- "I may fall, but not like this. It won't be by your hand! The blood of the woman I loved, Yuna, is stained by your organization's hands! Her cries for justice will not be silenced until I destroy you all!"
- ―Hotaro confronting Rock Spider[src]
Hotaro Dairou (大朗 火太郎 Dairou Hotaro?) was the Creation of Hoshi Fujioka and the first person to be Kamen Rider Dante (I) (仮面ライダーダンテ (１号) Kamen Raida Dante (Ichigo)?) in the Re:Creators/Kamen Rider crossover fanfic Cinders and Ashes: The Chronicle Of Kamen Rider Dante.
Personality[]
Hotaro is a strong spirited fighter who always believes in justice. He is above using his powers to seek revenge for the loss of Yuna, even if it was his drive during his first times as Kamen Rider Dante. He is determined to fight evil to make sure Yuna rests in peace.
He's also able to tell when someone is thinking of vengeance, as seen with his conversation with Altair.
Hotaro is passionate about fighting for justice, fulfilling the requirement needed for the Volcano Belt.
However, Hotaro has a dark side to him that had been created by Hoshi. His need to exact justice is really a twisted sense of merciless brutality, especially in regards to anyone allied with Re:Shocker who has taken a life. This side of him is only when Hoshi is writing him and is absent when Tachibana pens the story.
History[]
Becoming Dante[]
- "Yuna… Watch over me…"
- ―Hotaro deciding to be Kamen Rider Dante.[src]
Not much is known about Hotaro Dairou prior to his fight with Rock Spider, just that he lost his girlfriend Yuna at the hands of Re:Shocker and that he was given the Volcano Belt by Professor Minos.
A flashback expanded upon his story, though, showing him battling Blaze Neko.
Obtaining the Trailblazer[]
Hoshi, after being inspired by his teamwork with Alicetaria, went to work on the fourteenth chapter of Kamen Rider Dante. During Hotaro's uninterrupted fight with Rock Spider, he is saved by Tobei Tachibana who hands him the Trailblazer. During his rematch with Rock Spider, he was able to unlock the powers of Yellowstone and defeat the monster using his newfound powers.
Expanded Adventures[]
Hoshi soon discovers that Hotaro's stories were expanded in a spin-off manga made by Ryuu Tachibana, in which expands on certain stories like how a panda monster used to be Hotaro's friend or that Formula Rex had backup.
Finding Yuna's Killer[]
- "It's true that Yuna's death motivates me to fight, but I do not use her as an excuse to lash out. I instead use her to remind myself what I'm fighting for… I use her to remind myself to keep moving forward… That's why… I'll keep on fighting! HENSHIN!"
- ―Hotaro activating Sakurajima Mount for the first time[src]
At some point, he was called to a meeting by a mysterious person, who reveals himself to be Yuna's killer and the recipient of the Plague Belt. He transforms and fights Kamen Rider Docro. This battle was written by two writers and had two different outcomes.
Hoshi's Version[]
Hotaro managed to overpower Docro's poisonous gasses and brutally beats him up while he rants at him about letting Yuna die and keeping her death a secret. This version was stopped before it came to a conclusion, however.
Tachibana's Version[]
Hotaro is easily defeated by Docro's poisonous gasses. Yudai then brings up how Yuna was his sister and that he would use Hotaro's belt to avenge her. However, Hotaro, determined to avenge Yuna for him, taps into a new power: Sakurajima Mount. Using this, he was able to overpower Yudai and destroy the Plague Belt. Feeling at peace, Hotaro chose to spare Yudai despite his angered pleas otherwise.
Fighting Shocker-Zangyack[]
- "Kelly, I have the feeling like we’ll meet again in some way."
- ―Hotaro talking to Kelly after their brief team-up.
During a side story for A Golden Drive Through Equestria, Hotaro partakes in fighting Shocker-Zangyack's Sports
man Three alongside Lapis and Kelly Randall, where he defeats Baseball Mask by Rider Punching the ball he pitched. After a brief chat, Hotaro muses that they may meet again, to which Kelly dismisses.
