Matsu'o Tsurayaba
Matsu'o Tsurayaba is a male comic supervillain who features in Marvel Comics.
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Biography
Matsu'o Tsurayaba
He received a call to the facility on an island in the South China Sea where operatives had recovered the Mutant Psylocke where he decided to use her for his schemes. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #255)
After learning of the location for Omega Red, Tsurayaba sent his forces to the remote volcanic isle located in the South Pacific. They entered the facility where they woke Omega Red from his containment cell where he killed the Hand agents at the scene. He had freed Arkady from his long imprisonment with the intention of recruiting him to get revenge on Wolverine. (X-Men v2 #4)
Matsu'o trained the amnesic Psylocke in the ways of the assassin. She excelled at her instruction and soon became one of the Mandarin's finest assassins. The time came for her to emerge from her training and take on a real threat. After defeating many of the Hong Kong crime lords in the name of the Mandarin, Matsu'o sent her after the notorious Patch, aka Wolverine, who had just arrived on the island. Psylocke easily defeated Wolverine and he was captured by Matsu'o and the Hand. Psylocke tried using her powers to brainwash Wolverine, but instead she ended up realizing who she truly was once she touched his mind. After a fight with the Mandarin, Psylocke returned to the X-Men and Matsu’o lost his lover once again. (Uncanny X-men v1 #258)
Kwannon soon contracted the Legacy Virus, a disease that targeted mutants and caused their powers to flare up until they eventually died. As her telepathic powers grew, she was able to cut through her clouded mind and finally realized who she was and who Psylocke was. She traveled to Japan one final time to meet with her old lover, Matsu'o. Upon realizing she knew everything, Matsu'o relented and admitted his part in her fate. With her powers flaring up uncontrollably, she realized she was in the final moments of life. She affectionately called him 'Matta' and then asked him to redeem himself by killing her before the virus took her. He stabbed her with a blade and, in doing so, she let out one final telepathic burst. On the other side of the world, Psylocke felt Kwannon die and so travelled to Japan to confront Nyorin. When she got to Nyorin's estate, she found him dead by the hands of Matsu'o. Matsu'o revealed what had happened to both of them and his hand in it. When Kwannon died, she left a portion of her powers within him so that he could bring peace to Psylocke. He kissed her and returned Psylocke's memories and the telepathic potential that Kwannon possessed. In return, he took Kwannon's memories away from her, finally giving her a clear mind. Afterwards, he snatched Psylocke's katana off her and was ready to kill himself, but she managed to convince him to honor his lover by living instead of dying. (X-Men v2 #32)
Matsu'o's resolve to become a better person would not last, however. His enmity with Wolverine led him to initiate an attack on his lover, Mariko Yashida. In particular, Matsu'o collaborated with another of Logan's love interests, Silver Fox, the leader of HYDRA. After distracting Wolverine they sent an assassin to poison Mariko. The assassination was a success, but Matsu'o underestimated Wolverine's true berserker rage. In a mad fit of revenge, Logan entered Tsurayaba's penthouse, and sliced off his arm. Logan then promised him that every year on Mariko's death, he would carve a little more off the Hand boss. Matsu'o is now missing his arm, right ear, nose, and gall bladder. (Wolverine v2 #57)
Matsu'o still had an organization to run and, when he saw the chance to gain a foothold in Madripoor, he took it. Wolverine, Madripoor's protector, had recently been brutally injured by Sabretooth, so Matsu'o decided to join forces with the organization Hydra to remove the weakened Wolverine once and for all. However, he changed his plans and decided to capture Wolverine, along with Sabretooth and Shadowcat. His new plan was to corrupt the trio instead. This would prove a grave error, though, as they eventually broke free and defeated Matsu'o and put a stop to any hope of him taking over Madripoor. (Wolverine v2 #128)
