Kamen Rider Stronger

Jô Shigeru wanted to avenge the death of a close friend, so he joined
the evil organization of Black Satan (who it is implied killed said
friend) and underwent cybernetic surgery to become one of their
warriors of evil. However, once the operation was complete, he
turned on Black Satan, declared himself "Kamen Rider Stronger"
and made it his duty to purge the world of Black Satan's evil! That
pretty much sums it up for the opening of Kamen Rider Stronger!
You can bet those Black Satan scientists were kicking themselves
for, once again, not doing the brain surgery before everything else.
Or maybe they just were big enough suckers to really believe Jô
really wanted to be evil. Who knows?

Jô transforms by sparking together his hands to generate electricity
which allows him to become Kamen Rider Stronger (his Henshin
Belt surges with electric power too.) You see, in a definite change of
pace from previous Riders, Jô’s identity as a cyborg is much more
apparent: his hands are made of metal coils, and he wears gloves to
cover them until transformation time. That whole electricity theme
was a primary part of Stronger– almost all his powers & attacks are
electrically-based. Stronger's motorcycle is called Kabutorô,
derived from Kabutomushi, a Japanese word for "Beetle" (usually of
the Elephant/Horned Beetle variety.) As you can probably guess,
Stronger is based on one of these guys, as opposed to a
grasshopper. This makes Stronger the real predecessor to later
beetle Riders like Kamen Rider Blade and Kamen Rider Kabuto!

Name: Kamen Rider
Stronger (Sutorongaa)

Height: 183 cm

Weight: 78 kg

Human Identity: Jô
Shigeru

Rider Machine:
Kabutorô

Henshin Belt: Electora

Henshin Phrase:
"Henshin...Stronger!"

Enemies: Black Satan,
Delzer Army

Combat Techniques:

-Stronger Den
(Electric) Kick
-Electro Fire
-Den Punch
-Den Chop
-Den Touch
-Den Shock
-Denki Magnet
-Denki Stream
-Denki Beam
-Electro Thunder
-Electro Kick
-Electro Water Fall
-Electro Punch
-Double Kick
-Stronger Double Kick
-Hanten (Return) Kick
-Screw Kick
-Hanten Breaker
-Ultra Punch, etc.

Additional Charged-Up
Stronger Combat
Techniques:

-Chô-Den (Super
Electric) Drill Kick
-Chô-Den Dai Sharin
(Great Wheel) Kick
-Chô-Den Inazuma
(Lightning) Kick
-Chô-Den San-Dan
(Triple) Kick
-Chô-Den Screw Kick
-Chô-Den Kyuukôka
(Dive Bomb) Punch
-Chô-Den Jet Nage
(Throw)
-Chô-Den Sakaotoshi
(Headfirst Drop), etc.

Combination attacks
with previous 6 Riders:

-Zen (Complete)
Energy Shuuchuu
(Concentration)
-Shichinin (7 Person)
Kick

Special
Equipment/Weapons
& Powers:

-Stronger has a number
of miscellaneous special
electric abilities that are
used for defensive as
well as offensive
purposes. These include:

-Han-Jiryokusen
(Polarity Reverse)
-Jiryoku Senpuuki
(Magnetic Fan)
-Denki Bunkai
(Electric Analysis)
-Kabuto Catcher
-Rider Video Signal
-Stronger Barrier
-Battery Short
-Magnet Power Change

-The ability to
Charge-Up, making
him more powerful and
allowing him to use new
attacks.

Like Amazon’s Jungler, Kabutorô always looks the way it does; apparently Black Satan’s mechanics aren’t as sophisticated as the
Tachibana Racing Club! Kabutorô can generate an electric blast (Kabutorô Thunder) to shock hapless Black Satan members. It
also is one of the most versatile Rider Machines; an entire “off-road” version was made just for those crazy jumping stunts scene
in the opening sequence. In fact, there were so many variations of the bike, it sometimes looks different from one scene to the next.

Now as you can probably guess from his origin, Stronger is somewhat...well, “crazy” is an understatement. He’s confident, cocky,
and always in control of the situation– even when vastly outnumbered. He’s also a little more eccentric than any other Rider
before or after, at least until some of the new guys like Kamen Rider Kabuto (who Stronger clearly had some influence on.) Jô
Shigeru always wears different colored shirts, all with the Stronger "S" logo on them, in some episodes paired with a cool denim
jacket emblazoned with a rose (hey, what can I say, he’s a romantic guy.) Whereas earlier Riders would just usually drive up to or
stumble upon the enemy, classy Stronger has a slightly more extravagant entrance. He usually appears from some high place, like
a cliff or building, and whistle to confuse/surprise Black Satan. Immediately after transforming, he makes a Serifu, or a little self-
introductory speech, that goes something like this: (from the Kamen Rider Stronger DVD covers)

"The heavens call...
The earth cries out...
The crowds roar...
All calling on me to strike back at evil.
Now listen up, villains!
I am the warrior of justice,
the Masked Rider Stronger."

