Kamen Rider Kiva



""WAKE UP! Break the chains of destiny!""

The 2008-2009 series of Kamen Rider and the ninth installment in the Heisei Era.

Across the years humanity has been menaced by the vampire-esque Fangire. As a organization of hunters tries desperately to hold the line, 2008's main hope rests in Wataru Kurenai, a violinist with some very strange habits. His father has disappeared, leaving behind his magnum opus, the Bloody Rose violin. Whenever the strings of the Bloody Rose vibrate, Wataru is called to do battle using his  partner bat Kivat to transform into Kamen Rider Kiva.

The story is told in two time periods simultaneously, with events in the past directly affecting the present. In 2008, Wataru struggles with his legacy as Kiva while contending with the Wonderful Blue Sky Organization, humanity's defence against the Fangire. Of particular note are two members: Megumi Aso, a model by day and Fangire hunter by night who wishes to carry on her mother's legacy, and Bounty Hunter Keisuke Nago, the organization's top operative who wields the Powered Armor of Kamen Rider IXA and a vengeful obsession with defeating Kiva.

Meanwhile in 1986, Wataru's father Otoya Kurenai waltzes through life while the Wonderful Blue Sky Organization struggles to fight off the Fangire threat. He falls for Yuri Aso, the organization's top operative who seeks to avenge her mother's death, and joins her in their fight. He soon comes into conflict with another new operative, a mysterious vagabond named Jiro, who is chosen to be the user of the Wonderful Blue Sky Organisation's newest weapon: the prototype IXA System.

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""Minna, shiteru ka?" ("Everybody, did you know?")"
 * Absurdly Sharp Blade - Jiro in Garuru form, when consuming human souls, starts by cleaving their souls from their bodies with one swipe of his claws.
 * Abusive Precursors - The role of the Fangire King is to stem human progress by targeting its scientific advances.
 * Acting for Two - Shoma Yamamoto played Takato Shiramine/Kamen Rider Rey in the Kiva movie, yet he appears in the television series as Taiga Nobori/Kamen Rider Saga, who has no connection to Takato/Rey.
 * Though given that "rey" is Spanish for "king" it makes for a bit of subtle foreshadowing.
 * But in this case, it was derived from a Japanese word for "cold"
 * Not to mention.
 * Actor Allusion - the scene with Jiro and Otoya in the hospital, with Jiro begrudgingly assisting 'patient' Otoya, is actually a parody of Zanki's first appearance in Kamen Rider Hibiki, where he assists a hospitalised Asumu a little more willingly. Earlier in ep. 9, Jiro's massive aversion to Yuri's horrible violin playing is an interesting parallel to Zanki being nearly killed by another string-based Oni,.
 * Speaking of which, Kenji Matsuda's been in a wolf-themed outfit before. Not Zanki, Touki.
 * Also we have Otoya dancing to Zenryaku Michi no Ueyori, after his actor Takeda Kouhei performed a cover version as part of the boy band PureBoys (which also provided Nago's actor).
 * And Yuria Haga in the role of Mio
 * Crosses into Take That with Rook - the IXA system's henshin requires depressing the IXA Knuckle just like the Sazer Knuckles of Gransazer. Not only was Rook's actor previously Sazer Tawlon, It's worth noting here that Yuri's henshin pose seems to be modelled on that of the Gransazers' Flame Tribe.
 * The Movie has physical cameos by the voice actors of the Taros; to make sure you notice, each of them delivers their character's Catch Phrase..
 * The Ladybug Fangire in #19-20 is designed with a skull-dome head. The voice actor's best known role? Freeza.
 * All There in the Manual - The official backstory mentions thirteen Demon Races, yet we only ever see eight (Fangire, Kivat, Dran, Wolfen, Merman, Franken, Sagarc, and Legendorga). The setting information reveals the other five and their status:
 * Mermaid: A One-Gender Race resembling traditional mermaids, they have a symbiotic relationship with the Mermen in order to reproduce. They escaped the Fangires' purge, but were hunted extensively by humans in the 19th century, and with the near-extinction of the Mermen their numbers continue to dwindle.
 * Ghost: A race of beings who, due to their lack of corporeal form, can't interact with physical matter. They absorb Life Energy by inhaling it.
 * Gigant: A race of giants, all over 10 meters tall, with several sub-species like Cyclops and Yeti. They've managed to avoid the Fangires' extinction quest.
 * Hobbit: The polar opposite of the Gigant, a race of 10-centimeter, dwarfen beings. Hobbits are pacifistic farmers who live in the woods and escaped extinction by surrendering and subordinating themselves to the Fangire.
 * Goblin: A race of cruel creatures who eat the flesh of other intelligent beings and had nasty habits like collecting bones. In-fighting all but eliminated their race, a job completed by an army of Fangire lead by the Checkmate Four and the first King, who wielded the Saga Armor in battle.
 * All Your Powers Combined - DoGaBaKi Form.
 * There's also Emperor DoGaBaKi Form in the Hyper Battle Video. Unfortunately, due to budget constraits, it looks a bit shit (it's VERY clearly just the original DoGaBaKi with Emperor Form's helmet, bracers, greaves, and cape).
 * Which is a little odd and redundant, seeing as Emperor Form can already use all three Arms Monster weapons thanks to Tatsulot's Fever ability.
 * Always Chaotic Evil - Subverted in a few incidents with Fangires who just want to live normal lives and particularly with the Checkmate Four, who are more Lawful Evil.
