Silver Samurai

The Silver Samurai (Kenuichio Harada) is a fictional character in Marvel Comics' universe, sometimes a superhero and sometimes a supervillain. His first appearance was in Daredevil #111 (July, 1974). In Japan his name is Harada Kenichirō (原田剣一郎), since 'Kenuichio' is not an actual Japanese name (and is probably derived from a corruption of Kenichirō).

Fictional character biography
Silver Samurai, the illegitimate son of Shingen Yashida, is a Japanese mutant with the power to charge almost anything, most notably his katana, with mutant energy (described as a tachyon field) which enables it to slice through any known substance excluding adamantium. He also sports a suit based on traditional samurai armor. It is made of a silver metal, hence his name.

He became a professional criminal, and first appeared to clash with Daredevil when he was hired by Mandrill and Black Spectre.

Harada was once the bodyguard for the international terrorist known as the Viper and was subsequently an occasional mercenary. When working for Viper, he fought Spider-Man and Black Widow. After recovering the Viper's teleport ring, he fought Spider-Man again on Saturday Night Live and encountered the original Not-Ready-For-Prime-Time-Players. He joined Viper and Boomerang in fighting Spider-Man, Nick Fury, Shang-Chi, and Black Widow on the original S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier. He and Viper attempted to kidnap Michael Kramer, and fought the original Spider-Woman.

Alongside the Viper, he attempted a theft of cavourite crystal, and battled the New Mutants. Alongside the Viper, he battled the X-Men and Yukio. He attempted to possess the Black Blade, and battled Wolverine, Lindsay McCabe, and O'Donnell. He rescued Wolverine and a depowered Jessica Drew from cultists.

He became the Oyabun (leader) of Clan Yashida after his half-sister Mariko Yashida's death. He attempted to pay off his clan's debts to the Yakuza and restore its honor. Though once one of Wolverine's greatest enemies, he had apparently impressed Wolverine so greatly that Wolverine entrusted him with the care of his adopted daughter, Amiko Kobayashi.

The Samurai even once helped Wolverine destroy the monster known as "Doombringer", and later helped Logan rescue Amiko and Yukio from their kidnappers. During his time as hero, the Silver Samurai became the leader of the first Japanese superhero team, Big Hero 6.

Silver Samurai was recently brainwashed by the mutant Blindspot into forgetting his time as a hero, believing his redemption was just a result of Professor X's brainwashing. As a result, he had returned to his previous criminal activities. However, it now seems that Harada is currently operating as the chief security officer for the Prime Minister of Japan.

For unclear reasons, the Samurai was abducted, incarcerated in the Raft prison in America without trial, and official records stated he was dead. He was freed by Madame Hydra and the Hand, who transported him back to Japan. They wanted him to lead the Hand and unite the Japanese criminal underworld, hoping he could take on shadowy figures controlling both Hydra & SHIELD that Madame Hydra was reluctant to name. However, Harada wasn't interested in a war and even helped the Avengers defeat them. Afterward, he decided to try to earn his good name back by serving the people of Japan once again.

Silver Samurai is one of the few mutants that retained their superhuman powers after M-Day. Wolverine made his way to Japan in search of Harada and engaged him in battle. Wolverine had recovered all of his memories due to the events of House of M and asked Silver Samurai questions about his past during the course of their fight. Silver Samurai was able to run Wolverine through with one of his swords. Immediately afterward, Wolverine grabbed the Samurai by his right forearm and severed his hand at the wrist with his claws. When last seen, Silver Samurai was kneeling on the floor cradling the bloody stump where his hand once was.

After the Skrull invasion, Viper left the Silver Samurai to rejoin Hydra. She later came with a new Madame Hydra to negotiate support to be given to Typhon, Hydra's production front, from the Yashidas. Also, they took a mysterious box; the Yashidas claimed that those who opened it never lived to see another day. Some time later, warriors of the mysterious Leviathan group attacked the Silver Samurai to make him divulge the location of the box.

Powers and abilities
The Silver Samurai is a mutant with the ability to generate a tachyon field, with which he can surround anything. He commonly uses his power on his sword, enabling it to cut through nearly anything, except adamantium.

When working with the Viper, he possesses a teleportation ring, which allows him to teleport from one location to another, granting him great mobility and stealth.

As a self-styled samurai, he is a master of Kenjutsu (katana), and a martial arts master specializing in edged weapons, hand to hand combat, and tactics. He usually wears a suit of lightweight steel alloy body armor, modeled after traditional samurai armor, but made of modern protective materials. He carries a katana (long sword), shuriken (throwing stars), and other weaponry. Keniuchio has extensive knowledge of the operations of criminal organizations due to his shady past, which he now uses in the service of his government to combat such organizations. He is an expert in the history and customs of the samurai class (Bushido).

Age of Apocalypse
In the most recent "Age of Apocalypse" story, published in 2005 to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Age of Apocalypse storyline, the Silver Samurai was a key member of the X-Men. He wore no helmet, and had a red upside down Omega symbol tattooed on his forehead. Because he wears no helmet, it is probably a maedate, the crest of a Samurai kabuto. He was one of the team's more visible members, rash yet strong. It was revealed that the Samurai and Wolverine met each other in Japan, some time before Logan rescued Mariko from thugs. He was also aware of the existence of Psylocke, a rare telepath in the Age of Apocalypse, but how the Samurai was convinced to join Magneto's X-Men in the first place was not explained.

