Skull Man

"Whether the Kamen Rider or the Skull Man, I want to draw a Manga to "frighten" the children."

- Shotaro Ishinomori

Skull Man (スカルマン) is a fictional character created by Shotaro Ishinomori, first appearing in Ishinomori's 100 page one-shot manga of the same name which was later continued by the mangaka and then followed by a separate storyline anime in 2007. The original Skull Man is credited as manga's first anti-hero and was adapted for the creation of Kamen Rider and its characters Kamen Riders 1 and 2.

Kamen Rider
As noted above, the original Skull﻿ Man's costume was adapted for the creation of the original Kamen Riders, with the grasshopper motif supposedly chosen by Ishinomori's son. Also in Shimamoto's manga a man named Detective Tsuyoshi Hioka was pursuing Skull Man until he was captured by the manga's antagonist group, Syndicate and turned into a grasshopper Reconstructed Human that looked similar to Kamen Riders ZO and J. Hioka was then rescued and reconstructed by Skull Man after the Syndicate self destructed their base, and was made into a more advanced grasshopper mutant that looked similar to Kamen Rider 1. But the data used on Hioka was used for the creation of similar Reconstructed Human such as the Rider Girls who could perform their own version of the Rider Double Kick of Riders #1 and #2. Some of the mutants in the manga are also similar to the monsters that were first featured in Kamen Rider. Two characters in the Kamen Rider Series were created as homages of Skull Man, the one-time alter-ego of Kazuya Taki, Skull Rider in Kamen Rider Spirits and the Kamen Rider W character Kamen Rider Skull.

Creation and Concept
While Kamen Rider was still in development, Ishinomori created his one-shot manga as his own personal version of the TV series which was edited to avoid the dark, gruesome, and cerebral content before Kamen Rider was released.

Manga
Skull Man's true identity is a young man named Tatsuo Kagura (神乐 辰男) who in early life was put through many experiments by his parents (and the leader of a Syndicate, Rasputin) that gave him amazing powers and skills. By the time his sister Maya (真耶) was born, his grandfather Kogetsu Chisato (千里 虎月) killed his parents and was about to do the same to Tatsuo until his future partner Garo (ガロ) rescued him and Tatsuo was adopted by the yakuza family, the Kagura Clan. Over the last 15 years Tatsuo would master his powers while on the run from a public conspiracy and uses his power to begin his quest for revenge as Skull Man. When he was saved by Garo by one of Chisato's traps Skull Man then proceeded to battle the Syndicate. Seeing himself as just a regular killer, Skull Man changed his name to Ryusei Chisato (千里 竜生)in order to not forget his sins by taking his grandfather's surname (a man he always hated). He is also able to communicate telepathically with Maya from their base the Tiger Moon. Upon finding out that his parents were in fact the true leaders of the Syndicate, and upon giving him the advice to take the path he believed in, Ryusei gathered people to fight against the Syndicate; many of which being characters created by Shotaro Ishinomori.

2007 Series
In this incarnation, Skull Man is not a person but a suit that grants the user superpowers and deadly weapons at the expense of becoming a ruthless killer. The suit was created by Tatsuo Kagura's father as a part of a religious group that worshiped it. After Tatsuo's father was killed along with presumably Tatsuo himself the suit was found and used by a priest named Yoshio Kanzaki (神崎 芳生) to combat the religious organization, Byakureikai and its experiments on humans for its goals to create a new humanity assisted by a werecat and a werewolf who were experiments. When Yoshio is killed, his childhood friend and reporter Hayato Mikogami (御子神 隼人) takes his place as Skull Man. Hayato is highly speculated to in fact be Tatsuo Kagura, as visually and personality wise he resembles the original character, his ties to the man responsible for the fire that killed Tatsuo's father Gozo Kuroshio (黒潮 豪蔵), the detective Kyoichiro Tachigi (立木 恭一郎) guessing that Hayato could be Tatsuo, Hayato's greater control over the Skull Man suit than Yoshio, and the fact that Maya Kuroshio (黒潮 真耶) (based on the original Maya) revealed that Hayato is her brother. The anime series ends with the suit taking control of Hayato's body and the revelation that he is now the leader of Black Ghost and an infant who resembles Joe Shimamura, setting up a possible precursor to the events of Cyborg 009.

Personality
As Tatsuo Kagura, he is portrayed as a carefree individual most of the time even as Skull Man. However, in more serious times especially as Skull Man, he is ruthless, cunning, and willing to sacrifice innocent lives in his quest for vengeance. He has however shown mercy on his grandfather when Maya revealed their origins. When it comes to eliminating enemies, Skull Man is never hesitant to kill them, seeing them as steps to achieving his goal. He is also close to his childhood protector Garo as he never leaves his side.

After almost dying from Chisato's trap, Tatsuo started to hate himself and took it so far that he changed his name to match the man he always hated. He also becomes more social to the point of forming bonds with some enemies like psychic Maria and the wasp woman Yuka Kuroki where they became his allies.

The 2007 Skull Man is much darker and brutal than the original, usually portrayed as a strong silent type and never shows hesitancy to kill others for means of his goals.

Abilities
Due to the vast experiments used on him Tatsuo gained many powers. In the 1998 Manga & 2007 Anime, Skull Man is more of a weapons user than his earlier counterpart.

Psychic Powers
The most of his several abilities relate to ESP like telepathy, telekinesis, pyrokinesis, and hypnosis which he uses to take advantage over others and find their weaknesses. In Kazuhiko Shimamoto's manga, Skull Man possesses the ability to shift his consciousness into other beings, which in turn influences the victim.

Physical Abilities
Skull Man's strength and agility are higher than most humans, able to hit a regular human into a machine while causing damage to said machine and evade attacks from enemies easily ,also the high-speed moving and electric shock.

Weapons Use
In the original manga, Skull Man is an expert marksman occasionally using a pistol to kill people. In the 2007 series, Skull Man uses a larger assortment of weapons like daggers and rods.

Motorcycle Use
In the 2007 series, Skull Man uses a motorcycle as his primary transportation.

Other Powers
Like a ghost, Skull Man can phase through objects in order to surprise enemies. He can instill fear into people to the point where they can't move. He also appears to be immortal, being killed or mortally wounded only to return another day.

In the 2007 anime, when the 'teeth' of the mask close, Skull Man moves at a speed so fast that everything around him freezes. This is similar to Cyborg 009 as Joe Shimamura activated his Acceleration Mode by clicking a switch on his back molar.

Links

 * http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skull_Man


 * http://www.igadevil.com/2012/07/ishinomori-week-skull-man.html


 * http://www.comixology.com/Skullman/comics-series/9276