 * Which makes Wataru's rather brutal methods of bringing justice somewhat disturbing if you think about it, and the fact he is portrayed as the hero.
 * Amnesiac Dissonance - Wataru and Shizuka befriend a large, cheerful man who Does Not Know His Own Strength, nicknaming him "Dai-chan" ("Mr. Big", essentially). When he recovers his memories, it turns out that
 * And Knowing Is Half the Battle - invoked at the beginning of every ep, thanks to Kivat.

""Who's Modigliani?" "Watch the first episode...""
 * Ape Shall Never Kill Ape - Subverted to hell and back by Queen, whose purpose is to kill any Fangire who falls in love with a human; King, who is not above killing any Fangire who seeks to help human progress; and any Fangire attempting to kill Maya, past and present.
 * Arbitrary Skepticism - Nago scoffing the idea of spiritual mediums. Sadly, he's the one character who never witnessed
 * Arranged Marriage - Because Mio is, she is expected to marry Taiga . She almost goes through with it too, but instead she as she's not really in love with him.
 * The Artifact - Bloody Rose and Wataru's original goal to build a violin equal or surpassing it.
 * Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever - Kamen Rider Arc in the movie, billed as the tallest Kamen Rider in history at 3.2m.
 * Ep. 41 combines this with Zerg Rush.
 * Aw, Look -- They Really Do Love Each Other - Otoya and Yuri get such a moment in episode 24.
 * Nago & Megumi also get one, as they are in the final episode.
 * Badass Cape: Kiva Emperor Form and Dark Kiva.
 * Battle Butler - Riki/Dogga, and the Arms Monsters in general. The Moose Fangire is this to Taiga. Interestingly, both cases are there to supplement some kind of Parental Abandonment.
 * Battle Couple: Nago and Megumi, especially since the two . Otoya and Yuri were this to an extent until Otoya fell in love with Maya.
 * Berserk Button - Literally. "BUTTON! MY BUTTON! MY BUTTON!"
 * The Berserker - Garulu Form
 * Big Damn Heroes - Kengo gets such a moment in episode 19.
 * Big Eater - Megumi, who's supposed to be a model. Apparently she gets it from Yuri, who's shown taking up a 3000g eating challenge in ep. 12, and then going on amusement park rides - and it's Otoya who has trouble keeping it together.
 * Blood Brothers - Otoya and the Arms Monsters.
 * Book Ends - There's a Fangire attack occurring in a church in both the premiere, middle, and finale of the show.
 * Bounty Hunter - Nago's "real" job when he's not hunting Fangire.
 * Bratty Half-Pint - Tatsulot to Kivat.
 * Bunny Ears Lawyer - Wataru may be a competent violin player and craftsman, but the materials he uses...
 * Cassandra Truth - Yuri Aso is always being told these, such as "I'm actually 105 years old" and "Your boyfriend is actually a Wolf Man who wants to use you to repopulate his race."
 * Possibly averted with Otoya, who doesn't seem to care that Maya claims to have known people from hundreds of years ago.
 * Chained by Fashion: Applies to Kiva, Arc, Rey, and 80s King
 * Chess Motif: The Checkmate Four, as noted by the name, all have Chess Motifs which fittingly refers to their roles. For an added bonus, Rook's Image Song fades into King's Image Song, making the reference to Castling, a technique that can only be done by both the King and the Rook.
 * Clear My Name - all '08 Blue Sky agents in ep. 27 (Nago narrowly escapes though, kickstarting the plot).
 * Conspicuous CGI - Kiva's ride, the Machine Kiva, once the Bron Booster attachments go on - or get added on in postproduction, apparently. Especially conspicuous in a series with CGI dragon castles battling giant chandeliers smoothly every time.
 * Crossover - In the movie Climax Deka, Kiva was crossed over with Kamen Rider Den-O. Or maybe it's the other way around because the Kiva characters have such a minor role. Happens again in Den-O's fourth movie, where the Arms Monsters get about five minutes of screentime, most of it while under possession by the Taros.
 * Curb Stomp Battle - Done rather epically in
 * Cutlass Between the Teeth - Garulu Form's speciality.
 * Dark Is Not Evil -
 * Dark Reprise - Within the show's music, the song "Individual-System" is IXA's theme, singing of IXA as a hero. Then there's the Nago version, "Fight for Justice", which distorts the lyrics to suit Nago's single-minded mission. The inverse happens when the song is remixed again into "Don't lose yourself", sung by the new, friendlier Nago.
 * Subverted in that when "Fight for Justice" finally appears in the show, it's as Rising IXA's theme after Keisuke learned from Otoya how to be a better person
 * Deader Than Dead - While Kiva destroys a Fangire's body and Castle Dran absorbs its soul, IXA destroys both body and soul.
 * As do Queen and King. Kiva's Emperor Form does the same; we can only assume he got to the point where he stopped caring. (Or rather, production got tired of doing it. There is no onscreen discussion of certain suits/forms having super-awesome fangire soul-exorcism powers that others lack - the "fangire soul leaves and Dran eats it" sequences just stop appearing after a while.)
 * Deadly Upgrade - IXA's 1986 incarnation is rather unstable.
 * It is fatal for humans to become Dark Kiva, as proves.
 * Deadpan Snarker - Kivat
 * There may be some typecasting going on here.
