Mariko Yashida
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Mariko Yashida is a character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Chris Claremont and John Byrne, the character first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #118 (February, 1979).
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Character biography
Mariko is the daughter of Shingen Yashida, the half-sister of the Silver Samurai, and cousin of Sunfire and Sunpyre. Upon her father's death, she becomes head of his Yakuza crime family.
She meets the X-Men when they return from a sojourn in the Savage Land and are asked to help Japan, which is being blackmailed by the terrorist Moses Magnum. She becomes close to Wolverine and eventually his fiancée, but their wedding is halted by the supervillain Mastermind, who uses a mind control device to change Mariko's mind. When the control is lifted, Wolverine and Mariko resume their relationship after a period of separation, but have not reconsidered marriage.
When the X-Men return from the first Secret Wars and accidentally end up in Japan and fighting a dragon their companion Lockheed had brought along, a young girl named Amiko Kobayashi loses her mother when a collapsing building crushes her. Dying, the woman begs Wolverine to take care of her daughter. Since Wolverine could not take care of her himself, he chose to place Amiko in Mariko's care, whom the girl soon adopts as a surrogate mother.
Mariko is poisoned with tetrodotoxin from a blowfish by an assassin named Reiko, in the hire of her rival Matsu'o Tsurayaba.*Wolverine vol. 2 #57 (July, 1992)* She asks Wolverine to kill her to avoid a painful death and preserve her honor. Wolverine kills her and vows to avenge Mariko.
Other versions
Age of Apocalypse
In the "Age of Apocalypse" timeline, Mariko was a member of the Human High Council, a group of humans that opposed Apocalypse's tyrannical rule. While not engaged to Logan, Mariko was his former lover and she birthed him a daughter, Kirika, who is an amalgam of X-23 and her 616 daughter Amiko Kobayashi. Mariko participates in an attempt to bomb forces of Apocalypse based in North America, though she knows this would mean extensive civilian deaths.
Exiles
In an alternate universe (Earth-2109), Mariko was Sunfire and became a member of the Exiles from issue #2 (September, 2001) until her death in issue #37 (January, 2004) In the 2109 alternate universe, Mariko had the same powers as her 616 Marvel Universe counterpart Sunfire and his sister Sunpyre. This version was created by Judd Winick and Mike McKone. A Japanese citizen and a member of the X-Men in her reality.
Powers and abilities
Sunfire had the ability to absorb sunlight, and convert it into superheated plasma which burst into flame on contact with the air. She could use her plasma to fire beams of scorching heat or powerful bursts of solar fire. She could fly by surrounding herself with a corona of fire, and then pushing the flames downward in a tight jet of superheated gas, shooting her through the air like a missile. Sunfire could see heat, by shifting her range of vision from normal light to infrared light. Sunfire was immune to extreme heat and radiation.
Other media
Television
- Mariko appears in the Wolverine and the X-Men episode "Code of Conduct". She's depicted as Logan's former love and the wife of the Silver Samurai. A flashback showed how she fell in love with Wolverine, but the Yakuza had him duel Silver Samurai over her. When Silver Samurai abducted the X-Men years later, Wolverine arrived at her house looking for her husband. She was present at the recent duel with Silver Samurai and Wolverine. After Silver Samurai acted dishonorably by using his mutant powers when it wasn't allowed, the Yakuza Leader anulled the duel and had his men take Silver Samurai away. When the Yakuza Leader agreed to release the captive X-Men, she told Wolverine that Silver Samurai will be driven from the Yakuza in shame and that they will not admit him again. When Wolverine asks her why she chose Silver Samurai, she said that she swore an oath of loyalty to him or else the Yakuza would've killed both of them. Mariko and Wolverine then went their separate ways.