LORD NYOIRIN
Real Name: Nyoirin Henecha
Identity/Class: Human;
Japanese
citizen
Occupation: Crime lord
Group Membership: Jigoku
underworld criminal organization (including Shinobi Shaw, Tatsu'o, Matsu'o Tsurayaba);
apparently his own criminal organization
Affiliations: Clan Yashida, Kwannon, Silver Samurai
(Kenuichio Harada), Spiral (Rita Wayword); his honor guard
formerly Revanche (sort of Kwannon in Elizabeth
Braddock's body; see history for more detail), Shinobi Shaw;
formerly at least worked with Matsu'o Tsurayaba and
the Hand (at least in an effort to recover Kwannon, as well as part of
the Jigoku underworld criminal organization);
although not directly involved with Nyoirin as far
as I could tell, the Mandarin and the Hand's unidentified psi-sensitive
was involved with the plot to salvage Kwannon
Enemies: Beast
(Hank McCoy), Gambit (Remy LeBeau), Hand, Psylocke (sort of Betsy
Braddock in Kwannon's body; see history for more details), Revanche, Shinobi Shaw, Matsu'o Tsurayaba
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
formerly the Nyoirin ancestral home in the suburban
prefecture of Kanagawa, outside of Tokyo, Japan
First Appearance: X-Men
II#18 (March, 1993)
Powers/Abilities: Although appearing to be
somewhat powerfuly built, Lord Nyoirin did demonstrate any particular
physical abilities or combat skills.
As leader of his own criminal
organization, he was served by a number of ninja-like warriors, and he
had his own leadership skills, at least.
Lord Nyoirin speaks and understands
Japanese and English fluently.
Rarely seen without a lit
cigarette, Lord Nyoirin likely had a characteristic odor and diminished
stamina, gustatory sense, etc.
Height: Unrevealed (approximately 5'11")
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 180 lbs.)
Eyes: Unrevealed (his irises were rarely seen as his eyes were
mostly shut, but I saw them clearly once as brown (as his most common
with Asian people) and once as blue (which is less common but does
occur, often with specific genetic background))
Hair: Black (including mustache and goatee)
History:
(X-Men
II#31 (fb) - BTS) - Lord Nyoirin loved his prime assassin, Kwannon,
although he was apparently unaware that she secretly loved his rival
Matsu'o Tsurayaba, another assassin who was affiliated with the Hand.
(X-Men II#31 (fb) - BTS) - Kwannon told Matsu'o
that Lord Nyoirin's next maneuver would place him in direct conflict
with the Hand's interests, which could pit them against each other.
(X-Men II#31 (fb) - BTS) - When Matsu'o came to
Nyoirin's home to kill him, Kwannon opposed him. After a fierce battle,
a muddy ledge on the cliff's surround Nyoirin's estate gave way, and
Kwannon fell to the rocks below.
(X-Men II#31 (fb)) - Nyoirin confronted Matsu'o,
noting his own survival and asking if the honor of the assignment was
worth the price, Kwannon's injuries. After Matsu'o admitted that it was
not, Nyoirin told him to take her to his masters and to tell the
"demonlords of the Hand" that he (Nyoirin) would not cross them again.
Admitting Kwannon to be a treasure beyond all others, Nyoirin tearfully
told Matsu'o to ask his masters to save her.
(X-Men II#31 (fb) - BTS) - Via a combination of
science and magic, the Hand saved her body, but
Kwannon had suffered brain-damage from temporary oxygen-deprivation.
(Uncanny X-Men I#251 - BTS) - As the X-Men were
about to depart the Savage Land, Psylocke (Betsy) had a precognitive
flash of the Reavers killing the team. To prevent this, she sent them
through the Siege Perilous.
(X-Men II#31 (fb) - BTS / X-Men
II#32 (fb) - BTS / X-Men: Psylocke#1 - BTS) -
Amnesiac and invisible to electronic means of detection, Psylocke arrived
on an island in Okinawa, Japan, near the South China Sea. She was found
by local fishermen who appreciated that the island was under the
dominion of the Hand, and so they delivered her to them to avoid
trouble.
