Iron Nail

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The Iron Nail in Captain America v7 #20.

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

Contents

Biography

Origin

Ran Shen

Ran Shen became a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and quickly climbed the agency's ladder, competing with Nick Fury as the number one spy in the organization for their time. Very few people in S.H.I.E.L.D. knew of his existence. In 1966, he was tasked with the assignment of bringing in two former Nazi scientists. These were Peter and Mila Hitzig who were the creators of the Alchemy Formula with them being former associates of Arnim Zola. Agent Shen was up against the very best operatives from both Soviet Russia and Hydra. After infiltrating Hydra's castle hideout to free the scientists, he and Nick Fury came to be ambushed by the infamous Winter Soldier. (Winter Soldier: The Bitter March v1 #1.NOW)

Iron Nail

In 1968, on the Chinese New Year, Shen travelled up Mount Everest where he had convinced a villager to enact a ritual using a golden lion statue to awaken a great dragon that slept below the mountain. Ran had told the man that he had to do this for the sake of his family and the villager complied. This resulted in a cave-in where Ran Shen found himself before the great Nian who had been disturbed from his slumber. Taking the proper pose, he beseeched the dragon for his power as a servant looking to aid his people and the Nian granted it after being satisfied at the mortal before him. Piercing Shen's chest with a nail, the dragon said that he would be given power if his heart was true thus giving Ran superpowers as a result. (Captain America v7 #12)

In 1969, he returned to S.H.I.E.L.D. after going missing for two years on his assignment. At the S.H.I.E.L.D. Hub Station, he was debriefed by Nick Fury and Du, Dum Dugan where the former expressed concerns over the loyalties of his agent. (Captain America v7 #13)

Overview

Personality and attributes

It was his time in S.H.I.E.L.D. showed him what he perceived to be the injustices of the world. Shen believed that action must be taken in order to break the status quo kept by the insatiable corporations looking to crush the people to achieve their bottom line. (Captain America v7 #12)

He claimed that his actions were not driven out of revenge for his wife or for himself but rather for all of mankind. Shen believed that people were born to suffer under greedy lords that ruled the modern world. Thus, he sought to bestow a magnificent gift to the planet that would be a great levelling. Ran intended to create a glorious new future where people were bonded to one another as comrades united against the common darkness. As such, he believed a single life was nothing when faced against the potential for all others to improve. According to Shen, the capitalist lords of the West only put value on wealth alone whilst he believed in ensuring the well-being of mankind as a whole. (Captain America v7 #12)

Powers and abilities

Ran Shen was born an ordinary human being with no special inherent powers or abilities. (Captain America v7 #12)

In the 1960s, he sought power from a great dragonic Nian who agreed to the pact and pierced Shen's chest with his claws. These gave Ran a variety of superhuman abilities that he could manifest at any moment. (Captain America v7 #12) From his chest, he was able to fire several nails attached to tendrils that could pierce the flesh of other beings. These were capable of draining the life energy from others and even removing unique special traits in them for a time. (Captain America v7 #13)

Whilst being part of the Chinese Communist Party, Shen began using its resources to assemble his own homegrown army. These became the Shaolin Scientist Squad that were used as part of his operations. (Captain America v7 #13)

Notes

  • The Iron Nail was created by Rick Remender and Carlos Pacheco where he made his first appearance in Captain America v7 #12 (October, 2013).

Alternate Versions

Appearances

  • Captain America v7: (2013)
  • Winter Soldier: The Bitter March v1:

External Links

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