Balance (Shuriken/Kyoko Shidara)

balance-shuriken-full BALANCE

Real Name: Unrevealed

Identity/Class: Alternate Reality (presumably Earth-85920) human

Occupation: Unrevealed

Group Membership: None known

Affiliations: Shuriken (Kyoko Shidara);
he likely would have encountered and worked with Libra (Dale) and Kokutai (Captain Nippon, Kuma, Kyoto, Mindblast/Osano, Zero) had the series continued

Enemies: Threshold;
at least formerly Shuriken;
sought to steal from Edwin Markos and Toshoda Electronics/Computers

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Tokyo, Japan, at least

First Appearance: Shuriken Team-Up#1 (January, 1988)

Powers/Abilities: A skilled martial artist, Balance wielded a collapsible/extendable staff, which he used for both defense and offense.

He tended to joke, flirt and make quips during his fights.

Height: Unrevealed (approximately 5'8")
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 160 lbs.)
Eyes: Dark (presumably brown; black and white comic)
Hair: Black

balance-shuriken-breakin History:
(Shuriken Team-Up#1 (fb) - BTS) - Toshoda Electronics' Edwin Markos was the programmer in charge of all software development for Project Bedlam, which promised to allow processing speeds to approach the speed of light, fueled by the difference in resistance between dimensions and controlled by a ROM chip the size of the head of a pin.

(Shuriken Team-Up#1 - BTS) - Toshoda hired Shuriken to watch over Markos and protect him with her life.

Markos' work apparently opened a portal to another dimension through which the demonic Threshold and his followers arrived.

(Shuriken Team-Up#1) - Having arrived on the roof of Toshoda Electronics and seeking to steal Markos' ROM chip, Balance proceeded to bypass alarm modules, resynchronize security camera, disable failsafes and unlock roof access.

(Shuriken Team-Up#1 - BTS) - Despite the cameras not showing any concern, Shuriken's suspected something to be wrong and she determined that someone could have accessed the building via disabling the roof's power couplings.

(Shuriken Team-Up#1) - Rushing to the top floor, Shuriken was confronted by Balance, who surmised that she was Toshoda's new watchdog and joking told her to make him some coffee. When he swung his staff at her, however, she caught it with the chain of her nunchaks and took if from him. Balance assured her that he could take her without weapons, although she blocked his first kick and he narrowly twisted out of the way from her powerful punch. After he dodged her next kick, she caught his arm when he tried to punch her, threatening to break it.

Balance told Shuriken that she had beautiful eyes, but they were distracted by a loud scream, and Balance suggested they put aside their conflict and investigate that scream...after which he would kick her ass.

(Shuriken Team-Up#1 - BTS) - Meanwhile, at the headquarters of Japan's premiere super hero team, Kokutai, the psychic Mindblast (Osano) sensed a powerful presence with hundreds of people hurt and dying and that Tokyo was doomed.

(Shuriken Team-Up#1) - Balance and Shuriken encountered Threshold and his followers, who ordered them to get on their knees. Markos apparently had already been absorbed into Threshold or was subsequently absorbed into him.

(Shuriken Team-Up#1 - BTS) - Having arrived on the scene, Kokutai (Captain Nippon, Kuma, Kyoto, Mindblast, Zero) engaged the demons. balance-shuriken-impale_demons

    A powerful explosion erupted from the upper floors of the Toshoda building.

(Shuriken Team-Up#1) - As Balance and Shuriken battled Threshold's demons, Shuriken noted that it looked like they were allies but that she didn't even know his name. He told her she could call him Balance, after which Shuriken warned him as two female demons of Threshold approached him from behind. He struck them with his staff, but only succeeded in breaking it in half. As the demon-women surrounded him, noting that he wanted to play and claiming his bone marrow, Balance told them that he had a present for them, and he used the sharp ends of his staff to impale and destroy them both.

    Balance then challenged Threshold, who instead terrified Balance by causing him to see what at least appeared to be how and when he would die. With Balance incapacitated, Shuriken leapt at Threshold, who caught her leg and hurled her out a window, and she began falling to the ground far below...

...and the series ended with that issue, and the resolution of the conflict was never revealed, although Shuriken apparently did NOT die...

Comments: Created by Brian Marshall, Delfin Barral & Reggie Byers under Eternity Comics, a division of Malibu Graphics.

    Courtesy of Loki, who suggested Balance to represent Shuriken for the event:

    Created by Reggie Byers, who'd previously written for Comico's Robotech, Shuriken began at Victory Comics in 1985. Kyoko Shidara is a Japanese-American teenager trained in Wing Chun Kung-Fu, who uses her skills first to serve the Organization as an assassin but then quits to becomes a mercenary (frequently a bodyguard). The character moved to Eternity and also had a TPB from Blackthorne. He eventually sold the rights to Malibu, which in turn means she's probably owned by Marvel now.
    The Ultraverse character of the same name MAY be a version of her (there's speculation that is the case on Comicvine), but if so it's a different reality from the one who showed up in Shuriken's own titles I think, based on them having different civilian identities.
    In her one issue Shuriken Team-Up she meets Libra, a character who had his own title - both Shuriken Team-Up and Libra were clearly intended to last longer but only have a single issue.
    Shuriken also appears in Team Nippon#2.

Courtesy of the Marvel Database:

Shuriken Team-Up was advertised as 4-issue crossover miniseries between the characters of Shuriken (Kyoko Shidara), Libra and the Japanese superhero team Kokutai. For whatever reason, the miniseries only published one issue and the story was left hanging. Shuriken appeared later in Shuriken: Cold Steel, with no explicit mention of this volume.

Libra was a character created and owned by Delfin Barral, and published by Eternity and Malibu comics. The character only appeared before in Libra #1, and never appeared in anyplace else.

Kokutai was advertised as a team that would appear in the Eternity title Battle to the Death, produced and owned by John Arcudi. However the characters never appeared in that series and their only appearance is in this book.

Earth-85920 Shared reality of Born to Kill, Demongate, Dragonring, Dragonfire, Kimura, Leather and Lace, Samurai, Serpentyne, Shuriken/Kyoko Shidara and Team Nippon, the latter of whom formed to clean up Chinatown. Samurai #1 (1985)

This profile was completed 04/03/2026, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 25^th anniversary 's celebratory event.

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Balance should be distinguished from:

BALANCE - see LIBRA (Brandt)--Avengers Forever#1
BALANCE (Debora Crovi) - Gemini--Europa#0/2
BALANCE, RESTON - Victorian era adventurer--Zip! The Comic for the Eighties dummy issue
other "Balance" characters, groups, items, events, races or places...

images: (without ads)
Shuriken Team-Up#1, pg. 7, panel 4 (breaking into Toshoda building);
pg. 9 (full/main);
pg. 23, panel 1 (impaling demons)

Appearances:
Shuriken Team-Up#1 (January, 1988) - Brian Marshall (writer), Delfin Barral & Reggie Byers (pencilers), David Mowry (inker), Chris Ulm (editor-in-chief), Tom Mason (creative director)

First posted: 09/21/2026
Last updated: 04/16/2026

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

Non-Marvel Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™ and © 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
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Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!

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