Kaijin Of The Month
► One Month, One Monster
今月の怪人
Kaijin Of The Month
After a long rest, it's baaaaack! The monthly salute to just one of the many Kamen Rider monsters-of-the-week returns in full
force for 2007. Each month, a different Rider Kaijin is profiled. Although I generally pick and choose them at random, suggestions
are welcome, and you might just see your favorite Kaijin filling this spot some day soon.
force for 2007. Each month, a different Rider Kaijin is profiled. Although I generally pick and choose them at random, suggestions
are welcome, and you might just see your favorite Kaijin filling this spot some day soon.
This page owned and operated by Paul Sullivan.
Kamen Rider 1971, 2007 © TOEI / ISHINOMORI SHOTARO. All content and custom graphics © 2007 Igadevil's Kamen Rider Page
Kamen Rider 1971, 2007 © TOEI / ISHINOMORI SHOTARO. All content and custom graphics © 2007 Igadevil's Kamen Rider Page
Kaijin of the Month ~June 2007~
Doras
Doras
What's in the Name: No idea where Doras came from (it's
a genus of catfish!) but he's based on a locust/grasshopper.
Height/ Weight: 204 cm / 98 kg
Organization: Neo-Life Form Doras. He's his own group!
Place of Origin: Sasaki Isao's basement. Seriously.
Objective: Find Doctor Mochizuki's son in order to force
the doctor into "completing" Doras, thereby allowing the big
guy to wipe out all life on Earth and become the superior
being because, hey, wouldn't you? Also, kill that ZO fella.
Powers: What can't he do? Shoot lasers, instantly replace his
dismembered arm with a robotic one, turn into an early 90's
CG effect... Doras does it all.
Voice Actor: Yuzawa Shingo (creepy kid version only)
Originally Appeared: Kamen Rider ZO
Defeated by: ZO Kick
a genus of catfish!) but he's based on a locust/grasshopper.
Height/ Weight: 204 cm / 98 kg
Organization: Neo-Life Form Doras. He's his own group!
Place of Origin: Sasaki Isao's basement. Seriously.
Objective: Find Doctor Mochizuki's son in order to force
the doctor into "completing" Doras, thereby allowing the big
guy to wipe out all life on Earth and become the superior
being because, hey, wouldn't you? Also, kill that ZO fella.
Powers: What can't he do? Shoot lasers, instantly replace his
dismembered arm with a robotic one, turn into an early 90's
CG effect... Doras does it all.
Voice Actor: Yuzawa Shingo (creepy kid version only)
Originally Appeared: Kamen Rider ZO
Defeated by: ZO Kick
The "evil version of the hero" concept has long been a popular
one to use where Kamen Rider is concerned; I mean, how
many fake/evil/rip-off/nasty Riders have we had now? Second
only to that would be the "Monster who is sort of like the hero
in appearance and powers, but not exactly an evil/fake version
of the hero." Got all that? Some such examples would be
Kamen Rider Kuuga's Go Gadol Ba, the big beetle guy who
could do everything our hero could do, but better. And
Kuuga's other big beetle guy, N Daguba Zeba, who was very
nearly a mirror image of Kuuga Ultimate Form in power, and
intentionally similar in design. Another one is New Kamen
Rider's Abunger, notable for having his own evil, Kaijin
version of a Rider Kick.
one to use where Kamen Rider is concerned; I mean, how
many fake/evil/rip-off/nasty Riders have we had now? Second
only to that would be the "Monster who is sort of like the hero
in appearance and powers, but not exactly an evil/fake version
of the hero." Got all that? Some such examples would be
Kamen Rider Kuuga's Go Gadol Ba, the big beetle guy who
could do everything our hero could do, but better. And
Kuuga's other big beetle guy, N Daguba Zeba, who was very
nearly a mirror image of Kuuga Ultimate Form in power, and
intentionally similar in design. Another one is New Kamen
Rider's Abunger, notable for having his own evil, Kaijin
version of a Rider Kick.
