Ten Most Hated Kamen Rider Characters

 27/03/16: We're a fandom with a lot of pent-up anger, so it's no surprise that there's even more Kamen Rider characters beyond this list that we don't like:

Five More Kamen Rider Characters Everyone Hates






 When you watch any series there will be characters you love and characters you hate, and Kamen Rider's no different. Every once in a while though, along will come a character that it seems everyone hates. I'm going to try and cover Kamen Rider's most hated - and get to the heart of just why everyone seems to dislike them so much.

 Coming in at number ten, we have:

 Ten: Narumi Akiko (Kamen Rider W)
 From the moment she appeared, Akiko was not the most popular of Rider girls. Loud, bossy and with a number of physical and vocal quirks, she was very much the kind of character you either love or hate - and a lot of people fell on the side of hate.

 It didn't help matters that Akiko was commonly found tormenting W's hero, Shotaro - a character uniformly adored and identified with by many fans. However, in a rare moment for a character on this list, as W drew to a close it seemed many had warmed to Akiko, having got used to her shouting and slipper-smacking. I almost didn't include her on that list for that reason; ask your average W fan now and more often than not you'll find an appreciation for Akiko's contributions to the character development of the other protagonists and general active role in W's storyline. However, she still retains a good deal of detractors, so here she is starting our list.





Nine: Onodera Yuusuke (Kamen Rider Decade)
 Poor Yuusuke. He was doomed from the start: the first sign that the original Heisei Riders fans knew and loved would not be returning in Decade, and an alternate version of fan favourite Godai Yuusuke to boot. Despite this unlucky start, the character might have won fans around with his cheerful, sweet personality had he actually used that belt that being a Kuuga clone granted him.

 It's no coincidence the fan nickname for Yuusuke is "Yuuseless". Yuusuke seemed to simply forget he was Kuuga for much of the series, simply standing back and doing nothing whenever there was fighting to be done. As Decade went on, even Yuusuke's role as emotional support to hero Tsukasa became unnecessary, with Natsumi carrying the brunt of the work on that front.

 Unlike most on this list, Yuusuke's a nice guy, the kind of guy most of us would happily hang out with. But as a functional character, fans were left disappointed.


Eight: Suzuki Mio (Kamen Rider Kiva)
 Here at number eight we have another character who didn't seem to do much. Mio began as simply hero Wataru's shy, sweet love interest, but was quickly revealed to be Queen of the Checkmate Four, Kiva's villain group. From there we saw Mio begin to use her newly discovered powers to kill and intimidate, all the while struggling with her love for Wataru when tradition dictated she marry the Checkmate Four's King. It seemed Mio was evolving into a very interesting character indeed.

Suzuki Mio

 But from there, things went downhill. Mio began to waffle between her identity as Queen and her identity as sweet, harmless love interest, never making a concrete decision either way. As if that didn't irritate fans enough, her schemes to escape marriage to Wataru's half-brother and Fangire King Taiga seemed half-hearted and ineffectual, with little impact on even her own storyline, let alone the plot as a whole.

 Here is another character who fans simply felt frustrated and let down by - because she could have been so much more.


Seven: Narutaki (Kamen Rider Decade)
 At seven we have another Decade creation, the main antagonist Narutaki. While at first Narutaki's vague intentions and origins seemed mysterious and intriguing, leaving fans to wonder and theorise when he simply hinted at some greater reason behind his ceaseless desire to make life difficult for Tsukasa, as time went on and no answers were given Narutaki went from mysterious to annoying with an alarming speed.

 It didn't help matters that Narutaki's villainous actions seemed to be generally limited to moaning to anyone who would listen that Tsukasa was bad news, something which usually ended up only mildly inconveniencing Tsukasa rather than doing any lasting damage.

 It's no coincidence that the line "this too is all Decade's fault!" has become a massive joke within fandom; much like Narutaki himself.


Six: Kazama Daisuke (Kamen Rider Kabuto)
 Truth be told, there were a lot of unpopular characters in Kabuto. Even the hero himself, Tendou, has his fair share of detractors. Daisuke however, seems to be the one who gets a bigger share of hate than the rest.

 Daisuke is a strange character. He drifts in and out of the series randomly, showing up to have a comedic encounter with a minor character (one particular "make-up battle" has been the source of ire and/or mockery for many fans) or a dramatic stand-off with another Rider, then suddenly goes missing for ten episodes for no apparent reason. He seems completely incidental to the plot, unnecessary even - and that's never going to make you a big hit with fans.


