Shinnosuke Tomari

"I'm in Top Gear!"

- Shinnosuke's main catchphrase when his brain is in "top gear"

"I am Kamen Rider, Drive! Let's go for a ride!"

- Shinnosuke's declaration as a Kamen Rider before his fight

Shinnosuke Tomari (泊 進ノ介) is a rookie police officer who lost all his motivation after he accidentally injured his partner during the catastrophic Global Freeze. Recent events, however, have slowly started to put his life back together again. Together with Mr. Belt, his partner/manager Kiriko Shijima, and the Shift Cars, he fights against the Roidmudes with as the warrior Drive. Once he hears of his predecessor's legacy as a Kamen Rider, he embraces the name Kamen Rider Drive (仮面ライダードライブ).

Pre-series
Shinnosuke's father was a police officer and explained to Shinnosuke the hardships of working as a cop.

Global Freeze
Six months prior to the series, during the "Global Freeze" incident, Shinnosuke and his partner Hayase were apprehending criminals. Hayase was cornered in between a flammable generator and one of the two criminals. Panicking, Shinnosuke pulled out his gun and tried to aim at the criminal, but due to the Slowdown effect, he accidentally shot the generator, causing it to explode and in the process, causing some pipes to collapse. As he tried to save Hayase from the falling pipes, the Slowdown effect happened once again, causing him to be unable to save his partner from being crushed. Shinnosuke thus lost his motivation as a police officer, and was transferred to a special investigations unit.

Present Day
A slack-off police officer, Shinnosuke is sent to investigate a Density Shift case involving Roimude 029. Shinnosuke realizes he's fighting a monster, so the Drive Driver gives him the ability to transform into Drive. By utilizing his Tire Exchanges, he defeats Roimude 029.

Apparently Roimude 029 was somehow brought back by Heart. Shinnosuke is reluctant to investigate since he theorizes that his powers and the Roidmudes are connected. When Mr. Belt admits this is true, he goes off to visit his injured partner Hayase, to whom he confesses his guilt over his handicap. However, thanks to Hayase's encouragement, he notices a piece of pill packaging on the roof and regains the will to continue searching for the truth. The evidence has led him to an amusement park, where he is ambushed by Roimude 029, upon discovering the victims. Drive learns about Tridoron's Tire Enhancement and acquires the Shift Justice Hunter Car to transform into Type Speed Hunter. He uses it to defeat Roimude 029 for good, but not before hearing the Roimude call him a "Kamen Rider". Later that day, Shinnosuke asks Kiriko what a Kamen Rider was, causing her to smile. As the two argue, Mr. Belt approves of the name and decides to name Shinnosuke "Kamen Rider Drive".

Later on, Shinnosuke finds that the Vegas Dream Shift Car has returned from working a case, and is curious at Kiriko's unusual irritation at his slacking. After he fails to defeat the Paint Roidmude, Shinnosuke finds out that, like him, Kiriko was traumatized during the Global Freeze. There was a previous Drive before him, Proto-Drive, who saved Kiriko six months ago. The Roidmudes called him a Kamen Rider to name their feared enemy. He unfortunately did not have the means to destroy Roidmude Cores, and died soon after. Comparing to his lazy personality, Kiriko was justifiably annoyed. After noticing that the missing people have the same faces as the paintings in the haunted art studio, he gets back into high gear and saves Kiriko from Roidmude 084 with the Massive Monster's Full Throttle.

He is interrupted from taking in Roidmude 010 by Mashin Chaser. Drive protects Kiriko from him, distracting him before Tridoron fends him off and allowing them to escape. Kiriko is miffed at his poor performance, but he easily says it's because Kiriko and the other paintings were there, and that as a cop protecting civilians, not defeating enemies, is his first priority. As the investigation continues, Shinnosuke threatens Roidmude 010 if he dares to hurt the other ladies, and learns that the reason Dream Vegas was performing so poorly was because Dimension Cab was hurt in the first confrontation with 010. Moved by their similar plights, Shinnosuke consoles Dream Vegas before being interrupted by 010 escaping and Mashin Chaser arriving. With the new Handle Sword and the newly returned Dimension Cab, Drive distracts Chase long enough to pursue Roidmude 010, using Kiriko to set off a Density Shift and Mr. Belt to pinpoint the epicenter. Using Dimension Cab to secretly rescue the paintings, he confronts 010 and officially declares himself Kamen Rider Drive before fighting 010, slaying him using Dream Vegas' newfound resolve and the Handle Sword's new abilities. With this, he encourages Kiriko and Dream Vegas again.

Later on, Roidmudes start to attack food trucks, led by the Crush Roidmude. Shinnosuke tries to fight them with Rumble Dump, but the incompatibility with Type Speed prevents him from finishing them off. Shinnosuke continues the investigation, feeling good about the Special Unit's recognition as well as his status as a Kamen Rider. He vows to protect the food trucks and their drivers from getting hurt, especially to Font-R. However, he is constantly interrupted by Mashin Chaser, who says he is a fool and that mankind is evil after gaining knowledge. This is proven later on when, during a confrontation with Chaser, he finds out Font-R has been smuggling explosives. Discouraged by this revelation, he is unable to transform into Type Wild, and is thus beaten by Crush and Chase, and then poisoned by Brain.

