Kamen Rider Gotchard's main antagonist, Geryon, most clearly represents rampant, aggressive gerontocracy (and his character is more than likely a jab at modern Japanese hierarchical structures). It's very on the nose, really: he is an individual who actively resists change because the way things are now are the way he wants them to be. A world of gold is ideal because there are no young minds, no new ideas, and no change. (Note how gold is also a noble metal, aka an inert one, meaning it doesn't interact with any other element on the periodic table.) When Hotaro, a representative of the freshly matured generation, defeats him, he also defeats the system that encases old, inert traditions in stone and shuns anyone who dares criticize them. But that has all been said, for the most part. I think there's merit in considering how Geryon treats the women in his life in the light of his gerontocratic and consequently patriarchal attitudes - a system that favours the elderly favours the elderly men first and foremost.
The Abyssalis Sisters are naturally the first who come to mind. The relationship between each one of them and Geryon is starkly reminiscent of patriarchal dynamics. They are young girls who are explicitly being exploited: even Atropos, who does not believe she is being exploited, was created by Geryon as a vehicle to achieve closeness to Fuga's life, and when she didn't fulfill that role, she became a tool in his plans for world domination (read: world inertia). The fact that he seemingly treats her differently from her younger sisters is, of course, a call back to the "and then they came for me" proverb, and it's not the first (or last) time Geryon uses special treatment to confuse someone and ensure their loyalty (see Minato, but this isn't about him right now. I will write a Minato-centric rant if anyone would like to read it). Atropos, no matter how mature she is or how chronologically older she is, was based on a real little girl, and her vulnerability and naivety is something Geryon takes advantage of. He, as a man, convinces Atropos, a little girl, that he is the only person she can trust, and as a result Atropos turns a blind eye to the mistreatment of her sisters. How many women and girls have you met who wholeheartedly believe that they are somehow immune to misogyny, or that the patriarchy is the preferable way of life? That they are special? Gotchard teaches the audience that just because someone is older doesn't mean they are right, but there is a special poignancy in acknowledging the dynamic between Geryon and Atropos as one between a father and daughter. In contrast, Lachesis sits on the opposite end of the spectrum from Atropos - fitting, since she's also the youngest (young vs old, anyone?). There is a lot to be said about Geryon stealing the dead body of an abused girl and then using it to serve his goals, but what sets Lachesis apart from her sisters is that she explicitly acknowledges that their situation is wrong and dangerous, and she is punished for it. Oppressive systems always seek to punish those who speak against them, this is nothing new. What's interesting is that Atropos and Clotho are the ones who punish her - suffering under the same conditions, they believe that the solution for a comfortable life is to eliminate those who speak against the oppressor. ...And that comes back to bite them. Clotho sits square in the middle between Atropos, who believes that the system benefits her, and Lachesis, who knows that she and her sisters are in active danger. Clotho is aware of the danger, but she believes that if she keeps her head down and fends for herself if push comes to shove, the disaster will somehow avoid her and her loved ones. This is an interesting position for her to take considering her outward boisterousness and aggression. Still, she seeks communities and bonds even when she targets humans to make Malgams out of, so it's rather expected that she prefers conforming to being ostracized. I think it's good to consider how each sister views herself in relation to Geryon and to each other in the context of women under the patriarchy.
Note: god knows how short I'm making this to avoid repeating the same thing over and over. I'm fighting for my life
Now, another important character to look at, who I think is severely overlooked, is Mami. She is a case in point when it comes to Geryon treating the people and especially the women around him as disposable. Mami's lines that so allude to motherhood and childbirth ("That child is still inside", EiGo TL) create a very convincing metaphor for a failed pregnancy. This reading ties back into the theory that Geryon and Mami were once in a relationship prior to the Incident and the creation of Atropos (which is fairly clearly hinted at, IMO, but some may disagree) that failed due to an inability to have children. Note that this would have been due to Geryon not being human, but the patriarchy traditionally blames women for fruitless marriages. Men are never at fault, in any situation, ever. In the Kamedoon arc, the consequences of whatever happened between her and Geryon weigh heavily on Mami. Geryon uses that to his advantage to sow discord and confusion in the Kongo Laboratory. Once again, he uses the bodies, emotions, and resources of women for the sake of achieving an ultimately extremely selfish goal. Geryon is a selfish man at his core, his wishes are selfish and he has a disturbing lack of interest in other people: this is clearly established from his very first appearance (ep16, he uses Lachesis's body for the Orochi Malgam. It hurts her, but he finds it rather amusing). If you think back to the Valvarad arc, the process of becoming a Malgam is extremely vulnerable: it's a breach of control over their bodies and selfhood. The patriarchy consistently exploits vulnerable people, overwhelmingly women, for the sake of diverting resistance and promoting infighting and confusion. This is true of many other oppressive establishments as well, if not all of them...
