Kaito Kumon

"I'll show you what true strength is all about!"

- Kaito's words to Kouta after his first transformation as Baron

Kaito Kumon (駆紋 戒斗) is one of the main characters in the 24th installment of the Kamen Rider Series, Kamen Rider Gaim. He is the former leader of Team Baron, Team Gaim's rival until he chose Zack as his successor, and gave him a mass production Sengoku Driver as a parting gift. Growing up poor, he always believed that the weak warriors are exploited after Yggdrasill took everything from his life. After watching Gaim battling the Shika Inves, he received a Sengoku Driver as well and a Banana Lockseed from Sid, which allows him to transform into Kamen Rider Baron (仮面ライダーバロン).

Past
Kaito is the son of the construction worker. When businessmen from Yggdrasil Corporation shut down his father's company; Kaito and his family became poor, thus he had a vendetta against Yggdrasil and sought the power to destroy the company. In 2011, he formed a dance team called Team Baron with Zack and Peco.

The Inves Games
As Team Gaim started to get popular with Kouta Kazuraba's possession of the Sengoku Driver, he finds himself with Sid, obtaining his own Sengoku Driver along with the Banana Lockseed. By accepting this new profound power, he also obtains the Lock Vehicle: Rose Attacker. Once realizing that plucking the fruits from the forest grants him an Lockseed, he creates his own alliance with Hideyasu Jonouchi and and Ryoji Hase, providing them with Lockseeds of his own. However, the alliance is shortlived and he is defeated by Gaim Strawberry Arms and Ryugen and is then ganged up by the new Armored Riders: Gridon and Kurokage. Thankfully, Gaim and Ryugen intervenes, defeating the two Armored Riders. Later, Kaito is defeated by Oren, who steals another team's Sengoku Driver.

Kaito, striving to become stronger formulates that his Banana Lockseed is the most well-rounded for offense and defense. It isn't until he protects Mai and later sees Kouta utilizing his Pine Arms to gain an advantage against a rampant Inves does Kaito switch out his Banana Lockseed for the Mango Lockseed. To his shock, Mango Arms provides major strengths and easily defeats the Inves with Pine Arms Gaim.

During a brand new Inves Game devised by Mitsuzane and Kouta, Kaito is easily eliminated along with Oren by the White Armored Rider (Takatora) and is taken out of the forest.

The Fight Against Yggdrasill
With the Beat Riders named slandered, Kaito challenges Oren, who is publicy criticizing the Beat Riders, however Peco is injured and Kaito swears on his name to settle things the next time they see each other. When Kouta struggles against Oren, Kaito comes to his aid creating a temporary alliance with Gaim donning the Banana Arms alongside Baron donning the Mango Arms. After defeating Oren, the two see a rampant Inves being destroyed with relative ease by Zangetsu Shin (Takatora). Kaito provides support for Kouta as Kouta runs to help an Hase, who is turned into an Inves. Kaito is easily defeated by Takatora.

Later meeting Ryoma Sengoku, he realizes that they were merely guinea pigs for the Sengoku Driver. Kaito, later in an attempt to challenge Yggdrasill's power, joins Kouta into sneaking into the forest and dons the Suika Arms against New Generation Rider Sigurd. However, Kaito is later intercepted by Sigurd as he passes through the crack into the Yggdrassill Headquarters.

The Rulers of Heilheim, The Overlords
Kaito reveals his ideals stating that humanity is weak and that only the strong should survive. He joins Ryoma's faction as he becomes the test subject while trying to find the Red Overlord, Deemushu. Once finding Deemushu, he realizes that he is outclassed by the Overlord, struggling extremely in Banana Arms. While in Mango Arms, his decreased mobility proves to be his downfall as Deemushu rapidly attacks him, bringing Kaito down to his knees.

After being saved from Yoko, he finds himself bestowed with a gift from Ryoma Sengoku: A Genesis Driver and Lemon Energy Lockseed. Now able to combat Deemushu on equal terms, Kaito is stopped by Gaim. However, Gaim is shot by Ryugen, who now holds a strong sense of animosity towards Kouta. However, despite Kaito finding Kouta a nuisance, he finds that Mitsuzane is an enemy for being a sneak, attacking a man from the back. He later puts Kouta in a tree and camouflages him so that he doesn't attract any wild Inves.

