Kamen Rider BLACK RX

Masked Rider is an American adaptation of the Japanese television show Kamen Rider Black RX, one of the many sequels of the popular Kamen Rider franchise. It was produced by Saban and aired in 1995. It was a spin-off of the show Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (which was based on the Super Sentai series). Image File history File linksMetadata KamenRiderPose. ... Image File history File linksMetadata KamenRiderPose. ... Kamen Rider Black RX (Japanese 仮面ライダーBLACK RX) is a tokusatsu superhero TV series under the popular Kamen Rider franchise. ... Kamen Riders One (right) and Two (left), the heroes of the original Kamen Rider series Kamen Rider (仮面ライダー, literally Masked Rider) was a popular and successful Japanese television series created by Shotaro Ishinomori (石ノ森 章太郎), and the first series in the Kamen Rider franchise. ... Franchising (from the French for free) is a method of doing business wherein a franchisor licenses trademarks and methods of doing business to a franchisee in exchange for a recurring royalty fee. ... Saban Entertainment was an independent/TV production company formed by music and television producers Haim Saban and Shuki Levy. ... 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article covers a period during the first years of the show. ... Costumes from the 1975 series, Himitsu Sentai Goranger, on display at the Bandai Museum in Matsudo, Chiba, Japan Sentai (Japanese: 戦隊), the Japanese word for task force (literally fighting squadron - Sentai was also a term used for Japanese squadrons in WWII), is most commonly used for classifying the superhero team genre...

The main title character of Masked Rider was featured on a 3-part Power Rangers episode before his own series was started. The Rangers themselves were never mentioned in the Masked Rider TV show, however, as Saban reformated the series to sever links with Power Rangers, the popularity for which had been gradually beginning to slide following the first movie, although the Rangers made a guest appearance in Masked Rider's short-lived comic book adaptation.

Plot

The series began with the character of Dex escaping the Plague Patrol with a small group of Edenoi rebels, before leaving for Earth, the next target of his sinsiter uncle Count Dregan, who ruled Edenoi with an iron fist after displacing Dex's grandfather, the king, who also gave Dex the Masked Rider powers (though where the powers came from is a mystery).

Arriving on Earth in a massive crater, Dex finds himself in the care of the Stewart family, a multiracial group with a white father and daughter (Molly), an asian wife, and a black son (Albee). The addition of an extra Stewart was not noticed by anyone in Leawood, the town the series took place in.

Edenoi was mentioned in Power Rangers as the planet where Alpha 5 (and presumably the Alpha line of robots) was created, though not one single building or factory to be seen on the planet surface of Edenoi, it is largely assumed Dregon's domination of the planet was absolute and rendered it a dying husk. Indeed, the original storyline saw Dex being despatched to Earth by his Grandfather King Lexian as Edenoi was prepared to explode, ripping into an aspect of the Superman mythology. The scene in which Dex is given his powers by Lexian (a scene which differs from the telivised version) remains in the title sequence, possibly one of the few remaining aspects of the original pilot. Power Rangers is an ongoing superhero franchise currently owned by Disney. ... Superman, aka the Man of Steel, is a fictional character and superhero who first appeared in Action Comics #1 in 1938, and is one of the most popular and well-known comic book icons of all-time. ...

Dex's Masked Rider armor was also eventually given upgrades to change into "Masked Rider Super Gold" a gold and black variation coming with a powerful laser rifle, and "Masked Rider Suber Blue", a blue and grey variation with the power of liquified teleportation.

The Edenoi race are descended from bugs, not apes. Dex is not aware that humans did not evolve from bugs (as he discovered in an episode where he gives a report about how humans evolved from insects). Edenoi humans also possess telepathic abilities that are focused through a gem in the forehead, which can be hidden telepathically, though in times of stress can become visible. The gem is capable of focusing mental energy, as well as creating mental imagery that can be shared with others.

Dex apparently possesses the knowledge needed to detoxify Leawood's rivers using solar-powered lasers.

