Yoko Minato

"I've finally found the qualified one who can guide us to the future."

- Minato's opinion on Kaito's leadership during an-all assault over the armies of Inves

Yoko Minato (湊 耀子) was a member of Yggdrasill Corporation who uses the E.L.S. 03 Peach Energy Lockseed through the Genesis Driver to transform into Kamen Rider Marika (仮面ライダーマリカ). Initially Ryoma Sengoku's subordinate, she becomes intertwined with Kaito Kumon after noticing his leadership during the Helheim Invasion. She would faithfully follow Kaito in hopes of helping Kaito become the man that would obtain the Forbidden Fruit.

Personality
Yoko was a quiet soul, but she had a tendency to use excessive force, as seen by beating Kaito down when he loudly got up in a rage during his talk with Ryoma Sengoku, with Kouta soon joining him.

She seemed to be loyal to Ryoma Sengoku, though this was implied to be a facade. She had some kind of personal interest in Kaito, which Ryoma notes as strange, as she usually didn't involve herself with others. After Ryoma abandons her, she revealed that her loyalty to him was surface-level and that she sees more potential in Kaito.

She had no personal interest in obtaining the Forbidden Fruit, preferring to see ambitious people like Kaito reach for its power.

Past
Prior the event where Yoko was recruited into Yggdrasill, she was a former spy working for a certain organization. She infiltrated Yggdrasill, getting the files from a lab computer, until she was caught by Ryoma Sengoku. Instead of Yoko trying to fight him, Ryoma gives her an offer, to work with him in Yggdrasill as his assistant and bodyguard in which she eventually accepted.

During the testing period to realize a functional Sengoku Driver, she thought highly of Takatora Kureshima and Ryoma Sengoku. However, to her confusion, Ryoma tells her to not forward the images of an higher-intellect Inves to Takatora, but to him directly, instead.

Yggdrasill Saga
When Gaim attempts to stop Ryoji after his descent to an Inves, she along with the other Yggdrasill members transform. She spectates Sigurd as he kills Ryoji. Serving as a bodyguard for Ryoma Sengoku, she easily defeats Kouta and Kaito, both trying to escape and also take back their Drivers without Ryoma realizing. During Gaim and Baron's escape from Headquarters, under the guise of Marika, she stops Sigurd's fatal shot towards the two Armored Riders. After Mitsuzane Kureshima became the company's newest member before his first task, Minato and Ryoma were told by Sid about Mitsuzane's inner darkness, and thus reveals to be true as Sid suspected. Yoko assists Mitsuzane, with the help of the Charmant owner, Oren and the former Beat Rider Jonouchi to retrieve the Sengoku Driver from Kouta by kidnapping his sister, Akira Kazuraba. The plan fails when Oren reveals he'd rather use a clean way of kidnapping Akira, which also sabotages Hideyasu on switching his Donguri Lockseed with a fake one when he's about to transform and torture Akira while posing as his patissier assistant. After Bravo is beaten by Gaim in Jimber Lemon Arms, she appears to fight him. As she manages to evenly match Gaim, Mitsuzane, who transformed into Ryugen shoots Marika and telling her that he will protect Kouta.

Helheim Saga & Over Lord Saga
After hearing an opinion of Kaito's new decision to fill an absolute power like the Helheim's power merging with the Earth, on the next day, Yoko informed Takatora that Sid was attacked and almost killed the day before by the same unknown assailant who somehow produced Helheim power and identity unknown, and attacked/killed most of the Kurokage Troopers if they found every single Helheim plants surround them all the sudden. In the second day of the morning, Yoko found a Helheim plant trail that ended in the dark power engineering room, where she soon learned it might be a trapped by the assailant. As she sensed the assailant is nearby, she dodge the assailant's attack, who later revealed the identity as an Armored Rider who can produce Helheim's power. Surviving the attack as Marika, she was able to fight back until the Helheim powered Armored Rider escaped, she is able to confirm both Ryoma and Takatora, the assailant's identity as an Armored Rider who can produce Helheim's power.

Yoko, along with numerous Kurokage Troopers defended a Crack from Rampant Inves. However, when Gaim also joins the fight to protect Zawame City from burning to ashes, he takes the opportunity to steal Yoko's Lockseed. Yoko, powerless, watches Kouta run off to Headquarters as he is determined to stop Yggdrasill.

During Kaito's second attempt to find the Over Lord, as he succeed and fought one of the first Over Lord to find named Demushu, yet lost due to how powerful the Over Lord is, as Yoko saved Kaito's life and tell him to stop fight and retreat, and there might be a next time Kaito and Demushu meet again.

