Category:Shinkengers

"The Samurai Sentai authorized by providence...!"

- Shinken Red

"Shinkenger! Going Forth!"

- Shinkengers announcing their arrival

The Shinkengers are samurai tasked to defeat the Gedoshu. Armed with the ShodoPhones, able to channel mojikara and the Shinkenmaru, the 18th head of the Shiba clan and his loyal retainers continue to fight to ensure the Sanzu River does not overflow.

Previous Shinkengers

 * Masataka Shiba (Shinken Red XVII)
 * Ryuzaburo Ikenami (Shinken Blue XVII)
 * Kyoko Shiraishi (Shinken Pink XVII)
 * Kurando Tani (Shinken Green XVII)

Past Shinken Reds

 * Retsudo Shiba (Shinken Red I)
 * Resshin Shiba (Shinken Red II)
 * Iori Shiba (Shinken Red III)
 * Sakuya Shiba (Shinken Red IV)
 * Yukiyasu Shiba (Shinken Red V)
 * Koshinari Shiba (Shinken Red VI)
 * Atsuhide Shiba (Shinken Red VII)
 * Katsunoshin Shiba (Shinken Red VIII)
 * Akitsugu Shiba (Shinken Red IX)
 * Aritsugu Shiba (Shinken Red X)
 * Arishige Shiba (Shinken Red XI)
 * Morinobu Shiba (Shinken Red XII)
 * Seisuke Shiba (Shinken Red XIII)
 * Akira Shiba (Shinken Red XIV)
 * Kōichirō Shiba (Shinken Red XV)
 * Yōjirō Shiba (Shinken Red XVI)

Early history
For 300 years, a squadron of five samurai as ordained by the Emperor of Japan had continually protected the nation from invasion of the forces of the Gedoshu of the Sanzu River. The team had continued their effort for seventeen consecutive generations. It ultimately culminated with Masataka Shiba, the leader of the 17th generation, using a special character to temporarily seal and rip apart Dokoku Chimatsuri, the leader of the Gedoshu forces. However the cost of this victory was hollow: many of his retainers bore damage, some of which was to the point of disability, while Masataka himself lost his life to deliver the seal with the strain on his own Mojikara. He had already passed on his genetics and powerful Mojikara to an unborn daughter, but chose to hide her existence from the world and Gedoshu by usage of a kagemusha: a young boy named Takeru who inherited the will to become the 18th Lord of the Shinkenger. Likewise, the four other clans likewise chose children and raised them accordingly for the day that Dokoku and the Gedoshu began their assault on the human world once again.

The Gathering of the 18th Generation
On the day the Gedoshu began to attack the human world again and Dokoku returned from his battles with the 17th generation, Takeru was brought forth to begin his battle with the evil forces once again. With his guardian, Hikoma Kusakabe and an army of the clan's Kuroko by his side, he summoned forth the retainers of the other four clans to join in the battle with the Gedoshu: rising kabuki actor Ryunosuke Ikenami (Shinken Blue), matronly child-care worker Mako Shiraishi (Shinken Pink), cheeky teen male Chiaki Tani (Shinken Green) and the young and trained Kotoha Hanaori (Shinken Yellow), who went forth in place of her sickly older sister Mitsuba.

Initially the retainers had problems adapting to their new lives and to assisting Takeru in the Gedoshu battles: some like Ryunosuke and Kotoha threw themselves hard into their new positions, almost over-doing it in some manners. Chiaki, on the other hand, quickly grew tired of the constant seclusion, training and of those whom they had to deal with, particularly Takeru and Hikoma. However, after nearly getting others around him in danger and showing off his own style in battle, Shinken Green came around and decided to stay if only to surpass the lord. Takeru himself appeared to be a very strict, noble lord, yet knew how to protect others and the mission at hand, allowing for the retainers to all gain a quick loyalty towards him.

The Lost Origami
Although the team were well prepared and equipped for their war with the Gedoshu, Takeru and Hikoma knew they had to keep pushing themselves further with the increased threat. Knowing that there would eventually be opponents that not even blades could cut, Shinken Red began training with the Kabuto Disk, a special Mojikara disk that allowed for his weapon to attack Gedoshu that swords couldn't cut, such as the Ayakashi Yanasudare. Aside from being a disk, the Kabuto Disk was likewise a Kabuto Origami that further gave the team another weapon to fight the Ayakashi's second life. However, they knew that there were other "lost" Origami out there that previous Shinkenger had access to and they knew would be useful for their war.

