Profile: Yura Mikan

 PROFILE

"I was personally selected by King Onyx to be his "Lady in Waiting". Therefore, you should already be terrified by my capabilities." - Yura Mikan 

Name: Yura Mikan

Alias: Yuki Onna, the 135th King's Lady in Waiting, Calculating Killer, Miss Icy Hearted Snake 

Country: Japan, but lives in Mayland

Age: 245

Height: 5'11”

Weight: Classified

Hair Color: Ivory/White

Eye Color: Icy Blue

Skin Color: Light Apricot

Powers: Yura is a highly-trained assassin and is versed in multiple forms of hand-to-hand combat as well as weapon-based combat. Yura manipulates ice and darkness based magic, and she knows the body's vital points. Yura also possesses a high intellect, speed, agility, durability, and dexterity.

Allies: King Onyx, James Del Soto, Anna Del Soto, Palisade Herrera, Donovan Red, Meghan Lily, Hellin Strongs, Orsela Geno, Lea Stallard, Love

Likes: Serving Mayland's 135th ruler, paperwork, completing work in a timely manner, cold brew coffee with sweet foam, exercising, intel gathering, reading old Japanese books, feeding birds in the park

Dislikes: Hellin Strongs, Onyx when he's concern about matters that doesn't effect Mayland, unnecessary noises, anyone who threatens Onyx's reign, her past, overly sexual people, her home country's obsession with "Kawaii" culture

BACKSTORY

Yura Mikan was an assassin turned "Lady in Waiting" for Mayland's current ruler, King Onyx. Born in Kyoto, Japan in an isolated village of shinobis (ninjas), Yura alongside her brother, Ryo, were raised by their parents Oda and Nina Mikan. Alongside their fellow shinobis, Yura and her brother were taught to be proficient assassins and to honor the ninja code. One evening after returning home from a mission with her brother and father, Yura and her family learned from one of their senior shinobis that her mother and her squad of ninjas were slain in battle. This news caused Oda immense rage and from that day onward, life became more harsh for a still young Yura as her father's methods became more vicious in order to raise his children and the rest of the shinobis to not be failures like his dead wife. 

The life of a shinobi proved unbearably harsh, but Yura was determined to prove her worth, not only to her father, but to herself. However, Ryo began struggling to deal with the shinobi and plotted to run away. Approaching their adulthood, Ryo along with other young shinobi and kunoichis (a term for female ninjas) made their preparations to run away from their village. They knew that such actions were a grave violation of the ninja code, but they became tired of living under a strict regime and no longer wanted to endure such a life. Thus, while everyone was sound asleep, Ryo and other young shinobis made their move and began escaping the village. While nearly successful in their ventures, two of the elder guards spotted them and pursued the runaways. Ryo, refusing to allow himself or the others to get caught, used his ninja skills and slayed the two guards before making their escape. 

The next day Oda and his squad discovered the dead bodies as well as noticing that his son, Ryo, and several other ninjas were missing. Angered by this revelation, Oda rounded up a squad that he made Yura the leader of in order to find Ryo and the others. Yura agreed to track down her brother and the other runaway ninjas and bring them back to the village. It was under the condition that despite breaking the ninja code that they would not be killed without a fair trial. Oda reluctantly gave Yura his word that he would not immediately kill Ryo and the others upon their return to the village.

Three days later, Yura and her squad returned with Ryo and the other runaways, despite Ryo's plea to his elder sister. Yura ensured him that their father would not kill him and the other ninjas without hearing them out first. Ryo said to his sister that she was too trusting of their father and that he would betray her. Yura worried that he brother might be telling the truth, but couldn't quite bring herself to think her father would lie about such a thing. Shortly after the arrival of the runaway shinobis, Oda immediately called to have them executed for treason. Immediately, Yura confronted her father and demanded that he keep his word and listen to Ryo and the runaways first before taking such drastic actions. Oda delivered a merciless slap across Yura's face and told her if she dared defy him again that she'd be killed along with them. Yura was devastated that not only had her father lied, but that her baby brother was going to die. It was the first time since her mother's death that Yura cried as she watched her brother and the others be executed. Yura felt immediate regret for trusting her father, but that regret swiftly turned into rage. 

