Drive Knight

Overview

Synopsis

Relationships

Image Gallery

Battles

— Drive Knight on his tactics.

Drive Knight
Kanji	駆動騎士
Rōmaji	Kudō Kishi
Characteristics
Race	Human (Cyborg)
Age	Undisclosed
Status	Alive
Height	182 cm (5'11¾")
Weight	Undisclosed
Abilities
Abilities	Superhuman Physical Characteristics Transformation Flight Fire Manipulation Energy Projection
Status
Occupation	Hero
Rank	S-Class: Rank 7 (Current) S-Class: Rank 9 (Formerly)
Affiliation	Hero Association
Media
Webcomic Debut	Chapter 32
Manga Debut	Chapter 30
Anime Debut	Episode 10
Japanese VA	Yōji Ueda
English VA	Todd Haberkorn

This article is about the character. For the chapter, see Chapter 118.

Drive Knight (駆く動どう騎き士し, Kudō Kishi) is the S-Class Rank 7 professional hero of the Hero Association.

Expand to see original webcomic information. Beware of spoiler content.

Drive Knight's real name is Zero (ゼロ, Zero).

Appearance

Drive Knight has long black hair and wears a white mask. His mask has a single horizontal slit for the eyes, and a single red shining eye in the center of the slit. The mask has three small vertical slits where his mouth should be. His armor is rather simplistic, being similar to a medieval knight's armor. His appearance changes with his Tactical Transformations.

Full appearance

Personality

Drive Knight is an incredibly tactical and calculated fighter who focuses on gathering information, prioritizing reconnaissance over the safety of the multiple heroes fighting Nyan. He does not underestimate his opponents, even if they are below his level of power. Unwilling to allow any enemy who has witnessed his abilities to live, he aims to prevent his opponents from learning and exploiting his weaknesses. He is also quite merciless towards monsters, resorting to any means, including torture, to obtain the information he desires. Despite this ruthlessness, he is open to capturing certain powerful monsters that pique his interest, as evidenced by his attempt to capture Nyan.

Drive Knight operates independently of the Hero Association's orders. According to Sekingar, his confidence stems from his record of never having lost a battle.

He harbors a deep suspicion and disdain for Metal Knight. When Sekingar explains the condition of several S-Class heroes who were hospitalized due to simultaneous monster attacks, Drive Knight criticizes Sekingar for the blind trust placed in Bofoi, claiming that the latter is the mole. Although Sekingar asks for proof, Drive Knight provides an advanced analysis of various factors suggesting Bofoi's treachery, yet offers no strong evidence to substantiate his claim. Consequently, Sekingar begins to doubt Drive Knight's loyalty, noticing too many inexplicable aspects of his actions and suspecting he may be a traitor.

Additionally, Drive Knight appears to be single-minded and heartless, driven by his own objectives. This is shown when he ruthlessly drops Genos from great height after completing his objective of collecting a sample of the fusion of Psykos and Orochi's flesh, disregarding the cyborg's overloading condition.

Abilities and Powers

As an S-Class hero, Drive Knight is very powerful. He easily defeated a group of Tiger-level Mysterious Beings, and managed to overcome the Dragon-level monster and Monster Association executive Nyan relatively quickly and with minimal damage, thanks to his numerous features and immense strength. However, he acknowledged that his victory was largely due to Nyan's overconfidence and recklessness, as well as the battle data he had collected beforehand, which allowed him to gain the upper hand. Additionally, Drive Knight claimed that the fight with Nyan drained his battle energy to the point where he could no longer move. Sekingar has stated that Drive Knight has never lost a battle, and this reputation instills concern within the Hero Association whenever the possibility of his defeat arises.

Physical Abilities

Immense Strength: Drive Knight possesses tremendous physical strength. He was able to effortlessly rip off the head of a Tiger-level Mysterious Being. He could send Nyan flying with a single punch, though these punches did not inflict significant damage. He was also strong enough to stab Nyan in the chest after roasting him.

