O-Ren Ishii

"As your leader, I encourage you from time to time, and always in a respectful manner, to question my logic. If you're unconvinced that a particular plan of action I've decided is the wisest, tell me so, but allow me to convince you and I promise you right here and now, no subject will ever be taboo. Except, of course, the subject that was just under discussion. The price you pay for bringing up either my Chinese or American heritage as a negative is... 'I collect your fucking head. Just like this fucker here. Now, if any'' of you sons of bitches got anything else to say, NOW'S THE FUCKING TIME!"

- O-Ren to her thugs.

O-Ren Ishii is the main antagonist in the 2003 film Kill Bill Volume 1 and thus one of the main enemies of the Bride.

She is portrayed by Lucy Liu.

History
O-Ren was the only child of an American-Japanese man and Chinese woman, giving O-Ren half Chinese, Japanese and American heritage.

She lived a relatively normal life but when O-Ren was just nine years old, she witnessed both her parents being brutally murdered on the orders of a deadly Yakuza leader known as Boss Matsumoto while young O-Ren lay under the bed, seeing everything unfold before her very eyes.

O-Ren's unnamed father who had put up a brave fight against two of Matsumoto's men was the first to die, suffering a fatal wound after being pierced in the chest with a sword wielded by a man (Presumably Bill). O-Ren's father then bled all over the place after the sword was removed, eventually dying after the sword was slammed into the back of his head. O-Ren began to whimper but later kept her mouth shut, knowing if that she reacted, she too would end up dead.

The assassin who had killed her father stared back at young O-Ren, smiling while under the bed, O-Ren seethed with fury as Matsumoto laughed before sniffing out his cigar.

Matsumoto then grabbed the sword that had been used to kill O-Ren's father before using it on O-Ren's mother with the impact killing O-Ren's unnamed mother instantly, the sword having presumably pierced her chest and heart. Young O-Ren then began to grieve for her mother and whispered "Mommy".

A while later, Matsumoto and his men left while the one who had killed O-Ren's father later used some alcohol and Matsumoto's cigar to create a fire that ended up destroying the house and burning all the bodies beyond recognition.

O-Ren escaped the fire but was left permanently psychologically and emotionally damaged by the horrors she had witnessed at such a young age and as she watched her childhood home burn to the ground, swore revenge against Matsumoto.

For the next two years, fueled by nothing but revenge, O-Ren became a student under Hanzo Hattori, a famous swordmaker and swordsman and underwent intense training, even going so far as to presumably learn how much strain the human body could take when pierced by a single sword.

Two years later and now aged eleven, O-Ren, now an emotionless, unfeeling killer felt ready at last to carry out her plan of revenge.

Knowing that Matsumoto was a pedophile, she crept into his penthouse and then used her training to inflict maximum pain on Matsumoto's body while asking him to look at her and she then wondered if Matsumoto remembered if she looked like someone he'd killed, obviously referencing her parents who Matsumoto and his men had killed.

O-Ren then removed the sword and was drenched with Matsumoto's blood, a possible sign that she had avenged her parents. She then spotted two bodyguards who had come to investigative, having heard their boss scream. The two bodyguards then attempted to kill O-Ren by firing their guns at her, only to discover too late that O-Ren was actually hiding under the bed, having used Matsumoto's remains as a shield.

When the bodyguards were temporarily stunned, O-Ren, now wielding a gun fired off two successive shots, costing the first man his leg before her second shot decapitated him on sight. His colleague later died seconds, having suffered the same fate and after that, O-Ren escaped.

Nine years later and at the age of 20, O-Ren had managed to become one of the top female assassins in the world and was later seen standing on a rooftop, wielding a sniper rifle which she used to kill a presumably corrupt government official much to the horror of the two women accompanying him.

O-Ren's expertise in sword fighting and espionage tactics which led her to eventually became part of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad where she was code-named Cottonmouth. She worked for the squad for five years, and then she left the squad after torturing The Bride, a fellow Viper Squad member during her wedding ceremony along with the rest of the squad members.

Four years later, when she was 29 years old, she became the head of the Tokyo Yakuza with the help of Bill (Kill Bill) who was her leader in the Deadly Viper Squad, and was known as the Queen of Underworld Tokyo. She even has her own bodyguard army known as the Crazy 88 led by Johnny Mo, and her own personal bodyguard, Gogo Yubari.

Personality
For being born an American, O-Ren was very skillful in speaking English as well as Japanese, her native language. She was extremely proud of her heritage and will not hesitate to kill anyone especially her own subordinates who dared to insult her family heritage because she loved her parents very much and would not tolerate being spoken to in an ill mattered way. Despite this, she was calm and level headed most of the time. She even encouraged her subordinates to speak their minds about her plans if they are not too convinced, as long as it is in a respectful matter and does not have anything to do with her background. For being a female, she was an expert in business leadership. She did show some concern for her close subordinates. This was shown when she saw her best friend and Second-in-Command Sofie Fatale, who had her left arm cut off from The Bride with her sword.

Plot
While visiting the club called " The House of Blue Leaves", she was pursued by The Bride since she was part of The Bride's assassination list. During her encounter with The Bride, she had Gogo and the Crazy 88 fight against The Bride while she makes her quiet escape. However, The Bride managed to kill nearly all of O-Ren's bodyguards and finally caught up with her.

Outside the club, O-Ren and the Bride engaged in combat with their swords in the snow. As the fight resumes, O-Ren injuried and mocked the The Bride by referring to her as a foolish white girl who likes to play with Samurai swords, which leads O-Ren to recieve a wound from The Bride.



She apologizes for her earlier insult, and The Bride forgave her, but she kills O-Ren by scalping off her head, revealing the top of her brain cut off. In her last, dying breath, O-Ren was able to recognize the Bride's sword as a Hanzo Hattori blade after being close enough to actually see the symbol and for feeling the sharpness of the blade.