SAM HARADA

Real Name: Sam Harada

Identity/Class: Human

Occupation: Store clerk, information broker

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Lady Anime (Xixa Zenaya)

Enemies: Deadpool ("Wade Wilson")

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Little Tokyo, Los Angeles, California

First Appearance: Deadpool: Seven Slaughters#1/3 (January 2024)

Powers/Abilities: Harada was skilled at discovering information about underworld figures and groups, sufficiently so that he was considered the number one informant by said groups and tolerated by them for the intel he could provide despite also being disliked by them for also sometimes selling information about them to their rivals. 

Height: 6'2" (by assumption - see comments)
Weight: 308 lbs. (by assumption - see comments)
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: Red

History:
(Deadpool: Seven Slaughters#1/3 (fb) - BTS) - Sam Harada was the number one informant to the crimelords of Little Tokyo. He was considered by some (Deadpool at minimum) to be the area's least honorable and most expensive blabbermouth, and was not well liked, even by those who bought his information.

   Possessing information that would help crime boss Lady Anime eliminate her most bothersome rivals Harada arranged for her to come to his store to purchase his intel.

(Deadpool: Seven Slaughters#1/3) - However someone (likely, but not confirmed to be, one of the rival crime bosses Harada was about to sell out to Lady Anime) hired Deadpool to assassinate Harada. Racing to Little Tokyo the Merc with a Mouth crashed through the window of Harada's shop while quipping "Are you still open?" Harada grabbed a gun, declaring that if Deadpool's paymasters thought he'd give up without a fight they had another...

   Before he could finish the sentence Deadpool shot Harada multiple times, including in the chest (probably the heart) and through the left eye, apparently killing him instantly mere moments before Lady Anime arrived.

Comments: Created by Rob Liefeld and Chad Bowers.

   Harada is very clearly visually based on Taro Sakamoto, the lead character in the manga and anime Sakamoto Days. Sakamoto is a top assassin who retired when he found love and promised his wife he'd give up killing; he now runs a convenience store and his former athletic physique has become portly through overeating and lack of exercise. Despite this rotund appearance, he remains a superhumanly exceptional individual, as several lesser assassins learn to their cost when they come after him. If Deadpool had faced off against Sakamoto instead of Harada the Merc with a Mouth wouldn't have claimed such an easy kill; in the past Sakamoto has caught bullets fired at him in mid-flight using chopsticks, or safely deflected them off any number of random objects that happened to be within arms' reach at the time of the fight. Suffice to say, I don't consider Harada to be Sakamoto's Earth-616 (mainstream Marvel universe) counterpart, but perhaps simply a fan (of the manga or the actual Sakamoto, depending on whether there is a version of Taro Sakamoto in 616) who deliberately emulated Sakamoto's signature look.

   Harada only appeared in four panels, three of which I've used in this profile, all of them waist up or higher. As such it's impossible to get a good estimate of his height and weight. Given this, I've ASSumed that his height and weight match those of his visual inspiration, Sakamoto.

Profile by Loki.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Sam Harada has no known connections to:

images: (without ads)
Deadpool: Seven Slaughters#1/3, p2, pan1 (main image)
Deadpool: Seven Slaughters#1/3, p2, pan3 (getting shot)
Deadpool: Seven Slaughters#1/3, p2, pan4 (dead, shot through eye)
Sakamoto Days poster (Taro Sakamoto and friends)

Appearances:
Deadpool: Seven Slaughters#1 (January 2024) - Rob Liefeld (story and art), Chad Bowers (script), Ellie Pyle (editor)

First Posted: 08/28/2025
Last updated: 08/28/2025

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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