LORD
SHINGEN
LORD
SHINGEN
Real Name: Shingen Harada
Identity/Class: Human warrior/conventional weapons
user;
Japanese citizen;
briefly reanimated
Occupation: Former professional criminal
Group Membership: Former leader of Clan Yashida and a portion of the Yakuza
Affiliations: Devil, the Hand (Shoji Soma, others),
Mandrill;
formerly Yukio
Enemies: Asano Kimura, Wolverine (Logan/James Howlett), Yukio
Known Relatives: Mariko Yashida (daughter), Noburo-Hideki (son-in-law, deceased), Kenuichio Harada (Silver Samurai, son), Shiro Yoshida (Sunfire, nephew), Saburo & Tomo Yashida (nephews, deceased), Leyu Yoshida (Sunpyre, niece, deceased)
Aliases: Shingen Yashida (in Wolverine III#61)
Base of Operations: Hell;
formerly the Yashida ancestral
stronghold in the hills overlooking the port city Agarashima, in the Miyago
prefecture, 300 kilometers north of Tokyo, Japan
First Appearance: (Silver Samurai's father referenced
in BTS flashback) Daredevil I#111 (July, 1974);
Wolverine I#1 (September, 1982)
Powers/Abilities: Shingen was a master swordsman and combatant, able to defeat Wolverine in a swordfight, though his purely human nature rendered him more vulnerable to injury.
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 185 lbs.
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Bald (black eyebrows)
History:
(Wolverine I#1 (fb) - BTS) - Lord Shingen disappeared years ago, during Mariko's
childhood, and he was believed dead.
(Secret Warriors#26 (fb) ) - Shingen and his son, the Silver Samurai, were visited in Agarashima by the Hand and their leader Shoji Soma, who demanded to see an ancient box owned by Clan Yashida. Soma placed a Brood power source inside the box and then left. The next day Soma was slain by Magadan of Leviathan.
(Daredevil I#111 (fb) - BTS) - At some point Shingen came to owe the Mandrill a debt of honor.
(Daredevil I#111 (fb) - BTS) - The Silver Samurai freed the Mandrill from his prison cell to repay the debt Shingen owed him.
(Wolverine I#1 (fb) - BTS) - Lord Shingen later resurfaced and reclaimed his rightful place as head of Clan Yashida. He had apparently incurred some great obligation, the payment of which was Mariko's hand in marriage to Noburo-Hideki. He felt his family had as legitimate a claim to Japan's throne as the current Emperor.
(Wolverine I#1 (fb) - BTS) - After letters sent to his girlfriend, Mariko, were returned unopened and his phone call hung up on, Logan traveled to Japan to investigate.
(Wolverine
I#1) - Logan sneaked into the Yashida stronghold and found a beaten Mariko
praying in front of Buddha. Mariko stopped Logan from assaulting her abusive
husband, but as he prepared to depart he was knocked out by several drugged
shuriken thrown by Lord Shingen's agents. Logan revived sometime later in front
of Shingen who acknowledged that Mariko loved him and then determined to prove
him unworthy. They sparred with bokan, wooden practice swords, as Shingen stated
that Logan was unworthy of using a true sword. An expert swordsman, Shingen
proved superior to the drugged Logan, but Shingen also cheated, kicking Logan
and then striking nerve clusters that revealed his intent to paralyze or kill
Logan. Recovering from the blows, Logan tossed aside his bokan and popped his
claws; this played into Shingen's hands, as it had appeared to Mariko that this
had been a honorable duel with humiliation as Shingen's sole goal, and that
Logan had dishonored himself by turning it into a real fight. Disheartened upon
realizing how Mariko saw him, Logan fell victim to a series of Shingen's strikes
and eventually was knocked unconscious. As he faded out, Logan heard Shingen
denounce him as an animal and ask Mariko whether he was worthy of her heart, and
she said, No."
Logan was dumped in an alley off the Ginza in Tokyo where he
encountered Yukio, secretly an agent of Shingen, who earned his trust by saving
his weakened self from attackers.
(Wolverine I#2) - Shingen sent agents of the Hand to
assassinate Logan, instructing them to try to kill Yukio as well to allow her to
further earn Logan's trust. They defeated the group, though Yukio took a sword
slash to her left shoulder. Yukio later told Logan that the Hand had been sent
by a crimelord who sought to expand his influence from crime to politics and
eventually take over Japan...a man she feared.
Not long after, Yukio confronted Shingen over the brutality
of the Hand's assault. Having not summoned her there, Shingen ordered her away,
and when she refused, he set another Hand assassin on her. She defeated her
attacker, but when she warned Shingen that she was a dangerous woman, he grabbed
her wrist and twisted it, proving him her superior as he informed her that the
assault had had to be convincing, and that he had to test her worth for his next
target, Katsuyori. He next informed her of the peace conference he had arranged
with Katsuyori to which he was sending Mariko and Noburo-Hideki; he knew
Katsuyori would think he wouldn't place his daughter at risk. He also, however,
informed Yukio that she would die if Mariko came to the slightest harm. He
further told her that after Katsuyori was out of the way that Wolverine was to
be eliminated as well.
Yukio led Wolverine to the meeting where he aided her in
killing Katsuyori and taking down his guards. As intended by Yukio and possibly
by Shingen as well, Mariko was mortified to see Wolverine so savagely take out
the guards.
