Shingen Yashida is a

supervillain A supervillain or supercriminal is a variant of the villainous stock character that is commonly found in American comic books, usually possessing superhuman abilities. A supervillain is the antithesis of a superhero. Supervillains are oft ...

appearing in

American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical originating in the United States, on average 32 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publication of ''Action Comics'' ...

s published by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

as an adversary of

Wolverine The wolverine (), (''Gulo gulo''; ''Gulo'' is Latin for " glutton"), also referred to as the glutton, carcajou, or quickhatch (from East Cree, ''kwiihkwahaacheew''), is the largest land-dwelling species of the family Mustelidae. It is a muscul ...

. The character was played by

Hiroyuki Sanada is a Japanese actor and martial artist. He is best known to international audiences for his roles as Genbu in ''Ninja in the Dragon's Den'' (1982), Ryuji Takayama in '' Ring'' (1998), Seibei Iguchi in ''The Twilight Samurai'' (2002), Ujio in ' ...

in the 2013 film '' The Wolverine''.

Publication history

Shingen first appeared in ''

'' #1 (Sept. 1982) and was created by Chris Claremont and

Frank Miller Frank Miller (born January 27, 1957) is an American comic book writer, penciller and inker, novelist, screenwriter, film director, and producer known for his comic book stories and graphic novels such as his run on ''Daredevil'' and subsequen ...

Fictional character biography

"Mariko Yashida" was the daughter of Japanese crime lord "Lord Shingen", leader of Clan "Yashida". She first met the feral mutant Wolverine when the X-Men sought the help of her cousin, the Japanese mutant hero Sunfire. Although initially frightened by the ferocious-looking Wolverine, Mariko found herself attracted to him. Similarly, Wolverine was charmed by her beauty and refined manner. The two spent a great deal of time together in Japan, ultimately falling in love when she visited him in New York. To settle a personal debt incurred during his rise to power, Shingen forced his daughter

Mariko Yashida Mariko Yashida is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character has been depicted as Wolverine's romantic interest. She was portrayed by Tao Okamoto in the 2013 film '' The Wolverine''. Publica ...

to marry criminal boss Noboru Hideki.''Wolverine'' #1. Marvel Comics.

found out Noboru beat Mariko nearly to death and confronted Noboru but relented from killing him upon Mariko's insistence. Shingen had Wolverine poisoned, temporarily weakening him so that Shingen could beat and humiliate the superhuman

mutant In biology, and especially in genetics, a mutant is an organism or a new genetic character arising or resulting from an instance of mutation, which is generally an alteration of the DNA sequence of the genome or chromosome of an organism. It ...

in a duel with

bokken A ''bokken'' (, , "wood", and ''ken'', "sword") (or a ''bokutō'' ) is a Japanese wooden sword used for training in kenjutsu. It is usually the size and shape of a ''katana'', but is sometimes shaped like other swords, such as the ''wakizashi'' ...

in front of Mariko. Shingen used his expert knowledge of human anatomy to secretly attack Wolverine's nerve endings in such a way so as to make the duel life-threatening. But as Mariko did not know this, when Wolverine attempted to use his claws to save himself, it appeared to Mariko that Wolverine was cheating. Mariko did not know that Wolverine's body had been saturated with enough lethal poison to kill several dozen ordinary men, or that Shingen was the one who was actually cheating in the duel. This had the effect of disgracing Wolverine in front of her, which was the design of Shingen. Logan was then dumped onto the Tokyo streets and found by

Yukio Yukio is a masculine Japanese given name. Possible writings Yukio can be written using different combinations of kanji characters. Here are some examples: *幸夫, "happiness, man" *幸生, "happiness, live" *幸男, "happiness, man" *幸雄, ...

, Shingen's best assassin, who participated in deception with the

Hand A hand is a prehensile, multi-fingered appendage located at the end of the forearm or forelimb of primates such as humans, chimpanzees, monkeys, and lemurs. A few other vertebrates such as the koala (which has two opposable thumbs on each "h ...

