Yusuke Godai

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 who donned the Arcle and uses it to transform into Kamen Rider Kuuga (仮面ライダークウガ), called Unidentified Life Form #4 (未確認生命体第４号) by the police, and fight the monstrous Gurongi tribe. 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.

History
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 at 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 the 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 the 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 feel a numbing pain during his next few battles as Kuuga against stronger Gurongi. He learns that it may be tied to a greater power that maybe needed as he believes that stronger Gurongi will eventually appear. 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 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 worse 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. As Yusuke narrowly defeats Daguva while getting his Arcle damaged, he is taunted by Daguva who hopes that Yusuke becomes as big a monster as Daguva himself. Three months after the final battle, Yusuke has begun a new adventure to travel the world, starting at a Cuban beach where he helps some kids before walking off. It was shown that the Arcle was repairing itself after the battle, proving that Yusuke will regain his powers at some point. In later sequels, Yusuke does indeed transform into Kuuga as well as gained full control without worry over Ultimate Form as well as it's upgraded form Rising Ultimate.

Other Events
As a main Heisei Rider, Kuuga frequently reappears in crossovers in his suit only, usually with no speaking lines (or voiced by a new actor). Generally, he is assumed (and sometimes confirmed) to be Yusuke Godai unless otherwise stated, though the canonicity of this is dubious and its relevance to his character nil.

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. Kuuga is being shown when he is team-worked with Tsukasa at first (as Decade in 1 form) while riding his TryChaser 2000.

Kamen Rider × Super Sentai × Space Sheriff: Super Hero Taisen Z
Kuuga was part of a force of Rider and Sentai reinforcements led by Kamen Rider 1 and that came to assist the Riders and Sentai of recent years who were overwhelmed by the revived monster army of the. The combined forces of superheroes were able to turn the tide against the Madou army. They lined up and used their various finisher attacks to destroy the revived monsters.

After was destroyed and the battle was finally over, Kuuga appeared standing on a cliff with all the other heroes who appeared to help, to say goodbye to the heroes of recent years before taking their leave.

Kamen Rider Wizard
When a young boy and a young girl attempt to escape from the World within the Magic Stone, they use the Kamen Rider Rings to summon many Riders to help them, and among them there's Kuuga. Using the Mighty form, Kuuga takes on the Armadillo Orphnoch, Beetle Fangire and Same Yummy at the same time. However, the powerful Beetle Fangire counter attacks, stunning both Kuuga and Blade at the same time. Surrounded by the monster army alongside Agito, the three Riders are hit by many energy blasts and are temporarily expelled.

Amadum, recovers the Rider Rings and summons all Riders from Kuuga to OOO, besides Decade, attaching them to a giant magic stone that absorbs their energy. Later, Amadum summons again all of the Riders from Kuuga to Fourze, and orders them to take on Kamen Rider Wizard. However, the Riders reveal they aren't just puppets and turn against Amadum. Kuuga fights against the Mole Imagin,Tortoise Undead and Bakeneko. Afterwards, Kuuga uses his Mighty Kick to finish off both the Hound Zodiarts and Rat Fangire at once. When the battleground changes to the air, Kuuga and Agito are left behind on the ground, but Decade uses his Final formride ability to change them into Kuuga Gouram and Agito Tornador. Kuuga is surprised by Decade's ability, while Agito tells him to ask before doing that the next time. Flying through the air, Kuuga destroys many Hydragoons.

Facing Amadum himself, all Riders fall before him one by one, including Kuuga. Amadum attempts to open the way to Earth, but a New Rider is called to that world, Gaim. Amadum is unable to absorb Gaim's powers and loses the powers that he had absorbed before. Most Riders go to their ultimate forms while others transform into other powerful forms, with Yusuke Godai showing on screen for the first time his Rising Ultimate Kuuga form. Flying through Amadum's blasts, Rising Ultimate Kuuga and Shining Agito hit Amadum with a Rider Double Kick which knocks him down, and they're soon followed by all other Riders present, destroying Amadum. After the battle, the boy wakes up next to the chest with the Rider Rings, and Kuuga gives him a thumbs up, telling him that everything will be fine. Afterwards, he leaves that world alongside most other Riders, and the Rider Rings disappear.

Heisei Rider vs. Showa Rider: Kamen Rider Taisen feat. Super Sentai
Kuuga was defeated by unknown means and sent to Helheim, alongside other Riders, from where they planned a surprise attack against the Badan Empire. In the beginning of the final battle against Badan, Kuuga can be seen briefly facing the Ika-Jaguar Yummy, which is shown to not have been defeated in a later scene. Afterwards, Kuuga faces Destron Combatmen and Chaps alongside the Ganikomoru. Kuuga is shown one last time during the battle taking on Badan's Combatroids when the arrive to help.