(Wolverine I#3 - BTS) - Shingen sent Hand agents to confront Yukio for having failed to yet kill Wolverine, but she slew them. Later, after Wolverine confronted Yukio for her murder of his friend, Asano Kimura (apparently because she thought he was another Hand agent coming for her), Hand agents attacked Wolverine, allowing her to escape
(Wolverine I#4 (fb) - BTS) - When Wolverine began interfering with all of Shingen's operations to make him lose face, Shingen sent his top ninja to assassinate Wolverine.
(Wolverine I#4) - One of Shingen's associates criticized him
for Wolverine's making him look foolish. After Shingen noted that Wolverine was
as good as dead, one of his servants delivered a message for Shingen: the
defeated ninja's cloak and a challenge -- "Tonight." Shingen had the Hand
summoned, but he refused to leave his stronghold, stating that he had defeated
Wolverine before and would do so again. Wolverine defeated the Hand agents who
attacked him.
Yukio sneaked into Lord Shingen's stronghold again, intending
to kill him to make up for killing Asano, but she was captured by other Hand
agents and brought before Shingen who had Mariko watch as he punished Yukio. He
freed Yukio, challenged her to combat, and easily bested her. He grew irate when
Mariko tried to stop him, but was distracted upon learning Wolverine had taken
out most of his agents. Shingen drew Clan Yashida's Honor Sword as Wolverine
confronted him, asking if he was worthy now. Stating that that remained to be
seen, Shingen attacked him. The two battled for a time, with Shingen generally
getting the better strikes against Wolverine, but the mutant's Adamantium bones
saved him from fatal injuries. Ultimately, Wolverine got close enough to grab
Shingen's sword and pull him in, then popped his claws through Shingen's neck,
killing him.
As Mariko approached, Wolverine decided to let her kill him
to avenge her father, but she revealed that her father had disgraced her Clan
and that if Shingen had survived the battle with Wolverine, she would have tried
to slay him herself.
(Wolverine II#116) - When Wolverine was badly injured, his
spirit seemed to access a sort of Purgatory where he was assaulted by a group of
Logan's apparently dead foes led by Lord Shingen: others included Cyber, Geist,
Cameron Hodge, Scylla, Stonewall, Super Sabre, and 3 others (who escape me at
the moment). With the aid of Colossus (who was also apparently dead at the
time), Wolverine made short work of his enemies and then revived soon after.
It's possible the whole thing was a delusion.
(Wolverine III#61) - Lord Shingen was resurrected by Phaedra and brought to Scimitar's base within Mount Fuji. The two shared a bed and presumably a romance.
(Wolverine III#60) - When Logan confronted Phaedra in her bed, demanding answers for Scimitar's insult on him that sent him to the afterlife, Shingen arose from the bed and told Wolverine he would meet his permanent death at his hands.
(Wolverine III#61) - Shingen fought Logan, taking out his right eye with a sword slash, but Wolverine got in close enough to finish Shingen off by popping his claws under his jaw and into his brain.
After Wolverine left after slaying Scimitar agents Shingen returned to life (possibly resurrected by Lazaer or Phaedra before she died herself) and put on a Scimitar armor.
(Wolverine IV#2) - Lord Shingen was one of the many souls under the Devil's control that Wolverine fought.
Comments: Created by Chris Claremont, Frank Miller, and Josef Rubinstein.
He was only identified as Lord Shingen in the first Wolverine series. Where did he first get the last name Harada? It's in the OHotMU I#10: Silver Samurai entry. Was that the first reference, or was it in Uncanny X-Men#172-174?
Interestingly, Shingen was referenced (only
as a mention of "Silver Samurai's father") in Daredevil I#111 (1974), but didn't
actually appear until 8 years later, and then wasn't identified as Silver
Samurai's father until Uncanny X-Men#172 or so (August, 1983).
Thanks to John McDonagh for pointing this appearance out.
Editor Louise Jones later became Louise Simonson.
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
No KNOWN connections to:
images: (without ads)
Wolverine I#1, p16, panel 1 (ceremonial garb)
#4, p5, panel 3 (face close-up)
Wolverine III#61, last page (full body)
Appearances:
Daredevil I#111 (July, 1974) - Steve Gerber
(writer), Gene Colan (penciler), Frank Chiaramonte (inker), Roy Thomas (editor)
Wolverine I#1-4 (September-December, 1982) - Chris Claremont (writer), Frank
Miller (penciler), Josef Rubinstein (finisher), Louise Jones (editor)
Wolverine II#116 (July, 2002) - Frank Tieri (writer), Sean Chen (penciler), Norm
Rapmund (inker), Mike Raicht (assistant editor), Mike Marts (editor)
Wolverine III#60-61 (February-March, 2008) - Marc Guggenheim (writer), Howard
Chaykin (artist), Aubrey Sitterson (assistant editor), John Barber (editor),
Axel Alonso (executive editor)
Wolverine IV#2 (December, 2010) - Jason Aaron (writer), Renato Guedes (pencils), Jose Wilson Magalhaes (inks), Jeanine Schaefer (editor)
Secret Warriors#26 (June, 2011) - Jonathan Hickman (writer), Alessandro Vitti (artist), Lauren Sankovitch (editor)
First Posted: 10/14/2008
Last updated: 03/22/2014
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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