Mandarin (Marvel)

Latest revision as of 10:30, 30 June 2023

The Mandarin in Invincible Iron Man v1 #511.

The Mandarin is a male comic supervillain who features in Marvel Comics.

Biography

Origin

Wielding his rings power in Tales of Suspense v1 #50.

The Mandarin

According to one account, his father was descended from Genghis Khan himself but had married beneath his status by being wedded to a high born Englishwoman. Upon his son's birth, his father died when an idol fell on him thus killing him whilst his mother died shortly afterwards of a broken heart. The orphaned child fell under the care of his fathers sister who resented the boy as he was heir to her brothers fortune and could not inherit it as a result. (Tales of Suspense v1 #62) According to one account by him, he claimed to be a respectable and educated aristocrat, born from an English noblewoman and a direct descendant of Genghis Khan. (Invincible Iron Man Annual v1 #1)

Whilst exploring the vessel, he found a helmet that contained a mental-impulse log from its pilot who was Axonn-Karr of Maklu-4 who claimed to be an explorer. From these recordings, he had learnt of the worlds the alien being had visited and his fate as his alien dragon-like form saw him being attacked by humans leading to him being mortally wounded with him dying in the process. Thus, the legend of dragons was said to had come to the lands of China with these stemming from Axonn-Karr and his vessel that had resided in the Valley of Spirits. whilst exploring the vessel, he came upon its power source that were ten gems that resided in ring-shaped constructs that the Mandarin took them for himself as he sought to use their power to become the master of Earth. He then set up his base at a nearby castle where he studied the science of Maklu-4 and went through the logs of the alien pilot as well as applied his newly developed knowledge on the rings. The Mandarin determined that each of the rings contained a separate power and he utilised them in dominating nearby villages through the use of the power of the mind control ring. (Tales of Suspense v1 #62)

One day in China, he was present to witness a young girl alongside her peasant father where she carried an abacus on her instead of a doll. She was nearly crushed by a rickshaw that her father was pulling but was saved by the Mandarin. He had been impressed at the potential of the girl and offered to educate her. The girls father was grateful and said that his along with his daughters lives now belonged to their benefactor. Sent to a lamasery, the child worked diligently to prove her worth to her patron where she studied for many years in many skills and ancient arts. (Tales to Astonish v1 #66)

He came to be the patron for a number of revolutionaries in the region. (Iron Man: Enter the Mandarin v1 #1) This included operations in south-east Asia where he was a benefactor to the warlord Wong-Chu. (Iron Man v1 #267) It was claimed that it was his support which led to the man being turned from a nobody into a fearsome force in the region. He had Wong-Chu capture the scientist Ho Yinsen in order for him to unlock the secrets of the rings in the Mandarin's possession. When Yinsen failed to produce results, the Mandarin drew in industrialist Tony Stark into the area and had Wong-Chu capture the man in the belief that both him and Yinsen could produce better results. (Iron Man v1 #268)

The Mandarin

Iron Man's armor was heavily damaged and Stark himself seriously injured battling his foe, but managed to escape after detonating the Mandarin's castle. Following his battle with Iron Man, the Mandarin then began to study his foe. Learning that Iron Man was in the 'employ' of Tony Stark, he believed that this was an attack on him by the western world and began accelerating his plans for global conquest, ordering his sleeper agents all over the globe to become active. (Iron Man: Enter the Mandarin v1 #2) Then Ebenezer Laughton was approached by the Mandarin's sleeper agents who created the Scarecrow identity for him, but the Scarecrow failed to defeat him. With his most recent plan a failure, the Mandarin then sent his son Temugin to infiltrate Stark Industries with orders to kill Tony Stark and Iron Man. (Iron Man: Enter the Mandarin v1 #3)

Among the Mandarin's earliest schemes was the sabotage and theft of American missiles and spy planes built by Tony Stark. To restore public confidence in his workmanship, Stark donned his Iron Man armor and flew to China to investigate. (Tales of Suspense v1 #54) Iron Man foils the Mandarin's plot to collect missiles which the Mandarin has stolen, and destroying the device before riding one of the stolen US missiles back to the States. (Tales of Suspense v1 #55) Mandarin set up a satellite in orbit and used it to destroy Stark's home. While Iron Man survived all watching believe that Tony Stark is killed in the explosion. Learning that it was the Mandarin, Iron Man flew to stop his arch-foe, only to be bombarded and weakened from blasts from the Mandarin's rings once he gets into close proximity of the Mandarin's base. Weakened he battles the Mandarin's robot guard Koto, who easily defeated Iron Man. It was then he revealed his origin to Iron Man. (Tales of Suspense v1 #61) Breaking loose of the Mandarin's trap, Iron Man then stops the rocket from hitting its target by redirecting it back at the Chinese military, leaving them to believe that the Mandarin had betrayed them. (Tales of Suspense v1 #62)