Shinnosuke somehow escapes and survives with the help of Mad Doctor's powers, but the next few days are hard for him. He is unable to do anything, the president who smuggled the explosives got away scot-free, and to make matters worse the special unit is shut down. The hard times make him lose his faith in humanity, but then he receives a call from the man who saved him from permanently staying by the riverside: The man who he saved as Drive himself the past episode. Revitalized by this gesture, Shinnosuke forces the Superintendant to restart the special unit, and thanks to the efforts of his comrades revealing that the man was paid by Font-R the whole time, Shinnosuke is free to fight the Roidmudes again. He goes off to find Crash, and is interrupted yet again by Chase. His spirit revived by the man who saved him, Shinnosuke declares that he fights not for justice, but to protect others. He is able to activate the new Type Wild and use Rumble Dump to defeat Chase easily, and then goes off to beat Crush. Despite Crash's partner devouring Viral Cores and becoming a large snake, Tridoron's new Wild form easily destroys it. Before Shinnsouke finishes off Crash though, Rinna comes in and gives him the Handle Sword as he learns about the new "Drift Rotation" attack. Bewildered by her presence, he defeats Crush. Back in the Drive Pit, he learns that Rinna has been Drive's head mechanic the whole time, and irritatedly tells Mr. Belt that he's had enough secrets.

Personality
Shinnosuke was once an elite officer within the force with his partner Hayase, known for his great police work. He inherited his sense of justice from his father, who said police officers have the heaviest burden of all: protecting the people. However, after accidentally injuring his partner, he turned into a shade of his former self: Constantly running off to laze around, and more often seen eating milk balls than actually working. On another note, he hates being in the passanger seat and will always take the driver's side.

Underneath his lazy facade though is a man who never wants anyone near him to be hurt again. Thus, should he be in a position to help others, he would 'shift his brain into high gear' and revert to his former self, shown by him straightening his tie. Sadly, these bouts of inspiration are temporary, and will end with him going back to being a slacker and, mysteriously, his tie undoing itself.

He would often say "I'm done thinking about it!" whenever he's come to a conclusion. Whether these conclusions are helpful (throwing away his hesitation to help people) or not (forgetting his problems to continue lazing around) is a matter of luck.

As Drive, Shinnosuke has the archetype of a proud, snarky superhero: Constantly making puns or bantering with his opponents if he has reason or opportunity. Similar to Takumi Inui as Faiz, he would often close and open his raised right hand as a characteristic hand gesture.

Types
Kamen Rider Drive's forms are called Types (タイプ). Some Shift Cars alter the suit based on a certain attribute, whereas other Shift Cars arm Drive with a certain element or weapon, by changing the tire on Drive's suit for a Tire Exchange (タイヤ交換). These two types of Shift Cars can be used in conjunction with each other, but some Tires can only work with certain body Types.

After turning the Advanced Ignition on the Drive Driver, Drive can perform one of two actions in each Type: Lifting the Shift Car placed within the Shift Brace between one and three times initiates either a special ability or an attack, while pressing the Igniter on the Shift Brace and lifting the Shift Car once unleashes the Type's Full Throttle (フルスロットル) finishing move.

Devices

 * Drive Driver - Belt-based transformation device
 * Shift Brace - Bracelet-based transformation device
 * Shift Cars - Gives access to Drive's forms and powers, depending on which car is used. They also allow Shinnosuke/Drive to move normally during a Slowdown

Weapons

 * Handle Sword - Drive's steering wheel-based weapon
 * Door Gun - Drive's driver-side door-based weapon
 * Trailer Cannon - Drive's semi trailer-based weapon
 * Justice Cage - Drive's jail cell-based weapon via the Justice Hunter Tire
 * Drum Shields - Drive's slot machine wheel-based weapons via the Dream Vegas Tire
 * Monster - Drive's car boot-based weapons via the Massive Monster Tire
 * Rumble Smasher - Drive's drill-based weapon via the Rumble Dump Tire
 * Cure Quicker - Drive's first aid kit-based "weapon" via the Mad Doctor Tire
 * Capture Hook - Drive's winch-based weapon via the Hooking Wrecker Tire
 * Ladder Expander - Drive's ladder-based weapon via the Fire Braver Tire
 * 10-ton Weight - Drive's weight-based weapon via the Rolling Gravity Tire
 * Musou Saber - One of Drive Type Fruits' personal weapons
 * Daidaimaru - One of Drive Type Fruits' personal weapons

Vehicles

 * Tridoron - Drive's Rider Machine

Portrayal
Shinnosuke Tomari is portrayed by Ryoma Takeuchi (竹内 涼真)

As Kamen Rider Drive, his suit actor is Seiji Takaiwa (高岩 成二) who has been the suit actor for the majority of leading Heisei Kamen Riders (except Kuuga and Hibiki).

Rider No.
As the leading Rider protagonist of Kamen Rider Drive, Drive is labeled Kamen Rider #31 (仮面ライダー31号) and Heisei Rider #16 (平成ライダー16号).

As noted by producer Shinichiro Shirakura in the run-up to the release of Heisei Rider vs. Showa Rider: Kamen Rider Taisen feat. Super Sentai, with the 15 Showa Riders and then 15 Heisei Riders facing off being "the point in which Heisei has finally aligned with Showa and in which both are equal", Drive, as the Rider following Gaim, marks the point where "Heisei Rider history will actually surpass Showa, making it a massive turning point for the whole franchise's history".