Dex had a furry friend named Ferbus, a small bear/duck-like creature that followed him to Earth. Ferbus was kept hidden by Molly and Albee because the father is allergic to fur. Furbus is eventually revealed to the entire family during the course of the series.

Dex is a loquacious individual. In the first episode, Molly and Albee told him to speak like a regular person, and that he could learn how to do that by watching TV. Sadly, Dex misunderstood and speaks like a television show announcer.

Masked Rider ran for just 40 episodes before it was cancelled.

Despite the use of the official English-translated name of "Kamen Rider" in general ("Masked Rider") in the title, at the demands of Toei and creator the late Shotaro Ishinomori, many American fans of Kamen Rider hated this Americanized adaptation and would rather disavow its existence. Masked Rider, unlike Power Rangers, was not a flawless transistion in adapting the footage for Kamen Rider, and glaring errors would occur time and again, as the team began using footage from completly different Kamen Rider series and movies to the extent not even long distance shots could disguise the fact the Masked Rider costume in such footage did not resemble the costume used in the U.S. version on the most frequent basis. Toei can refer to: Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation Toei Animation This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Shotaro Ishinomori (石ノ森章太郎 Ishinomori Shôtarô), (January 25, 1938- January 28, 1998) was an influential figure in manga, anime and tokusatsu who created several long-running series such as Cyborg 009 and Kamen Rider (Japans answer to Spider-Man). ... Kamen Riders One (right) and Two (left), the heroes of the original Kamen Rider series Kamen Rider (仮面ライダー, literally Masked Rider) was a popular and successful Japanese television series created by Shotaro Ishinomori (石ノ森 章太郎), and the first series in the Kamen Rider franchise. ...

Rumors

The series has long been a target of unfounded U.S. comeback rumors in the fandoms of Power Rangers, Sentai, and Kamen Rider fans alike, each hoping for a new, more accurate and less sloppy interpretation than the original had offered, but this may never happen. The most notable rumor concerning Kamen Rider coming back to the U.S. was in 2003 with false announcement of "Future Dragon Rider," a new Masked Rider series done by Disney using the footage from 2002's smash hit, Kamen Rider Ryuki. It was supposed to premiere alongside "Power Rangers Reloaded" (which would later to be revealed as Power Rangers Dino Thunder). Despite being a false rumor, the backlash continues to this day mostly because a majority of those who were being introduced to the henshin hero genre (mostly those from the Power Rangers fandom) watched Kamen Rider Ryuki as their first legit tokusatsu show and greatly accepted by many from the "adapt" community. Many feared another "hack job." Whether or not another Masked Rider series will be made is anyone's guess, but based on the fan following, it wouldn't be surprising if Disney would consider the idea. Kamen Rider Ryuki (Japanese 仮面ライダー龍騎, Masked Rider Dragon Knight) is a tokusatsu superhero TV series under the popular Kamen Rider franchise. ... Power Rangers: Dino Thunder are the twelfth generation of Power Rangers. ...

Characters

Main

• Dex Stewart: The hero of the story. Dex originate from the fallen planet of Edenoi. On Edenoi, he is its prince and his grandfather the king. In Edenoi's royal family, the powers of the Masked Rider are passed down from generation to generation. Dex, as the current Masked Rider, is sent to Earth to stop his uncle Count Dregon from enslaving the Earthlings. Dex is adopted by the Stewart family and tries to interact with American culture. Dex has many capabilities that Earthlings don't have. Dex can materialize a crystal on his forehead to transmit his thoughts to others, use it to scan and x-ray, and sense danger. He has superhuman strength, super speed, and telekinic abilities. While trying to blend in, he appears unusual to everyone else.
• Ferbus: Dex's pet and friend. Ferbus is a furry biped animal with a beak. Ferbus wants nothing more than to be at Dex's side. He has a big appetite and can into some trouble at times. Dex manages to bail him out at the right moment. When he first arrived, the kids had to hide him due to Hal's allergies; once he revealed himself, Ferbus was accepted as part of the family.
• Hal:
• Barbara:
• Molly:
• Albee:

