A
villain published by
Marvel Comics. The
Mandarin first appeared
in
Tales of Suspense #50.
The Mandarin's real name has never been revealed, but it is known that
prior to China's adoption of Communism, the Mandarin's family was very
wealthy. Raised by a relative after his parents' death while he was
young, the Mandarin showed an amazingly advanced understanding of
science. He used his family fortune to further his understanding and
knowldege as well as gaining a position within the government. He
became a powerful official or mandarin through his efforts.
But with the coming of Communism, the Mandarin lost his fortune and
his position within the society. He began to seek a way to regain his
former glory and visited the Valley of Spirits, a legendary area within
China. There, the Mandarin discovered a crashed spaceship and the
remains of one of its crew. The ship was from the planet Maklu-4 and
its crew were natives of that planet who resembled the legendary
dragons of Earth. Within the spaceship, the Mandarin discovered ten
rings that were used as part of the ship's engines. After much study,
The Mandarin discovered how to use the rings and decided that with
their power, he would be able to regain not only his former power, but
to dominate the world.
The rings each have their own power and the Mandarin can mentally
activate the rings by the force of his will. The rings are as follows:
- Ice Blast, which can project a beam that will drop the temperature
of what it strikes to near absolute zero.
- Mento-Intensifier, which allows the wearer to mentally dominate
those around them
- Electro-Blast, which firest bolts of electricity
- Flame Blast, which firesa beam of intense heat
- White Light, which produces energy along the electromagnetic
spectrum
- Black Light, which produces both an area of utter darkness that
no light can penetrate or makes posters of flaming skulls look really
cool
- Disintegration Beam, which produces a beam that disintegrates
the bonds between the atoms of the object it strikes
- Vortex Beam, which creates a wind vortex rather like a tornado
- Impact Beam, which creates a force beam, and
- Matter Rearranger, which allows the wearer to rearange the molecular
structure of whatever it strikes.
The Mandarin used his new abilities to take over the villages surrounding
the Valley of Spirits. He then set his sights on world domination and
began by stealing a spy plane built by
Stark Enterprises. This
brought the Mandarin in conflict with
Iron Man. The two have since
clashed many times with each time the Mandarin losing. The Mandarin has been believed killed on a number of occasions usually
as part of his plan to escape
Iron Man
The Mandarin has also come into conflict with the X-Men when one
of their number, the mutant telepath Psylocke came under his control
and she went by the name Lady Mandarin for a short time.