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Shuichi Kitaoka (北岡 秀一 Kitaoka Shūichi) is Kamen Rider Zolda (仮面ライダーゾルダ Kamen Raidā Zoruda, Masked Rider Zolda), a character in the tokusatsu production Kamen Rider Ryuki. He is the fourth of the 13 Kamen Riders the story revolves around. However, he served as the third main Rider in the series.
History[]
He is a self-proclaimed "Super-lawyer", tends to only help someone if he has something to gain. Because he has a terminal case of cancer and was given only several more months to live, Kitaoka accepted Kanzaki's offer to join the Rider war. His prize is to be immortal so that he could continue his extravagant lifestyle. Because of his illness, he suffers from frequent dizzy spells and fainting.
He first meets Shinji Kido after he clears the Sakura Company of its credit fraud charges and is later pursued by its bookies after taking their dirty money as added payment for his services. Though Shinji was unaware of this at first, he attempts to save Kitaoka only to be rescued by his apprentice Goro Yura. Shinji later meets Kitaoka again when he and Reiko wanted permission from the Kawazu Pharmacy to inspect their factory for environmental violations. Interested in Shinji, Kitaoka allows Shinji to hang around with him and understand his ideology until Shinji hit a nerve of Kitaoka's thought to live for one's own desire seemed hollow made Kitaoka kick him out.
Later, after attacking Kamen Rider Ryuki just as Ryuki kills a Zebraskull, Kitaoka learns that Shinji is in jail for suspected kidnapping and agrees to help him on the condition that Reiko writes a special article to boost his positive image. However, learning that Shinji's Ryuki with seeing the wound he inflicted in their fight, Kitaoka goes to Atori Cafe to get his pay from Ren. However, when a Wildboarder attacks, Kitaoka exposes himself while learning that Ren is a Rider - Kamen Rider Knight - as well. After fighting him, Kitaoka questions Ren's reasons for not killing Shinji. Kitaoka had intended to frame Shinji for kidnapping but after being fired as Shinji's lawyer when his intentions were revealed, Kitaoka is annoyed that Shinji is freed because of a girl named Yukari whom he brushed off while refusing to aid her. But after learning that her mother is hospitalized, Kitaoka secretly pays for her mother's surgery and earns the girl's respect. However, Zolda manages to sneak attack Ryuki and Knight while they were fighting the Wildboarder with Magnugiga, killing the monster while giving Ren memory loss in the overkill attack.
Kitaoka later gives Goro use of Zolda for a while to conceal himself, until he sets up a scheme of having Shinji believe he accidentally killed Goro to have him quit being a Rider. But his arrogance of barring ORE from a press conference to spite Reiko led to her helping Ren expose the lawyer as the real Zolda. After bailing out the son of one of his clients, Jun Shibaura, Kitaoka drops his long time client Takeshi Asakura out being tired of the man's attitude, leading Asakura receiving aid from Kanzaki. Eventually the two found out they were both Riders and they began a personal feud against each other. Though Shinji would attempt to warn him of this while under the effect of Kamen Rider Odin's Time Vent, Kitaoka faked helping Shinji and later states that fulfilling his wish to win the Rider War is more important than Asakura staying behind bars.
As the war goes on, Kitaoka becomes weaker and weaker. He begins to have doubts whether he can truly win the war. He also grows to care for Shinji, unwilling to fight him when he saw that, while Shinji requested to fight, his heart wasn't in it.
Kitaoka was the only Rider to voluntarily give up the fight rather than be killed, realizing that while his life was a short life, it was a good one. While he died in peace at his home, Goro went to fight against Ouja in his place as Zolda; Goro, not used to Zolda's long-range style, died with Asakura learning too late that he is denied taking Kitaoka's life himself. After Kanzaki restored time to its proper course after Yui's death, Kitaoka and Goro were both given a second chance at life, curing Kitaoka of his cancer in the process.
Some time later, Kitaoka would locate the Zolda deck again, re-initiating his contract with Mgnugiga in the process. After these events, several years later Kamen Rider Zolda is seen on top of Zero-Liner, using his Final Vent against Decade's Final Attack Ride. Unfortunately, the attack fails, and he dies. This death is undone with Decade's own demise (and subsequent revival).
Kamen Rider Zolda was part of a group of reinforcement riders led by Akira Date/Kamen Rider Birth to aid the primary riders in defeating the Rock Great Leader. All the Kamen Riders got on their bikes and performed the All Rider Break attack which destroyed the Great Leader.
Some time later, he learned of Ouja's revival, and rushed in to fight him, arriving just in time to save Femme from being killed by the crazed Ouja. Using his Shoot Vent, he was able to blast Ouja into anearby building, before activating his Final Vent, End of the World, destroying the area around Ouja and dropping a building on him. He and Femme quickly escaped, leaving Ouja and Venosnaker strapped under the rubble.
Personality[]
Prior to his initial death at the end of the Rider War, Kitaoka was shown to be antagonistic and prideful toward Shinji, as well as being manipulative and cunning. Going so far, as to make Shinji think he had killed Goro during one of their fights, Kitaoka did bear a soft spot for both Shinji and Miho (Kamen Rider Femme) near the end, attempting to help Femme get vengeance for her sister against Ouja.
Stats[]
- Height: 192cm
- Weight: 110kg
- Ability Perimeters:
- Punching Power: 15t (AP: 300)
- Kicking Power: 15t (AP: 300)
- Maximum Running Speed: 100m/7s
- Maximum Jump Height: 15m
Zolda is a far-range Kamen Rider, using different forms of heavy artillery to fight. His default weapon is his Magna Visor (マグナバイザー Maguna Baizā) which doubles as a submachine gun with a cyclic rate of 120 rounds per minute. Using his Card Deck, Zolda can conjure up additional weapons that form from his Contact Monster's body such as the Giga Launcher bazooka, the Giga Cannon backpack, and a huge Giga Armor shield. In his Final Vent End Of World (エンドオブワールド Endo Obu Wārudo), Zolda summons Magnugiga in front of him, inserting his Magna Visor into the monster's back to have it fire all of its arsenal at once at the enemy and the surrounding area.