Brought into Reality[]
- "Please… Take my Belt… Stop the Military Uniform Princess… And… save this Land of Gods…"
- ―Hotaro's final words to Hoshi Fujioka[src]
During his fight with Rock Spider, he is saved by Altair, who tried to convince him to join her in her quest for vengeance. Hotaro refused and told her that she's using her pains as an excuse for revenge. A fight presumably ensues which results in Hotaro being mortally wounded and being forced to give up his Volcano Belt over to Hoshi to ensure that the fight as Kamen Rider Dante continued. He died soon after.
Relationships[]
- Hoshi: He only met him briefly, but in that short span of time, he realized that he created him. He trusted him enough to hand him the Volcano Belt, which for Hoshi and the others implied that he was either okay with his role as his God or that he trusts him regardless.
- Altair: He refused to join her even if they both suffered loss due to the reason that, whereas he uses the pain to fight, she uses hers to destroy. Altair got angry due to this act of pity and decided to kill him.
- Yuna: Hotaro loved Yuna and when she died, he was devastated and sought to either avenge her death or ensure no one was killed like her again, depending on who wrote Hotaro.
- Yudai: Hotaro met him and found out he was the one behind Yuna's death. He had two reactions. The first, by Hoshi, had him lash out at Yudai and yell at him for killing her. The second reaction, by Tachibana, had him redirect his scathing remarks by saying that he fights for justice and not revenge, even going as far as to spare Yudai after he destroys his belt.
- Professor Minos: The only connection was that both of them wanted to fight Re:Shocker for different reasons, and thus a pact was formed. While explored in a flashback, outside of Hotaro initially getting angry at Minos, it is relatively the same.
- Alicetaria: While Hotaro did not meet her, Hoshi confirms, based off how his views of justice are inspired by Alicetaria's, that he would have fought by her side had circumstances been different.
Mounts[]
Hotaro only has access to the primary form of Kamen Rider Dante, Fuji Form (富士フォーム Fuji Fōmu?). In Fuji Form, Hotaro has access to basic levels of strength and power. To access it, Hotaro either has to use fire to charge his belt or be hot-blooded.
When powered up by fire or hot blood in Rider Form, flames start to shoot out, giving him the temporary form of Fuji Form Endeavor (富士フォームエンデバー Fuji Fōmu Endebā?), a brief boost that allows him to use the Rider Kick and Rider Punch.
However, the flames don't last for long. When the belt runs out of fire, the armor slowly fades to a white colored form called Ashen Form (灰分フォーム Kaibun Fōmu?). In Ashen Form, Hotaro's attacks aren't enhanced and his strength and power are average to that of a human, severely weak compared to Fuji Form. While we never saw him achieve this form, Hoshi has said that he has gained this form during his first days as Dante before gaining the resolve to fight Re:Shocker.
During his rematch with Rock Spider, he unlocked Yellowstone Form (イエローストーンフォーム Ierōsutōn Fōmu?). Not much is known about it outside of its Endeavor (Yellowstone Form Endeavor (イエローストーンフォームエンデバー Ierōsutōn Fōmu Endebā?), which allows Hotaro to turn into lava. It is unknown if Hotaro has the same flaw as Hoshi in regards to controlling emotions in this state.
During his fight with Kamen Rider Docro, Hotaro unlocked Sakurajima Mount. It seems to have the same capabilities as Hoshi's Sakurajima Mount.
Notes[]
- With the revelation that Hotaro's 'purpose' was to attack Setsuna's bullies, it brings to mind infamous uses of original characters such as Sonichu or David Kintobor, who were often used as mouthpieces for the author to voice their dislikes at best and outright attack people they hate at worst.
- This also brings to mind the concept of the Cross of Fire on a twisted scale. Hoshi repurposed Hotaro's character to criticize Zenmetsuna only for Tachibana to reconstruct Hotaro's character to be more of a noble character, much in the same way that Shocker remodeled Takeshi Hongo to be their weapon before Professor Midorikawa helped him escape and become the Kamen Rider we know today.
Etymology[]
- As stated by Hoshi, Hotaro was named after his aunt Hotaru. As a whole, it means "Big Bright Fire Boy".
- Funny enough, a Kamen Rider would eventually be named Hotaro who would later get a fire-themed form.