The Mandarin

History

The Mandarin was born in 1920 and rose to a seat of power in China. His father was a direct descendant of Genghis Khan, and his mother was a British aristocrat. During the communist revolution in 1949 however, he lost his power and position. In an attempt to regain what was taken from him he traveled to the Valley of Spirits and found the remains of a Makluan starship. The Mandarin spent many years learning and mastering the Makluan technology and the ten power rings he found within the alien ship. The Mandarin then found the remains of Ultimo, a robot of alien origin, and decided to revive it. His next goal was to conquer the world and rule with "wisdom and harmony." He began by conquering the area around the Valley of Spirits. and was aided by loyal followers from when he was in power in China.

Searching for people to help him to understand the Makluan power rings, he sponsored a local warlord named Wong Chu. In turn, Wong Chu kidnapped industrialist and inventor Anthony Stark, and famed physicist Yin Sen, prompting the events that would lead Stark to becoming Iron Man. Iron Man would go on to defeat the Mandarin numerous times, including a time when he prevented the Mandarin from manipulating the Chinese government into launching a missile at the west that would have started a world war.

After finally reactivating Ultimo, Mandarin teleported Iron Man to his citadel so that he could finally defeat him. Iron Man hurled Ultimo back into the volcano from which he came and stopped Mandarin from once again attemtping his missile attack. His next plan was to mentally control the Hulk who would destroy countless cities. This would cause nations to blame others for not controlling the beast. Nick Fury and SHIELD were able to stop him. Mandarin tried to control the Hulk again, but still failed even with the help of Sandman. He then teamed with Enchantress and Executioner to build a world wide hate-ray but was stopped by the Avengers.

In an attempt to further empower his rings he traveled to Attilan to find the Eye of Yin but was intercepted by Black Bolt. Next, he secretly became one of Stark's employees and caused him incredible strife. When his identity was discovered, he battled Iron Man along with Unicorn, a Russian super-spy. Mandarin was forced to flee when his "magic" mistakenly switched his consciousness with that of Unicorn, who was terminally ill at the time. Unfortunately for the Mandarin, when he returned to his citadel he discovered that it had been taken over by Yellow Claw in his absence. Using an underwater base he was able to restore himself to his rightful body. With Ultimo, he attacked Yellow Claw to regain his fortress. Iron Man and Sunfire intervened and Mandarin was supposedly killed by Surrogate, Yellow Claw's robot, who then took the Makluan rings of power from him. Mandarin was able to survive because his newfound mastery of chi and ability to control his consciousness allowed him to transfer his intelligence into the rings themselves. He then transformed one of Yellow Claw's henchman into a younger version of himself and took over the mans body. With his younger body he would go one to launch more schemes designed to start a world war, or to steal vibranium from the nation of Wakanda, and even to destroy China's resources, forcing the country to invade others.

The Mandarin was thrown into a coma while experimenting with his rings when Chen Hsu, who is the captain of the Makluans in disguise, stole one of the rings and replaced it with a fake one. Mandarin's body recovered but because his consciousness is tied to the rings is memory was lost. Afterwards, he became a criminal overlord in Hong Kong and sought a business relationship with Tony Stark. Iron Man once again thwarted his plans. When he realized that Chen Hsu had stolen one of his rings, Mandarin confronted him about it and forced Chen Hsu to return the ring; thus restoring his memory. Chen Hsu then told Mandarin how to control the Makluan dragon Fin Fang Foom. With the dragon under his command, Mandarin easily conquered more than a third of China. Iron Man and War Machine came to stop him but ended up teaming up with him when Mandarin discovered that the Makluans wanted to take over Earth for themselves. Mandarin gave power to Iron Man through his rings. This resulted in the Mandarin's hands being burned off, but the Makluans were defeated.

Through magic, Mandarin grew new reptilian hands and then stumbled across the "Heart of Darkness," which sent him through a psychological conquest over all of his past failures. He then reverted China back to medieval times. Iron Man invaded his castle and infected him with a techno-organic virus which caused his heart to lose its bond with magic.

