Nobu Yoshioka

"You are a worthy opponent. It is an honor to claim your life."

- Nobu Yoshioka to Daredevil

Nobu Yoshioka is a Japanese businessman and the leader of an ancient ninja clan organization known as the Hand. He serves as a major antagonist of the Netflix exclusive series Marvel's Daredevil, as the quaternary antagonist in Season 1 and the main antagonist of Season 2, as leader of the Hand.

He is played by Peter Shinkoda.

Working with Fisk
Nobu Yoshioka is a businessman who acted as the leader and representative of the the mysterious Japanese organization, the Hand, in Wilson Fisk's criminal cartel. In exchange for investments from his organization, he requested a block of Hell's Kitchen and Fisk's assistance in transporting special items and weapons from Japan. However, nobody in Fisk's cartel were sure what Nobu and his organization actually contributed to their group. Nobu would also make a habit of reminding Fisk about the threat his organization posed to his criminal empire to ensure he continued working for their interests.

Nobu later organized the delivery of a child from Japan to New York City, which was referred to as "Black Sky". However, as his men were escorting Black Sky away, the delivery was interrupted by Daredevil and Stick, with the latter killing the child by stabbing him in the heart and fleeing. Nobu blamed Fisk for the delivery's failure as he had guaranteed the safety of Black Sky and informed him the difficulty of finding another one. Though Fisk denied being responsible as he fulfilled his obligations, which was ensuring the police would not interfere, and blamed the failure on Nobu alone. Angered, Nobu threatened to renegotiate the terms of their contract, resulting in Fisk apologizing, before leaving in frustration.

When Nelson and Murdock delayed the eviction of all tenants of a particular building in Hell's Kitchen, Nobu stormed in on a meeting between Fisk and James Wesley to demand the building be delivered to him as promised. Fisk attempted to offer other buildings instead, but Nobu refused and insisted on the one he requested, telling Fisk the people he represented would not accept a change in plans. Fisk then suggested that Nobu provide a warrior to defeat Daredevil in exchange for expediting the evictions for him, which Nobu agreed to.

Confronting Daredevil
Fisk later murdered one of the protesting tenants, Elena Cardenas, and made a televised statement subtly taunting Daredevil for being unable to protect her. Fisk then allowed Daredevil to track him to a warehouse, knowing he'd come after him to seek justice for Elena's death. Upon entering the warehouse, rather than finding Fisk, Daredevil was surprised to instead find Nobu waiting for him in his Hand uniform. Nobu explained he had slowed his heartbeat to ensure his presence was a surprise to the masked vigilante, before battling him in combat.

Nobu easily gained the upper hand and lethally injured Daredevil with a Kyoketsu-shoge, slicing his skin and stabbing him in his side before dragging him across the floor. However, before Nobu could deliver the killing blow, Daredevil pulled the shoge from his side and knocked Nobu into barrels of fuel, cutting them open and drenching Nobu in the liquid. He then used a stick to break a nearby light, causing the sparks to ignite the fuel on Nobu, burning him to death.

Fisk later arrives and thanks Daredevil for his unintended assistance, admitting he had decided to eliminate Nobu and knew his pride would make him challenge Daredevil himself. Upon being asked by Wesely on what to do with the corpse, Fisk tells him to let Nobu burn.

Arrival
However, unbeknownst to both Fisk and Daredevil, Nobu later recovered from his fatal injuries and proceeded to direct the Hand's activities in New York City. Determined to find a new Black Sky, Nobu began having his men abduct and brainwash victims to provide their blood for the Black Sky's sarcophagus. When Daredevil arrives at the Hand's hideout and discovers the sarcophagus, a masked Nobu stops him and proceeds to battle with the vigilante. Once again overpowering his enemy, Nobu defeats him and enters an elevator with the sarcophagus before revealing his face to Daredevil. Shocked and confused, Daredevil claims that he should be dead, but Nobu tells him there's no such thing as death before leaving.

Nobu later has the Hand kidnap Stick to be interrogated. When Daredevil and Elektra arrive to come after Stick, Nobu and his men confront the three and he reveals to Elektra that she is Black Sky, the one destined to lead the Hand, and attempts to persuade her to accept her fate. However, she is convinced by Daredevil to turn from her destiny and she instead helps him save Stick and escape. Nobu then comes to the realization that if Black Sky is to embrace her destined fate, the Hand must first eliminate Daredevil.

Final Battle and Death
Nobu then has twenty people Daredevil previously rescued abducted and taken to a building in order to lure him into a trap. Daredevil and Elektra then arrive and manage to rescue the hostages before combating multiple Hand ninjas. Upon reaching the rooftop, the duo confront Nobu and his men, who battles and ultimately defeats the two, beating Elektra to the ground and knocking off Daredevil's mask. Nobu then attempts to stab and finish off Daredevil, but Elektra intervenes at the last second and Nobu stabs her instead, killing her.

Enraged on having lost another Black Sky, Nobu orders his men to finish off Daredevil, but Punisher unexpectedly appears and takes out his remaining ninjas with a sniper rifle while Daredevil ferociously re-engages Nobu in battle, eventually getting the upper hand and throwing Nobu screaming off the edge of the building with his Billy club cable.

Upon landing on the ground below, Nobu quickly recovered from his injuries again, but before he could leave, he is stabbed in the heart and decapitated by Stick, who tells him this time he will stay dead.