Villains

• Count Dregon: The main nemesis and Dex's uncle. Because of his place in the royal lineage, Dregon couldn't inherit the Masked Rider powers. Dregon is determined to have the powers even at the cost of destroying his own family and his home world. Dregon took advatage of Edenoi's peaceful way and enslaved everyone in fell swoop.
• Nefaria: A female human in black and red armor. She uses the yellow feather on her helmet as a weapon or to send messages. Nefaria hardly goes into battle and often seen on Earth giving commands. Nefaria has sometimes flirted with Dregon, but she's often ignored.
• Cycloptor: A blue robotic biker in a leather jacket, slack, and one red eye on his face. Cycloptor has faced Masked Rider in battle occasionally. He is armed with laser gun and a powerful motorcycle.
• Double Face: A tall man dressed in a blue-green naval coat and white tights. Double Face's distinct feature is that he has two faces: his primary face is the large red visor on his "helmet", and the tiny face on his forehead. He has gone to battle Dex personally with swords and daggers.
• Gork: A small, unusual creature that speaks in rhyme. Gork is constantly hopping about and annoying everyone else on the Spider Base. He is most cowardly and is quick to ditch a battle before its even over.
• Fact: A small robot that gives out statistical data, calculations, and probabilities concerning a plan before Dregon makes any final decision.
• The Maggots: Tall humanoid maggots that serve as grunts. They're not so bright, and hardly get the job done.
• Commandoids: An alternate set of grunts with hockey mask-like faces. They come in three colors: gray, brown and black.

Supporting

• King Lexian: Dex's grandfather. King Lexian bestowed the powers of the Masked Rider to Dex when he became far too old to carry on the responsibility. He still communicates with Dex from time to time sending Dex guidance. Lexian also built Alpha 5, who had been assisting Zordon years before Dex began his mission on Earth.
• Magno: Masked Rider's talking car. Magno is a red car modeled after an ant-like bug. She is capable of driving at high speeds and digging underground.
• Combat Chopper: Masked Rider's talking chopper. Chopper is wisecracking bike modeled after a grasshopper. He can go at faster speeds than Magno. With the help of Dex, Chopper can also change into two other variations depending of which color Masked Rider uses, Super Gold or Super Blue.
• Patsy Carbunkle:
• Herbie:
• Principal Chalmers:
• Moon Dude:

Monsters

These are the monsters used by Count Dregon and are destroyed by the Masked Rider:

