KIRIGIKIRIGI
Real Name: Unrevealed
Identity/Class: Human, mystically enhanced
Occupation: Assassin
Group Membership: The Hand
Affiliations: Predecessor to Izanami and Kuroyama
Enemies: Daredevil, Elektra, and the Chaste (Claw, Shaft, Stick, Stone)
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Japan
First Appearance: Daredevil I#174 (September, 1981)
Powers: Kirigi was immensely, if not superhumanly strong. He was a master ninja, possessing unnatural skill in the martial arts. He was adept with the long sword, sai, kyoketsu-shugi (rope-knife), shuriken, and the other common tools of the trade, most notably the Shiar Tachi, an ornate sword common among high-ranking samurai. He could almost instantly recover from seemingly mortal wounds. Only a devastating wound could slow or stop him. His healing came through a form of meditation.
Height: 7' Weight: 300 lbs.
History: Very little is known of the past of Kirigi. It is said that in ancient japan, as the samurai feared the ninja, the ninja feared Kirigi. He is a mystically enhanced warrior, allegedly serving a score of Jonin (ninja masters) over a span of centuries.
In the modern era, he was summoned by the current Jonin for the Hand to slay Elektra, who had foiled a Hand plot to assassinate Matt Murdoch, Daredevil. Elektra deliberately entered a Hand trap, hoping to slay the Jonin, and was assisted in battling a number of Hand agents by Daredevil. She pursued the Jonin, only to confront Kirigi. Elektra stabbed him with both sais, and he simply pulled them out. He duped her into going for the sai and choked her with a rope-knife. She managed to skewer him through the mid-section with her blade, forcing him to slink off to recover.
A day or so later, after covering his wounds with mystic ointments, he was completely recovered. Kirigi tracked down Elektra again and the two had another fierce battle. Elektra fled into a semi-rig, and caught him unawares, smashing into him at a high speed. She dove out of the rig before it went over the dock, and it exploded as it hit the water. Kirigi, covered in flames, pulled himself back up the docks, but Elektra managed to decapitate him as he was trying to regain his bearings.
A short time later, several hand members sacrificed their lives to resurrect Kirigi, sending him to kill Daredevil and the Chaste. Daredevil had temporarily lost control of his enhanced senses, and was in an isolation tank as Stick attempted to help him regain control. Kirigi attempted to ambush Stick, but his resurrected form was no match for the Chaste, who as a team took him down. Stick had his body destroyed to prevent resurrection.
Comments: Created by Frank Miller and Klaus Janson. What a run of classics they produced.
After Kirigi was destroyed, a later Jonin for the Hand cast a similar spell to create a new master warrior, Izanami, @ Daredevil I#293. Later, they did the same thing to create Kuroyama, @ Elektra#14. The original was better than the sequels.
The quote: "God or Demon, Kirigi had a
neck that was human enough."
images: (without ads)
Appearances:
Daredevil I#174-176 (September-November, 1981) - Frank Miller (writer/pencils), Klaus Janson (inks), Denny O'Neil (editor)
Daredevil I#187-188 (October-November, 1982) - Frank Miller (writer/pencils), Klaus Janson (inks), Denny O'Neil (editor)
First Posted: 09/07/2001
Last updated: 05/01/2005
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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