Head-Renegades Cobra Commander
Body and hands-Retaliation Storm Shadow
Forearms and lower legs-Retaliation Kamakura
Feet-Renegades Tunnel Rat
Pistol and holster-MU Punisher
Swords-Retaliation Storm Shadow


This is my first non-LBC figure. A few notes before going into his bio. Hitori is Japanese for first to commemorate my first custom. Ikiryo is a Japanese word for ghost, so the name sort of means first ghost. In Japanese there are many terms for ghost, this specific term describes a person capable of releasing ghost energy while still alive. More specifically, their soul can leave their body and appear before the object of their hate or even possess another living person.

Hitori Ikiryo is a Cobra assassin who is used to eliminate members of rival terrorist/crime organizations. He refuses all other work. Cobra Commander tolerates his refusals because he never fails to eliminate those targets he accepts.
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Hitori Ikiryo was born in Yokohama, Japan in 1983. He was the first son of a factory worker who had few friends and was a poor student. He had a younger sister named Aya who adored him and followed him everywhere he went.

His childhood was rather mundane and ordinary until on his 10th birthday, his mother was abducted and murdered by members of the Inagawa-Kai crime syndicate. He and his sister hid inside a secret closet shown to them by their father just the day before. They listened in terror as their mother screamed as she was beaten and abducted. Their father returned home carrying Hitori's birthday gift to find signs of a struggle and blood streaked floors. He found his children hiding just as he had instructed. The children were rushed to a nearby Buddhist Monastery and left with the monks for safe keeping.

Hitori's father never returned. A few weeks later, the bodies of both his parents were found dumped in the harbor. Both had been brutally tortured before having their throats cut. Hitori and Aya were left to be raised among the monks. Seven years passed in which time Hitori took a special interest in deep meditation. The monks instructed him to release his hatred towards those that murdered his family and focus on love and forgiveness, but he could not. He used his hate as strength and in doing so he achieved deep focus and learned to leave his bodily existence and see himself from the outside. On several occasions, the other monks reported seeing a bright light above him while he was in his deepest meditation.

On his 18th birthday, the monks gave him a package prepared for him by his father. Inside he found family photos and a letter. The letter divulged the situation surrounding the death of his parents. Hitori's father had secretly witnessed the murder of one of his coworkers by the Inagawa-Kai. He reported the murder to the police under promise of anonymity, but the crime syndicate had infiltrated the ranks of the police and he was soon targeted to be silenced. The letter instructed Hitori to remain in hiding and protect his sister at all costs as the Inagawa-Kai would not forget about them.

Two more years passed without incident, until one day several men in masks appeared at the Monastery. Hitori and Aya were bound and gagged as the monks were slain mercilessly in front of them. As Hitori struggled to free himself, the men took his bound sister and threw her in the meditation pool. She writhed helplessly in the shallow water, her face just centimeters from the surface. Hitori was horrified as his sister stopped moving. The men immediately walked over to him and drug him across the floor to the fire burning in a pit in the center of the room. They held his face to the flames as he screamed in agony. Just when he thought he could withstand no more pain, he heard 3 quick slashes followed by 3 loud thuds. He was quickly pulled from the fire and turned over. He saw a grey form moving quickly towards him. Cold water was poured over the horribly disfigured left side of his face. As he slipped towards unconsciousness he said, "Who are you?"

A deep voice returned, "I am Firefly."

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