King (Kiva)

"This is my proclamation as king, rejoice"

- King issuing his death warrant

The Checkmate Four's original King (キング) was referred to as the first Dark Kiva (闇のキバ), the lord of all Fangires and the original Kiva who was a threat to humanity in his time. He was also known as the Bat Fangire (バットファンガイア), with his true name being The Dawn Sleeps, A Magnificent Story's Ending (暁が眠る、素晴らしき物語の果て). He was from the Beast Class of the Fangire subclass.

King
The Bat Fangire is the previous King of the Checkmate Four, who is also known as the first Dark Kiva, the lord of all Fangires and the original Kiva who was a threat to humanity in his time. Despite being married to the previous Queen of the Checkmate Four, Maya, he has no actual love for her as her purpose to him was the birth of his son, Taiga Nobori.

When the King returns from afar to check up on his mate and son, he is angered to learn from Bishop that Maya has been meeting with Otoya, a human who has been using the Ixa System to slaughter their race, sparing her as the action of killing her would prove that he loved her and letting her be the one to kill the human. He later goes after Jiro to finish what the Rook started: the extermination of the Wolfen Race, along with putting an end to the last of Merman and Franken races as well. However, he eventually offers the three a chance to avoid extermination, provided they kill Otoya for him.

The three are unable to do it, choosing to flee town instead. Riki and Ramon were unable to escape the King, who seals them into the Dogga Hammer and the Basshaa Magnum respectively so they can serve as decorations within Castle Doran. He is heartbroken and enraged when Maya reciprocates Otoya's love for her, preparing to kill them when Jiro intervenes and finds himself sealed into the Garulu Saber. After capturing Otoya, the King forcibly takes him to Castle Doran, using his life energy to feed the monstrous beast. As a final request, the King allows Otoya to play his violin one last time before he died, but Maya interferes and fights her consort while Yuri escapes with Otoya.

Maya is ultimately stripped of her title and Fangire powers as a result, with the King later forcing her to never see Otoya again by using Taiga's well-being to enforce it. When Kivat-bat the 2nd witnesses Wataru Kurenai, Otoya's son from 22 years into the future, transform into Kiva, both this and his partner's cruel methods ultimately lead to the King losing Kivat the 2nd to Otoya, resulting in the final confrontation between the two. After the battle, the King is ultimately killed indirectly by the hand of his own son when he tried to kill him and Maya. 22 years later, the Bat Fangire is resurrected by Bishop to kill both Taiga and Wataru, but the brothers succeed in killing the Bat Fangire once more.

Kamen Rider Decade: All Riders vs. Dai-Shocker
A resurrected Bat Fangire, in the same berserker state seen when he was resurrected previously, is seen among Dai-Shocker's common troops. He is among the monsters faced by Diend and Decade when they decide to take on Dai-Shocker by themselves, and attempts to attack Diend, only to be thrown away by the Rider. When the All Riders force arrives, the berserker Bat Fangire attempts to face Decade, only to be slashed and retreat. He's seen for the last time among a force of Shocker Combatmen, Fangires and Orphnochs facing Kamen Rider Faiz and Kamen Rider Kiva. He's presumably defeated by them, as both Kiva and Faiz are later seen joining up with other Riders, like Decade to defeat Ikadevil.

Kamen Rider × Super Sentai: Super Hero Taisen
The Bat Fangire, resurrected again and back to his original Fangire form while armed with a sword, is one of the Great Commanders of the revived Dai-Shocker. Following the orders of Doktor G, Dai-Shocker's second in command, he engages GokaiYellow in combat and they're evenly matched. When Dai-Shocker and Dai-Zangyack reveal their alliance and fight against the combined Super Sentai and Kamen Rider force, the Bat Fangire, alongside Crime Minister of the, is seen leading a group of Fangires, Gaiark and also the Medusa Legendorga and the Samurai World Yoma  to fight against the  and Kamen Rider Kiva. However, they're all destroyed again at once by a combined finisher attack from the Go-Ongers and Kiva. Before his defeat, he was seen in the background of both aerial fight scenes, first fighting Clover King, then DekaRed.

D-Video Special: Kamen Rider 4
Due to the re-alterations of time made by Shocker, Dark Kiva later appeared, along with Kamen Riders 4, Ouja, Sasword, and Baron to fight against the Kamen Riders as they catch onto Shocker's latest schemes. During the final loop, Dark Kiva is destroyed alongside Ouja by Deadheat Mach's Hit Macher Full Throttle.

