open/close all folders
The Samurai Squad
Deadpool
Alter ego: Wade Wilson
Species: Human mutate
First appearance: Marvel × Shōnen Jump+ Super Collaboration #5
Marvel's fourth-wall breaking Merc with a Mouth, he serves as the protagonist of the series under the task to help the Avengers expand their roster in Japan.
For tropes relating to his original appearance, see here.
- Alternative Character Interpretation: In-Universe, Cap's not really sure if he's just acting insane and looney to hide the fact he lost his girlfriend, or if he really is that nuts.
- Anti-Hero: While he's trying to be a good guy, he's not above using lethal force on guys who deserve it.
- Biting-the-Hand Humor: His entire schtick in this story is him making fun of either Marvel or Jump for the numerous plot twists or usage of original characters for publicity purposes.
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: Or rather taking a wrecking ball to the fourth wall, as he spends most of the story mocking every concept, writing cliche, or plot twist that comes his way.
- Even Evil Has Standards:
- He kills the otaku, in spite of Neiro sparing him despite his Attempted Rape, because the guy scalped tickets.
- He is not impressed with Loki wanting to destroy Japan because Thor became an anime fan.
- Good Thing You Can Heal: Deadpool's healing factor allows him to survive any injury.
- Heel–Face Revolving Door: He's been both a hero and a villain, and this story is him trying to be the former. It ends, however, with the reveal that he let all the villains out so they could have a new set of bad guys for the next volume.
- Hypocritical Humor: All of his mocking of the story becomes this when it's revealed it was a story he wrote himself.
- Lampshade Hanging: No matter what point in the story the reader is, most of the time Deadpool is there mocking some aspect of it. One such example is meeting Sakura Spider, only to make fun of the fact she's a Distaff Counterpart to the real deal, and has a temper typical of female shonen protagonists.
- Lethal Chef: He makes some chimichangas for the rest of the squad, only to show that they're burnt to a crisp.
- Lost Lenore: His girlfriend (heavily implied to be Vanessa Carlysle/Copycat) was killed before the events of the story (as she was for a time in the mainstream series).
- Mythology Gag: Some of his dialogue (like putting in maximum effort or mentioning how he should have brought the brown pants) are lifted from Deadpool (2016).
- Only in It for the Money: He only accepted Tony's offer to form the Samurai Squad because he was offered a fat paycheck for his services.
Sakura Spider
Alter ego: Haruka Hida
Species: Human mutate
First appearance: Deadpool Samurai #2
A teenage girl who was bitten by a radioactive spider, she fights for what's right in Japan. Much to her chagrin, she gets recruited into the Samurai Squad with Deadpool as her first teammate.- Ambiguously Gay: She fangirls hard for Neiro, to the point that Deadpool accuses Haruka of having a crush on her. Haruka acts indignant, but doesn't deny it either.
- Bait-and-Switch: She's initially introduced in a way that makes it seem like old Web Head himself is being tasked to help Deadpool.
- Berserk Button: Deadpool's antics don't do much to help her sanity, since she takes hero work seriously and he treats it as a joke.
- Butt-Monkey: There's very few panels where she isn't getting strung up, or Deadpool is cracking jokes at her expense.
- Canon Foreigner: She was created for the manga, but returns in Edge of Spider-Verse (2022).
- Distaff Counterpart: She's one to Peter Parker, alias Spider-Man. She even has an Aunt May (well, Mei) and an Uncle Ben of her own! Deadpool lampshades this to hell and back.
- Expressive Mask: When she starts bawling in relief upon seeing Neiro is safe, her mask's eyes start crying alongside her, Deadpool comparing it to Debby the Corsifa Hates to Lose (another manga running on Jump+).
- Expy: Her physical appearance and costume are shown to be dead ringers for Ochaco Uraraka from the popular manga/anime series My Hero Academia once Edge of Spider-Verse (2022) showed her official color scheme. But while Ochaco has a case of Single-Target Sexuality for Izuku, Haruka appears to have a thing for Neiro.
- Expy Coexistence: She and Spider-Man both exist in this continuity, with Deadpool even calling her a cheap knockoff of a popular and successful pre-existing character.
- Fatal Flaw: While she takes her heroic duties very seriously, her fangirling can get her into big trouble. She immediately becomes a Yes-Woman to Neiro and tries to follow her lead because she's a huge fan of hers, and when she's not paying attention just before the final battle atop Mt. Fuji, her spider-sense fails to kick in and she gets flattened in traffic.
- The Knights Who Say "Squee!": She can't help but geek out over getting the chance to meet and work with Neiro.
