Ghost's headpiece resembles a firefly. Fireflies are often associated with guiding people to the afterlife.
Specter being blue makes a lot of sense. He's the contrast to Takeru/Ghost, being cool and calm. And what color is Ghost? ORANGE!
Ghost also has one Will-o'-Wisp horn thing, while Specter has two. Takeru fights to revive himself at first, while Makoto fights for both him and his little sister.
Not to mention how both of these forms are based on leaders, and yet they belong to Specter who, as he said in his first battle with Ghost, 'controlled and directed them'. Ironic, isn't it?
Only people holding Eyecons can see the ghosts!
Which can be interpreted as them being a Third Eye.
The Book Gamma was defeated by Ghost using Robin Damashii, both of which are based off of famous Victorian Literary characters (Alice & Robin Hood respectively).
How come Specter stole Edison of all souls? It could reflect how Tesla's conflict with Edison went. Ghost had the electric powers first before Specter stole it, much like how Tesla invented electric items, but Edison took his credit.
This might also explain why Specter almost stole Newton. Aside from Gravity, he discovered Calculus. However, so did Leibniz and this lead to a dispute between the two over who took credit for who's idea. Why Specter JUST nearly stole Newton is because of two reasons:
1. We know that both of them ARE the inventors of Calculus.
2. Even in their time, they were nearly equally credited.
The Machine Gun Gamma, based on Al Capone, is beaten by Specter, who possesses the Nobunaga and Tutankhamun Eyecons. All three historical figures were known for building and ruling empires in decidedly different fashions.
Additionally, Nobunaga was noted for introducing firearms into the Sengoku conflict while Tutankhamun died of a disease, just like how Capone went out.
Notice how Ghost and Specter transform with the Parka Ghosts. While Takeru simply lets them be worn on him, Makoto seems to forcefully put them on instead.
While the Cobra 'Cellular' is Specter's first/only Robot Buddy, what was the first one for Ghost? The Condor 'Telephone'!
The Gan Gan Hand's Omega Fang Finishing Move with the Cobra Cellular summons a pyramid, which is akin to 'calling' a delivery service (or dead delivery service in this case).
Each of Ghost's three gadgets are based on a telephone, a clock, and a lantern. Doesn't a mobile phone have the same functions as all of those?
At least one of Egypt's historical figures died (or rather committed suicide) from a snake.
The Seiryuto Gamma, based on Guan Yu, is after the Benkei Eyecon. Guan Yu and Benkei are legends in their own right despite functioning primarily as The Lancer in their respective stories.
The Double Legend Rider Eyecon has the Driver flash green. Which half of Double had died in that series again?
According to Sennin, the reason Saionji got dragged off by the Monolith is because he didn't have a Ghost Driver. But Saionji had one in his bag...an unfinished one. Given the Great Eye (the entity summoned by the Eyecons) is otherwise quite benign and doesn't harm anyone else, it's possible Saionji ticked it off by trying to get his wish with a fake.
There are certain connections between the Damashii and the person they are based on.
Musashi: Its Omega Drive/Slash is a twin bladed energy slash, and Musashi was known for his "dual sword" fighting technique.
Edison: Its Omega Drive/Shoot involving electricity is obviously based on Edison's inventions, but how come Edison Damashii won against the Tesla-based Denki Gamma and not Specter? Remember, Edison's direct current might win against Tesla's alterating current back in their time, but not in Specter's time aka OUR time.
Edison's power is absorbing electricity which is shown when the Denki Gamma, based on the inventor of alternating current Tesla, attacked him. What does your iPhone or laptop charger do to charge your devices? Turns AC into DC and stores in devices' batteries for later usage.
Robin: Its Omega Drive has the power to create clones of Ghost, allowing him to emulate Robin Hood's Merry Men.
Newton: It has gravity-based powers, which is already fitting enough for Newton's position as a gravity discoverer, but it doesn't end there. For some, the power to repel objects in the name of "gravity manipulation" may sound awful since gravity is just "an attraction force between mass", especially when this power came from Newton himself, but wait! Isn't his other discovery "Law of Motion", which would include the "Law of action and reaction"?
Billy the Kid: It wields two guns, which can become a rifle. Quite fitting for our notorious cowboy!
When using his Omega Impact, the hands on the Bat Clock spin until they both land on twelve, just like many western stories where a duel is settled the moment the clock hits twelve.
Beethoven: Its power is weaponized music, and Beethoven was known for his talent in music. But why does this Damashii lack a Gan Gun Saber mode? Firstly, you can conduct a concert without any sort of item (though you can still use one anyway). Secondly, Beethoven and Takeru's Heroic Resolve didn't require a tool of any sorts for them to Screw Destiny, right?
