Mitsuru Sano

"Why is this happening? I... I... just wanted to be happy..."

- Mitsuru's final words before vanishing.

Mitsuru Sano (佐野 満) was Kamen Rider Imperer (仮面ライダーインペラー), one of the 13 Kamen Riders in the tokusatsu TV series Kamen Rider Ryuki.

Memories of an Older Brother and Younger Sister
Although Mitsuru came from an affluent family, he worked in a parking garage, occasionally cleaning rich people's cars. His father sent him out into the world so that he could learn the hardships of life and not be spoiled by a rich upbringing. However, due to his poor lifestyle, he believed friendship, respect, and love could be bought, and thus accepted Kanzaki's proposal to become a Kamen Rider in order to become rich and lead a happy life. He became a mercenary of sorts, attempting to sell his strength as a Kamen Rider to the various factions within the remaining Riders.

He first approached Shinji Kido and Ren Akiyama, flattering them with praise after seeing them fight. Though Shinji was fooled, Ren brought him back to his senses and refused him. Sano attempted to appeal to even Shuichi Kitaoka and Takeshi Asakura, failing to gain employment from either.

Sano finally turned to Satoru Tojo and Hideyuki Kagawa for assistance. Kagawa, though knowing Sano did not fully understood his motives, allowed Sano to work with him and Satoru.

Later Zolda recovers and joins the battle on foot. The number of monsters increase to more then two. Ryuki appears in Survive and uses a Final Vents to wipe out all of the monsters. He then tells Alternative Zero that he saved his family. Tiger tries to tell Ryuki that Alternative Zero doesn't care but Ryuki replies back that he wanted to save them, so he saved them. Ouja restarts the fighting but all of them begin to fade. Back at ORE Journal, The Chief Editor receives blown-up versions of Shimada's pictures and insists that the Monster in the Glass is not a distortion but in fact real. They establish that their are monsters in the glass. The large group of Rampant Monsters that have been running around Mirror World previously react to a new Rider with horns.

After his father died, he inherited his father's business and became the boss of a major company. Because of his new found lifestyle, he wanted to give up the Rider war and enjoy his wealth. However, Kanzaki reminded him of his contract with Gigazelle and its fellow Zelles as well as what would happen to Sano if he did not fulfill his side of the contract with them. Shaken, Sano decided to use part of his inheritance to buy the services of the other Riders, as he himself had tried to offer. Showing up at their doorstep with a suitcase of contract money, he appealed to Shinji and Ren, but was flatly refused. Sano tried the same tactics on Kitaoka, and seemingly succeeded, but Sano cancelled the contract days later after deeming Kitaoka "unreliable."

Imperer
The monsters that attacked the group of Riders are shown to be the Contract Monsters of the new Rider. As they begin to fade, Tiger & Alternative Zero leave Mirror World and the rest follow closely behind including Imperer. Hideyuki calls his family to ensure their safety but does it in front of Tojo, Mitsuru goes and visits Hideyuki & Tojo and offers the same services for a price. In the middle of bargaining, they sense a monster. Mitsuru enters Mirror World to show off his skills as an ally.

Room 401
Sano's contract with Kagawa was later cut off when Kagawa was killed (by Satoru),Mitsuru accepts both sides' offer to ally with them but ultimately chooses Hideyuki & Tojo,Ren is enraged by Shinji's decision to include Mitsuru as his comrade; but he still kept Satoru as a good friend and even hostelled him when Satoru was injured from battles before. It was then Satoru confessed his convictions and called Sano a friend.

The Hero Fights
Mitsuru, after being dumped as an ally by Tojo attempts to ally himself with Shinji, Kitaoka and Asakura, but none of them works.

Glassy Happiness
Though Satoru was grateful to Sano for caring for him, he later back-stabbed Sano, who was later wounded and left for dead. Though he survived the attempt on his life (which Satoru thought he did finish Sano off), Sano was ambushed by Ouja while attempting to make his escape back to the real world. Ouja then destroyed Imperer's Advent Deck with his Veno Crash attack, making him unable to leave the Mirror World and dissolve within minutes, screaming and begging for help.

Ironically, Imperer, like Kamen Rider Gai and Kamen Rider Scissors, as well as the Alternatives, did not reappear in the epilogue after Kanzaki reverted time.

OOO, Den-O, All Riders: Let's Go Kamen Riders
Kamen Rider Imperer was part of a group of reinforcement riders led by Akira Date/Kamen Rider Birth to aid the primary riders in defeating the Rock Great Leader. All the Kamen Riders got on their bikes and performed the All Rider Break attack which destroyed the Great Leader.

Kamen Rider Battle Ganbaride
Kamen Rider Imperer appears with other Kamen Riders and Monters in Kamen Rider Gabanrider.

Kamen Rider Buttobasoul
Kamen Rider Imperer is a playable character in Kamen Rider Buttobasoul.

Fighting Style
Imperer is a melee based Rider. He utilizes Muay Thai - Style attacks such as knee strikes enhanced by his Gazelle Visor. He also uses the Spin Vent as his primary weapon. However, his biggest fighting advantage is in numbers, since his Contract Monster Gigazelle is accompanied by Megazelle and Omegazelle (later additions were Magazelle and Negazelle). His significant number of Contract Monsters can easily overwhelm other Riders.

However, Imperer's numbers strategy can be disrupted, forcing Imperer to fight Riders by himself. Another weakness is that the accompanied Contract Monsters are not really Imperer's, since they just follow Gigazelle, and often prove themselves to be inconsistent, either helping or attacking Imperer.

Kamen Rider Imperer
Kamen Rider Imperer Rider Statistics Rider Senses: Ability Parameters: Special Attacks:
 * Rider Height: 195 cm.
 * Rider Weight: 94 kg.
 * Eyesight: 10 km.
 * Hearing: 18 km.
 * Punching Power: 200 AP (10 t.)
 * Kicking Power: 400 AP (20 t.)
 * Maximum Jump Height: 50 m,
 * Maximum Running Speed: 100 m, per 5 sec,
 * Gazelle Stab: 2000 AP (100 t.)
 * Drive Divider: 5000 AP (250 t.)
 * Advent: Gigazelle: 4000 AP (200 t.)

Sano can transform into Kamen Rider Imperer using his Advent Deck and V-Buckle upon forming a contract with a Gigazelle. His Visor, the Gazelle Visor (ガゼルバイザー), is mounted on his right knee. Imperer's punching power, kicking power, and running speed are identical to Ryuki's, while his jump height is significantly higher.

Through the use of the Spin Vent Advent Card, Imperer can arm himself with the Gazelle Stab (ガゼルスタッブ), an arm-mounted pair of drills derived from Gigazelle's horns and forehead.

By using his his Final Vent, Imperer can execute his finisher, the Drive Divider (ドライブディバイダー), in which he summons a horde of Zelle Mirror Monsters to surround him and stampede the enemy. Imperer then emerges from the crowd and delivers a knee strike to the opponent's head.

Appearances: Ryuki Episodes 40-44, 13 Riders

Equipment

 * Advent Deck - Transformation device and Advent Card holder
 * V-Buckle - Transformation belt
 * Advent Cards - Trinkets that enable a Rider to summon Contract Monsters, access equipment, and use special abilities
 * Gazelle Visor - Imperer's Visor that enables him to use Advent Cards

Vehicles

 * Ride Shooter - Motorcycle used by any Rider to enter the Mirror World

Portrayal
Mitsuru Sano is portrayed by Takashi Hyuga (日向 崇). As Kamen Rider Imperer, his suit actor was Masashi Shirai (白井 雅士).