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Big Hero Six was created to save lives—and if we are unable to save everyone, I swear by my blade—that we will save as many as we can!


The Silver Samurai was a former member of the Big Hero 6. He is a Japanese mutant with the power to charge almost anything with a tachyon field.

Throughout his appearances he has switched from supervillain mercenary to superhero and back to supervillain.

He also sports a suit of traditional samurai armor made of a silver metal, hence his professional name.

Background[]

Kenuichio Harada is the mutant, illegitimate son of the former Japanese crimelord Shingen Harada, head of the Clan Yashida.

Harada mastered the attendant disciplines of bushidō at an early age and went on to become a mercenary. He first worked for the criminal Mandrill and fought the blind hero Daredevil.

Harada then served The Viper, an agent of the terrorist organization HYDRA, as her bodyguard. During HYDRA's attack on Japan, Harada attempted to assassinate the Japanese Emperor but failed; instead, he killed a guard named Kiochi Keishicho, which led to Amatsu-Mikaboshi making a deal with Keishicho and reviving him as the Ebon Samurai in order to kill Harada.

Following Shingen's death, Harada sought to wrest leadership of Shingen's Clan Yashida from his half-sister Mariko Yashida, but was opposed by Yukio and Mariko's lover, Wolverine. Later, Harada worked with Wolverine to free private investigator Jessica Drew from the Black Blade of Muramasa, a sword imbued with madness. Wolverine himself fell under the sword's spell but overcame it, after which Harada took up the sword, finding himself worthy of it.

After Mariko's death, he became the Oyabun (leader) of Clan Yashida and attempted to pay off the clan's debts to the Yakuza and restore its honor.

Though he was once one of Wolverine's greatest enemies, he had apparently impressed Wolverine so greatly that he entrusted him with the care of his adopted daughter, Amiko Kobayashi. The Samurai also helped Wolverine destroy the monster known as Doombringer, and later helped him rescue Amiko and Yukio from their kidnappers.

Powers and Abilities[]

Keniuchio has extensive knowledge of the operations of criminal organizations due to his shady past, which he used in the service of his government to combat such organizations.

  • Tachyon field generation: Like most mutants in the Marvel Universe, Silver Samurai has a unique ability. His ability is to generate a tachyon field with which he can surround anything. He commonly focuses this power on his sword, enabling it to cut through nearly anything, except Adamantium.
  • Martial Arts: As a self-styled samurai, he is a master of Kenjutsu and a martial arts master specializing in edged weapons, hand to hand combat, and tactics. He is an expert in the history and customs of the samurai class (bushidō).

Equipment[]

  • Armor: He wears a suit of lightweight steel alloy body armor, modeled after traditional samurai armor, but made of modern protective materials.
  • Ninja weapons: He carries a katana, shuriken, and other weaponry related to Japanese ninjas. In the past, he has wielded both the Black Blade of Muramasa and the Honor Sword of Clan Yashida.
  • Teleportation ring: When working with the Viper, he possessed a teleportation ring, which allowed him to teleport from one location to another, granting him great mobility and stealth.

History[]

During his time as hero, the Japanese government funded an organization known as Giri to recruit superhuman individuals to form Big Hero 6, a national superhero team. Harada was contacted to join the team, appointed as the team's field leader, while also having Honey Lemon and Go-Go Tomago in it. Giri tried to have young genius Hiro Takachiho join the group, but his mother refused. Mr. Oshima then sent Silver Samurai to personally attempt to convince him, but the boy also expressed disinterest in joining. Back at the Giri HQ, Silver Samurai told Oshima about his failure, much to Oshima's discontent.

Sunfire, another potential member for the team, was believed to be dead at the time, but Hiro and his robotic bodyguard Baymax found out that he lived and met the mutant at an abandoned temple, where Baymax fought him after a misunderstanding, being interrupted by Silver Samurai, Honey Lemon and Go-Go.

They took Sunfire to the Giri base after he fell unconscious, and later Hiro and Baymax broke into their office after a mysterious figure called Everwraith threatened to hurt Hiro's mother. Silver Samurai fought Baymax, and after the situation was explained, the heroes went on to face Everwraith.

Though Silver Samurai sliced up Everwraith, the entity reformed and phased through his body. Soon, Everwraith fought Sunfire and apparently both died in the confrontation, causing a huge explosion that did not harm anything thanks to Sunfire's powers channeling it to Everwraith. After the fight, Harada met with Oshima and discussed about finding a new sixth member.

Hiro stayed in the team, and their base was moved to Cool World Amusement Park. Despite being the leader, Hiro normally did not listen to Harada's orders. Their base was later attacked by X the Unknowable, and though Silver Samurai tried fighting it, Hiro revealed that Sunfire did not die and believed that only he would be able to beat the moster, therefore asked Honey Lemon to call him.

After X's defeat, Sunfire stayed with the team and helped take down organized crime in Japan to clear the name of Clan Yashida. Silver Samurai was also seen helping Hiro and Baymax rescuing people from a blizzard caused by Crimson Cowl and the Masters of Evil.

Both Sunfire and Silver Samurai would not stay on the team for long however: ultimately, Sunfire left to join the X-Corporation, while Harada's inability to lead Clan Yashida allowed the Mongolian crimelord Haan Kaishek to take control, and so Harada allied with Wolverine to defeat Kaishek and his crime family. The disgrace of losing leadership was too great for Harada, and he returned to his mercenary life.

Employed by HYDRA once more, Silver Samurai was dispatched to Iraq to battle the Greek ninja Elektra Natchios and seemingly slain. Meanwhile, the Ebon Samurai attempted tracking down Harada and found about his ties with Big Hero 6. Keishicho confronted the team, but after being told that Silver Samurai had died, he thought he had no purpose anymore and decided to join the team, effectively replacing Harada while Sunpyre replaced Sunfire.

It was later revealed that Silver Samurai's apparent death and funeral were staged for his own protection, so upon finding this out, Ebon Samurai set out to find his murderer and finally kill him so that his soul could rest, but saw himself unable to do it as Harada had become the bodyguard of the Japanese Prime Minister, and Keishicho believed attacking Harada at that moment would be betraying the entire nation of Japan. Frustrated, Kiochi returned to Big Hero 6's base, waiting for the moment Silver Samurai would reveal his true nature and finally get rid of him.

Trivia[]

  • Kenuichio Harada and the Silver Samurai were featured in 20th Century Fox's 2013 film The Wolverine as separate entities. Harada (played by Will Yun Lee) was a bodyguard in the film, while the Silver Samurai was a giant robotic suit worn by Ichirō Yashida (played by Haruhiko Yamanouchi).
    • Due to this, Silver Samurai does not appear in the Big Hero 6 film (released the following year). Sunfire was also absent because his cinematic rights were owned by 20th Century Fox too.
    • Ironically, the founding members of the film's team are Wasabi and Fred, who were the last characters to join the team in the comics.
  • His name in Japanese translations of Marvel Comics is Kenichirō because "Kenuichio" is not a genuine Japanese name.[2]

Gallery[]

Gallery

References[]

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