- My Significance Sense Is Tingling: Like Spider-Man, she has a spider-sense of her own. The only problem is it doesn't work when she gets distracted, and the one time it conks out on her, she walks into traffic and gets hit by a truck.
- Punny Name: Read in the Japanese order of surname first, given name last, her name — Hida Haruka — is meant to rhyme with "Peter Parker", the character she's an expy of.
Kage
Name: Neiro Aratabi
Species: Human (Neiro Aratabi), Symbiote (Kage)
First appearance: Deadpool Samurai #3
A sixteen-year-old idol singer from Kumagaya City, Gunma Prefecture, she is secretly the host of a symbiote she calls "Kage".note Obsessed with fame and being adored, she is the first person Deadpool and Sakura Spider are sent to recruit into the Samurai Squad, but is brainwashed by Loki instead. After being freed, she agrees to join Samurai Squad as the team's heavy-hitter.
- Ambiguous Situation: Given that Kage has amnesia, it's not clear whether or not it's meant to be a generic symbiote or the actual Venom symbiote.
- Amnesiac Villain Joins the Heroes: Kage has amnesia and remembers nothing of its past, but joins the Samurai Squad because it is loyal to Neiro and wants to protect her.
- Attempted Rape: Neiro is on the receiving end of it from an otaku who tries to force her under his control using a brainwashing collar, but Deadpool manages to destroy it.
- Attention Whore: Neiro is obsessed with being adored by her fans, and strictly forbids her symbiote from harming anyone who fawns over her, even if they're trying to kill her.
- The Big Guy: Once she joins Samurai Squad, Neiro becomes the team's heavy-hitter... and is quickly and easily beaten by Thanos.
- Bilingual Bonus: Kage's name means "Shadow" in Japanese.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: In the fourth chapter, she's fitted with a Hydra mind-control collar and brainwashed by Loki, trying to eat Deadpool in Chapter 5, but is freed by Deadpool and Bruce Banner.
- But Now I Must Go: She leaves before the final battle for a concert.
- Butt-Monkey: Between being the victim of a brainwashing and having to have Kage try to mellow her out, she doesn't have it easy.
- Canon Foreigner: Neiro has no Marvel Universe counterpart to speak of.
- Composite Character: While it's implied that Kage is in fact the Venom symbiote, its more goofy personality, its attempts to be a proper guide for Neiro, its love of chocolate, the lack of the white spider symbol, and its physical appearance in its bonded form call to mind Tom Hardy's version from Venom (2018).
- Demon Head: When Kage really wants to eat someone, its head grows into an enormous maw resembling the Beast of Darkness from Berserk.
- Distaff Counterpart: As an anti-hero symbiote host, Neiro is more or less one to Eddie Brock.
- Eating the Enemy: Neiro has zero qualms about eating people — as long as they're not her fans — and doing so is her go-to combat tactic.
- Embarrassing Nickname: Neiro calls her symbiote "Kage" — a nickname it detests.
- Even the Girls Want Her: Sakura Spider blushes and smiles lecherously when talking about Neiro resting in the changing room after a performance, leading to Deadpool calling her out on being a pervert.
- Expy: Much like how Sakura Spider is a deliberate off-brand gender-flipped ripoff of Spider-Man, Neiro is an off-brand gender-flipped ripoff of Venom. Her monstrous form resembles the 2018 movie version of Venom, which Deadpool lampshades when he fights her.
- Game Face: Only transforms her face when dealing with a fan who tries to commit a murder-suicide with her, though she keeps her face hidden so that her fans don't notice.
- Girlish Pigtails: Neiro sports a pair of hip-length pigtails, accentuating her (usually) super-cute appearance. Even her symbiote form has them.
- Idol Singer: Neiro is a teenaged girl who works as a popular idol singer, and happens to be the host of a not-so-evil symbiote.
- It's All About Me: Although she's genuinely heroic, she can be very self-centered. For example, when Kage wants to eat one of her fans, she won't let him on the grounds that she doesn't want any of her fans to be eaten (everyone else is fair game though), and when all the villains gather on Mt. Fuji, she runs off to go to a concert.
- Laser-Guided Amnesia: The Kage symbiote somehow wound up in Japan and lost all of its memories, and claims it's just using Neiro to get them back.
- Made a Slave: She's brainwashed by Loki, who intends to recruit her into his new team of super-villains; though Loki is helped by a slovenly overweight otaku who he promised could use Neiro as a Sex Slave once she was brainwashed.
- Morality Pet: She's one to "Kage", and he tries to act like one to her (key word being "tries").