 * Demonic Possession - Not quite demonic, but there's a two-episode arc where Otoya's spirit takes over Wataru's body. It doesn't seem to happen for any particular reason, other than to generate a Crowning Moment of Funny as Kouji Seto pulls a credible impression of Kouhei Takeda and the normally sullen Wataru acts...well, like Otoya.
 * Hilarious in Hindsight - the whole incident parallels a similar incident in the first Pirates of the Caribbean, with Orlando Bloom's deliberate impression of Captain Jack Sparrow.
 * Played straight in the case of Takashi Sugimura/Kamen Rider Arc
 * Demoted to Extra - Ramon/Basshaa kinda gets the short end of the stick. He is the only one of the Arms Monsters who doesn't get a character-specific arc or a Fever attack as part of Emperor Form. Even in Kamen Rider Decade, it continues, as when Kiva's powers are being used by Tsukasa, he uses Garulu and Dogga Forms to good effect, dons Basshaa, and... doesn't get off a single shot before being owned.
 * Department of Redundancy Department - Kiva Form
 * Designated Girl Fight - Not so much early in the season (Fangire are notably NOT a One-Gender Race), but after the Fangire Queen is revealed, most of the Fangire she eliminates for falling in love with humans are female. Ep. 42 takes this to its logical conclusion by having Yuri and Maya face off with a female Fangire acting as Castle Doran sentry.
 * Detachment Combat: Fangires attack humans with flying teeth.
 * Deuteragonist - Otoya
 * Dhampyr -, who is half-Fangire.
 * Did Not Do the Research - Nago says one reason he is the best choice to become Ixa because of his "higher heartrate". And as anyone who's ever taken the heartrate of multiple people can tell you, the healthier you are, the slower your heartrate.
 * Disappeared Dad - Megumi's father is never mentioned, and we don't find out who it is.
 * Disney Death -
 * Distant Finale -
 * Damsel in Distress - Yuri, Mio, and to some extent.
 * Do-It-Yourself Theme Tune - After a fashion; Toei formed a "limited band" called TETRA-FANG to perform the battle themes for Kiva, with Koji Seto (Wataru) as lead singer. This also applies to the remixes of IXA's theme Individual-System (sung by Keisuke Kato), and debatably to the songs on the Inherited-System album (sung by the primary users of the IXA System, including Otoya, Yuri, Megumi, and Jiro).
 * Dojikko - Mio
 * Dracula - Kiva or Dark Kiva?
 * Dragon Rider - Even better, a robot dragon.
 * Dramatic Irony - sometimes used to connect '86 and '08 events. And played straight when Taiga learns that Wataru's girlfriend is leaving him for someone without knowing that it's him.
 * Dreadful Musician: episode 9. Yuri's violin playing can kill a whole pool of fish.
 * Early-Bird Cameo: Blink and you'll miss Nago in the OP from the first ep onwards.
 * Easily Forgiven: Otoya winds up befriending all the Arms Monsters, even after
 * Elemental Powers: Kiva's forms using the Arms Monsters each have one.
 * Playing with Fire: Garulu Form
 * Making a Splash: Basshaa Form
 * Shock and Awe: Dogga Form
 * Epic Fail - ep. 28, when Wataru and Kengo are drafted into a shorthanded Blue Sky Organisation, and proceed to bumble dangerously during weapons practice. Epic Fail with an Epic Flail, even.
 * Wataru as Nago's bounty-hunting understudy in ep. 32 goes as well as you'd expect it to.
 * Mr. Fanservice: EVERY SINGLE MALE CAST MEMBER. Seriously. Even the 1986 KING has his fans.
 * And the producers knew it, too. Not for nothing is Wataru shown lying naked in a bed of roses during the opening sequence.
 * Considering that Kamen Rider has cast attractive male cast members since at least Kamen Rider Blade in order to appeal to housewives, this should come as no surprise.
 * Evil Counterpart - Dark Kiva
 * Could technically be considered an inversion, as Dark Kiva comes first chronologically.
 * Expy - A very rare case of the Expy as a leading character. Otoya is clearly modelled on Ozaki of Den-O, from the outfit to the hairdo to the Leisure Suit Larry schtick.
 * The Checkmate Four is what happens when you mix the Volturi with the Lucky Clover.
 * Mio is a lot like the main Rider, to the 'are they Separated at Birth twins?' level, and they enjoy each other's company a lot but . Where have we seen this before?
 * The dynamic between Kiva and Ixa is very similar to that between Zetman and Alphasz. They even have similar color schemes.
 * Extreme Omnivore - Rook, when still amnesiac, downs a whole pot of mushrooms and whatever Wataru was planning to use for his violin varnish.
 * Fake Band - The Ikemens, featuring Kengo and Wataru. Though they did produce a cover of Wataru's battle theme ("Destiny's Play") for the Kiva soundtrack.
 * Though in the context of the show, Destiny's Play was an original song of Kengo's creation
 * Faux Action Girl - Megumi and her mother, Yuri (whose attacks can even prolong Fangire lives for up to 22 years)..
 * Fan Service - The director's cut of The Movie shows Otoya's butt during the bath scene.
 * Fantasy Kitchen Sink - Vampires, European dragons, werewolves, mermen, Frankenstein's monsters, ghosts, mummies, medusas, gargoyles... the list goes on and on.
