is a Japanese tokusatsu series that serves as the 12th installment in the Kamen Rider franchise and the third entry in the Heisei era. The series follows idealist journalist Shinji Kido as he attempts to stop the violent Rider Fight from claiming more innocent lives than it already has.
Main characters Shinji Kido is a kind-hearted, friendly, simple, and naïve idealist who works at the ORE Journal as a journalist trainee until he finds one of Shiro Kanzaki's Card Decks, encounters the Chinese dragon-themed Mirror Monster, and stumbles into the Mirror World while investigating Koichi Sakakibara's disappearance. Despite being told to stay out of the Rider Fight by Ren Akiyama, Shinji chooses to join anyway to stop the other Mirror Monsters from devouring people and stop the Rider Fight, forming a contract with Dragreder and becoming Kamen Rider Ryuki in the process. By the series finale, he dies protecting civilians from a pack of Mirror Monsters, but Shiro reverses the Rider Fight's events, resurrecting its participants and allowing them to resume their normal lives.Masked Rider Ryuki Hybrid File Kamen Rider Ryuki Complete Encyclopedia: First Volume Kamen Rider Ryuki Complete Encyclopedia: Last Volume Kamen Rider Ryuki Complete Encyclopedia: Final Volume
As Kamen Rider Ryuki, Shinji is equipped with the gauntlet, which allows him to summon Dragreder, the , the pyrokinetic gauntlet and the twin , and perform the finisher alongside Dragreder with the appropriate Advent Cards.
Later in the series, Shinji acquires the card, which allows him to transform into his final form, , and evolve Dragreder into . While transformed, he wields the firearm, which can be reconfigured into the sword. He can also reconfigure Dragranzer into its motorcycle-like , which allows him to perform the finisher.
Shinji Kido is portrayed by .
Ren Akiyama is a cold loner who fights constantly and is frequently unemployed. Sometime prior to the series, he joined Shiro Kanzaki's Rider Fight to revive his fiancé, Eri Ogawa, who fell into a coma following an encounter with the bat-themed Mirror Monster, who he formed a contract with to become . Despite initial reluctance, he befriends Shinji and fights alongside him to stop Mirror Monsters and malicious Rider Fight competitors until Shinji gives his life saving civilians. Ultimately, Ren faces the last participant, Kamen Rider Odin, in combat until Shiro's sister Yui dies, causing Odin to fade away. Despite becoming the winner by default, Shiro reverses the Rider Fight, leading to Ren becoming a full-time employee at the Atori coffee shop while Eri is revived in the new timeline.
As Kamen Rider Knight, Ren wields the rapier, which allows him to summon Darkwing, the lance, the cape-like shield and copies of himself, and perform the finisher alongside Darkwing with the appropriate Advent Cards.
Later in the series, Ren acquires the card, which allows him to transform into his final form, , and evolve Darkwing into . While transformed, he is equipped with the left forearm-mounted scabbard, which can either be reconfigured into the crossbow or separate into the sword and the . He can also reconfigure Darkraider into Bike Mode, which allows him to perform the finisher.
Ren Akiyama is portrayed by .
Yui Kanzaki is a young caring woman who had been aiding Ren prior to the series to locate her long-lost brother Shiro. While investigating Shiro's disappearance over the course of the series, she discovers the drawings they made as children served as the basis for the Mirror World's monsters and that, due to their neglectful parents, the real Yui died and allowed her Mirror World counterpart to inhabit her body. Due to being unable to survive outside of the Mirror World, the doppelganger will die on Yui's twentieth birthday, which led to Shiro developing the Rider Fight in the hopes of saving her. Having repressed these memories, Yui remains unaware of them until the present. Despite Shiro, Ren, and Shinji's best efforts, the Mirror World Yui fades from existence short of the deadline, though her spirit appears before Shiro to tell him she did not want him to save her in the manner he wanted, inspiring him to reverse the Rider Fight's events.
In an alternate ending depicted in the film Kamen Rider Ryuki: Episode Final, the lonely Yui had met and befriended Shinji as children, but he seemingly abandoned her despite promising not to. Yui was invited by her Mirror World counterpart to play with her, only to learn she will immediately die if she returns to the real world. Yui's doppelganger loaned the original her lifespan, which will last until her twentieth birthday, in exchange for Yui and Shiro's drawings. After joining Shinji and Ren in their fight against the Mirror Monsters in the present, Yui eventually dies, though an angered Shiro does not end the Rider Fight.
Yui Kanzaki is portrayed by .
Shiro Kanzaki is a mysterious scientific genius and Yui's older brother who was taken to live with relatives in America thirteen years prior to the series. He conducted research in the , a parallel dimension opposite to the real world inhabited by , before he disappeared and was presumed dead. In reality, he merged with his Mirror World counterpart to survive in the Mirror World. In the intervening years, he developed chronokinesis and created thirteen each with their own set of , belts, card readers, and motorcycles to establish the battle royal in the hopes of averting Yui's death, which is said to take place on her twentieth birthday, by promising to grant the winner one wish in exchange for killing their fellow competitors. By the series finale, Shiro allows Yui to die and honors her dying wish of reversing time to avert the Rider Fight.
