Akihiro

## Background

### 1953 - 1966: Akihiro

Akihiro is the son of Logan & his Japanese wife, Itsu. While in the last stages of her pregnancy, Itsu was murdered by the Winter Soldier in an attempt to draw Logan out & return him to the custody of Madripoor. Logan believed them both to be dead & left. However, a man named Romulus cut open Itsu' womb & took the baby, leaving Itsu's body behind. Because of his inherited healing factor, the baby hd survived the incident.

Romulus left the baby on the doorstep of Akihira & Natsumi, a wealthy, young & traditional Japanese couple. They took the child's arrival as an answer to their prayers & raised him as their own. Though he was named Akihiro by his father, the servants & other families of his town secretly referred to the boy as Daken (translated to "mongrel"), a slur on his obvious mixed heritage. As Akihiro grew up, he was often teased by the other children of the town. This harsh treatment & his adoptive mother's indifference toward him caused Akihiro to develop a very cold persona to all except his adoptive father.

One night, Natsumi confessed to her husband that she didn't love their Akihiro & that after years of trying to conceive, she was pregnant. Akihiro overheard this & felt his position in the household to be threatened. At the age of nine, his mother gave birth to a baby named Junichiro. Shortly after, Akihiro confronted his mother, telling her that he had killed her son out of jealousy. His father then disowned him but Natsumi attempted to kill him with her rifle. The attack caused his claws to extend reflexively, which then stabbed her in the chest. With his wife & son dead, Akihira still couldn't bring himself to harm Akihiro & instead, he killed himself with the rifle. With his whole family dead around him, Romulus appeared for the first time since infancy & took him in

### 1966 - 2007: Daken

When Daken turned thirteen, he was taken to a boot camp in Canada that was run by Frederick Hudson II. Unknown to both of them, Hudson was the maternal cousin of his father. At the camp, he was trained by Silas Burr for nine months until Daken disappeared one night. Weeks later, Daken reappeared in the camp & killed every man there at the behest of Romulus.

He continued on as Romulus' personal assassin & bodyguard for years. When he was 21, Romulus revealed to Daken that his father was still alive but lied & told him that it was Wolverine who had killed Itsu in an attempt to prevent Daken from being born, because he feared what Daken would become. This lie sowed a seed of vengeance in Daken that Romulus continued to feed in the following decades.

### 2007 - 2008: Daken

In modern times, Daken finally met Wolverine face to face for the first time. Deeming him weak, he slashed him across the stomach, killing him temporarily & leaving him to bleed on the floor, as his mother had been left many years before. Daken then disappeared again, making his way to Berlin, where he was contacted by an anonymous messenger who reminded him of his displeased master's "ultimate goal." Daken dispatched the messenger in anger then continued to monitor his father. When Logan secretly took a hit out on himself, Daken became outraged that somebody else should kill his father before he had the chance. He was lured into the open when Deadpool attempted to kill his father, just as Logan had planned. Daken was then shot in the back of the head by the Winter Soldier, with a bullet made from carbonadium which dramatically decreased the speed of an healing factor, incapacitating him.

Daken regained consciousness in a cave somewhere in Japan that was filled with the disfigured remnants of men. When he awoke, he panicked & killed most of the men. When Logan arrived to find him, Daken attempted to explain that he'd killed them because he felt threatened. Because the head wound caused him to lose some memories, he began asking who he was & what had happened. Logan identified himself only as 'a friend,' promising to take Daken to someone who could help him. As the two travelled back to the states, Logan realized that Daken did not have an ingrained blood thirst & wasn't too far gone like Sabretooth.

While Logan reached out to Charles Xavier to aid in Daken's recovery, Daken was captured & recruited by Sebastian Shaw who offered to help him regained his memories. After they tricked Xavier into triggering the "psychic trap" implanted in Daken's mind, Shaw had one of his lieutenants manipulate Daken by implanting false memories of a shared childhood with her. Due to his mutant abilities, the implanted memories failed to take root & Daken killed her. Xavier then used Logan's memories to show Daken the truth that Romulus was behind Itsu's death & Daken became enraged at. Against Xavier's protests, Logan then decided to take Daken with him to seek out revenge against Romulus. Though the two worked together for some time. Daken eventually crossed Logan & decided to work against Romulus on his own.

A few months later, Norman Osborn put together a new group of "Avengers" & approached Daken to play the part of "Wolverine," which Daken agreed to. At the same time, Daken was going after the Muramasa Blade that Wolverine had left in Cyclops' care. The sword has various mystical properties, including the ability to disable superhuman regenerative powers & cut through even adamantium. Daken intended to have the metal bonded to his bone claws, to make him invincible. Cyclops, seeing Daken as be a liability, planned to kill him with the Muramasa Blade as the public wouldn't be able to differentiate him from Wolverine with Daken wearing his father's costume. Emma Frost, believing that this would drive a wedge between the X-Men & the school, tried to prevent Daken's death by warning both Logan & Norman Osborn. Having had advanced warning, Daken prepared an ambush & managed to fight the X-Men to a draw using stealth & cunning. As he was about to kill Cyclops, Logan intervened & fought him but in the end, the Muramasa Blade was shattered & Daken escaped with a shard of it.

