Kamen Rider Birth

Kamen Rider Birth as seen in the 16th episode in Kamen Rider OOO. Kamen Rider Birth's motif is that of gashapon machines, with elements of a birthday cake (candles) and a scorpion also incorporated.

Kamen Rider Birth (仮面ライダーバース, Kamen Raidā Bāsu) is a fictional power suit and character designation for one of the protagonists of the 2010-2011 Kamen Rider Series Kamen Rider OOO. The Kamen Rider Birth suit debuts in the film Kamen Rider × Kamen Rider OOO & W Featuring Skull: Movie War Core.^[1][2][3]

During the film Movie War Core, the character Nobunaga (portrayed by Kengo Ohkuchi) transforms into Kamen Rider Birth in one scene of the movie. Eiji Hino also temporarily uses the Birth system in Kamen Rider OOO Wonderful: The Shogun and the 21 Core Medals. Erika Satonaka uses the Birth system for a short while in the Kamen Rider OOO Allstars: The 21 Leading Actors and Core Medals net movie.

Akira Date

Akira Date (伊達 明, Date Akira, portrayed by Hiroaki Iwanaga) is a Combat medic (with friends in the medical underground) who traveled the world to help people, meeting Eiji at one time. During that time, Date was shot in the head, though miraculously surviving the incident with the Automatic Colt Pistol bullet stuck in his brain at the back of his head, occasionally causing him pain. Returning to Japan, Date takes a job in the Kougami Foundation as the first regular user of the Kamen Rider Birth system. As Kamen Rider Birth, Date gives himself a task to earn ¥100 million in order to afford the underground surgery that will remove the bullet, tending to say "Now, let's start earning" (さあて、稼ぎますか, Saa te, kasegimasuka) before fighting while gathering every Cell Medal into a milk tank he carries around. Date is a people person, admitting his own desire, but making it a personal rule to not use others to reach his goal and not doing anything that will make himself cry. Date also hates reading manuals and has a tendency to mispronounce names, dubbing Ankh "Anko", a type of red bean paste. In another running gag, Date tends to identify every Bird-type Yummy as a chicken, only to be politely corrected by Goto. He enjoys getting the job done perfectly and believes in risking big to win big, though he has few personal interests in fighting the Greeed and Yummy. Date is also known to love eating oden, even making it in Maki's research lab, where he has taken up residence and regularly makes a mess out of, much to the scientist's dismay. When he sees Eiji's picture in the Cous Coussier, he recognizes him as they had crossed paths in the past, though he could not initially remember straight away, while Eiji never knew Date was anywhere around him back then. Date is also training Shintaro Goto to take up the mantle of Kamen Rider Birth once he reaches his ¥100 million goal. Date's medical condition is then revealed to Shintaro after it begins to worsen to where it affects him in in battle. Maki then bribed Date to betray Kougami and join his side, which Date accepted as he starts supporting the Greeed, with ¥50 million up front. But in reality, Date faked the betrayal under orders from Kougami to stop Maki from becoming a Greeed. When the Greeed injure Date in retaliation, he plays dead to give Goto the motivation to use the Birth Driver and avenge Date's "death". Though it turned out that he was in no mortal danger from the Greeed's attack, Date decides to let Goto become the new Kamen Rider Birth. He uses the danger policy he signed with the Kougami Foundation to collect ¥50 million, making a full ¥100 million, and thus able to travel abroad to have surgery done to remove the bullet from his brain. Date later returns to Japan, now using the Kamen Rider Birth Proto Type suit to fight the Greeed. After the end of the Greeed conflict, Date returns to being a traveling medic.^[4]

