Yusuke Godai

"I don't want to see people crying anymore. I want everyone to smile! So have a good look... at my... transformation!"

- His words to Kaoru Ichijo before transforming into Mighty Form for the first time

Yusuke Godai (五代 雄介), born in Hokkaidō on March 18, 1975, with a blood type of O is a happy-go-lucky and honest person that fights to protect everyone's smile as Kamen Rider Kuuga (仮面ライダークウガ). He and his younger sister, Minori, lost their mother while they were both young and their father at Afghanistan when they were older, living with their father's friend Tamasaburo Kazari.

Biography
On the day he returns from Indonesia to Japan at the airport, Yusuke's life changed the day that he visits Sakurako Sawatari (with a mask for her), who was helping in Professor Natsume's archaeological finding of the Linto Tribe and a mummified corpse, whose disruption marked the unsealing of a strange monster that attacks the archaeologists. Receiving a distress call from them, Yusuke makes his way to the excavation site, seeing the light that marks the rebirth of the Gurongi Tribe. By the time he arrived the scene at daybreak, he finds the police investigating the area and meets detective Kaoru Ichijo, finding a strange belt tied to the visions he's been seeing. He later meet Ichijo and he and Sakurako are brought to police station to learn the archeologists were all slaughtered by the mysterious monster, later referred to as "Unidentified Lifeform 0", before being given the Arcle to translate the markings on it.

However, as they leave, the two encounter the Gurongi Zu-Gumun-Ba attacking the station upon being revived, Yusuke puts on Arcle to fight him, resulting with the belt fusing onto him as he assumes Kuuga's Growing Form and saves Ichijo from the Gurongi, the detective recognizing Yusuke. After 11 hours of rest, Sakurako suggests they return to Tokyo as they are visited by Ichijo who tells him not to meddle in police affairs and go to Tokyo to see Shuichi Tsubaki. Later that night, Yusuke goes against Ichijo's wishes to help fight Zu-Gooma-Gu, only to be beaten by the stronger monster and later gets chewed up by Ichijo.

But after seeing the daughter of the late Professor Natsume cry over her father's death, Yusuke's resolve to fight for the sake of keeping people from suffering led him to assume Mighty Form, taking the name of "Kuuga" as he saves Ichijo from Gooma and destroys Gumun. Starting with inspector Kaoru Ichijo, Yusuke eventually gains the trust of the police department by receiving the TryChaser 2000 from Ichijo. While brought to Doctor Shuichi Tsubaki for a confidential check-up, Yusuke learns that the Arcle's fusion onto him is more complex as it had spread vein-like connections into his muscular and nervous systems.

During his first battle with Zu-Badzū-Ba, Kuuga assumes Dragon Form and eventually masters it with Sakurako's aid to kill Badzū. Then while fighting Me-Bajisu-Ba, Kuuga assumes Pegasus Form but was overwhelmed by his enhanced senses as Bajisu escapes, vowing revenge on Kuuga. Unable to change, Yusuke decides to help Ichijo by finding Mika Natsume, who is on the verge of being suicidal when her father's murderer not yet caught. After talking Mika into letting things resolve themselves over time, Bajisu attacks and Yusuke is able to effectively use Pegasus Form's power to kill the Grongi sniper.

While dealing with Me-Giiga-Gi, and Minori's apprehensive feelings for being Kuuga, Yusuke is able to become Titan Form to defeat Giiga after convincing Minori that it all be right. Yusuke later meets Junichi Chono, a young man who lost his faith in humanity and thought to be able to relate more the Unidentified Lifeforms. However, his encounter with Me-Biran-Gi said otherwise when Kuuga saves the boy before killing the Gurongi. During the fight however, Yusuke felt the reawakening of the Gouram as it was excavated and whirled to life to make its way towards him, providing its power for him to counter Me-Gyarido-Gi.

