Hoshi, also known as Tekkohito, is a Kryptonian hero of feudal Japan.
History
Kal-El was rocketed to Earth by his father, Jor-El, landing in feudal Japan. A fisherman named Toshiro found him and from the recordings in Kal's rocketship, learned of Krypton's history. Toshiro raised the boy, whom he named "Hoshi" after the stars from which he had come, to adulthood, and imparted upon him the Buddhist and Shintoist values he thought he should know.
However, Toshiro hid from him his origins, for the being who had destroyed Krypton, Zunou, had also arrived on Earth and become a tyrant to the people of Japan, known as the Shogun of Steel. Toshiro feared that if he knew this, Hoshi would want to avenge his true father's honor, and possibly perish in the attempt. Sometime before he passed away, however, Toshiro told his son the truth.
It was not long before Hoshi's prodigious powers became known to others, Whispers of a being of magic came to the ears of a certain group of freedom fighters who became interested in recruiting Hoshi for their cause. They addressed Hoshi as he exited a bar and urged him to fight for the people of Japan, but he refused them and flew away. Conversing with Toshiro's spirit, Hoshi lamented that he felt isolated, knowing that there was no other like him in the world. In response, Toshiro quoted at him "the heart of the person before you is a mirror. See there your own form". Hoshi replied that he was trying to.
The talk with his adopted father may have urged Hoshi into action, for he was next seen defending an innocent village from the Shogun's men, putting out their burning houses with his icy breath. Here, he again met the rebel group which had tried to recruit him before, and this time, he followed them into their hideout. After a brief conversation, the archer known as "Dokuya" introduced him to their membership - a black-clad kunoichi known as Komori, the fleet-footed Inazuma, Taka the hawk-whisperer, and the rotund but well-meaning Rikichi. Hoshi joined their group and together, they steadily undermined the Shogun of Steel's hold over the island nation, with Hoshi earning the name "Tekkohito" - Man of Steel.
Nonetheless, the six would-be liberators were unable to penetrate the Shogun's Fortress of Solitude, though they had attempted it ten times. Dokuya began to lose hope that it was possible at all, and Komori believed that Hoshi's refusal to take a life meant that even if they succeeded, the Shogun's samurai warriors would slaughter them as they entered. After a minor argument between Komori and Hoshi (which made the former leave in a huff), Inazuma entered bearing a solution to the dilemma: a severed head from one of the enemy samurai, showing that they were in fact automated and not human.
Taka suggested that magnets could be used as weapons against the mechanical samurai, and Inazuma left to find as many as he could bring back. Shortly afterward, the Shogun's right-hand man, Usotsu, entered the rebel's hideout and offered a map to his master's stronghold, though he knew he would be killed for this betrayal. The time was right to strike once again.
In the evening before the attack, Tekkohito had a heart-to-heart with Komori, and told her his origins and his connection to the Shogun of Steel. The Shogun, too, was a machine, created by his father Jor-El. Having rebelled against its creator and its world, it escaped to earth and took the name Zunou, a translation of its kryptonian name, Brainiac. Hoshi then admitted to Komori that the reason he chose to get involved despite his father's wishes was because of her.
Journeying to Brainiac's fortress, Hoshi saw through its walls Usotsu's execution at the Shogun's hands, slain with a sword he had just forged for him out of an ore from the stars. The Shogun declared that he had foreseen Usotsu's betrayal and allowed him to lead the rebels here, and easily murdered Inazuma and Taka. The alien warlord then took control of Komori's body and tried to make her kill herself with her own sword, as he had done to her father, paralyzing the rest of the rebels so that they could not interfere.
But he was apparently unable to do the same to Tekkohito, who hit him with a punch so strong, it made Brainiac fly through multiple buildings. Amid the rubble, Man and Shogun of Steel bowed to one another and declared a duel to the death. However, Brainiac had the upper hand, for his sword had been created with a shard of their shared homeworld, and it sapped Hoshi's kryptonian might away from him.
Just as the destroyer of worlds was about to deliver the killing blow, Dokuya and Komori broke free of his control, the latter saving Hoshi from death at the cost of her own life and the former striking the Shogun with an arrow that broke into the vulnerable part of his helmet. With the Shogun spasming uncontrollably from the arrow's damage to his mechanical brain, Rikichi managed to get the green-hued blade away from him, and Tekkohito recovered enough strength to burn the tyrant's armor away as they flew out into the cosmos, and finally hurled him into the sun, with Brainiac screaming desperately as he was consumed by the blaze.
With the Shogun of Steel thus eliminated, the freedom fighters buried their friends who fell in battle. Hearing Rikichi and Dokuya's expressed concerned that Japan might simply revert to its old feuds and squabbles for territory, Tekkohito vowed to make sure that their country is reborn as a unified people. The Shogun's jade blade, meanwhile, was locked inside a Buddhist monastery, as a reminder that even the mightiest of men are vulnerable. It is unknown what became of Tekkohito and his comrades after this.
Powers and Abilities
Powers
- Kryptonian Physiology: Under the effects of a "yellow" sun, The average Kryptonian possesses the potential for the following power set:
- Solar Energy Absorption: Under optimal conditions, this is the main source of their super powers as they are contingent upon exposure to solar radiation from a yellow sun star system. Their biological make up includes a number of organs which lack analogues in humans and whose functions are unknown. It is believed that between one or more of these and their bio-cellular matrix, "yellow" solar energy is stored for later use. This allows for the use of these powers to fade when yellow solar radiation is not available instead of immediate failure.