The second lost Origami was the Kajiki Origami, a swordfish that had been lost for so long that it reverted to it's wild roots. Ryunosuke was sent to catch it and did so with the assistance of Sakutaro Komatsu, a former Kuroko who left without feeling loyalties to the clan to become a fisherman. After Ryunosuke's act and feeling Shinken Blue's passion to Takeru, Komatsu returned to his position with the Shiba clan and the Shinkenger gained another Origami for their arsenal. Ryunosuke's influence from this act would later influence Richard Brown, an American man infected by the Ayakashi who was saved by the Kajiki Origami, to become an "American Samurai" with Shinken Blue as his teacher.

The third of the missing Origami was the Tora Origami, a tiger which peculiarly had fallen into the hands of the Ayakashi Hitomidama and who used his animal-training abilities to keep it under his control. The Ayakashi attempted to use his abilities to force Ryunosuke to likewise be under his control and force Takeru to take on his retainer, but ultimately defeats him while using his own Shishi Origami to take back the Tora Origami from his control and use it to defeat it's controlling master.

With all three Origami back in their control, the Shinkenger learn from Hikoma that they now possess the power to utilize a new Origami formation: Daitenkuu, a giant bird that would help them further. Takeru and Ryunosuke both became two of the summoners, but when Chiaki was passed over for Mako regardless of his fast development, Shinken Green became outraged and threatened to leave until finally coming to grips with his own powers. Shinken Pink knew from the beginning that Chiaki truly deserved the final disk and, once he proved himself in battle against Ayakashi Okakurage, gave him the final disk to allow for Daitenkuu to be summoned by the male Shinkenger to stop its second life.

The Lord's Dilemma
Although the Shinkenger gained strength through the three new Origami against the main Gedoshuu forces, they started being watched by a mysterious wild-card: Juzo Fuwa, a "lone-wolf" Ayakashi who bore no allegiance to Dokoku and who could peculiarly change between his monsterous form and one akin to a human samurai. Juzo watched over the Shinkenger and appeared to them several times initially, including in protection of Dokoku ally Dayuu Usukawa, as well as intercepting the battle between Takeru and Ryunosuke.

Amidst the problem, the retainers soon find out likewise that Dokoku's forces are specifically targeting Takeru due to the past history between the Shiba clan and the Gedoshuu and the potential of using the sealing character on the leader. When Ushirobushi, one of the most powerful Ayakashi, is released to take them on, the retainers become more active in protecting Takeru, to the point of Ryunosuke and Kotoha taking massive damage against it. Yet it was during this fight that Juzo finally took action, fighting Takeru and Ushirobushi hoping to get the thrill of battle he desired. As the battle settled with a stalemate, his retainers hurt and his mind riled by Juzo, Takeru leaves the mansion feeling the burden he had caused. However, after a visit with a child-care worker who helps him rediscover why he has to fight and the will of fighting for others, Takeru begins to fully understand and appreciate the retainer's loyalty to Shinken Red. During the battle with Ushirobushi, the team choose to combine the Origami of Shinken-Oh and DaiTenkuu for the first time, creating TenkuuShinken-Oh to finish off Ushirobushi.

The Sushi Samurai
As the Shinkenger continued to face various Ayakashi threats, one of the most bizarre occurred on a day when Takeru was attacked within the Shiba mansion itself! In the midst of these attacks, a similar penetration of defenses occurs when an arrow breaks through into the mansion with the proclamation "Coming Soon". As Takeru and half the retainers keep track of the invisible Ayakashi, the others trace the strange note as an advertisement by the teenage owner of the "Gold Sushi" food cart that had recently arrived in the area. As the Shinkenger finally discovered and cornered the Ayakashi Isagitsune, which had done the invisible attacks on the mansion, the sushi seller reveals himself as "Shinken Gold", a new 6th Shinkenger who possessed Iaido swordsmanship skills and the squid-like Ika Origami!

Yet Takeru identifies him as Genta Umemori, a childhood friend who wished to be a sushi seller yet also a samurai to protect Takeru when the time came, leading to Shinken Red to give Ika Origami to him in secret. Over the years until his return, he used his technical wizardry to master an electronic version of Mojikara he can access through his Sushi Changer cell phone in place of not physically having it himself, while further studying and understanding the concepts of the technology the team uses. Genta tries to prove to Takeru and the others that he is worthy of fighting as the sixth Shinkenger, but has a hard time making his case, with Takeru not wanting his friend to get hurt, while others such as the more studious and culturally conservative Ryunosuke thinking that he is too wild and lax to be a samurai. Through battles with the Ayakashi, Genta slowly wins over the critics and wins his place as a part of the Shinkenger, while at the same time supplying his own Origami for the team: the lobster-formed Ebi Origami.