Later, when poisoned by Me-Ginoga-De, Yusuke manages to survive the near death experience due to the Amadam countering the poison when induced with shock therapy, allowing him to arrive to the police's aid to destroy Ginoga and later his clone. But since then, Yusuke begins to felt a numbing pain during his next few battles as Kuuga against stronger Gurongi, learns that it may be tied to a greater power that maybe needed as he believes that stronger Gurongi will eventually appears. After training to bring out the "golden power" with Enokida's help, Yusuke's battle against the promoted Go-Garima-Ba leads to an upgraded version of Kuuga's Titan Form, Rising Titan. The next two fights allow Yusuke to become bring Rising Pegasus and Rising Dragon while learning that the Arcle had fused further into his body.

After healing from being wounded by Go-Gamego-Re, Yusuke meets Chono as he took up being an artist since their last encounter before he finds the Gurongi and kills him once achieving Rising Mighty, accidentally causing mass devastation. Because of the incident, the BeatChaser 2000 would not to be given to Kuuga as the Go-Badā-Ba finally begins to play, saving Kuuga as his final victim. While Ichijo convinces his fellow officers, Yusuke is aided by Sugita in tracking down Badā until Ichijo arrives with the Beat Chaser which allows Kuuga to destroy Badā. However, the incident with the sadistic Go-Jaraji-Da, influences Yusuke's behavior for the worse, causing him to subconsciously assume Kuuga's Ultimate Form while killing the Gurongi in a brutal rage.

Later, Yusuke goes to Enokida when she wanted to investigate the reason on how he can turn everyday objects into weapons like the Go Gurongi before going after Go-Zazaru-Ba when she went up against an evolving Gooma, worried that two Grongi fighting each other was a very bad omen. This is made worst when Yusuke learns the "Kuuga" character is not of Linto origin, but is actually an incomplete Gurongi character and may be tied to Number 0, later revealed as the Gurongi lord N-Daguva-Zeba when he arrived to slaughter Gooma before making his way to Tokyo for end-game. Yusuke's fears of their relation were confirmed as Sakurako fully translated the Linto text and the Gurongi characters on it, revealing his mental wellbeing during the incident with Jaraji while understanding that he'll be alright as long as he doesn't fight out of hate.

After learning from Enokida that the Gurongi may also share Kuuga's ability to change form, Yusuke leaves when Go-Jāza-Gi makes her move. During a flawed attempt to get her, Kuuga senses Daguva and got wounded while his guard was down before he finally kills Jāza in the next confrontation. After a post-discussion of the recent Gurongi/Kuuga connections after the death of Go-Baberu-Da, Yusuke makes his way to the 12 Arikawa Group Flute Competition, having brush in with Daguva before arriving to the Arikawa Group building after a hostage situation is resolved with Mika traumatized by the incident. As he escorts Mika to her train for home, Yusuke tells her not to run away even if things get scary.

During the battle with the last of the Go Gurongi, Go-Gadoru-Ba, Kuuga is overwhelmed by the Gurongi's ability to assume forms similar to his own. Severely wounded as a result, Yusuke is brought to the hospital where after a question of ethics, Tsubaki agrees to induce an electro-therapy charge after his heart gave out. By the time he leaves the hospital, Yusuke arrives to the stadium where Gadoru is fighting Ra-Dorudo-Gu. However in the ensuing rematch, Kuuga assumes the dark-armored Kuuga Amazing Mighty to kill Gadoru. With all the Gurongi warriors dead, Daguva finally reveals himself, overpowering Kuuga's Amazing Mighty and cracking the Amadam while killing numerous people before taking his leave, sparing Kuuga so he can get even stronger.

Knowing that he has no choice but to break his word and assume that form, Yusuke visits to his friends one-by-one, knowing that he may not come back, with Sakurako realizing his intentions as Daguva finally makes his move, telling Yusuke to meet him at Mount Kuro. With Ichijo joining him, Yusuke tells him to shoot him in the Arcle should he go berserk and becoming the entity that bring ultimate darkness, though the officer is reluctant to do that. Once assuming Ultimate Form, powered by his gentle nature rather than hatred, Kuuga battles Daguva to the point of exhaustion and nearly getting himself killed. Three months after the final battle, Yusuke had begun a new adventure to travel the world, starting at a Cuban beach where he helps some kids before walking off. He most likely regained the ability to assume his Rider Forms, due to recent crossovers.