Benkei: Its weapon is a hammer, which is also the icon symbol of its Eyecon's Finisher setting. Just to clarify, what type of armament was Benkei known for using in battle again?
Goemon: It has a kabuki-like style for its Ninja motif. Even though the exact details about this outlaw's history are minimal, the legends surrounding his exploits have led to reenactments in several classic kabuki plays.
Also worth noting is that Goemon was the first Eyecon Onari found by himself, and he grew a little bit of an attachment to him. Why? Because they're both large hams!
Ryoma: Its Eyecon's Finisher setting reveals a gun as its icon symbol despite being based on a samurai. Why? If memory serves, Ryoma used a Smith & Wesson revolver to fend off a Tokugawa police squad who were sent to ambush him at the Teradaya on the night following the formation of the Sat-Cho Alliance.
Himiko: Its power is flame-based attacks. One of the key essentials of shamanism is a mastery of fire, which Himiko naturally had to learn in order to gain her title of shaman queen.
Tutankhamun: Its Omega Fang summons a pyramid that warps enemies into a Pocket Dimension of death. Exactly which pharaoh's dead body was placed in a pyramid?
Houdini: It transforms the Machine Hoodie into a Jet Pack that can allow for flying capabilities, which is based on Houdini's profession in aviation during the later half of his lifetime.
Unlike the other Damashii forms, Houdini appears from within the Machine Hoodie instead of his own Eyecon. Why? Many tricks that magicians use rely on "bending" our attention, and then performing the amazing but wanted actions. Houdini might be just doing that "trick" by making it look like he was in the bike! This is also related to his limited teleportation power.
Houdini's Omega Drive involves chaining up his enemies so they can't move while Specter spin kicks them. If the enemy cannot escape the chains as easily as Houdini can, then death awaits them.
Grimm: Its weapon is a pair of stingers with pen nib-like ends. The Brothers Grimm were well known for writing some of the most popular folk tales in history, and just what kind of tool did they use to produce these stories?
Sanzo: Its Parka Ghost is decorated with face ornaments of a monkey, pig, and kappa. In Journey to the West, Xuanzang's disciples were three supernatural beings: Sun Wukongnote A monkey born from stone, Zhu Bajienote A half man, half pig creature, and Sha Wujingnote A river monster.
The special move that actually summons all three of them may look like the silliest thing ever committed to video, but it doubles as a nod to the fact that one of the best known live action adaptations of Journey to the Westwas a narmtastic proto-toku.
Let's talk about non-15 Eyecons, shall we? Ikkyu Damashii's finisher is Ghost performing meditation and then floating above the poor Gamma and then crash him to the dead. And what is one of activity monk in Buddhism do? Meditation.
Pythagorus' finisher might sound pretty silly and very unrelated to his discovery (the finisher is... well, see Funny page), but that rail used to deliver the ball for activating the bomb looks similar to triangle, right?
Nightingle Damashii has some bandage on its arms, and bandage is used in some case of first aid.
Why are the three Eyecons for Toucon Boost Damashii (Goemon, Ryoma, and Himiko) all Japanese? Whose soul resides in the Toucon Boost Eyecon if it isn't that of Takeru's father?
There's also the symbolism in their suit markings. Ghost's are bones and Takeru is dead, while Specter's is a heartbeat and the soul of Makoto's sister is trapped in an Eyecon where her state is akin to that of a coma. Heartbeats are one of the statuses doctors need to know from a patient of their's in a comatose state to know they are still alive.
Why does Makoto have a problem with using the Houdini Eyecon? Houdini was an escape artist, so he just "escapes" from being used by Makoto!
This also relates to Makoto's other Eyecons and the way he uses their powers. Each of his Eyecons, discounting Specter and Houdini, are based on a leader-type figure, and his method of wielding their power is by controlling them. Makoto is so used to this method that when he tries applying it to Houdini, an escape artist, he has nearly no experience in utilizing it properly.
In Rider Eyecon Special episode 2, Specter was able to resist Terror Dopant's attacks (which put people into maddening fear) which he once successfully used on Shotaro. How can he resist that when other humans couldn't? Having to live in that hellish Gamma World for 10 years, of course.
One regarding the plot. First, our hero collects the Eyecons. Second, he must connect his soul. This is similar to how many people learn about the historical figures. They know about the figures' name and works first aka "collecting" their knowledge on them, then later learn about their story and, sometime, have empathy on them and idolize them, thus "connecting" their soul.
