Why was there a Checkmate Four instead of a Checkmate Five in Kiva?

[Black Fang]

I asked this in another thread but it could warrant its own:

Why the heck wasn't there a Knight Fangire among the Checkmates? Why was it the Checkmate Four and not Checkmate Five?

If Saga was really needed, why not make him the Knight instead of another costume for the King? Granted that would take away the Black Sun/Shadow Moon-style setup they had with Kiva and Saga but that was wasted anyway. Or maybe they could set up something like Taiga being demoted to Knight after Kiva was passed to Wataru, like a rule that says if there are two heirs to the throne the loser becomes Knight and Taiga would resent Wataru the bastard child for getting what was rightfully his.

Is there any logical reason to exclude a Knight among the Checkmates? I can't see any.

 

[The 2nd Evil]

Isn't four considered an evil number in Japan? There's a TV Trope called "Four Is Death" that could play into it.

 

[HenshinSlayer]

I wish they had a knight in Kiva in two options....

1) Knight would be Saga for Wataru to fight against for the crown and heir to fangire race

or...

2) There would be a good ally in the name of Knight for Wataru to fight alongside with as Kiva. Maybe with a different Fangire race which those kaijins should have... birds.

 

[Psychotime]

Isn't four considered an evil number in Japan? There's a TV Trope called "Four Is Death" that could play into it.

Because 4 is usually pronounced "Shi" (四) which is the same word for death 死 ("Shi").

Sometimes "Yon" is used to replace "Shi", but someone who knows more about the language can clear this up. I only know basic stuff.

 

[Black Fang]

Isn't four considered an evil number in Japan? There's a TV Trope called "Four Is Death" that could play into it.

If that's the case then why give them a chess theme? You're leaving out a major 'character' that way.

 

[djmon25]

cause IXA plays as the (white) Knight

 

[Shynilyte]

Yeah, they had the "knight" spot reserved for the humans.

 

[Black Fang]

Yet they never acknowledge that? The Fangires were around long before Blue Sky and IXA came into being. Why would they leave out a Knight for some human in the future to take for themselves?

If IXA was supposed to be a white Knight and the Checkmates black chess pieces (their logos incidentally are black), then there should be a "black Knight" among them. And Blue Sky would have members corresponding to the white chess pieces.

 

[Shynilyte]

There's probably no real reason within the story itself for this. The producers/writers/whoever probably just though that a chess motif would fit vampires better than say, the Four Symbols constellations. I'm pretty sure the Fangire didn't intentionally leave the "knight" spot for an enemy to take. Plus, a kingdom has many knights, so having only one would still be weird anyway.

 

[Tom Constantine]

I assumed the writers had chosen IXA to be the Knight, the textbook heroic figure, the warrior for humans that would valiantly kill the monsters, ala a fairytale story. Afterall, all the characters in the show are different species of monsters and a Knight is really the only choice for a human-type Kamen Rider. Though I always preferred to think IXA as a paladin.

Checkmate Four could also be a reference to the infamous way to beat your opponent in chess in four moves.