(X-Men II#31 (fb) - BTS / X-Men
II#32 (fb) - BTS / X-Men: Psylocke#1 - BTS) - After
the woman was determined to be the X-Man Psylocke, the Hand's Jonin
approved Matsuo's plan to try to save Kwannon if only to transfer her
mind into Psylocke's body. Matsu'o allied with would-be conqueror the
Mandarin, hoping that his rings, in conjunctions with the Hand's
sciences could draw the mind of the brain-damaged Kwannon into the
mindless Psylocke's body.
(X-Men II#32 (fb) - BTS) - As
Kwannon had been an intuitive telepath, displaying at time low-level
telepathic abilities, Matsu'o and the Hand's psi-sensitive believed
this would allow her mind to withstand the transfer. In return, the
Mandarin would get the use of this newly-created telepathic assassin.
To ensure Kwannon's physical form could survive the
transfer, Matsu'o enlisted the aid of the Mojoworld Spiral
(Rita
Wayword), who was allowed by Mojo to help in this matter as
Psylocke's physical form had previously been implanted with bionic eyes
that transmitted images back to Mojoworld.
(X-Men II#31 (fb) - BTS / X-Men
II#32 (fb) - BTS)
- Via her Bodyshoppe technology, Spiral healed Kwannon's body. However,
while Kwannon's mind was transferred into Braddock's body (and
vice-versa), Spiral also altered some memories
and genetic coding, leaving each woman with some of the other’s traits,
memories and abilities; however, due to her brain damage, Kwannon (now
in Betsy’s body) was left amnesiac. Spiral's manipulations ensured that
neither aspect of Kwannon would love Matsu'o.
(X-Men II#31 (fb) - BTS) - Believing
Kwannon’s consciousness to be lost, Tsurayaba sought to sculpt what he
could of their love in Kwannon's body. He took Braddock's fractured
psyche (in Kwannon’s body) and molded it into a semblance of what
Kwannon had been.
(X-Men II#32 (fb)) - Spiral
then turned Kwannon (in Betsy’s body) over to Nyoirin. He asked if
Kwannon's soul was within her, but Spiral teased that that was for her
to know and him to find out. Nyoirin exploited her amnesia and lied to
her about her origins in order to reclaim her services as his assassin,
as well as the make her truly his as she had never been in her previous
life. Nyoirin apparently turned her against Matsu'o as well as Psylocke
(Betsy Braddock's mind in Kwannon's body).
(Uncanny X-Men I#255-258) - Briefly
taking
the identity of Lady Mandarin, Psylocke soon broke free of her
conditioning with help from Wolverine (Logan/James Howlett)’s help, and
alongside the young mutant Jubilee (Jubilation Lee), they defeated the
Hand and the Mandarin.
(X-Men II#21 (fb) - BTS / X-Men II#22 (fb) - BTS / X-Men II#31
(fb) - BTS) - Lord Nyoirin apparently wrote a
false diary:
This
detailed how he had sent Kwannon on a routine assignment to Osaka to
end the life of a shipping clerk who had betrayed Nyoirin's trust.
During this assignment, Kwannon had encountered Psylocke as she had
emerged from the Siege Perilous, and when they had touched, their minds
were fused. Betsy, her mind now in Kwannon's body (with some of
Kwannon's memories and abilities (and apparently a portion of her
soul)), was found by Matsu'o Tsurayaba, who used the Mandarin and the
resources of the Hand to piece together the fractured pieces that were
both of the women's minds into a unified whole.
When
Kwannon failed to return after several days, Nyoirin was informed by
his sources that she had been seen in Hong Kong, and he wondered why
she would have gone there. He could not believe that his Kwannon was in
the employ of the Hand. Having heard of a British woman found at the
docks the night Kwannon had disappeared and taken to a sanitarium,
Nyoirin resolved to visit that facility and start finding out what
truly happened that night. Nyoirin took in Kwannon (whose mind was in
Elizabeth's body, with some of Elizabeth's memories and abilities (and apparently a portion of her soul)),
caring for her for months and helping her regain her memory, in the
hopes of regaining the services of Kwannon as his prime assassin and
lover.
