Kamen Rider TheBee (仮面ライダーザビー Kamen Raidā Zabī) is one of the characters in Kamen Rider Kabuto. It is based on a bee/wasp motif.[Note 1] Similar to the Hopper Riders, it relies on close-range combat because of the lack of any weapons.
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Sou Yaguruma (矢車 想 Yaguruma Sō), a 27-year old agent of ZECT, was the first TheBee user. Yaguruma, while TheBee, had his own personal army of ZECT Troopers called Shadow, which had yellow stripes on their uniform, indicating that they are an elite unit of ZECT Troopers. He is a perfectionist, believing in a philosophy known as "Perfect Harmony" (完全調和 Kanzen Chōwa). When he's calm, he's a caring person who possesses a strict code of teamwork and demands perfection. He cares deeply for his team members, and in battle he is a brilliant tactician. However, he's also impulsive, brash and quick to anger. It is interesting to note that during battle he primarily uses kicks, foreshadowing his later role as Kamen Rider KickHopper.
When Tendou managed to infiltrate his flawless security team and upstage him by revealing how a Worm had done the same, he was so angry that he immediately challenged Kabuto to a fight. While he managed to defeat Tendou and destroy his belt, he was shocked to learn that he had been unsuccessful in his mission to eliminate Kabuto forever when Tendou transformed with a repaired belt.
His resulting hatred caused him to disregard the safety of his team in favor of getting revenge against Tendou, which led to the TheBee Zecter rejecting him. After this he was reassigned to another part of the city, but returned when members of his former team were being eliminated from within by a traitor. Despite his renewed vow to protect his team, the TheBee Zecter had chosen Kageyama, making him the new leader of Shadow. Afterwards, he asked Kageyama to let him rejoin Shadow, but Kageyama turned him down. He returns in episode 33 as Kamen Rider KickHopper.
In the movie adaptation God Speed Love set in an alternate timeline, however, he appeared as a high-ranking ZECT official in league with Kamen Rider Ketaros and is still the wielder of the TheBee Zecter. He commanded the counterattack against Neo-ZECT and was able to annihilate a majority of the Neotroopers with his ZECT Trooper team (Shadow did not appear for some unknown reasons), calling it a "perfect mission". Despite this, he was killed in combat with Kamen Rider Hercus. His last words lamented having received a "perfect death."
Shun Kageyama (影山 瞬 Kageyama Shun) gained the TheBee Zecter during episode 13 and became TheBee. Under Yaguruma's command, he was injured by Tendou in an early battle and has had hostility burnt in towards Kabuto ever since. He was once a good friend of Yaguruma, believing deeply in his philosophy of teamwork and "Perfect Harmony". He considers Kagami a kid. Even while injured, he continued to fight the Worms and would protect his commander at all costs. After TheBee Zecter rejected Yaguruma and chose Kagami, he attempted to make Kagami understand his new responsibilities. He was baffled when Kagami rejected TheBee Zecter in favour of his friendship with Tendou. It was then that he was chosen by TheBee and became the next captain of Shadow. Kageyama mainly uses punches as TheBee, foreshadowing his future role as Kamen Rider PunchHopper.
One of his first actions as the new leader was a plan to fake the disbanding of Shadow in order to expose a traitor eliminating Shadow members one by one. After eliminating Yaguruma from the suspect list, his former commander attempted to rejoin Shadow, but Kageyama turned him down, coldly telling him that he would bring disharmony to the group. His next move was to frame Kagami as the traitor in the hopes that the traitor would attempt to shut Kagami up, but this plan failed when Tendou exposed the real traitor. He does not mind sacrificing the life of an "unimportant" ZECT member in order to further the greater cause; his actions contradict his mentor's beliefs of "Perfect Harmony", which is why Tendou sees Kageyama as unfit to be a leader.
He was unpleasant when Soujiro Tendouji (Tendou) became the leader of Shadow. He attacked Kamen Rider Drake and tried to frame Tendouji (Tendou) but Tendou found this out and punished him by making do wash the dishes at Bistro la Salle. In Episode 20, Mishima makes him pick up Tsurugi Kamishiro (Kamen Rider Sasword), which results in Kageyama being made to sing Happy Birthday to Kamishiro, whose butler Jiiya had to get Kageyama to sing it right. Mishima also sees him as weak because despite being TheBee, he feels that he cannot handle the missions. TheBee, along with Drake, was also under Shun Kageyama when the full body Put On system was first utilized. He is defeated by Yaguruma as KickHopper, and then loses his Zecter, which is obtained by Tendou. He then proceeds to do everything Tendou says in order to get his TheBee Zecter back, but ends up failing. Yaguruma returns to save Kageyama from Shadow and some Worms, and Kageyama agrees to fight alongside him and becomes Kamen Rider PunchHopper.
Kageyama faces a change of heart as he returns to the TheBee Zecter and uses it one more time during episode 44. However, he was defeated by Cassis Worm Gradius, and was afterwards abandoned by the TheBee Zecter. He then returned to being PunchHopper. 20 years old.
Arata Kagami (加賀美 新 Kagami Arata) received the TheBee Zecter in episode 9 after it abandoned Yaguruma. Being easily angered, Yaguruma made Tendou's defeat a higher priority than protecting his subordinates. In turn, the TheBee Zecter went to Kagami who was desperate to protect the injured Shadow Troopers. However, Kagami relinquished his role as TheBee because of his respect for Tendou. Kagami later became Kamen Rider Gatack.
Masato Mishima (三島 正人 Mishima Masato) temporarily used the TheBee Zecter after Kageyama's transformation canceled in the fight against Formicaalubus Worm Maxilla in episode 16. Despite the Zecter's attempt to reject him, he did a superhuman jump into the air, caught the fleeing Zecter, and forced the transformation. He is the strongest of the TheBee Zecter's wearers, capable of taking out the Formicaalubus Worm with bare punches. After defeating the Worm, the Zecter returns to Kageyama.
The TheBee Zecter (ザビーゼクター Zabī Zekutā) allows its user to transform into Kamen Rider TheBee. As with all of the Zecters, TheBee has two basic forms that the user can transform into.
TheBee's Masked Form (マスクドフォーム Masukudo Fōmu) is a heavily armored form resembling a beehive that has very little offensive capabilities. This is the default form that TheBee transforms into, until the user rotates the TheBee Zecter around its wrist mounting to initiate the Cast Off (キャストオフ Kyasuto Ofu) command.[1]
TheBee's Rider Form (ライダーフォーム Raidā Fōmu) is the sleeker and more offensive-based form which more resembles the wasp on which TheBee is named after and themed. It is in this form that TheBee has access to the Clock Up (クロックアップ Kurokku Appu) command which allows TheBee to travel at near-light speeds to match the speeds of the Worms. By pressing the button on TheBee Zecter, the Rider Sting (ライダースティング Raidā Sutingu) tachyon-powered punch is activated, allowing the user to pierce through a Worm with the stinger on the TheBee Zecter.[1]
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