Long ago, the Gurongi Tribe terrorized the Linto (リント Rinto) until a warrior named Kuuga appeared and defeated the Gurongi, sealing their leader within a cave. In present day, a multi-talented man named Yuusuke Godai finds himself linked to the mysterious stoned belt that was found within the excavated cave as the Gurongi are resurrected and resume their murderous game on the descendants of the Linto, humanity itself. It is up to Yuusuke, along with the assembled Science Police, to use the various powers of Kuuga in order to stop and defeat the Gurongi Tribesmen from their continuous killing and ensure the happiness of others. However, as endgame draws near, Yuusuke learns that there is a horrible revelation behind Kuuga and the Gurongis' leader.
A man named Shouichi Tsugami has lost his memories. He doesn't know who he is, where he came from, or how he came upon his peculiar circumstances. Tsugami, seemingly for no reason, transforms into a powerful superhuman, Agito, whenever in the presence of the beings referred by the police as the "Unknown", a race of powerful monsters that have been causing murders around Tokyo, targeting certain people as their prey. In response, the police department unleash their newest weapon: the G3 powersuit, originally developed to fight against the "Unidentified Lifeforms", the enemies of No.4 (Kamen Rider Kuuga). G3 and Agito don't know whether they should join up and defeat the Unknowns, their common enemy, or to combat each other, keeping the mysteries that entwine them separate. Ultimately, even more mysteries unfold, with the appearance of Kamen Rider Gills, who is on a search to uncover why his father committed suicide. These mysteries and others collide, as the true nature of Agito would ultimately determine the fate of humanity.
Thirteen Advent Card decks were created for thirteen Kamen Riders. They make Contracts with monsters from the mysterious Mirror World (ミラーワールド Mirā Wārudo), a parallel dimension opposite to our own in which only the Kamen Riders can exist. The Riders draw on their monsters' strength in exchange for feeding them the life force of the creatures they destroy. The creator of the Advent Cards has only one rule: that there can be only one Kamen Rider. The others must be killed, and the sole victor will be granted a single wish, which leads to a conflict known as the Rider Battle.
All over the city, innocent people are being mysteriously abducted, never to be seen again. During his investigations of these incidents, Shinji Kido – an intern at the online news service ORE Journal – discovers one of the Advent Card decks at an apartment where every reflective surface has been covered by newspaper. He is soon sucked into the Mirror World, discovering the terrifying truth behind the disappearances: people are literally being pulled through mirrors by the monsters of the Mirror World so that they may feed. He is about to be killed by a powerful dragon named Dragredder when he is saved by Kamen Rider Knight: Ren Akiyama. Ren seeks to win the Rider War at all costs. He works with a young woman named Yui Kanzaki, who seeks her missing brother: the master of the Rider War, Shirō Kanzaki. Seeing Ren's strength, Shinji enters the Rider War not for the prize, but so that he may protect innocent people from the threat of the Mirror World, and stop the senseless fighting between the Kamen Riders. With Dragredder as his Contract Monster, he becomesKamen Rider Ryuki.
The Smart Brain Corporation, the world's most powerful corporation, is trying to take over the world using Orphnoch, the next stage in humanity's evolution, to covertly kill off the human population. In pursuit of this, they develop three suits of power armor, called Rider Gear (Delta, Faiz, and Kaixa), to find and protect the Orphnoch King, who can fix a defect within Orphnoch DNA which causes their genetic structure to break down, leading to death.