Shi (Ana Ishikawa) is a

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

character created by writer/illustrator William Tucci. She first appeared in ''Razor Annual'' #1 (December 1993) and has appeared in numerous books by various publishers ever since, most notably Tucci's own Crusade Comics and the Image Universe. Shi is a young woman of Japanese and American descent trained as a '' sohei'' warrior monk, who struggles to reconcile her Japanese grandfather's martial training with her American mother's

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

teachings. Japanese culture and spiritual themes are prominent, recurring motifs in storylines featuring her, especially as they pertain to this conflict. The word ''shi'' literally translates to death (死) in Japanese, and Shi's

signature weapon A signature weapon (or trademark weapon or weapon of choice) is one commonly identified with a certain group or, in the case of literature, epic poems, comics, and film, where it is a popular '' trope,'' for both heroes and villains to be associ ...

is the ''

naginata The ''naginata'' (, , ) is a polearm and one of several varieties of traditionally made Japanese blades ('' nihontō''). ''Naginata'' were originally used by the samurai class of feudal Japan, as well as by ashigaru (foot soldiers) and sōhei ( ...

''.

Fictional character biography

Ana's father, Shiro, was a Japanese warrior; her mother, Catherine, is an American

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

. As a child, Ana witnessed the brutal murder of her father and brother at the hands of Masahiro Arashi, an upstart

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 ''yak ...

thug. Following this horrifying incident, Ana was consequently spirited away and raised by her grandfather, Yoshitora, amongst the sacred temples of

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

. Yoshitora secretly trained Ana in the ways of the '' sohei'' (warrior monks of feudal Japan), so that she could seek out Arashi and avenge the deaths of her father and brother. Arashi wanted to impress the leaders of the Osaka crime syndicate and left a calling card with every murder he committed—a simple coin engraved with the ''

kanji are logographic Chinese characters, adapted from Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script, used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are ...

'' for death; ''shi''. Whilst holding onto the coins left with the bodies of her father and brother, Ana developed a vengeful obsession, as she completely gave herself to shi, becoming the living embodiment of Death. Ana swore revenge on the yakuza and set out to become one of the deadliest assassins in the world. In order to disguise herself, Ana painted her face white to resemble Tora No Shi (also known as Tiger of Death), a legendary female warrior of medieval Japan. Ana acquired the name Shi because of her ferocity and ruthlessness. However, Ana was deeply affected by her mother's

teachings; she soon faced a dilemma between her programmed mission of revenge and the Christian faith she secretly harbored. Once her parents' killer, Arashi, was sent to prison, Ana renounced killing and became the manager of an art gallery in New York. From time to time, she still takes on her Shi personality if necessary. Even with the duality that rages in Ana's

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

, she will not allow herself to succumb to the death demon that terrorizes her. In the end, it is Ana's faith and the ethereal visions of her sohei ancestors that shepherd her along the way of the warrior.

Powers and abilities

Ana was trained by her grandfather in the ways of the sohei. As such, she is a skilled martial artist and swordswoman, the ''naginata'' being her weapon of choice.

Merchandise

Through William Tucci's Crusade Fine Arts, ''Shi'' has been printed in four languages. A series of limited edition 1/6 scale figures was released by Executive Replicas in 2017.

Tora no Shi

In the first series ''Shi: the Way of the Warrior'', Ana based her look on "Tora no Shi", Yuri Ishikawa, a famous female ancestor of hers from feudal Japan, who wore a similar outfit. That character starred in her own miniseries ''Shi: Tora no Shi'' and

Avatar Press Avatar Press is an independent American comic book publisher founded in 1996 by William A. Christensen, and based in Rantoul, Illinois. It was originally known for publishing bad girl comics, such as ''Pandora'', ''Hellina'', ''Lookers'', ''The ...

' ''Shi: Poisoned Paradise''. The first series depicted her conflict with Musashi Miyamoto, and the second centered upon her battle with Ieyasu Tokugawa during Yuri's time with the Japanese Christian resistance.

Shi:Return of the Warrior, ''Shi: Haikyo and Shi:Sakura''

In January 2021, Tucci began a crowdfunding campaign on

Kickstarter Kickstarter, PBC is an American Benefit corporation, public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York City, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative project ...

in order to produce ''Shi: Haikyo'', a 64-page sequel to ''Shi: Return of the Warrior'' that sees Ana forced to ally herself with her archenemy, Masahiro Arashi, in order to save her teenage daughter Hotaru, who has been kidnapped by a "Shi" copycat killer. Another sequel features Ana traveling to Japan to find her biological mother.

Film adaptation

In 1997, there were plans to make a motion picture based on Shi, with

Tia Carrere Althea Rae Duhinio Janairo (born January 2, 1967), known professionally as Tia Carrere (), is an American actress and singer who got her first big break as a regular on the daytime soap opera ''General Hospital''. Carrere played Cassandra Wong i ...

as Shi/Ana Ishikawa and Tucci writing the script. In 2002, the movie was optioned by producer Mimi Polk Gitlin with Tucci still on the script but with Kevin Bernhardt co-writing it and with no lead role defined.

