Mandarin

Real Name 
Unrevealed
 

Occupation
Would-be conqueror; former janitor, businessman and crimelord, government administrator 
 
Citizenship
Chinese national

Place of Birth
Unnamed village in mainland China
 
Known Relative
Mei-Ling (fiancée, deceased), Temujin (son), Genghis Khan (alleged ancestor, deceased), Sasha Hammer (daughter)
 
Group Affiliation
Prometheus Corporation; formerly Avatars, "Acts of Vengeance," Prime Movers, "Hand"
 
Education

Multiple College Degrees

Height
6'2"

Weight
215 lbs.

Eyes
Blue-Black

Hair
Black

Powers 
The Mandarin possesses superhuman physical prowess. The Mandarin can survive for years without food and water by living on stored Chi. When in possession of his 10 Makluan rings, each grants the Mandarin a different ability/power: “ice blast” (left little finger), to emit waves of cold; “mento-intensifier” (left ring finger), to place people under mental control; “electro-blast” (left middle finger), to emit electricity of various intensities; “flame blast” (left index finger), to project heat and trigger chemical explosions; “white light” (left thumb), to emit various forms of electromagnetic energy; “black light” (right little finger), to create absolute blackness, possibly a form of Darkforce; “disintegration beam” (right ring finger), to break down a target’s molecular bonds; “vortex beam” (right middle finger), to manipulate air for levitation or concussive force; “impact beam” (right index finger), to project explosive, sonic, or magnetic force; and “matter rearranger” (right thumb), to alter a substance’s molecular structure into gas, liquid, or solid form. He has used a wide variety of robots, weaponry, and vehicles.**

Abilities 
A remarkable genius with both earthly and extraterrestrial technology, the Mandarin is also an exceptional athlete, swordsman, and martial artist. He is extremely knowledgeable on ancient history, specifically that of Asia and China.

Other Info

Born around 1920, the boy who would become the Mandarin was the son of one of the wealthiest men in pre-revolutionary mainland China (who claimed to be a direct descendant of Genghis Khan) and an English noblewoman. However, both parents died soon after their son's birth, and the boy was raised by his aunt, who was embittered against the West. Every bit of the wealth he inherited from his parents was spent teaching him science and martial arts. Therefore, once he was an adult, the Mandarin and his aunt were considered broke.

Hoping to find a means of avenging himself upon the civilization that had taxed him and rendered him homeless, the Mandarin explored the dreaded Valley of Spirits, which no one had set foot in for centuries. There, he found the millennia-old wreckage of a starship of the reptilian alien race known as the Makluan. It was here that Mandarin discovered ten rings which powered the vessel.  (To learn about the Makluan, just click on their highlighted name above.)

Unaware that the Makluans themselves remained at large, posing as humans, the Mandarin spent many years mastering Makluan technology. After some time, he began conquering the valley’s surrounding areas establishing a network both of citadels and of loyal followers. The Mandarin's ultimate goal was to conquer China, and then the world, which he claimed he would rule with the “wisdom and harmony” of his nobleman ancestors. It was during these years that the Mandarin fathered a son, Temujin (whom he sent to a remote monastery), took a girl as a student (aka future Madam Macabre), and became betrothed to another girl named Mei-Ling whom he would marry when she became an adult. In addition, he also discovered the alien robot Ultimo within a volcano, and worked for years to revive him using a combination of science and magic. (Click on the highlighted names above to learn more about the race and/or characters.)

Years later, seeking assistance to master the Makluan rings’ full power, the Mandarin sponsered a local warlord named Wong Chu. It was Chu who abducted the Chinese genius Ho Yinsen and American industrialist Tony Stark. However, at one point, Yinsen sacrificed his life to enable Stark to escape and overwhelm Wong Chu’s forces using his first Iron Man armor. (To learn about the characters above, just click on the highlighted names.)

Months later, Iron Man visited China to investigate the Mandarin for the U.S. government. Using the rings and his own combat skills, the Mandarin nearly defeated Iron Man; however, Iron Man escaped. A couple more times the Mandarin tried at world domination, but was stopped by Iron Man on every attempt.

