emu, there were some hints - she would often pick him back up after he was knocked down, was constantly encouraging him even when Hiiro, Taiga, and Kiriya weren't by his side, and looked after him as a rider - in other words, she was acting motherly towards Emu.
• With the reveal of Kuroto's true intention for starting Kamen Rider Chronicle, it makes his words before killing Kiriya have another meaning to them other than the obvious. "Disappear into the darkness along with the truth." It's not just him killing Kiriya to hide his intentions; it also refers to him sending Kiriya into the Proto Gashats to become a Bugster along with the rest of humanity to keep them immortal, giving Kiriya a first-hand view of the truth behind Kuroto's actions.
• How are Ride-Players supposed to become Kamen Rider Cronus without a Buggle Driver Zwei? They can't make one like the Genm Corporation can but there is one way to obtain the Driver in-game. If any Ride-Player defeated Poppy, then they would likely obtain the Buggle Driver Zwei as the spoils of victory.
  • Although it would still be impossible since becoming Cronus requires one to be infected with all strains of Bugster Virus which Ride-Players doesn't know about.
• After coming back, Genm gets a Level Drain ability against Bugsters. Level-draining is a common trait for undead creatures in Tabletop Role Playing Games.
• Lazer Turbo having a new humanoid form, along with using the Shakariki Sports and Jet Combat Gashats, actually makes a degree of sense. He's not the bike anymore, he's the rider (pun unavoidable).
  • This also explains why Lazer Turbo is Level 0. Kiriya calls his levels "gears", like the ones on a bike. But he's not the bike anymore, so he wouldn't have any.
• Doubles as a Rewatch Bonus. Remember all those times Emu became "M" and for some reason the wind would blow into his face? It was Parado entering him via his non-physical form to play as Ex-Aid. And remember all those times that Emu just became "M" and his eyes would turn red? Parado was still physically present every single time and influencing Emu without possessing him.
• Charlie Bugster's name is rather mundane compare to say, Salty or Graphite. It makes sense when you realize that Charlie's an enemy from a Sports Game, which usually has very few fantastical elements, and aside from his shark design, was likely just a regular guy in Shakariki Sports.
• Muteki Gamer's Hyper Critical Sparking Finishing Move involves a Super-Speed to the point of looking like Teleport Spam combo Rider Kick, with the target seeming unharmed until all the damage hits them at once a few moments later. Anyone who's played a multiplayer game where your game lags may have experienced something similar where due to the lag, your game can't register you're being hit for a few moments at which point it all happens at once. In other words: Ex-Aid's 'computer' is moving so much faster than Cronus's, it effectively made Cronus lag.
  • Which makes Cronus' rage Hilarious in Hindsight. He's angry that he lost due to lag.
• In a certain perspective, it makes sense that the Muteki Gamer's infinite invincibility powers requires both the Hyper Muteki Gashat and the Maximum Mighty X Gashat. Alone, the Hyper Muteki Gashat can give the player invincibility for only 10 seconds, but since the Maximum Mighty X Gashat alone has powers to reprogram anything, what's a better way than to reprogram an already powerful ability and give yourself an infinite time limit?
  • The invincibility lasting only ten seconds by itself also makes sense. Being invincible all the time would make a game very boring so Kuroto, a master game maker, probably unknowingly programmed that invincibility time limit to make the game more challenging.
• Taddle Legacy could possibly be a shout-out to another popular RPG franchise like Taddle Quest and Dragon Quest or Taddle Fantasy and Final Fantasy. Taddle Legacy is most likely a shout-out to the Shin Megami Tensei franchise, games where the protagonists uses the powers of both evil and good to accomplish their goals and are usually being forced by a higher power to do their bidding.
  • It's also reflected Hiiro story so far. He wants to be with Saki again and defeat the Bugsters so he has been working with both the CR (the good guys) and Masamune (the bad guy). And as another troper pointed out, Taddle Quest represents The Hero, while Taddle Fantasy represents the bad guy. What better way for Hiiro's Final Form than to be a combination of two of his most used Gashats that represent his knight motif?
