Creation
Kage-Maru was created by Yu Suzuki for the Sega video game series Virtua Fighter that debuted in 1993. He has appeared in every title and has made appearances in other games such as Giant Gram and Project X Zone 2. He has been voiced by Takenobu Mitsuyoshi throughout the entire series.
History
Virtua Fighter
“åç¡ ã¼ Namu!”
Born in the village of Hagakure, Kage-Maru is the name given to members of the Hagakure clan who work in secret in the shadows of society. His birthright was to become the tenth-generation Kage-Maru. His father, the ninth-generation Kage-Maru, taught him the fearsome Hagakure-ryū Jū-Jutsu fighting technique.
One day, his mother, the eighth-generation Tsukikage, was kidnapped by a mysterious figure. Nothing was heard of her fate. Several years later, the village of Hagakure was attacked by an unknown force. Kage-Maru and his father were out fishing, but quickly returned when they saw the blazing village.
They were too late, however, and the village was destroyed. Kage-Maru’s father was felled by a bullet from the mystery group. The next morning, Kage-Maru salvaged a keepsake from his father, donned his costume, and embarked on a journey to prepare himself to take vengeance on those who spilled his father’s blood.
Virtua Fighter 2
“ä½ã ã£ã¦ï¼å±ç¤ºä¼ï¼â What was that? An exhibition?”
Kage, whose specialty is Jujitsu, has a vendetta against the Syndicate that killed his father. Not only did they kill his father, they also took his mother away from him and made her as one of their fighters. He made an impressive showing as a fighter during the first tournament but was not able to find much information on Judgement 6, although he did receive word that his mother is still alive, he hopes to learn more the second time around.
Virtua Fighter 3
Finally, in the 2nd tournament, Kage succeeded in saving his mother (who had been transformed into Dural). For many months, Kage and his mother lived a peaceful life in a small, hidden village. When about a year had passed, though, Kage’s mother was suddenly struck by a mysterious illness. Kage’s investigation into her ailment revealed that it was an after-effect of her transformation into Dural, and now he is entering the new tournament to find out what connection this has to the new-model Dural.
Virtua Fighter 4
“天ä¸ç¡å â I am unequaled!”
Kage took part in the Third Tournament in order to defeat Dural and obtain new parts which he assumed would help him save his mother, Tsuki-Kage. Sadly, the parts seemed to have no positive effect. Tsuki-Kage’s condition worsened and she turned into Dural completely. After recovering from the attacks he suffered from Dural, Kage resolved to infiltrate the Organization and retrieve his mother.
It was inside the Organization that Kage discovered a new more-complete Dural was poised to compete in the Fourth Tournament to receive a final adjustment. Kage also learned that this new Dural contained the secret to saving his mother. “I cannot let her suffer anymore,” he thought, and with that, he pledged to enter the Fourth World Fighting Tournament and save his mother’s life.
Virtua Fighter 5
“å æå¿å ±ãªãï¼åç¡ã¼ãRetribution is mine! Namu⦔
Kage-Maru entered the 4th World Fighting Tournament to save his mother Tsuki-Kage, who had been abducted by J6 and assimilated into the Dural Project. He battled his way to the final match of the tournament to face Shun Di, but as Kage was about to deliver the final blow to Shun, the glowing, silver form of Dural interrupted the match.
Unable to reach through to his mother, Kage-Maru decided to put an end to her suffering and single-handed destroyed the cyborg. Unable to find a trace of Tsuki-Kage upon close inspection of the body, he surmised that the Dural he destroyed was not his mother, but only a generic production model.
Following an independent investigation, Kage-Maru had reason to believe that Tsuki-Kage was still being held captive by the shadowy organization. After receiving an invitation he decided to enter the 5th World Fighting Tournament not only to put an end to J6’s ambitions for good, but to attempt to save his mother again.
Characteristics
- Name: Kage-Maru
- Sex: Male
- Hobby: Mah-Jang
- Fighting Style: Hagakure-ryū Jū-Jutsu
- Date of Birth: June 6, 1971
- Blood Type: B
- Height: 178 cm
- Weight: 66 kg
- Job: Ninja
- Nationality: Japanese
Personality
Although Kage normally conceals his emotions behind a face of stone, he is a warm-hearted person who tears up when he thinks about his mother. Kage has a Grass Flute that he uses to play a lullaby from his childhood in the Hagakure Village.
Fighting Style
Kage-Maru’s main fighting style is Hagakure-ryū Jū-Jutsu, which is a fictional style of combat used by the Hagakure Clan, which is transmitted through generation to generation, based on the real-life martial art Jūjutsu.