After Iron Man joined the Avengers, the Mandarin came to consider the superhero team to be his enemies by extension. As part of his plans against them, he became aware of the mercenary known as the Swordsman and had use of his services. Thus, he teleported him away from the scene when he was ready to be captured by the Avengers. The Mandarin had a need of the Swordsman as he wanted to eliminate the heroes. He wanted the mercenary to infiltrate the Avengers and destroy them from within where he intended to upgrade his sword. However, the Swordsman refused to work for anyone but he was helpless before the Mandarin's power rings that forced his compliance. (Avengers v1 #20)

The Mandarin escaped by means of his teleportation machinery and he materialized aboard his orbiting satellite. Once there, he constructed a gemlike device capable of broadcasting 'hate-rays' towards Earth. The Mandarin, using his teleportation technology, assembles several former enemies of the Avengers to perform missions for him: the Living Laser, who attacks Asia with Ultimo, but is beaten by Thor and Hawkeye; the original Power Man and the Swordsman, who, with an army of mercenaries, attacked a South American country, but are beaten by Goliath, the Wasp, and Iron Man; Amora the Enchantress; and Skurge the Executioner, who lead an army of trolls in Africa, but are beaten by Hercules and the Scarlet Witch. The Avengers manage to thwart the Mandarin's scheme after getting to the satellite, despite being hit by his hate-rays that make each of them attack the person nearest to themselves. However, the Wasp is nearest to the Mandarin and her attack on him shuts off the rays. The Mandarin is sucked into space and the Avengers are able to destroy his satellite. (Avengers Annual v1 #1)

The Mandarin then established a base in China's Gobi Desert and turned his attentions to the Hulk for a time, hoping to make the dull-witted brute an accomplice. (Incredible Hulk v1 #107) However, despite his efforts, he was not able to defeat the Hulk. (Incredible Hulk v1 #108) In response, the Mandarin hired the Sandman to take out the Hulk after his last defeat. The Hulk destroys the Mandarin's desert base and the Mandarin sends the Sandman into a hot vat, turning him to glass. The glass later shatters, and the Sandman has to recover slowly in the Mandarin's satellite den. (Incredible Hulk v1 #114)

Mandarin tried desperately to prove that Tony Stark is Iron Man. He received a Hulk android and kidnapped Janice Cord in order to see if Iron Man would try and save her. Although the Mandarin's identity was concealed by a purple rag it was clear who he was because of his costume. Iron Man was led to a factory where he destroyed the robot. (Iron Man v1 #9) He then was kidnapped for the fourth time and his mask removed. The Mandarin saw that the face under the mask was not Tony's while at the same time watching Mr. Stark giving a speech. Mandarin went into a rage allowing Iron Man who had hidden his true face under another mask giving the hero the opportunity to escape. (Iron Man v1 #10) His plans thwarted, the Mandarin tried to kill Janice but the Mandarin's betrothed Mei Ling saved her at the cost of her own life. Then the Mandarin approached the robot Stark and broke him, at which moment the real Iron Man entered and fought the Mandarin. In the middle of the fight, the Mandarin escaped with his aircraft, but was shot down and brought into custody. (Iron Man v1 #11)

The Mandarin battled Captain America in Vietnam. Mandarin explained to Cap that he captured Dr. Robert Hoskins in order to increase the conflict to decimate both sides of the war so that he can take over the region easier. Captain America broke free and rescue Hoskins. (Captain America v1 #125)

