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O-Ren Ishii (オーレン 石井 Ōren Ishii) is a fictional character in Quentin Tarantino's 2003 film Kill Bill, portrayed by Lucy Liu.

O-Ren Ishii

Ishii is an American of Chinese and Japanese heritage. When she was still very young, her parents were brutally murdered by a Yakuza crime lord, Boss Matsumoto, before her very eyes, whilst she hid in terror. She then spent the remainder of her childhood years training herself to be a ruthless killing machine so that she could get revenge; she finally got it by posing as a child prostitute and stabbing him to death when she was 11 years old. By 20 she was already one of the world's top assassins.

She came to be in the employ of Bill and became a member of The Deadly Viper Assassination Squad, along with Beatrix Kiddo; her codename was Cottonmouth. She participated in the attack on Kiddo's wedding rehearsal, leaving Kiddo in a coma.

One year later, Ishii became the head of the Tokyo Yakuza, over the objections of the son of one of its founding members, Boss Tanaka, who looked down upon her mixed ethnic makeup. She stifled this criticism by decapitating him instantly. She then told her subordinate bosses that they were free to question her on any of her decisions, and that she would take the time to convince them in a civilized manner. She also stated that no subject was to be "taboo" around her, except the one voiced by Boss Tanaka. If any of them were to bring up her Chinese or American heritage as a negative, she would "collect their fucking head."

Ishii also had her own personal army of sword-wielding, masked punks known as the Crazy 88. She ruled over her criminal empire with the help of her lawyer, second lieutenant, and best friend, Sofie Fatale.

Ishii would become the first target of Beatrix Kiddo, considering she was the easiest to find. In a Japanese nightclub called The House of Blue Leaves, Kiddo overcame not only the Crazy 88, but also Ishii's bodyguard, Gogo Yubari (Chiaki Kuriyama), who proved a challenge with her Meteor hammer.

Ishii then faced off with Kiddo in a duel. Ishii entered the fight knowing she was at a disadvantage, as she did not possess a Hattori Hanzo sword. The battle took place outside in a moonlit, snow-covered garden. This scene is a tribute to the cult film Lady Snowblood, on which Ishii's character was based. The fight ends when Kiddo slashes off the crown of Ishii's head. Next to Bill, she meets the most dignified end of all the Deadly Vipers; on her feet, sword in her hand and enemy before her, the death of a True Samurai Warrior.

It seems as if O-Ren and Kiddo had more of a friendship than any of the other members of The Deadly Viper Assassination Squad. Neither of them held any hatred for the other, and the two even had an inside joke - "Trix are for kids," a play on Beatrix Kiddo's name. Also, besides Bill himself, Kiddo felt the greatest regret in killing O-ren, as revealed by her trembling on the verge of tears as she accepted O-ren's apology (this being a sign of their friendship in of itself), and her weary collapse after she has slain her.