Era Saga

Era Saga (サガ偉), the Flame-Wreathed Guardian (炎を払った保護者), is the main protagonist of Kamen Rider Nio. A highly-rebellious descendent of Saga no Mamoru, it is his destiny to harness the power of Ari and defend humanity from the Enmi as Kamen Rider Nio (仮面ライダー仁王).

Becoming a Kamen Rider
"No."  "What?!" "I refuse a name like that. My blood has its own beat, so I'll come up with my own title. How about... "Kamen". Yeah, that's it! I'll be "Kamen Rider Nio"!"

- Era rejecting the "Bushin Rider Nio" title and creating his own.

Personality
"I'm the very definition of a "free spirit"!"

- Era

Originally a happy and carefree child, Era's worldview changed drastically the moment his father revealed the true purpose of his learning Moriteryu. Terrified at the thought of battling the Enmi and other bizarre monsters, he naturally refused. The subsequent blow dealt by his father hurt him beyond words, and he quickly rushed out, never to be seen again. This revelation and the immediate aftermath have proven vital in shaping Era's worldview and setting the course for his development over the course of the series.

In the present day, Era is an extremely quirky and eccentric young man. He has taken the idea of being a 'rebel' to the absolute extreme, wearing intentionally modern and unfitting clothing of various clashing colors to distinguish himself from his family's more traditional style. Furthermore, his once black hair has been dyed various shades of green, red, and yellow. He at times also dons contacts to move the scheme to his eyes. He claims to have a tattoo on his body, though this has not been confirmed. In keeping with his desire to rebel against everything, he refuses to do anything the way another has told him to do it, even if the path he chooses himself is harder and less convenient. This is shown in his entering Watahama through an extremely crowded and dirty highway at 12 PM, instead of the more leisurely route recommend to him by Masao Onishi (who also requested him to arrive at 12 AM). This tendency to pettishly defy authority extends to all aspects of his life, from eating habits to the way he sleeps; it becomes both the main gag and feature of his character. Era has a habit of striking odd poses at random times and seems a bit melodramatic, narrating his arrival in the city to himself and no one else while dramatically grasping his chest. He becomes quite flustered when called out or interrupted during one of these episodes, frantically returning to business and pretending that nothing has happened. In order to enforce his way of life for him and others, he constantly uses the phrase "my blood has its own beat". Even when willingly taking the Toriiver and becoming Nio for the first time, he still insists that he's doing it for his own reasons rather than because of any sense of duty.

However, underneath this relative facade lies a genuinely kind and caring demeanor. He hates to see others in pain, deciding to fight as Nio in order to prevent just that, and goes out of his way to correct or compliment others. Unlike Doppo, who berates those who summon Enmi, he initially offers respect and understanding for them defying their own nature, claiming that he likes that type of person. When the flaws in such compliments are pointed out to him, he adjusts it to simply encouraging them in the aftermath. Even against rivals and enemies he is noted to fight with a respectful style, and he absolutely refuses to perform a mercy killing no matter who requests it. He remains incredibly friendly with people he meets for the first time and appears to have no sense of personal space, freely slapping them on the back or putting his arm around their shoulders with absolutely no regard for their comfort. A small smile is noted to always be on his face when nothing especially serious is going on, though depending on the scenario it can be sarcastic or mocking.

Despite his theatrics, he has a quite humble side, willingly accepting his weakness after being defeated by Ikegu the first time and genuinely attempting to put aside his grudge against his father in order to become stronger. This is later enforced by his interactions with Doppo and Kouji, acknowleding their strengths and the fact that they can do things he cannot before allowing himself to accept their aid.

This clashes often with the basic desire at the heart of his rebellious nature: his desire to run away. Horrified of the responsibility on his shoulders yet still wanting to protect everything he holds dear, he often struggles to reconcile the two. This comes to the surface during his torture in the Enmi World, where after a conversation with a hallucination of his ancestor he comes to the conclusion that there is no answer; he's trapped within the contradiction. Despairing at this (especially after realizing it was part of the process of becoming the Bure), he later chooses to find his own middle ground; having to choose between "I want to save my friends" and "I want to run away", he selects "I want to run away with my friends", which becomes his motivation during the final battle. Even his request for their assembled flames to be given to him is done out of his desire to take the last burden on his shoulders alone, so that they don't have to bear it and can escape from the conflict. He frequently urges them all to leave Watahame as soon as the battle ends, claiming that he will come with them. Once everything has ended, he freely rejects and releases the Bure's power despite all the good he could do with it, claiming that he has done all he should do.

Era initially sports a rather dirty and unorthodox fighting style, known as Moriteryu Oredo; it mixes street fighting elements and parkour with the more traditional martial arts of his family. As such, he is no stranger to using underhanded tactics and tricks in order to turn the tide of battle in his favor at first, as well as using the environment to his full advantage. His later battles with Ikegu and Banchō, as well as his accompanying re-mastery of the fighting style, lead to these elements become less emphasized as he becomes a more honorable fighter. Notably, even in his original style he carried a sort of respect for his opponents, mentioning that with just his skill at Moriteryu he couldn't beat the Enmi and therefore needed to result to less savory tactics. At times he has also been shown to rant mid-battle, disparaging his opponent furiously as he fights against them, no matter his own situation in the fight.

Friends/Allies

 * Shine Konno-
 * Doppo Abe-
 * Kouji Yabura-
 * Iena Sugiyama-
 * Masao Onishi-
 * Ikegu-

Family

 * Date Saga-

Enemies

 * Rokka Ooguro-
 * Ash-Iahih-
 * Uzikiri-

Kumadori
Nio's various forms are known as Kumadori (隈取). Base transformation is achieved through the insertion of the Nio Omamari into the Toriiver, allowing him to assume the Oshiroi form(s); the basic and signature of Nio. The additional forms are the Kumadori themselves, add-ons that increase Era's basic stats and offer him newer weapons. They are inspired by various famous kabuki plays, characters, and terminology. These are achieved through the use of Emari being inserted in front of the Omamari. These release specially-treated flames that cloak and modify the original armor. Each form Nio's bears a Flame Wreath (炎輪) which has various purposes, being both a source of the Flames of Ari and a potential weapon or enhancement for attacks. The specific Flame Wreath and its shape also changes with each form.

By striking a mie in the shape of certain kanji, Nio can activate several different finishing moves known as Hissatsu.

Devices

 * Toriiver - Transformation Belt
 * Omamari - Transformation trinket
 * Emari - Secondary transformation trinkets