Occasionally, there's even a monster based on the same thing as the hero, as the aforementioned Daguba was. Or rather, there's a
monster based on something that previous heroes were, in a "homage" manner of sorts. After all, if the original Kamen Rider was
a grasshopper, and could do all that cool stuff, how tough do you think a grasshopper monster would be? It's a question that's
been asked again and again, with varying results. When they don't cave in an just do actual evil/fake/bad Riders passed off as a
"homage" (as with the Alternatives in Ryuki and the Hoppers in Kabuto), the results tend to be interesting. With one notable
exception, mentioned below, Grasshopper Kaijin tend to be sort of "not-quite evil Riders", possessing jumpy and kicky powers
and all that, but this month's (well, two months' ago) entry into the hall of fame is really in a class all his own. I'm talking, of course,
about Neo-Lifeform Doras, also known simply as Doras.
Doras is clearly intended to evoke his archenemy Kamen Rider ZO, yet as an "improvement" over the original (in the storyline), he
is able to do a lot of things our hero can't. This is due to him being an original creation from the ground up by the well-meaning but
slightly mad Doctor Mochizuki. As opposed to a cybernetically and genetically (and a lot of other "-etically" words) altered human
like ZO, Doras began life in a bubbly tank in the Doc's basement, having to put up with viewing the world through a fisheye lens
with lots of early 90's computer graphics cluttering things up. Which would be enough to drive anyone mad, especially when
people come right up to the screen and everything suddenly becomes a giant nose. So what did the Neo-Life Form do? It went
totally bonkers, captured the Doctor and set about with a years-in-the-making plan to take over the world and exterminate all
other life forms. Hey, why not, right?
The actual Doras proper is a manifested "battle form" of sorts, made out of, ironically enough, a load of rubbish. The Neo-Life
Form also takes the shape of a creepy stop-motion floating kid thing, but for most of the movie is running around like the guy seen
above. Able to create minions from his own body, and do pretty much anything else, Doras gives ZO a run for his money, but if
you've read that summary of the movie elsewhere, you know that things turn out well enough in the end. I could go on about the
moralistic value of the folly inherent with an artificially-created life form like Doras, the
"humankind-must-not-tread-in-God's-domain" ethics of the whole thing, but you know what? You aren't reading this site for
inspiring philosophical concepts, you're reading it because you want to learn about how much Skyrider kicks ass.
One of the most interesting Doras powers is his ability to merge with ZO, allowing the sort of "completion" that he (or maybe that
should be "she" or even "it") was after all along. As the incredibly powerful Red Doras, he can... well, he doesn't really get to do
anything before ZO busts out, Kool-Aid Man-style, but he has some of the catchiest evil organ music ever. And in the end, that's
what really matters.
Doras & crew got shafted from appearing in Kamen Rider World, so the ZO movie is the only place you'll really get to see the
big ugly one. He has the distinction of being one of the earliest monsters featured in Saban's Masked Rider, where he goes up
against the equivalent of Black RX. And no, the editing wasn't very good, as RX randomly becomes ZO during the fight. He also
features in the ZO manga of course, and if I haven't told you somewhere else already, it is good, crack-filled fun.
And... er, there's not really much else to say that hasn't already been said on the Kamen Rider ZO page. But hey, someone wrote
in that they wanted to see Doras here, so that's why he's June 2007's KOTM (re: send in your suggestions, I do actually listen to
them!)
Click for a sample of Doras' voice (as he gets impaled on a spike)!
Craving more non-Rider grasshoppers? Check these guys out:
monster based on something that previous heroes were, in a "homage" manner of sorts. After all, if the original Kamen Rider was
a grasshopper, and could do all that cool stuff, how tough do you think a grasshopper monster would be? It's a question that's
been asked again and again, with varying results. When they don't cave in an just do actual evil/fake/bad Riders passed off as a
"homage" (as with the Alternatives in Ryuki and the Hoppers in Kabuto), the results tend to be interesting. With one notable
exception, mentioned below, Grasshopper Kaijin tend to be sort of "not-quite evil Riders", possessing jumpy and kicky powers
and all that, but this month's (well, two months' ago) entry into the hall of fame is really in a class all his own. I'm talking, of course,
about Neo-Lifeform Doras, also known simply as Doras.