Publications

Primary

*''Shi: The Way of the Warrior'' #1–12 (1994–1997) *''Shi vs. Tomoe'' **''Tomoe'' #1–3 (drawn by

Amanda Conner Amanda Conner is an American comics artist and commercial art illustrator. She began her career in the late 1980s for Archie Comics and Marvel Comics, before moving on to contribute work for Claypool Comics' '' Soulsearchers and Company'' and Ha ...

) *''Shi: Senryaku'' #1-3 (1995) *''Shi: Kaidan'' (1996) *''Manga Shi 2000'' #1-3 (1997) *''Shi: Nightstalkers'' (1997) *''Shi: East Wind Rain'' (1997) *''Shi: Rekishi'' #1-2 (1997) *''Shi: Heaven & Earth (a.k.a. Tora No Shi)'' #1–4 (1997) *''Shi: The Series'' #1-13 (1997-1998) *''Shi: Black, White and Red'' #1-2 (1998) *''Shi: 5th Anniversary Special'' (1999) *''Shi: Zero'' (2000) *''Shi: Year of the Dragon'' #0-3 (2000) *''Shi: Akai'' (2001) *''Shi: Through the Ashes'' (2001, special issue made after

9/11 The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

) *''Shi: Poisoned Paradise'' #0–2 (with Karl Waller,

, 2002) *''Shi: The Illustrated Warrior'' #1-7 (2002-2003) *''Shi: Sempo'' (4-issue miniseries, 2003, Avatar Press) *''Shi: Ju-Nen'' (4-issue miniseries, 2004–2005; 104 page trade paperback,

Dark Horse Comics Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, manga and Artist's book, art book publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon, by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, O ...

, 2006, ) *''Definitive Shi: The Essential Warrior'' Vol. 1 (576 pages, Crusade Fine Arts, 2006) *''Shi: Return of the Warrior'' (graphic novel, 2020) *''Shi: Haikyo'' (graphic novel, 2021)

Crossover

*''

Avengelyne Avengelyne is a comic book character created by Rob Liefeld, Cathy Christian and Tony Lobito. Avengelyne is an angel who fights the forces of evil and often finds herself face-to-face with demons and monsters. Publication history The original c ...

/Shi'' *''

Image comics Image Comics is an independent American American comic book, comic book publisher and is the third largest direct market comic book and graphic novel publisher in the industry by market share. Its best-known publications include ''Spawn (comics) ...

/GEN 13 - Number 13C'' *''Cyblade/Shi'' and ''Shi/Cyblade'' (''The Battle for Independents'') (1995) *'' Daredevil/Shi'' and ''Shi/Daredevil'' (1997) *''

Fallen Angel Fallen angels are angels who were expelled from Heaven. The literal term "fallen angel" does not appear in any Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic religious texts, but is used to describe angels cast out of heaven. Such angels are often described ...

(IDW)/Shi'' (''Fallen Angel'' Vol. 2 Nos. 17–19) *'' Grifter/Shi: Final Rites'' #1–2 (1996) *''Razor & Shi Special'' (1994) *''Lethargic Comics'' #12 (1994) *''Shi/

Vampirella Vampirella () is a vampire superheroine created by Forrest J Ackerman and comic book artist Trina Robbins in Warren Publishing's black-and-white horror comics magazine ''Vampirella'' #1 (Sept. 1969), a sister publication of '' Creepy'' and ''E ...

'' *''Vampirella/Shi'' *''Vampirella'' #7–9 *''

Lady Death Lady Death is a fictional goddess appearing in American comic books published by Coffin Comics. Created by Brian Pulido, Lady Death first appeared in Eternity Comics' '' Evil Ernie'' #1 in December 1991. Lady Death then reappeared in the '' ...

/Shi'' #0–2 *''

Wolverine The wolverine ( , ; ''Gulo gulo''), also called the carcajou or quickhatch (from East Cree, ''kwiihkwahaacheew''), is the largest land-dwelling species, member of the family Mustelidae. It is a muscular carnivore and a solitary animal. The w ...

/Shi: Dark Night of Judgment'' (2000) *'' Tenth Muse/Shi: Bluewater One Shot'' (2007) *'' Jetta/Shi: Arrow Of Destiny'' (2008)

References

External links

Shi in Avatar Press

Shi in Comic Vine

Shi in Comic Book DB

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shi (Comics) Avatar Press titles Comic martial artists Comics characters introduced in 1993 Dark Horse Comics female superheroes Dark Horse Comics titles Female characters in comics Fictional polearm and spearfighters Fictional swordfighters in comics Superheroes with alter egos Vigilante characters in comics