Edo Period Marvel: Ronin

Solo Heroes in Edo Period Japan.

Left to Right:

Spider-Man:
Real Name: Ishi Paruko
Biography: Ishi Paruko was a rebellious child, and his wealthy parents shipped him off to his great-aunt and uncle in Edo (the future Tokyo) to help him get his act together. Ishi was forced to work in his Aunt Mai’s tea shop and in the fields with Uncle Nan. At school, Ishi didn’t excel in any subject (or didn’t want to), he was an outcast and the ire of his teachers, and his only solace was skipping classes and practicing martial arts in the basement. He did, however, develop a crush on his female classmate Mayu Junjou, but he didn’t know how to express his feelings, so he ignored her and treated her coldly. One day, when he was sneaking into the basement to avoid going to class, Ishi accidentally ran into a spiderweb, which caused him to panic and fall down the stairs. He woke up to a swarm of spiders, carpeting the floor. He started stomping on the spiders, and after a minute or so, he felt a presence behind him. Ishi turned to see… a gigantic spider! He tried to run, but the spider blocked his path and jumped on top of him. The spider then spoke in a human language, saying “You shall be…”, before plunging its fangs into Ishi’s shoulder, flooding his system with venom. Ishi woke up a day later in the hospital. Dr. Bonoko told him that he had an allergic reaction to a regular spider bite, and his story about the giant spider was merely a hallucination. As time passed, Ishi stated doing better in school and started treating his aunt and uncle and Mayu more respectfully. He hadn’t thought about the spider incident for a week, started making friends, and felt better than he had in his whole life… that is, until he noticed his body beginning to change. He felt stronger and faster than before; he started seeing visions of the immediate future, always of dangerous situations; he began secreting a mucous through weird openings in his wrists and his clothes, books, and other things sticking to his skin. Remembering the spider monster, Ishi began boning up on spiders. He figured that the spider demon’s venom gave him the powers of a spider. Using his powers, Ishi competed in an underground bloodsport for a cash prize, using a costume and the alias “Spider-Man.” Ishi won the tournament, but when he returned home, he saw a group of scary-looking thugs leaving Aunt Mai’s shop. He saw Uncle Nan was beaten to death for not paying their home’s enigmatic landowner, and so Ishi tracked the thugs to a bar. In the Spider-Man guise, Ishi attacked the thugs. Guilty that he wasn’t there to protect his family, Ishi fully adopted the Spider-Man identity to honor his uncle’s memory by protecting the innocent and disenfranchised. The Spider-Man steals from the rich and corrupted of Edo and gives to the poor, using his powers to battle villains such as the crimelord known as the Jade Goblin and his hired assassins, the Fukitsu Roku.
Powers: Super strength/speed/agility/stamina; the ability to sense danger before it happens; secretion of spider webbing from his wrists; the ability to stick to any surface.

Gamushara:
Counterpart of: Daredevil
Real Name: Rei Hamasaki
Biography: Rei Hamasaki was abandoned at a young age, his father an Irishman and his mother a Japanese martial artist. Rei was adopted by Sensei Konbou, the Palm (leader) of the ninja guild known as the Hand. Rei was trained for many years by Konbou and other ninja masters from the Five Fingers of the Hand: the Fire Clan, the Lightning Clan, the Poison Clan, the Edge Clan, and the Stone Clan. Konbou tried to make Rei as emotionless as possible, to make him a more efficient and pitiless killer, but Rei still developed (hidden) feelings for Oiwa, the daughter of the Lightning Clan’s leader. During his training, Rei mastered a dangerous ninja art known as the “Stream of Three Paths”, which allows him to reroute life energy to his other functions by shutting down at least one function, “like a forked river with one path blocked by stone.” At 19, Rei was about to complete his training, but he and Oiwa gave way to their feelings and made love. When Oiwa’s father, Dendou the First, learned of his youngest daughter’s deflowering, he sent his elite ninjas to kill Rei. Rei fought the lightning ninjas at Konbou’s dojo, gaining the three scars upon his chest that he still carries to this day. When Konbou asked Dendou why his ninjas attacked Rei, Dendou told him that Rei “raped” his daughter. Konbou banished Rei from the Hand, and Rei, furiously, tossed a shuriken into Konbou’s eye. The Palm’s elite ninja pursued Rei, but he escaped. Rei is now “Gamushara”, a rogue ninja who hunts down criminals and associates of the Hand. His enemies include the sumo wrestling gangster Kingpin, and Bullseye, a Japanese assassin who joined the European assassins’ guild known as Intendo.
Powers: Gamushara has martial art skills and super speed/reflexes/stamina/agility/senses. He has the ability to shut down one or more functions of his body (senses, metabolism, immunity, digestion, ect.) to amplify the remaining; when he enters combat, he usually shuts down his ability to see, but if he shuts down too many functions, he could overload on life energy, causing internal injuries. He wields several ninjitsu weapons, such as a sansetsukon (three-section staff).

