Shang-Chi

Revision as of 04:23, 5 June 2021

Shang-Chi in Shang-Chi v1 #1.

Shang-Chi is a male comic superhero who features in Marvel Comics.

Biography

Origin

Shang-Chi was the human son of an American woman and the Chinese criminal mastermind Fu Manchu. Around 19 years ago, Fu Manchu had sought a new bride and selected an American woman as he deemed she was the scientifically perfect mother to bear his offspring. The woman did not love Fu Manchu but was drawn to the power he represented and believed that this could be passed to her child with her son being named Shang-Chi. (Special Marvel Edition v1 #15) He had a younger named Shi-Hua with the two spending time together at their father's Hunan retreat that was actually the House of the Deadly Hand. One day, Shang-Chi convinced his sister to explore the retreat where they entered into one of the rooms forbidden to them by their father. Inside, they found numerous undead bodies as part of some gristly experiments with Zheng Zu finding the pair. Zheng Zu grabbed his son to punish him with Shi-Hua grabbing a nearby weapon to strike her father in order for him to release Shang-Chi. This caused their father to become furious and he was prepared to kill Shi-Hua but Shang-Chi pleaded for her life where he promised to obey him always from that point onwards. Zheng Zu agreed to his terms but Shang-Chi never saw his sister again and believed that she had been killed by their father. (Shang-Chi v1 #2)

One of his instructors was Cho Lin and on Shang-Chi's 14th birthday it was decided to test him for his killer instinct. This saw outsider assassins being hired to attack Shang-Chi who was forced to defend himself. Afterwards, Cho Lin confessed that this was part of his fathers test which shocked the boy and became one of the reasons for turning against Fu Manchu over the brutality of his actions. (Deadly Hands of Kung Fu v1 #1)

He was raised on stories that a man named Sir Denis Nayland was an evil man and a foe of Fu Manchu with Shang-Chi being dispatched to eliminate him. Sneaking into the man's home, he found an elderly man whereupon he was ambushed by Nayland. Despite the man having a fun, Shang-Chi managed to knock out the weapon from his hand and killed the man in the bed who was Nayland' old colleague Dr. Petrie. It was then that he was prepared to end the evil of Nayland who revealed to Shang-Chi that the true evil was his father Fu Manchu. He was then told the truth about Fu Manchu's evil over the years and abandoned his mission whereupon he confronted his mother about the nature of his birth. (Special Marvel Edition v1 #15)

Master of Kung-Fu

He continued to live in quiet seclusion when he was contacted by Clive Reston who requested a meeting with him. This saw Shang-Chi travel to the south coast of Scotland to Reston's mansion but was ambushed by Si-Fan assassins. He managed to fight them off but his attackers came to flee when Wolverine arrived on the scene. The assassins then fled whilst Shang-Chi attacked Wolverine after mistaking him for another enemy. Their fight was only interrupted by the arrival of the other X-Men who had arrived on the scene. (X-Men v2 #62)

During the Civil War, he came to be recruited by Misty Knight to join her new incarnation of the Heroes for Hire that were looking to help stop superhuman crimes within the city. (Heroes for Hire v2 #1) The team was dispatched by Iron Man to arrest Captain America who was in breach of the Superhuman Registration Act. Shang-Chi decided to consult a captive Pixiu that was being held by Mister Qui in Chinatown where they used the dragon beings power to located the fugitives. Though finding Captain America's base of operations, Misty Knight refused to apprehend him though fellow team mate Paladin betrayed his comrades in order to claim the bounty on him. This saw him throw a gas grenade to knock out everyone in order to capture Captain America for S.H.I.E.L.D. who were notified of the hidden base. (Heroes for Hire v2 #2) However, Shang-Chi used ancient breathing techniques to prevent himself from inhaling the gas and came to knock out Paladin. He then revived Captain America with Steve Rogers exchanging costumes with Paladin in order to get S.H.I.E.L.D. to unknowingly apprehend the unconscious mercenary. (Heroes for Hire v2 #3)

He participated on the attack on Ricadonna's headquarters to shutdown her Skrull organ trade business where a chain reaction was triggered that destroyed the building. The Heroes of Hire managed to rescue the defeated supervillains with Ricadonna believed to had perished in the explosion. Afterwards, he and the team attended the funeral for Tarantula's family who had been killed by assassins sent by Ricadonna. (Heroes for Hire v2 #5) They were later hired by a security consultant to deal with superhuman criminal activity involving a group of thieves using exo-skeletons for their robberies in the Diamond District. Shang-Chi was with the team when their investigation led them to the docks where they uncovered a supervillain plot to conduct a terrorist attack on the city but the group of heroes were knocked out by a weapon which led to their capture. (Heroes for Hire v2 #6)

