Kamen Rider V3 (仮面ライダーV3) is a Japanese tokusatsu television series. It is the second installment in the popular Kamen Rider Series, and the direct sequel to the original Kamen Rider. It was a production of Toei, and was shown on Mainichi Broadcasting System and NET from February 17, 1973, to February 9, 1974. Every episode of Kamen Rider V3 begins with the following opening narration: "Kamen Rider V3, Shiro Kazami, is an altered human. Mortally wounded by Destron, he is rebuilt by Kamen Riders 1 and 2, reborn as Kamen Rider V3."

Plot

Starting after the events of the original series, Shiro Kazami witnesses a murder by Destron, a new organization created from Gel-Shocker by its previously thought deceased leader. They attempt to kill Shiro and later kill his family. With this, Shiro begs Takeshi Hongo and Hayato Ichimonji to turn him into a Kamen Rider. After turning Shiro into Kamen Rider V3, the Double Riders sacrifice themselves to save Tokyo. Shiro then must fight Destron in Japan with the help of Tobei Tachibana, the Kamen Rider Kid Corps, and later the Double Riders, revealed to have survived and left to fight Destron in other countries. Towards the end of his war, Shiro is joined by ex-Destron scientist Joji Yuki a.k.a. the Riderman. Eventually, Joji sacrificed himself to save Japan and thus Shiro named him Kamen Rider #4. During the final battle, Shiro stopped Destron's leader and the organization as a whole, saving the world from its reign of terror, but their leader still survived, meaning someday more of his forces could appear to enact his will.

Characters

Kamen Riders

Allies

Destron

Destron (デストロン) is an international organization bent on conquering the world with terrorist acts, Destron was formed under the lead of the mysterious Great Leader by surviving members of Gelshocker. Although Destron had branches in every country and sought to dominate the entire planet, its main headquarters was in Japan which Destron focused its attention on. Initially the monster of the Mechanical Army followed the orders of the unseen Destron Leader without any direct supervision, but after repeated failures of the monsters the Destron Leader summoned Doctor G from Destron's German Division to take charge of the day-to-day operations of Destron's Japanese Division. Destron used the scorpion as its symbol but had no scorpion-like monsters. Destron is the only Showa villainous organization in the franchise to appear in the movie OOO, Den-O, All Riders: Let's Go Kamen Riders although several of its monsters make appearances; this is most likely due to the organization being formed from Shocker remnants, therefore making its construction unnecessary. Their name is also reused as the Japanese name of the Decepticon faction from the Transformers franchise.

Destron Kaijin

Destron's Kaijins are sorted into different groups:

Returning characters

The following characters return from Kamen Rider:

Episodes

Movies

During a battle against Destron's forces, Shiro Kazami helps a priest who has been attacked by the evil organization's monster Hasami-Jaguar. Little does he know that the church where the priest resides is a front for a Destron hideout. After finding out the organization's latest motive, Kamen Rider V3, along with the Double Riders, must stop Destron from detonating a nuclear bomb in Tokyo. A physicist named Tetsuo Okita discovers a new mineral called "satanum", which is more powerful than uranium and emits destructive effects to anyone exposed to it. However, Destron abducts Okita in hopes of finding the source of satanum and collecting more of it to expedite their run for global domination. Kamen Rider V3 must act fast in rescuing Professor Okita and preventing Destron from collecting more of the deadly mineral.

S.I.C. Hero Saga

Published in Monthly Hobby Japan magazine from May to August 2003, the S.I.C. Hero Saga story Masked Rider V3 & Riderman: Riderman Another After featured an alternate history of Riderman's creation. It featured the new character called the Destron Rider (デストロンライダー).

Manga

A manga adaptation was made by Mitsuru Sugaya during the run of the series.

Kamen Rider The Next

As of 2007, a reimagined Kamen Rider V3 appears in Kamen Rider The Next, a movie loosely based on the TV series, following the reboot of the franchise started with the 2005 movie Kamen Rider The First.

Cast

Songs

Home Video

• In 2008, the Hawaii-based company JN Productions/Generation Kikaida released Kamen Rider V3 on a remastered six-disc complete series Region 1 DVD set in Japanese with English Subtitles. However following Generation Kikaida’s closure in 2023, their DVD box-set has since been out-of-print. • In 2024, Discotek Media announced that they had licensed Kamen Rider V3 with plans to release the full 52 episode series on Blu-Ray later that year remastered in HD, along with a brand new English-subtitle translation and loads of extras included on the set.