Yasuiti Motomiya (Acclaim Comics)

Yasuiti Motomiya is an ages-old fighting-monk whose order vanquished Masterlord Akuma and his twelve wicked followers out of reality itself and the man who designed the video game Ninjak. In this game, his brother Tatsuo Motomiya is the embodiment of the "Spirit of Ninjak".

History[]

Centuries ago in Ancient Japan, during a wondrous age when powerful magick ran loose that faded to myth even in the land where it happened, Akuma sought ultimate power, first over the East and then the world, but a small order of fighter-monks determined to keep the world free opposed him and his wicked followers.

After decades of conflict, the monks turned Akuma’s magicks against him and cast him and his followers out of reality, but lacking the power to destroy him, they merely banished him. Aware that Akuma would return once he regained his strength, the monks trained and kept the order alive, dedicating themselves to readiness when the awful creature returned, but, as time passed and ways changed, young men no longer became monks nor believe the stories of Akuma’s return.

By the turn of the century, the order had almost died out and Yasuiti, one of the original monks who banished Akuma long ago, was the only member who remained.

Realizing that he would not be able to rebuild the order to safeguard the world, Yasuiti traveled to America to understand the new ways and how to best find a new champion. While initially confused by the very different world and people around him, by 1947 Yasuiti was ready to act and find a young man whose mind was receptive to strange and different things, someone with a warrior’s spirit who could think as well as fight and look for secrets and answers along with victory.

Yasuiti devised a game that would find the champion who triumphed in solving the secret puzzle embedded within it, but board games failed to capture the market in the 1950s while role-playing games were nothing more than a small cult hit at colleges in the 1970s.

It was not until the 1990’s that Yasuiti hit on a video game that made Americans appreciate the ways of the East. Played by millions of kids across the United States, the game sought a warrior of head and heart until it found Denny Meechum, who became Ninjak, a living repository for the monks’ combined skills and instincts.