Avengers

Whilst asleep, he was attacked by assassins from the Celestial Order of the Hai-Dai where he came to sense that his father had been resurrected. Shang-Chi put up a fight against his attackers where he was aided by the Prince of Orphans who had been dispatched by Steve Rogers to help him. He was then taken to the Secret Avengers who believed that Zheng Zu was being resurrected by his followers with the team looking to stop them. (Secret Avengers v1 #6) Investigating a site for the Eyes of the Dragon, the team were ambushed by the Hai-Dai who managed to capture Shang-Chi. They intended to kill him by bleeding him to death but were stopped by Eric O'Grady who was the current Ant-Man and had been hiding in his shrunken form. The distraction allowed Shang-Chi to escape but Ant-Man accidentally damaged he controls causing the Hai-Dai ship to crash. The two heroes had escaped the crash where they were taken back by the Secret Avengers as they continued on their mission to stop the resurrection of Shang-Chi's father. (Secret Avengers v1 #7) Afterwards, the Shadow Council dispatched their operative John Steele to capture Sharon Carter during a distraction and secure her as a hostage. They told Captain America that they would release her in exchange for Shang-Chi who agreed to the matter. At the rendezvous site, the two sides performed the exchange where Steele used a gun to knock out Shang-Chi leading to a fight with Commander Rogers. Despite the Secret Avengers aid, Steele managed to escape with the unconscious Shang-Chi who met his half-resurrected father Zheng Zu where he intended to drain his son's life in order to restore himself fully. (Secret Avengers v1 #9)

When Spider-Man lost his Spider-Sense, he sought to supplement his skill set by learning martial arts with Shang-Chi where the pair trained at Iron Fist's Dojo. During this time, he helped Spider-Man develop his own unique style of martial art that was known as the Way of the Spider. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #666)

Shang-Chi was later offered a place within a new incarnation of the Avengers with the martial artist accepting the offer. (Avengers v5 #2)

He was later dispatched to an incident at Madripoor concerning the actions of the Hand who had conducted a ritual that awakened a giant dragon underneath the island. (Avengers World v1 #2) This saw Shang-Chi travelling to the temple of the ritual where he confronted the Hand's Grandmaster the Gorgon but was defeated by his foe. (Avengers World v1 #3)

New Agents of Atlas

They were ambushed by Midnight Sun who had been hired alongside other foes of Shang-Chi who were paid a bounty to hurt Domino. Despite their numbers, they were unable to succeed as Domino came to control her Mutant power to influence luck leading to them unable to approach her without suffering from random accidents. (Domino v3 #5)

Afterwards, he participated in a demonstration at Jimmy Woo's Pan-Asian School for the Unusually Gifted in Mumbai where he was invited to join the new Agents of Atlas. This came when the world came under attack from Malekith the Accursed and his Dark Council who were invading Midgard. Woo deployed the new Agents of Alas to Seoul that had come under Queen Sindr who ruled the Fire Demons of Muspelheim where they met Korean superheroes that included White Fox, Crescent and Luna Snow. (War of the Realms: The New Agents of Atlas v1 #1)

Five Weapons Society

In San Francisco's Chinatown, he helped save an elderly woman named Grandma Wang from burglars and in gratitude she offered a room by her shop for him to stay with him accepting the place. He then started to help her out at her shop but came to experience some trouble at adjusting to a normal life. This became only more complicated when Leiko Wu arrived to inform him that there was some renewed activity from his late fathers organization with them targeting Shang-Chi. They were then approached by two members of the Five Weapons Society that were his half-siblings with these including Brother Sabre and Sister Dagger. The two came to believe that Shang-Chi was Brother Hand who was meant to represent one of the five leaders of the society and that Sister Hammer intending to take over the organization. (Shang-Chi v1 #1)

He was among the chosen individuals that were selected by the Phoenix Force that were candidates to be its new host. This saw the chosen being forced to fight in a tournament by Avengers Mountain a they each fought for the right to wield the power of the Phoenix. (Avengers v8 #40)

Following the directions of the spirit guiding him, he journeyed to the tomb of Zheng Yi where he performed the necessary funeral rites for his uncle. This allowed him to converse with Zheng Yi who revealed his fathers true past and that he was actually a caring man who lost his way after his younger brothers death. (Shang-Chi v1 #4)

Overview

Personality and attributes

He was known by the title of Master of Kung Fu. (Master of Kung Fu v1 #17) Shang-Chi was also known as the Rising and Advancing of the Spirit. (Journey into Mystery v1 #514) In time, he later came to learn that he was given the title of Brother Hand in the Five Weapons Society. (Shang-Chi v1 #1) As leader of the organization, he came to be known by the title of Commander Hand though he did not like the name. (Shang-Chi v2 #1)