Yura plotted revenge on both her father and her fellow shinobis. A week later, Yura gathered five of her shinobis, the same shinobis who accompanied her to capture Ryo and the other runaways. Yura then killed them in order to use them for a ritual needed to bring down her village. Afterwards, Yura confronted the rest of her village as she used the shinobis she slayed to summon a vicious demonic snake known as Kuchisake-Onna. The demonic snake immediately massacred the shinobis, despite their best efforts to combat the creature. Meanwhile, Yura headed straight to her father to confront him in combat. Upon seeing his daughter, Oda drew his blade as he saw and felt her murderous intent. The two battled. Oda initially had the upper-hand, but the hatred within Yura's soul gave her the strength to push forward and she murdered her father in battle. Once her father was dead as well as the rest of the shinobis in the village, Yura, the last one standing, took her leave and shortly afterwards becomes a killer for hire.

The Second Devilry Combat Tournament/King Onyx's Reign

King Onyx is the first half-demon to ever rule Mayland despite his lineage and age. King Onyx proved himself to be a fair and loving ruler that many of Mayland's citizens, despite their prejudice towards his kind, loved and respected. However, there were many who simply despised having a demon or Cambion as their country's ruler and wanted Onyx dead! A man by the name of Dennis Greencloud, who was the biggest anti-Onyx citizen, hired Yura to assassinate the still young and inexperienced Cambion ruler. The plan was for Yura to enter King Onyx's second Devilry Combat Tournament. However, the intention wasn't for Yura to actually win the tournament, but to kill Onyx. That would allow Dennis and his cohorts to place someone they felt was deserving of being Mayland's next ruler, and certainly not a damn half-breed demon. 

The tournament began without a hitch as Onyx and James watched as the fighters battled one another to move one step closer to fighting Onyx for his throne. There were only eight fighters left in the tournament, including James and Yura. Of course, James wasn't competing for the throne, but to keep others from fighting Onyx. That night, Yura sneaked her way into Onyx's castle to assassinate him. Fortunately, James along with two regular guards spotted Yura and immediately engaged her in battle. Despite their best efforts, Yura gained the upper-hand and was about to decapitate James. Before she had a chance to strike, Onyx appeared and blocked Yura's attack and knocked her away from James and the others. Onyx then used his telepathy to subdue Yura despite her efforts to resist his mental control over her. While understandably agitated by the assassin's actions, instead of killing her immediately, Onyx decided to read her mind and see why she entered his castle uninvited. Learning that she was indeed an assassin hired to kill him, Onyx also learned of the woman's unfortunate past and her pain in having been the cause of her brother's death. Despite logic screaming at him to turn the woman's mind to mush, Onyx decided to spare her and simply told her to leave his castle. Yura remained a competitor in the tournament. Ever since Onyx spared her, Yura felt heavily conflicted.

The four remaining fighters secured their spot in the tournament as another day came to an end. During the night, Yura went walking through the market in the Royal Lands. Unbeknownst to her a fellow competitor by the name of Recluse, who was scheduled to battle Yura the following day, decided that she would kill Yura that night instead via a surprise attack. To Recluse's surprise, King Onyx appeared in the market, walked up to Yura, and grabbed her hand. Onyx then took Yura to explore the market with him. At first, Yura thought that Onyx was going to finish her off because of  her assassination attempt. To her surprise, Onyx wanted to get to know her better and show the woman some of the coolest spots in the market to visit. The two talked and they began to understand each other better. That was the moment Yura made up her mind not to go through with killing Onyx. She was even prepared to tell Onyx that she was going to withdraw from the tournament. At that moment, Recluse made her move. She unleashed several highly poisonous needles towards Yura. Instinctively, Onyx jumped in front of Yura and was struck by the multiple needles instead. Seeing that her attempt to take out Yura failed, Recluse ran off into the night as Yura hurried Onyx back to the castle. 