The Heretic Rider
Although the Shinkenger continued to protect their world, they unknowingly came to have visitors of a different kind arriving with their own agenda. Genta was the first to encounter one of them as a young man named Daiki Kaito, a human from "another world", stole his Ika Origami from his cart! Genta continues his pursuit and ends up facing off against Daiki, who transforms into a "Kamen Rider", a hero-being from this alternate world, by usage of his special gun: the Diend Driver. In the midst of their showdown, they are both intercepted by Chinomanako, an Ayakashi sent to investigate the Kamen Rider by Shitari of the Bones out of fear. Another Kamen Rider, Tsukasa Kadoya (who was hiding in this universe as one of the Kuroko) attempts to help fight Chinomanako, but the Ayakashi gets away and ultimately uses the Diend Driver himself, transforming into "the first Kamen Rider of this universe"!

With his new-found power, Chinomanako begins to cause chaos of a new kind to the Shinkenger through his encounters. Takeru is warned by "a mysterious old man" of the dangers that have arrived in their universe until finally confronting Tsukasa himself. Takeru is confronted with the possibilities of the evil brought into the universe thanks to the Kamen Rider, but slowly through the battles realizes the good he brings. Likewise, Tsukasa confronts Hikoma about Takeru and likewise realizes his need to continue fighting for his "home" even with his own dire situation. Ultimately the Shinkenger and Kamen Rider, including Genta, Daiki and Yuusuke Onodera (another Kamen Rider that travels with Tsukasa) bring down Chinomanako together, with the Shinkenger exchanging the Diend Driver back to Daiki for the Ika Origami.

The Fateful War
As spring gave way to summer, the Shinkenger became embroiled in a conflict that would test their minds and bodies to the limit. Within the heat of the season that enhanced the power of their already powerful Gedoshuu adversaries, an ancient faction known as the Kusare Gedoshuu re-emerged in the present, lead by leader Manpuku Aburame. For three days straight the Shinkenger and the Gedoshuu faction fought, the enemy continuing to push forward and the Shinkenger getting their bodies ripped apart and their minds driven into fatigue. Ultimately through research, the team realizes the only way to defeat Aburame was the same way the original Shinken Red, Retsudo Shiba, had done so: by awakening a special Secret Disc hidden in Genryu Temple, within Kusare Gedoshuu territory. Though finding the disk itself after sneaking into the temple, the Shinkenger couldn't figure out how to awaken it's power, forcing the team to just continue onwards with their battles as they had been. Ultimately, Takeru realizes the truth behind Retsudo's clue: combining the disk with a special character still on Aburame's body, he awakens the disk, revealing it as the Kyoryu Disk, giving him the special powers of "Hyper Shinken Red" and allowing for him to use a special dinosaur-like stretchy sword to mow down the Kusare Gedoshu. The disk also allowed for the team to activate the Kyoryu Origami, which was enough to finally defeat Aburame in his second life.

The Kusare Gedoshuu would try again later when Azemidoro, another general of Aburame's army, would attempt to take a hostage to bring the Shinkenger down, but once again the powers of the Kyoryu Disk and Kyoryu Origami were enough to finally silence the ancient enemy.

The Sealed Case
As summer continued on and the Gedoshuu continued to gain their temporary seasonal power-up, the Shinkenger realized that they needed to gain even more strength to handle the seasonal effect and the growth of enemy's power by it. Recalling a scroll, Hikoma decides to let the team head to Tengen Temple to retrieve the "Inroumaru", an incomplete sealed case artifact that, if completed, would be enough to handled the increased Gedoshuu threat. However, the team is met while at the temple by Gozunagumo, an Ayakashi rogue using Doukoku's temporary disablement from the summer (due to being so powerful that the added power forces him into immense pain unable to do anything) to attack them while allying with Shitari, who desires from the Shinkenger any information on the sealing character that stopped Doukoku in the past. While most of the retainers are taken down easily, Takeru is ultimately saved from the rogue by Juzo while Gozunagumo is sent back to the Sanzu River to be punished by Doukoku in an unusual way: being forced to absorb the leader's added power mutating him further into a more powerful and destructive form.

Takeru is taken in by Juzo who continued to have a watchful eye believing him as the one worthy enough to give him challenge due to a strange similarity between the two of them. Meanwhile, the challenge of completing the Inroumaru is ultimately given to Genta, whose genius at the mechanics of the team and mastery at his unique Electronic Mojikara made him a natural at completing the device. Using his own Mojikara combined with all of the various main disks of the team allowed for him to make the adjustments to make the Inroumaru workable just as Gozunagumo attacked once again with his 'punished' form. As Takeru used the sealed case, he ascended into a "Super" form that gave him the power to deal with the enemy; while the team gained a new mech combination by way of "Daikai Shinken-Oh", which not only combined the original nine Origami but the added Ebi Origami Genta had created himself.

