13 Kamen Riders

The 13 Kamen Riders (13人の仮面ライダー) are the central characters of Kamen Rider Ryuki. Thirteen Card Decks (カードデッキ) were created for thirteen Kamen Riders. They make Contracts with monsters from the mysterious Mirror World (ミラーワールド), a parallel dimension opposite to our own in which only the Kamen Riders can exist. The Riders draw on their monsters' strength in exchange for feeding them the life force of the creatures they destroy. The creator of the Advent Cards (アドベントカード) has only one rule: that there can be only one Kamen Rider. The others must be killed, and the sole victor will be granted a single wish, which leads to a conflict known as the Rider War.

The notion of 13 Riders is apparently a homage to the original Kamen Rider manga published in 1971, which contains a chapter called The 13 Kamen Riders. However, only 10 Kamen Riders were featured in the TV series. Femme, Ryuga and Verde appeared exclusively in the movie Episode: Final and/or the TV special 13 Riders.

Despite the idea of 13 Kamen Riders facing each other, all 13 Kamen Riders never really faced each other in one huge battle. The most number of Kamen Riders in one battle is 6 (in the TV series, where Knight, Ryuki, Zolda, Ouja, Tiger, and Alternative fought each other, only to be interrupted by Imperer's advent monsters), and 11 (at the 13 Kamen Riders Special). Kamen Rider Raia was killed earlier by Kamen Rider Verde's Death Vanish Final Vent. Despite activating the Guard Vent, Kamen Rider Scissors was killed by Kamen Rider Ouja's Veno Crash Final Vent. The remaining 10 Kamen Riders fought on the final match of the special, with Kamen Rider Ryuki and Kamen Rider Knight facing off against the remaining 8, led by Kamen Rider Odin.

Ryuki: Shinji Kido
Shinji Kido (城戸 真司) is a good-hearted, friendly, naive idealist who works at the ORE Journal as a journalist trainee, but ends up being dragged to the Mirror World. Eventually, he contracts Dragredder and becomes Kamen Rider Ryuki (仮面ライダー龍騎) to protect people's lives and stop the Rider War. With the Survive Rekka card, he eventually gains the ability to transform into Kamen Rider Ryuki Survive (仮面ライダー龍騎サバイブ).

Shinji Kido is portrayed by Takamasa Suga (須賀 貴匡).

Knight: Ren Akiyama
Ren Akiyama (秋山 蓮) is a cold loner who fights constantly and is frequently unemployed. He received his Card Deck (カードデッキ) before the start of the series. He accepted Kanzaki's offer to join the Rider war to give his fiancé, Eri Ogawa, a full recovery as she was in a mysterious coma ever since an encounter with Darkwing. Ren later contracted with Darkwing and became Kamen Rider Knight (仮面ライダーナイト). With the Survive Shippu card, he eventually gains the ability to transform into Kamen Rider Knight Survive (仮面ライダーナイトサバイブ).

Ren Akiyama is portrayed by Satoshi Matsuda (松田 悟志).

Scissors: Masashi Sudo
Masashi Sudo (須藤 雅史) is a detective using his job to cover up his illegal activities disposing of any witnesses to his acts. He had a partner, the older Tomoyuki Kaga who owned the Antique and Collection shop, until the older man's demand for a bigger cut in the profit made Masashi kill him, plastering him into the wall of his own shop seconds before Kanzaki appeared and offered him a Card Deck explaining the terms of accepting it. Masashi took it gladly and made his Contract with the Mirror Monster Volcancer, becoming Kamen Rider Scissors (仮面ライダーシザース) and playing a part in the disappearances as he feeds his victims to Volcancer. He and Kamen Rider Knight confronted each other once prior to the series, neither aware of each other’s identity.

Reiko's investigating of Kaga's shop after finding a link between it and some of the missing people made her a target of Masashi as he manages to hospitalize her. Shinji is then sent to continue in her place, confronting Scissors in the Mirror World before Ren saves him. Though both believed Scissors to be Kaga, Shinji acts against Ren's wishes to befriend Scissors. This results in Masashi tricking Shinji into giving his name, Knight's human identity and Yui's address as he attempts to kill the Riders while kidnapping Yui to have leverage over her brother. By then, both Ren and Reiko realized the truth behind Kaga's death as Masashi decides to kill everyone to cover his tracks. In the course of his battle with Knight, Scissor's Card Deck cracked as a result of the two using their Final Vents on each other. This resulted with Volcancer devouring its master in an ironic death by betrayal.

Masashi Sudo is portrayed by Takeshi Kimura (木村 剛).

Zolda: Shuichi Kitaoka
Shuichi Kitaoka (北岡 秀一) is a self-proclaimed "super-lawyer" who tends to only help someone if he has something to gain. Because he has a terminal case of cancer and has been given only a few months to live, he accepted Kanzaki's offer to join the Rider War. His prize is to be immortal so that he could continue his extravagant lifestyle. Because of his illness, he suffers from frequent dizzy spells and fainting. He fights as Kamen Rider Zolda (仮面ライダーゾルダ), with Magnugiga as his Contract Monster.

