Dragon Warrior (IDW)

In the IDW continuity, the Dragon Warrior is Kitsune's centuries-old project to craft a mortal vessel capable of housing the spirit of the, her father as well as the father of her other siblings in the. Kitsune originally groomed founder Takeshi Tatsuo for this purpose, but upon his assassination by Oroku Yori, Kitsune arranged for Takeshi to be reincarnated in Yori's future son, so that Kitsune could resume crafting her Dragon Warrior.

With Saki in particular, the term "Dragon Warrior" was not merely descriptive, but used as a term of affection. Even as Kitsune intended the Dragon Warrior to become her father's new vessel, she conducted an intimate relationship with Saki, even conceiving and bearing his children.

With Saki's death in the Gauntlet in Vengeance, part 6, and Kitsune's failure to steal Saki's corpse in Fox Hunt, part 2, Kitsune's attempts to make Saki her Dragon Warrior seemed to reach a dead end. In Pantheon Family Reunion, part 1, Kitsune shared her plan with her siblings, but not only were they skeptical that any mortal could contain their father's spirit, but many were less than convinced at Kitsune's claims that her project died with Saki.