The Costs of Being Gedou
As the Shinkenger fought with the Gedoshuu, they slowly began to learn the truth regarding the horrifying creation of these creatures. During a confrontation with Juzo, he revealed that as horrible as the Gedoshuu themselves were, the Gedonin such as himself had a worse origin: they were originally human beings who had taken a fall into dark behaviors in their original lives and who had made literal 'deals with the devil' to become monsters who could live forever due to their attachment to the human world preventing true rest. Juzo himself was one notable Gedonin: a former weak-bodied samurai whose desire to fight was so great that he killed his own family including his wife as a means to continue to fight and look for strong opponents beyond the limits of his mortality.

Yet among the Gedonin, the most tragic and horrible of stories belonged to Dayuu Usukawa, Doukoku's personal courtesan. As discovered by Mako when she became trapped within the dream powers of Ayakashi Yumebakura, Dayuu was originally a woman named Usuyuki, who obsessively longed for Shinza, a man who did not love her. In her rage, Usuyuki interrupted the wedding between Shinza and his new wife, killing both of them and then taking Shinza's dying body to herself, wishing to descend into Gedou in order for them to live together forever. This action transformed Usuyuki into Dayuu while making Shinza into her own living shamisen. Dayuu never stopped her obsession with her shamisen or with the wedding she never had, even making her own wedding kimono out of other brides at one point to gain what she never got.

As Juzo continued to do what he wished instead of working for Doukoku's cause, the leader had desired Dayuu to eliminate him, but her failure to do so angered him to the point of damaging her shamisen, making her leave her master to wander the human world. Mako confronts her after being forced to witness her past, but Dayuu prevents her from going too far by hurting Kotoha to distract her. Dayuu continues to try and figure out where to go but a confrontation with Juzo makes her force to realize that she is bound to the world due to suffering, both her own and Shinza's, and that as long as she suffered, she would continue to exist in this plane. Dayuu continued off on her own, not returning to Doukoku or to Juzo until she figured an answer.

Meanwhile, Takeru chose to keep to Juzo's feeling of the two dueling and prepared in the midst of their crisis hoping to learn something from the experience. Under the warrior's coercions and threats of running wild on human civilians if not kept, Shinken Red finally goes forth with the duel and faces off in a deadly showdown with the warrior. Ultimately, Takeru finally throws Juzo off a cliff, appearing to take victory yet still paying some respect to the warrior he had defeated.

The Sealed Evil
With many powerful Gedoshuu dead and two of his greatest assets lost, Doukoku is ultimately approached by Abekonbe, an Ayakashi emissary of the powerful Akumaro Sujigarano, about the awakening of his master within the sealed depths of the Sanzu River. With few allies left, Doukoku relents to allowing for Akumaro approach his junk and join him in his battles in order to defeat the Shinkenger. The eccentric Gedoshuu and his Ayakashi forces began to cause even more difficulty to the Shinkenger, but at the same time the samurai gained an unexpected new ally and weapon: after an incident where Abekonbe had switched the bodies of several of the Shinkenger with inanimate objects, Genta becomes switched within a piece of sushi, which he is saved from before nearly being eaten by a cat. During a temporary period where he was afraid of sushi due to his near-death, Genta infused his Electronic Mojikara within a lantern on his cart, transforming it into the Secret Lantern Daigoyou, who possessed his own unique abilities for the team in their Ayakashi battle. Though intended to take his place, Genta used it as his own personal weapon and team ally after Hikoma cured his sushi phobia.

Akumarou proved himself to be difficult to deal with, frequently facing the Shinkenger himself, using powerful Kirigami servants or sending out more difficult Gedoshuu on his side amidst other summons and Ayakashi sent by Doukoku or who were sent on their own. However unknown to everyone, the evil Gedoshuu's battles began to develop a pattern that continued to take shape without anyone, human or Gedoshuu, realizing what was happening. He likewise recruited both Dayuu and Juzo Fuwa to his cause, using objects that had been damaged (Dayuu's shamisen; Juzo's sword Uramasa) as bait stating that he would be able to repair them.