Shuichi Kitaoka is portrayed by Ryohei (涼平).

Raia: Miyuki Tezuka
Miyuki Tezuka (手塚 海之) is a mysterious and enigmatic fortune-teller who believes in predestination, another Kamen Rider that Kanzaki did not personally pick to have a Card Deck. The real chosen one was his friend Yuichi Saito, an excellent pianist who lost ability to play when a mugger (later revealed to be Takeshi Asakura) broke his hands. After his friend was devoured by a GuldThunder after refusing Kanzaki's offer to fight in the Rider War, Tezuka takes the Advent Deck on his behalf and becomes Kamen Rider Raia (仮面ライダーライア) to avenge his friend by ending it. While trying to convince Ren that he has no chance of winning due to his self-doubt, Tezuka meets Shinji and becomes their ally. Kanzaki would later attempt to escalate the battle by giving Tezuka one of two Survive cards, but he passes it to Ren instead. Tezuka would later avenge Yuuichi by destroying GuldThunder before being killed by Ouja later on after taking a fatal hit meant for Ryuki in an act of defying fate.

Miyuki Tezuka is portrayed by Hassei Takano (高野 八誠). Takano previously portrayed Hiroya Fujimiya in Ultraman Gaia. He also played Hayato Ichimonji/Kamen Rider 2 in the remake Kamen Rider: The First.

Gai: Jun Shibaura
Jun Shibaura (芝浦 淳) is a 3rd year college student at Meirin University, extremely well versed in computers and programming to be in the Matrix Netgame Club. Being the son of a company president, Shibaura is arrogant in personality and toys with other people's lives for nothing more than a good laugh. He joined the Rider War simply to be the winner as it was all a game to him, transforming into Kamen Rider Gai (仮面ライダーガイ).

Manipulating his fellow members into killing each other in a game, Shibaura meets Shinji and later steals his Dragredder card from him to use both it and the virus he uploaded to the ORE Journal mainframe to become the head of their company. But Shimada's own hacking skills and Tezuka foiled Shibaura's plans as he is arrested soon after. However, his father was able to bail him out with Kitaoka's aid. After learning the other Riders' identities, Shibaura kidnaps Yui to start a "Rider party" between him, Knight, Raia, and Ryuki. However, in the middle of the fight, their battle gets intertwined with the one between Zolda and Ouja, who used Gai as a shield to take the brunt of Zolda's Final Vent before killing him with his own hands.

Jun Shibaura is portrayed by Satoshi Ichijo (一條 俊).

Ouja: Takeshi Asakura
Takeshi Asakura (浅倉 威) is a sadistic criminal who murdered his entire family during childhood, gaining a reputation for having a love to fight and kill in his random fits of rage. As a result of his sadistic nature, prior to becoming a Rider, Asakura was personally responsible for both ending the piano career of Tezuka's friend Yuichi Saito and the murder of Miho Kirishima's older sister. His arrogant personality resulted with his defense attorney, Shuichi Kitaoka, refusing to represent him and leaving him to rot in jail. Because he was in prison and could not feed his destructive nature, Asakura gladly accepted Kanzaki's offer to join the Rider War and forms a pact with Venosnaker, using his new found powers as Kamen Rider Ouja (仮面ライダー王蛇) to break out of jail and get his revenge on Kitaoka, learning of his identity as a Kamen Rider.

Over the series, thanks to Ren helping him fake his death to ensure no interference, Ouja manages to kill off both Gai and Raia, taking their Contract Monsters as his own. But once the police learn he is still alive, Asakura was once more wanted as he attempts to settle things with Kitoka. By the end of the series, Asakura finally has his showdown with Zolda and defeats him. However, Asakura finds out seconds later that "Zolda" was actually Goro, resulting with him in utter disarray of being denied the right to kill the man he hated the most as he is gunned down by the police. In the movie's ending, due to Ryuga's intervention during his fight with Femme in the Mirror World, Asakura ends up being dissolved into nothingness after Femme destroys his deck.

Takeshi Asakura is portrayed by Takashi Hagino (萩野 崇). Hagino previously portrayed Akira Suzumura in Choukou Senshi Changéríon.

Odin
Kamen Rider Odin (仮面ライダーオーディン) is a mindless puppet controlled by Shiro Kanzaki, able to interact with the real world where he cannot. Odin serves to not only to protect Yui from harm, but also as Kanzaki's personal representative in the Rider War, and its Contract Monster is Goldphoenix. Odin possesses incredible strength, the ability to teleport short distances, and the ability to shoot a gust of golden feathers. Odin can also use the Time Vent card, with the aid of Shiro Kanzaki's time control abilities, to reverse time to the beginning of the Rider War. Throughout the Rider War, Odin makes brief appearances and fights the other Kamen Riders, until he and Knight Survive are left. However, when Kanzaki sees the pointlessness of the Rider War, Odin ceases to be just as he was about to win.