The Unicorn who was another frequent opponent of Iron Man sought the Mandarin's aid in curing him of a progressive disease. (Iron Man v1 #57) The Mandarin and the Unicorn travelled to America to attack their common enemy Iron Man, but in the heat of battle, the Mandarin found that the headband had somehow exchanged his consciousness with that of the Unicorn. The Mandarin was forced to flee, desperate to rescue himself from the Unicorn's dying body. (Iron Man v1 #58) When the Mandarin arrived at his castle in China, he found that it had been taken over by Yellow Claw, another Oriental mastermind. The Mandarin was forced to find another laboratory to try to restore his brain back to its rightful body. (Iron Man v1 #68) With the unwilling aid of the Japanese mutant Sunfire, the Mandarin restored his mind to its rightful body. In battle with Iron Man again, the Mandarin's interim headquarters was destroyed. (Iron Man v1 #69) The Mandarin then launched an attack on the Yellow Claw in an attempt to regain his own castle. The Mandarin was fatally injured when the Yellow Claw robot he had been battling exploded. (Iron Man v1 #70) As the Mandarin lay dying, he used the headband's mind-transferring capacities to transfer his consciousness into his ten rings. When the rings were confiscated by the Yellow Claw's power-hungry servant Loc Do, the Mandarin's consciousness entered Loc Do's body, permanently driving out Loc Do's. (Iron Man v1 #99) Using his Matter-Rearranger ring, the Mandarin transformed Loc Do's body into a younger duplicate of his original one. The Mandarin returned to his castle, discovering that it had again been destroyed. (Iron Man v1 #98) After rebuilding it, the Mandarin attempted to capture Iron Man using his teleportation devices, but once again caught someone else clad in his armor. This time it was Michael O'Brien, who would later become a friend of Stark's. Iron Man flew to O'Brien's rescue, clad in an old set of armor, thwarted his attempt to bomb the United States, saved him, and for a second time bested the Mandarin in personal combat. Perhaps due to the effect of the Mandarin's mental domination ring on him, Iron Man did not take the Mandarin into custody, but permitted him to remain free to launch further threats against the world. (Iron Man v1 #101) The Mandarin later schemed to transform the Vibranium mound in the African country of Wakanda into isotopic form that destroys the molecular cohesion of metals. He was thwarted by Iron Man and the Black Panther. (Iron Man Annual v1 #5)

Later, while Anthony Stark was trying to set up a branch of Stark Enterprises in Hong Kong, Iron Man and the Mandarin came into conflict yet again. The Mandarin had taken the name of Zhang Tong, and had become a financial leader in Hong Kong. As Tong, he controlled a number of government officials and industry leaders of Hong Kong. The Mandarin thwarted all of Stark's attempts to set up a business branch, even resorting to murder. (Iron Man v1 #241) The Mandarin now employed a group of followers, called the Hand, to do his dirty work. While on missions for the Mandarin, members of the Hand were allowed to take one of the Mandarin's rings and use its powers. If the Hand member was captured, he would fanatically try to kill himself. If the Hand member was killed or knocked out, the ring would automatically teleport back to the Mandarin. (Iron Man v1 #242)

At one point, the mutant heroine Psylocke passed through the mystic portal known as the Siege Perilous. The portal transformed Psylocke slightly and relocated her to an Asian shore, where she immediately encountered the Hand assassin Kwannon and the two somehow merged their minds/personalities. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #256) The Hand brought Psylocke to the Mandarin, who oversaw Psylocke's transformation into the Hand's ultimate assassin. During this time, the Mandarin teamed up with several other villains during the Acts of Vengeance. Psylocke was eventually rescued by her X-Men teammates Wolverine and Jubilee, and Psylocke defeated the Mandarin, causing events which led to the Mandarin's exile from the Hand. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #258)

Dragonseed

Travelling to Chinatown, he navigated its narrow streets to find the shop of Chen Hsu in order to claim the last ring. The shopkeeper willingly gave it to the Mandarin who lost consciousness after all rings were active once more. (Iron Man v1 #260) Upon regaining consciousness, Chen Hsu offered to aid the Mandarin in achieving his goals and used his mystical knowledge to remove the shadows over the warlords memory. The Mandarin then returned to the guarded Valley of the Sleeping Dragon in order to enter into through the mountain doorway to seek an audience with the ancient dragon Fin Fang Foom. (Iron Man v1 #262) He then offered a pact with the awakened dragon where the two of them would work together to shape the world. (Iron Man v1 #263) In China, he and Chen Hsu's control over Fin Fang Foom, had allowed them to take over one-third of the entire country. (Iron Man v1 #264) Chen Hsu grew annoyed at the Mandarin arrogance he threatened him he would reveal his true form. (Iron Man v1 #265) The Mandarin sent a message to the Chinese government declaring that he expected them to yield total and complete control over the entire country over to him. Failure to do so will incur the wrath of the Mandarin and Fin Fang Foom. (Iron Man v1 #266) The Mandarin had a nightmare that Chen Hsu told him represented his mortality. (Iron Man v1 #268) The Mandarin exercised by defeating four of China's best warriors in unarmed combat, slaying one who panicked by trying to use a weapon from Mandarin's wall display, then told Chen Hsu he has focused his chi and is ready. (Iron Man v1 #269)

