RED RONINRED RONIN
Real Name: UJ1-DX
Identity/Class: Human cyborg
Occupation: Adventurer
Group Membership: Formerly the Loners (Darkhawk/Chris Powell, Lightspeed/Julie Power, Ricochet/Johnny Gallo, Turbo/Mickey Musashi; the group has apparently broken up)
Affiliations: Hollow (formerly Penance; the former containment vessel for Monet St. Croix and her siblings);
unrevealed association with Fuyumi Fujikawa, Stark-Fujikawa, and possibly US government agents
Enemies: Nekra Sinclair, Phil Urich
Known Relatives: Possible mother
Aliases: Namie
Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
formerly an unidentified Fujikawa laboratory around Los Angeles, California
First Appearance: (BTS) Loners#2 (July, 2007);
(full; as Namie) Loners#5 (October, 2007);
(identified as Red Ronin) Loners#6 (January, 2008)
Powers/Abilities: Namie possesses an unspecified number of cyborg implants designed to mimic the abilities of the giant Red Ronin robot.
She can extend roughly 12" long by 1-2" wide energy blades from each wrist that can slice through metal armor and penetrate the superhumanly durable flesh of a being such as Nekra. She can extend and retract these blades at will, and they originate from bracelet-like housings on her wrists.
Namie is skilled in hand-to-hand combat, presumably programmed with some form of martial arts knowledge. She is swift, strong, and agile, with quick reflexes (these abilities are presumably superhuman on an unspecified level; her blows could stun someone wearing Darkhawk armor.
Height: Unrevealed (perhaps 5'8")
Weight: Unrevealed (Julie Power noted that she was heavier than
she looked, so if she looks like she weighs perhaps 125 lbs., she's
significantly heavier than that; however, she is not so heavy that
Julie Power couldn't fly with her; maybe she's 160-200 lbs.)
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Black with red highlights on the front (presumably partially dyed red)
History:
(Loners#6
(fb) - BTS) - After the US government decommissioned the immense Red
Ronin robot created at Stark Industries based on designs by Dr. Yuriko
Takiguchi and Tamara Hashioka, they redesigned the robot as a
cyborg.
Namie became model UJ1-DX
(Loners#5 (fb) - BTS) - Namie speculated that parts of her memory had been wiped clean.
(Loners#2 - BTS) - Investigating a Fujikawa laboratory, Ricochet saw Namie in one of the stasis tubes before being confronted by Delilah and then Hollow (the latter of whom had also been contained within one of the tubes).
(Loners#2-3 (fb) - BTS) - Though within a tube, Namie observed Ricochet, as well. After Hollow stabbed the arriving Julie Power, Namie watched as Ricochet left with her.
(Loners#3 (fb) - BTS) - Feeling she had no other choice (presumably to avoid investigation), Fuyumi released all of her other "donors" from her lab.
(Loners#5 (fb) - BTS) - Namie was presumably among those released.
(Loners#6 (fb) - BTS) - Namie had limited memories of a smiling woman (see comments), who told her 'We'll meet again soon enough...'" and then "the lights went out."
(Loners#6 (fb) - BTS / Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z#14: Loners) - Phil Urich apparently brokered a deal with Fuyumi Fujikawa to return Hollow to her in exchange for releasing Red Ronin/Namie.
(Loners#6 (fb) - BTS) - Fuyumi Fujikawa shared with Phil Urich that Namie was a cyborg patterned after Red Ronin, and she told him that she would allow the Loners to retain custody of the Red Ronin.
(Loners#5 (fb) - BTS) - Namie walked in to a church basement to find Nekra battering the Loners. As Nekra held up and threatened the powerless Mickey Musashi (Turbo), Namie appreciated that they were in trouble, and an energy blade emerged from her left wrist.
(Loners#5) - Namie stabbed Nekra through the back and out her chest, incapacitating her. Mickey thanked her and asked her name, but Namie did not know; when Darkhawk warned her away from Mickey, Mickey assured him that she was one of the good guys.
Ricochet then recognized Namie as having been in one of the tubes as
the the Fujikawa laboratory he had investigated. Recognizing him from
that time, Namie noted that she could not remember what happened
thereafter, but she reasoned that she must have escaped shortly
thereafter. Mickey asked her if she escaped or was released, but Namie
could not remember.
Upon further questioning from Mickey, Namie he noted she didn't know how she found them or whether she had any others powers; she didn't even know she had the blade until it emerged from her wrist. Tearing up as she could only remember her name, "Namie," she asked the Loners to help her.