James and the other guards were on high alert when they saw Yura with Onyx. James also noticed that Onyx looked rather pale as Yura explained that they were attacked. Onyx swiftly confirmed Yura's story to keep James from losing his shit. While being part-demon ensured Onyx survived the poisonous attack, he still needed to take a remedy and allow his demonic blood to heal him with proper rest. That meant that Onyx would not be one hundred percent when it was time to defend his throne. It was that very moment Yura declared herself as Onyx's "Leading Lady" and would devote herself alongside James in defending Onyx's throne. James personally didn't trust the assassin, but Onyx and Yura created their own unique bond during their short time together. Onyx had Yura's full trust and vice versa. 

The last day of the tournament arrived and James defeated his opponent and Yura battled Recluse. The assassin not only knew it was Recluse who attacked Onyx and her at the market the night before, but Yura also knew that Recluse wanted to avoid a direct confrontation with her. She was now ready to make the poison using Sage pay with her life. Yura decimated Recluse in battle and beat her within an inch of her life before she was carried away by Emergency Medical Technicians. Dennis then appeared within the audience as he anticipated the battle between Yura and James. To his surprise, Yura publicly declared herself as the second protector of King Onyx and that there was no other competitor in the tournament who threatened Onyx's reign. Immediately, Dennis ran onto the battlefield and confronted Yura for her betrayal. Regardless of the man's harsh words, Yura had no intention of going back on her word. Realizing that Yura was as committed to protecting Onyx as he was, James hurled a blast of fire at Dennis. He began screaming in agony as the flames consumed his body into nothingness.

The second Devilry Combat Tournament concluded and Onyx would remain Mayland's ruler for another ten years. Yura became Onyx's official "Leading Lady", the female equivalent of the King or Queen's right hand man, a position that James currently occupied. Yura turned out to be a devoted protector and friend of King Onyx, and helped him run Mayland. Thanks to the combined efforts of the trio, Onyx would rule Mayland for many years to come as he had multiple successful throne defenses for every ten years a Devilry Combat Tournament was held. While Yura's old self still remained within her, thanks to the kindness Onyx showed her, Yura decided to follow a new path in life in an effort to rectify the cruelty of her past.

TRIVIA

Yura Mikan is a Japanese woman, but is 1/4 Ecuadorian since her mother, Nina is half-Japanese and half-Ecuadorian. Her father Oda is a full-blooded Japanese man.

One of Yura's alias "Icy Hearted Snake" is inspired by singer/dancer Paula Abdul's song "Cold Hearted".

Yura's inspirations are Christie from the Dead or Alive series, Crimson Viper from the Street Fighter series, Black Orchid from Killer Instincts and lastly, general assassin archetype inspirations.

Another one of Yura's alias "Yuki-Onna" is inspired by Japanese mythology of a woman who possessed the ability to freeze her victims.

The gigantic snake that Yura summoned to slay her fellow shinobis is named Kuchisake-Onna, another creature from Japanese mythology. Kuchisake-Onna is a woman whose mouth had been cut open from both corners of her mouth and she carries a pair of scissors. Kuchisake-Onna wears a mask to hide her disfigurement and from those who unfortunately encounter this malevolent being. Kuchisake-Onna will ask them if she's "pretty". If the individual responds with "No", Kuchisake-Onna will kill them immediately. If the person responds with "Yes", Kuchisake-Onna pulls off her mask and reveals her disfigurement. If the person still responds with "Yes", Kuchisake then uses her scissors and gives her victim the same disfigurement she has. The way to avoid either cruel fate is to respond to Kuchisake-Onna's question with either "So so", "Average", or give her hard candy. Anything else would result in one's death or disfigurement. Yura's demonic snake possesses the same disfigurement, which she uses to swallow a multitude of victims.

Yura is a bisexual woman with a preference for women.

While unintentional on both their parts, Yura and Onyx have a mother-son relationship despite Onyx being older than Yura.

Yura's mother original name was going to be Michiko, but I decided on Nina when I made Yura's mother only half-Japanese.