The Mandarin Returns

The Mandarin had been residing in a Chinese prison for some time. He has also been living without food or water for years, proving he still possesses his mastery of chi. And even despite his condition he was still able to kill several armed guards with his extraordinary martial arts prowess. His rings have also been returned to him. How he regained them from his son Temugin has not yet been revealed. (Temugin had used the rings while his father was thought dead). With his power rings returns to him he has assimilated them into his body by burning them directly into his spine.

After attacking Iron Man and SHIELD with dozens of extremist splinter groups under his manipulation, and equipped by him with hyper-advanced biological weapons, Mandarin eventually resurfaces as Tem Borjigin (an alias of Genghis Khan). The Mandarin has also infiltrated the U.S. government through his role as CEO of Prometheus Gentech, a corporation specializing in bio-engineered weaponry. He appears to be using Extremis creator and Tony Stark's former love interest Maya Hansen to produce an army of Extremis enhanced soldiers as well as financing and arming terrorists around the globe. The Mandarin also appears to plan unleashing the Extremis virus in aerosol form on the general public, which would kill most of the world's population except for a select few (roughly 3% of the human population) who have the genetic potential to withstand the Extremis effect. The Mandarin admits to Hansen that even he will die in the outbreak but that she and those with the genetic aptitude to survive will become free from disease, and effectively immortal. In this way, the Mandarin believes he will rid the world of its evils, allowing civilization to begin renewed.

Powers

The Mandarin is a scientific genius.

The Mandarin possess extraordinary martial arts prowess, especially with regards to channeling chi into physical power. By channeling his chi, he is capable of sustaining himself for years without food or water, amping his strength enough to engage in hand to hand combat with Iron Man, and can even amp his martial arts strikes sufficiently to damage Iron Man's armor.

The Mandarin wears ten rings of alien origin with a variety of different powers (the rings and their powers are listed below). The Mandarin has recently burned his power rings into his body along his spine.

Characteristics

Left Hand

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Little Finger "Ice Blast" Ring - capable of emitting waves of energy cold enough to stun an opponent or lower a person or items temperature to nearly absolute zero.

Ring Finger "Mento-Intensifier" Ring - allows Mandarin to mentally dominate one or more people. This person or persons is under his control and he is able to communicate with them mentally.

Middle Finger "Electro-Blast" Ring - shoots high voltage electrical blasts, the intensity of which is determined by The Mandarin.

Index Finger "Flame Blast" Ring - releases heat and/or infrared radiation, the intensity of which is determined by The Mandarin.

Thumb "White Light" Ring - releases any energy which is found along the electromagnetic spectrum

Right Hand

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Little Finger "Black Light" Ring - creates an area of darkness that absorbs all available light within the area.

Ring Finger "Disintegration Beam" Ring - releases a beam of energy that destroys the molecules of any object that it comes in contact with.

Middle Finger "Vortex Beam" Ring - releases supercharged air in the form of a vortex. This vortex can levitate perons or items, or propel the Mandarin through the air.

Index Finger "Impact Beam" Ring - releases destructive energy on the level of 350 pounds of dynamite.

Thumb "Matter Rearranger" Ring - Able to rearrange, speed up, or slow down the molecules and atoms of an object. Also able to teleport people or objects to and from the wearer (can even transport people or items to other dimensions).

The Mandarin briefly wore a force-field generator, but this is not part of his standard gear.

In Other Media

Animated Mandarin

Armored Adventures Mandarin

In Iron Man: Armored adventures, the Mandarin is the young Iron Man's main enemy. However, the Mandarin in this tv adaptation also has a powerful suit of armor with powers that may even be beyond that of Tony's. For example, the Mandarin's armor gives Khan the ability to teleport. The suit is powered by the Makluan rings which are described as ancient forms of technology instead of magic like in the comics.

Film: The Mandarin is the main villain in the Direct-To-DVD animated movie The Invincible Iron Man, released in 2007. In the film, the Mandarin (voiced by Fred Tatasciore) is an ancient ruler of a Chinese dynasty who is resurrected and appears at the film's climax.

There is also a live action film adaption of Iron Man which will include a take on the Mandarin. According to the films director, the Mandarin will not be seen in the first film, but his presence will be felt. Jon Favreau likened this to how Sauron was depicted in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The idea is to build up the Mandarin as a threat for future sequels.

Video Games: The Mandarin also appears as a villain in the following video games; Captain America and the Avengers, and Marvel: Ultimate Alliance.