Ogun is a

fictional character In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life perso ...

, a Japanese supervillain appearing in American comic books 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 ...

. The character has been depicted as a foe 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 ...

. His first appearance was in ''

Kitty Pryde and Wolverine ''Kitty Pryde and Wolverine'' is a six-issue comic book limited series written by Chris Claremont and illustrated by Al Milgrom, and published by Marvel Comics between November 1984 and April 1985. A spin-off of the series ''Uncanny X-Men'', i ...

'' #2 (December 1984), and was scripted by Chris Claremont and drawn by Allen Milgrom.

Fictional character biography

Ogun was a

ninja A or was a covert agent or mercenary in feudal Japan. The functions of a ninja included reconnaissance, espionage, infiltration, deception, ambush, bodyguarding and their fighting skills in martial arts, including ninjutsu.Kawakami, pp. 2 ...

and martial arts master who acted as

's mentor. Very little is known of his past or the exact nature of his abilities, but he was apparently a

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 ...

who could possess and control minds via telepathy. His reflexes and reaction time also appear to have been enhanced beyond the range attainable by normal humans, such as that he was easily a match for Wolverine. Note that either or both of these abilities may have been wholly or partially

mystical Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute, but may refer to any kind of ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or spiritual meaning. It may also refer to the attainment of insight in u ...

in nature. Ogun first met Wolverine in

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...

, China. Shanghai was held by the

Empire of Japan The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of Japan, 1947 constitu ...

, following the

Battle of Shanghai The Battle of Shanghai () was the first of the twenty-two major engagements fought between the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) of the Republic of China (ROC) and the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) of the Empire of Japan The also ...

in the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Th ...

(1937–1945). Ogun was reportedly active in the War as a captain of the

Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...

. Wolverine was only a wandering

sailor A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. The profession of the s ...

but managed to draw the attention of the captain who would seek his acquaintance. The issue was scripted by

Larry Hama Larry Hama (; born June 7, 1949) is an American comic-book writer, artist, actor, and musician who has worked in the fields of entertainment and publishing since the 1960s. During the 1970s, he was seen in minor roles on the TV shows ''M*A*S*H'' ...

and drawn by

Leinil Francis Yu Leinil Francis Yu (born 1977) is a Filipino comic book artist, who began working for the American market through Wildstorm Productions. Career Leinil Francis Yu was first recognized after winning the '' Wizard''s Drawing Board Contest, his first ...

. At some point in the past, Ogun fell from the path of honor and was a criminal enforcer for 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 ter ...

. Ogun mentally possessed

Kitty Pryde Katherine Anne "Kitty" Pryde is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, commonly in association with the X-Men. The character first appeared in ''The Uncanny X-Men'' #129 (January 1980) and was co-created by wri ...

trained as a ninja, and attempted to turn her into an assassin. Under Wolverine's care, however, Kitty recovered and resisted another brainwashing attempt, and Wolverine was eventually forced to kill Ogun. Years later, Ogun returned as a disembodied spirit, mentally possessing host after host, and again attacked Wolverine and Kitty. With

Ghost Rider Ghost Rider is the name of multiple antiheroes and superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Marvel had previously used the name for a Western character whose name was later changed to Phantom Rider. The first s ...

's help, Wolverine figured out that to destroy Ogun involved only destroy Ogun's enchanted mask (apparently he had several as the first was already destroyed). Ogun was thus destroyed, ''seemingly'' for good. Later, Ogun returned yet again, this time travelling from host body to host body, and he even tried to take over Lady Deathstrike's body. Wolverine found a way to force him out of all available host bodies and into the body of

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 ...

who Wolverine impaled (non-lethally). Panicking, Ogun jumped from Viper's body but having no form to inhabit, seemed to evaporate away. But as seen somewhat later, Ogun even survived that and tried to take his revenge on Pryde and Wolverine by luring the two onboard of the Hellicarrier he was able to control through the cyberpathy advancements he learned while taking over Lady Deathstrike, but once again he was defeated. It is not known what happened after Kitty managed to convince him of the error of his ways inside the astral plane. Ogun's clan is now shown to be run by Sojobo and Karasu, a pair of psychic twins he had adopted as a son and daughter prior to his demise. The children are rescued from this brutal existence by

David Haller Legion (David Charles Haller) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is the mutant son of Charles Xavier and Gabrielle Haller. Legion takes the role of an antihero who has a severe mental illne ...

who shows them that they don't have to follow in their father's murderous footsteps. After a skirmish with the

X-Men The X-Men are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, first appearing in ''The X-Men'' #1 by artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby and writer/editor Stan Lee in 1963. Although initially cancelled in 1970 due to lo ...

