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Shado is a Japanese archer with strong ties to Green Arrow.

Childhood

Shado was the daughter of a Yakuza agent sent to America - prior to World War II - with a large cache of gold in order to establish Yakuza operations in the United States. Being Japanese, Shado's father was placed in an internment camp when the war broke out. A group of American soldiers came to suspect his Yakuza ties but were unable to torture him into revealing the location of the gold cache. Years after the war, the retired soldiers attempted once again to recover the gold. Shado had been born at this point, so the retired soldiers were able to threaten her as well as her mother. Not wishing to see his family harmed, Shado's father turned over the gold. Shado's mother died from wounds the soldiers had inflicted on her, and her father committed seppuku to atone for his failure to the Yakuza and to his wife and daughter. His disgrace then fell upon his infant daughter, Shado, who was raised specifically to kill the Americans who had dishonored her Yakuza family. To that end, she was extensively trained in martial arts and Kyūdō, the Japanese art of archery.

The Longbow Hunters

 Main article: The Longbow Hunters

When she came of age, she left Japan to go to the U.S. where she sought out and began assassinating the Americans who had disgraced her family. Two of the former soldiers had used the stolen gold to build a shipping business, as well as a drug trafficking operation. The string of murders she committed brought her to the attention of Oliver "Ollie" Queen, the Green Arrow. At first, the two were adversaries. However, Shado (questionably) aided Ollie by murdering the "Seattle Slasher" (a serial killer he had been tracking) and then assisted Oliver in rescuing Black Canary, who had been kidnapped and was being tortured by one of the Americans Shado was hunting. Seeing Black Canary being so brutally tortured, Green Arrow killed the man before Shado could. Shado would again work alongside Green Arrow when the drug-traffickers whom she was hunting made an alliance with CIA Agent Gregory Osborne. Shado would eventually kill all the former soldiers except the one Oliver had killed to save Black Canary.

Here There be Dragons

 Main article: Here There be Dragons

One year after her encounter with Green Arrow, Shado found herself back in Japan, facing the wrath of her Yakuza Oyabun (a Yakuza Godfather). By failing to execute one of her targets (the man Green Arrow had killed), she had failed her mission. Her Oyabun decided that, in accordance with Yakuza tradition, she should sever her thumb in atonement. Her Kyūdō sensei, however, refused to allow his greatest student to destroy her skills, and drew a bow and arrow on the Oyabun. Once Shado escaped, the sensei allowed himself to be killed by the Oyabun.[1] Shado, hearing of the murder, returned and killed the Oyabun in turn, then fled to Hawaii. Green Arrow was then blackmailed by Gregory Osborne (who claimed that Shado had a treasure map) into tracking her down. No sooner did he find her, however, than she shot him in the chest with an arrow.[2] (Later she would claim to have mistaken him for an attacker.) Shado helped nurse Oliver back to health from his injury. It was later revealed that during this time, while he was still delirious from pain and medications, Shado raped him and conceived a son.[3]

Once Green Arrow recovered from his injuries he aided Shado in defending herself from the Yakuza hunting her. However, the two were unable to prevent the death of her friend, Emilio Alvaro. After a bloody battle against a Yakuza death-squad, Green Arrow and Shado discovered that the Yakuza had been following them using a tracking device in Oliver's quiver. Realizing that he had been used, Oliver arranged to meet Agent Osborne, telling him and two Japanese "agents" accompanying him that Shado had died. It was then revealed that Mr. Alvaro was the true "map" - he was the last survivor of a team of Filipinos that had buried their country's treasury to keep it from the Japanese, only telling Shado the location. It was then revealed that Osborne was working without the CIA's knowledge, with agents of a deposed Filipino dictator, and had recruited Yakuza muscle by promising a share of the gold . . . and Shado's death. With Shado's help, Green Arrow was able to bring Osborne to justice and lead the FBI to his Yakuza allies. Shado and Green Arrow then parted ways once again.[4]

Shado next met Green Arrow several years later, with a child, Robert. She explained to Oliver that the child was his, and how the child had been conceived, but forbade him from taking a role in his son's life.


Abilities


Related

Footnotes


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Green Arrow Villain(s)
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This character is or was primarily an enemy of Green Arrow, or his supporting cast including Black Canary and Team Arrow. This template will categorize articles that include it into the category "Green Arrow Villains."

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