This is a character list for the eighth and ninth Kamen Rider series and , respectively. This character list also includes characters seen in the series reboot/reimagining .
The hero of the series is Kotaro Minami, the alter ego of Kamen Rider Black. He later rises from a fiery explosion as Kamen Rider Black RX. The RX series also sees the return of the antagonist Shadow Moon.
Main characters Kotaro Minami is a 19-year-old man who became a mutant cyborg called the after the Gorgom captured him and his best friend, Nobuhiko. Both are kidnapped for the sake of turning them into the Century Kings by having them compete for the right of succeeding the Creation King and command Gorgom to rule the world, but just as his memories were about to be erased, Kotaro manages to escape. Since then, using the power ot the King Stone of the Sun in his transformation belt, he transforms into the Century King , who re-dubbed himself as Kamen Rider Black, to stop Gorgom and attempt to rescue Nobuhiko from them.
As Kamen Rider Black, Kotaro specializes in hand-to-hand combat to finish his enemies, although he once wields Shadow Moon's weapon, the Satan Saber, for his final battle against the Creation King. He also uses two motorcycles during the series, which are as follows: : A living motorcycle created by Gorgom, made specifically for the next Creation King. Used by Black during the series, it is temporarily hijacked by Shadow Moon once he is chosen by the Creation King as his true successor, but is destroyed by him once it manages to break free of his control and rejoin Black's side. It is later revived as Acrobatter when Kotaro evolves into Black RX. : Black's secondary motorcycle originally created by Yoichi Daimon for Gorgom before he defects from the organization. Yoichi's son Akira Daimon lends it to Kotaro until the end of his fight against Gorgom.
During the events of Black RX, Kotaro lives with the Sahara Family and is captured by the Crisis Empire who ask him to join their side. When Kotaro refuses, they shatter his King Stone into two pieces, thus rendering him unable to transform into Kamen Rider Black. They throw him into outer space, where the sun's radiation mutated his King Stone, allowing him to evolve into the , Kamen Rider Black RX, to fight the Crisis Empire and the Kaima Soldiers.
As Kamen Rider Black RX, Kotaro wields the rapier, which allows him to perform the finisher. During the series, he gains access to two additional forms, which are as follows: : An auxiliary form, also known as the , that grants superhuman strength. In this form, Kotaro wields the handgun, which allows him to perform the finisher. : An auxiliary form, also known as the , that grants self-liquefaction capabilities. In this form, Kotaro wields the sword, which allows him to perform the finisher.
Like his previous form, Black RX has two different vehicles at his disposal, which are as follows: : Battle Hopper's upgraded form, created once Kotaro evolves from Black to Black RX which subsequently triggers its resurrection. Unlike its previous form, it is capable of speaking with its owner. Like Black RX, it can assume two different forms: , driven by Robo Rider, and , driven by Bio Rider. : A car created by Kotaro using some blueprints given to him by Prof. Wald, a scientist in one of the colonies the Crisis Empire set up. It's also the first car used as a vehicle by a Kamen Rider and was the sole exception until Kamen Rider Drive 25 years later.
In the series reboot Kamen Rider Black Sun, Kotaro is a former member of the Gorgom movement that originally advocated for peaceful coexistence between humans and Kaijin. Born in 1952 on the day of a solar eclipse, he and Nobuhiko Akizuki are the sons of scientists who were studying the Creation King. As children, they were chosen to be the Creation King's successors and were implanted with the Kingstones, which transformed them into Migratory Locust Kaijin. Kotaro, alongside Nobuhiko, Yukari Shinjo, and Bilgenia, eventually defects from Gorgom, kidnapping the Creation King and Shinichi Donami in the process as a means to gain leverage. His time with the splinter group changes his views on the future of Kaijin, agreeing that killing the Creation King and ending Kaijin-kind altogether is the only path to peace. After attempting to kill the Creation King and being grievously wounded in the process, Kotaro goes into hiding for 50 years, becoming a freelance "debt collector" to fund his ketamine addiction. Because he has not consumed Heat Heaven in the intervening years, he has visibly aged, looking like a middle-aged man despite being chronologically in his 70s by 2022. Utilizing the belt, Kotaro is initially able to transform into the Black Locust Kaijin, but his rage at Aoi Izumi being transformed into a Kaijin allows him to evolve into the Century King . In his transformed state, Kotaro is able to forcefully remove the two leglike appendages on his torso to use as makeshift weapons known as the . However, these appendages do not regrow after being removed. After defeating Nobuhiko and killing the original Creation King, he is forcibly assimilated by the Creation King's still-living heart, which also merges his body with Nobuhiko's remains. This mutates his Kaijin form into a new Creation King and suppresses his will, forcing Aoi to cut him down with the broken Satansaber.
Kotaro Minami is portrayed by . The Kamen Rider Black Sun incarnation of the character is portrayed by .