The Rampaging Bull
One day without knowing it, the Shinkenger find their Origami surrounding a boy who had arrived at their mansion. The boy was Hiro Sakakibara of Mt. Tsunenobu, the place considered the birthplace of Origami. Hiro came to the Shiba mansion in order to allow the Shinkenger to attempt to gain the Ushi Origami, a massive bull-cart Origami that was the first created one, yet one infamous in the past for being so wild and destructive that it had to be sealed away to prevent it's rampage. Hiro believes that a special Mojikara disk he himself created with a special Mojikara that his family possesses would be enough to tame the powerful Origami. But upon testing his theory, he ends up awakening the bull and making it run wild once again, forcing the Shinkenger to fight it to try and stop the rampage. Toji Sakakibara, Hiro's grandfather, offers to destroy the Origami seeing how it's attempts at control killed Hiro's father, but Takeru and the Shinkenger choose to try and control it. With his heart reawakened, Toji assists Hiro in draining away the excess Mojikara within the Ushi Origami, finally stabilizing it and calming it for the Shinkenger to use. It's taming also allow the Shinkenger to gain the MouGyuDaiOh, the Ushi Origami's humanoid form that helps defeat the Ayakashi Happouzu, sent by Akumarou to attempt to gain it for the Gedoshuu.

After the incident, the Shinkenger continued to fight with all of the Origami, including the now calmed Ushi Origami on their side, against the continuous Gedoshuu threat. However due to the Ushi Origami, two notable upgrades ultimately were added to their arsenal over time:
 * During an incident where the Ayakashi Futagawara gained an unstoppable shield in his second life due to a massive feeding frenzy during his first, Ryunosuke comes up with the idea of combining all eleven of their main Origami together, which ultimately fuses them into the unstoppable Samurai Ha-Oh which allowed for the defeat of Futagawara and giving the team their strongest weapon yet.
 * In an incident where the Ayakashi Ikusazure assisted in the creation of a "gunnery squadron" of Nanashi for the Gedoshuu forces, Hikoma is summoned back to Mt. Tsunenobu, where Hiro and Toji gave to the team the Mougyu Bazooka to give the team a major long-range weapon for ground fights.

The Multi-Dimensional Menace
Although the war between the Shinkenger and the Gedoshuu continued forth on Earth in their known dimension, they would become embroiled in a war that would span multiple dimensions! When the samurai encounter strange mechanical minions, the team is saved by Sosuke Esumi, a hot-blooded hero of the Engine Sentai Go-Onger thrown back to the "Human World" (the name of the regular universe based upon the Braneworld concept of Go-Onger) after a devastating battle with Pollution President Batcheed, the last remaining leader of the Gaiark. Takeru takes offense about the more cheerful, cocky nature of Sosuke and doesn't trust or believe him regarding his mission, yet the other members of the team agree to help. However during their attack on Batcheed, the Gaiark leader sends the team hurtling through other the other Braneworlds, leaving behind only Takeru and Sosuke in the Human World. Mako and Genta are sent to Christmas World, where they meet with Go-On Wings Hiroto and Miu Sutou; Kotoha and Chiaki are thrown to Samurai World alongside Renn Kousaka and Gunpei Ishihara where Daigoyou pursues them with the local police; and Ryunosuke is thrown into Junk World alongside Saki Rouyama and Hant Jou. Engine Speedor, Sosuke's main partner, ends up searching through all the Braneworlds in order to find a way to reunite everyone and get them back to the Human World to handle Batcheed.

The Gaiark leader's ultimate plan involved his manipulation of the Sanzu River's water into fuel for his Batcherium Plant, which ultimately would be used to pollute all Braneworlds, including the Human World, simultaneously. With the assistance of the Gedoshuu Homurakogi, Batcheed faces Shinken Red and Go-On Red once more, with the duo finally appearing to break apart into fighting each other, but ultimately using it as part of a diversion to save their respective partners (Hikoma and BOMPER) and allow time for Speedor to reunite all Shinkenger, Go-Onger and Engines into a united front. Through a combined effort, both the samurai and racing squadrons put a stop to Batcheed's plans, ultimately destroying him and the Batcherium Plant on the moon and saving all universes.

In the midst of the battle, Akumarou, Juzo and Dayuu nearly intervened but were stopped by a squadron angels. Only Daigoyou learned of their existence at the time.

The Crisis of Leaders
From the very moment he took on the Gedoshuu threat and gained his retainer allies, Takeru had held a major uneasiness regarding the position he found himself in. He knew his role as Shinken Red, but knew that he was different from the leader he was expected to be to face the threat. During a crisis on an island that Akumarou attacks with Juzo and Dayuu, Takeru is forced to face his problems again when Juzo comments that something has changed within Shinken Red since the first they met, leading to a reduction in his skills as a warrior. Mako, who encounters him with Takeru, believes that her leader has learned to accept and take the retainers in as friends instead of mere servants, but Takeru slowly becomes uneased by Juzo's words. Even after the crisis, he continued to know about the truth that weighed upon him knowing that sooner or later, everything would have to be revealed.