ninja clan to manipulate Wolverine into assassinating a rival crime lord, using Mariko as unwitting bait for additional motivation. After his role was completed, Shingen ordered Logan killed, but Yukio ignored the order. This led to the Hand being sent to enforce his will. In the events resulting from that action, including the death of a personal friend by Yukio, Wolverine realized that Yukio was the one who poisoned him at Shingen's residence and was being played for a fool at apparently Shingen's orders. After a philosophic epiphany about humanity, Logan then completely destroyed the Yashida criminal empire and confronted Shingen a second time. Shingen did not survive the confrontation. Mariko revealed she'd planned to kill her dishonorable father personally then commit

seppuku , sometimes referred to as hara-kiri (, , a native Japanese kun reading), is a form of Japanese ritual suicide by disembowelment. It was originally reserved for samurai in their code of honour but was also practised by other Japanese people ...

in recompense had not Logan prevented her. Afterward, Mariko and Wolverine decided to marry, with the

X-Men The X-Men are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, first appearing in Uncanny X-Men, ''The X-Men'' #1 by artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby and writer/editor Stan Lee in 1963. Although initially cancelled in ...

receiving an invitation from the

Emperor of Japan The Emperor of Japan is the monarch and the head of the Imperial House of Japan, Imperial Family of Japan. Under the Constitution of Japan, he is defined as the symbol of the Japanese state and the unity of the Japanese people, and his positio ...

for the event. It is later revealed that his illegitimate son

Kenuichio Harada Kenuichio Harada, also known as the original Silver Samurai, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. A mutant with the power to charge his own katana, the character first appeared in '' Daredevil'' #11 ...

wanted to inherit Shingen's position. Shingen was briefly resurrected by Phaedra of the

as part of a campaign of revenge against Wolverine.

Powers and abilities

Lord Shingen had no superhuman abilities but was in peak physical condition despite his age, and he was one of the finest swordsmen and martial artists in all of Japan. Highly intelligent, he had extensive knowledge of human anatomy, pressure points, and great knowledge of poisons and assassination techniques. Shingen was highly skilled in the management of criminal organizations and very well connected in the international criminal underworld, particularly in areas of drug traffic.

Other versions

In the comic series '' Exiles'', a younger version of Shingen Yashida exists in the home reality of Mariko Yashida (aka Sunfire).

In other media

* Lord Shingen appears in '' Marvel Anime: Wolverine'', voiced by

Hidekatsu Shibata is a Japanese actor, voice actor and narrator from Asakusa, Tokyo who is affiliated with Aoni Production. He was a classmate of former prime minister Yasuo Fukuda at Azabu High School. Shibata is married to fellow voice actor Akiko Sekine. He ...

in the Japanese version and by

Fred Tatasciore Fred Tatasciore (; ) is an American voice actor who has provided voices in animated and live-action films, television shows, and video games. He is known for voicing the Hulk and Beast (comics), Beast in various Marvel media and Solomon Grundy ( ...

in the English dub. This version is the leader of the Kuzuryū syndicate. He arranges for

to be married to Hideki Kurohage of

Madripoor The Principality of Madripoor or Madripoor is a fictional island located in maritime Southeast Asia appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, mostly associated with stories from the ''X-Men'' series. Based on illustrations, it ...

, with the series focusing on

working to prevent the marriage. In a last-ditch attempt to stop him, Shingen dons special armor to battle Wolverine, but is killed by the latter and

. * Shingen Yashida appears in '' The Wolverine'', portrayed by

. In addition to being the father of Mariko Yashida, this version is son of billionaire Ichirō Yashida and the foster brother of Yukio. After the Yashidas' technology empire is left to Mariko despite Shingen's attempts to cover up his father's near-bankruptcy, Shingen grows spiteful of Ichirō and conspires with Japan's Minister of Justice, Noburo Mori, and the

Yakuza , also known as , are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police and media, by request of the police, call them , while the ''yakuza'' call themselves . The English equivalent for the term ...

to kill Mariko for taking what he saw as his and gain his father's admiration. After he is poisoned by

Viper The Viperidae (vipers) are a family of snakes found in most parts of the world, except for Antarctica, Australia, Hawaii, Madagascar, and various other isolated islands. They are venomous and have long (relative to non-vipers), hinged fangs tha ...

, Shingen dons the Yashida Clan's traditional samurai armor and attacks Yukio, but is killed by Logan.

References

External links

Shingen Yashida
at Marvel Appendix
Silver Samurai II
at Marvel Wiki
Silver Samurai II
at Comic Vine {{Frank Miller Characters created by Chris Claremont Characters created by Frank Miller (comics) Comics characters introduced in 1982 Fictional Japanese people Fictional yakuza Marvel Comics martial artists Marvel Comics supervillains Superhero film characters Fictional swordfighters in comics Wolverine (comics) characters X-Men supporting characters