[Frontier]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

Really shows how the difference between Baku and Seven is bigger than just aura and skills. When Seven received the mission to "eliminate the enemy", he accepted it. While he was willing to eliminate Nox as a last resort, he used logic to get around it by redefining enemy to mean Shadow Nightmare, making Nox a victim to be saved. Furthermore, when it seemed like he was trapped in the dream world, he didn't do nothing. He confronted his thunder nightmare and moved forward to confront Nox. Seven has his morals, but he doesn't dwell on them to no end, he keeps his head in the present.

Faiz had a memorable development where Takumi retired from fighting, as he couldn't handle the guilt of taking lives. And what brought him back to fighting was the revelation that innocent people die when he does nothing. The path of a Kamen Rider is lonely and unpleasant, but it is also necessary. Inaction is the worst sin of all, when you have the power to protect.

And that's what we're seeing with Baku here. The thing preventing him from truly becoming Seven isn't the fact that he can't speak fluent English, defuse bombs and flirt with girls, but rather his hesitation to act in an unpleasant scenario. Five even gave him the morally simple mission of eliminating the Demon King Nightmare, yet Baku couldn't even stomach being complicit in Nox's elimination. So, he does nothing and Six dies. He realizes too late that the world needs Seven, right now. "I am Seven. I am Seven. I am Seven.", he says, but he arrives to find Five dead as well, with Nox blaming CODE for putting them in front of his gun.

I think also that facing the full weight of how his actions indirectly lead to the death of real people, his own moral choices of prioritizing Nox/Odakka, and his Superhero Spy Fantasy kind of falling apart around him basically drove him to retreat into the only thing that could still keep him together: Being CODE 07.