During the battle, eight other dragons came to appear on the scene. (Iron Man v1 #273) It was revealed that many thousands of years ago, a number of aliens from the planet Kakaranthara, fourth planet of the star Maklu, travelled to Earth to look for the conflict which was unknown in their culture, and which they craved. The ship crashed, stranding them on Earth for thousands of years, after which the Mandarin found the ship and claimed their rings. (Iron Man v1 #274) They now demanded them back, but he refused them. Iron Man forcibly combined his power with the rings, and managed to destroy the Makluan dragons. (Iron Man v1 #275) The blast vaporized the Mandarin's hands, and rendered him comatose. (Iron Man v1 #276)

Heart of Darkness

Iron Man infected Mandarin with a techno-organic virus, and the orb, seeing him infected with technology, rejected the Mandarin and imploded. Iron Man believed him dead, but in reality the Mandarin was transported and transformed by the last flare of the orb's magic, turned into a janitor in the Hong Kong branch of Stark Enterprises. (Iron Man v1 #312)

Eventually, Mandarin's memories returned to him and instead of trying to crush technology, Mandarin believed that the feudal system of yesterday had merely been transformed into the capitalism of today. (Iron Man v3 #1) Mandarin set plans into motion to create a giant flying fortress called the Dragon of Heaven. (Iron Man v3 #2) With this, he intended to conquer Russia and eventually the world. (Iron Man v3 #3) During this time, Iron Man reappeared after being believed dead in a battle against the psychic menace Onslaught. The Mandarin initiated a series of attacks on Iron Man, culminating in a battle in the Dragon of Heaven. (Iron Man v3 #9) Mandarin's primary purpose was not conquering Russia, but to test Iron Man and prove him worthy as a foe and to justify Mandarin's own thoughts on capitalism. Ultimately, Iron Man was successful in destroying the Dragon and ending the threat posed by the Mandarin. The Mandarin himself appeared to had died as the Dragon of Heaven exploded, but Iron Man was not convinced that his foe has truly met his end. (Iron Man v3 #10)

One day, Temugin receives a package containing the severed hands of the Mandarin, bearing all 10 rings of power. Temugin knows that he is honor-bound to fulfill his father's wishes for him. He challenges Iron Man to avenge his father's death, and he proves a deadly adversary even without the rings. (Iron Man v3 #15)

Return

The aged khan later came to be a prisoner deprived of his rings and kept at the An Hu Po State Psychiatric Facility where he was chained in his cell in the Nei Mongol Province in China. He remained in a meditative state where he spoke to no one when he was approached by a terrorist who broke into the site named Karim Mahwash Najeeb. Najeeb had brought with him the ten rings and offered them back to him in exchange for him joining their cause though he only received silence as a response. This led to Karim ordering his men to kill the old man as he was angered at being rebuffed but the Mandarin broke himself free under his own power where he killed the majority of the terrorists with one killing Najeeb as he supplicated himself to the Mandarin. (Iron Man v4 #16) He then proceeded to fuse the rings to his spine as he lacked hands to wield them and left the facility where he began to rebuild his power base over the next five months. (Iron Man v4 #17)

At some point, he cam to establish a new persona as Tem Borjigin who was a Chinese businessman from Hong Kong where he joined the biotech market and became the CEO of Prometheus Gentech. By this point, his epiphany over heralding the evolution of humanity and restoring the balance to mankind could be achieved through the Extremis Enhancile. He had intended to weaponise the virus and release it into the world where it would kill billions whilst the millions that the necessary gene would survive where they would become stronger as a result. The Mandarin himself would die in the great culling but he believed this to be a necessary sacrifice to usher in a world where humans would become god-like beings. For his goals, he required the services of Extremis's creator Dr. Maya Hansen and thus enlisted the services of Secretary Jack Kooning of the Defense Department. Kooning believed that the partnership with Prometheus would bring about a new generation of supersoldiers for the U.S. and arranged for Dr. Hansen to be delivered to Borjigin whilst being unaware of his true identity. (Invincible Iron Man v1 #25) Thus, CEO Tem Borjigin was present as Dr. Hansen was delivered to him where he offered her an invitation to the project to perfect Extremis that was seemingly done so for the goal of national defense. (Invincible Iron Man v1 #18) He had Dr. Hansen perfect Extremis where it could be dispersed into the air but she began to worry about it becoming a pandemic leading to her encoding programmed cell-death into the virus. This was a safeguard with her not being aware of Borjigin's true intentions with her actions being an obstruction to his plans. (Invincible Iron Man v1 #24) Tem came to claim that their employers at the Defense Department insisted on an open source on Extremis and attempted to force her to undo her safeguards. Maya attempted to confront Jack Kooning about this matter where he came to be horrified at Borjigin's intentions of using Extremis as a W.M.D. (Invincible Iron Man v1 #25)

