Takeru Tenkuji

"My life is burning bright!"

- Ghost's proclamation before a finisher

Takeru Tenkuji (天空寺 タケル) is the eponymous protagonist of Kamen Rider Ghost, as well as the son of Ghost Hunter Ryu Tenkuji. On his 18th birthday, Takeru was killed by the Katana Ganma. However, with the help of Sennin, he uses the Ghost Driver and Ghost Eyecons to become Kamen Rider Ghost (仮面ライダーゴースト) in order to fight against the Ganma.

Childhood
Takeru was the son of ghost hunter and Daitenku Temple owner, Ryu Tenkuji. After the death of his father, he was entrusted with the duty of a ghost hunter as Ryu passed on Miyamoto Musashi's hand guard to Takeru. He was also placed under the care of Onari, one of the Daitenku Temple's monks.

Later Years, 18th Birthday, Death, and Temporary Revival
"I've made up my mind. I'm going to become a ghost hunter. I'll defeat the Ganma and find the luminary Eyecons."

- Takeru's decision after Edison joins him as a partner.

Takeru would spend several years in his late father's lab studying the Stories of the World's Greatest People to become a ghost hunter, but eventually felt closer to despair when he wasn't able to witness any of them.

On his 18th birthday, he was mailed a blank Ghost Eyecon from his late father, which was sent in October 2005, allowing him to see ghosts but at the same time becoming a target of Katana and Yari Ganma. He boldly faces them, but his lack of combat training eventually leads to his own death. He was soon revived as a ghost by Sennin, giving him the Ghost Driver and the duty to collect all 15 Heroes' Eyecons to revive himself within the period of 99 days. He was also entrusted with Yurusen, a small phantasm that would teach him how to use his powers. Now as the warrior Kamen Rider Ghost, he utilized his newfound power to fulfill his role as a Ghost Hunter to first defeat his murderers and then to prevent more targeted civilians from becoming sacrifices of Ganma.

To further assist Takeru, Onari forms an investigation group called the Mysterious Phenomenon Institute that bends on solving paranormal cases that may be related to the Ganma.

Obtaining the assistance of Thomas Edison and Robin Hood
Days into his limited lifespan, Takeru learns how Eyecons are created in two ways, with one option killing the person who has a strong bond or connection with the aforementioned historic figure. Saving Yoshinori Sonoda from his manipulation of the Ganma, Takeru obtains the Edison Ghost Eyecon and destroys the Denki Ganma.

Learning of a modern "Little John", a figure in Robin Hood folklore, he tracks down to discover the identity of "Little John". Takeru saves Mari Shirase, the modern Little John from the Ono Ganma and obtains the Robin Hood Ghost Eyecon. With Onari's help, Takeru is able to find the deficiency of the Ganma's defense and destroys him.

Kamen Rider Drive


Takeru appears as Kamen Rider Ghost in a dream, saving Shinnosuke Tomari from previously defeated Roidmudes as he experiences a near-death experience following the destruction of the Sigma Circular.

Weeks later, Takeru encounters Shinnosuke once more as he searches for his lost Newton Eyecon. He temporarily allows Shinnosuke to borrow the Eyecon so that Shinnosuke can save Kiriko in an exchange deal with the terrorist group leader of Neo-Shade, Keisuke Okamura. After the ordeal, Takeru retrieves the Newton Eyecon once more, but would later be confiscated by Yurusen.

Prioritizing Human Lives Instead of Eyecons
Taking a case and learning of Nobuyoshi Hashiba, a descendant of a poor family that served under Nobunaga, Takeru learns that he is being manipulated by someone. A huge portion of the city suspended in the air by one of the Book Ganma copies, starts to crash back down onto the city due to the death of the real Book Ganma by Takeru, subsequently destroying all copies.

At the same time, Takeru notices that the Nobunaga Eyecon is about to be created, but rushes off to prevent the city's destruction much to Yurusen's dismay. Given access to the Newton Eyecon, he manages to safely slow the descent of the falling land. Afterwards, Takeru attempts to retrieve Nobunaga, but is intercepted by another Kamen Rider and takes Nobunaga instead. In the aftermath, Takeru learns from the Sennin of why Ganma cannot possess the person who has ties to a Heroic Spirit.

Clash of Specter
"You are definitely strong. But as long as I don't believe I've lost...then I haven't lost yet! I believe in myself! My life is burning bright!"

- Takeru clashing with Makoto once more, no longer doubting himself

During his quest to collect Ghost Eyecons and killing the Ganma, he encountered another obstacle in his path in the form of Makoto Fukami, who possesses a Ghost Driver of his own and becomes Kamen Rider Specter. His goal is also to collect the Heroes' Eyecons for unknown reasons, and even goes so far by attempting to steal some of Takeru's Eyecons. This nearly shatters Takeru's confidence and gives him a paralyzing fear of Specter defeating him again until Akari's encouragement and support give him the resolve to regain faith in himself and the will to fight.

