Akihiko

The second new character introduced in Avengers: Endgame is a minor antagonist in the film as he is in the comics. When we catch up with Ronin in his murderous spree, we find him in Tokyo chasing some Yakuza, criminals he punishes for being alive after the Decimation: the leader of the group he’s after is Akihiko, portrayed by Hiroyuki Sanada. As proficient a swordsman Akihiko is, he’s not match for Ronin, and he’s swiftly killed. In the comics, he never crosses his blade with this particular vigilante, but he clashes with equally fearful ones. Let’s take a look.

Almost nothing is known about Akihiko, not even his full name. He was born somewhere in Japan, and he was dragged into the world of organized criminality since his youth. He was most likely gifted in some scientific field, as even in Yakuza he was selected to be part of the Shogun Reapers, a scientific division that dealt with futuristic technology. He was immediately noticed by the branch’s leader, Daniel Kiku, better known as Danny Fear, and became one of his top executives. Apparently he obtained a lot of credit and esteem on his superior’s side, as he was selected as one of the few officers headed to the Moon, for a daring and ambitious mission: the Shogun Reapers built a secret base on the satellite, and in there they developed a high-tech ray cannon that could control Earth‘s plate tectonics, causing earthquakes and tsunamis. The main goal was to use the ray to blackmail the entire planet, using its very existence as a hostage for ransom, and Akihiko was one of the men who would have made it possible, securing the base against all kinds of human or superhuman interference, thanks to the highly advanced weapons he had at disposal. This until some interference finally showed up.

The base was secret for everyone but for S.H.I.E.L.D., world’s main counter-espionage agency, and one of their most formidable new agents, Nick Fury Jr., was tasked with destroying the ray and the base with it. As soon as the agent’s presence was revealed, Danny Fear sent his foot soldiers to him, but it was a trap, and Fury killed them all in an ambush. Finally, heavy artillery was used, and Fear faced the intruder along with Akihiko and another unnamed executive, the three of them wearing Shogun Mechas, the most advanced battle suits at their disposal. This would have been a one-sided battle, if it wasn’t for Fury’s gadgets: using his Prototype Eyepatch, Fury hacked Hakihiko’s armor, and forced him to fight his peers, slashing through their suits and killing his allies. Eventually, as the agent used the commotion to escape and pursue his main objective, Akihiko was forced to shoot at a window, so that the vacuum of space sucked the three Mechas out of the base, leaving them to a freezing and silent death. Apparently, Akihiko could be counted among the casualties, but not much time after Danny Fear was retrieved, still alive thanks to his armor’s life supporting system: there’s a chance also Akihiko survived the experience, ready to resume his battle against S.H.I.E.L.D. and its agents…

Akihiko is a loyal Yakuza officer, who values honor above everything and is ready to execute any order coming from his superior, Danny Fear. As a member of the Shogun Reapers, he’s possibly a scientist of some kind, but he’s most of all a superb warrior, skilled in armed and unarmed combat; he fights using a Shogun Mecha, a suit of armor that increases his strength and durability, and he wields an energized naginata, that can cut through pretty much anything. In a world as traditional as Yakuza’s, Akihiko represents the new leaf, a leap towards the future that doesn’t forget the roots, a perfect union of tradition and technology… and a perfect killing machine, of course.