At the same time as Shinken Red is shaken by his changes, Doukoku is shaken by a different problem: due to Dayuu abandoning the junk, his anger has continued to grow unabated with nothing able to soothe him. He reveals that Dayuu's shamisen had been the only means to keep him calmed, even when she was still the human Usuyuki in the sorrowful period before the murder and her fall into Gedou. Though Akumarou had taken in the shamisen claiming he would fix it, he instead had other plans for Shinza's grief locked within the instrument. Facing no other option, Doukoku invades the human world knowing fully that he would begin instantly losing the water within his body and could risk his own death. During the brief invasion, Doukoku annihilates all who face him, including the Shinkenger, until he finally reclaims the shamisen and fixes it for Dayuu hoping she would use it once again. With nearly all of his water gone, Shitari escorts him back into the Sanzu, where the amount of damage was massive enough to force him under for a long time, preventing any further influence from him until his recovery, no matter how long it took!

The Gate to Hell
After being shaken by their terrible defeat against Doukoku, the Shinkenger attempt to regroup as the Ayakashi continue their attacks unabated. However with the Gedoshuu leader disabled from his action, Akumarou was now in full control of the forces and continued his attacks on the human world. With his continued attacks, the Shinkenger begin to finally make out peculiar factors regarding him and the Ayakashi he controlled: they were all attacking certain points within Japan that aligned within a straight line, while all of the fear they collected didn't go into the Sanzu River but were absorbed directly into the ground beneath the attacked point. During an attack on a point the Shinkenger had previously stopped, Akurmarou finally revealed his ultimate plan: the collection of all the fear and grief within a certain line was to allow for him to complete a means to open a gate to Hell itself. Due to his own existence as a fallen Gedoshuu, Akumarou knew he was eternally trapped within the Earth plane and wished to see Hell with all of it's glory. By creating the energy line, he would complete it with a key he himself had specially made: Juzo Fuwa and his Uramasa! Akumarou specifically knew that only a Gedonin was the only one who could unseal the gate and lead Juzo to his fall to accomplish it two centuries earlier, tempting him to kill his clan and using their souls to forge his sword. Believing in whatever humanity was left in Juzo, Akumarou believed that he would allow for the warrior to free the clan, but at a cost everything, including Earth and the Sanzu River, would be sucked into the Hell Gate.

With the knowledge of Juzo's importance to Akumarou's ambition, the Shinkenger desperately try to reach him while holding off on the Gedoshuu long enough to prevent the final key from being unlocked. Genta in particular felt a need to stop Juzo, having let him hang around his sushi cart when the other members of the team claimed he could have killed him. Try as he could, Shinken Gold fails to reach the warrior, who continues forward to get the now-repaired Uramasa from Akumarou. But with sword in hand and the gate ready for unsealing, Juzo slashes at the Gedoshuu leader instead, stating he already knew of his clan's fate and didn't care, merely holding off on attacking Akumarou to get his sword back! With the Gedoshuu now losing his cool demeanor to the betrayal, the Shinkenger finish him off with ease. However his second life turns out to be much harder to handle, with his power greater than even Samurai Ha-Oh! With a final trump card in the Kyoryu Origami, the now 12-mech Kyoryu Samurai Ha-Oh utilized the combined Mojikara of all forces to finally bring an end to Akumaro Sujigarano.

The Kagemusha and the True Lord
After Akumaro's death, the Shinkenger had a brief moment of respite for the New Year's holiday where they could celebrate. But during the celebration, a special Kuroko arrived at the mansion with an announcement with the crest of the Shiba Clan upon it. At the same time, with no true leadership and Doukoku still regaining his strength, Shitari decides to bring out a dangerous Ayakashi to deal with the Shinkenger: Yomotsugari, a fire-manipulator he gives a special power to track down and destroy anyone with the special fire Mojikara of the Shiba Clan. When the Ayakashi faces the Shinkenger, she fires upon Takeru over and over with the special power; yet while he takes massive damage and collapses, they do not work on him as intended. Just as Takeru was about to faint, a formally dressed female appears and uses Mojikara to transform into Shinken Red! She makes easy work of Yomotsugari before finally being introduced as Kaoru Shiba, the true 18th leader of the Shiba Clan..