Kamen Rider Odin is voiced by Tsuyoshi Koyama (小山 剛志) who provided the voice of the 13 Rider's Visors.

Femme: Miho Kirishima
Miho Kirishima (霧島 美穂), appearing in Kamen Rider Ryuki: Episode Final, is a con-artist who seduces wealthy men in order to steal their money and/or valuables. Miho accepted Kanzaki's proposal to join the Rider war for two reasons: she wanted to resurrect her sister and take revenge on her killer, Takeshi Asakura. She fights as Kamen Rider Femme (仮面ライダーファム) to reach this goal. However after achieving the goal of defeating Asakura, Miho fell in love with Shinji and ended up being killed by Ryuga as a result. She is the first official female Kamen Rider.

Miho Kirishima is portrayed by Natsuki Katō (加藤 夏希). Katō previously portrayed Robina in Moero!! Robocon.

Ryuga
In the alternate continuity of Kamen Rider Ryuki: Episode Final, Yui Kanzaki had already met and befriended Shinji Kido when they were still both very young. As a result, the young and lonely Yui subconsciously created a duplicate of Shinji in the imaginary Mirror World. The Mirror World version of Shinji Kido, referred as "Mirror Image Shinji Kido" (鏡像の城戸 真司), could survive indefinitely in his own universe without any extra protection, but could only stay in the real world for a short time before starting to disintegrate, just like how a normal human would in the Mirror World. Several years later, the doppelganger adopts the identity of Kamen Rider Ryuga (仮面ライダーリュウガ) and joins the Rider War in order to pursue his goal of becoming a real person in the real world. After killing Miho, the Mirror World Shinji attempts to merge with Shinji in order to survive, but the real world Shinji forces him out and fights him, resulting in his death due to a match between Final Vents.

Mirror Image Shinji Kido is portrayed by Takamasa Suga (須賀 貴匡), who also portrayed the lead role of Shinji Kido.

Verde: Itsuro Takamizawa
Itsuro Takamizawa (高見沢 逸郎) is a rich and charismatic businessman of the Takamizawa Group, who is able to transform into the chameleon-themed Kamen Rider Verde (仮面ライダーベルデ) with the aid of his Contract Monster Biogreeza. He joined the Rider War to add to his already massive wealth so he could take control of the world. Takamizawa and Verde only appear in Kamen Rider Ryuki Special: 13 Riders.

Itsuro Takamizawa is portrayed by Arthur Kuroda (黒田 アーサー).

Tiger: Satoru Tojo
Satoru Tojo (東條 悟) is a disturbed man with a twisted moral background; a social outcast determined to do whatever it takes to be accepted. However, Tojo also seemed to have a great amount of respect for his teacher, Hideyuki Kagawa, adopting his theories on the concept of heroism, although Tojo develops a hero syndrome due to his bloodthirsty nature. Becoming Kamen Rider Tiger (仮面ライダータイガ), Tojo aided Kagawa on the goal to close the Mirror World. However, killing Kagawa because of his ideologies, Tojo joined the Rider War to prove himself as a true hero.

However, these actions result in a downward spiral of contradictions for Tojo as he tries to win by any means, from betraying Sano to an attempt to trap the other Riders in the Mirror World by destroying their only way out. But as he runs off from committing the latter, Tojo saw a father and son, briefly reminding him of Kagawa and his own child. However, a truck was about to crash into the two, and Tojo sacrificed himself to save them at the cost of his own life. Ironically, the following day, a newspaper featured an article on Tojo's good deed and labeled a hero.

Satoru Tojo is portrayed by Jun Takatsuki (高槻 純). Takatsuki previously portrayed Genki Kagura in Ultraman Neos.

Imperer: Mitsuru Sano
Mitsuru Sano (佐野 満) is the son of a wealthy businessman who worked in a parking garage, occasionally cleaning rich people's cars, although he came from an affluent family. 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. Because of his poor lifestyle, he believed friendship, respect, and love could be bought, and thus accepted Kanzaki's proposal to become Kamen Rider Imperer (仮面ライダーインペラー) 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.

After seeing he cannot worm out of being a Kamen Rider after finally inheriting his father's business and having no more need to fight, Sano decides to buy the services of the other Riders to fight his battles for him. But the attempts ended in failure before he decides to team up with Tojo and befriended him. However, after being back-stabbed by Tojo and left for dead, Sano attempted to get back to the real world when he was ambushed by Ouja, who destroys his Vent Deck. Unable to leave the Mirror World, Sano screams for help as he dissolves within minutes.

Mitsuru Sano is portrayed by Takashi Hyuga (日向 崇).