- Heat Vision: Kryptonians can, as a conscious act, fire beams of intense heat at a target by looking at it. Typically, the power is seen as two beams of red light emanating from the eyes. These beams can be made invisible, allowing the power to be undetectable. The maximum temperature of their heat vision is said to be around that of a nuclear detonation. They can also consciously determine the area affected, down to the microscopic level.
- Super-Hearing: Kryptonian hearing is sensitive enough to hear any sound at any volume or pitch. With skill, practice, and concentration, they can block out ambient sounds to focus on a specific source or frequency. As such, they can identify a person by their heartbeat, or pick out a single voice in an entire city.
- Enhanced Vision: Kryptonian vision processes the entire electromagnetic spectrum as well as allowing vast control over selective perception and focus.
This umbrella ability includes the following:- Electromagnetic Spectrum Vision: Kryptonians can see well into most of the electromagnetic spectrum. They can see and identify radio and television signals as well as all other broadcast or transmitted frequencies. Using this ability, they can avoid detection by radar or satellite monitoring methods. This also allows them to see the aura generated by living thing.
- Telescopic Vision: This is the ability to see something at a great distance, without violating the laws of physics. Though limited, the exact extent of the ability is undetermined. In function, it is similar to the zoom lens on a camera.
- X-Ray Vision: This is the ability to see through any volume of matter except lead. Kryptonians can see things behind a solid, opaque object as if it were not there. They can focus this ability to "peel back" layers of an object, allowing hidden image or inner workings to be observed. The exact type of energy perceived—such as x-rays, cosmic rays, or some other energy invisible to normal humans—is unclear. This ability perceives an ambient energy source though, it does not involve the eye projecting a concentrated, possibly toxic, beam to be reflected back from objects.
- Microscopic Vision: This is the ability to see extremely small objects and images down to the atomic level.
- Infrared Vision: Kryptonians can see with better acuity in darkness, and to a degree in total darkness.
- Flight: Kryptonians are able to manipulate graviton particles, in an unknown and apparently unconscious manner, to defy the forces of gravity. Under one Earth gravity, they are capable of speeds of multi-Mach speeds in Earth's atmosphere. Their control of their flight is very precise and they can perform aerobatic feats such as hovering, flying backwards and even lifting great weights while flying.
- Invulnerability: The bodies of Kryptonians are nigh-invulnerable to extreme energy forces. In addition, their immune systems protects them from toxins and diseases. The most common explanations for this rely on the presences of a super-dense molecular structure, a supercharged bio-electric aura which acts as an invisible force field, or a combination of the two. A byproduct of the aura is that items close to the skin share their invulnerability. Using clothing as an example, loose fitting fabric would tend to shred or burn in adverse conditions, but skin tight outfits would not.
- Superhuman Stamina: Kryptonians have the ability to maintain continuous strenuous physical action for an indefinite period of time. In theory they have unlimited stamina as their enhanced nourishment is produced from the yellow solar energy their cells process, which also provides the majority of the power for their superhuman abilities. However, their base physical structures do need to process food stuffs, and they have a psychological need to eat and drink just as Earth humans do. They also require sleep on occasion so that they can dream. They can also hold their breath for an indefinite period of time.
- Superhuman Strength: A Kryptonian develops enhanced physical strength after absorbing a sufficient amount of yellow solar radiation. This radiation interacts with the greater than human density, resilience and biological efficiency of their musculature to trigger superhuman levels. While the exact magnitude of their strength is unknown, it is generally accepted that it is sufficient to lift 100,000 tons or more. The specific range is unknown as their strength, like their other powers, may fluctuate over time. Their strength is also more an act of conscious will on energy fields than actual physical strength. It is this act of conscious will that enables them to perform physical feats that are beyond the mere application force, such as moving a mountain top without said rock crumbling under its own mass. At full power, their normal strength levels are well into the multi-megaton range.
- Superhuman Speed: Kryptonians are able to move at incredible speeds by sheer force of will. They can match most other speedsters in super-fast movements, reactions, and processes. They can use this power to disarm opponents without heightened reflexes, catch bullets or shrapnel or cross vast distances in seconds.
This also confers: - Super-Breath: Kryptonians are able to create hurricane force winds by exhaling air from their lungs. They can chill the air as it leaves their lungs to freeze targets in a variation sometimes called "freeze" or "arctic breath". They can also reverse the process and pull large volumes of air or vapor into their lungs.
- Longevity: Kryptonians can live longer than regular humans, remaining at their prime as long as they was under the exposure of the "yellow" sun.
- Vulnerability to Kryptonite
- Vulnerability to Magic
Abilities
Recommended Reading
Related
- 1 Appearances of Kal-El (Shogun of Steel)
- 1 Images featuring Kal-El (Shogun of Steel)
- Quotations by or about Kal-El (Shogun of Steel)
- Character Gallery: Kal-El (Shogun of Steel)
Footnotes
  This character has been a member of the Justice League of America, or the Justice League in any of its various incarnations, sworn by a duty to act as guardians of America and the world by using their skills and/or superpowers to protect Earth from the clutches of both interstellar and domestic threats. |
 Superman Family member |