Shintaro Goto

Shintaro Goto (後藤 慎太郎, Gotō Shintarō, protrayed by Asaya Kimijima) is a former police officer who now works for the Kougami Foundation to "Protect the world". He leads the Foundation's Ride Vendor 1st Squad motorcycle brigade and carries a handgun, a shotgun, and a rocket launcher to fight off Greeed and their Yummy. As a result of his battle experience with the Greeed that took out his men, Shintaro becomes the Kougami Foundation's representative to Eiji, even though he feels that Kougami should not rely on him and Ankh, harboring animosity towards the duo and only helping them for the world's sake. However, he warms up to Eiji later and becomes Eiji's ally after taking his words regarding taking action to heart, respecting and recognizing him for his unusual yet commendable qualities. He was interested in Doctor Maki's proposal for an alternate way for normal humans to use the power of Medals, but loses his chance to become the user of the Birth suit due to his refusal to cooperate with Doctor Maki's unscrupulous ways. After meeting its user Akira Date, Kousei Kougami tells him that his pride got in the way of being chosen. To work on his pride, he takes up a job at the Cous Coussier as a waiter and custodian. His newfound humility catches Date's attention, and Date decides to start training Goto to be his replacement. Goto was given the original Birth Buster to use and has since been acting as Date's sidekick in battle. Eventually, Shintaro succeeds Date in becoming the second Kamen Rider Birth, carrying his Cell Medal ammo in a backpack and a Cell Medal preloaded into a wristband. He is more adept in using the CLAWS system as unlike Date, he actually studied the user manual and knows the rider system in and out, evident from him using the Cutter Wing, Drill Arm and Caterpillar Leg all at once, and later accessing the Birth Day mode on his very first-time transforming. After the end of the Greeed conflict, Shintaro resumes being a police officer.

Before his use of the Birth Driver in the television series, Goto transforms into Kamen Rider Birth during the events of Movie War Core.

Kamen Rider Birth

Like Kamen Rider OOO, Kamen Rider Birth's powers stem from the O Medals that power the Greeed and their Yummy creations. However, Kamen Rider Birth was developed by the Kougami Foundation's Kiyoto Maki to utilize the power of the Cell Medals. Among Birth's arensal is the Birth Helmood which provides a head-up display to the system's user. On Kamen Rider Birth's armor are capsules called Receptacle Orbs (リセプタクルオーブ, Riseputakuru Ōbu), similar to gashapon capsules, in which the Birth CLAWs system are installed in until a Cell Medal is used to summon the weapons. However, due to using Cell Medals as opposed to Core Medals, Birth is at a disadvantage against the Greeed. The Kamen Rider Birth exosuit originally had a self-destruct function built into it, but Goto disabled it after Doctor Maki defected.^[5][6]

Birth Day

Kamen Rider Birth Day (仮面ライダーバース・デイ, Kamen Raidā Bāsu Dei) is the powered up armored form of Kamen Rider Birth when all six Birth CLAWs units are summoned and attached to Kamen Rider Birth at once. Becoming Birth Day requires six Cell Medals, it can be done all at once or by summoning one Birth CLAWs at a time. Birth Day can also perform a powerful attack called the Cell Bash (セルバッシュ, Seru Basshu), where the Breast Cannon fires a powerful energy blast without the expenditure of any Cell Medals. Likely drawing residual energy from the other CLAWs units.^[7]

Kamen Rider Birth Prototype

Kamen Rider Birth Prototype (仮面ライダーバース・プロトタイプ, Kamen Raidā Bāsu Purototaipu), also simply known as Proto Birth (プロトバース, Puroto Bāsu), is the first design of the Kamen Rider Birth System using an early version of the Birth Driver. Its full combat capabilities are not known because it was designed to only operate at 70% power for testing and nearly all of its features are still set up for data collection. Proto Birth's design differs from the standard Kamen Rider Birth armor by having a green visor glow instead of the usual red, as well as a series of markings known as Optical Markers (オプティカルマーカー, Oputikaru Mākā) which include various sensors used in the early test stages, and are a bright red to show up more easily on camera. It cannot access all of the Birth CLAWs units, and is only compatible with the Crane Arm and Breast Cannon. Shintaro Goto first uses the Prototype system after the completed version is heavily damaged in the final fight with Kazari, with Date becoming the suit's new user during the final battle against Gamel. During the events of Kamen Rider × Kamen Rider Fourze & OOO: Movie War Mega Max, Proto Birth becomes beyond repair after its Birth Driver is heavily damaged by Kamen Rider Poseidon.^[8]