The Mandarin freed Ezekiel Stane, the boyfriend of his daughter Sasha Hammer, from prison in order to use Stane's genius for his own end, as a tool to destroy Tony Stark. (Invincible Iron Man v2 #33)

With three Titanomechs done, the Mandarin took three of his rings and put them on the machines. However, the Mandarin didn't have everything under control, as Stark and Ezekiel were planning on rebelling against their "master," for which Tony enlisted the help of fellow prisoners. (Invincible Iron Man v1 #523) Blizzard, Living Laser and Whirlwind heeded the call. Additionally, Resilient was able to use the microbots known as the Swarm to track down Tony's repulsor tech and find him. The Mandarin was informed that Resilient was looking for Stark, and decided to finish with him, even if that endangered the production of the final Titanomechs. In that moment, Tony and his allies started the rebellion against him. (Invincible Iron Man v1 #524) While Whirlwind, Blizzard and Living Laser destroyed the Mandarin's armories, Stark tried to fight the Titanomechs, and Ezekiel, to destroy a gigantic drill the Mandarin had built for an unrevealed purpose. During the final showdown against the Mandarin, the drill was activated and its purpose was revealed: it was going to drill the Earth to access its core, to fuel the Titanomechs. (Invincible Iron Man v1 #525) The Dynasty and the Triumph Division arrived just in time to turn the tide of the battle in Stark's favor. Meanwhile, Resilient repurposed the Swarm to power up Stark, who in turn weaponized it and used it to destroy the Titanomechs and the drill. At the same time Stark was dealing with the Titanomechs, Stane had taken the Mandarin on one-on-one and killed him. (Invincible Iron Man v1 #526)

Rings of the Mandarin

In the aftermath of his death, the Mandarin's rings were confiscated and placed in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Weapons Vault Omega alongside other dangerous weapons. (Iron Man v5 #20) The artificial intelligence of the rings was then upgraded leading to them developing sentience. (Iron Man v5 #28) This saw the majority escaping captivity in order to seek wielders whilst the Liar Ring remained behind to project a telepathic illusion to make everyone believe the rings remained in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s custody. (Iron Man v5 #20) Each of the rings sought out wielders to destabilise the planet and had a hatred of Tony Stark with them seeking users that sought revenge against him. This was until one came upon Malekith the Accursed who began claiming each of the rings for himself with him typically murdering the other ring wielders. (Iron Man v5 #23) This act threatened the plans of the rings who decided to unify their Mandarin wielders in fighting their common threat posed by the Dark Elf leading to them attacking him in his native realm. (Iron Man v5 #25) The other Mandarin wielders united in attacking Malekith who discarded the ring with these individuals looking to continue their own respective schemes. (Iron Man v5 #26) The Mandarins then began to work together where they embarked on their respective schemes against the world and also targeted Tony Stark. However, Iron Man had come to find their base of operations located underground and used a specially made Master Ring to shut down the rings that were contained with most of their users being apprehended. (Iron Man v5 #28)

Despite his seeming death, the Mandarin himself returned and formed into an alliance with Baron Zemo who was looking to turn the island of Bagalia into a sovereign state. To that end, as Tem Borjigen he was assigned as the country's foreign representative where he used his ruthless talents to convince ambassadors in the United Nation's to recognise the state. Those that refused were murdered by the Mandarin which brought some tension between him and Zemo who wanted to appear more legitimate. He later attended a press conference in New York as part of the efforts at getting Bagalia recognised where he was shot in the head by the Punisher armed with a sniper rifle with a bullet able to pierce his personal shield. (Punisher v12 #1)

Overview

Personality and attributes

Planning to conquer the world in Invincible Iron Man v1 #525.