• Plague Sentry: Leader of the Plague Patrol that oversees the enslaved Edenites. It helmet has two long horns, rides a horse, and clearly immume to the toxic gas the Edenites are forced to excavate. It also appeared in Power Rangers episode "A Friend in Need."
• Cogwarts: A trio of toad-like mutants that were sent to assist the Plague Patrol.
• Destructosphere: A grotesque grasshopper humanoid with ability to change into a ball or a spike. Destructosphere was the first monster sent after Dex arrived on Earth. He proved very strong, but was defeated by the Electro Saber.
• Beetletron: A large robot with tank treads instead of feet. He mission was to eliminate Combat Chopper and Magno so Dex could be outnumbered.
• Larvatron: A robotic Insectovore that impersonated Dex's driving instructor. Incognito, Larvatron tried to run Dex over, but Dex held onto the car until he found a safe place to let go. After Larvatron dropped his disguise, Dex became Masked Rider and severed the robot's head. However, Larvatron had a backup head: a four-way cannon.
• Mandible:
• Mothitron: A moth monster.
• Crimson Creeper:
• Robo Rider: Dex's friend Doneas was sent to Earth to give him the Super Gold upgrade. However, Doneas was captured by Dregon and then brainwashed. Dregon had been working on an artificial Masked Rider power, but was too dangerous to test on himself; so he used it on Doneas to turn him into Robo Rider. Robo Rider was silver and black with green eyes. He also held two swords in battle.
• Edentada: Edentada was a savage anteater-like creature that feasted on Edenites. Count Dregon had absolutly no control over the creature.
• Termasect:
• Slimeasect:
• Recyclotron: Cyclopter revived several parts of fallen robots to create a metallic mummy. Recyclotron's head had a built in cooling system that kept the monster from overheating. In addition, he also had the power to control any electrical appliance. Using two cars, he seemingly killed Masked Rider. Hal took it upon himself to go after Recyclotron with a weapon he invented. Masked Rider made a comeback and defeated Recyclotron by causing his head to overheat beyond the coolant's capacity.
• Fire Bug:
• Hydrasect: A colorful female moth-like monster that mistook a foreign exchange student for Dex. Hydrasect had the ability to fly and transform into an even more powerful form...
• Arachnida: ...The second form of Hydrasect. Arachnida was a large inhuman spider woman who shot strong webbing to entangle Masked Rider. The monster was unlike any Dex ever encountered. During combat with the monster, he learned that her spider legs were hollow. By snapping one, it instantly killed her. Arachnida was most memorable as the only monster to ever be claymated.
• Robosect:
• The Skull Reapers: 3 skeleton monsters that dressed like the Grim Reaper. The leader had two long horns coming out from its hood.
• Heliotoid:
• Tentaclon:
• Blue-Fanged Louse: A louse monster that drained energy from any machinery. When Dregon learned that Dex was participating in a band contest, he sent Blue-Fanged Louse and some Commandoids incognito as a band named Battle Cry. Battle Cry's music was causing immense tremors around the arcade. Dex discovered them and defeated the monster.
• Cyborsect:
• Tripron: A red monster that could split into three opponents. Meanwhile, Doneas came back to Earth to give Dex the Super Blue upgrade. With the Super Blue powers, Dex defeated Tripron.
• Turtletron: A turtle monster.
• Water Bug:
• Fleazoid:
• Twister Bug:
• Boulder Beetle:
• Reptosect:
• Ultivore:
• Solarsect:
• Dregonator:
• Lavasect:
• Cyborgator: An alligator monster with poisonous fangs. Albee gained the ability to become Masked Rider when bumping into Dex. Dregon took advantage of the inexperienced hero by using a deadly Insectorvore. However, the events of Albee turning into Masked Rider and monster Cyborgator only occured in a dream while Albee was unconscious.
• Manosect: A red six-armed mutant that was sent to attack Albee, who accidentally gained the ability to become Masked Rider. Albee used the Super Gold ability to destroy Manosect. However, the events of Albee turning into Masked Rider and monster Manosect only occured in a dream while Albee was unconscious.
• Revenator:
• Catatron: Dregon developed a device that could turn anything into a monster. He then set his sights on Leawood High's tiger mascot costume. While Herbie was repairing the torn costume, Maggots stole the tiger costume and brough it to life with the device. After Dex suspected the costume wasn't human, it then turned into a tiger monster, Cataron. Catatron had a tiger's fury and tossed small black boomerangs. Once it was defeated, the costume reverted back to normal.
• Spearavore:
• Space Monkey: A primate monster. While Dex was recovering from a poison slipped in his food, Count Dregon took advantage by unleashing the monkey monster to take out the weaken hero. Assisting the Space Monkey was an army of ninja apes. As Super Blue, the Space Monkey was defeated.
• Banatex: A green and white-furred bat monster with a staff and armed with bananas. Banatex used his bananas to infiltrate a gold deposity to steal rare explodium gold. Dex watched the news report and recognized the banana as a Borneo banana. After some detective work, Dex learned about a weird guy who bought them en masse. The weird guy was Banatex in disguise, meaning Count Dregon was in possesion of the highly explosive metal.
• Bruticon: A bird-like monster that was one of the strongest Insectovores in Dregon's army. So powerful that one Masked Rider alone wasn't enough. King Lexian then decided to enlist the aide of the legendary Masked Rider warriors, the Masked Riders that came before Dex. While the warriors dealt with Bruticon, Dex went one-on-one with Double Face. After Double Face left, Dex joined the fight against Bruticon. Bruticon proved too strong for even Super Gold. So Dex used Super Blue to get inside Bruticon's body and destroy him from within.
• Ocusect: A multi-eyed creature from an Edenoi fairy tale. Dex was deathly afraid of the Ocusect when he was young. Dregon decided to bring Dex's worst fear to life by creating a real one. Ocusect could imprison antone within its main eye. As Super Blue, Dex overcame his fear and destroyed Ocusect.
• Lobstatron:
• Predavore:
• Brain Mite: Dregon tried a new approach by attacking Dex within his head. Brain Mite was a bluish imp monster with a pitchfork weapon. He took over Dex's body while Dex was in detention. He then took over Dex's speech, causing Dex to mouth off at the Principal. Dex tried to extract Brain Mite with his Super Blue, but Brain Mite punctured Dex's brain, causing the Masked Rider to fall unconscious. Once Brain Mite came out, Masked Rider recovered and finished him.

