[ljacone]

Kamen Rider.

As in, Takeshi Hongo, the original Kamen Rider. To me, while the later Riders were flashier, with cooler bikes, better effects, scarier enemies, and whatnot, Takeshi Hongo embodies the true spirit of the Kamen Rider franchise in a way no other Rider can.

The very simple concept of a man who had his humanity stolen from him -- and then uses the results of that ordeal to battle the organization which did it to him -- is base and raw. There is tons of potential for melodrama and angst, but Hongo instead finds grim determination. Though he can no longer truly be part of society, he will protect it with every tool at his disposal.

The fact that he fights Shocker, an offshoot organization growing out of the WW2-era Nazi Party and their allies in Japan, makes this determination even stronger. The fact that such an organization kidnaps and experiments on innocent people is not coincidental. It's a purposeful reminder of the scientific horrors committed by the Axis in WW2 in the name of conquest.

Hongo is a de-humanized man who fights against the agents of de-humanization. That to me is Kamen Rider in a nutshell, and that's why Takeshi Hongo is my favorite Kamen Rider.