(X-Men II#18 (fb) - BTS) - To
prove that she was prepared to retake her rightful place as Lord
Nyoirin's elite assassin, Kwannon (in Elizabeth's body) eliminated his
Hand-ninja-looking honor guard
at his home.
(X-Men II#18) - Observing the
corpses of his honor guard, Lord Nyoirin told Kwannon that this was a
very unnecessary display, with so many lives wasted, all for the sake
of proving her point. After she told him her reasons, he noted that she
fought against the spirit of her namesake (Quan Yin, aka Kwan Yin,
etc., the Xi'an (Chinese) goddess of mercy), showing no mercy to
anyone. He then asked her if she knew the one act that she must perform
in order to truly regain her former place, and Kwannon confirmed that
she must kill her other self: Psylocke (Betsy Braddock).
(X-Men II#21 - BTS) - Kwannon
(in Elizabeth's body) adopted the alias of Revanche. Perpetually
angered by her current state and uncomfortable with her new telepathic
powers, she unconsciously or subconsciously clouded the issue in the
minds of the X-Men, affecting Psylocke, Xavier and even Wolverine,
making them unable to read her mind or determine her scent clearly...as
well as making them share her anger and to react in an inflammatory or
violent manner.
(X-Men II#21 - BTS) - Seeking
to resolve the mystery of Revanche (the identity adopted by Kwannon,
whose mind was in the body of Elizabeth Braddock) and Psylocke
(Elizabeth Braddock's mind in Kwannon's body), both of whom claimed to
be Betsy Braddock, the X-Men resolved to travel to Japan to investigate
the crimelord with which they were associated.
(X-Men II#21 (fb) - BTS) - Shinobi
Shaw asked to meet with Lord Nyoirin in Shinobi's Tokyo
highrise penthouse late at night.
(X-Men II#21) - Having traveled
to Shinobi's penthouse, Lord Nyoirin was shown in by Ashikaru, after
which he told/asked Shinobi that he assumed that there was an important
reason that he wanted to see him at that time of night?
Greeting him as "Honorable
Nyoirin-san," the apparently somewhat-intoxicated Shinobi told him that
he believed that they were in a position to consummate a mutually
beneficial business arrangement. Nyoirin advised the "young lord" that
he was barely in a position to balance himself and that there was a
meeting of the Jigoku underworld heads planned for tomorrow; he asked
if this could not wait until the next day?
Shinobi replied that this had to
do with his own wants and Nyoirin's needs, specifically his need to
regain control of his prime assassin, Kwannon, and Shinobi's wanting
the X-Men -- any or all of them -- killed. Nyoirin asked if he could
use Kwannon's troubles to accomplish Shinobi's goals, what would he get
in return? Shinobi told him that at the meeting tomorrow night, he
would second Nyoirin's petition to reinstate Clan Yashida -- which had
been unsteady since Mariko Yashida's death (at Matsu'o's hands) --
under Nyoirin's control. Nyoirin accepted a drink and told Shinobi, "Very good, Lord Shaw. Very good indeed. We
have a deal, my unsubtle friend."
(X-Men II#21 (fb) - BTS) -
Nyoirin sent the Silver Samurai to the Nyoirin ancestral home to
eliminate Kwannon and the X-Men in exchange for Clan Yashida (the
family of which the Samurai was a part) regaining its honored place in
the Jigoku underworld.
(X-Men II#21 - BTS) - Beast,
Gambit, Psylocke and Revanche arrived at Lord Nyoirin's home, taking
out his ninja guard. Revanche subsequently led them into Nyoirin's
private study, where they saw a picture of the woman they knew as
Psylocke, titled "Kwannon in Repose." They were subsequently confronted
by the Silver Samurai, who struck down Beast.
(X-Men II#22 - BTS) - The X-Men
subdued the Silver Samurai, after which Gambit located Nyoirin's diary
in a scroll behind the painting.
(X-Men II#22 - BTS) - Lord Nyoirin dined at the Jigoku
summit
with Matsu'o Tsurayaba and Lord Tatsu'o, and they prepared to disperse
the sino-provincial profits from their Jigoku endeavors.
