Shotaro Hidari

Shotaro Hidari is the left hand side of Kamen Rider Double, but also a Rider in his own right as Kamen Rider Joker. A self-proclaimed "hardboiled detective", he dresses in a retro fashion based on late-1930s style, favoring fedora hats and waistcoats.

He is often called 'half-boiled' by his friends, however, because he cannot fully shut out his doubts, was initially seen as inexperienced, often acts according to his feelings, and has difficulties making cruel yet necessary decisions, contrary to his hard-boiled aspirations. He later on becomes more respected though, as he proved himself throughout the series. He works as a private detective in the city of Futo. Vowing to stop anyone that makes his city cry after, as a child, witnessing Sokichi Narumi's first fight with the Spider Dopant, Shotaro eventually became Sokichi's protégé. His final job with Sokichi involved investigating a mysterious organization, at the behest of an equally mysterious client.

Publication Information

• Host : Shotaro Hidari
• Japanese : 左 翔太郎
• Rider Users : Kamen Rider Joker
• Known As : Kamen Rider W
• Gender : Male
• Season : Kamen Rider W
• Homeworld : Earth (Main Timeline Continuity)
• First Appearance : Kamen Rider Decade : All Riders vs. Dai-Shocker
• Last Appearance : Super Hero Taisen GP : Kamen Rider 3
• Number of Appearances : 49 (W), 10 (Movies), 2 (Wizard)
• Portrayer : Renn Kiriyama, Issei Kakazu (Child), Yukimasa Natori (Elderly)
• Main View : Full Episode

History

While infiltrating a Gaia Memory research building, Shotaro met Philip for the first time. However, due to Shotaro's recklessness, their cover was blown and it indirectly led to Sokichi being shot to death. Sokichi then left Shotaro to continue on in his stead, giving Shotaro his prized fedora in his final moments. Shortly afterwards, Philip and Shotaro used the Double Driver - which Sokichi had been carrying, perhaps with the intent that he become the body of Double - to transform for the first time, in order to escape.

Heisei Rider vs Showa Rider : Kamen Rider Taisen feat Super Sentai

Shotaro returns in Kamen Rider Taisen, as both Kamen Rider Double and Kamen Rider Joker. After being informed what happened in Japan, Shotaro meet with Tsukasa and Kaito, to be asked for finding someone related to Shun Aoi but refuse it due receiving job to search the missing pets (which Kaito claims to be idiotic). After being helped by Kaito, Tsukasa tells about the Heisei and Showa Riders are beginning to fight and he wants Shotaro to research the reason as it is related to Shun. Soon, he confronts by two BLACKs who think that Heisei Riders are nuisances as they attack Tsukasa when he is taking Shun to his mother.

Video Game appearances

• Kamen Rider Travelers Record

Aside from Kamen Rider Double, Shotaro appears transforming into Kamen Rider Joker in the video game Kamen Rider Travelers Record.

Personality

Shotaro's basic personality is an homage to the fictional detective Philip Marlowe (ironically, his partner's namesake), as is his aspiration to be a hard-boiled detective. Shotaro's decisiveness and honed detective intuition make him a remarkable detective even without the help of his partner. However, his friends and contacts often refer to him as 'half-boiled', as he was (initially) thought to be inexperienced (until Movie War 2010 where the A.R Narumi Sokichi accepts him as a full fledged detective) by others along with the fact that he wears his heart on his sleeve and lets his emotions get in the way of making the cruel yet necessary decisions that real hard-boiled detectives, such as his mentor,

Abilities

Having trained under Sokichi Narumi for years, he has honed his detective skills enough to become a competent private detective who is able to solve cases even without the help of Philip. He has a keen eye for details and has good deductive intuition, as such he is able to piece information together quickly and coherently and thus rarely fails in determining the culprit behind cases. His skills is such that the police, specifically Ryu, would often come looking for his help when dealing with Dopant-related cases.

Oddly enough, he has also shown a great skill in locating pets easily, more so than finding people, first seen when trying to locate a cat not knowing it was a trick and finding Mick. As a result, he has developed a fame out of it and most of his clients sought him out so to locate their lost pets, much to his chagrin.

In combat, Shotaro has proven himself to be a competent fighter even without using Gaia Memories, being able to take on several Masquerade Dopants without having to transform. Even in a weakened state of becoming an old man due to the Old Dopant, he is still able to make use of whatever motor skills and stamina left in his deteriorated body to put up a good fight. He is also quite adept at teamwork as frequently shown when he fights as Double.

Form

Kamen Rider Joker

• Main Article : Kamen Rider Joker

By utilizing a Joker Memory into the Lost Driver, Shotaro transform into Kamen Rider Joker, with its appearance similar to that of Kamen Rider Double. Shotaro briefly used the T2 Joker Memory when accessing this form for the first time, being able to defeat both the Heat Dopant and the Metal Dopant with relative ease despite having difficulty as Double. The Lost Driver was acquired when Kamen Rider Skull's ghost aided Shotaro.

Kamen Rider W

• Main Article : Kamen Rider W Arsenal, Weapon & Abilities

Kamen Rider Double is the main and eponymous protagonist of the Kamen Rider Series Kamen Rider W. Double is the first Kamen Rider that transforms from two people. Double made his debut appearance in the film Kamen Rider Decade: All Riders vs. Dai-Shocker. Each different version of Kamen Rider Double has its own finishing attack(s) known as Maximum Drives which is needed to defeat a Dopant. The energy imparted by the Maximum Drive does not destroy the Dopant but rather its Gaia Memory, resulting in the ejection of the Gaia Memory from the user's body, reverting the person to normal and the destruction of the Gaia Memory, hence why such a procedure is called a Memory Break.

Equipment

• Main Article : Kamen Rider W Equipment & Devices

Devices that are used in Double's transformation or power-ups in finisher attacks. A bird-themed Gaia Memory that further empowers Double. Support robots that are empowered by pseudo-Gaia Memories.

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• Potrayer, Host & Artist Discovery

Source : Wikipedia / kamenrider.wikia