During the battle between the Heisei and Showa Riders to prove the strength of the Heisei Riders, Kuuga initially faces Kamen Rider ZO, but he takes on Kamen Rider J when the battleground changes to the coast. Kuuga's Mighty Kick and J's J-Kick match each other during the battle. Both Riders are still fighting when the battle is interrupted. Afterwards, Kuuga and ZO are seen shaking hands when both groups stand together.

Due to the timeline alteration caused by Shocker, Yusuke became one of the brainwashed Riders in that timeline, donning the name of Shocker Rider Kuuga.

Following the Rider Grand Prix in which Drive emerged victorious over Kamen Rider 3, who was promptly integrated into the Great Leader of Shocker's Rider Robo form, Kuuga was among the Riders who appeared to attack Zeronos Zero Form and Denebick Buster only to be fought off by the turncoat BOARD Riders: Chalice, Leangle, Blade and Garren. Ultimately, the Double Riders 1 and 2 made their appearance having survived their apparent demise from within the Rider Robo, and broke Shocker's brainwashing on the fallen Riders, enabling all Riders to unite in a final battle against Shocker.

Unfortunately, Kuuga was among the Riders whose existence was erased by the Rider Robo. This fate, however, was rendered moot when the Rider Robo was finally destroyed by, restoring Kuuga's place in history.

Kamen Rider Ghost: Legendary! Riders' Souls!
Despite not appearing in the web-exclusive series, Ghost can use the power of 16 Heisei Riders, including Kuuga, with the Heisei Rider Damashii in the final episode.

Chou Super Hero Taisen
Kuuga appeared as part of Team Legend Hero, an unofficial Game World team that did not participate in the Chou Super Hero Taisen tournament, exclusively featuring in a promotional conference for the film.

Kamen Rider Ex-Aid "Tricks": Kamen Rider Genm
Despite not appearing in the web-exclusive series, Kuuga and 13 Heisei Riders were the projections of the Ganbarizing Critical Strike.

Kamen Rider Build: Be The One
Among the first 18 Heisei Riders, Kuuga fought against numerous monsters in a melee briefly witnessed by Sento Kiryu before being caught in the crossfire as Kamen Rider Zi-O BuildArmor used his Vortex Time Break to wipe out his enemies.

Kamen Rider Heisei Generations Forever
Kuuga appears as a Legendary Rider in the movie, in which he helps other Heisei Riders finish Another Kuuga with his Mighty Kick.

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 War
Kamen Rider Kuuga appears as a Main Rider in the video game Kamen Rider: Battride War, 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.

Kamen Rider: Battride War II
Kamen Rider Kuuga reappeared in Kamen Rider: Battride War II.

Kamen Rider: Battride War Genesis
Kamen Rider Kuuga reappeared in Kamen Rider: Battride War Genesis

Timeranger Stage Show at Double Hero Korakuen Yuenchi
In a stage show where the are seen fighting their usual foes, a Gurongi shows up and winds up defeating them. Kuuga in Mighty Form arrives to assist the Timerangers.

Timeranger Stage Show at Super Hero Nagoya Dome
In a stage show where the Timerangers are seen fighting their usual foes, a Gurongi shows up and defeats them. Kamen Riders 1, 2, V3 & Kuuga, &  & Robocon arrive to assist the Timerangers.

Gaoranger Stage Show at Super Hero Osaka Dome
In a stage show where the Gaorangers are seen fighting their usual foes,, A Lord, and a Gurongi show up and wind up defeating them. The & Kamen Riders Kuuga, Agito, G3-X, Exceed Gills & 1 arrive to assist the Gaorangers.

Kamen Rider Super Live: Cho Henshin Battle

 * Kuuga returns in the Stageshow of Faiz. He was turned into stone statue by Bio Roid Dark, and is controlled to fight against Faiz, 1, 2 and V3.

Personality
As mentioned above, Yusuke is a happy-go-lucky and honest person that fights to protect everyone's smile. Yusuke constantly seeks to better himself and as a result, gained 2000 skills because of it. While serious about keeping his vows, Yusuke will break some if he considers it absolutely necessary. His cheerfulness sometimes also could encourage the others, particularly at dark times. Despite being in a hard situation, Yusuke never lets go of his smile and always tries being optimistic most of the time. This charity is what made Yusuke could easily befriend the others and also give them hopes. As long as it's for other people's sake, Yusuke will never hesitant to do anything, particularly after becoming Kuuga. Despite his sorrowful childhood and his own crisis as Kuuga at some point, Yusuke's smile never falters.

