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 a 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 Medarot R manga and Medarot anime, a similar alter ego exists called Space Medarotter X, also played by Hikaru and several other characters. In Medarot 3 Parts Collection Hikaru and Kirara temporarily play the roles of Z Mask and Z Lady respectively.

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 (Dash) 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.

• Phantom Thief Jill - An art and jewel thief in Medarot 8 who kickstarts the plot of the game by becoming a fixture of the Laurel Detective Agency after a series of thefts. Despite the name and appearance, the persona has no apparent relation to the previous Phantoms. Unlike the previous Phantoms, the real identity of Jill is a legitimate secret in the narrative of Medarot 8, being eventually revealed to be Mary, who started the alter-ego in hope that it would get Laurel to take notice of her.

• Selene - Hisaki Kaguya's masked alter ego in Medarot S.

• Moon Shadow - Character from Medarot S.

In the games

In Medarot 1, Kirara Akita as Beauty, can be considered a precursor to this concept. She adopts an alter-ego to compete in the tournament against Hikaru Agata, but loses every time. Hikaru eventually uncovers her true identity after rescuing her from Taiyo. Despite this revelation, Kirara continues to utilize her disguise during the invasion of the Select Corp. building, where she confronts the leader of the RoboRobo Gang, Minori. However, she finds it frustrating that Hikaru doesn't take her disguise seriously and inadvertently reveals her real name aloud.

In Medarot 2 (Core), following the Ten Days of Darkness from the first game, Dr. Medarot proposes to Hikaru the idea of becoming the vigilante Phantom Retort, whose mission is to steal medals from corrupt Medarotters to prevent a repeat of the previous catastrophic events. Kirara joins him as Retort Lady. Besides their medal-stealing activities, the duo also aids Ikki Tenryou on multiple occasions, as per Dr. Medarot's belief in Ikki's potential. Phantom Retort was the one who gave Ikki's father the Kabuto/Kuwagata Medal, which allowed the boy to obtain his first Medarot. During the climactic battle against Dr. Hebereke and his God Emperor, Phantom Retort and his Metabee/Rokusho successfully defeat the formidable Medarot. However, a second God Emperor appears, overpowering Phantom Retort and exposing his true identity as Hikaru Agata to Ikki. In the chaos, Hikaru inadvertently reveals Retort Lady's true identity as Kirara, much to Ikki's surprise.

In Medarot R, Hikaru's role as Phantom Retort remains similar to that in Medarot 2. However, his appearances are relatively limited, and the way he aids Ikki differs; he is hidden in various locations where Ikki can optionally confront him. If defeated, Ikki earns a medal. Retort Lady makes a single appearance in the story, infiltrating the Hyper Tournament stadium to expose to Ikki that the Hikaru he was facing was merely a robotic replica. Medal Hunters, posing as Phantom Retort and Retort Lady, work for the RoboRobo Gang. Despite this, they prove to be more incompetent and are easily defeated by Ikki. Later, the true Phantom Retort assists Ikki at the RoboRobo Gang's base, revealing the fake Medal God and uncovering the real one behind a locked door. After Ikki's escape from the base and failure to halt Katekin Ten's madness, it is implied that Phantom Retort helped Jick resolve the remaining problems with the villains.

In Medarot DS and Medarot 7, Hikaru and Kirara no longer take on their roles as Phantoms. Instead, Ikki Tenryou assumes the mantle of Phantom Retort. Similar to how Hikaru aided him, Ikki now assists Azuma Amakura at various points in the story.

In the anime

Phantom Retort's role in the anime mirrors that in Medarot 2. However, due to Kirara's absence, there is no Retort Lady in the anime adaptation. The story kicks off with Phantom Retort stealing medals, only to accidentally drop one, much to his dismay. This incident proves crucial as it's this very medal that Ikki Tenryou finds in a river, leading to the creation of Metabee. Like in the games, Phantom Retort aids Ikki against the RoboRobo Gang. Despite an initial intention to retrieve Metabee's rare Kabuto Medal due to his previous mistake, this plan is ultimately abandoned.

The anime places more emphasis on the difficulty that Hikaru Agata has in trying to keep his identity secret, which makes him desperate if people start to suspect him. By the latter half of the anime, Hikaru increasingly adopts his Space Medarotter X persona, visually similar to Phantom Retort but with a golden mask. In a comical twist during the showdown against the Giant Emperor, Ikki and his friends discover Space Medarotter X's true identity as Phantom Retort when one mask breaks, revealing another beneath it.