Five: Mihara Shinji (Kamen Rider 555)
 Mihara actually is only the subject of fan hatred when fans remember he exists. Though he's the official Delta user of the series, Mihara doesn't seem to do a lot. He's reluctant to fight, a trait which might have been forgiven by fans if he had ever managed to get over it, but such a development never comes. However, what really earns him fan dislike is his blandness. In a series with a lot of unusual and quirky characters, Mihara is simply dull. His cowardice is his only defining trait, and rather than that making him identifiable (after all, how many of us would be eager to fight dangerous, intimidating monsters?) to fans, it simply frustrated many that a suit as cool as Delta was in the hands of someone so unengaging.


Four: Sonozaki Saeko (Kamen Rider W)

Sonozaki Saeko

 Fan opinion turned swiftly and violently against Saeko a quarter of the way throug W, when she killed her husband, fan favourite Kirihiko. That's not to say she was popular before that - her abuse of Kirihiko brought her plenty of dislike, but Kirihiko's death at her hands pushed things over the top. When she started making attempts on sister Wakana's life, fan opinion only plummeted further, leaving her strongly disliked in the majority of fan communities.

 Despite her redemption at the very end of the series, Saeko never quite managed to claw back any regard amongst the majority of fans. Though I personally enjoy the character, even I'm forced to admit: Saeko is one of the most unpleasant people on this list.


 Three: Kamijo Mutsuki (Kamen Rider Blade)
 Leangle is easily the most popular of the Blade suits. With a well-loved suit actor at the helm and the hook of a corrupt system, it's often seen on fan lists of favourite suits. Many saw it as an insult, then, when use of the suit was given to one Kamijo Mutsuki, a moody, slightly pathetic teenage boy.

 It's extremely common for new Riders to be incredibly cool and mysterious when first introduced, then quickly slide downhill once the novelty wears off. Mutsuki, on the other hand, started off as utterly pathetic and only got worse as the series went on. Far too insecure and tempestuous to be given the use of such power, Mutsuki allows it to corrupt him, leading to... his wearing leather and a stupid little earring a lot. Never has a "Rider turns evil" plotline been so anti-climactic. This alone would have made Mutsuki unpopular with fans, but when even after he returned to being a protagonist he remained his moody teenage self, his inclusion on this list was guaranteed. Like Mihara above him, Mutsuki is unpopular first and foremost for being in possession of powers that are simply wasted on him.


Two: Kiriya Kyousuke (Kamen Rider Hibiki)
 Kiriya, to many fans, symbolises everything that went wrong with the last quarter of Hibiki. When the series took on new writers and with them, a sharply different tone and direction, it also brought with it Kiriya. A fiercely competitive schoolmate to Asumu, Kiriya seemed like an unnecessary and jarring addition to the story. This would have been bad enough for many fans but Kiriya as a character didn't endear himself to many. Seeming to live to tease and challenge Asumu, Kiriya was the equivalent of a boil on the back of your neck.

 The fan dislike for Kiriya grew so great that when his actor returned in Den-O as Sakurai Yuuto, the backlash against Yuuto was immediate and surprisingly widespread.


One: Kusaka Masato (Kamen Rider 555)
 When I began composing this list, there was no doubt in my mind that Kusaka would top it. Though I personally rather enjoy Kusaka, I have never met another fan who agrees with me; it seems whoever you ask, everyone hates this guy.

Kusaka Masato

 It's not hard to see why. Kusaka is scheming, sneaky, petty-minded and goes out of his way to make things difficult for the hero Takumi. Not a fan of Takumi? Kusaka doesn't stop at tormenting him; he subjects heroine Mari to extended harassment, simply not getting that no - a lot of no, in this case - means no. In perhaps a defining moment for Kusaka, when faced with a dying man who simply wants a glass of water, Kusaka refuses to help. Handing someone a glass of water is too much effort for this guy.

 Even the moment that confirmed to the audience that Yuji had truly "lost it" was warmly received by fans, because that moment? Was snapping Kusaka's neck.


 Something that surprised me when writing up this post was that there are no Showa era characters on this list. Whether that's thanks to fannish rose-tinted glasses when it comes to Showa or because Showa genuinely had more likeable characters is up for discussion.


 Whatever the case, the list of Heisei's targets seems to span far and wide, ranging from the genuinely evil to just plain old buttmonkeys.