As Ryoma decides to kick Kaito off their team after analyzing the Over Lords' data, Yoko asked him to give Kaito one more chance. Surprised at her request, Ryoma decides to give him one more chance as he gives Yoko a Genesis Driver and the Lemon Energy Lockseed. Mitsuzane enters Ryoma's office as he hasn't told Takatora about the Over Lords yet. He also told them that they could find the Over Lords easily if they follow his plan.

Later, Yoko delivers the Genesis Driver to Kaito before she leaves. In the Helheim forest, Yoko gave the location of the Over Lords to Kaito and later as Marika, she attacks Gaim, but Ryugen blocks it as she continues fighting Gaim, following Mitsuzane's plan. Overpowered by Gaim, the Armored Rider leaves as Mitsuzane was surprised that Yoko was easily defeated.

Later, an alarm is triggered, Yoko, along with Sid enters Ryoma's office as they suspect that the Over Lords made their move. As Takatora learns about the Over Lords from Kouta, Yoko, Sid, and Ryoma begin their betrayal and leave Takatora to die in the forest unprotected. However, Sid back-stabs Ryoma and Yoko as he destroys the equipment that keeps the Crack open and leaves as it starts to close. As the Over Lord, Demushu enters Zawame, Ryoma ordered Yoko to capture the Over Lord. However knowing the Kouta was there, he then ordered her and the Kurokage Troopers to eliminate him. Marika arrives just in time to stop Gaim from finishing off the Over Lord as the monster mercilessly attacks them, resulting in rendering Kouta unconscious. Before she could eliminate Kouta, Baron stops her and retreats as he told her that Kouta could help them. As the Kurokage Troopers were badly beaten by Demushu, Marika called Ryoma that they should retreat, however he still wants to capture the Over Lord for the Forbidden Fruit.

Seeing that Ryoma has become obsessed about the Forbidden Fruit, Zack and Kaito appears to aid them. Seeing the two Riders over powering the Over Lord, Yoko and the Kurokage Troopers were ordered by Ryoma to interfere and let Demushu escape. Later, she was abandoned by Ryoma when the Inves started to invade Zawame as they appeared from the tower. She receives assistance from Kaito, Zack, Oren, and Jonouchi to battle the Inves as she was amazed by Kaito's leadership.

However Demushu overpowered them all with his evolved form until they were saved when Kouta uses his new Kiwami Arms to defeat the Demushu. Yoko then cooperates with the Beat Riders as they would defend Zawame from Inves without any help from the government outside of Zawame.

Forbidden Fruit Saga
When searching for the Over Lord, Yoko tells Kouta that there should only be one that obtains the Forbidden Fruit and that he cannot beat Kaito. Before they can finish their conversation, Dyudyuonshu interferes, leaving Kouta to chase after the Over Lord.

After Kouta now realized the Zangetsu Shin he saw recently is not Takatora and siding with the Over Lord, thanks to Oren's sense on the impostor's fighting ability, Yoko soon realized from the beginning after her betrayal of Takatora that Mitsuzane took his older brother's Genesis Driver, helped Sid after he betrayed Ryoma and Minato are related to Over Lord's invasion when Ryoma recently escaped. With Mitsuzane returns to Team Gaim's garage, Yoko is about to go to Mitsuzane until he is stopped by Kaito, who noticed what Yoko realized to threaten Mitsuzane to talk to her outside in private.

Later, Kouta decides to plan on attacking the Inves in the Tower, which Yoko agrees as they also plan to is save to kidnapped civilians from the Inves. Once arriving to one of the entrance on the tower, the entrance was guarded by Inves as Kouta thinks that Mitsuzane would be needed. However Kaito and Yoko tell Kouta that he was completely manipulated by him, but he refuses to believe them until they got their cover blown by an Inves.

When Takatora survived and made it return to an infested Zawame, Yoko told him what happened when Takatora was gone and staying in Helheim for a bit, thus being forgiven by him because she was only follow orders. When Ryoma is suddenly return after Takatora disappeared again, only left is his Sengoku Driver and Melon Lockseed, most of the resistance needs to think back about Ryoma as Yoko had a feeling and tells the resistances to stay sharp that Ryoma may soon betrayed the resistance, once he got the Forbidden Fruit like how he did to Takatora.

As Ryoma returns to Zawame, he inform to the group that they can enter the tower by a secret pathway that the scientist used before, however Yoko started to sense that he might be lying. Yoko would follow the Armored Riders to the secret pathway to reach Yggdrasill tower. However, once they reach to the pathway, Ryoma forgot to turn off the security system as she, along with Kaito and Zack hold off the Suika Arms Armors and the Tulip Hoppers.

