Phantom Retort
Phantom Retort (快盗レトルト Kaitou Retoruto), commonly referred to just Retort for short, or Phantom Renegade in the West, is as Phantom Thief and alter ego adopted by several individuals throughout the franchise.
This character serves as a vigilante, preventing medals from falling into the wrong hands and averting a potential new Ten Days of Darkness incident. Additionally, Phantom Retort provides support to new Medarotters with potential, commonly Ikki Tenryou or Azuma Amakura. Female versions of this character are known as Retort Lady (レトルトレディ Retoruto Redi), Phantom Lady in the west.
In Medarot 1, Kirara Akita assumes her alter ego named Beauty (コマチ Komachi), which likely served as a prototype for the Phantom Retort concept introduced in Medarot 2. The context, however, is vague and it's not known whether Hikaru alone was inspired by Beauty or whether Kirara herself created the concept of Phantom Retort for Hikaru.
In the Medarotter Rintarou! manga and Medarot anime, a similar alter ego exists called Space Medarotter X, also played by Hikaru and several other characters.
Known Phantoms
- Hikaru Agata - The original Phantom Retort, began playing the role in Medarot 2. Dr. Medarot come up with the idea of Hikaru becoming Phantom Retort and preventing medals from falling into the wrong hands. He uses several Medarots but is commonly associated with Arcbeetle and Tyrrellbeetle.
- Kirara Akita - She already had an alter-ego known as Beauty in the first game. Starting with Medarot 2 her alter-ego is Retort Lady, serving as Phantom Retort's partner. Uses several Medarots but after the events of the second game, commonly uses God Emperor.
- Fake Retort - A medal hunter in Medarot R who pretends to be Phantom Retort and works for RoboRobo Gang. He usually uses the duo Bayonet and Solin, but later uses Crimson King as his main Medarot.
- Lady Fake Retort - A medal hunter in Medarot R who works for RoboRobo Gang. He pretends to be Lady Retort but is a man. He uses the duo Bayonet and Solin.
- Ikki Tenryou - In Medarot DS and 7, Ikki is the new Phantom Retort, succeeding Hikaru in the role.
Note
- Kirara Akita's role as Beauty, along with her appearance, seems to be inspired by Minako Aino and her alter ego Sailor V from "Codename: Sailor V", a manga series written and illustrated by Naoko Takeuchi. Notably, Phantom Retort resembles Tuxedo Mask from the manga sequel "Sailor Moon", as both clearly incorporate the Phantom of the Opera motif from the novel written by French author Gaston Leroux.