Shiro developed the Card Decks and Advent Cards to allow the to survive in the Mirror World by forming contracts with and draw energy from their in return for feeding them the life forces of the Mirror Monsters they destroy.
Shiro Kanzaki is portrayed by .
Kamen Rider Zolda is a moniker utilized by its original user and his successor who is aided by the Minotaur-themed Mirror Monster.
As Kamen Rider Zolda, the user wields the submachine gun, which allows them to summon Magnugiga, the twin back-mounted , the rocket launcher and the shield, and perform the finisher alongside Magnugiga with the appropriate Advent Cards.
Shuichi Kitaoka is a self-proclaimed "super-lawyer" who tends to only help someone if he has something to gain from them and was diagnosed with terminal cancer. With months left to live, he joins Shiro's Rider Fight as Kamen Rider Zolda with the hopes of achieving immortality and continuing his extravagant lifestyle. However, his condition leaves him vulnerable to fainting spells and dizziness, which eventually forces him to ask his secretary and bodyguard, Goro Yura, to take his place as Zolda during the Rider Fight's final stages.
In an alternate ending depicted in the film Kamen Rider Ryuki: Episode Final, Kitaoka forfeits the Rider Fight due to his declining health.
During the events of the crossover film Kamen Rider × Super Sentai: Ultra Super Hero Taisen, the Game World version of Kitaoka temporarily assumes the form of where he commands the Gokaigers' Gokai Galleon.
Shuichi Kitaoka is portrayed by .
Goro Yura is Kitaoka's loyal secretary, bodyguard, and a former client of his who is highly skilled with household work and hand-to-hand combat. Aware of Kitaoka's activities as Kamen Rider Zolda, Goro assists him as much as possible. Due to Kitaoka's cancer, Goro takes over as Zolda to face Takeshi Asakura, dying in the process before Shiro reverses the Rider Fight's events.
Goro Yura is portrayed by .
Takeshi Asakura is a sadistic, cruel, bloodthirsty, arrogant, and bad-tempered criminal with a reputation for loving the act of fighting and killing during his fits of rage after he murdered his entire family as a child. After being represented by Kitaoka, who ensured Asakura would remain in prison, the latter joined Shiro's Rider Fight to satisfy his destructive nature and formed a contract with the cobra-themed Mirror Monster, becoming . With his newfound powers, Asakura breaks out of jail to seek revenge on Kitaoka upon learning of the latter's participation in the Rider Fight. After receiving Ren's help in faking his death to stop the police from interfering with his activities, Asakura kills Kamen Riders Raia and Gai and takes their Contract Monsters as his own. However, the police eventually learn the truth, forcing Asakura to settle his grudge against Kitaoka in a final battle, only to learn his opponent had switched places with Goro Yura, leaving the criminal in disarray over being denied the thing he wanted most before the police kill him. After Shiro reverses the Rider Fight, revives the participants, and erases their memories of it, Asakura escapes from prison and goes into hiding.
During the events of the web-exclusive series Kamen Rider Outsiders, Asakura became a hired thug for a corrupt politician before he was betrayed and accepts Kamen Rider Odin's offer to participate in a new Rider Fight to evade arrest, which restores his memories in the process. Asakura subsequently kills his former employer and wins the Rider Fight before learning of Zein from Kamen Rider Diend and developing an interest in the former.
In an alternate ending depicted in the film Kamen Rider Ryuki: Episode Final, Asakura battles Kamen Rider Femme, who seeks revenge on him for her older sister's murder, before he loses Genocider to Kamen Rider Ryuga and Femme destroys his Card Deck, leaving Asakura to dissolve in the Mirror World. In the web-exclusive special Kamen Rider Brave: Survive! The Revived Beast Rider Squad, Foundation X revives this version of Asakura in an artificial body.
As Kamen Rider Ouja, Asakura wields the scepter, which allows him to summon Venosnaker and the , and perform the finisher alongside Venosnaker with the appropriate Advent Cards. After killing Miyuki Tezuka and Jun Shibaura, Asakura can use their Advent Cards, fuse their respective Contract Monsters Evildiver and Metalgelas with Venosnaker to create the chimeric , and perform the finisher alongside it.
In Kamen Rider Outsiders, Asakura utilizes Kamen Rider Odin's Survive Mugen card to transform into his final form, , and evolve Venosnaker into a stronger form. While transformed, he wields the , which can switch between its firearm and sword modes. He can also reconfigure Venosnaker into Bike Mode, which allows him to perform the finisher.
Takeshi Asakura is portrayed by .
Recurring characters ORE Journal is an online journal resource where Shinji worked as a journalist trainee. : The editor and Shinji's boss at the ORE Journal. Daisuke Okubo is portrayed by . : A no-nonsense journalist whose goal is to uncover the truth behind the disappearances linked to the Rider Fight and the target of Shuichi's unwanted affections. Reiko Momoi is portrayed by . : A systems operator for the ORE Journal. Nanako Shimada is portrayed by . : Shuichi's strong yet clumsy former secretary who is later hired as a journalist for ORE Journal. Megumi Asano is portrayed by .
Sanako Kanzaki is Shiro and Yui's aunt and owner of the coffee shop who considers herself a wise woman, claiming that her intuition is never wrong.
Sanako Kanzaki is portrayed by .
Miyuki Tezuka