In the Kamen Rider series during the Showa era, there has been this mysterious figure only known as the "Great Leader". Somehow he has managed to survive or escape every finale, leading to him creating another organization. Whether or not he was telling the truth is something to decipher. So let's see his alleged appearances all voiced by Naya Goro.
As the leader of Shocker, he was only heard in a voice. It was only until the finale that the first two Kamen Riders met him in person or is it? They faced a demonic figure that turned out to be but a robotic bomb, programmed to destroy them. Shocker was ended but...
In Kamen Rider V3, he was giving orders to Destron and the links were revealed. He again was invisible only revealed by a voice. V3 faced a fake skeleton claiming to be the Great Leader. However when its skull was cracked open, again, it was just a fake. Great Leader must have escaped. No impressive final battle.
While he was absent for Amazon, he returned in Stronger. However Satan Bug was just another decoy. Sigh.
The second half of Stronger featured him as a giant rock monster. In reality, he was a giant brain that the seven riders were forced to deal with. He attempted to destroy himself but then, this was just another robot. Great Leader just likes to be dramatic.
He was absent for X but returned in Sky Rider. A big giant dragon manifested and said he was the leader of the Neo Shocker organization. Although it seemed he destroyed the Kamen Riders, they survived.
At the end of the ZX TV special, the Great Leader manifested himself in a cameo. He warned the Kamen Riders he would always return.
The supposed and alleged final appearance was in Kamen Rider Black RX as Grand Lord Crisis. Whether or not Century King was another Great Leader decoy is something for fans to decide, because Century King was NOT voiced by Naya Goro but by Takeshi Watabe. He was awfully silent here, leaving his second-in-command General Jak to do most of the talking. He was first heard in episode 42 after Gedorian's death appeased his wrath. In episodes 47-48, he is revealed to be an ugly shadow and he was using General Dasmader as a host body. When Tasmadder was destroyed, he had one short final battle with Black RX who easily disposed of him (presumably his time spent in Dasmader's body weakened him) but he again proclaimed he would always return, suggesting this was another decoy. I guess the writers wanted Black RX to finish him alone rather than have the other riders fight because, Kamen Rider was meant to be a one-on-one combat show.
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So which is which? My theory is that the Great Leader was actually using decoys to prevent death while forming various organizations, to help him conquer the Earth, even writing false histories in the process. He aimed to create his own Kamen Riders to help him easily conquer other worlds but in the process, he was betrayed but is stubborn.
I believe he also established Gorgom, perhaps why General Jak knew that Kotaro Minami was Kamen Rider Black and knew of Shadow Moon's past. I mean, Gorgom and Shocker had the pattern of creating Kamen Riders. Shocker lost both Kamen Riders while Gorgom kept one Kamen Rider and lost the other, a parallel between Takeshi Hongo and Kotaro Minami is developed as riders intended to be brainwashed but joined the side of good instead.
Concerning his time with Crisis Empire, why he remained silent for so long is not known. Maybe he had sustained much injury during the Black saga that he needed time to rest, even the need for Tasmader to house his essence became a necessity. However with his defeat in Black RX, it may take a LONG TIME for him to return since no mention of Great Leader is ever made again. Or maybe "King Dark" in Decade was really him. Naya Goro voiced the Great Leader for OOO-Den-O All Riders in which the Great Leader managed to distort the timeline.
Is the Overlord of Darkenss the Great Leader? So I had my thoughts that the Overlord of Darkness lacks to understand humanity, treats them as pets and he forbids the killing of humans without his approval. He targets the Agito holders, so if he were the Great Leader why didn't he tell the previous organizations to do the same? So that dismisses it. Also, he couldn't be Daguva either since the Grongi had no hints that they founded any of the old school organizations.
As the leader of Shocker, he was only heard in a voice. It was only until the finale that the first two Kamen Riders met him in person or is it? They faced a demonic figure that turned out to be but a robotic bomb, programmed to destroy them. Shocker was ended but...