Equipment

Birth Driver

The Birth Driver (バースドライバー, Bāsu Doraibā) is the belt that enables the transformation into Kamen Rider Birth. After a single Cell Medal is inserted into the Birth-Slot (バースロット, Bāsurotto), and the Grap Accelerator (グラップアクセラレーター, Gurappuakuserarētā) knob is twisted, the belt's Receptacle Orb's Trancer Shield (トランサーシールド, Toransā Shīrudo) is opened, encasing the user in the energy-based Cell Reactor (セルリアクター, Seru Riakutā) as the Kamen Rider Birth armor forms around him. After inserting another Cell Medal and turning the Grap Accelerator again, Kamen Rider Birth can summon one of the Birth CLAWs units. By inserting two more Cell Medals into the belt, Kamen Rider Birth can initiate a Cell Burst (セルバースト, Seru Bāsuto) attack.^[9]

Birth Buster

The Birth Buster (バースバスター, Bāsu Basutā) is Kamen Rider Birth's personal sidearm. In its Normal Mode (ノーマルモード, Nōmaru Mōdo), it is a gun that uses Cell Medals as ammunitions, firing medal-shaped energy bullets. Kamen Rider Birth can reload the Birth Buster with Cell Medals by using the Cell Bullet Pod (セルバレットポッド, Seru Baretto Poddo), which can also be mounted on the forend to act as an auxiliary grip. In its Cell Burst Mode (セルバーストモード, Seru Bāsuto Mōdo), the Cell Bullet Pod is attached to the Birth Buster's muzzle, making it capable of releasing an explosive ball of energy so long as it has at least one Cell Medal. The recoil of the gun is very powerful, as evidenced by Shintaro Goto was thrown flying backwards after firing just one shot, when he fired the gun for the first time. Date later allows him to use and keep it, as so to prepare Goto in becoming Kamen Rider Birth once Date achieves his goal of acquiring one hundred million yen. After giving Goto the original Birth Buster, Date obtains a replacement from Maki.^[10] When Satonaka becomes Goto's assistant, she also wields a Birth Buster, though presumably her was toned-down to produce less recoil when fired.

Cell Medals

The Cell Medals (セルメダル, Seru Medaru) are silver O Medals as a manifestation of human desire. Unlike Kamen Rider OOO who uses Core Medals, Kamen Rider Birth uses these Cell Medals to transform or access weapons. These Medals can be used to transform into Kamen Rider Birth or used in a Cell Burst. No specific Cell Medal is required for Kamen Rider Birth to transform, summon a Birth CLAWs armament, or initiate a Cell Burst attack.

Birth CLAWs

The Birth CLAWs (バース・CLAWs（クロウズ）, Bāsu Kurōzu, Cannon/Leg/Arm/Wing System) is an armor system that consists of six armaments contained in Receptacle Orbs on the Kamen Rider Birth armor. Using a unit requires a Cell Medal as payment for it to emerge and attach to the Recepable Orb it came out from. Furthermore, the Birth CLAWs are magnetic and thus attract Cells Medals to them. Kamen Rider Birth can also use two or more CLAWs units at once by inserting in more Cell Medals into the Birth Driver. If one of the weapons is damaged, it has to be taken to the Foundation for repairs.

