Superheroes in Asia and America: Clawmarks made by Shivaji, X-Men's Wolverine, and Japanese Ninjas

First, an apology. I abandoned my blog. Honestly, when I was working on this post two months ago, I became insecure, and I have since fallen into doubt over being a writer, language learner, Asian culture enthusiast (not even a graduate student..), while starting on these first confused steps after my bachelor's degree. But I began an internship at Silk Screen Asian Arts and Culture Organization, and I realized that I still want to write.

A few months ago my partner introduced me to the story of Shivaji, a famous and legendary Maharashtrian hero and king in the seventeenth century. Shivaji was a warrior leader for Hindu people who rose against Muslim Mughal emperors and Bijapur sultans and ultimately became the sovereign ruler of a new and independent Hindu kingdom of Maratha. He has been romanticized as emblematic of the struggle between Muslim and Hindu powers - when in fact politics and cultures were more intertwined, and there was a political necessity to mark the new kindgom's independence - but more importantly, as a patriot for all of India, even an example of a leader in religious tolerance.

His life was full of action and adventure that's widely known and celebrated today,  full of raids and battles defying his more powerful enemies, escaping house arrest by deception and disguise, and other deeds done with great cunning.

In his first great act of defiance and heroism - which became the first known ballad of Marathi literature -and under the pretense of submission, Shivaji killed a Mughal general Afzal Khan - by stabbing him to death with metal claws.

Click for larger image

Shivaji met with Afzal Khan in a tent to agree to begrudgingly cease fighting and accept service as a vassal to the Muslim sultan Adil Shah. Afzal Khan purportedly moves to embrace him, then stabs him with his own concealed knife. But Shivaji, who had secretly worn chain mail, stabs Afzal Khan, and then beheads him with a sword. Shivaji's hidden men swarm in and overtake the army. It seems unclear which weapon killed Afzal Khan, but death or wounding by claws is widely accepted. My guess is that this is at least the most famous story of the bagh nakh, whether Khan died by the claws or the sword. It's still wicked awesome.

When my partner told me this story, I was naturally reminded of X-Men's Wolverine. But 300 years earlier, this was the first legendary and recorded use of the bagh nakh (बाघ नख / वाघ नख ' wagh nakh' in Marathi), "tiger claw" weapon. Unlike Wolverine, this weapon was worn with claws coming from under the palm, with two fingers through rings at the end, and sometimes with another blade attached on the side, according to the blog of a weapons enthusiast. It's easier to wield that way unless claws are part of your mutant skeletal structure enhanced by lab experiments.

Of course, Shivaji was not the inspiration for Wolverine. Wolverine was commissioned by the editors to writer Len Wein and art director John Romita Sr., together they were to create a character that makes a brief appearance in The Hulk series as a Canadian hero to be named after the native woodland wolverine - of which artist John Romita Sr. read described as a small, ferocious and catlike creature with claws - to create the basic inspiration. Wolverine wasn't intended to become so famous, but he evolved to be an icon for the concept of the dark, violent, and brooding Western antihero, independent of everyone and everything.

Coincidentally, Shivaji also had animal nicknames - "mountain rat" and "hell dog" to the enemy leaders he marauded, battled, and defeated (Laine 26). And although I haven't read of Shivaji being short in stature like Wolverine, the legends portrayed Afzal Khan as big and imposing in comparison. Shivaji's defeat of Khan was likened to the battle of Ram and Ravanna, the Hindu epic battle between god incarnate against a demon king.

I find it intriguing that people have thought of metallic animal claws as a sinister idea for a weapon in 17th century India, 20th century United States, and again in  for Japanese ninjas, who used them in a wider range of designs and purposes - small shuko claws and footspikes for climbing, nekode like metal fingernails for female ninjas, and larger tekagi-shuko for slashing and disarming.

 Yuriko Oyama - Lady Deathstryke

More than any Indian warrior type, samurai and ninja have crossed over to American popular culture. Wolverine himself takes ninja training in Japan (so does Batman), and there encounters Lady Deathstryke, who also has claws. And then there's Kill Bill, and America's anime subculture.

Also, Wolverine's time in Japan is going to be the plot for the upcoming X-Men movie! Fingers crossed that it's better than the other Wolverine movie... Fingers crossed really, really tight..




I find it ironic, though, that Japan and India today present themselves less as warrior cultures and more as peace-loving countries. They both wield great soft power (appealing political standing through cultural presentation) such as in romantic Bollywood and in more lighthearted anime. India has waded through centuries of bloodshed, having resisted and defeated oppression of the Mughal empire, the British empire.. As my charming Hindi professor put it, "India has been invaded for ... kind of forever." Even today India faces threats and acts of terrorism.

But it seems that India currently presents itself as a nation of peace, and Americans follow that idea a little more blindly. Popularly, when Americans think of India, they might think of Gandhi, yoga exclusively as a means of stress relief, and India itself as a place of expected spiritual renewal. Consider that even in this year's comic book-based film The Avengers, Bruce Banner, the Hulk, traveled to India not for warrior training, but to learn to find peace. The twist is that Bruce Banner "is angry all the time." (Yet, perhaps ironically, a lot of Indians also have an inner rage against their own national injustices, especially against the current threats of terrorism, and against political corruption.) I don't mean to say that there is a peaceful India or a violent India, but that it's important to recognize that there is a history full of exciting legends and true stories that we sometimes fail to recognize.

Many Indians were also miffed that Hollywood once again presents their country exclusively as a place of slums.

Japan has also waded through centuries of bloodshed, historically. Since World War II, Japan also presents itself as a nation of peace. Today Japan advertises cute kawaii culture - Pikachu and pop stars - and world peace devoid of nuclear warfare. Japan and India want to be seen as peaceful countries, but there's also pride in the fact that both have had inspiring tales in history and classical literature that are really just as intense, violent, and heroic as comic books and movies today, and we can always take inspiration from these. And these countries have their own comic book cultures: Indians have comics with stories of Hindu gods and heroes, and Japan has produced an incredible wealth of  manga and anime. These rich histories and literatures, and the subsequent crossculturalism of comics and films will fuel imagination for the future of crosscultural entertainment - and maybe to ask differently what it means to be a hero, and what it means to save the world.

Sources:

Laine, James W. Shivaji: Hindu King in Islamic India. New York: Oxford University Press, Inc., 2003. Print.

LoCicero, Donald. Superheroes and Gods: A Comparative Study from Babylonia to Batman. McFarland & Co., 2008. Print.

Lovece, Frank. "Wolverine Origins: Marvel artists recall the creation of an icon." Film Journal International. Film Journal International, 24/04/2009. Web. Jun. 2012.

Misiroglu, Gina, and David A. Roach. The Superhero Book: The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Comic Book Icons and Hollywood Heroes. Visible Ink Press, 2004. 624-626. Web. Jun. 2012.

"Shivaji." Encyclopaedia Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica Online Academic Edition. Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc. 2012. Web 21 Jun. 2012.<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/546953/Shivaji>.

Tharoor, Shashi. 2009, November. Shashi Tharoor: Why nations should pursue soft power. [Video file] Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/shashi_tharoor.html

http://thedarkblade.wordpress.com/2007/08/02/the-truth-about-cats-and-tigers/