• Masamune reveals that the goal in Taddle Legacy is to rescue the princess trapped in a castle. It also reveals a rather sad reason "Another Hiiro" uses this Gashat instead of Taddle Quest. Since Another Hiiro is Hiiro's idealized version of himself, it means that he did everything perfectly; including not letting Saki die.
• Something that was pointed out on Rangerboard: why does Emu get Muteki without being brought Back from the Dead like most recent riders' Super Mode? Because he's clearing this game with no continues.
• Masamune seems to suffer from a rather severe case of Creative Sterility to the point ninety percent of his ideas are somehow stolen or modified versions of someone else's. This makes sense when you realize he demonstrates most of the traits one would find in a high functioning Sociopath. It's not uncommon in real life sociopaths who don't have a particular interest in an creative pursuit to struggle with it, as the condition makes them quickly become bored with things that don't interest them and lose focus. As Masamune (unlike Kuroto) seems to have no real interest in game design other than as a tool to make money or achieve his goals, it makes sense his ideas are shallow knock offs of other people's requiring little effort.
  • As for why Kuroto was a brilliant game designer, he both seems genuinely interested in it and ultimately isn't a true sociopath, as he's capable of genuine empathy and love, even if it's only for his mother and by extension Poppy and no one else.
• In #39, there is a bit of Fridge Brilliance during the henshin sequence before Emu fights Parado. Muteki's rider image panel descend down from above like Cronus instead of closing in from front like usual, a clever hint of the Cronus-like cold beatdown that Emu will do in that battle.
  • Also, in the same episode, there is a brilliant reference to #2 of Snipe's Episode Zero special which is released near the airing of #39. When Hiiro restrained Taiga and told him to take care of himself, Taiga had a stunned reaction that also looks like he remembered something. He remembered the exact same words his old friend Maki said to him in the special during their fight, just before Maki's apparent death.
• Why did the Taddle Legacy Gashat, that was newly made by Masamune for Hiiro, was in such a state of disrepair? It's most likely because Taddle Legacy Gashat is actually MEANT to look like that, like some kind of special edition game cart.
  • In fact, that IS exactly what the toy version in real life does! Instead of selling a normal version, Bandai makes it more special by selling the "battle damaged" version used in the movie and the series.
  • As for why it has to be "battle damaged" in the first place, remember, Taddle Legacy's artwork feature an old veteran hero. He most likely has suffered through a lot of battles in his life, and the condition of the Gashat is a brilliant reflection of that.
• It might seem odd that Emu would ask for Parado's help after reviving him - Emu can transform again, so why not just go after Cronus himself? Well, it might be that he wants to play with Parado, just not the same way that Parado originally wanted to - Parado likely wanted to play competitively with Emu; Emu likely had co-operative play in mind!
• In a way, Parado is the main character but not of Kamen Rider Chronicle. Instead, Parado is the main character of the series as a whole since Parado is "M", Emu's Gamer personality.
  • A more heartwarming way to see this in #40 is that Parado is the second Main Character of Mighty Brothers XX, and that like many video game characters, he only starts as an antagonist..ou to lose save data, but doing so after you've saved your game does nothing.
• #41 is the reveal of Gamedeus, the Final Boss. Before he appears, the save from the heroes would seem very logical. In most video games, especially Role Playing Games or certain Platformers, you have the option to save the game prior to beating the Final Boss. That way, you could reset the game such that you can rethink your strategies over.
• Parado's strange morality and perception of things makes sense when you remember he's from a in development build of his particular game. So not only was he born from a child's Imaginary Friend, but it's very likely the story mode and story and characters weren't yet finalized at the point in production he spawned, so unlike most other Bugsters he likely had very little for his personality to be based on.
• The heroes are all doctors who, even if deep down, want to help save lives. Fittingly each of the main villains in one way or another can't comprehend the value of life:
  • Kuroto is a narcissist with god-complex who thinks just because everyone's data is preserved, no one has a right to be upset about their deaths.
  • Parado only sees lives as things to play with because as a game character who just respawned when killed, he simply didn't understand what death actually was.
  • Cronus is the most straight forward: he's a Sociopath who doesn't see people but 'products' to control and lord over however he sees fit.