Exiles
In Exiles #83 (August 2006), another alternate version of the Silver Samurai was revealed. Originating from Earth-172, the Samurai appeared to have a good relationship between Mariko Yashida and that Earth's Wolverine, who was a briefly seen member of the reality-hopping counterpart team of the Exiles called Weapon X. As Wolverine had vanished out of their sight for months to join said team, he later on was killed in action and returned by the Exiles to his home-world. The Samurai and Mariko still don't fully know what happened to their Wolverine, but at least honored his death with a proper funeral by burning Logan's ashes.

House of M
In the House of M, Kenuicho Harada was a powerful businessman and, secretly, the head of Clan Yashida, a powerful crime family. His daughter, Mariko Harada, was kidnapped by Madame Hydra, who wanted to blackmail Harada into revealing his illegal businesses.

Marvel Zombies
In Marvel Zombies vs. The Army of Darkness #4, the Silver Samurai and Sunfire are bitten and infected by a zombie Quicksilver. During the Silver Surfer's globe-spanning travels, they are seen attacking innocent civilians.

Television

 * Silver Samurai has appeared in the X-Men episode "The Lotus and the Steel" voiced by Dennis Akiyama. He is simply portrayed as a gang leader whose thugs terrorize every village for tribute to him each year. Wolverine first encounters him while gathering timber as Silver Samurai warns him not to interfere with his gang's affairs. The villagers stand their ground with the help of Jubilee and Wolverine bests the Samurai in single combat by taking advantage of Samurai's habit of teleporting behind him: Wolverine anticipates the move and disables the teleportation device, humiliating the Silver Samurai.


 * Silver Samurai appears in the Wolverine and the X-Men episode "Code of Conduct" voiced by Keone Young. He is not depicted as Mariko's half-brother, but her husband, as well as a member of the Yakuza. He fought Wolverine before and ended up surrendering. Years later, Silver Samurai captures the X-Men (except Rogue) in order to force Wolverine to fight him again as a way to become the next leader of the Yakuza. After overhearing the talk between Wolverine and Mariko, he was angry and told Hura to get every ninja to the warehouse. At the fight of the warehouse near the docks, he knocked out Rogue with a shuriken loaded with knock-out gas. The Yakuza Leader says that they will have an anti-mutant power duel (as part of the Samurai Code) by the next night. When they finally dueled, Silver Samurai mentioned that he only married Mariko so that Logan wouldn't marry her. Wolverine was once again besting Silver Samurai. Since Silver Samurai acted dishonorably by using his mutant powers when it was not allowed, he was then hit with a knock-out gas-filled shuriken. The Yakuza leader annuls the duel declaring that Silver Samurai dishonored the code and has his men take him away. After the Yakuza Leader agreed to release the captive X-Men, Mariko told Wolverine that Silver Samurai will be driven from the Yakuza in shame and that they will never admit him again.

Film

 * In the film X2, his name appears on a list of names Mystique scrolls through on Stryker's computer while looking for Magneto's file.
 * In the featurette "Wolverine Unleashed: The Complete Origins", on the DVD release of X-Men Origins: Wolverine, the producer Lauren Shuler Donner reveals that 20th Century Fox has approved the making of a stand alone Wolverine movie focusing on the Silver Samurai, and Wolverine's time in Japan.

Video games

 * Silver Samurai is a playable character in the Capcom fighting games X-Men: Children of the Atom and Marvel vs. Capcom 2. His mutant tachyon powers are not evident here, however, as he is seen throwing giant shurikens and his supers involve empowering his katana with elemental properties and attacks revolving around lightning, fire, and ice. He is one of the two Marvel characters that doesn't speak English during gameplay, because he speaks Japanese (Colossus, who speaks Russian during gameplay is the other).


 * Silver Samurai appears in the game X-Men: The Official Game (which fills in the gap between X2: X-Men United and X-Men: The Last Stand) voiced by Keone Young. In the game, Silver Samurai is the head of HYDRA, and mentor of Lady Deathstrike. Years before Weapon X, Silver Samurai and HYDRA collaborated with William Stryker in building the Master Mold and Sentinels robots. After Stryker's death, HYDRA was sent back in to remove all Sentinel equipment and files, and accidentally activated the Master Mold. Wolverine infiltrated HYDRA's headquarters and duels with Silver Samurai over how to shut down the Master Mold and the Sentinels. Conquering Samurai in combat, Wolverine emerges the winner, gains the information, and tells the team how to defeat Master Mold.

Others

 * In the comic prequels to the first X-Men film, Wolverine was revealed to have fought a Yakuza enforcer just prior to the film. This man, with an obsession with honor and the mutant ability to generate electricity, was referred as the Silver Samurai. He was killed at the end of the story. That story has been revealed to be out of the regular movie-continuity, because the Samurai was revealed alive in the game X-Men: The Official Movie Game, which is a lot closer to the movies than the movie prequels were.