Kamen Rider Decade

 * In the version of Kamen Rider Decade episode 31 shown in reruns, an unidentified Ultimate Kuuga, with black eyes, appears as one of Wataru Kurenai's companions, who antagonize Decade after he failed in his mission of saving the worlds. When more Riders appear and the Rider War starts, Kuuga seemingly reverts to Mighty Form and boards the TryChaser 2000, although he's knocked out during the conflict. In the original version of the episode, the Ultimate Kuuga in the final battle was a brainwashed Yusuke Onodera, but all references to his identity are removed in the rerun version, which just makes him appear as another member of Wataru's group. Tv-Asahi site also lists this Kuuga as a separate character.

OOO, Den-O, All Riders: Let's Go Kamen Riders

 * Kamen Rider Kuuga, in Mighty Form, appears in OOO, Den-O, All Riders: Let's Go Kamen Riders. He reappears alongside the other Heisei era Riders, fighting against Gurongi that allied themselves with Shocker and other Kamen Rider villains from the 40 years of the franchise. Kuuga defeats N-Gamio-Zeda who had become one of Shocker's executives and stops the Gurongi's offensive. Afterwards, he joins up with every other Rider for a final battle against the Great Leader of Shocker.
 * When all the Riders board their vehicles for a combined attack against the Great Leader, Kuuga goes with the Rising BeatGouram.
 * Although Kuuga's human form isn't shown in the movie itself, he has no lines and isn't listed in the credits, Kuuga is confirmed to be Yusuke Godai by the movie's official website.

Kamen Rider Fourze

 * The previous Riders, Kuuga among them, are remembered as urban legends. In episode 2, there's brief new video footage of four past Riders, including Kuuga. Kuuga's video footage shows him in Mighty Form facing three Gurongi who look similar to Zu-Gooma-Gu in Ultimate Form, Zu-Zain-Da and Me-Badjisu-Ba.

Kamen Rider × Super Sentai: Super Hero Taisen
Kuuga, among the majority of the Kamen Riders, was caught up in the "Super Hero Taisen" incident which resulted in the Kamen Riders and Super Sentai joining forces to defeat both Dai-Shocker and Dai-Zangyack. Kiva is being shown when he is teamworked with Tsukasa at first (as Decade in Ichigo form) while riding his TryChaser 2000.

Kamen Rider × Super Sentai × Space Sheriff: Super Hero Taisen Z
to be added

Kamen Rider Wizard
Kuuga appears with all the Heisei Riders up to Fourze, led by Decade, in a special two-parter after the finale, The Ring of Kamen Rider and Neverending Story.

Kamen Rider Kuuga
In all versions, Kamen Rider Kuuga (known simply as Kuuga, in the original series) is a fighter who battled the Gurongi, assuming his Rider form through the Arcle, which was created by the Linto Tribe.

However the symbol for "Kuuga" is not a native character that came from the Linto but is actually an incomplete Gurongi character, tied to N-Daguva-Zeba who, like Kuuga, possesses an Amadam.

So in theory, Kuuga's form may actually be based off Daguva himself and the Arcle was created to mimic his abilities.

Kuuga's Forms
Kuuga is the Kamen Rider with the third most forms to date (when adding both the forms assumed by Godai and Onodera), 14 in total, one shy from Kamen Rider Double with 15 different forms, and 115 shy from Kamen Rider OOO with 129 different forms (if you exclude the Random Combos involving Medals from the Movies or anywhere outside the series). Aside from his first form, Growing Form, he had four base forms that he relied on and would upgrade throughout the series, and in Decade, even Ultimate Form also gained an upgrade which he can alternate in between by saying "Cho Henshin!" (超変身!, Super Transformation). His armor and eyes would change color depending on the form. Like the Go-Gurongi, Kuuga can alter any item he has into a weapon by temporary changing its atomic structure.