• The entire final arc makes a lot of sense when you realize the catalyst for Masamune being released from prison and hijacking the Power of Cronus wasn't really necessary to the goal of stopping the Bugsters. Discovering Kuroto was the true cause of Zero Day had little to do with actually stopping him or the Bugsters, which is even lampshaded. In other words: it was a side quest. And if they hadn't done so, they likely would've finished off the three Bugster Executives and summoned Gamedeus for the final battle (and possibly used Cronus to beat him as the game is 'meant' to be played). Instead, Masamune takes over the Big Bad role and ultimately becomes "Kamen Rider Chronicle's" True Final Boss. By completing a 'side quest', they unlocked the True Final Boss and story arc as one does in many video games.
  • And thanks in part to the side quest, characters that were either dead or evil end up joining the party as permanent members, sort of like how the Paralogues for Fire Emblem: Awakening does it, for one such example.
  • The dead/formerly evil Riders who joined the party match up with the characters who join from the 6 SpotPass paralogues - Kuroto, much like Gangrel, starts off being set up as the Big Bad, and even kills off one of the heroes, only get killed off himself near the halfway point, and to come back from the dead later; Poppy is close to Emmeryn, but also has a few elements of Aversa, with her memories being lost and only being separated due to circumstances beyond the control of the heroes for the former, and for the latter being good at first, but being brainwashed into being evil by one of the villains (Lovrica/Validir); Kiriya starts off as a dead ringer for Yen'fay, being forced into evil by being brainwashed and opposing someone who he was on very good terms with (Emu/Say'ri), but in reality, he's actually one for Priam, due to the nature of him not being evil at all; Parado can be seen as a Distaff Counterpart of Aversa with a bit of Walheart thrown in, taking the place of the previous Big Bad like the latter, and like the former, was only evil because he didn't know better, but upon learning otherwise (namely, dying), he changes sides. Graphite can be seen as a character who is set up to join the heroes, only to not join and instead die, much like Phila from Awakening.
  • And also, because of the side quest, Taiga finally unlocks his final power up in the form of Cronus which wouldn't be possible if Nico haven't been able to clear KRC - by killing Graphite - and summon Gamedeus.
  • And what else do you recieve after completing major side quests? New weapons and abilities that will allow players to break through normal limitations like the Level 100 Taddle Legacy Gashat and Ex-Aid's final form, Hyper Muteki.
• As doctors, most of the heroes cannot bring themselves to kill human villains, where other Riders would've invoked Why Don't Ya Just Shoot Him? by now. While calling Masamune human is "debatable" at best, his fusion with Gamedeus solves the issue. He died when he injected the deity into himself, what remains is a corpse at this point.
• Fridge with Big Red Button... or in this case, big "Strong Enter!!!" used by Kuroto's Keyboard in #42, which is used to make Gashat. Why not just ordinary Enter? First, this is Kuroto we are talking about. Second, Enter isn't the usual key for compiling your source code into the actual program (in this case, Gashat). In order to compile your software, you need to press the special key (F9, F10, etc) or click the Compile/Build Icon. Awesome Ego + that Compile Key = "Strong Enter!!!"
• Masamune can be best described as a spoiled gamer who has everything handed out to him and all of the most broken abilities given to him. In fact, Cronus' abilities are common things that spoiled gamers will do to get an edge on his or her opponents. They'll pause the game so that they can asses the situation while not under pressure, and when it feels like they're going to lose, they'll reset the game so that "it doesn't count". In fact, the way he obtains Cronus is similar to how some gamers will use Pay to Win methods just so they don't have to work for it. It's why he reacts so poorly when he loses since he basically assumes that with all of this power, he should win automatically.
  • Taiga, meanwhile, is the player who grinded to earn his chance to play as Cronus. Knowing full well how to play as Cronus and not being a Sore Loser about it.
  • In fact this is the reason why Masamune loses to five Level 2 Riders, because he never took the time to actually learn to fight effectively, relying hevily on Pause, Reset and the buffs that Cronus gave to him. As opposed to the five riders who, throughout the series, trained themselves, learned to effectively use all of their forms, not just their highest level, and most importantly, learned to fight together. Thus when Cronus lost his signature ablility to pause, he was destroyed completely.