As the others heard approaching sirens, the unregistered Julie Power flew Namie away, noting she was a lot heavier than she looked.
(Loners#5 (fb) - BTS) - Not trusting Namie and wishing to stay in a public place, as well as being very hungry, Julie took Namie to an In-and-Out Burger. While Julie ordered a burger, Namie declined ordering anything.
(Loners#5) - As Julie ate a burger, Namie asked if there was no place more private they could have gone, and Julie explained her reasons. Noting that she was still trying to be nice, Julie asked Namie if she was sure she didn't want anything and asked when was the last time she had eaten. When Namie noted that she didn't remember ever eating, Julie asked her what she did remember, and she replied, "A woman's smile. Maybe my mother's. Her voice said 'We'll meet again soon enough.'"
Namie continued that the next thing she remembered was being in the church basement with the Loners. Julie agreed with Mattie Franklin (aka Spider-Woman)'s earlier comment that her arrival was pretty convenient, but she also suggested that Namie not focus too hard on firing up her blade, as having been stabbed by one Fujikawa escapee in a lifetime was enough for her.
When Namie became distraught and wondered what had
been done to her and how anyone could live like that, Julie comforted
her, telling her they would meet up some more friends, and everything
would work out.
(Loners#6)
- As Julie flew Namie back into the area, they encountered Phil Urich,
who had used Darkhawk's gem to become another Darkhawk-type and who
punched the two women away, causing them crash into the pool. When
Julie and Namie entered the house, they found Mickey and Hollow,
the
latter of whom rushed to hug Namie. 
After Mattie (Spider-Girl) and Ricochet (Johnny Gallo) arrived, Namie joined them, Hollow, Lightspeed, and Turbo in confronting the two battling Darkhawks.
Namie leapt down atop Darkhawk/Phil and then delivered a pair of kicks to his head before unleashing energy blades from each hand and slashing off chunks of his armor. She subsequently stabbed her energy blade into his Darkhawk amulet and tore it from his chest, reverting him back to normal.
Before departing, Phil revealed Namie's origin as a cyborg created patterned on the giant Red Ronin robot and Ms. Fujikawa's agreement to let the Loners retain custody of her. Namie appeared to be shocked by this information, and she dropped to her knees.
A week later, at Johnny Gallo's apartment, Namie met with Chris, Johnny, Julie, and Mickey discussed their current states of confusion. Namie remained silent.
Comments: Created by C.B. Cebulski, Karl Moline, and Mark Pennington.
It makes sense that if Stark International held the designs to Red Ronin that they could have easily fallen into Fujikawa's hands when Stark Enterprises merged with Fujikawa Industries following the apparent death of Iron Man (Tony Stark) against Onslaught. I don't think was spelled out completely, but you can connect the dots.
In re-reviewing these issues for another profile, it occurred to me that the smiling woman who Namie thought could have been her mother and who told her 'We'll meet again soon enough,'" was LIKELY Fuyumi Fujikawa. It's the last thing Namie remembered before arriving in the church, so presumably it was the person who released her. Further, Namie may have thought this was her mother because they were both Asian (Namie seems to be Japanese, but that's not confirmed), and Fuyumi is older than her.
I'd like to see Rob Takiguchi or Tamara Hashioka seek out and bond with Red Ronin/Namie.
This profile was completed 6/20/2021, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 20th anniversary 's celebratory event.
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Namie/Red Ronin should be distinguished from:
Loners#2, pg. 18, panel 1 (tank)
#5, pg. 7 (mostly full, with one blade extended);
pg. 8, panel 1 (upper profile, retracting blade);
#6, pg. 11, panel 6 (jumping on Dh-Phil);
pg. 12, panel 5 (kicking Dh-Phil);
panel 7 (slashing Dh-Phil);
pg. 13, panel 3 (mostly full);
pg. 19, panel 1 (face)
Appearances:
Loners#2-3
(July-August, 2007) - C.B. Cebulski (writer), Karl Moline (artist),
Mark Pennington (ink assists), Molly Lazer (assistant editor), Bill
Rosemann (editor)
Loners#5 (October, 2007) - C.B. Cebulski (writer), Karl Moline (artist), Mark Pennington (ink assists), Molly Lazer (editor)
Loners#6 (January, 2008) - C.B. Cebulski (writer), Karl Moline (artist), Mark Pennington (ink assists), Molly Lazer (editor)
First posted: 09/17/2021
Last updated: 01/23/2022
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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