Fu Manchu

Origin

Fu Manchu is an oriental genius who is the master of modern science and the ancient mystical arts. He is the mastermind and leader of the Si-Fan cult. His main goal over the decades has been to destroy the western world. He was born in 1840. He was a scientist by nature. His quest for knowledge was insatiable. His genius drove him to discover things of a dark and unnatural nature. Nothing was out of bounds. His experiments led to things that were eventually regarded as forbidden and eventually led him to criminal activities as he also employed those of the dark arts to do his bidding. Anything he wanted or needed to complete his desires would be not denied him as he amassed untold wealth and unlimited resources.

Fu Manchu is also master of deception and disguise and used these skills in the western world and its politics which became his focus. He would plot to hypnotize politicians to perform in the service of Fu Manchu. He would kidnap noteworthy scientists to perform their experiments to help aid in his quest for knowledge. These disappearances or accidental deaths ultimately caught the attention of MI 6,a British secret service. For decades Fu Manchu and his minions would wage war against M.I. 6 and most notably their agent Nayland Smith. Smith along with Dr Petrie and others were a constant thorn in the Evil Fu Manchu's side. As Smith and Petrie grew old through the decades, the evil Fu Manchu did not. The magical chemical called Elixir Vitae was discovered by the evil Fu Manchu decades ago and kept him from aging.

Character Creation

Fu Manchu was created by Sax Rohmer in the novel The Mystery of Dr. Fu Manchu (1913). He was, along with Professor Moriarty and Dracula, among the first of pop culture’s super-villains. A rather extreme racial stereotype of the “Yellow Peril” sub-genre Fu-Manchu was the most popular character to come from it. Fu Manchu was adopted by Marvel under Steve Englehart and Jim Starlin in Special Marvel Edition #15.

Character Evolution

Fu Manchu has several children by blood and adoption. Some who work for him and some against his evil intentions. His daughter Fah Lo Suee would help or aid Fu Manchu's enemies plot against him. They might in turn be willingly or unknowingly aiding her in her own machinations against her father.

His son Shang -Chi is a master of kung-fu and other martial arts not unlike his father. He raised in his fathers Honan Retreat. It was upon his first mission where he was to assassinate an aged Dr. Petrie who was an evil man as told by his father, Shang-Chi met Sir Nayland Smith . Smith informed the young assassin that it was his father Fu Manchu who is the evil one and proceeded to tell him of what his father has done over the years. With that Shang-Chi confronted his father and swore his opposition and in turn His father swore that he after today he would use all that he had that was evil against him and parted as enemies.

Marvel comics has lost the rights to this character. He is now only mentioned as Mr. Han or father.

Powers And Abilities

Fu Manchu is a genius in every field of knowledge.

He is virtually immortality is as long as he injects himself with the Elixir Vitae every ten years.

He can hypnotize people through his eyes. He is also a master of unarmed combat and disguise and can speak most languages without accent.

Fu Manchu disdains guns or explosives, preferring secret societies as his agents armed with knives, or using "pythons and hamadryads... fungi and my tiny allies, the bacilli... my black spiders" and other peculiar animals or natural chemical weapons.

His children are Shang-Chi, Fah Lo Suee, Moving-Shadow, and Kwai Far in the Marvel Universe.

League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

In the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen he is only referred to as the Doctor. He has a crime war with none other than James Moriarty. This is why Moriarty tricks the League into taking the cavorite from him.

Other Media Beside Comics

Canon Novels by Sax Rohmer

The Insidious Dr Fu Manchu (1912).

The Return of Dr Fu Manchu (1916) (also known as The Devil Doctor)

The Hand of Fu Manchu (1917) (also known as The Si-Fan Mysteries)

Daughter of Fu Manchu (1931)

The Mask of Fu Manchu (1932)

The Bride of Fu Manchu (1933)

The Trail of Fu Manchu (1934)

President Fu Manchu (1936)

The Drums of Fu Manchu (1939)

The Island of Fu Manchu (1940)

The Shadow of Fu Manchu (1948)

Re-Enter Fu Manchu (1957)

Emperor Fu Manchu (1959)

Fu Manchu novels not by Rohmer include

Ten Years Beyond Baker Street (1984). The first of two authorized continuation novels by Cay Van Ash, Sax Rohmer's former assistant and biographer. The novel is set in a narrative gap within The Hand of Fu Manchu and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes story, His Last Bow (both published in 1917). Holmes comes out of retirement to aid Dr. Petrie when Nayland Smith is abducted by the Si-Fan.

The Fires of Fu Manchu (1987). The second of two authorized continuation novels by Cay Van Ash. The novel is set in 1917 and documents Smith and Petrie's encounter with Fu Manchu during the First World War culminating in Smith's knighthood.

The Terror of Fu Manchu (2009) is the first of a new series of authorized period Fu Manchu thrillers by William Patrick Maynard. It is set on the eve of the First World War and is narrated by Dr. Petrie and includes Sax Rohmer’s other mystery hero, Gaston Max, in the mix.