  • Finally, his death is very much akin to a Rage Quit, where he quits the game rather than let the game proceed to its proper end in order to deny the winners a sense a victory/the rewards that they would normally get.
• Cronus's RESET, seems to do more harm than good to Cronus, and there's not mentioning in-universe about Saki. In the actual computer, many modern OSes (like macOS and Windows) have the RESET-like utility like Time Machine and System Restore, all of which 'reset' the configurations and 'stored' data into the targetted savepoint, potentially delete some files in process. However, if your savepoint is infected with virus or worse, your savepoint is saved at the time all of your configuration is messed up and your machine is infected with virus, it's best to NOT restore your machine. Cronus just happened to restore his 'configuration' to the worst savepoint possible, while his machine has Kamen Riders ready to mess up his plan again. Also, the real-life 'RESET' can't restore permanently deleted files. We need to wait and see if Saki is sent to KRC's Recycle Bin or really erased permanently...
• Aside from being reference to Platformer like Mario, Ex-Aid's main Gashats are, like Brave and Snipe, themed after some concept. In Ex-Aid's case, they are about Game/Program Development and Gaming Community as whole.
  • Mighty Action X can be viewed as the first released program/game in the line of production, while Mighty Brothers XX is the sequel or upgrade of the said program (alternatively, Mighty Brothers XX might represent the clone of the original program, which will often piss off the original developer. Just ask Kuroto). Maximum Mighty X is the debugger, while Hyper Muteki is the patch or even emergency update patch (like how Muteki is created to 'patch' KRC after the unintended use of Cronus).
  • Speaking in term of gaming community. Mighty Action X is the game and the general fanbase. Mighty Brothers XX is the fangames and their developers, all of which can be objected to C&D. Maximum Mighty X is either 1) the cheat code (as it allows Ex-Aid to reprogram the Bugster out of its original code) or 2) the game fan that devote themseleves on fixing the problems in game, both by looking on bugs and kicking annoying Kuroto-like gamers (or even GMs). Then what is Hyper Muteki? It can be either game patch to repair the bugs or, given that it's created by Kuroto specifically for Ex-Aid, the acceptance and connections between gamers and game developers.
  • Given that Lazer is the examinator who did a ton of research on Zero Day and Bugster, many, if not all, of his Gashats represent the actual studies required one to develop the strategy against pandemic. His Level 2 Bakusou Bike is chasing-the-spreading Epidemiology, his Giri Giri Chambara.
• Kuroto as Zombie Gamer Level X-0 seems to be a lot weaker than at Level X or even Level 10 with how much more often he seems to die from just about anybody going up against him. However, supplementary materials reveal that the armor he wears is designed to keep his health gauge at 0, not actually function as protection. Great back when he was a zombie, but not so much when he needs to retain his health as usual.
• Given the jingle of the Doctor Mighty XX Gashat, does that mean both Kiriya and Kuroto do a voice over when they are developing the vaccine? It seems rather hilarious.
• Masamune fusing with Gamedeus may have been a wrong decision just like using Restart was. By fusing with Gamedeus, he may have increased his stats but he also forced himself into obeying Gamedeus' programming. He had a chance to get rid of Taiga and Nico but because of Gamedeus' programming, he instead brought Nico into the last stage and gave the Doctor Riders time to rescue her.
• Gamedeus being very flat in terms of personality is because Masamune reprogrammed him! Masamune may be capable of programming but he's nowhere near as talented as his son Kuroto or his employee Tsukuru, who likely spends all day programming new games. In fact, this is a testament to Kuroto's programming skills as well. He gave all the Bugsters he programmed much better defined personalities than Masamune gave Gamedeus.
• Kuroto calls himself God pretty much whenever he opens up his mouth. Part of the reason may be because he believes he's one who created life, instead of admitting it was pure chance he found the Bugster Virus. He may also hate other people making Gashats because it means that others are creating life, meaning there are more Gods like him. And to Kuroto, there can only be one God, which just so happens to be him.