Kamen Rider: Battride War
Bat Fangire Reborn appears as a boss character in the video game Kamen Rider Battride Wars. He acts as the boss for Kiva's mission "Wake Up: Kiva's Memories", which loosely recreates the final episode of Kamen Rider Kiva.

Kamen Rider Battride War Genesis
Bat Fangire Reborn reappears as a boss character in the video game Kamen Rider: Battride War Genesis

Kamen Rider Battle Rush
Kamen Rider Dark Kiva appears as a playable and support character in the video game Kamen Rider Battle Rush using Rider Punch.

Family

 * Taiga Nobori - Son,Kamen Rider Saga And Third Kamen Rider Dark Kiva
 * Maya - Ex Wife, Pearlshell Fangire

Personality and abilities
As the the King of Fangires, the Bat Fangire was commanding and proud of his status which he passed onto his son, Taiga. He was very proud of his Fangire status, and showed offense when a normal human such as Otoya both used the powers of Dark Kiva for himself as well as being chosen by Maya herself. Along with being a cold hearted person, the Bat Fangire tried to both emotionally and physically hurt his opponents before killing them revealing a twisted side. He even went as far as to threaten Maya with their own son's life. In fact, it was partially because of this that his former partner, Kivat-bat the 2nd chose to betray him. He didn't seem to be completely merciless though, as he allowed Otoya to play his violin before trying to kill him with Castle Doran along with offering the Arm Monsters a chance to escape his wrath in exchange for killing Otoya, although he may have actually been lying to them. He was very arrogant and cocky, which led to his eventual downfall. He also seemed to be somewhat abusive, as he shown through his treatment of Maya as well as stating that he owns her. Although he treated Maya badly, he did seem to actually hold some feelings towards her as he seemed heartbroken when Maya chose Otoya over him. He even tried to kill her to bring with him after his defeat despite his earlier statements about her showing hypocrisy.

As the Fangire King, the Bat Fangire is strong enough to overpower both Kiva Emperor Form and Dark Kiva at the same time. As well as easily defeating the Arm Monsters along with dealing staggering damage to Jiro's Wolfen form without even transforming, the Bat Fangire can even overpower Maya as well as take away her powers. He is durable enough to withstand Kiva Emperor Form's Rider Kick, Dark Kiva's Rider Punch, Dark Kiva's telekinesis powers, both Rider's double punch and even their Double Rider Kick(although the last one seemed fatal even for him). In fact, even after dealing major damage from Wataru and Otoya, the Bat Fangire could still shoot a powerful beam that would have killed Maya and Taiga if not for Taiga awakening his powers. It seems Wataru becomes more of a match for the Bat Fangire later on, as he was seemingly defeated by Wataru and Takumi even when he teamed up with a force of Shocker Combatmen, Fangires and Orphnochs to combat the both of them.

Equipment

 * Kivat-bat the 2nd - King's Kivat partner and servant.
 * Dark Kivat Belt - Transformation device that forms when Kivat bites King.
 * Fuestles - Whistle-like devices that activate a function, depending on the Fuestle.

Weapons

 * Demon Imperial Sword Zanvat Sword - Dark Kiva's personal weapon.

Castle Doran

 * Height: 32m
 * Length: 41m
 * Weight: 18,000t
 * Estimated age: 298 years old (29 in dragon years)
 * Maximum walking speed: 80km/h
 * Flight speed: 120km/h

Castle Doran (キャッスルドラン) is the King's base of operations which is of the Doran Race (ドラン族). Though originally called the Great Wyvern (グレートワイバーン), the Fangires captured it and bonded it to the mold of a castle so it would serve as the base of the Checkmate Four within the forest of the Fangires. After the King's death in 1986, it would become masterless until Wataru, through Kivat, inherited it from his mother Maya.

Buroon

 * Height: 2020mm
 * Weight: 540kg
 * Maximum flight speed: 650km/h

The Demon Statue Buroon (魔像ブロン) is a Golem (ゴーレム) made of Lucifer Gold (ルシファーゴールド) which is a tool made by the Fangires.

Portrayal
King is portrayed by Shinya Niiro (新納 慎也).

Having several users, Kamen Rider Dark Kiva had two suit actors. The main suit actor for Dark Kiva (King) was Seiji Takaiwa (高岩 成二), who was also suit actor for Kamen Rider Kiva and Garulu. When used by Otoya Kurenai and Taiga Nobori, Dark Kiva's suit actor is Eitoku (永徳), who was also suit actor for Kamen Rider Saga and Dogga.