 * Finishing Move: For the first time in a while, some of these involve Stock Footage:
 * Kiva: Darkness Moon Break, Garulu Howling Slash, Basshaa Aqua Tornado, Dogga Thunder Slap, Emperor Moon Break, Emperor Howling Slash, Emperor Aqua Tornado (never shown), Emperor Thunder Slap, Final Zanvat Slash, Bloody Strike, DoGaBaKi Emperor Break.
 * IXA: Broken Fang, IXA Judgement, Final Rising Blast
 * Saga: Snaking Death Break
 * Dark Kiva: Darkness Hell Crash, King's Burst End, King's World End
 * Rey: Blizzard Claw Execution
 * Arc: Ultimate Dead End
 * Foregone Conclusion: Right from the beginning, we know that Yuri and Otoya end up dead.
 * Foreshadowing: In #19-20, where Otoya "borrows" Wataru's body from beyond the grave, he mentions, a character who shows up 18 episodes later. There's also the appearing at the end of #20.
 * Nago admits that
 * Kengo's right hand is a bit sore after his Big Damn Heroes moment in #19.
 * #32. Taiga can make someone back down with just a staredown.
 * This is also the reason we see Kiva adopting a Slouch of Villainy in the OP.
 * Forgotten Phlebotinum: While the arms monsters aren't forgotten as characters, Kiva's form changes are mostly sidelined once Wataru earns Emperor Form. Similarly, the Fever attacks that involve connecting Tatsulot to the Arms monsters in weapon form are forgotten when the Zanvat Sword is introduced (before Bassha Fever even has a chance.)
 * Not to mention Castle Doran, Shoo Doran, Buron Booster, etc.
 * Some powers were never even shown: IXA only ever used one of his three Fake Fuestles, and according to the official toy, the IXARiser has special codes called IXARiser Blast Commands, as well as a Scouter Search Mode, but these were never displayed in any official material.
 * Four Is Death - The Checkmate Four
 * Big Bad - King
 * Dark Chick - Queen
 * The Dragon/Evil Genius - Bishop
 * The Brute - Rook
 * Frankenstein's Monster - Dogga is based on this.
 * Freudian Trio - The Arms Monsters.
 * The McCoy: Jiro
 * The Spock: Ramon
 * The Kirk: Riki
 * From Nobody to Nightmare: in The Movie. An escaped convict, found sleeping in a dump early on, becomes Kamen Rider Arc.
 * Funetik Aksent - IXA. Or in its case "Fa-Ne-Ti-Ku A-Ku-Se-N-To."
 * Fun with Acronyms - IXA = Intercept X Attacker (which is a pun on ikusa, meaning "war")
 * Fur Against Fang - Jiro (a Wolfen) fighting the Fangire in 1986.
 * Generation Xerox
 * Genius Loci - Castle Dran
 * Girlish Pigtails: Yuri in the flashbacks to Rook killing her mother. Which look really Narmy considering she's like the Jane Lynch of Kamen Rider.
 * Good Is Not Nice - Nago,
 * Half-Human Hybrid -
 * Hammerspace - Where does the IXA belt go? To complete the transformation, the IXA Knuckle must dock onto the belt, but many times, the Knuckle is stolen and the new user will be able to activate it - when he reaches down to complete the transformation, the belt is just there. The first few times IXA is used, we see the belt must be attached manually, so it's not one of the "Driver creates belt" cases (like Kiva himself, for example.)
 * Handsome Lech - Otoya
 * Heroic BSOD
 * Hikikomori - Wataru, who is so withdrawn in the first episode he might as well be. Sadly, after he got over it,
 * He's Back: There are tons of moments late in the show, given how much of the trouble the heroes had to go through. One that springs to mind is
 * Hopeless Suitor - Kengo.
 * Hour of Power - Kiva can only use DoGaBaKi form for five minutes.
 * Hufflepuff House - The Rook position in the Checkmate Four. All of the other members have important roles in Fangire society. Rook just plays games all day. At one point he decides to do good deeds and then die so he can go to heaven, simply because he has nothing better to do.
 * Although no real purpose has been cited, he did seem to (mostly) wipe out the Wolfen at the very least (Possibly the Franken & Mermen too). It is possible that eliminating competing monster races was his job, and it's been accomplished.
 * Hulk Speak - Dogga
 * Idiosyncratic Episode Naming - Episode names are in two parts to represent events in the past and present. Not to mention that the first part has some reference to music.
 * Idiot Ball -
 * The Idiot From Osaka - Kengo. At first.
 * I Do Not Drink Wine - Invoked. Megumi takes to Taiga immediately, offering to buy him lunch, but he turns her down by claiming he "doesn't eat much".
 * IKEA Weaponry - Blue Sky agents are always issued with these, whether it's Yuri's two-part knife (which even becomes a Whip Sword!) or Megumi's odd winged pistol (which somehow doubles as an Epic Flail).
 * Inspector Javert - Nago's shtick before he starts to mellow out.
 * Instant Runes - Dark Kiva's Finishing Move
 * Institutional Apparel: Prison escapee Takashi Sugimura wears this for the entirety of the Non-Serial Movie
 * Interspecies Romance - Otoya Kurenai and Maya.
 * Ironic Echo - between certain '86 and '08 events.
 * Jerkass - Keisuke "I hate music" Nago.
 * Also, Yuri Aso towards Otoya. No matter what he does to prove himself or how much he helps her, she calls him an idiot, beats him up and even leaves him to drown. What a jerk!
