Yuriko Watanabe

**Yuriko** "**Yuri**" **Watanabe** (ユリコ・”ユリ”・ワタナベ, *Yuriko "Yuri" Watanabe*), also better known as "**Wraith**" (レイス, *Reisu*), is fictional character and one of the deuteragonists of the *Marvel* series. She was a police captain for the New York Police Department who serves as a source of intel for Spider-Man, assisting him in his crime fighting. In *The City That Never Sleeps*, Yuri becomes rogue vigilante and severs contact with Spider-Man.

"*The [justice] system works most of the time. But there are times when it doesn't, and to me, that's unacceptable. Some people put their trust in fate, or karma, or whatever. But I can only trust me.*"

—Yuri Watanabe.

## Appearance & Biography

*Voice Actor*: Tara Platt (English), Ayumi Tsunematsu (Japanese), Not Known (Arabic), Not Known (Brazilian), Not Known (Chinese), Not Known (Dutch), Not Known (Finnish), Not Known (French), Not Known (German), Not Known (Italian), Not Known (Hebrew), Not Known (Hungarian), Not Known (Finnish), Not Known (Korean), Not Known (Norwegian), Not Known (Poland), Not Known (Polish), Not Known (Portuguese), Not Known (Romanian), Not Known (Russian), Not Known (Serbian), Not Known (Spanish), Not Known (Swedish), Not Known (Thai), Not Known (Brazilian Portuguese), Not Known (Canadian French), Not Known (European Spanish), Not Known (European Portuguese), Not Known (Latin American Spanish), Not Known (Latin Spanish), Not Known (Spain-Spanish)

### Appearance

#### As Yuri Watanabe

Yuri is a slender Japanese-American woman, with chin-length black hair and an athletic build. She is often seen wearing a black leather jacket over a red and black flannel shirt.

#### As Wraith

* Hair Color: Black
* Skin Color: Not Known
* Eye Color: Black
* Age: 38
* Birthday: Not Known
* Height: 5'7"
* Weight: 135 lbs. (61 kg)

## Personality

Yuri is a tough, no-nonsense individual with a strong justice and moral code and low sense of humor. Yuri is also a very harsh person, having little sense of humor and being frequently annoyed with Spider-Man's "Spider-Cop" jokes, often backing out of her conversations with him whenever he brings it up. However, she eventually accepts it and uses it in an attempt to cheer him up, only to quickly regret it when he goes further with the joke. Despite that, she seems to regard her relationship with Spider-Man as little more than partners, but though she shows more than once that she does care for his well-being, such as taking him to the hospital when he is injured.

During the Maggia gang war instigated by Hammerhead, Yuri is pushed to her limits by the infamous gangster. After Hammerhead attacks the NYPD precinct, Yuri loses control, giving into a rage-fueled brutality and throwing aside her partnership with Spider-Man, while also turned into a ruthless vigilante upon her suspension from being a police officer. As the story progresses, Mary Jane Watson discovers not only has Yuri been disciplined several times for police misconduct, her father was a corrupt police officer who was convicted of taking bribes from Hammerhead and the Maggia.

This makes her sometimes act with irresponsibility as a cop, going far enough to face entire gangs alone and even to kill who she thinks that deserves without any hard feelings. This is exemplified when she executes Hammerhead at point-blank with a bullet in the head.

## Relationships

### Friends/Allies

* Jefferson Davis (deceased)
* May Parker (deceased)
* Sable International
	+ Silver Sable

### Family

* unnamed paternal grandparent
* unnamed mother
* John Watanabe (father, deceased)

### Neutral

* Spider-Man
* Avengers
	+ Iron Man
	+ Giant-Man
* Splinter Hamato
	+ Leonardo
	+ Raphael
	+ Donatello
	+ Michelangelo
* April O'Neil
* Casey Jones
* Deadpool
* Black Cat

### Enemies

* HYDRA
* A.I.M.
* Ultron
* Doctor Doom
* Green Goblin
* The Maggia
	+ Tombstone
	+ Hammerhead
* Sinister Six
	+ Doctor Octopus
	+ Mister Negative
	+ Electro
	+ Rhino
	+ Vulture
	+ Scorpion
* Kingpin
* Sandman
* Shocker
* Kraven the Hunter
* Mysterio
* Inner Demons
* Foot Clan
	+ Shredder
	+ Baxter Stockman

## Powers and Abilities

### Abilities

* **Police Training:** Yuri is a police captain.
* **Master Combatant:** Yuri is shown to be able to handle firearms, such as pistols, and is also described by Peter as a extremely good fighter with skilled hand-to-hand combatant, being able to take out quickly a room full of henchmen alone.
* **Firearm Proficiency:** Yuri is shown to be able to handle firearms, such as pistols.
* **Helicopter Pilot:** Yuri is shown to be able to pilot helicopters.

### Equipment

* **Police equipment**: Yuri has access to law enforcement equipment such as firearms and helicopters.

## History

### Past

Yuri was born in Astoria, New York City. Coming from a family of police officers, Yuri always believed on justice, aspiring to be an officer just like her grandfather and her father John Watanabe afterwards. When she was young, her father, a second generation cop, was convicted to be accepting bribes from the Maggia, but was killed before he could be arrested. Her father's fall from grace made Yuri swear with the goal of taking down the Maggia once and for all, also pushed her to joining the police force.

Yuri started out as a detective in the Chinatown branch of the NYPD, but changed precincts several times during her time in the police force. On her early years as officer, Yuri begun to hunt down and disrupt many of the Maggia's operations by herself, being quickly promoted to captain for her deeds. Over the course of over a decade, Yuri brought down countless Maggia fronts, earning her the ire of Hammerhead and eventually earning her the rank of captain. As of 2018 it's said that Yuri was the responsible to end most of the Maggia's business on the last decade. This attracted the attention of the infamous Maggia leader Hammerhead, who became obssessed on finding Watanabe.

When Spider-Man became notorious vigilante on the city, Yuri was one of the few authorities to really trust him, giving him her contact and often providing him with intel on crime in the city. Over time, she formed an alliance with this masked vigilante. They have been working together ever since, with Spider-Man helping Yuri on many cases.

## External links

* Wraith *Wikipedia*
* Wraith *Marvel Database*
* Yuri Watanabe *Marvel's Spider-Man Wiki*

## Notes & Trivia

* Wraith first appeared in *Amazing Spider-Man* #600 (September 2009).
* The story regarding Yuri's father is a direct parallel to Yuri's original comic book origin as well and is in stark contrast to her grandfather, Kenneth, who was also a police officer, but received the NYPD Medal of Honor for his services. It was he who inspired Yuri to pursue a career in law enforcement.
* Based on the beginning of Keeping the Peace, Yuri has recently quit smoking, and has possibly begun using nicotine gum.
* Yuri was infected by Devil's Breath. She reveals this when she calls Spider-Man following the mission The Heart of the Matter, after Silver Sable calls Spider-Man about leaving New York. Yuri explains that she was infected and she is with her mother and is without hope of survival. They say goodbye to each other during the call. However, Yuri survives the epidemic due to the antiserum being replicated, at the cost of May Parker's life.