On one occasion, he was referred to as the Master Khan. (Iron Man v4 #16) An identity he once used in order to operate in society was that of Tem Borjigin. (Iron Man v4 #18) Under this persona, he was a Chinese man who defected to Hong Kong decades ago where it was claimed that he was a businessman that specialised in biotech. (Invincible Iron Man v1 #25) Initially, he preferred to operate as a legend as he did not want the world to be aware of his plans to dominate it. (Avengers v1 #20)

The Mandarin was said to had been a proud man as the blood of the Khan's resided in his veins. (Tales of Suspense v1 #62) He considered himself the living embodiment of earthly power and that all men feared him. (Iron Man v1 #260) To the Mandarin, power and the accumulation of power was all that mattered in the world. (Iron Man v1 #267)

At one point, he felt aimless in life as despite his untold power he found that his dreams crashing one after the other. This made him question himself until he had an epiphany where he looked to his ancestor Genghis Khan who ruled a vast empire based on a meritocracy. He believed that like the balance of nature that the power that was wielded was based on in-born strength, speed ruthless ingenuity. Under this system, the strong survived and the stronger came to rule. As such, he came to believe that this perfect order was somewhat subverted when he gained the Malukkian ten rings where he foolishly was convinced for decades that he was destined to rule over mankind. The Mandarin then concluded that the cosmic wisdom of the Malukkians was that he was to be a living example of the next step in the evolution of the human species. In that role, he believed his true destiny was to restore the balance of mankind through elevation rather than enslavement. He was even prepared to die in the great culling that would see billions die whilst millions would grow stronger as they became god-like beings. (Invincible Iron Man v1 #25)

He was raised by his aunt who was his fathers sister where she taught him to hate the world the way she had hated everyone. She came to die the moment the family's fortune was stripped from them by the government thus leaving the Mandarin all alone in the world. Despite her death, he did not mourn for her as he had been taught not to shed tears as per his status as a nobleman. (Tales of Suspense v1 #62)

As the Mandarin, he came to be impressed over the daughter of a peasant man after seeing her intelligence. He then offered to educate her and sent her to a lamasery to be trained in ancient arts as well as skills. By adulthood, she came to take the name of Madame Macabre where she developed the means of shrinking objects. She looked to find a means of enlarging objects as well where she was assisted in her endeavours by her servant Gogo. (Tales to Astonish v1 #66)

Powers and abilities

In his youth to adulthood, much of his fortune was used to teach him the sciences of the world and the art of warfare along with the crafts of villainy. (Tales of Suspense v1 #62) He was noted for his intelligence but also for his seeming superhuman strength. He had been trained in a number of martial arts among which included Karate. (Tales of Suspense v1 #50) The Mandarin was said to be the one man on the planet to had deciphered Malukkian script. (Invincible Iron Man v1 #21)

From the Maklu-4 spacecraft, he discovered ten small rings that contained gems within them which had powered the vessel allowing it to travel cross galaxies. Each were said to contain unlimited energy where each had a separate power. (Tales of Suspense v1 #62) These power rings each represented a different mighty weapon and thus contained a different power. (Tales of Suspense v1 #50) Among the rings included:

• Incandescence Ring : the incandescence ring contained the miniature heart of a star that could scorch the air around it. (Invincible Iron Man Annual v1 #1) The incinerator was a portal to the heart of a star with its abilities ranging from simple fire projection to solar flare emission. (Iron Man v5 #23) With this power, the user could generate a solar flare and an electromagnetic pulse as a side effect. (Iron Man v5 #20)
• Remaker Ring : it shattered and re-imagined the relationship of matter on a subatomic level. (Invincible Iron Man Annual v1 #1) This gave it the capacity to operate functionally as alchemy by freely remaking any substance subatomically. (Iron Man v5 #23)
• Liar Ring : able to create world upon world of illusionary fables that were able impossible to escape but could also affect the wearer. (Invincible Iron Man Annual v1 #1) These operated by crafting telepathic illusions that could fool organic beings such as humans though not artificial intelligences. (Iron Man v5 #20)
• Lightning Ring : created directable electrical atmospheric discharge. (Invincible Iron Man Annual v1 #1) The ring could tap into electrostatic energies on a planetary scale. It could generate an electron purge that used all available ring energy to negate an attack and took five seconds to recharge. (Iron Man v5 #23)
• Zero Ring : forms a beam of nothingness from the cold of outer space which also created a deafening boom as the vacuum was filled. (Invincible Iron Man Annual v1 #1)
• Nightbringer Ring : manipulated a malleable darklight of darkness. (Invincible Iron Man Annual v1 #1)
• Influence Beam Ring : created various forces that caused a body to undergo change. (Invincible Iron Man Annual v1 #1)
• Daimonic Beam Ring : utilising the irresistible urge that propelled into the unknown. (Invincible Iron Man Annual v1 #1)
• Spin Beam Ring : deaccelerated time around the user and made it appear the wearer was operating as superspeed. (Invincible Iron Man Annual v1 #1)
• Spectral Beam Ring : winded up and warped the air itself with it able to appear ghostly or disappear entirely. (Invincible Iron Man Annual v1 #1) This allowed it to disguise itself by warping the surrounding environment. At high power, it could generate a single shot disintegrated beam making it useful as part of an assassin suite of tool. (Iron Man v5 #23)