The Stranger:
Counterpart of: Dr. Strange
Real Name: Mishiranu
Biography: Since time immemorial, two fundamental forces have maintained the flow of time and form of existence: The Creation and the Negation. In all history, recorded or otherwise, only a chosen handful of mortals have the discipline to maintain a connection with these powers, to maintain their balance and avoid corruption by them, and they use the supernatural abilities bestowed by this discipline for the greater good. On the planet Earth, these beings are known as “Strangers.”
Many years ago, a portal to the underworld opened, and a wretched and powerful dragon known as Kyumin conquered the southern part of Honshu, the biggest island of Japan. Many humans were enslaved, and demons were made the ruling class. A six-year-old human girl lost her parents to Kyumin, and she was shipped to the Dragon King’s palace to become a part of his harem. The girl, Mishiranu, learned that, upon her 9th birthday, Kyumin would take a human form to rape and impregnate her, making her bear a litter of dragon-children to serve him. For three years, Mishi planned her escape, planning to bring an army from the unconquered regions to slay the demons. When she made her escape, she was attacked by one of the Dragon King’s minions and her hands were broken. She still managed to escape the palace, but demon soldiers were hot on her trail. When all hope seemed to be lost, Mishi had a vision of a great woman warrior, waiting to be awoken, in a temple on top of Mt. Fuji. For seven days, Mishi climbed to the top of Mt. Fuji, fighting through the pain of her shattered and bloody hands, and she never lost hope of finding the one who can free her people. But, when she finally reached the top, there was no temple, only a shambled hut and an elderly Chinese man meditating outside. Mishi asked the man where the temple was, and he said that there was never a temple. “But where is the powerful warrior sealed within?” she asked. The man took ahold of her broken hands, and within a few seconds, they were completely healed. “She is inside YOU” he said.
The man introduced himself as Yan, the last in the lineage of Strangers, heroic mortals with control over the energies of life and death. He took Mishi inside his hut, revealing that the inside is a grand library of enchanted scrolls and auspicious artifacts. Yan revealed that he was the one who sent her the vision, wishing to make her the newest Stranger and help her defeat Kyumin. She agreed, and for 12 years, Mishiranu developed her connection to the Creation and Negation, studying the abilities of the Strangers, and practicing the arts of generation and destruction.
At age 21, a beautiful woman returned to her home, ready to take it back from the demons. The Stranger’s powers overwhelmed the despicable creatures, and her binding incantation sent Kyumin back to Hell, imprisoning him forevermore.
Now, in the 1640s, Mishiranu the Stranger is 60 years old, but still as beautiful as the day she freed her home from the Dragon King. Her mansion is the new library for the mystic books, and she still stands ready to defeat any threat to the balance. She recently took in a young Chinese man named Huang as her manservant.
Powers: Perfect spiritual balance and a strong connection with the Creation and the Negation; can channel these forces through incantations or specifically-shaped objects to manipulate matter, energy, and mortal perception on varying scales. Powers she’s thus far displayed include telepathy, levitation, force fields, illusions, and healing.

