Ogun

Little is known of the past of the sorcerer known only as Ogun, although some rumors claim he was alive as far back as the early part of the 17th Century where he encountered legendary swordsman Miyamoto Musashi. By the late 1910s, Ogun was a Japanese Army Captain stationed in Shanghai, China where he met the mutant adventurer Logan, later known as Wolverine. When Logan intervened in a clash between Ogun’s soldiers and the local citizenry, Ogun, perhaps mystically sensing Logan’s full potential, offered to instruct him in the martial arts at the Ogun Ryu Dojo in Kanazawa, Japan. Logan initially declined the offer and continued his travels, but a few years later, seeking skills to help his then-mentor Seraph against the ninja clan the Hand, he changed his mind and went to Japan to study as Ogun’s pupil.

Some weeks after taking Logan as a student, Ogun was confronted by the Japanese crimelord Ugama Hana over an ancient wrong that Ogun had committed which Hana demanded satisfaction for. In the ensuing clash, Hana impaled Ogun with his honor sword, however Ogun did not die. Mocking Hana’s efforts, Ogun casually removed the sword from himself and decapitated Hana with it. Logan would subsequently see Ogun cheat death many times, but little else is known about their time together. Ogun taught Logan much about honor, discipline, and other such ideals, but Logan ultimately chose not to complete his studies and instead sought out new adventures before eventually rejoining Seraph on the island nation of Madripoor. Over the next few decades, Wolverine was active as a soldier, a mercenary, and a government operative, having many adventures across the globe, but it is unclear how much contact he maintained with Ogun during this period.

Under circumstances that have yet to be revealed, Ogun, formerly a moral and honorable man, was corrupted by the ninjitsu magic he practiced and became an assassin. Having been assigned to lead the Canadian super-team Alpha Flight, Wolverine sought Ogun’s counsel and was shocked at his former master’s transformation. Wolverine barely escaped being enslaved to Ogun’s will, and he vowed never to return to Japan, a promise he kept until eventually returning years later as a member of the mutant super-team the X-Men.

In recent times, Ogun became an ally of the Japanese crimelord Shigematsu whose dealings with American businessman Carmen Pryde attracted the interest of Pryde’s mutant daughter Kitty, a teammate of Wolverine’s in the X-Men, who followed her father to Japan. Eventually captured, Ogun requested that Kitty be given over to him as payment for his services. Shigematsu complied, and after mystically hypnotizing her Ogun trained Kitty in the martial arts, intending to psionically enslave her to his will. Ogun then dispatched her to kill his former student Wolverine, however her attempt to do so shocked her free of Ogun’s control and she joined Wolverine in opposing their former mentor. Ogun was ultimately slain by Wolverine who then destroyed Ogun’s demon mask in an effort to ensure he did not return.

However, Ogun’s supernatural powers were such that he remained in the material world as a spirit, bound to the demon mask that was unable to be destroyed by mortal hands. A few years later he began haunting Wolverine, fighting both his former student and the supernatural spirit of vengeance known as the Ghost Rider until he was banished once more when Wolverine sliced his mask in two. Ogun later returned to taunt Wolverine once more, this time seemingly resurrecting Wolverine’s lost love Mariko Yashida who was then laid to rest once more by the mystic sensei named Stick.

Ogun then took to possessing various people in his pursuit of his former pupil, including Wolverine’s X-Men teammate Jean Grey. Her mind ultimately proved too powerful for Ogun to control, and he subsequently possessed the body of the cyborg Lady Deathstrike before fleeing. Learning how to interact with cybernetic systems from her, Ogun subsequently haunted Kitty Pryde and her teammates in the British super-team Excalibur before infiltrating the computers of the airborne Helicarrier headquarters of the international espionage agency S.H.I.E.L.D. Ogun then lured Kitty onboard in a second attempt to enslave her to his will. After their battle was elevated to a higher plane of existence, Kitty defeated Ogun by forcing him to face the truth about his descent from the man he once was.

Ogun then sought a new body with which to attack Wolverine, eventually possessing the body of the serial killer known only as Mister X. However, X’s mind proved too powerful for Ogun to control and so instead he possessed the body of X’s bodyguard, the Maori powerhouse named Blok. During the annual Bloodsport fighting tournament on Madripoor, Ogun possessed an operative of the Viper, Madripoor’s ruling princess and estranged wife to Wolverine, then spread his activities throughout the island, moving from body to body in an effort to throw his foes off balance. Eventually possessing the Viper herself, Ogun confronted Wolverine and attempted to finally possess his body. However, Wolverine’s mind was too bestial and fragmented, and Ogun was forced to repossess the Viper’s body. In order to force Ogun’s spirit out, Wolverine severely wounded the Viper, causing Ogun’s spirit to emerge. Unable to possess another body, Ogun’s spirit seemingly dissipated. Whether or not Ogun has truly left the mortal plane remains to be seen.