After Daken coated his inner-wrist claws on each hand with the metal of the Muramasa Blade, he rejoined the Dark Avengers. His teammates noted that he demonstrated a tendency to modify his behavior & 'character' depending on whom he was interacting with. But Daken's loyalty to Osborn & true motives remained questionable. This put him at odds with Bullseye, who was the only member of the team to recognize that Daken was intelligent & manipulative. He then secretly assisted the Fantastic Four in breaking into Avengers Tower. Daken was then declared a true hero (despite his many horrific crimes) after saving a baby girl from a burning building by using his own body to shield her. In time, Osborn's intentions became known to the public & the Dark Avengers were arrested, except for Daken, who managed to escape.

### 2008 - 2010: Daken

The following months were a slight blur for Daken. He lured Romulus out of hiding then was stabbed by his father with a replica of the Muramasa Blade to make Romulus believe that Daken had been killed to lure him out of his hiding place. Then he killed Romulus after realizing that he would never be his successor & that Romulus intended for it to be Logan. When Logan arrived, he rendered Daken unconscious by stabbing him through the heart again, then cut the Muramasa claws out of Daken's wrists & buried them, along with the remaining blade. Daken remained hidden following this, suffering from an existential crisis.

For the next few years, Daken remained under the radar until showing up in Madripoor. While trying to take control of the criminal underworld, he was met by X-23, his father's clone & adopted daughter, who was hunting a shadow from her past. The two found themselves in battle, though neither could gain the upper hand due to their shared healing factor. Impressed by Laura's skill, Daken offered her a place at his side but she refused. Unknown to her, Daken was also working with Malcolm Colcord & allowed him to run several experiments in Madripoor in order to imbue him with a power beyond Weapon X. Knowing that Colcord was up to something else, Daken decided to use Laura to know more & let Colcord capture her to use her as test subject. With Laura now inside Colcord's laboratory, Daken freed her & gave her a Weapon X files she was looking for. The duo then tracked Colcord down, cuffed him to an explosive device inside the facility then blew the place up. Colcord died but they survived thanks to their healing factor & decided to part ways after this adventure.

Daken was back on his own again until he broke into the X-Mansion to confront his father. After threatening Logan with his claws, he told him goodbye as he wasn't going to see him for a while since he wanted to live his own life. Daken eventually moved to Los Angeles to build a new life for himself.

