Kimura (comics)

Kimura
Cover art to X-23: Target X #4. Art by Mike Choi.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	New X-Men #31
Created by	Craig Kyle Christopher Yost Paco Medina
In-story information
Species	Human Mutate
Team affiliations	The Facility
Abilities	Invulnerability Density control

Kimura is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics Universe. She first appeared in New X-Men #31 as the handler of X-23. She is X-23's greatest foe to date, someone she was never able to defeat in many ways echoing Wolverine's relationship with Sabretooth.

Fictional character biography

Origin

Kimura was born to an abusive alcoholic father and a negligent mother. Her life at home also mimicked her life at school, where she was also abused and tormented by her peers. Through unspecified means and at some point in time, Kimura's grandmother became her caregiver. At once, her grandmother tried to heal the emotional damage inflicted upon Kimura through nurturing, love, and understanding. However, by that point in time the emotional scars were permanent and her grandmother's attempts to reach her were futile. After her grandmother's fatal heart attack, Kimura took off, eventually coming into contact with the Facility. She then underwent some unspecified procedure that granted her physical invulnerability, density control, and reconstruction. She then exacted revenge against those in her past who had wronged her. During her time at the Facility, Kimura eventually assumed the same abusive role as the people who victimized her in the past, particularly to Laura (X-23).

The Facility

As an agent of the Facility, Kimura became X-23’s handler. She abused X-23, finding any excuse to bully her, regardless of whether X-23 failed or not. After X-23 escaped the Facility, Kimura made it her duty to track down X-23, bring her back to the Facility, and kill anyone X-23 has come in contact with.

She eventually tracks X-23 to San Francisco, where Laura is living with her Aunt Debbie and her cousin Megan. During a raid on Debbie’s house, Kimura breaks X-23’s neck. She then uses adamantium handcuffs to handcuff herself to Laura and drags her downstairs to Debbie and Megan where she threatens and begins to put her finger through Megans heart. Laura recovers from her injuries, cuts off her own hand and handcuffs Kimura to a pipe. Laura tells Megan and Debbie to get her duffel bag and take what they absolutely need and that they have 3 minutes to leave the house. Laura reattaches her hand while Kimura says that everyone she loves will die and that she will be the one who kills them. Laura cuts open a gas pipe and turns on the light, causing an explosion.^[1]

Encounter with the New X-Men

Eventually she tracks X-23 to the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning, Kimura proceeds to lure “her” out in the open so that she can capture her, but it turns out that Kimura is actually after Mercury, whom she easily captures. She and X-23 fight but she injures Laura and gets away with Mercury.^[2]

When she arrives back at the Facility, she watches as they perform experiments on Mercury and eventually unleash their new creation, Predator X upon the mutant Mammomax, much to her pleasure.^[3] X-23 and Hellion set out to rescue Mercury and track Kimura to the Facility and confront her. Hellion manages to subdue her and Laura tells him to kill her but he refuses, using his telekinesis to fire her into the air and miles away.

Kimura eventually makes her way back to the Xavier Institute and makes another attempt to kill X-23. Emma Frost detects her and telepathically subdues her, revealing Kimura's history of child abuse and neglect at the hands of her parents and peers. Emma tells Kimura that she is nothing but a bully who harms others like Laura despite knowing how painful it is to make up for her own abusive childhood. She then mind-wipes her, making her forget about her grandmother—the only influential and positive person in her life—creating "a deep void that will cause [her] pain for a lifetime." Emma then implants telepathic instructions in Kimura’s mind to make her hunt down the leaders of the Facility, particularly Professor Harkins who oversaw the experimentation done on Mercury.^[4] After going through 6 months of getting her brain rewired to stop Emma's psychic command, Kimura begins selling clones of Predator X for the Facility. She later encounters Wolverine and The Punisher during a transaction with Madame Hydra.^[5] The two manage to stop her, though she eventually escapes.^[6]

X-Force

Kimura returns after H.A.M.M.E.R. captures X-23 and bring her back to the Facility. Her brutality only seems to have increased as she cuts off Laura's arm with a small chainsaw for "being a bad girl".^[7] X-23 manages to escape, causing Kimura to become enraged. Kimura threatens to find Laura's Aunt and cousin Megan to kill them for retaliation.^[8]

ANAD Marvel

Kimura is seen in All New Wolverine #6 being responsible for helping the four sisters; clones of X-23 escape Alchemax. She made a deal with Bellona the white haired X-23 to exchange the nanites within Bellona's body killing her, for her help escaping and destroying the genetics division of Alchemax.

Powers and abilities

Being X-23's handler, she has indestructible skin, strong enough to withstand anything from grenade blasts to adamantium blades. She is also highly skilled in armed and unarmed combat. Kimura's superhuman abilities enable her to be X-23's "counter"; the Sabretooth to X-23's Wolverine. These abilities were given to her sometime after joining the Facility, an offshoot of the Weapon X Program.

References

1. X-23: Target X #5
2. New X-Men: Childhood's End vol. 4 #33
3. New X-Men: Childhood's End vol.4 #34
4. New X-Men: Childhood's End vol.4 #36
5. Astonishing Tales Vol. 2 #2
6. Astonishing Tales Vol. 2 #6
7. X-Force #18
8. X-Force #19-20