While most every other Riders has something like this at some point in their series,
with Stronger, it’s a trademark. As is the little glove-tightening thing he does right
before throwing a punch (a forerunner to Kamen Rider Faiz’s distinctive “wrist
shake”.)

Jô Shigeru was not alone in his quest for justice– not long after he escapes Black
Satan, he rescues Misaki Yuriko, who had also been turned into a cyborg– the
Electro Wave Human Tackle. Stronger & Tackle became a team, and therafter fight
Black Satan together. And guess what? Good ol’ Tachibana Tôbei also shows up
eventually, although it takes a while before Stronger & Tackle figure out who he is
(remember, Stronger is unrelated to the other Riders at this point.) In fact, early on in
the series they usually just drive off, leaving Tachibana in the dust. Eventually all three
become friends. Which is good, because Tachibana is pretty much the only ally they
get: he makes up the entire supporting cast for Stronger! There's plenty of baddies
though: during the course of his battle with Black Satan, Stronger confronts three
Major Officers: One-Eyed Titan (also known as just "Mr. Titan" by his toadies),
General Shadow, & ever-so-briefly, Dead Lion. Titan is there from the beginning of
the series, and eventually takes on Stronger himself in episode #13, only to be blown
up like the evil-yet-well-mannered cyclops that he is.

Shadow arrives on the scene with much bravado, but Titan is back by
episode #17, now revived & powered-up as Hundred-Eyed Titan. Titan &
Shadow don't get along very well, and often argue over who gets to kill
Stronger. This wackiness culminates in episode #23, where Stronger battles
Hundred-Eyed Titan to the death. The optical fiend dies dramatically by
plunging into an active volcano following the killing blow from Stronger! The
aforementioned-Dead Lion shows up and pushes General Shadow to the
side, in an attempt to take charge of things. Unfortunately, by this point in the
series, Black Satan is on its last leg, and it’s only a matter of time before the
inevitable end of the group. In episode #26, Stronger & the apparent head
honcho, Great Leader of Black Satan, throw down once & for all. Guess who
wins? Ah, but as with Kamen Rider Amazon, the story ain't over yet. Even
though Shadow got booted out of Black Satan, he immediately goes about
setting up his own evil group, the Delzer Army, which goes into action as soon
as Black Satan is KO’ed for good.

If you thought the Titan-Shadow or Shadow-Dead Lion rivalries were heavy, the infighting & backstabbing amongst the Delzer
Army members makes it look like those guys were best friends. Virtually everybody is against everyone else, and there are
double-and-triple crosses all over the place. When you’ve got a bunch of other Major Officers running around at the same time,
all promised promotions if they kill Stronger, bad things are bound to happen. Amazingly, they never manage to kill each other,
but they do screw each other's plans up a lot, and a few actively plot to topple Shadow from his apparent leadership position.

Stronger, undeterred, fights the new group as hard as ever. Tragedy hits in episode #30, where Tackle sacrifices herself to save
Stronger from being poisoned by Delzer Army member Doctor Keitô. While most of the series has Tackle being more of an
inconvenience to the enemies (and sometimes Stronger), things get deadly serious in her finale, and she gets a chance to really kick
some butt. More significantly, we finally get a little hint that there just might have been something more to the Stronger-Tackle
relationship than partners in fighting evil. Mourning the loss of his comrade, Stronger vows never to rest until the Delzer Army is
destroyed. Fortunately, he doesn't have to wait long.

In episode #31, Stronger receives additional surgery from a former Black
Satan scientist, who grants him the power to temporarily “Charge-Up!”. By
doing so, the "S" on Stronger's chest spins around, his horns turn silver, he
gains a silver stripe on his chest, and last but not least, a whole arsenal of new
powers. This essentially makes Stronger the first form-changing Rider, a trait
that will later resurface in Kamen Rider BLACK RX, Kamen Rider Kuuga,
and most every Rider series after that.

Meanwhile, things get hairier in the Delzer Army, and eventually General
Shadow is usurped by Generalissimo Machine, who flies in from Egypt and
pulls rank, as apparently both of them answer to an even higher power.
Shadow vows to go kill Stronger and reclaim his honor (poor Shadow never
gets a break, does he?)