• Super Gamedeus's weakness to Level 1 Riders makes a lot of sense when you realize Gamedeus was created to fight against Ride-Players, who don't have a Level 1 form and neither does Cronus, and Genm planned for the Riders to be out of the picture when "Chronicle" went live so it makes sense Kuroto never thought about that while designing it, which shows when even he didn't think of it while fighting him. So in essence, Masamune, like certain video game bosses, is easier to beat if you exploit a bug in the game.
• The Doctor Riders defeated Masamune almost exactly how a Doctor Rider defeats a Bugster at the beginning of the show. By using Level 1 first to separate the Bugster from the patient (separating Gamedeus from Cronus) and then level up to Level 2 to finish off the virus.
• One could say that the ending of the series is like entering the post-game stage after one beats the game. There's some new events but ultimately there isn't much more left to explore and play. Sooner or later, the player will move on to the next game.
• One reason why Brave used Taddle Fantasy while Snipe was stuck with Drago Knight Hunter Z for a good chunk of the show? Consider that Drago Knight Hunter Z is the Gashat that had Graphite, the Bugster who killed Saki to gain his perfect form and beaten Taiga in the process. Naturally, Hiiro would refuse to use anything that resembled his tragedy whereas Taiga would gladly use it as a symbol of his victory over Graphite.
• How rich is Nico exactly? She has money from gaming competitions, but enough to become majority shareholder of Genm? It's a massive company, so either she's a billionaire, or their share price is through the floor.
  • Genm's last three presidents were: Kuroto Dan, a bioterrorist whose last known actions were leading zombies to attack his own office, only to disappear following a confrontation with CR; Ren Amagasaki, a lech who came from nowhere, whose own employees hated him, and who released Kamen Rider Chronicle, (designed to genocide its userbase) and who, again, disappeared in mysterious circumstances; and Masamune Dan, the returning president, who proceeded to market Kamen Rider Chronicle wider than ever (killing even more), yet failed at marketing the game worldwide, and then created two consecutive mass pandemics of Bugster Virus infections which could have killed everyone in Japan, the second one even changing non-players. From what we know, the company hasn't had a successful game in years, with Mighty Action X intended to be their big comeback. Heck, Bang Bang Shooting is mentioned to be in development hell, so that shows they're having trouble, and considering Tsukuru can drop everything to program Maximum Mighty X, the employees probably don't have much new to work on. It's a surprise Genm Corp is still in business by the end of the series. When your only successful game in years, released amid fast leadership changeover, kills your userbase (even with massive sales) your shares probably tend to tank.
• The reason for the Riders cartoonish looks might be due to Proto Origin Genm being the first rider with its Gashat being the first Gashat due to Kuroto's fondness for Might Action X with subsequent riders based off on its template and also in keeping with a uniformed design themes with the more cartoonish game genres some game riders are based off from.
• The final match-up in the Chou Super Hero Taisen, between Ex-Aid and Genm, makes sense when you consider the counterparts.
  • Ex-Aid and Genm, naturally.
  • Momotaros vs. Momorenger due to them both having Momo in the name.
  • Aoninger vs. Specter: Momotaros originally proposed Specter before Yakumo hijacked the position.
  • Beet Buster vs. Yellow Owl: While not him, Yellow Owl was part of a Sentai that had the permanent death of a core member.
  • Zolda vs. Ryugen: Both are the third Riders, green, gunslingers, and are amoral.
• Genm's transition from Level X Zombie Gamer to Level X-0 Zombie Action Gamer is reflective of a transition from Survival Horror to an Action Horror game. In a Survival Horror game, the players are usually at the mercy of enemies that are either invincible or difficult to fight, while having very little means of fighting back, if at all. Level X Genm pretty much overpowers most of the other Riders until they can find means of fighting back. Action Horror games have a similar atmosphere, but the players are better equipped to combat them and the enemies don't seem so invincible. Level X-0 Genm can still compete with the other Riders and Bugsters, but his flaws (mainly his armor's poor defense) are more apparent, and he isn't as powerful as the most powerful players.