- More Teeth than the Osmond Family: When devouring her Loony Fan and trying to eat people in general, Kage transforms her head into a massive set of fang-lined jaws resembling the Beast of Darkness from Berserk.
- Mythology Gag: Like Venom's Ultimate and Sony's Spider-Man Universe counterparts, he lacks the giant white spider symbol on his chest.
- Only Six Faces: Deadpool hangs a lampshade on the prevalence of this trope in manga by pointing out that aside from their hair Sakura Spider and Neiro look fairly similar.
- Secret Identity: Her fans are unaware that she's hosting a symbiote, and her bodyguards might be unaware given their surprise when the man attacking her suddenly vanishes. Regardless, Neiro makes an effort to keep people from seeing her face while it's transformed.
- Skewed Priorities:
- In Chapter 4, Neiro tells her symbiote she doesn't care who it eats so long as they're not her fans — completely disregarding that one of said fans tried to murder her. When Loki approaches her, she goes from threatening to tear him apart to cheerfully offering him a Pocky when he calls himself a huge fan of hers. She even forgives the overweight otaku for his plot to rape her just because he says he's her fan... though she concedes that if he wasn't her fan she'd make sure he died screaming. Deadpool calls her out on this and then blows the otaku's brains out.
- In Chapter 11, Neiro runs off to perform in a concert despite the fate of Japan being on the line, bluntly declaring that she cares more about making her fans happy.
- Tiny-Headed Behemoth: Her monstrous form has a huge muscular body and a comparatively tiny head.
- To Serve Man: When a Loony Fan pulls a knife and attacks her in Chapter 3, Neiro's symbiote promptly swallows him whole before anyone notices what's happened; and judging by her argument with the symbiote in Chapter 4, it's not the first time this has happened. She also goes on a feeding frenzy when faced with a squad of Hydra soldiers.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Kage's are chocolate and human flesh.
- The Ugly Guy's Hot Daughter: Gender-flipped in regards to Neiro's mother, who — especially when compared to her daughter — isn't taking home any beauty contest prizes. However, this saw her be harassed and even told to kill herself by callous and cruel bystanders, fuelling Neiro's obsession with being loved by all out of the belief that she can't let her mother's suffering have been for nothing.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: Neiro and her symbiote argue continually with each other when she's not on-stage, but have each others' backs.
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: In Chapter 4, her symbiote implies that the reason why Neiro Desperately Craves Affection as an idol singer is because she wants her Missing Mom's approval, with Chapter 5 implying that her mother was Driven to Suicide by the insults hurled at her for her unattractive appearance.
- The Worf Effect: Kage and Neiro are established as the team's heavy hitter, and are more than capable of mowing through Hydra soldiers... but against Thanos suffer an inglorious Curb-Stomp Battle.
The Avengers
Iron Man
Tony Stark/Iron Man
A self-described genius, billionaire, playboy philantrophist who uses a high-tech suit to fight crime. He serves as the head of The Avengers.For tropes relating to his original appearance, see here.
- The Alcoholic: Discussed and Subverted. He mentions he was an alcoholic, but the situation has made him wish he had a drink.
- Big Good: Of the Marvel Universe.
- Chrome Champion: He's an Avenger with a big fancy suit of armor.
- Deadpan Snarker: Nary a panel goes by where he isn't snarking at friend or foe.
- Fiction 500: He's a very rich man, and has enough money to pay Deadpool a handsome fee to join the Avengers.
Captain America
Steve Rogers/Captain America
A super-soldier from World War II, Steve was cryogenically frozen at the war's end and reawakened in the modern era. He now leads The Avengers.For tropes relating to his original appearance, see here.
- Adaptational Nice Guy: In the 616 Universe, Captain America wasn't friendly with Deadpool from the start and didn't think highly of him for a while to say the least. And it took some time before Steve finally came to respect Deadpool and see him as a peer. Even then, Captain American can still get into misunderstandings and scuffles with Wade, with Cap usually being the one to throw the first punch (or shield) because he feels the need to teach Deadpool an important lesson or try to apprehend him. In Earth-346 where Deadpool: Samurai takes place, Captain America is much more supportive, understanding, and friendly to Deadpool from the start and they don't have the friendly-but-potentially-prickly relationship that they do in the mainstream Marvel continuity.
- Big Good: Of the entire Marvel Universe, to the point that Hida geeks out upon seeing him in Japan.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: He's the one who suggests Deadpool for the job of expanding the Avengers in Japan, and is pretty reasonable in his discussions with him. Notably, he's the one Avenger who doesn't smack him or mock him.
