Nonohana
Character Information
| "... short, Japanese, slightly intense, carries a big sword..." |
History
Kento Yamada, the Golden Samurai
Hana Yamada is the daughter of Kento Yamada, the late costumed hero known as the Golden Samurai, and of an unknown woman with whom Kento had an affair shortly after his marriage; he was left with the infant while the mother disappeared. When Hana was three years old, Kento's wife left him, taking only her youngest daughter, Miyako. She could no longer bear the dishonor of her husband's infidelity and hated Hana for being her father's favorite instead of his biological daughter.
Kento Yamada was left alone to raise a child, something he was woefully underqualified for. He took to drinking following his wife's departure and eventually lost his FBSA license to operate as a licensed Hero. Hana grew up feeling responsible for the break-up of her family, especially after overhearing her father's drunken ramblings about the woman from his past.
Kento tried his best to raise Hana according to family traditions. He instructed her within the strict rules of Bushido—frugality, loyalty, martial arts mastery, and honor unto death. Hana trained hard to gain her father's approval, and by the time she was twelve, she had become highly proficient with the katana.
In 2011, Kento Yamada took the position of head of security for the Pandora Project—one of Paragon City's technological "think tanks"—with Hana, now 14, working at his side.
On November 30th, 2012, the Project's headquarters was attacked by what appeared to be 5th Column troopers. Most of the employees and patients of the Project would have been killed if not for the valiant efforts of Kento Yamada and his daughter, who managed to repel this attack.
When Kento Yamada died of a stroke in 2016, Hana succeeded him as Head of Security for the Pandora Project.
Personality
Hana was raised by her father to be extremely polite, soft-spoken, and respectful of authority. But this softer side can turn to steely determination regarding her convictions. She is loyal to a fault and will disregard her safety when protecting someone who has earned her loyalty. She can be bull-headed and deceptive if she believes it would serve the greater good.
She is half-Japanese by her father (her mother's side ancestry is unknown). She speaks fluent English but often uses Japanese expressions when addressing others; for example, she will add "-san" after someone's name or "-sama" as a sign of respect.
Abilities & Training
Hana can be a formidable opponent when using her katana and similar blades. She also received training from her father in different forms of martial arts, such as stealth and misdirection.
She has a near-perfect photographic memory and used the Project's resources and those of the Victoria Landsfeld Foundation to keep extensive files on Paragon City's metahuman community.
She has her private pilot certification for "airplane, multi-engine, land" (AMEL).
Equipment
Her weapon of choice is her katana, which belonged to her father and his father before him and has been in her family for eight generations.
She often carries a concealed VK-99 Event Horizon energy blade when not in uniform.
In the field, she usually wears a matte black form-fitting jumpsuit made of Kevlar-reinforced spandex with ceramic inserts at the forearms and shins, which allows moderate protection against ballistic projectiles and bladed weapons. She doesn't wear a mask but wears protective eyewear adjusted to her vision that provides Heads-Up-Display readouts to her FennecTech smartphone (in a reinforced case on her belt).
Additional Information
She is near-sighted and needs to wear either prescription glasses or contact lenses.
Some call her "Nono" as a diminutive of her callsign ("Nonohana"). Instead, She'd prefer that they use her name, "Hana."