, the twins are then taken to the

Jean Grey School for Higher Learning The X-Mansion or Xavier Institute is the common name for a mansion and research institute appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The mansion is depicted as the private estate of Charles Francis Xavier, a character in X-Me ...

. Ogun's spirit later resurfaces and tries to possess Kitty once more before his host manages to drive him out. It's also revealed that Ogun had murdered Cyber in an attempt to sell the villain's

adamantium Adamantium is a fictional metal alloy appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics and in various games in the Elder Scrolls franchise. It is best known as the substance bonded to the character Wolverine's skeleton and claws. In ...

-laced corpse to Abraham Cornelius. Ogun's spirit possessed the fighter Shogun.

Powers and abilities

The extent and nature of Ogun's powers was never fully revealed. He demonstrated the ability to control minds and could remove his spirit from his body and place in a new host (submerging that host body's personality). His original body also seemed to be somewhat resistant to injury, although Wolverine managed to kill him. Ogun was able to survive impalement through the torso by a sword thrust with no apparent ill-effects. His reflexes and agility were heightened beyond normal human levels. It is implied that Ogun was a telepath who also had some mystical powers, but this was never clearly specified. In life, Ogun was also apparently capable of slowing or completely halting his aging; a legend is mentioned where he had once a duel of wills with the Japanese swordmaster

Miyamoto Musashi , also known as Shinmen Takezō, Miyamoto Bennosuke or, by his Buddhist name, Niten Dōraku, was a Japanese swordsman, philosopher, strategist, writer and rōnin, who became renowned through stories of his unique double-bladed swordsmanship a ...

In other media

* Ogun appears in the '' Wolverine and the X-Men'' episode "Code of Conduct", voiced by

James Sie James Sie is an American actor and author. He was the voice of an animated Jackie Chan and several other characters in '' Jackie Chan Adventures'', Master Monkey in '' Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness'', taking over for Chan, and Eddy Ra ...

. This version is

's sensei. * A character inspired by Ogun and the

Silver Samurai Silver Samurai is the name of two different supervillains appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, both acquaintances of Wolverine. The character has appeared in several X-Men-related animated series and video games before ma ...

named Ichirō Yashida appears in '' The Wolverine'', with Haruhiko Yamanouchi portraying his older self and Ken Yamamura portraying his younger self. He is the founder of the Yashida Clan's technology empire,

Shingen Yashida Shingen Yashida is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics as an adversary of Wolverine. The character was played by Hiroyuki Sanada in the 2013 film '' The Wolverine''. Publication history Shingen first a ...

's father, Mariko Yashida's grandfather, and

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, ...

's foster father. As a young man in the Japanese military during WWII, Ichirō was saved by Logan during the United States' atomic bombing of Nagasaki and became obsessed with the latter's healing factor and immortality. As an old man dying of cancer in the present, Ichirō arranges for Logan to see him one more time and asks Mariko to succeed him instead of Shingen before seemingly dying. In reality, Ichirō faked his death and tasked

with helping him develop a giant robotic suit made of

armed with a

katana A is a Japanese sword characterized by a curved, single-edged blade with a circular or squared guard and long grip to accommodate two hands. Developed later than the '' tachi'', it was used by samurai in feudal Japan and worn with the edge f ...

and wakazashi capable of being super-heated to sustain himself and steal Logan's powers. After eliminating his enforcer

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'' # ...

for betraying him, Ichirō uses his adamantium weapons to sever Logan's adamantium claws and extract his healing factor. However, Mariko uses the claws to attack Ichirō, who loses control of his suit while Logan regenerates his original bone claws and kills him. * ToyBiz's Marvel Legends line's Wolverine figure comes with a display stand featuring Ogun.

References

{{Wolverine Fictional kenjutsuka Fictional Ninjutsu practitioners Fictional ninja Fictional characters with spirit possession or body swapping abilities Fictional swordfighters in comics Comics characters introduced in 1984 Marvel Comics martial artists Marvel Comics telepaths Marvel Comics supervillains Characters created by Chris Claremont Characters created by Al Milgrom Fictional characters with slowed ageing