Takeshi Hongo

"My name is Takeshi Hongo, a warrior who is fighting for the freedom of all humans in the world!"

- Hongo's words to Kouta Kazuraba when they first meet

Takeshi Hongo aka Kamen Rider 1 is the main protagonist of the original Kamen Rider series from 1971. He is a biochemist at Jounan University, who also races motorcycles as part of the Tachibana Racing team. He was abducted by the evil organization Shocker and converted into a cyborg to serve the organization but managed to escape before they could brainwash him. After making his escape, Hongo dedicated his life to fighting against evil and bringing down Shocker.

Biography
Takeshi Hongo was a prodigy college biochemistry student at Jounan University's Biochemical Department, in which he also worked alongside Professor Midorikawa. Born on August 15, 1948, Hongo was a young man with an abnormal IQ of 600 as well as amazing physical prowess which attracted the attention of the secret organization Shocker, which planned to bring about a new order to the world, where artificially enhanced beings, both cybernetically and organically, stood at the top of the world. During his younger years, Hongo lost both his parents (his father was a shipwright and his mother was a teacher) thus making him have some tough times in his life until helped by Tachibana and others. Hongo enjoyed riding motorcycles, and during a practice, he ends up attacked and captured by Shocker`s minions.

While practicing for the grand prix, Hongo followed a group of bikers who were calling him out, only to fall into a trap sent up by terrorist organization called Shocker as they convert him into a super-powered cyborg before he woke up a week later as they are about to complete the process with brain washing. However, Hongo manages to escape Shocker's base by chance due to his college professor Midorikawa, who has been working for Shocker and was the man who selected Hongo to join the organization. The two are pursued by the Shocker Inhumanoid Spider Man and his forces as they hide out at warehouse 55 at the habor. Unfortunately, Spider Man managed to track Ruriko to their location and kills the Professor as Ruriko arrives, blaming Hongo for her father's death before Spider Man takes her. Pursuing them, Rider 1 fights through Spider Man's minions before battling the Inhumanoid, killing him with a Rider Kick.

After this initial introduction, the series becomes, as with most tokusatsu programmes of the era, fairly formulaic. Each episode sees Hongo meeting another of Shocker's mutants, interacting briefly with supporting characters, such as his mentor Tobei Tachibana and ultimately defeating the enemy, often with his trademark "Rider Kick" or "Rider Punch" attacks.

As the Kamen Rider, Hongo battles Shocker's monsters before learning that Shocker recreated the original Kamen Rider cyborg design on Ichimonji Hayato in an effort to combat the threat that Hongo posed to their organization. Hongo helped Ichimonji escape from Shocker, leaving him to fight Shocker as Kamen Rider 2 while he left the country to fight Shocker's other branches around the world. Eventually, Hongo returns to Japan and, as Kamen Rider 1, joins forces with Ichimonji as the "Double Riders" to finish Shocker and then destroy the Gel-Shocker organization that formed soon after.

Kamen Riders 1 and 2 next appeared in the series Kamen Rider V3. The titular V3 was Shirou Kazami, a junior of Hongo's, and begged them to turn him into a Kamen Rider after the murder of his family by the Destron organisation. Despite initially refusing, when the young man was mortally wounded assisting them, the two Riders transformed him into Kamen Rider V3, possessing both Kamen Rider 1's "skill" and Rider 2's "strength". The Double Riders were apparently killed detonating an atomic bomb, but reappeared alive and well later on in the series.

Personality
Takeshi Hongo is a heroic and selfless man who is brave enough to fight against the odds and has a kind hearted soul that tries to help those in need of his assistance. Despite all the troubles he has faced against Shocker's (as well as other evil organizations that use brainwashed cyborgs) soldiers, he is aware of their misfortune and feels sorry for them knowing that he very well could have ended up like them, as well as feeling at least some hesitance at killing them.

Although he is by far more human than most of Shockers experiments, he knows fully well of his less than human nature and initially expressed self-loathing until later in the series, where he accepted himself for who he is and gained a new form upon said acceptance. While originally somewhat distant to those around him aside from Tobei, Hongo does care deeply to the people that are close to him as he treated Taki and Ichimonji as his best friends and brothers. He also acted as an older sibling to his junior Kazami. Later on in the series as his character developed further, Hongo has become more lighter in terms of personality, and while he works just as hard to defeat his foes, has become much more cheerful. He also became more sociable than he initially was. This maturity has increased even more by V3's series as he mentored V3 as well as tried to protect him.

Transforming
Kamen Rider 1 uses the power of the wind to fight. To transform, Hongo speeds on his motorcycle, Cyclone, and leaps into the air, creating wind-pressure against his Typhoon belt. The pressure spins the wheel in the center of his belt which then activates the micro-nuclear engine and allows him to transform.

The “old” Rider did not have a shout or a pose when he transforms.

Rider Henshin
Hongo shouts and throws his right arm at a diagonal to his right then rotates it clock-wise until it’s a diagonal to his left, then he retracts it to his waist and thrusts out his left arm at a diagonal to his right. After that pose Hongo leaps into the air where the wind-pressure activates his transformation.

Techniques

 * Rider Kick
 * Lightning Rider Kick
 * Rider Return Kick
 * Rider Flash of Lightning Kick
 * Rider Drop Kick
 * Rider Screw Kick
 * Rider Windmill Triple Kick
 * Rider Point Kick
 * Rider Moon's Surface Kick
 * Rider Throw
 * Rider Reversal
 * Rider Tailspin Shoot
 * Rider Scissors
 * Rider Chop
 * Rider Flying Chop
 * Rider Wheel
 * Rider Punch
 * Rider Head Crusher
 * Rider Jump
 * Rider Back Jump
 * Rider Hammer
 * Rider Crash
 * Rider Knee Block
 * Rider Screw Block
 * Combined techniques
 * Rider Double Kick (with Rider 2)
 * Rider Double Chop (with Rider 2)