## Powers & Abilities

* **Mutant Physiology:** Akihiro is a second generation mutant & possesses powers similar to those of his father, Logan. His accelerated cellular regeneration augments his natural strength, speed, agility, endurance & reflexes.
	+ ***Regenerative Healing*:** He has an accelerated healing factor that allows him to rapidly regenerate any damaged, missing or destroyed bodily tissues, cells, limbs & organs. Daken has healed from injuries within a matter of minutes. However, his mental state can influence the rate personal recovery (i.e. underlying guilt & other self-impeding psychological blocks) thus weakening his ability to regenerate damage.
		- ***Containment Immunity*:** Daken's natural healing also affords him resistance or immunity to conventional drugs & resistance to gas attacks, poisons & nerve-toxins of any kind. He is also immune to all Earthly diseases & infections.
		- ***Telepathic Resistance*:** Daken has demonstrated resistance to telepathy. His mind contains a "trap" awaiting anyone attempting to delve into his head & his mind is also able to recover lost memories or reject false ones.
		- ***Longevity*:** Daken's healing factor grants him an extended lifespan by slowing the effects of the aging process. Though he was born in 1953, he retains the health, appearance & physical vitality of a man in the physical prime of his life.
	+ ***Peak Human Strength*:** Due to his resistance to physical damage & ability to push himself to the limit without risk of permanent injury, his strength is extended to the peak of human potential, which makes him stronger than typical humans.
	+ ***Enhanced Stamina*:** Daken's mutant healing factor grants him high immunity against lactic acid & other fatigue toxins generated by his muscles during physical activity, resulting in exceptional endurance. His lung capacity is at peak human level enabling him to hold breath for six minutes under water. He can exert himself for at least 24 hours before the buildup of fatigue toxins in his blood begins to impair him.
	+ ***Enhanced Agility*:** Daken's agility, balance, flexibility & dexterity are comparable to those of the finest human athlete. They are further enhanced by his resistance to muscle strain or injury & ability to push himself without fear of permanent damage.
	+ ***Superhumanly Senses*:** He possesses superhumanly acute senses that are comparable or superior to those of many animals. Daken's hearing enables him to hear with amazing clarity, across distance & even frequencies outside normal human range. His sense of smell is able to recognize people & objects by scent, even if they are well hidden. He can track a target by scent, even if it has been greatly eroded by time & weather factors, with an extraordinary degree of success. He can also use his keen sense of smell to detect lies due to chemical changes within a person's scent.
	+ ***Insulated Weather Adaptation*:** Body is highly resistant to certain elemental extremes, particularly cold.
	+ ***Retractable Bone Claws*:** Daken possesses three retractable claws housed beneath the skin & muscle of his forearms, two claws which emerge from between the skin of his first & third knuckles & one from his inner wrist. These claws are much harder & denser than normal human bone & their natural shape provides them with a razor sharp edge capable of easily slicing through flesh & bone, and they have been shown to be able to penetrate metals as durable as Iron Man's armor.
	+ ***Pheromone Control*:** Unlike his family, Daken possesses empathic pherokinetic abilities as well as an ability to mask his own scent to such a degree that even Wolverine's senses are unable to track him. He can use his pheromones to manipulate the emotional state & sensory perceptions of other beings. He has been known to use this power to instill intense fear, happiness, depression, fascination & a false sense of security. The latter allows him to seemingly appear out of nowhere at times, enabling him to inflect damage before an opponent realizes he's there. When not deliberately controlled, Daken's pheromones cause those around him to mirror his own moods. During his youth, this caused his adoptive mother to be afraid of the supernatural seeming phenomena. His pheromone abilities are most effective when a target is unaware of its existence or implementation as he cannot assume direct control of a target's actions & reactions.
* **Acrobatics:** Since Daken doesn't have adamantium coating his skeleton, he is much lighter weight than his father & can do more "acrobatics". He has shown a skill in gymnastics, acrobatics & aerials, capable of complex acrobatic maneuvers in rapid succession during the heat of battle.
* **Deception:** Contributed to by his abilities to read & alter emotions, & augmented by his intellect & experience, Daken excels at scheming, planning & coaxing other into doing his dirty work for him. He has shown a particular prodigious skill in the art of the triple-cross, often playing two or more parties against each other to gain trust.
* **Hand to Hand Combat/Martial Arts:** Daken has proven himself to be a master combatant. He has proven this skill by besting both Wolverine & Deadpool before in battle. It is unclear how much of this should be attributed to his unique ability to use his pheromones to alter the perception ^ emotional state of others, however he is undeniably highly proficient.
* **Multilingualism:** Daken has shown the ability to speak multiple languages including English, Japanese, Greek, Italian & German.
* **Tactical Analysis:** He possesses the ability to quickly process multiple information streams (i.e. threat assessment) & rapidly respond to changing tactical situations. He can easily enter & leave high security military installations, as well as manipulate & outmaneuver super geniuses such as Reed Richards with ease.
* **Tracking:** Due to his enhanced sense of smell, Daken is a prodigious tracker & has memorized the scents of many different people & animals, as well as being able to often distinguish the emotional state his target was in when they passed.
* **Weaponry:** He has been trained in the use of a variety of weapons, including bow & arrow or daishō swords.

### Weaknesses

* **Carbonadium:** Daken's healing factor can be dramatically slowed if Carbonadium is implanted inside of him, such as swallowing something made of Carbonadium or being wounded by a bullet composed of it. It causes his healing factor to be reduced to a crawl, but doesn't fully suppress it.
* **Emotional State:** Daken's healing factor is affected by his emotional state, as feelings of depression & guilt cause it to be severely slowed. While this may be common to mutants with healing factors, as his sister Laura's self-mutilation scars were much slower to heal than other wounds, Daken has demonstrated frequent episodes of malaise since his resurrection.
* **Sensory Overload:** One of his weaknesses is the fact that his heightened senses can be taken advantage of.

### Ratings

* **Acumen:** 5 - High/ Exceptional
* **Might:** 6 - Expert / Advanced
* **Quickness:** 5 - High/ Exceptional
* **Mysticism:** 1 - Nonexistent
* **Gadgets:** 5 - High/ Exceptional
* **Projection:** 5 - High/ Exceptional
* **Tactics:** 6 - Expert / Advanced
* **Battle:** 7 - Master / Elite
* **TOTAL:** 180 - Power Level 4 / Moderate Threat

## Trivia

* He has an extensive tattoo wrapping around his torso & left arm.
* His name is pronounced Dä-ken.
* He was once involved with a man named Kim for a long time.
* Akihiro appears to be in his late 20s/early 30s.
* His general view of others is how they can be used to best serve his purposes. However, at time he does demonstrate concern & respect for certain others. One example would be his sister Laura, who is one of the few people he has been shown to demonstrate genuine affection for.
* He once used his pheromones on Bullseye, making him jealous, angry & confused at random in order to exacerbate his paranoia & erratic behavior to discredit him.
* While being part of H.A.M.M.E.R., he was granted Security Clearance Level 5.

## Notes

* The original character of Akihiro belongs to the Marvel Universe.