The Hulk
Dr. Bruce Banner/The Hulk
A timid scientist specializing in gamma radiation, an accident caused him to turn into a monstrous green creature known as "The Hulk" whenever he gets angry or stressed.For tropes relating to his original appearance, see here.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: Subverted. Bruce is much more easily able to keep his rage under control in this story.
- Jekyll & Hyde: Beneath the kindhearted Bruce Banner is the angry and destructive Hulk. And you wouldn't like him when he's angry...
- Nice Guy: Bruce is very kind and cordial to his allies, and is happy to help Hida and Neiro keep a powerful device out of Loki's hands.
- The Worf Effect: Thanos brings the Hulk down in less than one page. Wouldn't be the first time.
Black Widow
Natasha Romanov/Black Widow
A Russian super spy and a member of the Avengers.For tropes relating to his original appearance, see here.
- Deadpan Snarker: In saving Deadpool, she brings both her weapons and her dry wit with her.
- Spy Catsuit: True to form, she's seen in a very form-fitting leather outfit.
Hawkeye
Clint Barton/Hawkeye
A master archer and a member of the Avengers.For tropes relating to his original appearance, see here.
- Improbable Aiming Skills: His trademark ability is to never miss what he's aiming at. Deadpool mocks him for it.
Thor
Thor Odinson
The Asgardian God of Thunder and a member of the Avengers.For tropes relating to his original appearance, see here.
- Fanboy: Of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba.
- The Ghost: In spite of him being the Unwitting Instigator of Doom of the plot, and his brother being the main bad guy, he doesn't show up outside of a flashback. Deadpool roundly makes fun of his absence.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Him showing his love of anime and manga drove Loki to try and destroy Japan.
Black Panther
T'challa/Black Panther
Wakanda's king and a member of the Avengers.For tropes relating to his original appearance, see here.
Villains
Loki
Loki Laufeyson
The Asgardian God of Mischief and arch-enemy of his brother Thor, he has come to Japan to destroy it, putting him in conflict with Deadpool.For tropes relating to his original appearance, see here.
- Arch-Enemy: He considers himself one to Thor, constantly scheming ways to murder his heroic brother. Thor, for his part, sees himself and Loki as a Vitriolic Best Buds.
- Evil Is Petty: Why does he want to destroy Japan? Because Thor became a fan of Demon Slayer. Deadpool is not amused.
- Fantastic Racism: Loki is horrified and disgusted to learn that Thor would rather watch anime than participate in their traditional feud, and decides that the mortals of Japan must all die for daring to steal something so precious from him.
- Oh, Crap!: When he sees the Hulk has joined the final battle, Loki promptly flees rather than risk suffering his MCU counterpart's humiliating beatdown.
- This Is Unforgivable!: When Loki discovers that Thor is more interested in vegging out and watching anime than fighting him to the death, he flies into a rage and declares that all of Japan must be annihilated for daring to steal something so precious from him.
- Wolverine Publicity: Lampshaded In-Universe, Deadpool assumes he's the major bad guy of the story because of his popularity with fans. Loki has no idea what he's babbling about.
Thanos
Thanos
The Mad Titan, the greatest threat to the universe, the destroyer of Planet Deviluke, and the guy who hates Deadpool's guts.For tropes relating to his original appearance, see here.
- Apocalypse How: He destroyed all of Planet Deviluke, though the details of what he did aren't disclosed.
- Berserk Button: He hates Deadpool's guts, and will happily splatter the floor with them if the guy didn't have a healing factor.
- Curbstomp Battle: He utterly decimates Kage and Hulk before All Might turns the tables on him.
- Made of Iron: Nothing is able to stop this guy. Even All-Might, who hands the floor to him and then some, is barely able to stop his rampage.
- Mythology Gag: Deadpool suspects Thanos wants to destroy him because he stole his girlfriend, in reference to both courting Death herself in the comics.
- Noodle Incident: He wants Deadpool dead, but it's never explained why. Deadpool speculates he's still salty over having his girlfriend stolen.
- The Worf Effect: He's able to take out Kage and Hulk in less than one page.
The Otaku
The Otaku
A perverted fan of Nerio's who swears allegiance to Loki to put the pop singer under his control.- Aesop Amnesia: Played With. He doesn't forget the lesson that he should't try to go after Nerio lest he wind up with a bullet in his skull so much as he refuses to let that deter him from trying again. He doesn't get the chance when Deadpool learns this guy's been scalping tickets.
- Asshole Victim: Deadpool initially spares the guy at Nerio's request, but then Hida reveals he scalps tickets. Cue one bullet through the guy's skull.
- Boom, Headshot!: Deadpool kills him this way.
- Canon Foreigner: He has no counterpart in the main Marvel Universe.