 * Kid From the Future - Wataru becomes one to Otoya when he travels back in time, and the Generation Xerox effect photocopies it all over again
 * Knight Templar - It would probably be more accurate to re-name this article "The Keisuke Nago".
 * Large Ham - Certainly not Kivat-bat the 3rd.
 * Also, the Spider Fangire. Oh god, the Spider Fangire.
 * No mention of Keisuke Nago yet?! Just look at his exercise video for proof!
 * Megumi has her moments too. And special mention must be made of Kenji Matsuda, previously The Stoic in Kamen Rider Hibiki, now spending exactly half the time flexing his comedic chops by playing up the wolfman behavior as Jiro.
 * Laser-Guided Amnesia - in episode 25.
 * Rook in #15-16 too.
 * Last of His Kind - Garulu, Basshaa and Dogga are the last of the Wolfen, Mermen and Franken races respectively.
 * Late Arrival Spoiler - No web page about Kiva fails to gleefully mention  within the first two or three sentences, though in the show, Wataru's   for the first 20-some episodes was a huge revelation.
 * Life Energy - All humans have this, and the other races generally eat human life energy for sustenance, but it's not really clear on whether said other races have life energy of their own or not.
 * Lighthearted Rematch - Of course, how "close" they become is anyone's guess.
 * Literally Shattered Lives - Any human killed by Fangires will become glass and shatter eventually. The Fangires themselves turn into glass when dying or killed, only difference is that they turn into stained glass.
 * Love Hurts Boy, does it ever in this series, especially when you take into consideration what happens to . It SUCKS to love a Kurenai...
 * Love Triangle (about three or four: Otoya/Yuri/Jiro, Taiga/Mio/Wataru, Otoya/Yuri/Maya and Otoya/Maya/King)
 * Magic From Technology - IXA's Fuestles seem to invoke this.
 * Meaningful Echo - between certain '86 and '08 events, and once the '86 story is done with after #46, this takes place within '08 when
 * Meaningful Name - Wataru Kurenai ("crimson" in Japanese), Riki (Dogga's human form, "power" in Japanese), Jiro (part of whose name means "wolf"), Bishop, King, Rook, Maya ("True Night"), "Kiva" using the katakana for "kiba" ("fang") and being a contraction of "King of Vampires" according to Word of God.
 * Also, as Otoya himself points out early on, the first kanji in his name means "sound". Given that he's a musician, it fits.
 * The real names of the Arms Monsters are all onomatopoeia for sounds related to their forms: Garulu is the sould of a wolf howling, Basshaa is the sound of splashing, Dogga is the pounding of a hammer.
 * Meanwhile in the Future - The story is told in both 2008 and 1986 simultaneously. Time jumps are a common occurrence.
 * Medium Awareness: Once Tatsulot joins Kivat in the episode intros.
 * Meanwhile in the Future - The story is told in both 2008 and 1986 simultaneously. Time jumps are a common occurrence.
 * Medium Awareness: Once Tatsulot joins Kivat in the episode intros.


 * Misunderstood Loner with a Heart of Gold: Wataru at first, to the extent that people have been calling him 'Obaketarou'.
 * Monster Mash - This season's particular motif.
 * Mood Whiplash - #33. Going from to Megumi complaining that she's gaining weight? Not cool.
 * Muggle and Magical Love Triangle -
 * Multiform Balance
 * Kiva: See this page's Mythology Gag section below for how they line up with Kuuga's forms.
 * Jack of All Stats: Kiva Form
 * Fragile Speedster: Garulu Form
 * Glass Cannon: Basshaa Form
 * Mighty Glacier: Dogga Form
 * Lightning Bruiser: DoGaBaKi Form
 * Super Mode: Emperor Form
 * Serial Escalation: Flight Style and DoGaBaKi Emperor Form.
 * IXA
 * Stone Wall: Save Mode (1986 IXA's only mode)
 * Jack of All Stats: Burst Mode
 * Super Mode: Rising IXA
 * Mysterious Parent
 * Mythology Gag - Kiva's four standard forms correspond to each of Kamen Rider Kuuga's forms:
 * Kiva Form - Mighty Form (red armored, bare-knuckle all-around fighter)
 * Garulu Form - Dragon Form (blue armored, speed-based melee form)
 * Basshaa Form - Pegasus Form (green armored long-range gunner)
 * Dogga Form - Titan Form (purple armored brute strength form with heavy weapon)
 * Emperor Form - Ultimate Form (gold armored Super Mode with the power to use all past forms' weapons (for Kuuga it's All There in the Manual) .)
 * Kiva also contains some nods to Kamen Rider Agito - Garulu and Basshaa Form are asymmetrical, just like Agito's Flame and Storm Forms, Garulu and Storm have their own set of similarities (blue, left-handed, melee fighter), and of course DoGaBaKi Form corresponds to Trinity Form, both being mish-mashes of their respective Riders' alternate forms and using All Your Powers Combined-empowered Rider Kicks as their finishers.
 * The origins of the four Riders in Kiva also mirrors that of the four Riders in Agito - Magic Based Primary Rider, Technology Based Second Rider, Incomplete version of the Primary Rider, Alternate Version of the Primary Rider.
 * Lampshaded in Decade when Tsukasa gets into a fight with an Alternate Universe Wataru, using each of Kuuga's forms to match up with their respective Kiva forms.
 * Also, the spider-monster in the first episode, who's an Ascended Extra of sorts this season.