Returning to the mansion with her retainer Toshizo Tanba by her side, Kaoru and Hikoma reveal to her retainers the truth about her and about Takeru's true position as her kagemusha all this time. She decides to return due to the completion of the Sealing Character her father had previously attempted on Doukoku, allowing for her to utilize it if needed on the Gedoshuu leader. The Shinkenger are shocked about the revelation but have no other choice but continue their battle with their true leader. Meanwhile, with his mission to protect Kaoru over, Takeru leaves the mansion to find himself, with Genta not too far behind due to not trusting Kaoru. Genta tries to reason with Takeru, but the former Shiba leader realizes he has nothing left to live for, ultimately approaching Juzo Fuwa with nowhere else to go to finally have his final showdown with the warrior.

The duo began to fight, with Takeru and Juzo using every means of their swordsmanship to fight one another with no motive but for the battle. Finding out about the showdown, Hikoma rushes to his side, believing that he had more to live for than merely to fight. Hikoma tries to remind Takeru that he is more than a kagemusha and that he has family, both in himself and his retainers. As the other retainers continue to fight with Kaoru, even fighting an Ayakashi with a more powerful third life given to it by Shitari to speed Doukoku's return, they ultimately discover Takeru's crisis and rush by his side. Ryunosuke nearly decides to stay at the mansion, but is finally reminded by the kuroko Komatsu about his loyalty to his lord. Ultimately with his former retainers nearby, Takeru appears to defeat Juzo, but the warrior gets back up still continuing on about his cares only for battle. Yet at that moment, Uramasa stabs him in the foot, the will of his own clan and wife finally turning against him as Juzo Fuwa finally falls to his death.

The Return of Doukoku
After Juzo's death, the retainers all confront Takeru with frustration and sadness about his feelings about being a mere kagemusha. With defiance, the team reaffirm that they work together with Takeru as his friend and hold their greatest loyalty to him, not to Kaoru. Regardless of his lies, all of their experiences and friendship were shared together over the time as Shinkenger, reaffirming Takeru finally of his position in life.

However the reunion is short as the retainers are called into battle with the Nanashi appearing once again in the real world. With Takeru by their side, the four join Kaoru as well as Genta, who finally has been won over by the true Shinken Red for her honest and frank behavior. During the midst of the attack, Mako spots Dayuu and gets in a short skirmish with her, ultimately taking her down and, at the same time, destroys her shamisen. However, this was exactly what Dayuu wanted: as she lays dying, the massive built-up grief of Shinza is released, finally making the Sanzu overflow and, more importantly, instantly speeding Doukoku to full recovery. As the Gedoshuu leader arrives to begin his conquest of the human world, he approaches Dayuu, who shows sadness that she no longer possesses any further attachment to this world and, likewise, to her master. Doukoku embraces the corpse of Dayuu to his body, absorbing her and taking her wedding kimono as a last memorial to eventually lay within the Sanzu.

With Doukoku no longer restrained to the Sanzu and beginning his invasion, Kaoru begins the plan that she had trained for years for. Sending forth the retainers with every ounce of their power, she concentrates her special Shiba Clan Mojikara into the creation of the sealing character, which she had finally completed with the effort and tragedy of everything on her shoulders. Perfectly completing the character, Kaoru fires it at Doukoku believing it was over; but Doukoku surprisingly escapes with very little harm! Due to absorbing Dayuu's Gedounin body, he now no longer holds a body that is pure Gedoshuu, thus making him immune to the power of the character he once feared. Having stopped the Shinkenger's greatest trump card, Doukoku easily mows through the team and gravely damages Kaoru to the point she can no longer fight.

The Final Showdown
With Kaoru taken down and the Sanzu River starting to flood into the Human World, the Shinkenger faced their darkest hour with no leader to push them forwards. Kaoru decides at this moment to bring Takeru to meet with her for a private discussion. Seeing the loyalty and friendship he possessed with the five retainers and against the wishes of Tanba, the Shiba head steps down from the clan leadership and adopts Takeru (who is older than her) as his son, thus formally making him the 19th leader of the Shiba Clan and, thus, the formal main leader of the Shinkenger. Once in control and with Doukoku riding the Sanzu on the Rokumon Junk to conquer Earth, he decides an all-out assault on him is the only way to stop him.

Given a special disk with the Shiba Mojikara from Kaoru, Takeru and the retainers head forth and face Doukoku personally, but even with all of their force and the Shiba disk, Doukoku's arrogance and power overwhelms them still and knocks them away with ease, with Hikoma and Daigoyou providing cover for their escape.