- Deal with the Devil: He made one with Loki to put Nerio under his control and make her do whatever he wanted. A later revelation from Loki shows that he had no intent of honoring that bargain.
- Entitled to Have You: He thinks that he should have Nerio for himself because all of his friends have gotten a better deal at life than he has.
- Fat Bastard: He's not in the best of shape, and he wants to put a pop singer under his control to make her his mistress.
- Felony Misdemeanor: Deadpool doesn't kill the guy for trying to mind control and rape Nerio (at her request), but rather because he scalps concert tickets.
- No Name Given: He's just called various creepy names.
Weapon XI
Alter ego: Wade Wilson
Species: Human mutate
First appearance: Deadpool: Samurai #13
Yes, it's that Deadpool, whom Loki summons to fight the real thing.
For tropes relating to his original appearance, see here.
- Boom, Headshot!: How he gets taken out.
- Curbstomp Battle: He only gets a handful of panels before Evil Deadpool knocks him out of the game.
- In Name Only: Like his film counterpart, he's supposed to be Deadpool, but he looks or act nothing like him.
- Mythology Gag: He gets taken out with a headshot by a more comics-accurate Deadpool just mere seconds after he shows up. This also happened in Deadpool 2.
- Take That!: He gets taken out without even making a move, referencing how widely hated he is.
Evil Deadpool
Alter ego: Wade Wilson
Species: Human mutate
First appearance: Deadpool: Samurai #14
A version of Deadpool from Earth-617, he joins with Loki under the promise of a big payday.
- Evil Counterpart: Downplayed, since this is Deadpool we're talking about, but he's described as being much more villainous and heinous than the mainstream one.
- Heel–Face Turn: Played for Laughs, but Wade is able to get White to turn on Loki by promising a bigger payout.
- Mythology Gag: He hails from Earth-617 (which he then lampshades as being a cool thing), a universe adjacent to the mainstream Marvel Universe of Earth-616. It was also the home of the elderly Spider-Woman in Spider-Gwen and "Defender Strange" from Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, per director Sam Raimi's comments.
- Palette Swap: He's just Deadpool in a white uniform.
- Sword Beam: Due to having worked for Shōnen Sunday, he can use the Kongōsōha from Inuyasha, which fires a barrage of razor-sharp supernatural diamond shards from his sword.
- Trapped in Another World: He hails from Earth-617, but was left trapped in the universe of Deadpool: Samurai in the final issue.
Other Villains
Various villains from the Marvel Universe, assembled to destroy Japan on Loki's behalf.
- The Cameo: Amongst said villains are Graviton, M.O.D.O.K., Madame Masque, The Rhino, and The Wrecker.
- Legion of Doom: They've been assembled by Loki to destroy Japan. Of course, Deadpool mocks the idea being overdone.
- Rogues' Gallery Transplant: Many of these villains are from other rogues galleries, and usually don't fight Deadpool or The Avengers on a regular basis.
Other Characters
Spider-Man
Peter Parker/Spider-Man
New York's Friendly Neighborhood Wall Crawler and occasional frenemy of Deadpool.For tropes relating to his original appearance, see here.
- Butt-Monkey: Typical Parker luck strikes within a moment of his first appearance, as Deadpool accidentally shows him tied up in his own webbing.
- Expy Coexistence: Sakura Spider happens to be his Distaff Counterpart in Japan at the same time he's still swinging around New York.
- Pet the Dog: He lets Deadpool ride on his back while web slinging in New York before he goes to Japan.
Groot
Groot
A sentient tree who acts as a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy.For tropes relating to his original appearance, see here.
- The Cameo: He pops up on Deadpool's phone bluntly rejecting helping him out.
- The Ghost: Aside from a picture on Deadpool's phone, he isn't actually seen.
- Pokémon Speak: He only says "I am Groot", which the story handily translates.
All Might
Toshinori Yagi/All Might
The greatest hero of Japan, a symbol of hope for the community, and the guy who shows up to help save Deadpool from Thanos.For tropes relating to his original appearance, see here.
- Bait-and-Switch: Given his similar color scheme and logo, you'd be forgiven if you thought Deadpool was going to call Captain Marvel to help him.
- Big Good: Of My Hero Academia, leading to his reputation as the greatest hero of Japan.
- The Cameo: His appearance largely is this, as he's only there to stomp Thanos into the ground before he leaves.
- Crossover: The greatest hero of My Hero Academia meets Marvel's Merc with a Mouth.
- Curbstomp Battle: Dishes one out on Thanos, who'd managed to dish out two on both Venom and the Hulk.