However, despite being an overall good person, it doesn't mean that Yusuke never shows anger. The most crucial part was at Jaraji's incident which had driven Yusuke to hate the Gurongi. After realizing that the Gurongi kill people for their own satisfaction and want to kill more innocent people, Yusuke couldn't help but feel anger. The result was he got a mental vision of Ultimate Form after killing Jaraji brutally; which was a warning of what would happen to him if he continued this path. Yusuke's hatred becomes more severe at times, especially if he is being taunted by his enemies. The revelation between Kuuga and Daguva also only worsens him.

Despite his growing hatred toward Gurongi, Yusuke assured to his friends that he will be alright as long as he doesn't fight out of hatred. He always holds back his anger with his facade smile, trying not to worry the others. He also holds back whenever he used too much force in battles. Seeing a clear self is the key to control Ultmate Form, Yusuke tried to bury his hatred as deep as possible while also raising his own mentality. His friends also always support him as best as they can, giving him much more power to not let himself fall into the darkness. He even tried his best not to use Ultimate Form until the last fight. With a strong will like this, he not only obtained, but also successfully gained full control over Ultimate Form and it's upgraded form Rising Ultimate, proving Daguva wrong and showing himself worthy as Kuuga.

Powers and Abilities
From the beginning of the series, Yusuke was already skilled at various things which presumably included some forms of fighting. After becoming Kuuga and gaining experience from fighting the Gurongi, Yusuke becomes even stronger and becomes able control Ultimate Form which he uses against their leader. He not only fought equally against Daguva as Kuuga Ultimate Form, but also defeated him in their human forms while both were equally exhausted showing how much skill, will and stamina Yusuke has. It was shown that after defeating Daguva and getting his Arcle repaired, Yusuke managed to unlock and master Rising Ultimate showing how much potential he has as Kuuga.

Kuuga was also one of the last primary Riders to have notable bike battle skills. Using his Try and Beat Chaser cycles, he was able to competently combat Gurongi by swinging the wheels and skidding them over. Combined with the Gouram, Yuusuke did very well on or off his bikes.

Forms
"Chō henshin! (超変身！)"

- Yusuke's call when changing between forms Transforming with the power of the Arcle, Kuuga accesses a variety of different forms for different situations, unlocking and upgrading them as he hones his skill. Changing his armor shape and color, Kuuga's standard forms are the balanced Mighty Form, the agile Dragon Form, the precise Pegasus Form, and the strong Titan Form. Eventually, he upgrades them into stronger Rising Form versions, even pushing Mighty Form into the black Amazing Mighty Form, before accessing his final form, Ultimate Form. Conversely, when weakened, he is forced into the ineffective Growing Form.

Like the Gurongi of the Go Group, some of Kuuga's forms can temporarily transmogrify items of a certain shape into weapons suited to his forms.

Devices

 * Arcle - Transformation belt
 * Amadam - Power source

Weapons

 * Dragon Rod - Dragon Form's personal staff
 * Rising Dragon Rod - Upgraded version used by Rising Dragon Form
 * Pegasus Bowgun - Pegasus Form's personal gun
 * Rising Pegasus Bowgun - Upgraded version used by Rising Pegasus Form
 * Titan Sword - Titan Form's personal sword
 * Rising Titan Sword - Upgraded dual swords used by Rising Titan Form
 * Mighty Anklet - Kick-enhancing anklet worn by Rising Mighty Form and Amazing Mighty Form

Vehicles

 * TryChaser 2000 - First Rider Machine
 * BeatChaser 2000 - Second Rider Machine
 * Gouram - Mechanical beetle which transforms into armor for TryChaser or BeatChaser

Legend Rider Devices
Ever since Kamen Rider Decade, Kamen Riders' arsenals have featured an assortment of Legend Rider-based collectible devices, including many for Kuuga.

Portrayal
Yusuke Godai was portrayed by Joe Odagiri (オダギリ ジョー). In , 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.

Etymology
"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" is a homophone of "ancient" (古代) and is translates to "five generations" and is also one of the names for the in Japanese philosophy. These relates to Kuuga's identity was an Ancient Linto Warrior and Kuuga's forms have relations to the five elements. The other basis of Kuuga's name is Japanese word for stag beetle - "kuwagatamushi" (鍬形虫), which is Kuuga's motif.

Rider No.
As the leading Rider protagonist of Kamen Rider Kuuga, Yusuke Godai (Kamen Rider Kuuga) is labeled Kamen Rider #16 (仮面ライダー16号) and Heisei Rider #1 (平成ライダー1号). Before this definition in this Decade net movie, Kuuga was originally labeled The 15th Kamen Rider (第15代目の仮面ライダー), as Kamen Rider Black RX was initially seen as a form change for Kamen Rider Black rather than as a separate Rider.

In Popular Culture
In the [https://nyaruko.wikia.com/wiki/Haiyore!_Nyaruko-san Haiyore! Nyaruko-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!".