Stronger gets some help in episode #35 from Kamen Rider V3, who's been
on to those Delzer goons the whole time. In episode #36, Kamen Riders X
& Amazon show up to help; in episode #37, V3 again, this time with
Riderman; and in #38, Kamen Riders 1 & 2 are back and kickin’ it old-
school style! Stronger eventually has his showdown with General Shadow,
who goes up in a big explosion after being defeated. (Don't they all?)

The grand finale has all 7 Kamen Riders join forces to defeat the Delzer Army (which revives a bunch of Black Satan & even
Geddon mutants) and the supposed leader, Generalissimo Machine (who gets a face full of fist from Stronger before blowing up.)
Oh yeah, and this is all to save Tachibana, who awakens to find all 7 Riders standing around him (in their human forms!) He meets
& greets them all, and then reveals it still isn't over yet– the real leader of the Delzer Army lives! All 7 Riders drive off to confront
him. As it turns out, the Great Leader of the Delza Army is the same guy who led all the previous groups– Shocker, Gelshocker,
Destron, GOD, Geddon, Garander Empire, and Black Satan– a true "Great Leader" indeed. The Riders engage in a big final
battle. As you can probably guess, they defeat him and a happy ending is assured.

Kamen Rider Stronger was actually intended to be the last Rider series– its final story arc brings together all 7 of the original
Riders, and nicely wraps up things in the finale. Essentially, it was the end– for a while! Stronger, fittingly, is the first Rider to show
up in the next Rider series, 1979's New Kamen Rider, and he even gives the titular hero the name we know him by now–
Skyrider!

Movies/Specials & Guest Appearances/Cameos

~TV Series~

New Kamen Rider (1979~1980)

Episodes 20: Stronger is only briefly glimpsed for most of the episode, but shows up dramatically at the end to aid the main man.
Episode 21: Teaches Skyrider a new move, gives him the "Skyrider" moniker, and helps fight Saidump & Kurageron.
Episodes 27: The previous 7 Riders, Stronger included, arrive to help fight Neoshocker!
Episode 28: Before taking on the army of Neoshocker Kaijin led by Granbazâmî, Stronger and the others give Skyrider a
power-up by utterly thrashing on him. Stronger does some serious damage here, running down Tsukuba with Kabutorô and
bashing him around with a big ball & chain. You know Skyrider's gotta be one tough dude to withstand that.
Episode 38: Helps Skyrider out against Gamagilas. Oh yeah, and in one of the coldest Rider moments ever, totally owns Doctor
Meteo with an Electro Fire. And all the dude did was yell at him! *Araki Shigeru appears!
Episodes 52: Stronger plays a pretty big role in the New Kamen Rider finale, helping Skyrider through one of his most personal
battles yet. Also, the evil Doctor X is pretty lucky he just gets beaten up by Tsukuba, seeing Stronger's track record with
Neoshocker scientists in this show. * Araki Shigeru appears!
Episode 53: Triple-teams with Skyrider and Rider 2 against Admiral Majin! *Araki Shigeru appears!
Episode 54: Joins the other 7 Riders in defeating the Leader of Neoshocker. *Araki Shigeru appears!

Kamen Rider BLACK RX (1988~1989)

Episode 41: Rider 1 calls Stronger and the guys to Arizona for some training.
Episode 42: The Riders are still chillin' in Arizona, and training for the big battles to come.
Episode 43: Yet more training in the desert. I wonder if that Rider base/camp/something gets HBO?
Episode 44: The gang heads back to Japan to save RX from getting hammered into the ground by Granzairus.
Episode 45: Stronger does his part and helps kick butt!
Episode 46: The Rider team, Stronger included, help RX as the end draws near.
Episode 47: Stronger & his 9 fellow Riders leave the last battle for RX, but they're around for the ending.

~Movies/Specials/Other~

Kamen Rider Stronger (1975): A big-screen, cropped version of episode #7. *Araki Shigeru appears!

Back Together Again! 7 Kamen Riders!! (1976): Stronger and the gang join together to fight a new group and talk about the
good old days. *Araki Shigeru appears!

8 Riders vs. Milky Way King (1980): Stronger & the other 6 Riders help Skyrider take on the titular Milky Way King, as well
as an entire legion of revived Neoshocker mutants. Stronger's as trigger-happy with the Electro Fires as ever.

Kamen Rider Super-1 (1981): Super-1 does pretty well for most of his movie until a revived Kaijin army comes out of nowhere
in the final minutes. Fortunately, Stronger & the other 6 Riders also show up out of nowhere, and help Supes put the hurt on evil!

Number Ten's Birth! Kamen Riders Back Together Again!! (1984): Stronger & the other 9 Riders welcome ZX to the
family, and defeat the Badan Empire. You can always count on Stronger to provide some zapping...

Kamen Rider: SD Riders (1993): Stronger shows up briefly at the end, along with Amazon and Rider 2.