Both Mach Rider's identity and gender are ambiguous. In the original game, the Mach Rider is portrayed with a masculine muscular build. The NES and Famicom manuals constantly refer to the Mach Rider by name ("the Mach Rider") or as "you" from the player's perspective, and do not use specific pronouns throughout, though the NES manual does at one point break from this to call Mach Rider a "he". However, the arcade port Vs. Mach Rider's stage clear screens slowly introduce piece-by-piece an image of a skimpily-dressed woman (bearing similarities to Jane Fonda's appearance in the 1968 film Barbarella) holding a dagger. It has never been specified if this character is the Mach Rider and is meant to be a twist reveal in a similar vein to Samus from Metroid, or if this is one of the other wasteland survivors. Years later, Mach Rider's trophy description in both the English and Japanese versions of Super Smash Bros. Melee years use he/his as pronouns. Even later on, Captain Rainbow, a Japan-only game centered around obscure and neglected Nintendo heroes, has an unused model for the Mach Rider being depicted with a skinny feminine waist, while not having visible breasts due to wearing armor.