 * Rising IXA's Transformation Trinket pops out of the mouthpiece, possibly a tribute to Kamen Rider X.
 * IXA's weapon works just like Kaixa's (a plus shaped weapon that changes from a gun to a sword), they both have a phone Transformation Trinket (although to be fair, IXA's phone is for his most powerful form), and just look at their names! Not to mention that the one who uses it the longest is... not all there.
 * Even better, Saga's belt copies the spinning hub and rod in the side from X's belt.
 * At the end of The Movie, there is a shot of a bunch of mascot costumes goofing around, four of which were the same ones the Taros wear in one of Den-O's own movies, Final Countdown. The one wearing Momotaros's dog costume was even holding a sign that reads "Yakisoba Sanjou!".
 * Name's the Same - There was another Shima back in Kamen Rider Blade, also a mentor-type role
 * Kamen Rider Ryuki had an escaped convict Rider named Takeshi. Kiva had another escaped convict Rider in The Movie named Takashi. Close enough.
 * Does Shima's Blue Sky group make CGI animated kids' movies for revenue?
 * Never Live It Down: In-universe. Kiva's been branded by the Blue Sky group as an enemy of humanity, but we don't learn till much later that this was all because of Dark Kiva's actions in the past.
 * The Nicknamer: Kivat III called Megumi "Modigliani-neechan" |Amedeo Modigliani]], an artist known for elongated portraits particularly around the neck area, in the beginning.
 * Noblewoman's Laugh - Shizuka does it during her Yandere attempts to break up Wataru and Mio...and then again during her attempts to patch them up.
 * Non-Human Sidekick (Kivat the Second, Third and Tatsulot)
 * Non-Serial Movie - King of Hell Castle can't fit within the series' continuity and is never referenced again, but it explains where comes from.
 * No Plans, No Prototype, No Backup - Sort of averted with IXA (the prototype exists in 1986), but the fact is that there is only one IXA System in existance.
 * Nope, turns out that the 86 model and the 08 model are different units.
 * Not So Invincible After All - In 1986, Rook is a wrecking machine, powerful enough to curbstomp Otoya, Jiro, Riki, and Ramon effortlessly. But all of that comes to an end when he's tricked into using the IXA Knuckle himself, going through a world of hurt when the suit starts acting up on him and leaving him at the mercy of the guys he'd previously kicked the crap out of.
 * Obfuscating Stupidity - Otoya Kurenai
 * Ominous Latin Chanting - Queen/Maya gets her own backing choir.
 * As does Bishop--considering the imagery associated with bishop, understandable.
 * Don't forget Taiga.
 * One-Hour Work Week - Taiga and D&P.
 * One-Winged Angel - Wataru has a rare heroic version of this: Flight Style. In the Alternate Continuity movie, the villain turns him into this and he gains control of it through Heroic Willpower; in the series, he just has it.
 * Actually, I think it's implied that Flight Style is Wataru's Fangire form. Dragon Fangire anyone?
 * Additionally, powerful Fangire souls can become massive chandelier-like creatures called Sabbats if not dealt with properly.
 * The Only One Allowed to Defeat You - It's not until Episode 10 that a Fangire is killed by someone other than Kiva, and not until Episode 11 that a Fangire dies in 1986. Most of the time, a Fangire in 1986 can be expected to live till 2008 (sometimes beyond). Of course, without CastleDran around to consume the Fangire energy, the likelihood of Sabbat appearances is higher...
 * Also, Nago feels this way about Kiva. At first.
 * Our Vampires Are Different - they're made of stained glass and resemble dozens of animals (and plants) that aren't bats.
 * Our Dragons Are Different - they tend to either be castles, windmills, or wrist-mounted powerup items.
 * Palette Swap: and  basically have the same Fangire form, but in red and blue respectively (which dips into Red Oni, Blue Oni at the same time - )
 * The Bear Fangire in ep. 24 is recolored into a polar bear for ep. 44.
 * Parental Abandonment: Wataru's mother ; we're left to assume that Kivat III and the Arms Monsters played a major part here.
 * We only see Nago's dad once in a flashback . Nago's mother is never mentioned.
 * Kengo talks about his parents but they never appear.
 * Same with Shizuka, though it's assumed she lives her mother.
 * Megumi's father is MIA, though some assume it to be.
 * Pieta Plagiarism - How Riki in Dogga form consumes souls.
 * Plug N Play Technology - Fuestles, played straighter with IXA than with the other riders
 * Poor Communication Kills - Uses a formula similar to Agito, with similar results. Nago hates Kiva, thinking that he's an even greater threat than the Fangire. He likes Wataru because of the young man's honesty and innocence. Wataru is aware that Nago is IXA, but the same isn't true in reverse. One episode ends with a Cliff Hanger where Nago witnesses Kiva de-transforming into Wataru, with a feeling of "Oh Crap" hanging in the air...in the next episode, however, they have a calm discussion, and Nago says he's glad that the power of Kiva is in good hands. It doesn't go so well for other parties, but that's another trope entirely.
 * Power Gives You Wings: Played straight and mixed with Hot Wings when Kamen Rider Arc transforms into his power-up form, Legend Arc
 * Also applies to Kiva Flight Style
 * Power Limiter - The chains on Kiva's armor.
 * The Power of Rock - Kengo is the non-magical epitome of this.
 * Power-Up Letdown - Rising IXA, whose power level is wildly un-calibrated on its first use.
 * Princess Curls - Megumi tends to wear this hairstyle often.