• Johnny Maxima being Gamedeus makes sense when you remember something: Graphite infected himself with the Gamedeus virus long before he appeared and after the Bugsters had mutated so they could instantly separate from their hosts. It's likely that Gamedeus spawned in then... which further Fridge Brilliance with the fact Nico being infected didn't spawn Gamedeus: Gamedeus already existed. When Graphite died in battle rather than succumbing to the virus, it likely meant Gamedeus was left 'imperfect', thus his plan in the movie. As for why a second Gamedeus spawned when Chronicle's final boss stage was reached, Masamune had reprogrammed Gamedeus completely at that point to serve his plans meaning the programming was likely so different from the original a second one was able to spawn in independent of the first.
• During the Another Ending trilogy, everything is shown to be set up for Kuroto Dan to create the ultimate game, one that surpasses Kamen Rider Chronicle, as well as secure the ultimate Gashat, God Maximum Mighty X. Yet for as powerful as it was, it fell to a Buggle Driver powered Lazer. It seems he made a miscalculation and fell to his own hubris again, until you realize he set himself up to fail on purpose. What's the ultimate goal of a game designer? For the player to figure out the way to defeat your creation and be rewarded for it.
• There's a few things that can be said about the Gashacon weapons. Some of them make senses in terms of design or practicality—Gashacon Breaker, Sword, Sparrow, Key Slasher and Parablagun—, but others—Gashacon Magnum, Bugvisor— seem kind of problematic in their designs. The Gashacon Magnum handgun mode doesn't even look like a proper firearm as it lacks a muzzle because of the hinge for Shotgun mode. The Brilliance comes in that, while none of those weapons would work in the real world, they would work inside a game, where real physics does not apply. It's then we realize that none of those weapons are actual weapons, they're all game props, which also explain how the Gashacon Bugvisor can work when it is nothing more than a GBA with a Chainsaw and a gun attached to it.
• Kuroto uses an older version of Mighty Action X, which makes him super fragile (practically dying in one hit) yet possesses 99 lives. Emu uses the newer version which doesn't have 99 lives but does have a working health bar. Think of them like Super Mario Bros., wherein older versions and versions based on old titles had them die in one hit (without powerups) while newer titles have a health system. Helping this is that old titles really depend on max-life exploits for it to be easier for players while newer ones were already built to be easier without any tricks.
• Aside from Parado weakening Masamune, the CR team was able to beat Chronus in Level 2 because of the way they fight. With their final forms, they go aggressive at once and get defeated trying to gang up on him. The Zerg Rush in the finale has them dodge more often and utilize their better mobility to get the jump on him. Also because of the level disadvantage, the riders are more cautious in fighting and dodge more, when higher levels have them dive in knowing they can take more hits.
• Hyper Muteki and God Maximum Mighty X (via Cosmic Chronicle) being the only Gashats to bypass Cronus's Pause are all tied to cosmic power. Hyper Muteki is associated with shooting stars, which is self-explanatory in and of itself. Cosmic Chronicle is a space-oriented game. The reason why Ex-Aid is able to gain immunity to Cronus's time manipulation is that his suit is emblazoned with star-shaped ornaments, giving it the impression of being protected with cosmic energy. While Genm's extends to manipulating space and gravity. He points out to Masamune that time works differently in space, because the flow of time is much slower than in on Earth due to the presence of gravity and relative velocity.
  • And as for the God Maximum Mighty X Gashat itself, Kuroto is already at the pinnacle of godhood. Meaning, gods have the power to transcend spacetime.
• Why do Buggle Drivers produce stronger riders on average? Think of it like how big old home consoles are needed to play certain games, but can eventually be run on smaller handhelds. If the same game can be run on both the large console and the small handheld with a fraction of its power, which do you think is the more powerful one by comparison?
• Pieces of the Ex-Aid suit are often retooled and repainted for other riders. Behind the scenes, this is to save costs on producing suits. In-Universe, Mighty is Genm Corp's mascot and Mighty Action X was Kuroto's game first before Emu. So like Mario to Nintendo, or Pikachu to the Pokemon company, it's gonna be used a lot when they try to design something iconic.