It was said that the rings were not truly rings but that they took on the shape of something understood by the user in that they were something that could be worn. They were actually vessels that contained the essence of long-dead warriors of cosmic legend that were trapped in a phantasmal state contained in a form of a hard drive. As a result, the user became a vessel for their flesh as they sought to means of resurrection. (Invincible Iron Man v1 #522) Each ring also contained a quarantined Makluanian artificial intelligence weapon for when they were separated from their wielder. Their programming was to analyse the situation on a planetary scale and attempt to influence it to something more favourable to general cosmic principles. (Iron Man v5 #28) They were able to engage in time dilation where they slowed reality running for their user to give them time to make their decisions. A ring could also run the nervous system of a host in order to fulfil desired functions with maximum efficiency. Reaction speed, however, did not allow the user faster reflexes thus meaning that they could respond to an attack but not evade them. (Iron Man v5 #20) A virtual communication nexus for the ring sentience's existed in a place called the Ring of Rings. (Iron Man v5 20.INH)

After losing his hands, he was once known to had fused the rings directly into his spine. (Iron Man v4 #17)

He was able to upgrade the equipment of other supervillains thus increasing their power with them being similar to his own rings. However, he introduced a feature that caused them to turn against the user if they were ever wielded against him. (Avengers v1 #20)

At one point, he made use of a giant highly advanced and heavily armed dragon-themed aircraft called the Dragon of Heaven. (Iron Man v3 #9)

In the guise of Tem Borjigin, he came to be the CEO of a company called Prometheus Gentech that specialised in biotech research. (Invincible Iron Man v1 #18)

Among his followers were a team of superpowered agents who were known as the Avatars of the Mandarin. (Force Works v1 #6)

He came to acquire his own piece of land called Mandarin City that was located off the mainland coast. (Invincible Iron Man Annual v1 #1)

Notes

• The Mandarin was created by Stan Lee and Don Heck where he made his first appearance in Tales of Suspense v1 #50 (February, 1964).
• According to Don Heck : A Work of Art 1st Ed (2014), Heck had noted on the characters creation, "That was Stan Lee's character, really. He wanted him because he was thinking of, oh, one of those old stories that they had years ago Fu Manchu and that's what he said to me. He said, 'I want a character like Fu Manchu.'"
• In Agents of Atlas v1 #6 (2007), it was said that the Mandarin was likely a descendant of the Khan's alongside Fu Manchu.
• In 2009, the Mandarin was ranked as IGN's 81st-greatest comic book villain of all time in their list.