Wanyudo:
Counterpart of: Ghost Rider
Real Name: Houtei Honoo
Biography: Houtei Honoo was a commoner seeking to become a samurai, a loyal soldier of the Japanese Empire. His little sister, Kaitsuiki, looks up to him, and he swore that he would always be there to protect her. One night, Kaitsuki lost track of time picking flowers with her friend Kazue, and she had to walk home at dusk. Sharpening his new sword, Houtei waited for his sister to return, but when she did, she was coverd in many cuts and bruises and her clothes were torn. He asked her what happened, and she said that a group of 13 boys attacked her and stole her virginity. Outraged, Houtei took his sword to the alley where she claimed she was attacked, and he searched for the gang. His search took him to a bar, where 13 black-clad thugs were having a drink. Kaitsuki told Houtei that the leader had a tattoo of a demonic eye on his right temple, which he used to identify the gang leader. He attacked the leader in the bar, but the others overpowered him and knocked him unconscious. When he woke up, Houtei was chained to a bicycle as the gang tore off pieces of his skin, leaving large amounts of his raw muscle exposed to the alcoholic drinks they doused him with. “Not even the Heavens can save you, now” said Demon-Eye as he threw the lit match onto the poor soul.
As Houtei burned, a shinigami (Japanese grim reaper) ripped his soul from his body and dragged it into the afterlife. In the place between Heaven and Hell, Houtei’s soul was approached by Izanami, Goddess of Death, to make him a deal: “I will return you to Earth so that you may seek revenge against those who ruined your sister, but, in exchange, once your mission is complete, you shall forever reside in the bowels of the underworld.” Houtei agreed, and he was instantly transported back to Earth (though actually, 13 days passed since he died). That night, a monstrous skeleton emerged from the soil that Houtei was burned upon; Houtei was now a Onryo, a Spirit of Vengeance. Now calling himself “Wanyudo”, Houtei currently seeks the men who ravaged his sister, all while protecting his sister in secrecy and fighting other evils.
Powers: His new form is a skeleton engulfed in an undying flame that burns everything but the flesh of innocents. Wanyudo wears unbreakable chains that can grow to any length he wills and bladed wheels that return to him when thrown. His most prominent power is shapeshifting into the form of a ghastly bicycle that can move at high speeds. By staring into the eyes of a sinner, Wanyudo can rip the soul from his body and sent it to Hell. Wanyudo’s horrific form can only exist in darkness; when it is light, he changes into a incorporeal form that no mortal can see, hear, or touch.

The Punisher:
Real Name: Fukoku Joukaku
Biography: As a young man, Fukoku Jokaku proudly served in the military force of the Eastern Clans of Japan. He participated in the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, fighting alongside famous samurai Shinobu Yamashita. After the war, Fukoku settled down to start a family with his wife Mali. By the 1630s, Fukoku and Mali had 2 children, Rina and Fukoku II, and Fukoku was a respected prosecutor for the Ministry of Justice. One day, when they were going for a picnic in the fields, Rina and Fukoku II discovered Yagguza thugs killing a man for not paying protection money. The goons saw the kids spying on them and followed them back to their parents. The goons took out their swords and killed the kids and their mother, leaving the father the only survivor.
Fukoku revealed the goons’ identities to the police and they were arrested. In the trial, Fukoku was the acting prosecutor for the case, despite his higher-ups’ advice not to be involved. The thugs were found innocent (they bribed the judge and half of the jury), and Fukoku pulled a knife from his robes and sliced one the goons’ throat. Fukoku managed to escape the resulting police manhunt. With no more faith in the criminal justice system, Fukoku became a murderous vigilante, using his combat training and all of the weapons he can carry to wage war against criminals of all kinds. The papers call him “The Punisher.”
Powers: Above-average strength/speed/stamina/agility/durability/reflexes/senses/aim; wears very dense armor and wields several weapons at a time, such as a katana, matchlock pistol, blunderbuss, a bow and arrow set, spear, nunchaku, throwing stars, knives, sickles, and bombs.

Mentioned Characters:
Aunt Mai: May Parker
Uncle Nan: Ben Parker
Mayu Junjou: Mary Jane Watson
Jade Goblin: Green Goblin
Fukitsu Roku: Sinister Six

Sensei Konbou: Stick
Oiwa: Elektra
Dendou the First: Electro (communist)
Intendo: AIM

Kyumin: Dormammu
Yan: The Ancient One
Huang: Wong
Kaitsuki: Barbara Ketch
Demon-Eye: The Orb
Yagguza: Maggia
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Regalia (Avengers): [link]

Suteki Four (Fantastic Four): [link]

Men of Tendai (X-Men): [link]