Kamen Rider Drive: Surprise Future
In the Kamen Rider Drive summer movie, Takeru briefly appeared and aided the Special Unit by fighting and destroying some of the numberless Roidmudes. While the TV ad trailer did not show Drive present during this fight, the scenes allude to Kiriko and Genpachiro possibly witnessing the fight of the supernatural warrior.

Kamen Rider: Battride War Genesis
Ghost appears as the current hero in Kamen Rider: Battride War Genesis.

Personality
Takeru is a timid young man who at first is a bit nervous and scared when he became a superhero. His ability to make himself physically solid as a ghost was also hard to control at first as it depended on his emotional state and his emotions were in conflict due to his worrying and depression of his deceased state. Upon hearing that he only had 99 days to live, he felt he couldn't achieve his goal of obtaining the other Eyecons. He was a bit self-defeating at first due to a lack of confidence, something that faded away by the time he meets Shinnosuke Tomari.

However, upon encountering Specter for a second time, he begins to doubt himself as Specter told him that he was soft and that he'd never beat him or get what he wants with his soft heart. By the time Takeru obtained the Beethoven Eyecon, his confidence is restored and is ready to battle Specter, telling him that unless he's actually beaten down, he won't quit until he wins.

Takeru also seems to get angered by anyone who does not value their own lives or the lives of others, as being dead has given him the perspective to cherish/protect all life and enjoy the time he has left while trying to restore himself.

Powers and Abilities

 * Limbo
 * Having been resurrected by Sennin through the Ghost Eyecon after his death at the hands of the Ganma, Takeru is granted a limited half-life, with the limit being 99 days. This limit will be lifted should Takeru assemble all 15 hero Eyecons, which would also complete his resurrection. However, should he fail in his objective, Takeru will die permanently. As a ghost, Takeru possesses a number of traits which distinguish him from living humans in addition to his use of the Eyecons to transform into Kamen Rider Ghost.
 * Invisibility/Intangibility
 * Like the Ganma, the deceased Takeru is naturally both invisible and intangible to living people. He has the ability to make himself visible and solid at will, allowing him to interact with humans. However, as noted by Yurusen, this ability depends on his emotional state, with Takeru initially fluctuating between being visible and invisible before he soon masters the ability. Like any ghost in popular fiction, Takeru can use his intangibility to phase through solid objects such as walls or the ground and reemerge elsewhere.
 * Indestructibility
 * According to Yurusen, due to Takeru already being dead, he cannot be killed a second time. However, as Takeru soon finds out, he can still feel pain as he experiences when he is attacked by the Ganma or feels a force of impact such as a fall from a building. This makes Ghost not a truly unstoppable obstacle to the Ganma, as an overwhelming sensation of pain can cause him to pass out or temporarily be unable to counterattack.


 * Forcefield
 * Whenever Takeru wishes to be alone, he can generate a forcefield around himself to prevent others from disturbing him.

Damashii
Ghost's forms are called Damashii (魂), accessed using the Ghost Eyecons. He also bears a headpiece called the Persona (ペルソナ), which gives off a glow effect with the rest of his body. The Persona changes with Ghost's numerous Damashii forms, as well as serving as a prefix title for all of the Damashii forms' helms. Differentiating himself from Kamen Rider Specter, Ghost normally bears the Wisp Horn (ウィスプホーン) on his head in most of his Damashii forms, allowing him to use it either for perceiving and sensing Ganma within a 5 km. radius or as a weapon.

By pulling and pushing the Ghost Driver's lever a second time after transforming, Ghost can activate an Omega Drive (オメガドライブ) finishing attack tied to the Ghost Eyecon currently being used. If he pulls and pushes the lever four times, he can instead execute an Oomedama (オオメダマ) special attack.

Devices

 * Ghost Driver - Transformation device
 * Ghost Eyecons - Transformation trinkets. They also granted the ability to observe the Ganma when Takeru was alive.
 * Ghost Gadgets - Ghost's Support Robots and Gan Gun Saber mode-accessing devices
 * Eyecon Driver G

Weapons

 * Gan Gun Saber - Standard sidearm weapon
 * Unnamed gloves - Ghost Newton Damashii's personal weapons:
 * Repulsion Glove - Right hand
 * Attraction Glove - Left hand
 * Sunglasslasher - Ghost Toucon Boost Damashii's personal weapon

Vehicles

 * Iguana Ghostriker - Combined form of Ghost's personal vehicles:
 * Machine Ghostriker - Ghost's Rider Machine
 * Captain Ghost - Ghost's pirate galleon-like mecha

Portrayal
Takeru Tenkuji is portrayed by Shun Nishime (西銘 駿). As a child, Takeru is portrayed by Hinata Yamada (山田 日向), who previously portrayed Sho Sakai in Kamen Rider Wizard.

As Kamen Rider Ghost, 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 Ghost, Ghost is labelled Kamen Rider #32 (仮面ライダー32号) and Heisei Rider #17 (平成ライダー17号).