Isako

Isako was the leader of the Katakuri Clan that operated out of Inotakimura, . She and her clan serve as killers for the Director and H.A.R.M., primarily out of duty than a sense of allegiance. The Director had stated to dinner guests that he must manipulate Isako much like a little dog (much to the anger of some of the clan members). Much to her happiness, she has been freed by the operative.
She was voiced by , who also voiced Cate Archer, as well as Cortana in , and Zoey in .
==Biography==
===Background===
After her parents had been murdered, Isako was found alone, wandering on the streets of , Japan, by an old woman. The woman's fragile health prevented her from caring for Isako, but she convinced her daughter, then the leader of Sakuragaoka ninja clan, to take her in and train her. When Isako turned 14, she was sent on her first assignment to kill a greedy merchant who had been stealing girls from their families to use them as prostitutes for his gambling dens. Unfortunately, she was captured before she could kill him, having been betrayed by the very man who had commissioned the assassination. He tricked the clan so he could apprehend her. But before he could have her put to death, his European friend (The Director of H.A.R.M.) intervened, asking to spare her so he might use her as his assassin. Since then, Isako had to repay her life debt to him.
===NOLF 2===
Isako's first seen in the beginning of the game, practicing sword fighting. The Director of H.A.R.M. calls her and orders to kill Cate Archer who is sent there to investigate an international crime convention. If she succeeds, The Director may reconsider her life debt to him. After Archer photographs the meeting in Fujioka estate, Isako notices her and raises an alarm. When Cate goes back to the car, Isako kills her colleague Yamata-San with a shuriken. After a talk with the enemy she stabs her with katana and leaves dying. But UNITY Intercept Team arrives on time and saves Archer. Back in the secret lair, Dmitrij Volkov asks if Cate Archer is dead. While The Director praises Isako, she feels uncertain and looks at Volkov with a cold anger. Isako asks The Director if she's free now, but, to her sadness, he tells her that her fate is with H.A.R.M.
After Cate Archer successfully infiltrates a Soviet secret base in and finds information on Project Omega, H.A.R.M. learns of her survival. Volkov is angry, torturing his mooks with Man-Handler, and The Director scolds Isako. The ninja tells him that the spy isn't her enemy, but The Director forces her to ambush Cate again. While Archer is exploring Melvin Blitzny (also known as the false "Tom Goodman") in , the ninjas come after her. Meanwhile, a tornado starts outside. Cate handles the ninjas, so Isako comes herself. After getting some injuries, she runs to a nearby house, forcing Archer to go for her. The house gets sucked up by the tornado. Here these two fight. Cate wins but Isako jumps and flies with her umbrella, leaving her in the house. Both somehow survive.
She is seen once again after Cate Archer gets apprehended by H.A.R.M. and sent to the lair. The Director wants to kill the superspy using Man-Handler. Isako is tasked with it but refuses, telling him to do it himself. After having fought her way out there, Cate finds herself in Fujioka estate and reads in a letter that The Director is disappointed by Isako and wants to get rid of her. Again, Isako and her ninjas ambush Cate. Cate wins the fight, leaving Isako lying on the ground. Suddenly, The Director appears with a pistol and calls the ninja a disappointment. But when he's about to shoot her, the spy throws a shuriken, knocking the gun right out of his hands. The villain disappears with a smoke bomb. After a brief talk Isako gets up and thanks Cate. Finally, she could smile, feeling the joys of freedom. As she is now in a life debt to her, Cate just tells Isako to stop trying to kill her. She symbolically breaks her katana in half. While Cate is leaving, Isako disappears with a smoke bomb.
==Personality==
Her temperament is melancholic or phlegmatic. A silent, imperturbable young woman with an inscrutable face, but her eyes speak louder than any words about what she really thinks about her boss. At first, Isako may seem to be a cold and blindly obedient assassin just trying to kill Cate Archer. But in the correspondence between her and one Hideko Sato the ninja's tragic backstory is revealed to Cate. Isako is very honourable, polite (even when talking to enemies) and determined. Unfortunately, this was also the reason why she continued repaying her debt. She wanted to fight the spy herself, viewing her as a worthy opponent and knowing that H.A.R.M. would kill her dishonorably. Although she almost killed Cate twice, Isako never made sure she's dead. It looks like Isako doesn't even want to kill her. When freed, she's much happier to serve her than The Director, though the spy wants the ninja to be free.
==Trivia==
*"Isako" translates from the Japanese language to "sand child".
*Production art of Isako holding an umbrella can be seen in the NOLF 2 end credits.
*She is a protagonist of the unreleased The Man From UNITY and the released Return of H.A.R.M. mods for NOLF 2.
*Though her exact birth date is unknown, it can be speculated that she was born no later than August or September, 1944. The Director bought Fujioka estate no later than 1958 and Isako was indebted to him when she was 14 years old.
*She takes roles of a female enemy (like Inge Wagner and Baroness Felicity Dumas) and an anti-villain, who doesn't want to kill Cate (like Magnus Armstrong), from the plot of previous game. 
*Her background is similar to those of Cate Archer and The Baroness. They all orphaned, learned skills, and eventually joined a secret organisation. However, Isako is an anti-villain and not an aristocrat. Also, Cate is unambiguously a hero, while The Baroness is a villain.
==Licensing==
This article contains content derived from the "Isako" article on the NOLF Wiki, licensed under CC-BY-SA.
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