Alternate Versions

• In Iron Lantern v1 #1 (1997), an alternate version of the Mandarin appeared in Amalgam Comics where he was merged with Sinestro from DC Comics to create the Mandarinestro on Earth-9602.
• In House of M: Avengers v1 #4 (2008), an alternate version of the Mandarin was referenced to had existed in the House of M reality that was set on Earth-58163 in the Multiverse. He was said to be a long-dead Chinese warlord famous for his supernatural rings. The rings that were still bonded to the Mandarin's mummified hands were apparently uncovered by Shang-Chi and his gang the Dragons but this was revealed to had been a trap set by the Kingpin.
• In Ultimate Comics Iron Man v1 #1 (2012), a version of the Mandarin appeared in the Ultimate Marvel reality set on Earth-1610 in the Multiverse. This version was an organization named Mandarin International which was an inventions company which helped Stark International to boost it during its fledgling days. When Howard Stark realized the true evil nature of Mandarin International, he decided to end their collaboration. As they would never be able to be alongside Stark Industries again because of Howard, they set their hopes on his son, Tony, who soon was going to take control of the company. Stark was focused on his romantic life with his girlfriend rather than work, so the Mandarin killed her in order to make Tony throw himself into his inventions.
• In Masters of Kung-Fu (2015), a composite character of the Mandarin and Zheng Zu was shown to reside on Battleworld where he was the ruling baron of K'un Lun. When the Beyonders destroyed all of reality, Doctor Doom created a safe haven where he lived as a god-king with this world being known as Battleworld. On this planet, there was a realm known as K'un Lun where Zheng Zu had arisen to become the emperor of this land and ruler of the Ten Rings. Under his rule came a hundred year old reign of prosperity through terror until the doors of the Thirteen Chambers opened for the next trial that determined the new ruler. In this time, his son Shang-Chi was a vagrant and a drunk who resented his fathers rule. (Master of Kung Fu v2 #1)

In other media

Television

• In The Marvel Super Heroes, the Mandarin appeared in the Iron Man segments of the animated television series where he was voiced by actor Henry Ramer.
• In Iron Man, the Mandarin appeared as the primary antagonist of the 1990s animated television series where he was voiced by actor Ed Gilbert in Season 1 and by actor Robert Ito in Season 2. This version was Arnold Brock who was an archaeologist that stumbled upon a buried alien spaceship protected by clay warriors. After touching the ship's crystalline power source, he was altered by its power and discovered 10 gems within, which he fastened into his slain wife's rings to harness their powers. After using them to battle Iron Man and Force Works throughout the first season, the Mandarin loses his rings and spends most of the second season traveling around the world to find them. He eventually reclaims them and uses the Heart of Darkness' power to rob the world of technology. However, Iron Man defeats him by turning his own energy against him, costing him the right hand rings and giving him amnesia. As Iron Man leaves Brock, a group of mountain bandits find the latter and kill him for his remaining rings.
• In Iron Man: Armored Adventures, Gene Khan appeared in the setting of the animated television series where he was voiced by actor Vincent Tong.
• In Marvel Disk Wars: The Avengers, the Mandarin appeared in the setting of the anime television series where he was voiced by actor Taiten Kusunoki.

Films

• In The Invincible Iron Man, the Mandarin appeared as the primary antagonist in the setting of the animated film where he was voiced by actor Fred Tatasciore.
• In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Mandarin was referenced in the setting of the shared continuity setting:
  • In Iron Man 3, the Mandarin identity was used in the setting of the live-action film. It was created by Aldrich Killian who hired an actor named Trevor Slattery to portray a terrorist that was targeting the United States.
  • In Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, the Mandarin was a name given to Xu Wenwu who was a composite character with Zheng Zu, father of Shang-Chi and was portrayed by actor Tony Leung Chiu-wai. He was revealed to had been an ancient warlord who came to find 10 mysterious rings that he wore on his arms that made him immortal along with gave him great powers. In that time, he came to form a secret empire called the Ten Rings that ruled the world from the shadows until the 1980s when his search for the mythical land of Ta Lo saw him falling in love with one of its natives. This saw him abandoning the life of a warlord as he and his wife had children until she was killed by his enemies in the Iron Gang. Around this time, he learnt that an American had used his reputation to make a foreign enemy for the United States with this being the Mandarin.

Video games

• In Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, the Mandarin appeared as a boss antagonist in the setting of the video game where he was voiced by actor James Sie.
• In Marvel: Avengers Alliance, the Mandarin appeared in the setting of the Facebook video game.
• In Marvel Heroes, the Mandarin appeared in the setting of the MMORPG video game where he was voiced again by actor Fred Tatasciore.
• In Marvel: Future Fight, Wenwu appeared as a playable character in the setting of the mobile video game.
• In Marvel Super War, Wenwu appeared as a playable character in the setting of the mobile video game.

Appearances

• Tales of Suspense v1: (1964)
• Iron Man v1:
• Avengers v1:
• Avengers Annual v1:
• Incredible Hulk v1:
• Captain America v1:
• Iron Man v3:
• Iron Man: Enter the Mandarin v1:
• Iron Man v4:
• Invincible Iron Man v1:
• Punisher v12:

External Links

• Marvel.com Entry
• Marvel Database Entry
• Comicvine Entry
• Wikipedia Entry

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