In the aftermath of the Over Lords' extinction, Yoko stays alongside Kaito, who discovers during an encounter against Inves that Kaito is dying from the wound infection caused by Redyue. She stands besides Kaito, still wanting to be by his side until the end. Her Genesis Driver is later destroyed by Ryoma when she and Kaito intend on killing Ryoma for murdering Mai. Yoko witnesses Kaito's evolution into an Over Lord and sees him easily injure Ryoma without breaking a sweat as the latter falls to his death. Yoko takes Ryoma's Genesis Driver, allowing her to become Marika once more.

She didn't get to use it for long however, as she transforms into Marika to save Kaito from a bomb Zack planted, taking the brunt of the explosion and falling to the ground from the rooftop of a skyscraper. After some heartfelt words, Yoko died from the explosive-caused trauma in Kaito's arms.

Super Hero Time
Kamen Rider Marika alongside various other New Generation/Armored Riders poses with the ToQgers in the Gaim/' ' opening. She also clashes with at one point.

The Fateful Sengoku Movie Battle
She appears at the end of the movie, along with Ryoma and Takatora which they showed their respective Energy Lockseeds.

Great Soccer Cup
Set place in a Dream World created by Lapis sometime after Kouta received the Kiwami Lockseed, she is part of Team Genesis. However, she runs away after witnessing Sid's death. Recruiting help to find out the truth, she saved Kaito from his death and throws away his Banana Lockseed to give the illusion that he died. She aids Ryugen, the last survivor besides her and Kaito against Gaim-Yami and Mars. After Kouta breaks from his corruption turning Gaim-Yami back into Gaim, she aids him, alongside the all of the revived Riders (except Sid and Ryoma) against Mars.

Gaim Gaiden: Zangetsu
Yoko was among the Yggdrasill personnel who was attacked by Kamen Rider Idunn. She transformed into Marika to fight Idunn, who vanished.

Gaim Gaiden: Baron
Yoko briefly appeared during Baron's battle with Tyrant, giving Baron the Ringo Lockseed. She later watched Kaito from a distance as he stood next to his father's grave.

Gaim Gaiden: Duke
Yoko chased after a brainwashed staff member who was running to Ryoma's laboratory. As the staff member was about to use the blank Zakuro Lockseed as a bomb to kill Ryoma, she kicked him off, causing the staff member to fall off a window and die by the Lockseed's explosion.

Chou Super Hero Taisen
She reappeares, alongside Kaito, during the events of Chou Super Hero Taisen, teaming up with Kamen Riders Ex-Aid, Lazer, Blade, and Another Agito.

Kamen Rider Battle: Ganbarizing
Marika is among the vast majority of Kamen Riders that are available in this arcade game. Notably, she is shown to use the Legend Rider Lockseed to assume Fourze Arms.

Arms
Like the Armored Riders and her fellow New Generation Riders, Kamen Rider Marika's forms are called Arms (アームズ). Her Genesis Driver announces "Soda" (ソーダ) before every transformation.

By pushing the Genesis Driver's Seaboll Compressor into the Energy Lockseed after transforming from one to two times, Marika can activate one of two finishing moves based on her current Arms form: Squash (スカッシュ) or Sparking (スパーキング). In addition to the Genesis Driver's finishing moves, Marika can perform a Sonic Volley (ソニックボレー) finishing attack by inserting an Energy Lockseed into the Energy Drive Bay of her Sonic Arrow.

Devices

 * Genesis Driver - Transformation device (first disabled by Professor Ryoma's self-destruct fail-safe, Yoko later took Ryoma's Genesis Driver to replace her own)
 * Lockseeds - Gives access to Marika's Arms changes, depending on which lock is used

Weapons

 * Arms Weapons - Weapons that come with the Arms:
 * Sonic Arrow - Marika Peach Energy Arms' personal weapon

Portrayal
Yoko Minato is portrayed by Minami Tsukui (佃井 皆美), who previously portrayed in  and the "grasshopper woman"/Hopper Dopant in Kamen Rider W.

Tsukui also served as the suit actress for Kamen Rider Marika, with Satoshi Fujita (藤田 慧) acting as understudy.

Appearances

 * Kamen Rider Gaim
 * 14-36, 38-40, 42-45
 * Kamen Rider × Kamen Rider Gaim & Wizard: The Fateful Sengoku Movie Battle
 * Kamen Rider Gaim: Great Soccer Battle! Golden Fruits Cup!
 * Kamen Rider Gaim Gaiden
 * Kamen Rider Gaim Gaiden: Kamen Rider Zangetsu
 * Kamen Rider Gaim Gaiden: Kamen Rider Baron
 * Kamen Rider Gaim Gaiden: Kamen Rider Duke