Nobuhiko Akizuki was born on the day of a solar eclipse alongside his best friend, Kotaro Minami, revered by the Gorgom as the heirs to their leader's throne: the Century Kings "Shadow Moon" and "Black Sun". Raised together, the two were like brothers. Once the two were of the ideal age, Gorgom captured them and infused them each with a King Stone. While Kotaro manages to escape with his memory intact, Nobuhiko was turned completely into a Batta Mutant with his mind wiped clean while left in a comatose state on life support due to the injuries he sustained during Kotaro's escape before being finally reborn as through the Stones of Earth, Heaven, and Sea. Shadow Moon sets up his regime as a general of Gorgom, serving as Black's nemesis and forcing him to fight him so he can become the new Creation King. In their final battle, Shadow Moon is weakened by Kamen Rider Black after the Satan Saber is used to slash his King Stone. Though he appears to die after being left inside the Gorgom headquarters when it explodes, Shadow Moon returns years later to seek revenge against Kotaro, who is now Black RX. However, he lost all of his memories related to Gorgom after its destruction. He is finally defeated by Black RX when he thrust the Revolcane through Shadow Moon's King Stone, destroying it once more. He turns back into Nobuhiko, renouncing his evil ways as he saved two children trapped in the explosive lava, shortly before he dies.
Due to the critical injuries he sustained during Kotaro's escape, Nobuhiko was further upgraded with cybernetics during his hibernation period under Gorgom's clutches before he fully awakens as Shadow Moon. As such, his overall strength increases compared to his counterpart:
The is Shadow Moon's belt-like cell nucleus reactor. Embedded upon the center of his belt is a green King Stone called the . Through this stone, Shadow Moon can telepathically communicate with Kotaro via his own King Stone. The is a weapon created for use by the Century Kings. Though Bilgenia took it, Shadow Moon reclaimed the weapon and took it as his own. He lost it to Black during their final battle before the weapon was slowly evaporated upon Gorgom's destruction. The are a pair of long and short swords manifested by the King Stone. These weapons were used as a replacement for the Satan Saber.
In the series reboot, Kamen Rider Black Sun, Nobuhiko was born in 1952 on the day of a solar eclipse. Kotaro and Nobuhiko's fathers were scientists studying the Creation King and chose them to succeed the Creation King, implanting the boys with the Kingstones and transforming them into Migratory Locust Kaijin, with Nobuhiko becoming the Silver Locust Kaijin. During the 70s, falling in love with a human named Yukari Shinjou who sought equality between their peoples, Nobuhiko aided Yukari's splinter faction of Gorgom in the kidnapping of Shinichi Donami before it fell apart and was incarcerated in complex where he is interrogated on the whereabouts of the Kingstones while being force-fed Heaven made from Yukari's remains. In the present, Nobuhiko escapes and plots his revenge on the Gorgom party before Shinichi reveals that Yukari was a government agent his grandfather assigned to acquire the Kingstones. The revelation drives Nobuhiko over the edge and he fully awakens as the Century King , changing his plans to convert the Gorgom Party into a supremacist group under his leadership with aspirations of creating an utopia for Kaijin as the new Creation King. Nobuhiko transforms into both his Kaijin and Kamen Rider forms using the belt. In his transformed state, Nobuhiko is able to forcefully remove the two leg-like appendages on his torso to use as makeshift weapons known as the . However, these appendages do not regrow after being removed.
Nobuhiko Akizuki is portrayed by in the original series with his Shadow Moon form voiced in most of his appearances by Masaki Terasoma, including the 3D short film Kamen Rider World as the main antagonist and the 40th anniversary film OOO, Den-O, All Riders: Let's Go Kamen Riders as a member of Shocker. Shadow Moon also appears in crossover films Kamen Rider × Super Sentai: Super Hero Taisen as a member of Dai Shocker and Kamen Rider × Super Sentai × Space Sheriff: Super Hero Taisen Z as a leading figure in Space Shocker. The Kamen Rider Black Sun incarnation of Nobuhiko is portrayed by .
Black characters Kyoko Akizuki is Nobuhiko's younger sister and is eventually Kotaro's stepsister, targeted a number of times by the High Priests as her life force could awaken Shadow Moon. At first she was not aware of Kotaro being Black himself until his fight to save her from the clutches of Bilgenia. Once Nobuhiko emerges as Shadow Moon, she and Katsumi are terrified of his new appearance as she eagerly refuses his offer to join him in making a new world without violence. After the defeat of Black at the hands of Shadow Moon, she and Katsumi left Japan to start a new life abroad. However, when Katsumi heard the news about Black's revival, Kyoko attempts to return to Japan to see Kotaro again.
Kyoko Akizuki is portrayed by .
Katsumi Kida is Nobuhiko's girlfriend, like Kyoko she is not aware of Kotaro being Black himself until Kyoko tells her the truth about Kotaro. Once Nobuhiko emerges as Shadow Moon, she was also terrified of his new appearance. After the defeat of Black at the hands of Shadow Moon, she and Kyoko left Japan to start a new life abroad.
Katsumi Kida is portrayed by .
Soichiro Akizuki is an archaeologist and friend of Kotaro's father. Soichiro joined Gorgom to financially support his archaeological projects. He is the father of Nobuhiko and Kyoko and soon became the stepfather to Kotaro when he learned his parents were killed by Gorgom through an accident since he was three years old. He was assassinated by Golgom's mutant, Spider Mutant for disobeying their orders, for all he realized that they were an organization of evil.
Soichiro Akizuki is portrayed by Kantaro Suga.
Masaru Todo is Kotaro's senior at the university who owns the Capitola bar shop where Kyoko and Katsumi work part-time.
Masaru Todo is portrayed by .
Yoko Yoko is a Kotaro's Close Friend & Katsumi Kida's Friend. She is Good at Maths Exam in High School.
Ryusuke Taki