Kamen Rider Black RX

Kohtaro Minami (南 光太郎 Minami Kōtarō) is the main protagonist of both Kamen Rider Black and Kamen Rider Black RX. At the moment his current whereabouts are unknown, though he will come to the aid of anyone in distress.

History
Kohtaro was born on the day of a solar eclipse, along with his stepbrother Nobuhiko Akizuki, within the same hospital. Gorgom noticed this, and both brothers were entitled heirs to their leader, the Creation King's throne. After Kohtaro's parents both died (when Kohtaro was around 3 years old) as a result of an apparent accident, Prof. Akizuki then adopted Kohtaro alongside Nobuhiko as if they were brothers. On the night of their 19th birthday, they were captured by Gorgom and were remade into cyborgs and infused with King Stones. Kohtaro received the "Stone of the Sun" to become Century King Black Sun. However, before the final brainwashing Soichiro Akizuki interrupted the final stage of the process with Kohtaro barely escaping.

Having been pursued by Gorgom after his escape, Kohtaro discovers his newfound ability to turn into the a grasshopper humanoid as a result of their surgery, along with his newfound super strength and cyborg abilities.

After receiving a letter from Soichiro, Kohtaro secretly meets with his foster father and learns the truth about his childhood. Soichiro reveals to Kohtaro that he agreed to join Gorgom in order to receive funding for his archaeological research in exchange for Kohtaro and Nobuhiko to be operated on during their 19th birthdays. When Kohtaro's father had refused to join the organization, Gorgom had him and Kohtaro's mother assassinated. After Prof. Akizuki is killed by five of Gorgom's Spider Mutants, Kohtaro transforms once again and takes the title of "Kamen Rider Black." He then vows vengeance against Gorgom and seeks to rescue Nobuhiko from their clutches. As Black, Kohtaro gains support from Nobuhiko's younger sister, Kyoko, as well as Nobuhiko's girlfriend Katsumi. He would often be found working part-time with the two girls at the Capitola café. He would also gain allies in fight against Gorgom, such as Interpol officer Ryusuke Taki and Gorgom's own Whale Mutant.

Eventually Kohtaro reunites with Nobuhiko; however, Nobuhiko was converted into the perfected Century King, Shadow Moon. In their fight, just when Kohtaro was winning the fight, the Creation King temporarily turned Nobuhiko back into human form again. This caused Kohtaro to lose the fight as Nobuhiko turned back into Shadow Moon and launched a surprise attack. He then tried to convince Shadow Moon that Earth belongs to all living things and was landed a finishing blow. As he turned back into human form thus causing Shadow Moon to hesitate and decide against taking Kohtaro's King Stone, Kohtaro was killed and his family had to evacuate from Gorgom's reign over Japan. Eventually Black was resurrected and fought his way through hordes of monsters until fighting Shadow Moon and unwillingly defeating him. Kohtaro was then mercilessly taunted by Shadow Moon who told him that he shall feel regret for the rest of his life knowing that he killed his best friend and step-brother Nobuhiko. Despite these cruel words, Kohtaro told Shadow Moon to stay alive so they can later escape together.

Using the Satan Sabre used by Shadow Moon, Black then fought against the Creation King of Gorgom and destroyed him. The base soon started to self destruct which prevented him from getting Shadow Moon out to safety. Kohtaro then looked at the ruins while saying Nobuhiko's name. With the Gorgom defeated, Kohtaro visited the Capitola bar before leaving for unknown parts.

After the defeat of Gorgom, Kohtaro is left homeless until he is adopted into the Sahara family. He became a helicopter pilot for his new family's business due to their connections, beginning a new life for himself. Unfortunately, Kohtaro was later abducted into the Crisis Empire's mother-ship. The Crisis Empire was aware of his identity as Black and gave him an offer to join them. Kohtaro refused and fought back but was incapacitated when his King Stone is damaged and his transformation ability eliminated. He was ejected into space to float aimlessly until the sun's radiation altered his King Stone. When his pod entered Earth's atmosphere, Kohtaro miraculously survives and immediately discovers he had gained a new power in the shape of an evolved rider form. With his new power, Kohtaro engaged the Crisis Empire forces as Kamen Rider Black RX.

Kohtaro's campaign was long and grueling. In one instances, his adoptive sister Hitomi is kidnapped by Maribaron into the the Desert of Death in a plot to make her the Crisis Empire's only living heir. Kohtaro attempts to rescue her using Deathgaron, only to discover a trap set by Maribaron. Deathgaron kills Hitomi, but in his grief and sorrow, RX invokes a new Rider power, RoboRider. Using his power, RoboRider fatally wounds Deathgaron before learning that the Hitomi killed was a fake and the real one was being taken to the Miraculous Valley. On his way, he meets Joe the Haze who is under the control of Nexticker, freeing him before they and Shigeru are captured by Maribaron and Princess Karuoriya. It was after they break free that Kohtaro realizes the princess is Hitomi, who was abducted to replace the real princess who died and was force grown by the nearby waterfall. When he attempts to restore Hitomi's memory, Kohtaro is forced to surrender when the Triplon captured Shigeru and Joe. Kohtaro was then placed into a room for a hole designed to counter his abilities as both RX and RoboRider for a slow painful death. His rage to save those he love invokes another new form, Bio Rider. After killing Triplon, with Shigeru's help, Kohtaro succeeded in having Hitomi regain his memory as she and the others are returned to their original ages by the people who originally resided in the valley. With only Joe and Shigeru knowing his identity, Kohtaro returns to Earth.