In Kamen Rider V3, he was giving orders to Destron and the links were revealed. He again was invisible only revealed by a voice. V3 faced a fake skeleton claiming to be the Great Leader. However when its skull was cracked open, again, it was just a fake. Great Leader must have escaped. No impressive final battle.
While he was absent for Amazon, he returned in Stronger. However Satan Bug was just another decoy. Sigh.
The second half of Stronger featured him as a giant rock monster. In reality, he was a giant brain that the seven riders were forced to deal with. He attempted to destroy himself but then, this was just another robot. Great Leader just likes to be dramatic.
He was absent for X but returned in Sky Rider. A big giant dragon manifested and said he was the leader of the Neo Shocker organization. Although it seemed he destroyed the Kamen Riders, they survived.
At the end of the ZX TV special, the Great Leader manifested himself in a cameo. He warned the Kamen Riders he would always return.
The supposed and alleged final appearance was in Kamen Rider Black RX as Grand Lord Crisis. Whether or not Century King was another Great Leader decoy is something for fans to decide, because Century King was NOT voiced by Naya Goro but by Takeshi Watabe. He was awfully silent here, leaving his second-in-command General Jak to do most of the talking. He was first heard in episode 42 after Gedorian's death appeased his wrath. In episodes 47-48, he is revealed to be an ugly shadow and he was using General Dasmader as a host body. When Tasmadder was destroyed, he had one short final battle with Black RX who easily disposed of him (presumably his time spent in Dasmader's body weakened him) but he again proclaimed he would always return, suggesting this was another decoy. I guess the writers wanted Black RX to finish him alone rather than have the other riders fight because, Kamen Rider was meant to be a one-on-one combat show.
__________
So which is which? My theory is that the Great Leader was actually using decoys to prevent death while forming various organizations, to help him conquer the Earth, even writing false histories in the process. He aimed to create his own Kamen Riders to help him easily conquer other worlds but in the process, he was betrayed but is stubborn.
I believe he also established Gorgom, perhaps why General Jak knew that Kotaro Minami was Kamen Rider Black and knew of Shadow Moon's past. I mean, Gorgom and Shocker had the pattern of creating Kamen Riders. Shocker lost both Kamen Riders while Gorgom kept one Kamen Rider and lost the other, a parallel between Takeshi Hongo and Kotaro Minami is developed as riders intended to be brainwashed but joined the side of good instead.
Concerning his time with Crisis Empire, why he remained silent for so long is not known. Maybe he had sustained much injury during the Black saga that he needed time to rest, even the need for Tasmader to house his essence became a necessity. However with his defeat in Black RX, it may take a LONG TIME for him to return since no mention of Great Leader is ever made again. Or maybe "King Dark" in Decade was really him. Naya Goro voiced the Great Leader for OOO-Den-O All Riders in which the Great Leader managed to distort the timeline.
As for me, maybe the fact that there just seems to be no end for him and that he always took different forms is like a message to us that evil is always present and will always take different forms; thus, we have to be always ready when it strikes.
ReplyDeleteAs for me, maybe the fact that there just seems to be no end for him and that he always took different forms is like a message to us that evil is always present and will always take different forms; thus, we have to be always ready when it strikes.
ReplyDeleteAbout the Overlord of Darkness idea, I find that lumping all Heisei enemy factions and mosnters with Shocker doesn't do them justice. The Grongi could give a rat's ass about global domination because their victory is both the satiation of their own bloodlust and, in Daguva's case, corruption of human nature. The Lords, seeing themselves as humanity's sentinels, were only doing what they thought was right. The Mirror Monsters and Makamou were animals. I could keep going on. But then again, Shirakura and Yonemura do not understand that nuance to these groups' villainy that mark them differently from their Showa counterparts, barring the equally nuanced Gorgom and Crisis Empire (though not as much for the latter. Ignoring the Great Leader's presence, saving their own world via subjugation of another is understandable but still inexcusable).
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