JONIN
Real Name: Unrevealed
Identity/Class: Human magic user
Occupation: High ninja of the Hand
Group Membership: Hand (Izanami, others)
Affiliations: Beast of the Hand, Spear, Taskmaster, Tombstone (Lonnie Lincoln)
Enemies: The Chaste (Flame, Star, Stone), Peter Chin, Daredevil (Matt Murdock), Ghost Rider (Dan Ketch/Noble Kale), Christine Harris, Punisher (Frank Castle), Jerry "The Whale" Sabini, Ernie Saltes, Pamela Sennet, Derek Tully
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Mobile
First Appearance: (Behind the scenes) Daredevil I#292 (May, 1992); (seen) Daredevil I#293 (June, 1992)
Powers/Abilities: Jonin is a talented ninja master who worships the Beast, using the demon's mystical powers of life and death in his own plots. Jonin helped power up the warrior woman, Izanami, sacrificing many lives to make her stronger, and imbuing her with the power to choose the next successor of the Hand. Jonin sacrificed himself to Izanami for the same purpose and was later resurrected. Jonin yields tremendous financial resources.
Height: 5'10" (by approximation)
Weight: 150 lbs. (by approximation)
Eyes: Black
Hair: Black
History:
(Daredevil I#295 (fb) - BTS) - Jonin, a leader of a faction of the Hand, made business deals with criminals based in Hong Kong, seeking to expand their businesses to New York City. Working with the warrior woman Izanami, he hired criminals Tombstone and Taskmaster to kill assigned targets, seeking to sow unrest in the city's circles.
(Daredevil I#292 - BTS) - Tombstone and Taskmaster killed some of the Hand's targets, including Ernie Saltes and Peter Chin.
(Daredevil I#293) - Hearing that Taskmaster and Tombstone had failed, Jonin prepared to launch the Hand's full plans into action, as Izanami stood by.
(Daredevil I#294) - Jonin moved the Hand into an abandoned warehouse in New York City, where Izanami stood by as he sacrificed a man to the Beast. Jonin sent Izanami and other ninjas to kidnap councilwoman Christine Harris, and they ended up fighting Daredevil. When Izanami returned to Jonin, he honored her, but then Daredevil attacked. Jonin felt like it was long past time to settle debts with Daredevil, for matters related to Elektra.
(Daredevil I#295) - The Hand were shocked when Ghost Rider joined Daredevil in the attack. After drawing upon the life force of fallen Hand members, Izanami escaped with Jonin and Harris. The Hand soon captured more targets, including Jerry "The Whale" Sabini, Derek Tully, and Pamela Sennet. Jonin and Izanami enjoyed causing fear in their captives, believing the Beast was pleased. Then Daredevil attacked.
(Daredevil I#296) - Jonin saw Izanami absorb more life forces as the Chaste arrived, joining in Daredevil's attack. After the captives were free, Jonin submitted himself to Izanami, who killed him and absorbed his life force. Izanami was later killed again.
Comments: Created by D.G. Chichester (writer), Lee Weeks (penciler) & Al Williamson (inker).
The specifics around the Jonin were a bit difficult to understand. The Jonin may have been one person, a leader in a particular faction of the Hand, one obsessed with Izanami and the Great Beast; if so, Jonin continually rose from the dead. It's also possible that Jonin is a title within the Hand for the leader of a faction. Lastly, it is possible that, like Izanami, Jonin is some sort of mystic energy force that possesses mortals and takes over their forms after the death of a particular host, though this last scenario seems most unlikely. For the purpose of this profile, we are assuming the first option, that Jonin was one guy who kept rising from the dead, which means he could very well be alive out there.
The Jonin are the "high ninja" of the Hand (their leaders). Read the Shadowland crossover (especially the Ghost Rider one-shot) for a bit more information. There were many before this Jonin and probably a few since then.
--Markus Raymond
According to the Hand's handbook bio there are five active Jonin at any one time. It's not 100% certain the one who worked with Kirigi was NOT the one who worked with Izanami, and the Hand can resurrect people, so Elektra slaying him wouldn't be a problem. And yes, they do look somewhat similar - stocky Japanese guys with dark hair and dark eyes. However, I believe that black hair and brown eyes is the norm for Japanese people. The Hand had the ability to resurrect the Kirigi Jonin, but the very fact he was such a coward makes me think they wouldn't have bothered. The Izanami Jonin certainly looks somewhat like him, but there's nothing in the stories I could find that suggests he had been resurrected - fwiw, I do think the DD #293 Jonin and the one in Dead Man's Hand were the same guy, as that guy had the power to resurrect others. The entry for Kirigi and Jonin in the Marvel Fact Files deemed the Jonin served by Izanami to be two different individuals with Marvel's approval.
--Loki
Profile by Chadman.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Jonin should not be confused with:
images: (without ads)
Daredevil I#294, p2-3, center (main)
Daredevil I#293, p23, pan4 (face)
Appearances:
Daredevil I#292-295 (May-August, 1992) - D.G. Chichester (writer), Lee Weeks (penciler), Al Williamson (inker), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Daredevil I#296 (September, 1992) - D.G. Chichester (writer), Ron Garney (penciler), Al Williamson (inker), Ralph Macchio (editor)
First Posted: 06/18/2019
Last updated: 06/19/2019
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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