Kuuga's Arsenal

 * Arcle - Kuuga's transformation belt.
 * Gouram - A mysterious, stag beetle-shaped entity that assists Kuuga.
 * TryChaser 2000 - Kuuga's bike. The bike can combine with the Gouram to become TryGouram.
 * BeatChaser 2000 - Kuuga's secondary bike after TryChaser 2000 was destroyed. Like the TryChaser 2000, the bike also able to combine with Gouram to become BeatGouram. The BeatGouram can be powered up with Kuuga's golden power to become Rising BeatGouram.
 * Mighty Anklet - Used in Kuuga Rising Mighty and Amazing Mighty.
 * Dragon Rod - Used in Kuuga Dragon Form.
 * Rising Dragon Rod - Used in Kuuga Rising Dragon.
 * Pegasus Bowgun - Used in Kuuga Pegasus Form.
 * Rising Pegasus Bowgun - Used in Kuuga Rising Pegasus.
 * Titan Sword - Used in Kuuga Titan Form.
 * Rising Titan Sword - Used in Kuuga Rising Titan.

Kamen Rider Kuuga video game
Yusuke appears as Kuuga in the Kamen Rider Kuuga video game. The player may play as Kuuga in his Mighty, Dragon, Pegasus, Titan, Growing, and Ultimate Forms.

Kamen Rider Agito & Kuuga Wild Battle
Kuuga appears with Agito in Kamen Rider Agito & Kuuga Wild Battle. He is playable in all forms except Growing Form.

This was the first Kamen Rider video game to feature Kuuga Amazing Mighty as a playable character and also feature Kuuga's Rising Forms as fully playable. Rising Forms and Ultimate Form can only be selectable during battle by pressing Down (Rising Forms must select pre-existing forms first (for example Mighty Form can select Rising Mighty etc.)) Amazing Mighty is only playable in Survival Mode on normal difficulty (replaces Mighty Form automatically after Mighty Form's life is lower than 30%).

Kamen Rider: The Bike Race
Kuuga appears riding the Beat Chaser 2000 in Kamen Rider: The Bike Race, a racing game featuring the majority of Kamen Riders and Rider Machines up to Kamen Rider Agito.

Kamen Rider Battride Wars
Kamen Rider Kuuga appears as a Main Rider in the video game Kamen Rider Battride Wars, which unites the riders of the Heisei era from Kuuga to Wizard.

Kuuga's Rising Forms (with Amazing Mighty as Rising Mighty's special finisher) can accessable via normal string charge attack.

Timeranger Stage Show at Double Hero Korakuen Yuenchi

 * In a stage show where the Timerangers are seen fighting their usual foes, a Gurongi shows up and winds up defeating them. Kuuga in Mighty Form arrives to assist the Timerangers.

Names
"Kuuga" in Japanese comes from the readings of "clear-self" (空我). This possibly relates to how the user of the Arcle must have a "drive" to fully use the power of the belt. "Godai" translates to "five great" and is also one of the names for the five elements in Japanese philosophy. This relates to Kuuga's forms and their relations the five elements.

Portrayal
Yusuke Godai was portrayed by Joe Odagiri (オダギリ ジョー). In Kamen Rider × Super Sentai: Super Hero Taisen, Kuuga was voiced by Naoki Imamura (今村 直樹). In the newly released Kamen Rider Battride War, he was voiced by Nobunaga Shimazaki, who also voices his A.R. counterpart.

As Kamen Rider Kuuga, his suit actor was Kenji Tominaga (富永 研司), his motorcycle action suit actor was Takumi Narita (成田 匠). Kenji Tominaga returned to do suit work for the A.R. World Kuuga in episodes 25 and 26 of Kamen Rider Decade and in Kamen Rider Decade: All Riders vs. Dai-Shocker. He once again served as suit actor for Kamen Rider Kuuga in Super Hero Taisen.

In Popular Culture
In the Haiyore! Nyarko-san OVA "How to Defeat a Kind Enemy", Nyarko paraphrases Godai's famous speech from episode 2 of Kuuga: "For the sake of protecting everyone's smiles, I will become a magical girl! So please watch!" She then performs Godai's transformation pose to change into her magical girl identity. Additionally, in episodes 1 and 6 of the 2012 anime, Nyarko performs the Mighty Kick against her opponents, complete with Godai's trademark shout "Oriyaa!".