is a Japanese tokusatsu series that serves as the 25th installment in the Kamen Rider franchise and the 16th entry in the Heisei era. The series follows police officer Shinnosuke Tomari after he is chosen by an advanced artificial intelligence called Mr. Belt to become the titular Kamen Rider Drive to battle the Roidmudes, androids that wish to usurp humanity as the dominant species on Earth through their ability to slow the passage of time.
Main characters Shinnosuke Tomari is a detective of the Metropolitan Police's First Investigation Division who seeks to solve the mystery behind his father Eisuke's death. Prior to the series, amidst the "Global Freeze", Shinnosuke accidentally abandoned his partner, Akira Hayase, who was left critically injured. Upon hearing of this, the former lost all motivation to be a police officer and was transferred to the Special Investigations Division. After encountering Mr. Belt, Shinnosuke secretly becomes Kamen Rider Drive to combat the Roidmudes, who caused the Global Freeze. Following the Roidmudes' defeat and the Special Investigations Division's disbandment, Shinnosuke is promoted to police sergeant and transferred back to the First Investigation Division. As of the crossover films Kamen Rider × Kamen Rider Ghost & Drive: Super Movie War Genesis and Kamen Rider Heisei Generations: Dr. Pac-Man vs. Ex-Aid & Ghost with Legend Rider and the V-Cinema Drive Saga: Kamen Rider Mach, Shinnosuke goes on to marry his Special Investigations partner, Kiriko Shijima, and have a son named Eiji.
Utilizing the Shift Speed Car in conjunction with the belt and the , Shinnosuke can transform into Kamen Rider Drive . While transformed, he gains superhuman speed. He also wields the and the . His personal vehicle is the sports car, which can be reconfigured into alternate dune buggy and garbage truck modes as well as combine with a pair of go-karts to form the hovercraft. Additionally, he can use other Shift Cars to either perform a technique and gain unique abilities or assume varying forms, which are as follows: : An auxiliary form accessed from the Shift Wild Car that grants superhuman strength. In this form, Shinnosuke primarily wields the Handle-Ken. : An auxiliary form accessed from the Shift Technic Car that grants superhuman intelligence. In this form, Shinnosuke primarily wields the Door-Ju. : An upgrade form accessed from the Shift Dead Heat Shift Car that grants the ability to emulate Heart's Dead Zone at the risk of losing control and limited immunity to Super Heavy Acceleration fields. While using the Mach Driver Honoh to assume this form, Shinnosuke is referred to as . : Shinnosuke's super form accessed from the Shift Formula Car that grants aerokinesis, superhuman speed, and immunity to Super Heavy Acceleration fields. In this form, he wields the , which can switch between its vehicle-like and its rifle-like . However, prolonged use of this form puts Shinnosuke at risk of mechanical shock. Because of this, he requires the use of three pit crew equipment-themed Tire Exchange Shift Cars to repair his transformation whenever it is damaged. : Shinnosuke's final form accessed from the Shift Tridoron Car that fuses him with the Tridoron to grant the use of the ability to fuse three Tire Exchange Shift Cars of a particular set into a singular one with their combined powers. If necessary, Mr. Belt can assume control of the form. : A special form accessed from the Shift Fruits Car that grants proficiency in sword fighting. In this form, Shinnosuke wields Kamen Rider Gaim's Musou Saber and Daidaimaru. This form appears exclusively in the crossover film Kamen Rider × Kamen Rider Drive & Gaim: Movie War Full Throttle. : A special form accessed from the Shift High Speed Car that grants similar capabilities as Shinnosuke's Type Speed. This form appears exclusively in the Hyper Battle DVD special Type High Speed! The True Power! Type High Speed Is Born!. : A fusion form between the present and future Kamen Rider Drives accessed from the Shift Next Special Car's dark blue-colored half that allows the former to use his descendant's powers. This form appears exclusively in the film Kamen Rider Drive: Surprise Future.
Additionally, Shinnosuke can transform into the following variations of his Rider form: : A special form accessed from the , which can control the Tridoron and serves as a backup for Mr. Belt's consciousness, in conjunction with the Mach Driver Honoh that grants similar capabilities as Shinnosuke's Type Dead Heat. This form appears exclusively in the film Kamen Rider Drive: Surprise Future. : A prototypical version of Kamen Rider Proto Drive accessed from the Shift Speed Prototype Car in conjunction with past versions of the Drive Driver and Shift Brace. This form appears exclusively in the crossover film Kamen Rider × Kamen Rider Ghost & Drive: Super Movie War Genesis.
Shinnosuke Tomari is portrayed by . As a child, Shinnosuke is portrayed by .
Mr. Belt is an artificial intelligence who was originally , a human scientist who created the , the technology used in Kamen Rider Drive's Shift Cars and Tridoron as well as his colleague Tenjuro Banno's Roidmudes, who killed him and led to him uploading his consciousness into the Drive Driver. During the Global Freeze, Mr. Belt worked with Proto Zero as Kamen Rider Proto Drive to combat the Roidmudes until the latter's apparent death. In the intervening months, Mr. Belt upgraded the Drive arsenal until he is found by and chose Shinnosuke Tomari to become Kamen Rider Drive because of the officer's tendency to act first without hesitation. Mr. Belt continues to fight alongside Tomari and the Special Investigations Division until Banno and the Roidmudes are eventually defeated. Following this, Mr. Belt bids farewell to his allies before sealing himself and the Drive arsenal beneath the Kuruma Driver's License Center to prevent them from falling into the wrong hands by the series finale, though he returns twice to help Shinnosuke during the events of the crossover films Kamen Rider × Kamen Rider Ghost & Drive: Super Movie War Genesis and Kamen Rider Heisei Generations: Dr. Pac-Man vs. Ex-Aid & Ghost with Legend Rider.
