O-Sensei

O-SENSEI

Real Name: Unrevealed

Class: Human

Occupation: Sensei, former soldier

Group Affiliation: None

Known Relatives: unnamed wife, unnamed father-in-law, unnamed grandnephew

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Manchuria, China, formerly Japan

First Appearance: Richard Dragon, Kung-Fu Fighter #1 (April-May, 1975)

Powers: O-Sensei was one of the world's leading martial artists.

History: (Question Annual #1 (fb)) - In Japanese military officer led his troops on an attack in Manchuria, and although he promised fair combat his men slaughtered a number of defenseless monks. He vowed to remain in China until he atoned. Five years later, in the year 1900 his wife came pleading for him to return home, but the man said he could not. His wife's family told him he brought dishonor on them, and he countered that Japan had brought dishonor on its' entire nation through the combat tactics it used in China. The family attacked him, having orders from his father-in-law to kill him if he did not return home, and he killed them all except for one, who he told to escort his wife home and inform his father-in-law that he had no desire to kill more of the family, but would if they interfered in his vow. Before she left he promised his wife that their bones would be buried together. The man spent decades with the monks, researching ancient texts and mastering the martial arts until he became the O-Sensei. His wife's family sent hundreds against him, and he killed them all, much to his regret. In 1967 the family uprooted from Japan, and disappeared.

(Question Annual #1) - The O-Sensei prepared to die, and Lady Shiva promised to help him reunite with his wife in death. She assembled his other pupils Batman and Green Arrow to aid them, and the Question as well for Sensei's own reasons. Batman used his contact to track down Sensei's wife's family, who'd fled to Malaya, off the coast of Java. Question was feeling completely useless, and asked Batman to stay behind, so he could provide the muscle. Batman agreed, and said that if he had something to prove he'd better do it. On the flight to Java Shiva asked Sensei if he had a parable to change Question's life in the way he'd done for GA and Batman, but he remained silent, and Question assumed he wasn't worth the effort. Shiva made it clear that O-Sensei didn't need help to complete his quest, but had chosen not to do it himself for greater reasons. On the trip by boat to Malaya storms swelled, the boat sank, and Question was unable to save Sensei from drowning. On Malaya they found the family gone, and the crypt missing the remains of Sensei's wife. Question returned home, feeling like a failure, but Shiva learned that Sensei's wife's remains fell overboard when the families crypt was transported to Malaya, so he did indeed rest with his wife. Question remembered that before he drowned O-Sensei said that there were no failures, and if he continued to live he would change.

Comments: Created by Dennis O'Neil, Jim Berry & Leopoldo Duranoma.