Actress: Lisa Tamashiro

Name: Yuriko Omega*Alleged name:* Yuriko Matsui*Nationality:* Japanese*Affiliation:* Empire of the Rising Sun*Role:* Psionic Commando*Programme:* Project Omega*Programme leader:* Dr Shinji Shimada*Sister:* Izumi*Powers:* Psychokinesis and psionic abilities*Equivalents:* Tanya Adams and Natasha Volkova*Appearances:* Red Alert 3, Red Alert 3: Uprising
Status: On the run, whereabouts unknown Yuriko Omega is a young Japanese woman endowed with extraordinary psychic powers, transformed by the Empire of the Rising Sun into a veritable living weapon. She is the imperial elite commando in Red Alert 3, the equivalent of Tanya amongst the Allies and Natasha Volkov amongst the Soviets.

The Omega Project

According to some reports, her real name is Yuriko Matsui. Her psychokinetic abilities manifested from childhood, notably when she managed to levitate a cat. However, these powers led to her isolation and eventually attracted the attention of Dr Shinji Shimada.

Yuriko was confined to the Shiro Sanatorium and enrolled in Project Omega. Shimada and his team of Seekers sought to amplify her abilities in order to create a human weapon capable of replacing some conventional military assets.

Subjected to experiments and particularly brutal training, Yuriko developed considerable powers but also became deeply unstable.

At the same time, she established telepathic contact with Izumi, whom she regarded as her sister.

First escape

Guided by Izumi, Yuriko attempted to escape from the sanatorium. She gradually regained her abilities, which had been artificially restricted by the scientists, then slaughtered the Soldiers and destroyed the facilities blocking her path.

She was eventually neutralised by the Rocket Angels and recaptured by Imperial forces. But for those in charge of the project, her escape proved precisely the effectiveness of their experiment: a single young woman had just inflicted considerable damage on a military facility.

Yuriko was then given the codename Omega and officially became a weapon of the Empire.

Yuriko’s clones The Seekers also created several clones, less powerful than the original but possessing comparable abilities.

This distinction is important: not all the ‘Yurikos’ encountered during the war are necessarily Yuriko Omega herself.

Some clones were notably involved in the operation of the Psionic Decimator, the Empire’s super-weapon.

A Living Weapon

Yuriko uses virtually no conventional weapons: her powers constitute her arsenal.

She can lift infantrymen and kill them with her mind, immobilise and destroy vehicles, or exert considerable force against buildings. She is also capable of mentally seizing aircraft and bringing them crashing to the ground.

The Allies quickly realise that they are not facing a mere Commando unit. A force sent to assess her capabilities is wiped out, and Yuriko is regarded as capable of taking on an entire military formation single-handedly.

She thus becomes one of the Land of the Rising Sun’s most feared weapons during the Third World War.

The Third World War

Yuriko fought under the Empire’s command and, as part of the imperial campaign, took part in the defence of Japan against the combined offensive of the Allies and the Soviets.

In the events leading up to Uprising, however, the Empire was defeated and Tokyo fell.

The Allies initially believed they had killed Yuriko during the battle, but their victim was merely a clone. The real Yuriko is found alive in the ruins of the Imperial Palace.

Given the danger she posed, she was captured and transferred to a high-security Allied facility.

Uprising

Yuriko’s campaign in Red Alert 3: Uprising simultaneously recounts her past at the sanatorium and what happens to her after the war.

The Allies imprison her at Camp Dakota, where she is kept in cryogenic confinement to neutralise her powers.

After several months, Yuriko hears Izumi’s telepathic voice once more.

Izumi reveals that Shimada is still alive and urges her to escape.

Escape from Camp Dakota

Yuriko breaks free from her confinement and makes her way through the Allied complex, defeating the forces attempting to stop her. She also frees several other prisoners.

The Allies quickly realise the scale of the threat and attempt to intercept her as she returns to Japan. Two air and naval task forces are mobilised against her.

Yuriko destroys them and continues on her way. This episode shows that her power far exceeds that of an ordinary Commando: Yuriko is now capable of taking on considerable military forces almost single-handedly.

Return to the Shiro Sanatorium

Yuriko then returns to the Shiro Sanatorium, determined to find Shimada and free Izumi.

The complex has been transformed into a fortress and is equipped, amongst other things, with inhibitors designed to neutralise her powers.

Yuriko nevertheless breaks through the defences and finally finds Shinji Shimada.

The scientist tries once again to manipulate her, but she now refuses to obey him. After destroying his last defences, including two Giga-Fortresses, Yuriko kills Shimada.

She has thus eliminated the man responsible for turning her into a weapon.

Izumi’s Betrayal

Yuriko finally finds Izumi, whom she thought she had to save.

But Izumi then reveals her true intentions.

Jealous of Yuriko’s superior power, she turns against her sister and attacks her. Yuriko’s entire escape had therefore been based in part on manipulation: she had made her way through Camp Dakota, confronted the Allies and killed Shimada, believing she was saving Izumi.

A psionic battle breaks out between the two women.

Yuriko eventually kills Izumi.## Free at last

Following the deaths of Shimada and Izumi, Yuriko leaves the ruins of the sanatorium.

For the first time in her life,no one controls her anymore.

Shimada can no longer experiment on her. The Empire can no longer use her as a weapon. The Allies can no longer imprison her, and Izumi can no longer manipulate her.

Yuriko then disappears near Tokyo. Her whereabouts and fate remain unknown.

This conclusion profoundly transforms our perception of the character. Behind one of the most destructive units in Red Alert 3 lies, above all, a young woman whose entire existence has been controlled by others.

A victim turned weapon

Yuriko thus stands in stark contrast to Tanya Adams and Natasha Volkova.

Tanya and Natasha are elite Soldiers who have chosen a military career. Yuriko is, above all, the product of an experimental programme.

The Empire discovered her powers, imprisoned her, amplified them, cloned her and then sent her into battle. Her violence and instability are inextricably linked to the experiments she underwent.

Her relationship with the Empire is therefore very different from that of characters such as Yoshiro, Tatsu or Shinzo: Yuriko does not truly represent imperial ideology; she represents what the Empire was prepared to do to obtain the perfect weapon.