Kaito saves Kouta once more after Kouta is ambushed by Zangetsu Shin (Mitsuzane). However, an enraged Kouta stops the two from fighting and defeats Zangetsu Shin's summoned Inves.

Possible Future
In a possible future, Baron, with Gridon on his side, led an army of Inves and Suika Arms Armored Riders against Gaim's army, charging towards the enemy on his Rose Attacker.

Personality
Cold, Kaito believes firmly in the doctrine of "the survival of the fittest", thinking that the weak should perish for the strong. Despite his ruthless personality, he has a soft spot towards kids and humanity, and the safety and care of his teammates, such as what happened when Bravo's weapon hits the stage sign and had Peco's arm broken. When he realized that premature Lockseeds mutate humans, such as when Hase eats it and turned into Inves, he shows a more human side by preventing Zangetsu-Shin from killing the mutated Hase. He also quits Team Baron and left Zack (now Kamen Rider Knuckle) in charge as he didn't want his teammates to get hurt due to him being an Armored Rider and being hunted by Yggdrasill.

Unlike his teammates, he dislikes cheating and dirty tricks as he likes to win fair and square, knowing the risks of out of control Inves and how it could endanger humanity, especially if the Inves are in a higher class states. After Kamen Rider Gaim defeated Raid Wild's Ryoji in Inves Game, Kaito became aware that the Rider doesn't know how to use the Sengoku Driver properly. For stating that his foolishness is far more than Kaito's. After obtaining the Lockseeds from Helheim Forest, he has a respect on a previous winning with teams like Raid Wild and Invitto such as giving them Lockseeds (except for Mango as his safe-keep) with no hard feelings. During his encounter with Bravo/Oren, Kaito is honored by Oren as a worthy opponent with a fighting spirit. Later, it was revealed that after Yggdrasill Corporation shut down his father's construction company, Kaito held a grudge against them and wanted to find the power to get back at them which made him who he is in the present.

Arms
As with the other Lockseed-using Riders, Kamen Rider Baron's forms are called Arms (アームズ). With the exception of Lemon Energy Arms, all of his European Knight-themed Arms' helmets share the title Casque (カスク), while his visors share the title Sight (サイト).

Kamen Rider Baron's ending theme is entitled "Never Surrender".

Devices

 * Transformation devices:
 * Sengoku Driver - Primary transformation device
 * Genesis Driver - Secondary transformation device
 * Arms Weapons:
 * Banaspear - Baron Banana Arms' personal weapon
 * Mango Punisher - Baron Mango Arms' personal weapon
 * Unnamed lance - Baron Suika Arms' personal weapon in Yoroi Mode
 * Sonic Arrow - Baron Lemon Energy Arms' personal weapon
 * Medajalibur - Baron OOO Arms' personal weapon
 * Ichigo Kunai - Baron Ichigo Arms' personal weapons
 * Kiwi Gekirin - Baron Kiwi Arms' personal weapons
 * Melon Defender - Baron Melon Arms' personal weapon
 * Lockseeds - Gives access to Baron's form changes, depending on which arm the lock is

Vehicles

 * Rose Attacker - Kamen Rider Baron's main Rider Machine
 * Dandeliner - Kamen Rider Baron's second Rider Machine

List of Appearances

 * Kamen Rider Gaim
 * 1-16, 18-25
 * Kamen Rider × Kamen Rider Gaim & Wizard: The Fateful Sengoku Movie Battle
 * Kamen Rider Gaim: Sengoku Battle Royale
 * Sengoku Movie Battle
 * Heisei Rider vs. Showa Rider: Kamen Rider Taisen feat. Super Sentai
 * Ressha Sentai ToQger Vs. Kamen Rider Gaim Spring Vacation Combining Special

Portrayal
Kaito Kumon is portrayed by Yutaka Kobayashi (小林 豊). As a child, Kaito is portrayed by Kurando Katayama (片山 蔵人).

As Kamen Rider Baron, his suit actor is Eitoku (永徳), who has been the suit actor for the majority of the Secondary Riders of the Neo-Heisei era (except Beast).

Legend Rider Lockseeds

 * In addition to the OOO Lockseed, the following toyline-exclusive Legend Rider Lockseeds are also styled for Baron, as well as Gridon:
 * Black RX
 * Blade
 * Kiva
 * OOO
 * OOO Tajadol Combo
 * Ankh