Taiga was born prior to 1986 as the first born son of Maya, the Queen of the Checkmate Four, and the Checkmate Four's original King. He would receive the title of King at infancy after his father's death before he was spirited away by Maya to be raised by Mamoru Shima as a human child, wearing a glove over his hand to conceal his Checkmate Four crest. It would be while as a boy that he encounters Wataru Kurenai and the two become good friends until Taiga was spirited off, his childhood being under heavy watch.
Publication Information
- Host : Taiga Nobori
- Japanese : 登 太牙
- Type : King Of Fangires (2008), Fangire
- Gender : Male
- Relative : King (Kiva) (Father), Maya (Mother), Wataru Kurenai (Half Brother), Mio Suzuki (Future Bride)
- HomeWorld : Earth (Main Timeline Continuity)
- Season : Kamen Riders Kiva
- First Appearance : Kamen Riders Kiva Episod 27 : 80's: Angry Rising Blue
- Last Appearance : OOO, Den-O, All Riders : Let's Go Kamen Riders
- Appearances : 16 (Kiva), 1 (Movie)
- Portrayer : Shouma Yamamoto, Yugo Kishizawa (child)
- Main View : Full Episod
Along with learning of his true nature as the Fangire offspring of the previous King and Queen of the Checkmate Four, Taiga developed a disdain for humans as he attacks Shima, scarring his foster father's back before taking his leave. As the current King, Taiga intends to prevent the progress of humanity from moving forward to the point of becoming a problem for Fangires like with Ixa.
The crime becomes even more unforgivable should the guilty party be a Fangire. When executing an opponent, he says, "The King's sentence is given. It's death!". Though his Fangire form is a mystery, he displays impressive powers such as summoning a giant shadowy mass of vipers or conjuring up the Feathered Serpent called Kukulkan and multiple giant Sagarc under a larger Mother Sagarc as his support.
Personality
As the offspring of the Fangire King and Maya, Taiga has inherited some parts of their personality and powers. While mostly cool and calm like the both of them, he is also capable of having a fiery temper like his father. He was also very commanding, arrogant and proud of his status as the King of Fangires. Unlike his father who tried to show no emotion concerning love though, Taiga was somewhat the opposite.
Taiga originally hated most humans (aside from Wataru whom he later found out was his half brother) because of his past with them and saw them as livestock like most Fangires. He also originally tried to prevent the humans from evolving and becoming a threat to Fangires. It was presumably this side of his personality which led to him having a falling out with both Mio and Wataru.
Although somewhat sharp, he can sometimes be oblivious as well. When he lost almost everything, Taiga showed a desperate side and went to Maya despite his earlier comments about her, hinting a helpless side as well. Despite these faults, Taiga wasn`t truly evil and showed some loyalty towards others he cared about. He also cared about Maya and Shima despite holding a grudge against the both of them.
As Shima stated later on, Taiga actually has some kindness in his heart which he showed from time to time. He also showed guilt and repentance when he knocked out Maya to steal Kivat-bat the 2nd. After changing for the better thanks to Wataru, Taiga became more accepting of other species and created a project which will nourish the Fangires (and presumably the rest of the Demon Races which require life energy) without human life energy. he also seemingly became more humble and kind.
OOO, Den-O, All Riders : Let's Go Kamen Riders
Kamen Rider Saga 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 powerful All Rider Break attack which destroyed the Great Leader. OOO, Den-O, All Riders: Let's Go Kamen Riders
Rider Users:
Form
Saga
- Saga
- Henshin! ― Sagarc's Transformation announcement
- Rider height : 205cm
- Rider weight : 110kg
- Punching power : 12t
- Kicking power : 35t
- Finisher Power (Snaking Death-Break) : 40t
- Maximum jump height : 90m
- Maximum running speed : 100m/2s
- Ending theme : Roots of the King
- Saga's only form is accessed by inserting the Jacorder into Sagarc after the Sagarc Belt is formed. It is with this same item that Saga performs the Snaking Death-break finishing attack, where he impales the target with the jacorder in whip mode, and hangs them until they are destroyed. Taiga then abandons his power as Saga to gain the power of Dark Kiva.
Dark Kiva
- Dark Kiva
- Gaburi! ― Dark Kivat's transformation announcement
- Rider Height : 205cm
- Rider Weight : 112kg
- Punching power : 20 t.
- Usual kicking power : 35 t.
- Maximum jump height : 250 m.
- Maximum running speed : 100 m. per 1.2 sec.
- Ending theme : Supernova
- Dark Kiva only appears to have one form, similar to that of Kiva Emperor Form in black and red. However, Dark Kiva does not require the use of a being such as Tatsulot to achieve this form, and has no chains on his body as Kiva needs to control his power. As Dark Kiva, Taiga is pretty much like the King of the Checkmate Four, yet he retains his weapon, the Jacorder.
- As Maya would later explain, the Kiva power cannot be used by a normal human, as usage would ultimately result in death. This would prove to be true, as Otoya had used the Dark Kiva power a total of three times before finally dying due to the strain it put on his body. Shima also mentioned this when Wataru revealed his heritage to him.
Equipment
- Saga
- Sagarc Belt : Transformation belt
- Jacorder : Personal weapon
- Fuestles : Whistle-like devices that activate a function, depending on the Fuestle
- Dark Kiva
- Kivat-bat the 2nd : Taiga's Kivat partner
- Dark Kivat Belt : Transformation device that forms when Kivat bites Taiga
- Fuestles : Whistle-like devices that activate a function, depending on the Fuestle
- KamenRide : Saga
- A Rider Card containing the power of Kamen Rider Saga. Used by Diend to summon Kamen Rider Saga. First used in the World of Den-O to fight M-Yuusuke.
- Main Article : Kamen Rider Saga (A.R.World)