(X-Men II#22) - Arriving
late, Shinobi noted that there was no one representing the Hong Kong
region, and Nyoirin advised him that should the Mandarin still be
alive, he would claim it as his regardless; Tatsu'o added that as it
stood, it was territory best left unallocated. After Shinobi told them
that he had no interest in "these games of districts and boundaries"
and that he wished only to be left alone to conduct his business (which
he said while burning a painting on the wall with his finger), Tatsu'o
grabbed Shinobi by the throat and hurled him to the floor, instructing
him not to tell them that matters of clan honor meant nothing and that
ensuring their mutual well-being was vital if they wished to carry
their tradition down to their descendants. Apologizing, Shinobi asked
if they could continue the discussion.
(X-Men II#22 - BTS) -
Revanche revealed what she understood of the details of her and
Psylocke's mental and physical bonding/exchange.
(X-Men II#22) - Having
returned to his home, Nyoirin, backed by the revived Silver Samurai,
jokingly commented that they had been rude to invite themselves into
his home and trash the place. He then advised Revanche and Psylocke
that they were both who they claimed to be: "You
are both Kwannon and both Elizabeth Braddock..Can either of you ever
truly become the whole again? ...And do you desire to?"
(X-Men II#23) - Holding her
psychic knife to Nyoirin's head, Revanche asked what he got from the
situation, while Psylocke held back the Samurai with her psychic
katana. Nyoirin replied that all he had ever wanted was to have his
lover and assassin, Kwannon, returned to him. Seeking to take control
of the Jigoku underworld and
perhaps feigning being under duress, Nyoirin told the X-Men about the
involvement of Shinobi Shaw (with the Upstarts) and Matsu'o Tsurayaba,
who had ordered Psylocke's assassination.
(X-Men II#23 - BTS) - Beast
and Gambit violently confronted Shinobi in his Tokyo penthouse,
advising him to tell the Upstarts that the X-Men were on to them.
Psylocke and Revanche confronted Matsu'o at his home
near the town of Chosin on Japan's Pacific Coast, subduing him. After
Matsu'o noted that Nyoirin was far more devious than he had given him
credit for, the women told them they cared nothing for Nyoirin's quest
to control the Jigoku, but wanted to learn what he had done to their
minds. Matsu'o told them he had sculpted the lump of clay he had found
in Psylocke, just as Nyoirin had done with Kwannon/Revanche, creating
something better than the sum of its parts. Psylocke and Revanche
decided to share something of their new natures with Matsu'o via
stabbing him with psychic blades.
(X-Men I#31 - BTS) - Terminal from the Legacy Virus, Revanche convinced
Matsu'o to kill her so she could die on her own terms and be set free.
Dying, she released her memories into Matsu'o (at least), while
Psylocke (at least) sensed her death. 
(X-Men II#32 (fb) - BTS) - The
Legacy Virus apparently heightened Revanche's abilities to such a
degree that she was able to cut through the cloud of her own jumbled
memories and discover the truth about herself. She was able to project
that truth into Matsu'o's mind as a sort of farewell. She further left
him the imprinted telepathic energy she wielded and gave Matsu'o the
means to take back all of Kwannon's memories from Psylocke.
(X-Men II#32 (fb) - BTS) - Apparently with the removal of the confusion
that Revanche had subconsciously caused in those she encountered as
well as having gained her memories, Matsu'o concluded that Nyoirin had
lied to everyone: "Since he could not
have Kwannon's love -- he chose to destroy any chance for me to
experience it again."
Matsu'o slew Nyoirin at his desk in his home and then
waited presumably expecting Psylocke to show up.
(X-Men II#32 - BTS) - When Psylocke -- apparently
influenced by Revanche's death -- came to confront Nyoirin, she was
surprised when his corpse slumped over.
Matsu'o told her his reasons for killing Nyoirin,
shared what he had learned from Revanche, and used her power to remove
Kwannon's memories from Betsy's mind.
Comments: Created by Fabian Nicieza and Andy Kubert.
Very confusing story:
- I really enjoy Fabian Nicieza's
writing, and he is definitely among my favorite writers, plus he's a
cool guy and is willing to answer questions to the best of his
abilities even from stories over 30 years ago.
- However, the whole
origin/explanation of Revanche and Psylocke deal is both overly
complicated and not the clearly explained, in my opinion.