All of the Rider Eyecons given to Makoto involved an ally who was brought back to life thanks to someone else, while Ghost's involved an ally who stayed dead, but still aided the heroes in the final battle. Makoto's sister was brought back thanks to Takeru, while Takeru stayed dead, but still helped Makoto fight the final battle of the first arc.
Necrom's Fridge:
His name is, obviously, derived from Necromancer, a guy who can control the dead. What did he do in his debut? Control and boost the weakened Gamma.
His Eyecon announces "Crush the Invader!" This fits with how he sees Takeru's interference as the reason Makoto's no longer his friend.
While Ghost and Specter are both based on Oni, Necrom is based on the Kappa, who did not appear in the tales that Oni appeared in, and is very strong as long as the water in a plate on his head doesn't fall. Necrom isn't friendly towards our heroes and his power can run out, forcing him to recharge.
Unlike the rest of the 15 Eyecons, his are based on plural historical figures.
The "Boost" in Ghost's Toucon Boost Damashii takes on a whole new meaning when it turns out it can be used in conjunction with the forms normally reserved for his Ore Damashii, leading to enhanced versions of those forms. In other words, it's boosting their abilities.
Grateful Damashii's largest and most prominent Persona faceplate on its armor is that of Musashi's, which is placed on the chest. Remember that Musashi Damashii is the first form we see Takeru using in the series that isn't his own, and was also used in the first episode. And unlike the other Damashiis, his item was tied specifically to Takerunote Remember, Ryu's last act on this Earth was giving the Musashi tsuba pendant to Takeru, thus he has more of a personal connection to Musashi than anyone else.
All the villains summoned to fight Takeru and Makoto in the Kamen Rider special are all Anti Villains, with the exception of the Omnicidal Maniac . It makes sense, since the person summoning them just want Takeru and Makoto to obtain the Rider Eyecons. If he wanted to take over the world, he'd gone with the more eviler villains like Gremlin or Gold Drive.
It seems to be more of that these villains are the thematic opposites of each Rider's philosophy. Thus, Takeru and Makoto are being tested on their understanding of each Rider's philosophies, by bringing in the counterpoints.
If my memory and translation aren't wrong, all word in Grateful's transformation sound represents group of 15 historical figures.
Kengo (Swordman) : Musashi, obviously. Goemon as well.
Hakken (Discovery, or in one sub, Inventor) : Edison (who found the way to create practical lightbulb), Newton (who discovered the Law of Universal Gravitation), and Grimn (who made research and discovered a lot of fairy tale.)
Kyoshou: Beethoven, possibly Grimm and Sanzou as well for producing masterful pieces of literature.
O-sama: Himiko, Tutankhamen and Nobunaga
Samurai : Ryoma, anyone?
Bouzu : Benkei and Sanzo
Sniper: Robin Hood and Billy the Kid (Both, discounting Edison and Nobunaga, are using long ranged weapon, both in real life and as Damashii)
In episode 27, why does Takeru become so angry at Adel's killing of his father? He knows what it is to lose one, and can't imagine someone both killing their own, and forcing Alain to suffer like he did.
Alain has realized how wrong he has been so far. In other words he's gained clarity
After the long time of wondering about the numbering on Eyecon, the curiosity over the choice of heroic souls, we finally got the answer in form of fridge in #33! Ryu and Senin are the ones who prepared the Eyecons for 15 souls to counter the 15 Gammaizers! This means that they might already set up the numbering for each Eyecon of each hero, causing the numbering to be (previously) strange and lack of pattern for us, but not for them (it might be like "Ok, I will let Musahii be Number 01 because we can find him easily" or "I just think about Grimn last night, but now 1-13 are already used, let use 14"). This also explain why non-in-series Eyecons and the Rider personal Eyecons are non-number numbering, they aren't in the main plan so the Driver has to assign them with letters instead. Also, this explained why some of the Eyecons are not quite... the good persons, because they perfectly counter ones of the Gammaizer! You need everything in your hand if you want to beat god-like monsters!
Why can Mugen Damashii permanently kill Gammaizers? Possibly because so far, the Gammaizers are like computers following their programming. Takeru's Mugen Damashii forces the Gammaizers into an infinite loop when he defeats them, causing them to break down for good as they cannot process it. It also explains why the Gammaizers need Adel to combat Mugen Damashii. Adel isn't a program so he can't get caught into an infinite loop like the Gammaizers can.