With little time to regroup, the Shinkenger gain another Shiba clan disk as well as a special "double" disk from the now repentant Tanba, which Takeru uses to make a second weapon for combat. Though the second battle shows Doukoku still exerting his power over the team, the Shinkenger show a better showing, with Takeru showing power over him long enough for Ryunosuke to strike him with the Shiba Disk proper, finally bringing an end to his first life! Yet in his second life, Doukoku continues to show a stubbornness in personality and power even easily pushing Samurai Ha-Oh back. With Takeru continuing to advise pushing forwards to victory, the Shinkenger perform a desperate maneuver, pushing their Origami forwards while concentrating their Mojikara within their main sword. Doukoku knocks off Origami after Origami until only Shinken-Oh remains, which finally slashes him directly in a fatal blow. As he dies, Doukoku speaks of the cracks between worlds forever remaining as the Sanzu River recedes, taking the Nanashi army and the junk with Shitari on it with it.

With the leader of the Gedoshuu finally no more, the Shinkenger finally go their separate way, with Kaoru and the five retainers going in their separate directions leaving only Takeru and Hikoma in the mansion once again. However, the team knew that wherever they went, they would be ready to battle if needed again...

Gokaiger
Years later, the Space Empire Zangyack invaded Earth. This threat was so great that all of the first 34 Super Sentai, including the Shinkengers, were needed to oppose them. The 34 Sentai put up a valiant fight against the ground forces, but when the Zangyack fleet itself attacked them, Akarenger told everyone to combine their powers and save the Earth. This destroyed the Zangyack fleet and resulted in the loss of their powers, which resurfaced as Ranger Keys, that were dispersed throughout the universe. In the immediate aftermath of the battle, Chiaki and Genta informed the Goseigers that they wouldn't be able to transform again.

The keys were collected by AkaRed, and later utilized by the 35th Super Sentai, the Gokaigers, a group of five people from different planets who came to Earth in search of the Greatest Treasure in the Universe. When the Gokaigers appeared searching for a samurai, Kaoru Shiba challenged them to retrieve the Shinkenger Ranger Keys, and her challenge was met by Joe Gibken, hoping she would reveal the Ranger Keys' greater power. But when a Zangyack invasion forced the duel to be postponed, Kaoru used her kuroko to help the Gokai Galleon crew when Captain Marvelous was injured in battle. After seeing the bonds between the Gokaigers, she gave Joe a secret disk to aid him in his fight, and granted the greater power of the Shinkengers to them. During the battle with the Black Cross King, Chiaki and Genta were two of the several Super Sentai warriors who gave their support to the Gokaigers and Goseigers.

After the Gokaigers finally defeated Zangyack, they returned the Ranger Keys before they left Earth to find the second Greatest Treasure in the Universe. It is assumed the Shinkengers have their powers back.

Super Hero Taisen
The Shinkengers, among the majority of the Super Sentai heroes, were caught up in the "Super Hero Taisen" incident which eventually resulted in the Super Sentai teams and Kamen Riders joining forces to defeat both Dai-Zangyack and Dai-Shocker. The Shinkengers were not accompanied by Shinken Gold or Princess Shinken Red who, like other additional heroes, were strangely absent in this event.

Super Hero Taisen Z
The five-man Shinkenger team was part of a force of Sentai and Rider reinforcements led by Akarenger and that came to assist the Sentai and Riders of recent years who were overwhelmed by the revived monster army of the. The combined forces of superheroes were able to turn the tide against the Madou army. They lined up and used their various finisher attacks to destroy the revived monsters.

After was destroyed and the battle was finally over, the Shinkengers appeared standing on a cliff with all the other heroes who appeared to help, to say goodbye to the heroes of recent years before taking their leave.

Ranger Keys
The Samurai Sentai Shinkenger Ranger Keys (侍戦隊シンケンジャーレンジャーキー) are what became of the Shinkengers' powers after they along with the rest of the 34 Super Sentai sacrificed their powers to end the Great Legend War.

Any of these keys allow a Gokaiger to assume the form of any of the Shinkengers or combine GokaiOh and GaoLion into Shinken GokaiOh.
 * Shinken Red Key (シンケンレッドキー)
 * Shinken Blue Key (シンケンブルーキー)
 * Shinken Pink Key (シンケンピンクキー)
 * Shinken Green Key (シンケングリーンキー)
 * Shinken Yellow Key (シンケンイエローキー)
 * Shinken Gold Key (シンケンゴールドキー)
 * Princess Shinken Red Key (姫シンケンレッドキー)

Gokaiger/Shinkenger Gokai Change

Super Sentai Battle: Ranger Cross
As the third most recent Super Sentai team (at the time), the Shinkengers were one of the five teams featured in Super Sentai Battle: Ranger Cross. Shinken Gold appeared as well.