Fridge Horror

• Emu brings Souta from the hospital to the Mighty Action X convention while said kid is afflicted by this series's equivalent of a fatal infectious disease. Granted, he didn't know that and when he DID try to ask someone about it, he got rebuffed before getting his hands on a Gamer Driver and the Mighty Action X Gashat in order to fix his mistake. But what would've happened if the Bugster Virus was less "IMMA TURN YOU INTO A MONSTER" and more like ebola...
• The Rider Gashats generates the Game Area, which grants the Riders access to Energy Items and is visually cool. But what would happen if the Gashat malfunctions (or worse, is sabotaged)? Would it generate a Bugster? Or would it generate something much worse...
  • We actually get to see what happens when a Gashat glitches out during activation in #9 when Graphite activates his Proto Drago Knight Hunter Z Gashat in front of Dr. Kyotaro. It unleashes a cloud of Bugster Viruses that infect him, much like the Bugvisor, instead of generating Game Area. Granted he is using a Proto-Gashat, which are all unstable buggy prototypes of the Gashats, but who's to say that Kuroto couldn't sabotage one of the riders Gashats?
• It is theorized as to how AIs can end up becoming killing machines as they're following human orders without understanding the reason why. This might be the same reason why the Bugsters are invading, they're just following their original coding. But why is this Fridge Horror? How many video games are there that have heroic characters/protagonists with very few in-story (in-code) reasons for their morality, like Pac-Man or Mario. And what would happen if these protagonists somehow end up in our world?
  • Even pure or semi-pure in-coded heroic characters like Fallen Child that you play as or Paragon Shepard are not safe from this Fridge either as the way in-game character can enter to real world is, like Bugster, infecting people and replicating, killing human in the process. The sole exceptions are those Gamers used by Riders and Poppy... Wait... Plague Inc too has the case of symptomless plague...
  • This might be defused a bit by the fact that all the Bugsters have been characters from Genm Corp Games and, given that a bug in the Gashats is what spawned the Bugsters, that might be the only pool of characters the Bugsters can draw from.
• Bugsters become more complete the more stressed out their host is. This is bad enough on its own but consider the fact that the series takes place in Japan, a society where one is expected to continue working even if you're sick, hold in any complaints until you were done, and keep any problems to yourself until they could not be hidden.
• To use Gamer Driver, you need to be operated on. This is already scary one... But what gonna happen if Emu wasn't somehow capable? Remember, many transformation process isn't quite matched human anatomy... At best, Driver will just not responding, at worst, we gonna see genius gamer's "Game Over".
  • As proven in #15, using a Gashat without the Bugster immunity surgery simply has the Gashat not respond. It does, however, infect the user with the Game Disease.
• Asuna/Poppy, as it turns out, is a Bugster herself. The assistant of the Kamen Riders, the bubbly happy supporter, has to watch as the Riders kill her kind.
• Poppy's existence as a Bugster means that someone has died or is dying to make her complete.
  • #17 lessens the horror by revealing that there's another way for Bugsters to become complete. By clearing the goal of their game. Seeing how Asuna is from a rhythm game, clearing her game most likely involved dancing to the beat with her until Game Clear popped up. However, this still lends itself to more horror as the goal of most of the games, like Taddle Quest or Bang Bang Shooting, is to kill the boss, meaning the only path to becoming complete for Bugsters of those Gashats is to kill their host.
  • The revelations of WHO her host was AND WHY said host was infected somewhat lessen this, since Kuroto infected his sick and dying mother with the virus in the hopes of somewhat saving an aspect of her as data, even past her death. Said virus became Poppy and does indeed have the memories of Kuroto's mother, making this somewhat of a success.
• Now we already know Emu and M act more like two different people. But then we see Red Eyes, Take Warning on him, a usual telltale sign that one is infected. This pops out whenever he goes M during dire (i.e. stressful) situations. Now you wonder what happened to him many years ago.
  • And then there's his flashback. The whole scene where "only games kept him company" is rather eerie. The Heisei Generations movie and, later, #15, reveal he was experimented on 6 years ago by Dr. Pac-Man.
• Having a Level 3+ form covering their health meter means that the Rider wouldn't be able to read their gauge and may get a Game Over if they overestimated the damage they can take.