It's odd how a show surrounding the motif of ghosts has the theme of humanity's potential rather than the obvious coping with death theme. Though that's when you realize the motifs for the forms: they're all of Historical Domain Characters. The show's telling us from the motifs alone that humanity has the potential to burn the brightest, using these characters as examples of that. It can also explain why there's no Damashiis of obvious villains, such as Hitler, as it would actually be detrimental to the theme.
At first, you might be notice how the villains never followed thecommon Rider trope of a red-colored Blood Knight and a green-colored Evil Genius. However, if you look closely, you'll notice that they did do it, just with a shade of white. Jabel is the only Gamma to be possessed by a Gammaizer, as seen in the case where his mostly white Gamma Ultima is given red clothing, while Igor's Gamma Superior Perfect is just a white jacket over a green body.
It makes sense for Yurusen to have a liking for the Animal Sentai considering that she's one herself.
The finishers for Ghost and Specter are said "Dai Kaigan" or "Great Eye Opening" while Necrom has "Dai Tengan" or "Great Eye Drop". When you realize the backstories of both the Ghost Drivers and the Gamma, both these make sense. The Ghost Drivers were made to counteract the Gammaizers and open the Great Eye while the Gammaizers are keeping it locked up, dropping its original purpose.
We should be a little thankful that the condition of getting a wish requires getting the Eyecons of heroes, because it could be a little too easy to achieve it otherwise. How? BycreatingEyecons.
While Episode 2 goes into detail of how they get made to reassure that will not be the case, #3 gives us even more details and it makes it worse. Gamma can make Ghost Eyecons by driving people to madness and turning them into living keys that summons a Parka Ghost, but at the expense of their victim's life.
What's scarier is that there are Eyecons that were made off-screen, giving us the chance to decide whether they were made by a Rider's hands or a Gamma's hands. Case in point: Newton's, which we first saw being in an abandoned warehouse occupied by Neo-Shade members, some Roidmudes, and a Gamma. There's no telling if it's made the normal way or the Gamma's way, but the location and timing (it had to happen during Takeru's first twelve days as Ghost, but also take into account that he learns about how Gamma make Eyecons on his tenth) seems to imply the latter.
On the topic, it seems that Yurusen had expected Takeru to go the route of the Gamma when creating Eyecons. Note her surprise when Takeru decides otherwise.
To rectify the Fridge Horror, we have Chikara Saionji who also creates Eyecons, but does it in Takeru's method, drawing the eye and summoning the Ghost that way. What could have likely happened with Newton's was that he dropped it in the Warehouse, and was forced to leave it behind when Neo-Shade closed in on it.
Eyecons created from the historical figure's soul manifest in the form of Ghost Parkas. While we still have no confirmation if they are just some kind of spiritual energy or their actual soul, it still rises this question: how do the Ghost Parka feel to be in Eyecons? Or, as seen in #2, absorbed by the Gamma? Or as seen later on used by another person against their will (as when Specter stole Edison)
With #11, it seems the Ghosts don't mind that much given how Musashi and Takeru's other Eyecons seem quite happy to help him out of their own free will.
For #15, Makoto finally uses Houdini. What makes this relevant is that up to that point, the legendary escape artist had actually REFUSED to lend Makoto his power. So it seems the Ghosts can actually refuse to share their power if they wish.
Then it gets WORSE, thanks to Necrom's powers. The spirits can attempt to resist, but he just overrides their will.
Makoto's attempt to kill Takeru and Akari with a Rider Kick while in Nobunaga Damashii. We all know that Takeru will survive, as he cannot die a second time. However, unless his intangibility can spread via touch, Akari would have been killed by the kick and given Takeru's actions when he gets the wish, he likely would use it to bring her back to life instead of himself.
More like meta Fridge Tearjerker but still, in Toei's competition for Japanese fans to submit their Eyecon designs, there is the list of historical figures that fans can use from Toei. Closer inspection reveals that Albert Einstein was nowhere in that list. If you know anything about WWII, you might know why. note The Atomic bomb was based after Einstein's theory, and two of them were used against Japan and her people. He has very much regretted it, to the point of saying that if he know this will happen, he would not be the physicist in that project..
Takeru and Akari made a promise at around #44. What if that's a trigger flag that someone's gonna die? And is Takeru's too obvious to be the one, since he already died many times?
Kanon, Makoto, and Alain decide to stay in the Gamma World... Where it's filled with the very red skies that killed Kanon. Here's hoping they found a fix for that little problem.
That's just what they do in the Kamen Rider Specter V-Cinema.
died (or rather committed suicide) from a snake.