 * Psychopathic Manchild - Ryo Itoya/Spider Fangire, whose puppet-glove insanity reaches Narm status at times.
 * Ramon is rather bloodthirsty (including once suggesting that he, Jiro, and Riki kill Wataru to release them of their contract), given that he looks and sounds like a kid.
 * Psychotic Smirk - Nago gets one in episode 26 after he fakes some tears in order to keep IXA.
 * Punny Name: Every rider from the series has this to one degree or another degree.
 * Kiva is a pun on "kiba"(fang)
 * IXA is a pun of "ikusa"(war)
 * Saga's name's last syllable is a pun on "Ga"(a kanji that means fang, and the same Ga that's the first kanji of Gaoh's name)
 * Dark Kiva's is more of a play on words, since in the show, he's referred to as "Yami no Kiba"(which could mean "Dark Kiva" or "Fang of Darkness")
 * Arc is a pun on "aku"(evil)
 * Rey is a pun on "rei"(cold)
 * Toshihiko Seki plays a prison guard named "Sanjo" in The Movie. When asked his name, he responds "Ore? Sanjo!"
 * Really Seven Hundred Years Old - Ramon/Basshaa is 105 years old (127 in '08), yet looks like a 13-year old boy when he's not in Rubber Suit form.
 * Although, it should be noted that the actor they hired to play him was 13-14 at the time...
 * And acts like a six-year-old girl.
 * It's only implied for the more powerful Fangires, but Maya actually brings up things that she did hundreds of years ago.
 * Real Men Wear Pink: Rook has a pronounced Sweet Tooth.
 * Jiro and the cafe owner are fans of Onyanko Club (though in Jiro's case you get the idea that it's all part of his act)
 * Rearrange the Song - IXA's battle theme, "Individual-System", has two remixes sung by Nago's actor: "Fight for Justice" reflecting his Knight Templar attitude, and "Don't Lose Yourself" after he mellows out.
 * The Re-Union album, released in 2009, includes more remixes, including Wataru's version of his father's "This Love Never Ends", Otoya's version of his son's "Supernova", and an acoustic version of "Roots of the King" sung by both Wataru and Taiga.
 * Re Cut - Recently a fan with some spare time on his hands began to take clips from the episodes and turn the show into "Kamen Rider IXA", first focusing entirely on the 1986 plot and with plans to then tackle the 2008 plot, focusing more on Nago and Megumi, although it will still feature Wataru and the others.
 * Remember the New Guy? - ep. 27, the first time Taiga is ever mentioned.
 * The Reveal -
 * The Rival - Keisuke Nago
 * Robo Speak -- The IXA belt speaks in a very syllabic, monotone style. In Gratuitous English.
 * Romantic False Lead - Taiga is a combination of a False Lead and a Hopeless Suitor.
 * Screw Destiny - rejects her destiny as 2008's Queen..
 * Though considering the show's tagline can be alternately translated as "Break the chains of fate", which route this will go is still up in the air.
 * Not now it's not! I can't believe that didn't get updated.
 * On the other hand, all seem to pull this off.
 * Sealed Evil in a Can -
 * Played straight with Kamen Rider Arc, whose spirit was sealed away long ago by a past Kiva before being released.
 * The Arms Monsters in '08.
 * Self-Made Orphan - an infant Taiga finishes off his father and later does the same to his mother.
 * Shipper on Deck - Megumi clearly ships Mio and Wataru, as she tries her best to get them together. Shizuka, on the other hand...
 * Sibling Triangle: Wataru, Taiga and Mio.
 * Shout-Out - Otoya performs Rider-1's henshin pose when he transforms into IXA.
 * IXA going into his Super Mode Rising IXA looks suspiciously like the Cast Off sequence.
 * Megumi and Yuri Aso share a last name with Kamen Rider ZO.
 * Riki in Franken form really goes the extra mile to reference the classic Frankenstein. Not just the Pieta Plagiarism in #21, but he does it beside a river, and there's a flower in his lapel just because.
 * The Warthog Fangire shows up in a Nice Hat and poncho... but does he have no name?
 * Kivat actually says "Mach speed!" in #32. (This is actually in line with the appearance of the Ginjiro in the Omake segments promoting The Movie.)
 * Saga's Finishing Move may remind some of Rolento from Street Fighter Alpha.
 * Shirtless demonic-looking Wataru from the King of Hells' Castle promotional material (and only in the promotional material) may well be a tip of the hat to the Trope Codifier for half-human demonic heroes, Devilman.
 * Troubled but Cute hero with Parental Abandonment in the present while his more easygoing dad had adventures in the past? Seen it.
 * Snakes Are Evil - It's very strongly implied that Taiga is the Snake/Cobra Fangire, as seen with the cobra theme to Saga and Sagarc, as well as his ability to summon a shadowy mass of vipers or a giant feathered serpent named Kukulkan.
 * Spank the Cutie - Otoya is Wataru's father and normally appears in flashback segments to 22 years ago. They met via time travel once, and Otoya ended up spanking Wataru, despite them both being in their 20's. It was utterly bizarre and seemed to have been there solely for the female audience.
 * Star-Crossed Lovers (Shinji/Ryouko, Mio/Wataru, Maya/Otoya. Most Fangire/human relationships end up like this due to the role of the Fangire Queen.)
