[MaskedRiderAsakura]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sunred

Sometimes I want an old fart of a rider who is just out of touch, seemingly lazy and doesn't care about your feelings as long as the job is done, but will always have your back in desperate times. A rider who has been in the game for years prior to the show and when you expect him to rider kick the motw stylishly jumping high into the air, he just activates his gimmick and rider kicks the motw in the buttocks and calls it a day, speeding off on his old motorcycle like a crippled cheetah because he needs to pay whatever he can of his overdue rent before sunset.

Outside of the whole "old fart" angle, that's kinda what I love about Takumi. He secretly loves being Faiz, but when he fights he's just so nonchalant. One of my favorite moments from the show is just when he's just sitting back chilling. Casually shooting his gun at a monster. No big deal

Quote:

Originally Posted by Librarian

It's hard to really say there is a "conventional" rider. All have had different kinds of quirks, though you could say there has been a mild pattern of the Den-O type that gets repeated kind of often of the confidence building type. Den-O, Kiva, OOOs, and Sougo all kind of share simiar traits. And we've had a lot of reluctant hero types with Ghost and others that grew into their role out of no choice, and then there's the duty style too, and the want to be a hero types. Wizard had his moments of being a bit of a dick too.

Really, all of Heisei have unique flavors to their personalities that it's hard to really nail down any kind of trend to them. They've all represented different personality pushes overall. But we are due for something a little more unique going forward over the next couple of series.

Yeah, I'm not going to say they're all the exact same character, because that's simply untrue. But their general approach to life regarding how they interact with others and the world around them seems like something they all share.

Whereas Tendou is more like "I'm here to fight monsters and save lives. I don't care about making friends." Although I love that Shotaro tried so hard to be that, but actually cares too much.

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Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

Hey, just because I'm named after food doesn't mean I'm not people too!

That being said, I'm just as much a sucker for jerk Rider protagonists as I am for Ghost, so I share the sentiment that we could use some more of those every now and then. Although Sento definitely did a good job scratching that itch, despite his personality being a lot more layered than someone like Tendou.

I have to admit, Sougo is the first Rider protagonist in years (and I mean, like, since I started watching Kamen Rider during OOO) not to immediately grab my attention, so even I have limits on how blandly likable a hero can be. But I don't think it'd be right to say it's because of some inherent problem with that kind of character.

Ultimately, what I think matters most is simply that the protagonists stand out enough from one another, and that can mean a lot more things than simply how much they fit traditional "hero" criteria. What I think makes Sougo so uninteresting so far, to me, at least, is simply that he lacks anything in his personality that's distinctly his.

Even with their consistently stronger moral compasses, post-Decade heroes still had just as much variety as before. No other lead is as hot-blooded as Shinnosuke. No one else has the outgoing exuberance of Gentarou. Nobody wants to be cool as much as Shoutarou. Say what you will about Takeru, even, but nobody but him has the kind of empathy for other people he has.

They're all pretty upstanding people who don't need much convincing to do good, but their exact motivations, and the way they go about it, differ substantially. As long as Kamen Rider keeps managing that, I'll be happy.

I can agree with that. I mean, I don't think those types of heroes are inherently bland or boring by any means and I don't even think the Kamen Rider franchise has done a bad job (for the most part) of writing those types of characters because they still have something about them. I like Shinnosuke's cool, professional determination. I like that Eiji seems to have this game with Ankh where they're both using each other for their own ends, despite Eiji's character archetype typically lending itself to being gullible and easily manipulated (Eiji is probably my Top 3 favorite lead riders, too). I like that Emu is a total klutz in his regular life, but is a guru when it comes to video games.

Even Sougo doesn't really bother me yet. His idiot hero traits are mildly amusing in this kind of plot because I always imagine that while he's having his triumphant hero moments, Geiz and Tsukoyomi are internally screaming at the idea of him getting stronger while he's just blissfully unaware of the fact that everybody is terrified of him. But that's just me.

I just think Rider should experiment more with different kinds of leads. I actually do like the idea Sunred suggested of an experienced Rider who's been at it for so long that he kinda treats it as his day job at this point. Just totally dismisses all of the style and flash and just quickly whoops a monster's ass so he can go about his day but it's probably not as visually exciting as Toei would want