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Kana was a Japanese ninja who defected to the Office of Strategic Services during World War II.

Raised in Kyoto, Japan, the boy named Kana was sent to the House of Bamboo to learn the centuries-old skills of the ninja. Twelve years later, having completed his training, Kana returned home to see his parents hanged by order of the Japanese Major Saburu for being friendly to Westerners just as Japan had declared war on the Allies States and entered World War II. Kana vowed to avenge his parents' deaths by using his ninja skills to fight the current expansionist Japanese government on behalf of its Western adversaries.[1]

Kana fled Japan and made his way to London, where he contacted the head of the Office of Strategic Services, Control. Control sent Kana on a mission during which Kana killed Major Saburu. After that, Kana undertook many missions for Control.

Powers

  • Time Travel: By putting himself into a trance-like meditation, he can project his spirit into the past or future, where it assumes physical form.

Abilities

  • Stamina: While his stamina is not superhuman itself, Kana can race without fatigue for an hour [2] and has mastered breath control for long periods.[3]
  • Stealth: Kana mastered the ninja art of moving both rapidly and wholly silently. Hence he can seem to appear from nowhere to confront an opponent, and then disappear into the shadows just as suddenly.[1]
  • Martial Arts: He is a master of traditional Japanese martial arts, and nearly unbeatable in hand-to-hand combat.[1]
  • Swordsmanship
  • Throwing
  • Meditation: Kana can go for five days without food or water by putting himself through meditation into a trance resembling suspended animation.[1]
  • Swimming [2]
  • Diving [3]


  • Although this character was originally introduced during DC's Earth-One era of publication, their existence following the events of the 1985–86 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths remains intact. However, some elements of the character's Pre-Crisis history may have been altered or removed for Post-Crisis New Earth continuity, and should be considered apocryphal.
  • Kana is Buddhist.[3]

Related

Footnotes


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