Orphenoch
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An Orphenoch or pronounced as Orphnoch and Oliff for short, is a fictional human evolutionary stage seen in the 2003- 2004 Japanese television series Kamen Rider 555.
Orphenochs are supposed to be the next stage in human evolution. They are stronger, tougher, and faster, with various other special abilities.
Types
There are generally 3 types of Orphenoch:
- Natural Orphenochs become Orphenochs on their own, without the aid of other Orphenochs or Smart Brain Corporation, their powers are awakened after death; similar to the Immortal from Highlander.
- Created Orphenochs are made in Smart Brain laboratories or by other Orphenochs, and are often much weaker than other kinds of Orphenochs.
- Evolved Orphenochs have had their genetic flaw corrected by the Orphenoch King, but may no longer transform into their human form.
Abilities
All Orphenochs have the following abilities:
- Enhanced Sense: One of the Orphenoch’s senses has been enhanced to a superhuman level. They may be able to hear, smell or see great distances, tuning out background noise to focus on their target.
- Regeneration: This is the power that resurrects the Orphenoch after its first death. It is stronger in some Orphenochs than in others.
- Transformation: Any non-evolved Orphenoch may transform between their human form and their Orphenoch form. Their Orphenoch form is a white or gray humanoid with characteristics of either a plant or an animal. This ability also lets them transform using Rider Gears.
- Armour (Orphenoch form only): All Orphenoch are armoured, such that they are immune to standard small arms fire. The strength of the armour varies wildly from Orphenoch to Orphenoch, and is a good measure of an Orphenoch's power. More powerful conventional weaponry can harm or even kill some Orphenochs, while others can withstand even the basic attacks of the Rider Gears (though most are destroyed by them.) In the movie, Paradise Lost all Orphenochs were portrayed as being invulnerable to normal bullets (and special bullets designed to fight them were a failure.)
- Siring: All Orphenochs are capable of making or "siring" other Orphenochs (similar to Vampires or Werewolves) by attacking humans and (usually) stabbing them through the heart. This has a very low success rate, and usually results in disintegrating the human in question. Some Orphenochs (most prevalent in Paradise Lost) seem to be capable of using long, skin piercing tentacles specifically for siring others, and one Orphenoch (Leo, possessor of the Psyga Gear never seen in Orphenoch form) does so (forming a tentacle from one of his index fingers) in human form. However, all other examples are in Orphenoch form.
Some Orphenochs have more abilities. It is unclear whether these abilities are unique to certain orphenochs, or simply a matter of skill (it is definitely implied that abilities like Energy Blasts can be learned by all Orphenochs, but not shown.) These secondary abilities include:
- Energy Blast: Orphenochs may fire energy blasts from their hands in either form. The attack is slow, and inaccurate over long distances, so it is often used as a surprise attack.
- Reanimation: One Orphenoch has been seen to be capable of regenerating his entire body after being disintegrated, although he was only capable of doing so a limited number of times. How he gained this ability (or knew of it, and its limited supply) is unknown. It is also unknown whether any other Orphenochs could develop the same power. It may be linked the Regeneration ability that lets natural Orphenochs revive after their death as a human.
- Weapon Generation (Orphenoch form only): Some Orphenochs can generate some kind of weapon from their body. The weapon varies from Orphenoch to Orphenoch, but it is generally some kind of melee weapon, though guns are also possible. After battle they disappear like the armour, presumably absorbed into the Orphenoch's body. These weapons can be destroyed and later regenerated. On one occasion a weapon is taken from an Orphenoch who is thought to be dead, and remains solid for some time. It is unknown whether it later disintegrated, although the same Orphenoch was capable of generating the weapon next time he went into battle.
- Hybrid From (or Beast Form) (Orphenoch form only): Whilst in Orphenoch form, some Orphenochs may transform further into a hybrid between their Orphenoch and their plant/animal template. For example: Horse Orphenoch could transform into a Centaur like creature, the Crane Orphenoch can grow wings, Rose Orpheonoch could transform into a shower of rose petals, and the Elephant Orphenoch can use traits of an elephant.
- Secondary Form (or Demon Form) (Orphenoch form only): Some Orphenochs have exhibited a second orphenoch form in addition to their first. Most notable is the Dragon Orphenoch, Kitazaki, could shift between an extremely bulky and powerful form to a thin and agile form; the Horse Orphenoch (Kiba Yuji) also had a second form (a variation on his helmet design) used towards the end of the series, and exclusively in Paradise Lost. It's stronger than the Hybrid Beast Form, but causes the Orpenoch to be more savage.
Factions
There are 2 distinct factions amongst Orphenochs; Smart Brain, and Renegades.
Smart Brain Corporation is trying to gather Orphenochs so that they can kill off the human population of Earth, and take their place as rulers of the planet. They are experimenting with making Orphenochs even more powerful and developing weapons that only Orphenochs can use. They are looking for the Orphenoch King so he can correct their genetic instability.
Renegades are not aligned with Smart Brain, and each follows their own agenda. Most Renegades wish to continue with their normal human lives. Some use their new found powers to kill people who have wronged them (in real or imaginary ways), while others fight to protect humans. Not since Kujira Kaijin from Kamen Rider Black, have there been "good" kaijin to help the riders.
How to kill an Orphenoch
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This proves to be very difficult because they are almost invulnerable to anything. They even have defenses that protect them from things such as a car hitting them, fall from heights, gunfire etc. They also possess an inherent immunity to psionic powers. In addition, their wounds recover rather quickly. Orphenochs can be seen injured when a small blue flame bursts from their wound. Unfortunately, seems that they can only die at the hands of a Rider or another Orphenoch; only because they're powerful enough to kill them. One of the more powerful kaijin in the Kamen Rider Series.
Breakdown
It is known to a few Orphenochs that their bodies will inevitably break down and disintegrate, as if they were killed, within a few years of becoming an Orphenoch (the time seems to vary depending on the Orphenoch, perhaps because of reasons outlined bellow.)
Former chief of Smart Brain, Hinagata, had discovered this before the start of the series. His explanation was that "the human body cannot stand such a rapid evolution", and that as such, they were doomed to die. The exact meaning of "rapid evolution" is vague, but based on other signs, it would appear to mean their transformation into and out of Orphenoch form (as well as using Rider Gears to transform.) This is also a problem for those using the Kaixa Gear via Orphenoch DNA, who will disintegrate like Orphenochs after transforming too much.
However, abstaining from transforming does not seem to solve the problem, as Hinagata disintegrated during a conversation with Kusaka Masato, without having transformed for some time. It is possible that each transformation can be equated to an amount of time that is taken off that person's lifespan. Others, however, have exhibited signs of early disintegration (the process starts with the skin turning grey, and slightly ash-like, before their entire body is destroyed) but subsequently showed a recovery.
The only known solution to this problem is the Orphenoch King, who can "complete" Orphenochs' evolution, apparently forcing them to remain in Orphenoch form, but granting long life and a higher level of power.
In Paradise Lost, although the Orphenoch King is not seen or mentioned, Orphenochs do not seem to suffer a limited lifespan anymore.
Trivia
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