“Jū” can be translated to mean “gentle, soft, supple, flexible, pliable, or yielding.” “Jutsu” can be translated to mean “art” or “technique” and represents manipulating the opponent’s force against himself rather than confronting it with one’s own force.
Jūjutsu developed to combat the samurai of feudal Japan as a method for defeating an armed and armored opponent in which one uses no weapon, or only a short weapon. There are many variations of the art, which leads to a diversity of approaches. Jūjutsu schools (ryū) may utilize all forms of grappling techniques to some degree (i.e. throwing, trapping, joint locks, holds, gouging, biting, disengagements, striking, and kicking. In addition to jūjutsu, many schools teach the use of weapons.
Today, jūjutsu is practiced in both traditional and modern sport forms. Derived sport forms include the Olympic sport and martial art of judo, which was developed by Kanō Jigorō in the late 19th century from several traditional styles of jūjutsu, and Brazilian jiu-jitsu, which was derived from earlier (preâWorld War II) versions of Kodokan judo.
Hagakure-no-Sato
There is a place in Japan called the “Hagakure-no-Sato”. It is home to those who disappear (Hagakure), spies, or in other words, ninjas. There is also an ancient martial art called “Tegoi”, which is the origin of Sumo Wrestling and is the ultimate art of killing. But this art form called “Tegoi” disappeared from history after a certain time.
It was forbidden for the rulers of the time feared its astonishing capability of murdering. This martial art, “Tegoi”, and “Hagakure” joined forces at one time and became “Hagakure-ryu Ju-jitsu”.
Skills and Abilities
Martial Arts Master: Kage-Maru is the most decorated competitor having won the 3rd and 4th tournament and has defeated several combatants such as Akira Yuki (twice), Lau Chan, Lion Rafale, Shun Di, and Dural (twice).
Agility and Speed: While training, Kage is seen cutting through a tall thick tree at least 3 times with just a Katana. He is capable of jumping across tall trees, moving at such speed, he appears to be in three or four places at once while throwing Shurikens and is seen leaping across a skyscraper. In Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown, after winning a match, Kage will sometimes leap straight up into the air with such force that he files off the screen. In another, within the distance of a caged arena, he’ll throw a big throwing star, run so fast that he’ll be able to get ahead of it and catches it without even looking.
Durability and Strength: Kage is able to perfectly balance himself on a single bamboo staff over water and meditate. He can headbutt his opponents by diving into them while suffering no injury to himself, can throw an opponent several feet into the air such as Jeffry McWild (111kg) and, to some extent, lift Taka-Arashi (198kg) effortlessly (however, every character in Virtua Fighter can do this).
Weapons: While Kage does not use weapons during the tournaments, he has been seen using a Katana, a double Kusarigama and Shurikens. While investigating J6, a Russian Mil Mi-24 helicopter was sent after him, but Kage was able to destroy it with just one Shuriken.
Other Media
Video Games
- Virtua Fighter Arcade
- Virtua Fighter
- Virtua Fighter Remix
- Virtua Fighter 32X
- Virtua Fighter 2
- Virtua Fighter Kids
- Virtua Fighter Animation
- Fighters Megamix
- Virtua Fighter 3
- Virtua Fighter 4
- Virtua Fighter 4 Evolution
- Virtua Fighter 10th Anniversary
- Virtua Fighter 4 Final Tuned
- Virtua Quest
- Sega Genesis Collection
- Virtua Fighter 5
- Virtua Fighter 5 R
- Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown
- Giant Gram
- Virtua Fighter: Fever Combo
- Project X Zone 2
- SEGA Heroes
- Virtua Fighter 5 Ultimate Showdownâ
Comic Book
Virtua Fighter (Marvel)
Kage, while at first in disguise in a trench coat and hat, approaches Jacky Bryant who tells him what happen to his sister Sarah. After Kage revels who he is and why he’s there, he offers his help to find Sarah and disappears. These events however were not mention or implied to have happen in the video game series, making the comic non-canon.
Television
Animated
Virtua Fighter Anime (1996 series)
Kage is first portrayed as a mercenary who kidnaps Sarah under the orders of Eva Durix and initially clashes with Akira. While Kage is with Sarah they begin to have feelings for each other. In the middle of the series, Kage decides to assist Akira, Pai and their allies after he had a case of guilty conscience over what he had done that resulted in the creation of Dural.
He had also left his Hagakure clan village to hunt down Oni-Maru after most of his people had been massacred by him, who had wanted to kill Kage in order to gain the position as the head of the Hagakure clan. Kage was voiced by Kiyoyuki Yanada in the Japanese version and by Geoff Whitesell in the English version.