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ELIZA MARTINEZ

Real Name: Eliza Martinez

Identity/Class: Human (resurrected) (late 16th Century) (citizen of Japan)

Occupation: Assassin, warrior

Group Membership: The Hand;
   formerly Ishiyama Sword School

Affiliations: The Hand, Kagenobu Yoshioka

Enemies: Daisuke Sasaki, foreigners to Japan (Mr. Fernandez, others selected by the Hand)

Known Relatives: Mr. Martinez (father), mother (name unrevealed)

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Kyushu, Japan

First Appearance: Elektra: The Hand#3 (December, 2004)

Powers/Abilities: Eliza Martinez has been trained to peak athlete levels in endurance, running and agility. She is a highly skilled ninja assassin and a master of combat martial arts. She is trained in the use particularly of sai, as well as other weapons such as shuriken, katana and archery. Eliza has excellent stealth capabilities and is very aware of her surroundings, anticipating potential attacks. Her resurrection by the Hand included brainwashed loyalty to the Hand.

Height: 5'3" (by approximation)
Weight: 110 lbs. (by approximation)
Eyes: White (formerly brown)
Hair: Black

History:

(Elektra: The Hand#3 (fb) - BTS) - European Mr. Martinez came to Japan in the late 16th Century and fell in love with a local woman. They wed and had a daughter Eliza but the mother was ridiculed and eventually slain in front of Eliza by three ronin who deemed her a traitor to the Japanese race. The father raised Eliza by himself in Japan, traveling from port to port, but Eliza was never accepted by locals. Hearing of the Ishiyama Sword School headed by the orphan Kagenobu Yoshioka (who had since founded the covert nationalist Hand organization), Mr. Martinez hoped he could help Eliza.

(Elektra: The Hand#3 (fb)) - In 1590, Mr. Martinez and Eliza approached the School but were knocked back, the father threatened by the xenophobic Yoshioka, but Eliza glared him down. Recognizing his own hatred for those who hurt him, Yoshioka eventually took Eliza in, despite his colleague Daisuke Sasaki's racist protestations. Eliza dedicated herself to training and mastering the skills of the School, but mutual attraction with Yoshioka blossomed. Two years later, an apparently compliant Sasaki insisted that Eliza's ninja skills be tested. Although protective, Yoshioka sent her on her first mission in her black armor and assorted weaponry.

(Elektra: The Hand#4 (fb)) - Eliza completed her kill, realizing too  late it was her father's friend Mr. Fernandez. She learned later that she was now part of the Hand's agenda to slay all foreigners (excepting her father for his unwitting spy information). Initially reluctant, she embraced the Hand's xenophobic fury and romance with Yoshioka. Together, they led many Hand raids. But Sasaki had sown dissent against Eliza and sent a Hand assassin against Eliza whom she defeated; she informed Yoshioka and he in turn confronted and killed Sasaki. Meanwhile, Eliza found her father had been slain by the Hand. Reunited, the couple found themselves isolated from the Hand and soon surrounded by Hand forces led by rebelling Hand generals.

(Elektra: The Hand#5 (fb)) - Eliza and Yoshioka fought back to back against overwhelming odds. Three Hand generals fell plus many ninjas until Yoshioka received a lethal wound. He asked that Eliza deliver the killing stroke in love. She defiantly called out that Hand had taken everything from her, but that her life was still her own and she chose to end it, impaling herself on her sai. Acknowledging her fearsome fighting abilities, a tattooed sorcerous senior member of the Hand then commanded that Eliza's body be made ready for resurrection so that she could fight further for the Hand. Later, Eliza's corpse was revived on a dais and set for brainwashing to be commanded by the Hand.

Comments: Created by C.B. Cebulski, Christian Gossett, Jonathan Glapion.

The entire story is taught as a history lesson of the Hand by a Hand member to Elektra.

Unfortunately, the five rebels who became the inner circle of the Hand were not named.

Bushido is the ancient code of the samurai warrior that may have origins from the 8th Century and flourished in the 17th Century.

Thanks to comics.org for identifying that the credited author Akira Yoshida was actually C.B.Cebulski.

Apparently Cebulski initially intended Elektra: The Hand to a trilogy of stories, but low sales confined it to only the first arc, so who knows the future of the resurrected Sasaki? It would make a good short tale in a rebooted Marvel Comics Presents, Holiday Special or Fanfare, or a back-up story somewhere.

This profile was completed 09/04/2021, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 20th anniversary's celebratory event.

Profile by Grendel Prime.

CLARIFICATIONS :
Eliza Martinez has no known connections to:

images: (without ads)
Elektra: The Hand#5, p18 (main image)
Elektra: The Hand#3, cover (headshot, child)
Elektra: The Hand#3, p22, pan1 (first black armor)

Appearances:
Elektra: The Hand#3 (December, 2004) - C.B. Cebulski [as Akira Yoshida] (writer), Christian Gossett (pencils), Jonathan Glapion (inks), Mackenzie Cadenhead (editor)
Elektra: The Hand#4 (January, 2005) - C.B. Cebulski [as Akira Yoshida] (writer), Christian Gossett (pencils), Jonathan Glapion (inks), Mackenzie Cadenhead (editor)
Elektra: The Hand#5 (February, 2005) - C.B. Cebulski [as Akira Yoshida] (writer), Christian Gossett (pencils), Jonathan Glapion (inks), Mackenzie Cadenhead (editor)

First posted: 09/29/2021
Last updated: 09/28/2021

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

Non-Marvel Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™  and © 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com.

Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix!

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