Early life in Japan Yuriko Oyama was born in
Osaka, Japan. Her father was
Lord Dark Wind (Kenji Oyama), a Japanese crime lord and criminal scientist who created the process by which
adamantium can be bonded to bone. Kenji was a former Japanese
kamikaze pilot during
World War II. His face was horribly scarred in a failed suicide attack on an American battleship. Feeling ashamed by his failure decades earlier, he scarred the faces of Yuriko, her brother
Kazuo, and her unnamed brother in a ritual design. Her two brothers later died while in their father's service. Yuriko teamed up with
Daredevil to free her lover Kira from her father's servitude and to take vengeance on her father for her scarring and the death of her two brothers. She guided Daredevil to Lord Dark Wind's private island in search of
Bullseye. When Yuriko killed Lord Dark Wind, the devoted Kira chose
suicide to honor his master.
Wolverine, X-Men, and Alpha Flight Distraught, Yuriko belatedly embraced her father's ideals and sought to track down whoever dishonored him and restore Japan's honor. She adopted a costumed identity as a samurai warrior. She attempted to find Bullseye with an adamantium tracking device, intending to get revenge on him for betraying her father and retrieve the adamantium in his bones for study. Instead, the device led to
Wolverine whose skeleton had also been bonded with adamantium. Deathstrike sought to kill him to right the wrong of the theft of her father's theories and to restore her family's honor; however, she and her followers were defeated by Wolverine and
Vindicator of
Alpha Flight. The four go on to join the
Reavers, a team of cyborgs led by
Donald Pierce. Lady Deathstrike encounters Wolverine shortly after
Magneto removed the adamantium from his skeleton. As Logan no longer possesses the adamantium stolen from her father, Deathstrike concludes that there is no honor to be gained by killing him and leaves the premises peacefully.
Civil War Following her confrontation with
Rogue and
Sunfire, Lady Deathstrike resurfaces as a member of the
Thunderbolts and is assigned to pursue the
Secret Avengers, who resisted the
Superhuman Registration Act. She participates in the final battle of the Civil War in
Times Square,
New York City, before being sent to
Negative Zone Prison Alpha.
Messiah Complex Lady Deathstrike returns during the
Messiah Complex storyline, where she battles
X-23. Having allied with the
Purifiers to destroy mutant-kind, Lady Deathstrike leads the new Reavers team against the
New X-Men, gravely wounding
Hellion in the process. She appears again in pursuit of
Cable and
Hope Summers, and is nearly killed by X-23.
Sisterhood of Mutants Lady Deathstrike is apparently saved from death due to the actions of
Spiral, as she is later seen under repair in Spiral's Body Shoppe when
Madelyne Pryor approaches Spiral with an invitation of membership in her
Sisterhood of Mutants. Despite not originally being approached to join the Sisterhood, Lady Deathstrike accepts Pryor's offer nonetheless.
Ends of the Earth During the
Ends of the Earth storyline, Lady Deathstrike is seen in one of
Doctor Octopus's facilities in Australia. When
Kangaroo enters the facility, Lady Deathstrike ambushes and apparently kills him with a claw swipe.
Rejoining the Reavers Lady Deathstrike's consciousness is uploaded in the body of Colombian teenager Ana Cortes, establishing a symbiotic relationship with Ana's consciousness. Deathstrike attacks
Karima Shapandar to retrieve the Omega Sentinel technology, but is shot by Shapandar and retreats. Deathstrike and
Typhoid Mary argue with
Sublime about his sister Arkea and learn that there is more than one living piece of Arkea, as the one they had was dead and not viable. Mary knocks Sublime unconscious and escapes with Deathstrike. Deathstrike and Mary makes their way to Norway, where they find a powerless
Amora. Amora brings Deathstrike and Mary to where the Arkea meteorite is located when Mary wants to renegotiate the terms of her hire and want to become partners. Deathstrike says it was not just a partnership, but the formation of a new
Sisterhood of Mutants. With the live Arkea taking possession of Ana's friend Reiko, she empowers Deathstrike, Mary, and Amora. Deathstrike and her Sisterhood manage to escape the X-Men and
Monet, with Arkea activating several
Sentinels under the ocean. The mental conflict between Ana and Yuriko makes Lady Deathstrike increasingly unstable. Ana tells the X-Men the Sisterhood's location after becoming increasingly concerned about Arkea's bold moves such as having Amora resurrect
Selene. Ana tries to get Typhoid Mary to kill her, but Mary refuses. After Arkea asks Ana to participate in the procedure to resurrect Madelyne Pryor, Ana kills herself to prevent Arkea from using her further. The Reavers later arrive in Killhorn Falls with Lady Deathstrike and attempt to hunt down Logan for good. As the Reavers attack Killhorn Falls,
Old Man Logan single-handedly kills all the Reaver soldiers and confronts Lady Deathstrike before saving Maureen. After being wounded multiple times, Logan manages to defeat Lady Deathstrike, as she started limping away when Logan blacked out. Thinking that he failed to protect Maureen from the chaos, Logan decided to set off to find Lady Deathstrike. While in hiding during the "Weapons of Mutant Destruction" storyline, Lady Deathstrike is discovered and captured by the new Weapon X. While held in their captivity, she is experimented on. This experiment led to her nanotechnology being used in the creation of
Weapon H. During the "
Hunt for Wolverine" storyline, Lady Deathstrike is seen at Chester's Bar, where she tells Daken and Sabretooth about what the Reavers discovered when they went after Wolverine and that he has recently been sighted alive. The three of them go on the trail of Wolverine, eventually arriving in Maybelle, Arizona. There, there are attacked by zombified versions of Lord Dark Wind and
Graydon Creed, with Dark Wind cutting off Lady Deathstrike's left hand. Lady Deathstrike is later attacked by an Adamantine-possessed
Cyber and possessed by the Adamantine. Then she assists Cyber in having the Adamantine possess
Constrictor. Lady Deathstrike wanted to join the elite assassin group Atilier, which Lord Deathstrike was a part of. She is partnered up with
Deadpool and sent to target Doctor Octopus. Because of the failure of her mission, Lady Deathstrike is rejected from Atilier and seeks revenge on Deadpool. She later finds him in battle against Doctor Octopus and Harrower. Lady Deathstrike tries to attack Deadpool only to be impaled on one of the spikes she tried to use on him. Valentine Vuong uses a formula to heal Lady Deathstrike as she is then instructed to help Deadpool. She reluctantly complies, as the formula contained a heavy dose of poison and she would receive the antidote if she did what Atilier demanded. ==Personality and themes==