• Kamen Rider Chronicle is a game wherein players can try and fight Bugsters to win and survive, with the catch that losing makes the user Killed Off for Real. The Fridge Horror part, though, is that it's rated A by CERO (equivalent to an E rating by the ESRB). Yes, that means a very dangerous game where your life is in the balance can be played by anyone, even young children!
• We aren't told what level the Ride-Players are but it's definitely on the low side and possibly even lower than Level 1, seeing how they have trouble fighting Bugster Mooks. Even defeating a Kamen Rider won't make them much stronger. They don't have the surgery necessary to use the Gamer Driver and can only summon the Gashat's weapon. The Ride-Players have no chance of defeating any Bugsters...
• The goal of Kamen Rider Chronicle is to defeat the Bugsters until all are defeated and the Final Boss appears. This means Kamen Rider Chronicle is just another step in the Bugsters overall plan! If the Bugsters wipe out humanity first, they win. If humanity beats the Bugsters, then the series Big Bad might appear! The future is starting to look even bleaker for the Doctor Riders.
• Given his motivations, one wonders if getting a 'Game Over' and dying isn't so much a design flaw and more an intentional feature Kuroto put into the Rider Powers from square one as part of his overall plan. After all, Para-DX doesn't have a Rider Gauge in his Level 50 forms and only gains one when he uses a Gamer Driver to become Level 99...
• The revelation that all those who died as a result of Bugster Virus/Game Overs can be revived may seem like a cop-out for an easy happy ending, but it really sheds light on how sadistic Kuroto really is. Not only was he planning on forcing innocent civilians to play Chronicle for his own amusement, the revival mechanic gives him the option of throwing people back into ring for another round, with their last memory being their own death.
• We know that stress is the trigger for the Bugster Virus and the virus worsens the more stressed a victim of it becomes before they're turned into data. Now, add a person who has some sort of anxiety disorder. Imagine how quickly their condition would drop before "Game Over"...
• While the main focus is on the danger they're in, there'a bit of Fridge Horror about the Ride-Player most overlooked. Namely, that anyone can go out and buy something that makes you a superhuman. Yeah, they're weak by the series standards, but they're still freaking strong by human standards. And that's just the rank and file, Nico is as strong as a Level 10 Rider. And that kind of power is available to everyone. Let that sink in. Granted, you're instantly infected with the Bugster Virus, but it seems to take quite awhile for that to kill a Ride-Player from what we've seen so far...
• Poppy is the Bugster, so are Parado, Kiriya, and Kuroto. But Emu and the rest of CR are human... Let's pray their lifespan isn't too long or else...
• When Masamune killed Lovelica, before it was revealed to be a final death, Graphite says that Lovelica had reached his complete form and should be able to revive. But, going by all the other Bugsters (sand Burgermon), that means that Lovelica's host had to die. No mention is made of this person who somehow became infected with the Game Disease and perished from it without anyone noticing. It was never reported to CR, and the heroes never try to identify them—someone out there disappeared forever, and any loved ones they had are never going to know why or what happened. And, with Lovelica perma-dead? They are never coming back.
• The Rider Gauge seems to be completely absent on Hyper Muteki. However, the chestpiece it has been replaced with seems too slim to be something that fits on top like with the Level 3 forms, and isn't associated with a Bugster wearer, like with Parado. However, this makes sense considering the form transcends any concerns about staying alive due to being literally invincible, meaning the Gauge's function would have been useless. Like in-game User Interfaces, the Gauge was likely designed out to remove uneeded visual clutter to the user.

Fridge Logic

• It's said that Chronus was designed to be the only weapon capable of defeating the Final Boss Gamedeus, rewarded to whomever could clear Kamen Rider Chronicle. However, the Pause function only works with the Buggle Driver II, as we see near the end of the series when Taiga becomes Chronus with his Gamer Driver. So how were the Ride-Players, who don't even have a transformation belt in the first place, supposed to be able to use Chronus' full power to defeat Gamedeus? Or was this just another example of Kuroto being a Killer Game Master and making Chronicle Unwinnable by Design?
  • Poppy, who uses a Buggle Driver II to transform, was one of the bosses, presumably they would've gotten it for beating her.

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