Shinnosuke Tomari

"I'm in Top Gear!"

- Shinnosuke's main catchphrase

"Let me take you out for a spin!"

- Shinnosuke's words before his first fight

Shinnosuke Tomari (泊 進ノ介) is a rookie police officer who lost all his motivation after he accidentally injured his partner during the catastrophic Global Freeze. Recent events, however, have slowly started to put his life back together again. Together with Mr. Belt, his partner/manager Kiriko Shijima and the Shift Cars, he fights against the Roidmudes as Kamen Rider Drive (仮面ライダードライブ).

Pre-series
Shinnosuke's father was a police officer. He explained to Shinnosuke the challenges of working the force.

Global Freeze
Six months prior to the series, during the "Global Freeze" incident, Shinnosuke and his partner Hayase were apprehending some criminals. Hayase was cornered in between a flammable generator and one of the two criminals. Panicking, Shinnosuke pulled out his gun and tried to aim at the criminal, but due to the Slowdown effect, he accidentally shot the generator, causing it to explode and in the process, causing some pipes to collapse. As he tried to save Hayase from the falling pipes, the Slowdown effect happened once again, causing him to be unable to save his partner from being crushed. Shinnosuke thus lost his motivation as a police officer, and was transferred to a special investigations unit.

Present Day
A slack-off police officer, Shinnosuke is sent to investigate a Density Shift case involving Roimude 029. Shinnosuke realizes he's fighting a monster, so the Drive Driver gives him the ability to transform into Drive. By utilizing his Tire Exchanges, he defeats Roimude 029.

Apparently Roimude 029 was somehow brought back by Heart. Shinnosuke is reluctant to investigate since he theorizes that his powers and the Roidmudes are connected. When Mr. Belt admits this is true, he goes off to visit his injured partner Hayase, to whom he confesses his guilt over his handicap. However, thanks to Hayase's encouragement, he notices a piece of pill packaging on the roof and regains the will to continue searching for the truth. The evidence has led him to an amusement park, where he is ambushed by Roimude 029, upon discovering the victims. Drive learns about Tridoron's Tire Enhancement and acquires the Shift Justice Hunter Car to transform into Type Speed Hunter. He uses it to defeat Roimude 029 for good, but not before hearing the Roimude call him a "Kamen Rider". Later that day, Shinnosuke asks Kiriko what a Kamen Rider was, causing her to smile. As the two argue, Mr. Belt approves of the name and decides to name Shinnosuke "Kamen Rider Drive".

Later on, Shinnosuke finds that the Vegas Dream Shift Car has returned from working a case, and is curious at Kiriko's unusual irritation at his slacking. After he fails to defeat the Paint Roidmude, Shinnosuke finds out that, like him, Kiriko was traumatized during the Global Freeze. There was a previous Drive before him, Proto-Drive, who saved Kiriko six months ago. The Roidmudes called him a Kamen Rider to name their feared enemy. He unfortunately did not have the means to destroy Roidmude Cores, and died soon after. Comparing to his lazy personality, Kiriko was justifiably annoyed. After noticing that the missing people have the same faces as the paintings in the haunted art studio, he gets back into high gear and saves Kiriko from Roidmude 084 with the Massive Monster's Full Throttle.

He is interrupted from taking in Roidmude 010 by Mashin Chaser. Drive protects Kiriko from him, distracting him before Tridoron fends him off and allowing them to escape. Kiriko is miffed at his poor performance, but he easily says it's because Kiriko and the other paintings were there, and that as a cop protecting civilians, not defeating enemies, is his first priority. As the investigation continues, Shinnosuke threatens Roidmude 010 if he dares to hurt the other ladies, and learns that the reason Dream Vegas was performing so poorly was because Dimension Cab was hurt in the first confrontation with 010. Moved by their similar plights, Shinnosuke consoles Dream Vegas before being interrupted by 010 escaping and Mashin Chaser arriving. With the new Handle Sword and the newly returned Dimension Cab, Drive distracts Chase long enough to pursue Roidmude 010, using Kiriko to set off a Density Shift and Mr. Belt to pinpoint the epicenter. Using Dimension Cab to secretly rescue the paintings, he confronts 010 and officially declares himself Kamen Rider Drive before fighting 010, slaying him using Dream Vegas' newfound resolve and the Handle Sword's new abilities. With this, he encourages Kiriko and Dream Vegas again.

Personality
Shinnosuke was once an elite officer within the force with his partner Hayase, known for his great police work. He inherited his sense of justice from his father, who said police officers have the heaviest burden of all: protecting the people. However, after accidentally injuring his partner, he turned into a shade of his former self: Constantly running off to laze around, and more often seen eating milk balls than actually working.

Underneath his lazy facade though is a man who never wants anyone near him to be hurt again. Thus, should he be in a position to help others, he would 'shift his brain into high gear' and revert to his former self, signalled by him straightening his tie. Sadly, these bouts of inspiration are temporary, and will end with him going back to being a slacker.

He would often say "I'm done thinking about it!" whenever he's come to a conclusion. Whether these conclusions are helpful (throwing away his hesitation to help people) or not (forgetting his problems to continue lazing around) is a matter of luck.

As Drive, Shinnosuke has the archetype of the proud, snarky superhero: Constantly making puns or bantering with his opponents if he has reason or opportunity. Similar to Takumi Inui as Faiz, he would often close and open his raised right hand as a characteristic hand gesture.

Types
Kamen Rider Drive's forms are called Types (タイプ). Some Shift Cars alter the suit based on a certain attribute, whereas other Shift Cars arm Drive with a certain element or weapon, by changing the tire on Drive's suit for a Tire Exchange (タイヤ交換). These two types of Shift Cars can be used in conjunction with each other.

After turning the Shift Lever on the Drive Driver, Drive can perform one of two actions in each Type: Pumping the Shift Car placed within the Shift Brace between one and three times initiates either a special ability or an attack, while pressing the red button on the Shift Brace and pumping the Shift Car once unleashes the Type's Full Throttle (フルスロットル) finishing move.

Devices

 * Drive Driver - Belt-based transformation device
 * Shift Brace - Bracelet-based transformation device
 * Shift Cars - Gives access to Drive's forms and powers, depending on which car is used. They also allow Shinnosuke/Drive to move normally during a Slowdown

Weapons

 * Handle Sword - Drive's steering wheel-based weapon
 * Door Gun - Drive's driver-side door-based weapon
 * Justice Cage - Drive's jail cell-based weapon via the Justice Hunter Tire
 * Drum Shields - Drive's slot machine wheel-based weapons via the Dream Vegas Tire
 * Monster - Drive's car boot-based weapons via the Massive Monster Tire
 * Musou Saber - One of Drive Type Fruit's personal weapons
 * Daidaimaru - One of Drive Type Fruit's personal weapons

Vehicles

 * Tridoron - Drive's Rider Machine

Portrayal
Shinnosuke Tomari is portrayed by Ryoma Takeuchi (竹内 涼真)

As Kamen Rider Drive, 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 Drive, Drive is labeled Kamen Rider #31 (仮面ライダー31号) and Heisei Rider #16 (平成ライダー16号).

As noted by producer Shinichiro Shirakura in the run-up to the release of Heisei Rider vs. Showa Rider: Kamen Rider Taisen feat. Super Sentai, with the 15 Showa Riders and then 15 Heisei Riders facing off being "the point in which Heisei has finally aligned with Showa and in which both are equal", Drive, as the Rider following Gaim, marks the point where "Heisei Rider history will actually surpass Showa, making it a massive turning point for the whole franchise's history".