Mr. Belt is voiced by , who also portrays Krim Steinbelt and serves as the series narrator.
Kiriko Shijima is an athletic officer in the Special Investigations Division who tries to maintain a serious exterior by refusing to smile and working with mechanical precision, though she loses her composure whenever Shinnosuke points out the times she does smile and is forced to physically drag him back to work when he slacks off, often handcuffing him in the process. After being attacked by the Paint Roidmude and rescued by Kamen Rider Proto Drive during the Global Freeze, she attempts to become Kamen Rider Drive. Due to being incompatible however, she assists Shinnosuke as Drive in the field and is, as such, initially the only member of the division who is aware of his secret identity. Additionally, she was aware of her father, Tenjuro Banno's, evil despite not knowing him personally and did her best to protect her brother Go from the truth. She would later help Chase recover his memories upon learning he was Proto Drive and, following the Special Investigations Division's disbandment, join Shinnosuke in the First Investigation Division. As of the crossover films Kamen Rider × Kamen Rider Ghost & Drive: Super Movie War Genesis and Kamen Rider Heisei Generations: Dr. Pac-Man vs. Ex-Aid & Ghost with Legend Rider and the V-Cinema Drive Saga: Kamen Rider Mach, Kiriko goes on to marry Shinnosuke and have a son named Eiji.
In battle, Kiriko wears a pair of , which increase her kicking capabilities.
Kiriko Shijima is portrayed by . As a child, Kiriko is portrayed by .
Go Shijima is Kiriko's younger brother who lived in the United States for some time, working as a freelance photographer, before eventually returning to Japan to fight the Roidmudes as . Having dedicated himself to destroying his father, Tenjuro Banno's, work, Go displays a hatred for the Roidmudes and develops a rivalry with Chase before eventually warming up to him. Upon learning Banno's consciousness is stored in Brain's tablet computer, Go pretends to betray his allies to get closer to the Roidmude leaders and rescue him while working undercover as "Mr. X" to covertly help the Special Investigations Division. After eventually rescuing Banno however, Go discovers the former used him in a plot to enact a second Global Freeze and joins forces with Chase to stop him before returning to America in the hopes of reviving Chase, becoming a famous photographer along the way.
In the tie-in novel Novel: Kamen Rider Drive: Mach Saga, Go's grudge against the Roidmudes is revealed to have stemmed from Roidmudes 017 and 018 killing his friend and Go being unable to save him. Afterward, Professor Harley Hendrickson rescued Go and prepared him to face the Roidmudes. In the present, Go develops a mutual attraction towards Reiko Nishiori due to their similar backgrounds and battles the Revenger Roidmude after the latter contributes to Reiko's father's death, seemingly destroying the monster. During the events of the V-Cinema Drive Saga: Kamen Rider Mach, Go works to find proof of Reiko's innocence after the Revenger Roidmude frames her for his crimes and permanently destroys the Roidmude, clearing her name and entering a relationship with her.
Utilizing the Signal Mach Bike in conjunction with the belt, Go can transform into Kamen Rider Mach. While transformed, he wields the handgun. His personal vehicles are the motorcycle and the go-kart. Similarly to Shinnosuke, most of Go's Signal Bikes allow him to perform a technique and gain unique abilities while some allow him to transform into evolutions of his Rider form, such as the following: : An upgrade form accessed from the Shift Dead Heat Shift Car that grants similar capabilities as Shinnosuke's Type Dead Heat, though Go later manages to overcome the Dead Zone's side effects. : The evolved form of Dead Heat Mach accessed from the Shift Viral Core. This form appears exclusively in the tie-in novel Novel: Kamen Rider Drive: Mach Saga. : A fusion form between Kamen Riders Mach and Chaser accessed from the latter's Signal Chaser Bike that allows the former to use all of their powers and weapons at once. : The evolved form of Chaser Mach accessed from the Shift Ride Crosser Car. This form appears exclusively in the V-Cinema Drive Saga: Kamen Rider Mach.
Go Shijima is portrayed by . As a child, Go is portrayed by .
Chase , also known as Roidmude 000 and , is a soft-spoken specially modified Roidmude created to serve as Krim Steinbelt's aide. During the Global Freeze, Chase attempted to stop the Roidmudes as Kamen Rider Proto Drive before he was captured and reprogrammed by Freeze, Heart, and Brain to work for them as their , Mashin Chaser, while adopting the form of traffic police officer Koichi Kano as a civilian disguise. With no recollection of his past save for a directive to protect humans, Chase is tasked with destroying rogue Roidmudes' bodies and taking their numbers so Brain can reset them, developing a rivalry with Shinnosuke in the process and slowly regaining his memories. In response to the latter, Medic reprograms Chase to protect Roidmudes instead of humans, during which he develops a separate rivalry with Go Shijima until he is eventually defeated by Shinnosuke. Presumed dead, Kiriko finds and nurses Chase back to health in return for him saving her during the Global Freeze.