Immense Speed and Reflexes: Even outside his Knight form, Drive Knight exhibits remarkable speed. He utilized his shape-changing box to form Silver and swiftly decapitated two Tiger-level Mysterious Beings before they could react. Furthermore, he was capable of keeping pace with Nyan in combat, a Dragon-level Mysterious Being that could move faster than a group of B, C, and A-Class heroes were able to react.

Immense Durability: Thanks to his sturdy machine body, Drive Knight can withstand powerful blows. He remained standing after enduring multiple Feline Retributions from Nyan, and in his Gold form, he could withstand these attacks with minimal damage.

Cyborg Modifications

The core inside Drive Knight's body

Core (コア, Koa): Like Genos, Drive Knight's body is powered by an energy core. During their battle against the fusion of Psykos and Orochi, he requested Genos's cooperation to combine their energy cores, maximizing their power output.

Fighting Style

Drive Knight's various Tactical Transformations

Tactical Transformation (戦術変形, Senjutsu Henkei; Viz: Battle Transformation): Drive Knight effectively employs his shape-changing box to create weapons and transform his body. This combat method is highly versatile and adaptable, allowing for situational transformations. Nyan noted that he could not predict Drive Knight's moves. Due to the situational effectiveness of each transformation, Drive Knight frequently changes forms during a fight, depending on the number of monsters and their individual strengths. The speed of each transformation is very fast; for instance, the shift from Chariot to Knight was swift enough for Drive Knight to counter the nimble and fast monster Nyan just before the latter reached him with his claws. He also transformed between Flying Chariot, Chariot, and Bishop almost seamlessly while pursuing the fusion of Psykos and Orochi.

Expand to see original webcomic information. Beware of spoiler content.

• Pawn (歩, Ho): Drive Knight's ordinary form.

• Knight (桂馬, Keima): Drive Knight transforms his lower body into that of a horse, giving him the appearance of a centaur. This form gives Drive Knight increased speed and leg strength. Drive Knight also used this form to buck Nyan into the air.

• Silver (銀, Gin): Drive Knight forms a sword as long as desired/needed. The sword is powerful enough to easily slice through multiple Tiger-level monsters and pierce Nyan, although this was only after the monster was roasted by his Gold form. He is able to form swords in both hands simultaneously. This transformation can be used in conjunction with other transformations.

• Chariot (香車, Kyōsha; Viz: Lance): Drive Knight transforms into a sleek motorbike with lances attached on its frontside.
  • Missiles: The motorbike can shoot missiles from its sides.
  • Anesthetic Gas (麻酔ガス, Masui Gasu): The motorbike can emit large anesthetic gas clouds.
  • Dissolving Liquid (溶解液, Yōkai-Eki): The motorbike can release a specially-made dissolving liquid. Drive Knight states that this liquid dissolves things quicker the thinner they are.

• Flying Chariot (飛車, Hisha; Viz: Rook): Drive Knight transforms into a bulky compact fighter jet with four wings and several rocket engines that propel him forward and upward at high speeds.
  • Energy Cannons: The jet contains several energy cannons on its sides that can be used for aerial combat.
  • Energy Blaster: Drive Knight may detach the wings of his jet and transform it into a separate energy blaster that flies in front of the jet to clear obstacles with it's destructive blasts at the cost of his jet form temporarily losing the ability to maneuver effectively.

• Bishop (角, Kaku): Drive Knight transforms into a large humanoid robot with a crested helmet. This form was durable enough to withstand multiple missiles and energy beams from the Psykos-Orochi fusion's jet form.

• Gold (金, Kin): Drive Knight adds a layer of armor to his body. His hair turns white and his armor flares between its plates. Nyan's Feline Retribution attacks only had little effect on this form.
  • Heat (熱, Netsu): The true ability of Tactical Transformation: Gold. Drive Knight increases his body temperature to extreme levels. He used this to roast Nyan while the monster was inside his body.

Tactical Combination (戦術合体, Senjutsu Gattai): When Drive Knight's energy reserves are depleted, he can fuse with another cyborg or robot to gain access to their energy cores, thus allowing maximum energy output. Drive Knight's shape-changing box transforms their bodies in order to gain promoted versions of his regular Tactical Transformations. Drive Knight explicitly stated that this ability's may not function depending on the compatibility of his robotic partner. This ability was first used in conjunction with Genos.