During the middle of the series, Shadow Moon mysteriously returns to seek revenge against him, shortly after, Shadow Moon was finally defeated when RX thrust the Revolcane through Shadow Moon's King Stone, seemingly effectively turning him good shortly before he died after saving two kids. With a sorrowful look of sadness as he saw Nobuhiko's corpse, Kohtaro remembered Shadow Moon's actions and decided that in the end, Shadow Moon truly turned back into Nobuhiko as he swore in his heart that he would defeat the Crisis Empire and bucked up his determination. He then carried the now human form Nobuhiko's body to presumably bury him. In the finale, he was helped by the 10 veteran Kamen Riders to destroy the Crisis Empire.

Black RX was part of a force of Rider and Sentai reinforcements led by Kamen Rider 1 and AkarengerIcon-crosswiki that came to assist the Riders and Sentai of recent years who were overwhelmed by the revived monster army of the Space Crime Syndicate Madou. The combined forces of superheroes were able to turn the tide against the Madou army. They lined up and used their various finisher attacks to destroy the revived monsters.

After Demon King Psycho was destroyed and the battle was finally over, RX appeared standing on a cliff with all the other heroes who appeared to help, to say goodbye to the heroes of recent years before taking their leave.

Affected by the timeline being changed from Rider 3 defeating the Double Riders, Kohtaro never evolved from Black to Black RX and remains as Black even into middle adulthood. Althought he fights against Shocker Rider Drive, he is able to help restore Shinnosuke's memory, but later sacrifices his life to allow him and Kiriko to escape the Drive Pit. Kohtaro is revived a while afterwards and evolved from Black to Black RX. During the Rider Grand Prix, he defends Drive from Mashin Chaser while on the Ridoron. In final battle, he joins Shinnosuke and his friends accompanied with most of good Riders to start their final battle against Shocker and their Great Leader with help of a Super Sentai Team Shuriken Sentai Ninninger.

Personality
Kohtaro is an emotional man which has served both good and bad for him. After seemingly losing his step-brother when he became Shadow Moon, Kohtaro tried very hard to get Nobuhiko back while being saddened at having to fight him. He also didn't truly give up on Nobuhiko and tried to save him even as Shadow Moon. Towards the end of his first series, Kohtaro had to part with not only Battle Hopper who thanked him for everything, but also with Shadow Moon who he unwillingly defeated in combat serving as a maturity point for him. As saddened as he was for failing to save the both of them, Kohtaro chose to keep on living for himself showing strength for his character.

After becoming Kamen Rider Black RX, Kohtaro reunited with his bike who was also revived into Acrobatter, whom he often talks with rather humorously. Also to be noted is that unlike the previous series, Kohtaro seemingly managed to help Nobuhiko regain his former self as he died after saving some kids. The death of Nobuhiko seemed to have strengthened his will as he swore in his heart that he would defeat the Crisis Empire which he eventually did. Interestingly, Kohtaro seems to have become more humorous in RX.

