[AkibaSilver]

I mean, in half the actual shows, Kamen Rider is barely used outside of the merch. In the context of his own series, Wizard isn't a Kamen Rider, he's a Magician, same as Fueki, same as Mage, not really the same as Beast. And in a lot of shows with Dark Riders, they are challenged, and called out on it, not just Build! Drive does a lot of the same, with Lupin and Chase's arcs especially coming to mind.

And, in lots of shows where it is used, and outside of that, it means what is says on the tin. Masked Rider. Their power all comes from the same source, does it really make sense to differentiate between them? Take Alternative Zero. In the context of Ryuki, yeah, he's not a Kamen Rider in that sense, but outside of that, in terms of the overall franchise? He wears a mask, he's based off a bug, he fights. Isn't it close enough? Especially if you're a toy company just trying to get kids to buy a ridewatch.

Idk, the sense of "A Kamen Rider needs to fit this specific tragic mold designed back in 1971" feels really overly prescriptivist to me. Some series (Kuuga, W, Gaim, Drive, Build) want to explore the question of what really makes a Kamen Rider and that's cool, but others want to do their own thing, and that's neat too.