Promoted Rook

• Promoted Rook (龍王, Ryūō; Viz: Dragon King): Drive Knight and his robotic partner transforms into a large humanoid robot with several large thrusters and heavy armor. Drive Knight's partner is positioned where the head would be while Drive Knight is embedded within the chest-plates. The transformation's main weapon of choice is a giant longsword with a guard in the shape of a dragon's head and wings.

Miscellaneous Abilities

Keen Perception: Drive Knight can assess the threat level of the Mysterious Beings he encounters. It remains unclear whether this ability is due to his robotic mechanisms or a comparison of his strength to that of the monsters he fights.

Master Strategist: Drive Knight effectively utilizes information gathered on a Mysterious Being to exploit its weaknesses. This strategic insight also helps him determine which Tactical Transformations are best suited for fighting his opponent.

Electricity Absorption: Drive Knight can absorb electricity from any power outlet as an emergency energy source when his current battle energy is depleted. He can absorb substantial amounts of electricity at once, enough to cause a power outage in a section of Z-City.

Equipment

• Drive Knight's box
• Checkmate
• Tactical Saw Blade

1/3

Shape-Changing Box: Drive Knight possesses a box-like object containing various cybernetic parts. It can quickly change shape and fuse with his body to form different weapons for combat or transportation. Additionally, Drive Knight uses it to torture his enemies.

• Tactical Saw Blade: Drive Knight transforms his Shape-Changing Box into a giant spinning saw blade, which he can throw at high speeds for surprise attacks. The saw blade is sharp enough to cleanly slice through a small portion of a concrete building.
• Checkmate (詰, Tsume; Viz: The Masher): Drive Knight can create a cage-like device from part of his Shape-Changing Box that impales its victim, completely incapacitating them. He uses this device to restrain an extremely weakened Nyan while fighting Psykos and Orochi.

Weakness

Drive Knight has a limited energy reserve; when it is depleted, he is unable to fight.

Hero Rating

Drive Knight's rating determined by the Hero Association:

Ability Type	Stamina	Intelligence	Justice	Endurance	Power	Popularity	Effectiveness	Fighting Ability	Total
Secret	?	?	?	?	?	7	6	?	?

The rating might be mostly unknown due to Drive Knight's ability to change his form, rendering fixed statistics pointless.

Quotes

• "Is there a form of torture you've always wanted to experience? My Tactical Transformation can cause you each and every kind of pain."
• "The true nature of evolution... is rivalry."
• "In order to improve the possibility of victory, anything that can be exploited must be exploited."

Trivia

• According to the databook:
  • Drive Knight chose his own hero name.
  • It is unknown if he is a remodeling cyborg or a robot.
• Drive Knight's various Tactical Transformations are named after the pieces used in the traditional Japanese board game shogi.
• Murata once drew Drive Knight's Chariot form before but scrapped it in favor of the Knight form.
• Despite his ambiguous status as either a cyborg or a robot, Drive Knight is shown eating noodles in official artwork.
• Murata has depicted Drive Knight using a snorkel in the cover art of Volume 11.
• In the 2017 One-Punch Man Halloween cover, Drive Knight was depicted in his Knight form but headless, a reference to the famous mythical figure Headless Horseman.
• Drive Knight appears to share some traits with DC Comics superhero Batman, namely his habit to gather intel on his targets and his reliance on a variety of tactical tools and vehicles in order to achieve victory more effectively.
• The promotion of any piece except the King and Gold is possible in shogi when it arrives to the 7th, 8th or 9th row. A promoted Rook increases its movement capacity and is available to move diagonally one square. The promoted Rook is also called a Dragon that can be written 龍 or 竜 (Ryuu).
• Murata noted that Promoted Rook's design was based on ONE's illustration of Genos's dreaming of his new designs. Dragon King is also a pun to Genos's fighting image of a dragon when he used Thunder Drill Cannon.

Expand to see original webcomic information. Beware of spoiler content.

• Drive Knight claims to have a similar past to Genos, revealing his hometown was also destroyed by the Mad Cyborg. Though he does not give a specific time frame.