Juggling three identities proves nearly impossible for Hikaru, leading other characters to temporarily assume the role of Space Medarotter X in Robattle World Tournament while he maintains his Phantom Retort persona. Notably, in the anime, he uses an Arcbeetle, akin to his appearance in Medarot R and subsequent games. Unlike in the games, the characters in the anime never discover that Hikaru and Phantom Retort are the same person.

Hikaru Agata doesn't make a significant appearance in Medarot Damashii, aside from a cameo in the ending, so there's no presence of Phantom Retort in the story. However, Yuuzuru Oozora plays a role similar to the Phantoms as Mystery Medarotter, likely inspired by the same concept. It's worth noting that Mystery Medarotter focuses primarily on Kuwagata Medarots, mirroring Hikaru/Phantom Retort in the Kuwagata version games, and utilizes Tyrrellbeetle, which is Phantom Retort's main Medarot in Medarot 4 (Kuwagata version).

In the manga

In Medarot 2, 3 and 4

Phantom Retort's role in the mangas are quite similar as his anime counterpart, and unlike his game version, he is rarely seen with Ikki and the others, being portrayed as a mysterious figure.

While most adults see him as just a menace, he is known as a hero among children. At some point of the story, we find out that he is working with Professor Medarot in specific missions, like retrieving rare medals. It is implied that the professor also offers all the apparatus for his missions, like his grapple gun and transport balloon.

The thief Retort Lady does not appear in the manga, but in contrast to Hikaru, who works as a part-time seller at the convenience store, Kirara is a university student who works part-time at Medarot Company. It is suggested though that she knows about and supports Retort's activities, being the one arranging the secret meetings between him and Professor Medarot.

Retort's participation are more recurrent in Medarot 2, usually showing up as an additional resource when a fight seems lost. Most notably, when Ikki hesitates to face the Roborobo Gang in the climax of the manga, Retort encourage him to fight.

In Medarot 3, he tries to recover the Metalia System from Dr. Hebereke fallen ship, but it is intercepted by the Select Corps. Chapters later, he set free Nimousaku and his son, locked up in the Medarot Company's president's office, during the incident involving Maquette.

In Medarot 4, he and Ikki take opposite sides regarding the talking-insects incident and the potential alien invasion and eventually fight with each other. Retort and his 'Unit 01' (Hikaru's Metabee disguise) easily defeat Ikki 's Metabee, who is swept away by a ditch flooded by heavy rain and goes missing. Retort then leaves, saying that he did not want to hurt them but there was no other option, and that they will probably will never meet again. After this day, Hikaru disappears and another person takes his place as store clerk. Later, Retort is informed by Professor Medarot that Metabee was found and he doesn't need to feel guilty anymore. He also says that Retort should try to stick around, since he knows it was hard to find a place that suits him. After the Moon Medals incident was resolved, Hikaru returned to his part-time job at the convenience store as if nothing had happened.

It was clear from the situation and from previous games that Hikaru was Retort, but this was never explicitly stated in the manga, and Ikki and the others never knew about it.

In Medarot DS

Retort comes back in Medarot DS, still as a mysterious character who appears in this work and fights against the Roborobo Gang. He is featured on TV news and such, but in the end, he never meets Azuma and the others. Judging from his appearance, his true identity is probably Ikki, but the context of this is never explored.

Image gallery

Artworks:

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  Phantom Retort (Ikki) in Medarot 7

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  Phantom Thief Jill (Mary) in Medarot 8

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  Moon Shadow in Medarot S

Portraits:

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  Beauty (Kirara) in Medarot 1

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  Beauty (Kirara) in Medarot Perfect Edition

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  Phantom Retort (Hikaru) in Medarot 2

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  Phantom Retort (Hikaru) in Medarot R

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  Retort Lady (Kirara) in Medarot R

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  Fake Retort in Medarot R

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  Lady Fake Retort in Medarot R

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  Phantom Retort (Hikaru) in Medarot 2 Core

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  Retort Lady (Kirara) in Medarot 2 Core

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Sprites:

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  Phantom Retort (Hikaru) in Medarot 2

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  Phantom Retort (Hikaru) in Medarot R

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  Retort Lady (Kirara) in Medarot R

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  Fake Retort in Medarot R

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  Lady Fake Retort in Medarot R

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  Phantom Retort (Hikaru) in Medarot 2 Core

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  Retort Lady (Kirara) in Medarot 2 Core

Mangas:

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  Phantom Retort first appearance in Medarot 2

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  Phantom Retort in Medarot 3

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  Phantom Retort in Medarot 4

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 and the fictional thief Arsène Lupin created by the French writer Maurice Leblanc.