Kamen Rider Stronger (character)

Kamen Rider Stronger (仮面ライダーストロンガー Kamen Raidā Sutorongā) is the protagonist and eponymous character of the 1975 Kamen Rider Series Kamen Rider Stronger. Stronger's primary motif was that of electricity. Stronger was not based on a grasshopper or grasshopper-like insect as with the previous Riders, but rather on the Japanese rhinoceros beetle. Stronger later reappears in the movies Kamen Rider Decade: All Riders vs. Dai-Shocker and OOO, Den-O, All Riders: Let's Go Kamen Riders along with the other showa and heisei Kamen Riders. He is the seventh Kamen Rider.

Shigeru Jō

Shigeru Jō (城 茂 Jō Shigeru, portrayed by Shigeru Araki) is an eccentric man with bravado. He wears various t-shirts emblazoned with the letter "S", along with gloves to conceal his forearms and numerous other items of clothing, including a denim jacket with a rose emblem. Stronger usually makes an entrance by whislting and than saying "The heavens call...The earth cries out...The crowd roars...All calling on me to strike back against evil! Listen up evildoers, I am the champion of justice: Kamen Rider Stronger!".

During the third year of his time in Jōnan University where he was an American Football captain, after the death of his best friend and mentor Goro Numata by Black Satan's attempt to convert him into a Kikaijin cyborg, Shigeru vowed revenge. Faking ignorance of their part in the murder and portraying himself as a villain, Shigeru tricks Black Satan's scientists into converting him into a cyborg. Brought before Black Satan's leader to swear loyalty to him, Shigeru reveals his true colors as he transforms. Saving a fellow incomplete cyborg named Yuriko Misaki as they escape, Shigeru introduces himself to her Kamen Rider Stronger as the two of work together against Black Satan. While checking out a light house being used by Black Satan's Okamin Kikaijin to have ships crash into each other, Shigeru encounters a smug strange man, revealed to be Mister Titan, who took out one of the grunts he attempted to capture. Shigeru eventually meets Tōbei Tachibana while thwarting a scheme of Black Satan's to capture children for their Black Satan Ranger Kid Squad scheme, gaining the man as another ally.

Stronger, Tackle, and Tōbei fight valiantly against the evil cyborg forces of Black Satan, continually meeting the head agents General Shadow, and Mister Titan. Titan is defeated in episode 13, but manages to return in episode 17 as the One-Hundred Eyed Titan, posing an even greater threat than before. Despite sharing the similar goals of defeating Stronger and conquering the world, General Shadow and the Titan cannot seem to agree on a few other issues—for instance, which one of them gets to kill Stronger. Often, their bickering inadvertently allows him to escape their wrath.

In episode 26, Stronger is able to topple Black Satan once and for all. With his former organization in ruins, General Shadow forms the "Delza Army" to continue his malicious goals. There were two further defining moments for the series: first, in episode 30, Tackle sacrifices herself to save Stronger from Doctor Kate, a Delza Army general. Her death affects Stronger greatly, and he vows to keep fighting until evil is defeated. Tackles' death is sometimes compared to Riderman's sacrifice in Kamen Rider V3. In the following episode, Stronger's fight against evil is greatly assisted when he undergoes surgery and gains a devastating new power—the ability to power up into a new, stronger, form—"Charge Up!".

Ultimately, all the former Riders, Kamen Riders 1, 2 from the original Kamen Rider, V3 and Riderman from Kamen Rider V3, X from Kamen Rider X, and Amazon from Kamen Rider Amazon, all appear in the final few episodes to help Stronger finally defeat the Delza Army and General Shadow.

Kamen Rider Stronger

As Kamen Rider Stronger, Shigeru uses the power of electricity that flows throughout his body with attacks were based on electricity. Unlike his predecessors, Shigeru's conversion has his forearms as robotic metal coils that conduct electricity and are usually covered until required for his transformation into Stronger. Additionally, the "form change" motif makes its first appearance in Stronger. Stronger's "Charge-Up!" mode predates Robo Rider and Bio Rider of Kamen Rider Black RX, and the primary themes of many Heisei Kamen Rider Series where the main characters' ability is to change forms during battle to adjust varying situations. Kamen Rider Kabuto, where each Rider character can shift between a bulky armoured form and a lightly covered, fast form, also features this concept prominently.

Earlier Kamen Riders had "charge up" modes but without a change in appearance. Riders 1, 2 and V3 simply had a charge up sound effect. Kamen Rider X had smoke pour out of his body.

Combat techniques:

Charge Up

In episode 31, Doctor Masaki operates on Shigeru placing a super electron dynamo inside his body. This gives Stronger the ability to "Charge Up!" (チャージアップ! Chāji Appu!). Parts of him would turn silver and the S on his chest would spin. However, there was a price to pay for this increased power: Stronger had 1 minute to disperse the extra energy, by using it against his enemy or he would explode.

Charging up gave Kamen Rider Stronger more powerful combat techniques:

Equipment

Electrer

The Electrer (エレクトラー Erekutorā) is Stronger's transformation belt which is powered by electricity.

Kabutolaw

The Kabutolaw (カブトロー Kabutorō) is Stronger's motorcycle and can perform the Kabutolaw Thunder (カブトローサンダー Kabutorō Sandā).

Notes

    See also