Cast

• Ted Jan Roberts (credited as T.J. Roberts): Dex
  • Tetsuo Kurata: Dex (Black RX footage)
• Rheannon J. Slover: Molly
• Ashton McArn: Albee
• David Stenstrom: Hal
• Candace Kita: Barbara
• Libby Letlow: Patsy
• Don Yanan: Chalmers
• Matthew Bates: Herbie
• Verne Troyer: Ferbus
• Paul Pistore: Ferbus (voice and Lead Puppeteer)
• Jason Narvy: Combat Chopper (voice)
• Wendee Lee: Magno (voice)
• Ralph Votrian: King Lexian
• Peter Shinkoda: Ferrian
• Ken Merckx (credited as Ken Ring): Count Dregon
  • Toshimichi Takahashi: Count Dregon (Black RX Footage)
• Jennifer Tung: Nefaria
  • Junko Takahata: Nefaria (Black RX footage)
• Takayuki Kitamura: Cyclopter (Black RX Foootage)
  • Steve Kramer: Cyclopter (voice)
• Julie Maddalena: Fact (voice)
• Minoru Watanabe: Gork (Black RX footage)
  • Michael McConnohie: Gork (voice)
• Yoshikazu Fujiki: Doubleface (Black RX footage)
  • Michael Sorich: Double Face (voice)

Candace Kita Candace Kita is an American actress and model. ... Matthew Bates (born 10 December 1986) is an English professional football player who currently plays as a defender for Middlesbrough. ... Verne Troyer as Mini-Me. ... Jason Narvy, a native of Newbury Park, California, spent a number of years working in Hollywood playing the character Skull on the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers television series and starred in several movies based on the series. ... Wendee Lee Wendee Lee is an American voice actress. ... Takahata Junko (高畑 淳子) is a seiyu who was born on October 11, 1954 in Kagawa. ... Steve Kramer is a voice actor. ... Michael McConnohie is a voice actor who is the President of the Nevada-based Voxworks voice-acting corporation. ... Michael Sorich is a voice actor whose also a writer, director, and voice director. ...