Doras is clearly intended to evoke his archenemy Kamen Rider ZO, yet as an "improvement" over the original (in the storyline), he
is able to do a lot of things our hero can't. This is due to him being an original creation from the ground up by the well-meaning but
slightly mad Doctor Mochizuki. As opposed to a cybernetically and genetically (and a lot of other "-etically" words) altered human
like ZO, Doras began life in a bubbly tank in the Doc's basement, having to put up with viewing the world through a fisheye lens
with lots of early 90's computer graphics cluttering things up. Which would be enough to drive anyone mad, especially when
people come right up to the screen and everything suddenly becomes a giant nose. So what did the Neo-Life Form do? It went
totally bonkers, captured the Doctor and set about with a years-in-the-making plan to take over the world and exterminate all
other life forms. Hey, why not, right?
The actual Doras proper is a manifested "battle form" of sorts, made out of, ironically enough, a load of rubbish. The Neo-Life
Form also takes the shape of a creepy stop-motion floating kid thing, but for most of the movie is running around like the guy seen
above. Able to create minions from his own body, and do pretty much anything else, Doras gives ZO a run for his money, but if
you've read that summary of the movie elsewhere, you know that things turn out well enough in the end. I could go on about the
moralistic value of the folly inherent with an artificially-created life form like Doras, the
"humankind-must-not-tread-in-God's-domain" ethics of the whole thing, but you know what? You aren't reading this site for
inspiring philosophical concepts, you're reading it because you want to learn about how much Skyrider kicks ass.
One of the most interesting Doras powers is his ability to merge with ZO, allowing the sort of "completion" that he (or maybe that
should be "she" or even "it") was after all along. As the incredibly powerful Red Doras, he can... well, he doesn't really get to do
anything before ZO busts out, Kool-Aid Man-style, but he has some of the catchiest evil organ music ever. And in the end, that's
what really matters.
Doras & crew got shafted from appearing in Kamen Rider World, so the ZO movie is the only place you'll really get to see the
big ugly one. He has the distinction of being one of the earliest monsters featured in Saban's Masked Rider, where he goes up
against the equivalent of Black RX. And no, the editing wasn't very good, as RX randomly becomes ZO during the fight. He also
features in the ZO manga of course, and if I haven't told you somewhere else already, it is good, crack-filled fun.
And... er, there's not really much else to say that hasn't already been said on the Kamen Rider ZO page. But hey, someone wrote
in that they wanted to see Doras here, so that's why he's June 2007's KOTM (re: send in your suggestions, I do actually listen to
them!)
Click for a sample of Doras' voice (as he gets impaled on a spike)!
Craving more non-Rider grasshoppers? Check these guys out:
Batta-Otoko
Kamen Rider BLACK episode #1
Ha! Fooled you! This guy is actually just an early, one-time-only transformation stage of
BLACK himself ("Larval" Shadow Moon also resembles him for the first half of the series.)
But hey, finding good pics of those Grasshopper Kaijin ain't as easy as you'd think!
Kamen Rider BLACK episode #1
Ha! Fooled you! This guy is actually just an early, one-time-only transformation stage of
BLACK himself ("Larval" Shadow Moon also resembles him for the first half of the series.)
But hey, finding good pics of those Grasshopper Kaijin ain't as easy as you'd think!
Zu Badzuu Ba
Kamen Rider Kuuga episode #5~6
One of Kuuga's earliest opponents was the Grongi's star jumper, and it took our hero
mastering his Dragon Form to beat him. His older, tougher, bike-riding Rider-wannabe
brother shows up later in the series, and drives it home even further by wearing a red scarf!
Kamen Rider Kuuga episode #5~6
One of Kuuga's earliest opponents was the Grongi's star jumper, and it took our hero
mastering his Dragon Form to beat him. His older, tougher, bike-riding Rider-wannabe
brother shows up later in the series, and drives it home even further by wearing a red scarf!
Locust Undead
Kamen Rider Blade episodes #1~2
Blade's first on-screen opponent was an especially nasty customer, able to turn his body into
a swarm of locusts. Responsible for destroying our heroes' center of employment, he could
also transform his lower limbs for... some reason. Whatever, it looked cool!
Kamen Rider Blade episodes #1~2
Blade's first on-screen opponent was an especially nasty customer, able to turn his body into
a swarm of locusts. Responsible for destroying our heroes' center of employment, he could
also transform his lower limbs for... some reason. Whatever, it looked cool!