Forms
This is the form that Kohtaro takes on when he activates his Kingstone, causing his body to grow dark armor, boosting his already considerable strength outside of this form. Black RX is the current Kamen Rider form of Kohtaro Minami, a photosynthetic warrior, using the sun as his main energy source. His Sunriser has the two pieces of Kohtaro's shattered King Stone. His signature finishing move is the the RX Kick. Revolcrash Robo Rider is a form where Black RX 's armor becomes bulky and more robotic-like, with black and yellow coloring and his Sunriser resembles a gearbox. During his duration as the "Prince of Sadness", both his strength and defense are enhanced. He is also unharmed by explosions or projectile weapons. The only downsides are that he moves slower than Black RX as well as possessing semi-robotic movement, slowing his reaction time. Bio Rider is a form where Black RX's armor becomes much sleeker, blue and silver all over and his Sunriser belt resembles a single King Stone belt. During his duration as the "Prince of Anger", his speed is enhanced. He can also transform with the speed of up to 1000m into gel for escaping traps or attacking enemies while not getting hurt in the process, as he is invincible while in his gel form. Out of it, however, RX sacrifices armor strength, leaving him more vulnerable to powerful attacks.
 * -|Black= Black
 * Height: 197 cm
 * Weight: 87 kg
 * Ability Perimeters:Black.png
 * Maximum Jump Height: 30m
 * Punch: 15t
 * Kick: 30.5t
 * Rider Punch and Rider Kick: The primary killer moves in the entire series were the Rider Punch and Rider Kick which is charged with King Stone Energy at the right fist and the right foot. After delivering either one or both moves to any monsters, they would be engulfed in flames before finally destroyed. Kamen Rider Black discovered his weakness when he was fighting a Crab monster. His Rider Punch had no effect on the monster due to its strong shell. To increase his capabilities, Kamen Rider Black trained himself to find a new killer move to destroy the monster. While training, he discovered a new Rider Punch which was more effective and more deadly. These stronger variations of Rider Punch & Rider Kick gave out stronger force of light and were more blinding. The difference between the new and the old moves were that the new ones required Kamen Rider Black to touch his knees before hitting his enemies.
 * Rider Chop: This move was very rarely executed and did not have enough power to destroy a monster.
 * Multi-Eye: His eyes glow allowing him to see monsters' movements in the dark and detect their weaknesses, as well as allowing Kohtaro to not only see faster opponents, but adapt to their speed.
 * Sensoring Ears: The triangular structures on both sides of his head would glow purple and enhance his hearing to * super-human levels.
 * Rider Sensor: Kamen Rider Black's antennaes would move to detect monsters which were moving too fast to be seen.
 * Power Stripes: Black's striped bands on his neck and wrists would glow to repel any monsters' sticky fluids or goo on his body.
 * Dragon Shoot: A move only seen in episode 16. The Dragon Shoot was taught by the Interpol Agent, Ryusuke Taki. Ryusuke threw the Ultra Quartz (a wanted object in the episode) towards Kamen Rider Black where he quickly jumped and kicked it with one foot.
 * King Stone Flash: Perhaps the most powerful technique. By shouting out "King Stone Flash", Kamen Rider Black could fire a burst of energy from his belt. It worked almost every time to fend off the villains; whether it's the High Priests or even the powerful Shadow Moon.
 * -|Black RX= Black RX
 * Rider Height: 198cm
 * Rider Weight: 88kg
 * Ability Perimeters:Kamen_Rider_Black_RX_(World_of_Black_RX).jpg
 * Punching Power: 30 tons
 * Kicking Power: 45 tons
 * Max Jump Height: 60m
 * Maximum Running Speed: 100m/5s
 * Sunriser-The Sunriser is BLACK RX's transformation belt that is actually the Kingstone. The Kingstone was split in half in response to Black's evolution, and allows for more powerful transformations. The belt design changes in response of Black RX's Form changing.
 * Revolcane-The Revolcane (リボルケイン, Riborukein) is Black RX's sword comes out from his Sunriser belt. It has a light saber-like mode that executes the Revolcrash thrust finishing attack, where Black RX thrusts with the Revolcane, sending an unlimited surge of energy into the enemy.
 * Acrobatter- The Acrobatter is the revived version of Black's old motorcycle, the Battle Hopper. It is now capable of speaking coherent Japanese, and often has conversations with Kohtaro. Whenever Black RX transforms into any of his two other forms, it does the same.
 * Ridoron - High-speed car.
 * RX Kick - Unlike Black's Rider Kick, the RX Kick is a double-foot attack which is twice more powerful than Rider Kick.
 * RX Punch - The Black RX version of Rider Punch with twice more power.
 * Marco-Eye - Ability to see objects behind obstacle and inside the enemies' body.
 * King Stone Flash - Similar to Black, it is used to either daunt or break the illusion of enemies. King Stone Flash is not always effective against the Crisis Empire. When Black RX performed King Stone Flash in front of Gedoll Ridoll, It give the enemy a chance to absorb all the power of the King Stone. Black RX has another similar trick to disturb the enemies, which is to releases the light from Sun Riser. It can be assumed that this is exactly like Black's King Stone Flash, but with twice the power.
 * -|Robo Rider= Robo Rider
 * Height: 198 cm
 * Weight: 120 kg
 * Ability Perimeters:Robo_Rider.png
 * Punch: 60 ton
 * Kick: 30 ton
 * Jump: 25 m
 * Speed: 100 m/8 s
 * Vortech Shooter - Robo Rider's signature weapon is the Vortech Shooter pistol that shoots a powerful energy blast that can destroy an enemy in one blow. According to material, this gun ranges limitless and never misses the target.
 * -|Bio Rider= Bio Rider
 * Height: 198 cm
 * Weight: 85 kg
 * Ability Perimeters:4ec6e4f7848153e3a25b6801adb75ead.jpg
 * Punch: 45 ton
 * Kick: 75 ton
 * Jump: 90 m
 * Speed: 100 m/ 2 s

Trivia

 * Kohtaro is the only Rider to be the leading protagonist of two shows in the Kamen Rider Series. Because of this, he also has the following distinctions:
 * Kohtaro currently holds the record of the Rider with the most appearances.
 * Kohtaro is currently the only Rider to get a completely new set of powers at the cost of his old ones.