- Reviewing Nyoirin's stories for
this profile, I was pretty good with things -- although the
interactions with Shinobi Shaw, etc. didn't make perfect sense to me
--
up until I got to X-Men II#31, and then everything from #21-23 was a
lie...
- X-Men II#31 and 32 had multiple
different, partially-overlapping explanations from different sources
(Matsu'o, Spiral and Revanche/Betsy Braddock's body's bionic
Mojo-eyes,
at least) all with a different spin on the events...and there were
questions about souls vs. minds being switched vs. some sort of
merger...Matsu'o wanted Kwannon's mind put into Betsy's body, but he
was then surprised when their minds had been switched...
- I re-read each issue, and then
I re-read #31-32 again...and I reviewed the Official Handbook of the
Marvel Universe profiles on Psylocke (Betsy Braddock), Revanche
(Kwannon) and Matsu'o Tsurayaba...and the handbook entries seemed to
be
written by different writers, as they also had slightly different
spins
on the events. However, nothing new was revealed in the handbook
profiles, so I went back to the original stories and parsed things out
as best as I could.
- Let me know if I'm missing or
interpreting anything incorrectly...
- Maybe the confusion that Revanche
was exuding affected the readers as well.
- I'm still uncertain whether Nyoirin
had ever had a romance with the original Kwannon (I
don't think he did) and/or whether he engineered a romance of
some sort with Revanche or not (I
think he did).
- And I don't really know why
Nyoirin had a false diary, unless it was all part of his plot to feed
mistruths to the woman who would become Revanche.
The differences are clear to me now,
but at the time when I was in vet school and didn't have as much time
to review stories, I was confused between Matsu'o and Tatsu'o, and
between Shinobi Shaw and Matsu'o...and then the Mandarin at the time
looked a lot like Lord Nyoirin...
- Matsu'o is/was a Hand assassin with hair kind of like
Wolverine.
- Tatsu'o was the older guy with gray hair, the father of
Opal Tanaka who dated Iceman in the X-Factor (original X-Men) days.
- Shinobi Shaw had long dark hair like Matsu'o, but
it just laid down rather than being Wolverine-y. Plus he had the
mutant
phasing/intangibility power.
- Lord Nyoirin was the clean-cut one with facial hair.
- The Mandarin briefly looked a lot like Nyoirin, but he
obviously had the rings and powers.
The Jigoku criminal organization
presumably takes its name from the Japanese term for the Buddhist Hell.
This profile was
completed 06/28/2026, but
its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 25th
anniversary 's celebratory event.
Thanks to Loki for suggestion Lord Nyoirin to
represent the Psylocke (Kwannon)'s characters and stories.
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Lord
Nyoirin should be
distinguished from:
- other "Lord,"
"Nyoirin" and/or "Henecha" characters, groups, items, events, races
or places...
images: (without ads)
X-Men II#21, pg. 12, panel 3 (full);
#22, pg. 8, panel 1 (face);
panel 4 (face, blue eyes);
pg. 21, panel 3 (beside Silver Samurai);
panel 5 (brown eyes);
#32, pg. 15, panel 5-6 (dead)
Appearances:
X-Men II#18 (March, 1993) - Fabian Nicieza (writer), Andy Kubert
(penciler), Dan Panosian & Mark Pennington (inkers; Mark inked the
parts with Lord Nyoirin), Bob Harras (editor)
X-Men II#21 (June, 1993) - Fabian Nicieza (writer),
Brandon Peterson (penciler), Dan Panosian (inker), Bob Harras (editor)
X-Men II#22-23 (July-August, 1993) - Fabian Nicieza
(writer),
Andy Kubert (penciler), Mark Pennington (inker), Bob Harras (editor)
X-Men II#31-32 (April-May, 1994) - Fabian Nicieza
(writer),
Andy Kubert (penciler), Matt Ryan (inker), Bob Harras (editor)
Psylocke: Ninja#1 (, 2026) - Tim Seeley (writer), Nico Leon (artist),
Austin Hatch & Noah Sharma (assistant editors), Darren Shan (editor)
First posted: 09/23/2026
Last updated: 07/02/2026
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!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com
Special Thanks to
www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!
Back
to Characters