



I’ve never seen it, but from every indication the 1974 Japanese TV series Kamen Rider X was quite a doozy. Kamen Rider means “masked rider,” and the show was part of a popular “tokusatsu superhero” series created by one of the most prolific practitioners of the genre, Shotaro Ishinomori. The show revolved around the valiant efforts of the technology-fueled, motorcycle-riding, insect-themed hero to battle the malign machinations of the villainous organization G.O.D.

In “Underworld’s Dictator, Starfish Hitler!!”—the 26th episode of the series, which lasted a single season—Kamen Rider tangles with a superhero that terrifyingly combines the deadly powers of the starfish (??) with the legendary whup-ass martial arts prowess of the singular Führer of the Third Reich, Adolf Hitler.





Kamen Rider



Remarkably, Kamen Rider’s fight against Starfish Hitler was scarcely out of the ordinary on Kamen Rider X. According to “Niko” at the blog Sick Chirpse, Kamen Rider also confronted “Ant Capone,” “Spider Napoleon,” and “Rhinoceros Beetle Lupin,” the latter being a combination of a rhinoceros beetle and the fictional gentleman thief Arsène Lupin.

Among the episode titles from that season are “The Terrible Genius Human Project!” “Scary! It’s G.O.D.‘s Cat Disguise Operation!!” and “Scary! Humans are Being Made into Books!!” I really need to see this show!

The random weirdness of Starfish Hitler has generated a bit of a cult online—there’s even a heavy metal tribute to him.

In 2012’s FDR: American Badass!, DM pal Jesse Merlin portrayed “Werewolf Hitler.”

Previously on Dangerous MInds

Mongolian Nazis music video is off the WTF scale!



Previously on Dangerous Minds:

Karl Marx’s ‘Das Kapital’ in Manga!