 * Stealth Pun - A rather clever one in the form of the Rhinoceros Fangire. His human disguise was a talent scout. Sai is Japanese for both Rhinoceros and Talent.
 * Suicide by Cop: Bear Fangire in ep. 24.
 * Super Mode - Emperor form, Rising IXA (and to a lesser extent DoGaBaKi form).
 * There's also a Hyper Mode (a Super Mode of a Super Mode!) in the form of Flight Style.
 * And another one in a special DVD with DoGaBaKi Emperor Form.
 * Super Speed - Garulu Form
 * Talking to Himself: Kiva has both played this straight and subverted it: In the main series, Kivat-Bat III and his father, Kivat-Bat II, are both voiced by Tomokazu Sugita, and the two Kivats were reunited near the end of the series. However, while Norio Wakamoto voiced both Arc Kivat and Rey Kivat in The Movie, the two never interacted with each other.
 * Theme Music Power-Up - "Supernova", Emperor Form's theme song, sung by Wataru's actor Koji Seto and composed by Naoki Maeda of Dance Dance Revolution fame. Qualifies as Crowning Music of Awesome.
 * Those Two Guys - Or rather, That One Girl: Shizuka.
 * And to some extent, Akira Kido.
 * Time Passes Montage
 * Time Travel - A door in Castle Dran allows travel between 1986 and 2008.
 * Tiny Guy, Huge Girl - Otoya and Yuri.
 * Token Evil Teammate - Jiro, Riki, and Ramon in 1986. They're no allies to the Fangires, but they still eat humans to survive and Jiro occasionally attempts to kill Otoya.
 * Took a Level In Badass -
 * Though it's more like Took a Level in Jerkass.
 * In the end, though
 * Wataru also does a rather impressive example of this near the end of the series. He's able to scare off Fangire just by glaring at them.
 * Also, at the end of the events in 47,.
 * Tragic Monster: Quite a few, like Frog Fangire from #9-10. The Arms Monsters could count, except they're taking being the Last of Their Kind quite well.
 * Transformation Sequence - Kamen Rider hasn't used these in a long time, but this series has a stock footage transformation sequence for form-changing and 1986 Dark Kiva's transformation.
 * Tsundere - Yuri. Just...Yuri.
 * Un Entendre - In one episode, Otoya, Riki, Jiro, Yuri, and two random girls have a triple date. At one point, Riki's date steps out to freshen up; he follows and eats her soul. After he returns and everyone asks where she went, he replies "I ate her". The others all exclaim "that was quick!" and congratulate him.
 * In this case everyone barring Jiro is thinking that he did something sex-related, Jiro being the only person thus far who actually knows Riki is
 * The Unintelligible - Sagarc, which speaks the long-forgotten Fangire language.
 * Unresolved Sexual Tension - Wataru and Mio.
 * Vampiric Draining - The Fangire, and indeed most of the Demon Races.
 * Village Bicycle - More in terms of the phrase than the trope, but... IXA Knuckle. Anyone who's anyone has stolen it at least once.
 * Villainous Breakdown - Jiro in episode 24.
 * Visual Pun: The first time we see the Fangire King bleeding, his blood is blue.
 * Voluntary Shapeshifting - All Fangire, and presumably all Demon Races, can assume human form.
 * Wasted Song: TETRA-FANG did songs for Dogga Form ("Silent Shout") and Dark Kiva ("Exterminate"), but they never show up in the series.
 * Weapon of Choice
 * Kiva
 * Kiva Form - Bare-Fisted Monk
 * Garulu Form - Cool Sword
 * Basshaa Form - The Gunslinger
 * Dogga Form - Drop the Hammer
 * Emperor Form - Infinity+1 Sword
 * IXA
 * 1986 version - Power Fist
 * 2008 version - Swiss Army Weapon
 * Rising IXA - Sword And Guns Akimbo
 * Saga - Whip Sword
 * Dark Kiva - Instant Runes.
 * Rey - Wolverine Claws
 * Arc - Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever; His actual weapon, a trident, only appears in the Director's Cut of the film.
 * Wedding Smashers - Unlike Hikaru and Urara, the happy couple actually gets to kiss, but a battle breaks out nonetheless.
 * And earlier, crashes her own wedding by
 * Wham! Episode: Of the Wham Arc variant: The ramifications of Wataru, Taiga and Mio are spread over several eps, with Wataru  as well. After Shima asking Wataru to help the Blue Sky Group and Taiga asking Wataru to  there's nothing quite like Mio asking him sweetly to
 * What Do You Mean, It's Not Awesome? - The Zanvat Sword's pumping motion. Comes dangerously close to Narm until you've gotten used to it.
 * Wataru! Stop pumping your damn sword and kill them already!
 * It makes sense in context, because what he's actually doing is sharpening the blade so it never gets dull.
 * Look carefully at Powered IXA. It's basically a glorified construction vehicle.
 * What Is This Thing You Call Love? - Maya wishes to know why so many Fangire fall in love with humans.
 * Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Yuri and puppies.
 * Wolf Man - Jiro/Garulu
 * The Worf Effect - Invoked. Riki gets the idea to expose Maya as a Fangire by attacking her - and gets curbstomped for his troubles.
 * Yandere - Briefly, Shizuka, in her attempts to mess up Mio and Wataru's relationship.
 * Mio slowly developed subtle elements of this.
 * Yandere - Briefly, Shizuka, in her attempts to mess up Mio and Wataru's relationship.
 * Mio slowly developed subtle elements of this.