Just Keep Ronin, Ronin, Ronin

In Feudal Japan, The Bushido Shoshinshu (The Code of The Samurai) demanded that a samurai who loses his master-via death or abandonment-was to commit Seppuku (ritualistic suicide). If the samurai refused to honor the code he was deemed a Ronin. Met with great shame, the samurai without a master was labelled as "a man who drifts". None of this information has anything to do with Marvel Comic's Ronin who is more of a mantle than a character. So let us explore each character to don the name!

Matt Murdock (Created 1964, Donned Never)

If you haven't heard of Daredevil or seen his Netflix show, do yourself a favor and check it out. Basically, Matt Murdock is a blind lawyer with strong Catholic values and enhanced senses and he fights crime in Hell's Kitchen dressed as The Devil. Caught up? When Brian Michael Bendis wrote "The New Avengers" in 2005, he originally intended for Daredevil to be on the new team, but under a new identity. Daredevil was in the first arc of the book, but refused to join due to his chaotic life. It was planned for Matt Murdock to continue being Daredevil in Hell's Kitchen despite-at that time-his secret identity being public and he'd use the disguise Ronin to help The New Avengers. The image above was the rough draft of the Ronin costume. It was kept a mystery for a while, but Bendis let the plan slip during an interview with USA Today. Bendis canned the Daredevil/Ronin idea and also thought the idea wouldn't have made sense because at the end of his run on Daredevil he had Matt Murdock get thrown into jail, making his involvement with the New Avengers impossible. Plus the fans of the book instantly predicted Daredevil was Ronin. The idea was scrapped and another character got the Ronin identity instead.

Maya Lopez (Created 1999, Donned 2005)

When she was a child Maya's father was the criminal business partner of The Kingpin and was murdered by the aforementioned big bald bastard, this left The Kingpin to raise Maya as his own. When she became an adult she returned to New York at the request of Kingpin to interfere in the life of Matt Murdock, who he knew to be Daredevil. However, while Kingpin ordered her get information on Murdock and to kill Daredevil he did not tell Maya that they were one-in-the-same. Maya fell in love with Matt and when she-under the alias Echo-had Daredevil at her mercy she found out Daredevil was Matt and sought revenge against The Kingpin. After he was thrown in prison, Kingpin admitted to Maya that he still loved her like a daughter. After some soul searching and adventures in Japan with Wolverine, Maya helped The New Avengers in Japan. This was decided by Daredevil and Captain America as Matt knew Maya could be useful in Japan given her experiences, but he also knew giving away her name could gather the attention of her Japanese enemies. Thus, Ronin was used as a cover. Additional note about Maya is that she is deaf. That definitely fills in some questions.

Clint Barton (Created 1964, Donned 2008)

Clint Barton was the circus performer turned criminal turned superhero Hawkeye for the majority of his career, but after his death in "Avengers Disassembled" and revival in "House of M" he was hesitant to take up the Hawkeye mantle again. At the request of The New Avengers Clint became Hawkeye to help rescue Maya Lopez in Japan. He and Maya had a romantic fling and Maya saw he was a broken man. Maya gave Clint the Ronin costume to give him a fresh start and Clint accepted the role. Though Captain America taught Clint combat skills in the past, becoming Ronin allowed Clint to expand his fighting capabilities. When Clint learned a girl named Kate Bishop had taken the Hawkeye mantle-since the general public assumed he was still dead-he gave her his blessing to carry on the name. Clint remained Ronin during the "Dark Reign" era of Marvel and was one of the last determined heroes fighting crime. After that era ended he returned to The Avengers as Hawkeye yet again.

Alexei Shostakov (Created 1967, Donned 2010)

During The Cold War, The Soviet Union decided they needed an equivalent to Captain America. They chose Alexei Shostakov who-along with his wife-was a decorated operative of the KGB as well as being a test pilot. For their service Alex and his wife were given The Infinity Formula, a serum that stops physical aging. While Alex was primarily a pilot his wife Natasha Romanoff became a spy for the Soviets under the name Black Widow. The Soviets faked Alex's death and kept it hidden from Natasha while Alex became The Red Guardian. Black Widow left the KGB after her husbands death and began her road to redemption, eventually joining The Avengers. Red Guardian fought The Avengers in China where Black Widow learned the truth. He seemingly died during a volcano eruption, but had actually used the mantle of Ronin to rise to power in Bulgaria and plot to kill Black Widow. He was foiled by Daredevil and The Avengers.

Eric Brooks (Created 1973, Donned 2014)

Eric Brooks is Marvel Comic's vampire expert, but you know him better as Blade. The moment of Eric's birth was also the moment his mother was murdered by a vampire. The vampire's enzymes passed on to Eric and he was born with vampire abilities. When he grew into an adult, Eric decided to use his vampire abilities to rid the world of those monsters and took the name Blade. For decades he remained in the back of Marvel Comics, protecting people from the creatures that lurk in the darkness. When the villain Thanos sent his minions to destroy Earth while The Avengers were in space, Luke Cage rounded up a group of heroes still in New York to fight Thanos' minions. While Blade was in town he was also undercover, using his falsified death to trick his enemies. But he had to help somehow, first by donning a Spider-Man party costume labelled "The Splendiferous Spider-Hero" and later taking the Ronin identity to continue working with Luke's Mighty Avengers.

The Ronin identity has no current carrier, but I find it interesting how so many different characters have taken the name. From assassins to avengers, from Soviets to vampires, its a very adaptable mantle. Though I am still disappointed the Ronin mantle is just the name and the costume, it has never been used for an accurate purpose. That is to say a character has never become Ronin after losing a mentor, I guess Maya is the closest as her father died years ago and her relationship with The Kingpin was faltered. I'm looking forward to the next person to be Ronin, with luck it might be a new character instead of a pre-established character and hopefully their origin will relate to what a Ronin really is. And hey, if MCU Hawkeye does die like everyone keeps saying he will maybe Marvel Cinematic could pull a Ronin out of their pocket!
Thanks for reading!