The time came again for Wolverine's annual visit. Matsu’o was now fully aware of the fury Wolverine possessed and, even though he surrounded himself with bodyguards and an arsenal of technology, he still lost his nose that year. Matsu'o spent a large part of his fortune to protect himself. He replaced his missing arm with a cybernetic one and trained in numerous martial arts. He bought armored suits and state of the art weapons, but Wolverine still returned a year later to take his gall bladder. Matsu'o soon resigned himself to his fate. He was never going to beat Wolverine and he was now living in fear of what body part he would lose next. On the next anniversary, he made his last will and testament and awaited Wolverine's arrival. However this was the year he got a reprieve, as Wolverine had been incapacitated by Sabretooth and failed to show. (Wolverine v1 #175)
Two years ago, a General in Thailand displeased the Hand with Matsu'o deciding to make an example of him. He recruited the superhuman Jinn as his agent and had him kill the General. (Psylocke v1 #3)
Years later, he sought out the services of Jinn once again who refused as he had found love with a woman and turned his back on his assassin life as he wanted to start a new one with her along with their child. (Psylocke v1 #3) Tsurayaba responded by having his Hand assassins kill Fahd Alireza's pregnant wife who was murdered with their child leading to the Jinn seeking out revenge against Matsu'o where he intended to kill him. (Psylocke v1 #2) Psylocke's original body had recently been resurrected for a brief period and so she had taken it to Japan to be reburied. However, during the ceremony, Matsu'o had his Hand ninjas blow up the body, enraging Psylocke enough to want Matsu'o dead. Contrarily, Wolverine didn't want Matsu'o dead and ordered his friend Yukio to watch him just in case. Sure enough, Psylocke came for Matsu'o and clashed with Yukio. (Psylocke v1 #3) After beating her, as well another assassin Matsu'o had tricked into coming for him, Psylocke was about to kill him. At this moment, Wolverine arrived and the two fought for the fate of Matsu'o. Not wanting to kill a friend, Wolverine relented and allowed Psylocke to do what she must. On top of the cliff where Kwannon first fell, Psylocke met with Matsu'o and he apologized for everything he put her through. She entered his mind and made it so his last moments could be spent with Kwannon. She then plunged her psychic dagger into his mind and his lifeless body fell from the cliff into the ocean below. (Psylocke v1 #4)
Overview
Personality and attributes
In appearance, Matsu'o Tsurayaba as an adult Japanese male with long black hair. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #255)
Powers and abilities
In addition to English, Matsu'o speaks Chinese. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #256)
Matsu'o Tsurayaba was trained in various martial arts disciplines. He once wore a prosthetic right hand with retractable finger blades.
Matsu'o Tsurayaba's strength has been augmented with cybernetic implants. On occasion, he has worn an armored battlesuit of unrevealed capabilities.
He held the rank of jonin within the hierarchy of the Hand. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #255)
Notes
- Matsu'o Tsurayaba was created by Chris Claremont and Marc Silvestri where he made his first appearance in Uncanny X-Men v1 #255 (December, 1989).
Alternate Versions
- In X-Men Forever 2 v1 #9 (2010), an alternate version of Matsu'o Tsurayaba appeared in the X-Men Forever reality that was designated as Earth-161 in the Multiverse. Matsu'o Tsurayaba is the leader of the Hand. He forged an alliance with Clan Yashida during a meeting with Kenuichio Harada. However, they were interrupted when a clone of Wolverine attacked them. Before he could finish everyone off, the clone left the fight to target Kitty Pryde, who was eavesdropping on their conversation. Matsu'o and Kenuichio traveled to the Embassy of Wakanda and proposed an alliance with Perfect Storm, who initially turned his offer down. To Matsu'o's surprise, Mariko showed up and offered Perfect Storm a younger version of Storm.
In other media
Video games
- In X-Men vs. Street Fighter, Matsu'o Tsurayaba was referenced in the setting of the crossover video game in Cammy's ending. After Cammy defeated Apocalypse, she lost her memory and was approached by Matsu'o Tsurayaba, the leader of The Hand, who asked her to join his ninja clan. Psylocke showed up to defeat them all.
Appearances
- Uncanny X-Men v1: (1989)
- X-Men v2:
- Psylocke v1:
External Links
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