Such was his reputation that he was remarked as a greater martial artist than the Iron Fist. (Black Panther v4 #11)

He found that if he slowed his cadence and used 'wise' words for Westerners to look at him rather than past him when he spoke. (Shang-Chi v1 #1)

He had a blood related sister by the name of Shi-Hua who he knew from childhood until she was taken from him by their father. She came to grow to adulthood and took the name of Sister Hammer where she was a champion of one of the Five Weapon Society houses. (Shang-Chi v1 #2)

Another one of his half-sisters was named the black haired Kwai Far. (Black Panther v4 #11) He had even more siblings that were the heads of the Five Weapons Society that was maintained by his father. Among them though was Sister Hammer who was his actual sister as they shared both a mother and father with Shang-Chi spending his youth alongside her until she was taken away. (Shang-Chi v1 #1)

He had a uncle by the name of Zheng Yi though Shang-Chi was not aware of his existence until later in life. (Shang-Chi v1 #4)

Shang-Chi came to admire the violence of the new Tarantula which he noted was beautiful and akin to ballet. Though he rejected any notion that he was attracted to her with him stating that his training forbid such indulgences. (Heroes for Hire v2 #5)

Whilst at Madame Wang's shop, he met her niece Delilah who was a lawyer and was attracted to her. (Shang-Chi v1 #1)

He knew of Qui in Chinatown who was in possession of a Pixiu that was a dragon being who had violated a law of heaven causing the Jade Emperor to curse it with an appetite for gold. The egg of the Chinese demon was recovered by Qui who was one of ten chosen warriors who travelled to the Xian Ghost Mountain around 80 years ago. This Pixiu could then be given gold in exchange for using its magic for a variety of tasks such as finding people through mystical means. (Heroes for Hire v2 #2) He only ever heard rumours of the Prince of Orphans and believed the man to had been a legend. (Secret Avengers v1 #6)

Powers and abilities

Master of Kung Fu in Shang-Chi v1 #1.

Master martial artist in Master of Kung-Fu v1 #126.

Such was his training that he was raised to be a living weapon by his father. (Special Marvel Edition v1 #15)

Shang-Chi possessed such fine control of his senses that he could detect a psion that was telepathically shielding themselves from humans. (X-Men v2 #62) He was knowledgeable of century old breathing techniques that allowed him to maintain his oxygen levels in environments that contained gas that would knock out an ordinary person. (Heroes for Hire v2 #3)

It was his fighting prowess that led to him being highly sought out as a teacher where he mentored others in martial arts and hand-to-hand combat. (Domino v3 #3)

Shang-Chi was later forced to accept his position as the heir to his father and become the new leader of the Five Weapons Society. (Shang-Chi v2 #1)

Notes

• Shang-Chi was created by Steve Englehart and Jim Starlin where he made his first appearance in Special Marvel Edition v1 #15 (December, 1973).
• In American Comic Book Chronicles: The 1970s (2014), it was said that the origin of the character stemmed from Marvel Comics desire to acquire the rights to adapt Kung Fu in late 1972 but they were denied by the show's owner Warner Communications who owned DC Comics.
• On Newsarama, write Gene Luen Yang said in an interview in, "I see Shang-Chi as someone who's still trying to figure out where he fits. He grew up in this cult that was run by his maniacal, nearly-immortal father. He didn't experience the modern world until he was a young adult. He's been trying to bridge that gap ever since."

Alternate Versions

• In Master of Kung Fu v2 #1 (2015), an alternate version of Shang-Chi was shown to had resided on Earth-13116 on Battleworld. He was the son of Zheng Zu who was the Emperor of K'un Lun and head of the Ten Rings that was the Regent of his designated realm.

In other media

Films

Video games

• In Marvel Future Fight, Shang-Chi appeared as an unlockable playable character in the setting of the mobile video game.
• In Marvel Battle Lines, Shang-Chi appeared in the setting of the card game.

Appearances

• Special Marvel Edition v1: (1973)
• Deadly Hands of Kung-Fu v1:
• Journey into Mystery v1:
• X-Men v2:
• Black Panther v4: (2006)
• Heroes for Hire v2:
• Secret Avengers v1:
• Master of Kung Fu v2:
• Avengers v5:
• Totally Awesome Hulk v1:
• Iron Fist:
• Domino v3:
• War of the Realms: The New Agents of Atlas v1: (2019)
• Sword Master v1:
• Agents of Atlas v3:
• Shang-Chi v1: (2020)
• Shang-Chi v2: (2021)

External Links

• Marvel Database Entry
• Comicvine Entry
• Wikipedia Entry

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