I really, really want to keep this as concise as possible, but I also find the variety of establishments Geryon's presence in Gotchard can be likened to. It's such a good show, and he's such a good villain. Become enveloped in gold or whatever the kids say. Thank you for reading. If you have anything to add, please do. Mwah
Me "playing" minecraft is me spending 20 minutes re-figuring out how to move & pick stuff up/put it down then falling asleep over and over every night and it's curing my depression
Settling this once and for all. (Not really, sorry!)
Spoilers for the Gotchard novel under the cut.
The last 1.5 chapters of the Kamen Rider Gotchard University novel reveal that Nobi's authority figure, the elusive leader of the Fractal organization and the mastermind behind the whole Neo Malgam and HOPE operation is none other than Cole Marcus. ...Sort of? As it happens, Cole is also possessed by a semi-divine being from the edge of the universe called F and is the actual mastermind behind the Neo Malgams. ...Sort of?
The whole situation with Cole's possession has been really confusing me since I finished the novel, and it was made really apparent when I was doing my Nobi ranting and had to reckon with Cole being F but also not F. Cole and F are distinctly separate beings, but it's also very not clear which action belongs to whom. It's really easy to liken F to Evolt from KR Build, but it's kind of not the same thing at all. In fact the only similar thing about the two is the fact that a possession occurs at some point. Evolt's case is pretty straightforward in that he possessed the first random guy that stumbled across him, and also the original guy was actually sweet IRL, which is an obvious contrast with Evolt being really evil. F (Cole...?) is more complicated than that.
As far as the novel's own timeline goes, Cole is possessed by F before the start of the novel, but not at the very beginning of its internal timeline whenever Nobi is born and raised a little bit and then his parents die. The possession actually happens quite close to the novel's events, I'd say about a year prior..? So there is a significant period of time when Cole was just Cole. This is important because Cole (not F) does several really important things:
Gets a major interest in "stealing" things from people,
Kills the Asugawa family sans Nobi,
Adopts Nobi himself and raises him for a number of years.
...Huh? That sounds pretty evil to me. So you're saying it's not a clear-cut case of a nice guy getting possessed by an evil monster? I thought every possession was either Evolt or Mutsuki! (- strawman)
Nope! In fact, F says it chose Cole specifically because he was already evil. Could have picked anyone else, but it picked him because he liked to take things from people. This serves the novel's overall idea of the "fusion" being "stealing" people's lives and individuality, but also gives an idea of what sort of creature F is. It's not necessarily driven by morals, because it's an extraterrestrial deity and doesn't really know or care what morals are, but if it did have morals, they would be leaning towards bad. Which is, of course, all the more reason for Gotchard to kick its ass.
But it is not so simple with regards to Cole, and the part that confuses me most. When Nobi confronts Cole (F) in the penultimate chapter and yells about the burnt-down orphanage and his trust being wholly betrayed, Cole (F?) lols and reveals the fact that he (Cole, not yet F) killed Nobi's parents all those years ago. He also gives all this exposition that explains Cole's love for taking things from people and that time he starved a homeless person. Wait, what? If at this point F is wholly in possession of Cole's mind and body, why would it pretend to be Cole? Of course, the confession was meant to get a rise out of Nobi and turn him into a Neo Malgam, but at this point F could have revealed its own true colours as well. I found this odd. F insists on pretending to be Cole until the very last possible moment, either because it likes to be him, or because it is him to some extent? Herein lies the Cole question. How much of what is seen on screen is Cole, and how much of it is F? Not counting the part where F turns into a scary monster and swallows the world. Though F possesses every fiber of his being, it seems that Cole's presence is perchance equally corrupting to F. Or is it?
The full answer is that as it stands, it's easiest to assume F was in charge the whole time of its possession and was larping for fun. But it is really interesting to consider Cole as being if not willing, then certainly benefiting from his possession by F and perhaps even being in control to some extent.
