Kai Kitamura

Infobox animanga character
color = lightsteelblue
name = Kai Kitamura
series = Super Robot Wars


caption =
first =
last =
creator =
voiced by = Tadahisa Saizen (Japanese)
portrayed by =
nickname =
alias =
age = 36
gender = Male
species = Human
born =
death =
nationality = Japanese
class =
occupation =
title =
relatives = Wife (Unnamed), Daughter (Unnamed)
divider = Military History
aux1 name = Affiliation
aux1 = Aggressors (Before OG 1/OGs),
New Aggressors Team (OG 2/OGs/OG Gaiden)
aux2 name = Rank
aux2 = Major
aux3 name = Units Piloted
aux3 = Gespenst MK II M (OG 1/2/OGs/OG Gaiden),
Gespenst MK II Type-S (OG 2/OGs),
Gespenst MK II M Custom (OG Gaiden)

Kai Kitamura ( _ja. 北村開) is a fictional character in the Super Robot Wars series. In canon, he pilots the Gespenst MK II M Custom.

Appearances

Kai appears in the following games:

* - Playable character
* - Playable character
* Super Robot Wars Original Generations - Playable character
* Super Robot Wars Original Generation Gaiden - Playable character

He also appears in the anime.

Theme Music

* "Rushing Dandy" - Default theme in Original Generations and Original Generation Gaiden

Personality And Traits

Kai Kitamura was a former member of the elite Earth Federation Army Aggressors unit. When the team was disbanded, he became the commander of a Personal Trooper unit located near the Far Eastern Base. Often mistaken for being old, he is 36-years old and is married and has one daughter. An extremely strict and serious teacher, Kai has been called a "demon instructor" by Masaki Andoh, who broke protocol and sortied on his own during a battle. As punishment, Kai made him sit perfectly straight for several hours.

Kai is notable to have constantly sortied with various versions of the Gespenst. To date, he has been assigned 3 different versions, spending most of the time (by default) in a Gespenst MK II M. Despite piloting a nearly-obsolete mecha, Kai has an unrivaled familiarity with its function and use, and can fight nearly as effectively as pilots using newer Personal Troopers. His mastery of the machine is showcased in Original Generation Gaiden, when he overrides the preset controls and applies real-time controls over his mecha, allowing him to use the human-like movements of the Personal Trooper to perform various acrobatic maneveurs.

Kai also appears to be an expert on some form of martial arts. He can execute a variety of melee and grappling moves with his mechs, most notably the "Jet Magnum" technique, and the most powerful attack of the Gespenst MK II Type-S, the "Gespenst Kick" (although anyone able to pilot the Type-S can use the technique; however, the fanbase generally agrees that only Kai can execute this maneveur, given his skills and piloting style). More recently, Kai has developed the new "Jet Phantom" attack for his customized Gespenst MK II M. The progression in the name of his attacks is possibly a homage to the animated series, "The King of Braves GaoGaiGar", where the titular mecha utilizes the "Broken Magnum" and the "Broken Phantom" techniques through the course of the series.

Kai's character portrait bears a great resemblance to the classic Mobile Suit Gundam character "Ramba Ral" in appearance and as an old veteran soldier.

History

Kai Kitamura first appears as a reinforcement during the Burning PT Tournament in Japan, assisting Ryusei Date in the fight against a group of Aerogater Megillots. He is transferred to the Hagane to assist the SRX Team during the Divine Crusaders War and eventually joins up with the Hiryu Custom and its crew for the L5 Campaign.

With the threat of the Aerogaters over, the Earth Federation sees a need to revive the Aggressors and asks Kai to reorganize and fill in new positions, with him as team commander. Kai recruits Raidiese F. Branstein and Latune Subbota, and they relocate to Hawaii, where testing for the Wild Falken takes place. However, the Neo Divine Crusaders intervene and hijack the unit, sparking a new conflict with the revived faction, as well as engaging the Inspectors, Shadow-Mirror, and the Einst. The events of Original Generation 2 conclude with Kai recruiting Arado Balanga, Seolla Schweizer, and Lamia Loveless into the Aggressors.

In Original Generation Gaiden, Kai is involved with a feud against a military scientist named Donna, who is formerly slated for the "Wendigo Project". Donna lets loose one of the results of the project, the "Wendigo" mobile weapon, while holding Kai hostage, as the machine attacks his trainees. Kai breaks free from his confinement and proceeds to destroy the beast, later arresting his captives.

Notes

Lenonjayce Stallord of "Super Robot Wars F" is generally credited to have been the one who came up with the Gespenst Kick after developing his own attack, the "Final Gespenst Kick". However, Lenonjayce, along with the other F originals, save Irmgult Kazahara and Ring Mao, have yet to appear in the Original Generation universe. Whether this retcons Lenonjayce to be the predecessor of the attack or not remains to be seen.