• The green Crane Arm (クレーンアーム, Kurēn Āmu) unit, referred to as the Springer Haken (シュプリンガーハーケン, Shupuringā Hāken, "Jumper Hook" in German), is a powerful winch attachment that is contained in the Receptacle Orb on Kamen Rider Birth's right shoulder and forms the CLAWs Sasori's tail. The winch allows him to scale buildings as well as collecting any leftover Cell Medals with one sweep. As a weapon, it can be used as a whip to damage opponents from far. This unit is first used by Nobunaga to fight the Pteranodon Yummy in Movie War Core.^[11]
• The red Breast Cannon (ブレストキャノン, Buresuto Kyanon) unit, referred to as the Salamander Launcher (サラマンダランチャー, Saramanda Ranchā), is a powerful energy cannon that is held in the Receptacle Orb on Kamen Rider Birth's chest and forms the CLAWs Sasori's body. Due to its size and location, using it hinders Kamen Rider Birth's mobility. The cannon can be charged up to multiple levels of power by using additional Cell Medals.^[12]
• The blue Drill Arm (ドリルアーム, Doriru Āmu), or Brighton Bit (ブライトンビット, Buraiton Bitto), is held in the Receptacle Orb on Kamen Rider Birth's right forearm and forms the stinger on CLAWs Sasori's tail. Its powerful drill bit can extract Cell Medals or even Core Medals from the bodies of Greeed and Yummy, while dealing serious damage to their bodies. It was eventually upgraded by Maki to increase its power after it got broken, allowing it to tear enough Cell Medals out of Kazari's hybrid Yummy to reduce them to a normal one. The Drill Arm can also be combined with the Crane Arm by activating both simultaneously, allowing Birth to use it as a powerful ranged attack.^[13]
• The purple Catepillar Leg (キャタピラレッグ, Kyatapira Reggu), or Haze Crawlers (ヘイズクローラー, Heizu Kurōrā), are held in Receptacle Orbs on Kamen Rider Birth's legs and form CLAWs Sasori's legs, and allow him to move easily over tough terrain, execute heavy kicks and grind on opponents using its tracks.^[14]
• The orange Shovel Arm (ショベルアーム, Shoberu Āmu), or Vermillion Bucket (バーミリオンバケット, Bāmirion Bakketo), is held in the Receptacle Orb on Kamen Rider Birth's left forearm and forms the CLAWs Sasori's left pincer, increasing his power to where he can lift Yummy off of the ground with it.^[15]
• The yellow Cutter Wing (カッターウイング, Kattā Uingu), or Solent Edges (ソレントエッジ, Sorento Ejji), is held in the Receptacle Orb on Kamen Rider Birth's back, allowing him to fly and cut opponents with the wings on it. It can also be used as an oversized boomerang and forms the CLAWs Sasori's right pincer. The unit can also magnetically collect Cell Medals by flying over them.^[16]

In the non-canon Kamen Rider OOO Allstars: The 21 Leading Actors and Core Medals net movie, Kamen Rider Birth is shown to summon ingredients of oden from the Receptacle Orbs.

CLAWs Sasori

When the six Birth CLAWs units combine, they create the CLAWs Sasori (CLAWs・サソリ, Kurōzu Sasori), an autonomous scorpion-like assault droid which has its master server and network connection installed in the Birth Helmood. Summoning it requires 1,000 Cell Medals - however, its power output is sufficient to even drive off Kazari, which Birth is normally unable to do. The CLAWs Sasori can move freely across water and burrow underground, even with a passenger such as OOO. It can also split apart into its components and reform to create the illusion of being destroyed. Offensively, the CLAWs Sasori is capable of extending both of its arms and its tail on tethers like the combined Crane and Drill Arms, and can utilize a Cell Burst-like attack which fires an array of various colored lasers from the tip of its stinger.^[17]

Ride Vendor

The Ride Vendor (ライドベンダー, Raidobendā) is a modified Honda VT 750 C2B Shadow Black Spirit, mass-produced by the Kougami Foundation. It can transform from its Machine Vendor Mode (マシンベンダーモード, Mashin Bendā Mōdo), where it acts as a vending machine which holds the Candroids, to its Machine Bike Mode (マシンバイクモード, Mashin Baiku Mōdo), when a Cell Medal is inserted and touching the Multi TaS Sensor (マルチTaSセンサー, Maruchi Tasu Sensā, "Touch and Scan").^[18]

Candroids

The Candroids (カンドロイド, Kandoroido) are special support robots that transform from Can Mode (カンモード, Kan Mōdo) into Animal Mode (アニマルモード, Animaru Mōdo) through the pull-tab on top.

• The Gorilla Candroid (ゴリラカンドロイド, Gorira Kandoroido) is a Candroid with a built-in Yummy detection system. The Gorilla Candroid is also physically strong, capable of throwing relatively heavy objects. As such, a number of Gorilla Candroids are often used by Date during his battles to throw any Cell Medals he acquires that land around the tank, into the tank.^[19] While it can easily detect Yummy, it is incapable of detecting the Greeed, even after they have transformed out of their human disguises.
• The Torikera Candroid (トリケラカンドロイド, Torikera Kandoroido) is a next-generation Candroid developed to utilize the Cell Medal energy more efficiently. It is able to utilize energy that would have otherwise been discharged due to its three Streamagain (ストリーマゲイン, Sutorīmagein) surfaces. It can ram through any obstructing obstacles and its horns can be used to flick Cell Medals towards Birth when he needs them.^[20]

References

See also