Masked Rider (term)

The term Masked Rider was used as the official English name of the Kamen Rider Series for marketing purposes until Kamen Rider Decade (2009). In Japanese, the word Kamen (仮面) can be literally translated as "Mask" or "Masked". Since the beginning of the Heisei phase 2 era, the term Kamen Rider was more prominently used as an English term, with "Masked Rider" now mostly referring to the TV series Saban's Masked Rider.

Thus, beginning with the Heisei phase 2 era, starting from Kamen Rider W, Kamen Rider seasons no longer use "Masked Rider" in their English title, instead using the term "Kamen Rider". Individual Riders were also named "Kamen Rider (rider name)", to further distinguish the Heisei phase 2 era from the Heisei phase 1 era. Fans around the world also began to use the term "Kamen Rider" much more prominently, effectively making "Kamen Rider" the de facto English translation for the franchise itself. However, "Masked Rider" is still sometimes used in the designations of pre-W era Riders. A few notable examples are below:
 * The S.H. Figuarts series has "Masked Rider" used in the designation of pre-W era Riders labelled on the boxart.
 * The Legend Rider Lockseeds from Kamen Rider Gaim as well as the Ganbarizing card game distinguishes Heisei phase 2 Riders from the Riders before them by using the terms "Kamen Rider" and "Masked Rider" respectively in their Rider designations.
 * In the opening sequence of D-Video Special: Kamen Rider 4, Faiz and Zeronos are called "Masked Rider Faiz" and "Masked Rider Zeronos", while Drive and Mach are called "Kamen Rider Drive" and "Kamen Rider Mach".
 * A brand new designed Rider 1 in 2016 was typed as "Kamen Rider 1" instead of "Masked Rider 1" on the official website.