Trivia

• The series used footage from Kamen Rider Black RX, Kamen Rider ZO, and Kamen Rider J. The ZO footage was used in the pilot episode, "Escape from Edenoi" and the J Footage was used in the episode, "Saturday Morning Invasion."
• The cut editing in Masked Rider was so bad that you could see the face of Japanese Actor, Tetsuo Kurata's character, Minami Kotaro (Kamen Rider Black RX's civilian form). The same goes for the terrible editing between the RX Footage and the ZO and J Footage.
• Note that only Dregon & Nefaria appear in the American footage while the other main villians are provided with the Black RX footage.
• The character of Herbie, the next door neighbor, was portrayed by Matt Bates, who would go on to great acclaim as a successful, out-of-work actor.
• Ferbus (stunt double: used in full body and long shots) was portrayed by Verne Troyer, the actor who would go on to play the Mini-Me character in the Austin Powers movies: "The Spy Who Shagged Me" and "Gold Member." Verne was added to the cast when it was found that the mechanical "stunt Ferbus" didn't work properly. Ferbus was primarily an animatronic hand puppet performed by Paul Pistore (who performed the voice) and assisted by puppeteer Michael Brachfeld. The puppet was constructed by the Chiodo Brothers who are known as the creators of the cult classic "Killer Clowns from Outer Space". Ironically, Ferbus looks strikingly similar to a Furby toy; which didn't come out until later on in the 90s.
• Wendee Lee & Jason Narvy were well known for their roles in Power Rangers for the roles of Scorpina (in voice) & Eugene "Skull" Skullovitch. In contrast to Kamen Rider Black RX, Ridon (Magno) had an male-voice.
• In Power Rangers: In Space, a Maggot appeared at the Onyx Tavern in "Flashes of Darkonda" and appeared again in the Power Rangers: Lost Galaxy episode titled "Heir to the Throne."
• In the Japanese run, it was common near the end of the series for the heroes of previous Kamen Rider series to team up with the current hero against the leader of his enemies. These characters actually appeared in an episode near the end of Masked Rider as well, supposedly the Edenoi warriors who had wielded the Masked Rider powers before Dex, in the episode "Invasion of Leawood." Their original names are kept, but except for ZX are all ascribed to the wrong Kamen Riders (Skyrider is Amazon, Amazon is Riderman, etc.); meanwhile, some had to be renamed, specifically Stronger became Strongman.
• The Black RX weapon the Riboken, known on Saban's Masked Rider as the Electro Saber, finished off monster by shooting fireballs at the monster; in the Japanese version, the weapon was thrusted into the monster then slowly sawed in half. That was an obvious edit by censors, who probably felt that the original footage was extremely violent in nature to be used in children's programming.
• The Masked Rider/Mighty Morphin Power Rangers team up is the closest thing to a Kamen Rider/Super Sentai Team Up. So far, the only other tokusatsu hero that Kamen Rider (of any incarnation) has teamed up with was Ultraman.

Kamen Rider Black RX (Japanese 仮面ライダーBLACK RX) is a tokusatsu superhero TV series under the popular Kamen Rider franchise. ... Kamen Rider ZO (仮面ライダーZO) is a 1993 japanese tokusatsu movie produced by Toei Company, loosely based on their Kamen Rider series. ... Verne Troyer as Mini-Me. ... A group of different furbys A Furby is an electronic soft-toy made by Tiger Electronics which went through a brief period of being a must-have toy following its launch in the holiday season of 1998. ... Wendee Lee Wendee Lee is an American voice actress. ... Jason Narvy, a native of Newbury Park, California, spent a number of years working in Hollywood playing the character Skull on the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers television series and starred in several movies based on the series. ... Power Rangers is an ongoing superhero franchise currently owned by Disney. ... Scorpina is a character from the TV series Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. ... Bulk and Skull are fictional characters in the Power Rangers universe. ... Power Rangers in Space is a television show, the sixth generation of Power Rangers. ... Power Rangers: Lost Galaxy is a Power Rangers television series, the seventh to air, and features many familiar elements from previous incarnations. ...

See also

• Power Rangers
• Big Bad Beetleborgs
• VR Troopers

Power Rangers is an ongoing superhero franchise currently owned by Disney. ... The Big Bad Beetleborgs Big Bad Beetleborgs (and later Beetleborgs Metallix) was a short-lived television series from Saban that featured three kids; Roland, Drew, and Jo. ... The VR Troopers VR Troopers (Virtual Reality Troopers) was a syndicated live action show from the creators of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. ...

External links

• Masked Rider at The Internet Movie Database