At one point, the Mandarin was among the many costumed super-villains who were affected by Doctor Doom’s Emotion Charger and were assembled to disrupt the wedding of Reed Richards and Susan Storm. (To learn about the above highlighted characters and/or item, click on their names above.)

Later, Mandarin abducted the Swordman and convinced him to serve as a spy with in the Avengers. To do so, the Mandarin equipped the Swordman's weapon with Mukluan technological (the sword's hilt had various buttons which granted the Swordman with some degree of elemental control). However, the Swordsman eventually balked at destroying the Avengers and betrayed the Mandarin. (Click on the highlighted names above to learn about the character and/or team.)

Much later, after finally reactivating Ultimo, the Mandarin teleported Iron Man to his citadel so that he could finally defeat him. However, Iron Man as able to lure Ultimo back into the volcano from which he came. Mandarin was again stopped by Iron Man when he tried to provoke world war with a missile attack. After this, the Mandarin then teamed with Enchantress and Executioner to build a world wide hate-ray; however, they were stopped by the Avengers. He then turned his attention to the Hulk. He mentally controlled the Hulk and used him to wreak havoc on cities, thinking each nation would blame the other his attacks, but his control was disrupted by Nick Fury and Yuri Brevlov of S.H.I.E.L.D. A second attempt to control the Hulk with the help of the Sandman also failed. Later, the Mandarin, accompanied by the adult Mei-Ling, used a Hulk robot to abduct Stark’s lover Janice Cord while framing Stark himself for enemy conspiracy, but Mei-Ling, touched by Cord’s love for Stark and disillusioned by the Mandarin’s cruelty, sacrificed her life helping Iron Man defeat him. (Click on the highlighted names above to learn about the different characters and/or team above.)
 
Hoping to enhance his rings’ already phenomenal power, the Mandarin manipulated the Royal Family of Inhumans into obtaining the mystic Eye of Yin, created centuries ago by Makluan-trained sorcerers. However, he was overpowered by Black Bolt, who escaped with his rings. (To learn about the Inhumans and/or Black Bolt, click on their names above.)

Afterward, the Mandarin allied himself with the former Russian super-operative Unicorn. And with his help, the Mandarin was able to regain the rings with a Makluan headband device and returned his attention to Tony Stark. In the identity of Gene Kahn, he stirred unrest among Stark’s employees, then, when exposed, fought Iron Man alongside the Unicorn. However, careless use of the headband inadvertently switched the Mandarin’s consciousness with that of the terminally-ill Unicorn, and he quickly abandoned the fight. Adding insult to injury, when the Mandarin returned to his citadel, he discovered that it had been taken over by a rival mastermind in his absence, Yellow Claw. After this, the Mandarin retired to an underwater base. During this time, he captured Sunfire and forced him to power the machinery that restored him to his rightful body, but even with Ultimo’s aid, regaining his castle was not so simple. Iron Man and Sunfire intervened in the conflict, which ended with the Mandarin seemingly slain by the Yellow Claw’s robot, who then took the Makluan rings of power from him. (To learn about the highlighted characters above, just click on their names.)

The Mandarin was able to survive his death because of his newfound mastery of chi and ability to control his consciousness. He was able 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 man's body. Despite his new body, his customary schemes to cause world war were once again thwarted by Iron Man. Efforts to obtain Wakanda’s Vibranium proved unsuccessful as well. He even attempted to destroy China’s rice crops, intended to drive the Chinese government into invading other nations; however, this was disrupted by Iron Man again (actually War Machine--Tony's temporary replacement at the time). (Click on the names above to learn about the highlighted country, item, and/or characters.)

Later, the Mandarin was thrown into a coma while experimenting with his rings when Chen Hsu (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 was tied to the rings, his memory was lost.

Afterwards, the Mandarin became a criminal overlord named Zhang Tong in Hong Kong. As Tong, the Mandarin allowed ten underlings to use his rings as his operatives in the so-called "Hand." However, he was again stopped by Iron Man. Soon afterward, the Mandarin joined several other masterminds in the so-called “Acts of Vengeance” anti-superhero conspiracy, then allied with Matsuo Tsurayaba of the ninja Hand. But, these endeavors were disrupted by the Avengers and the X-Men. (To learn about the teams and/or character above, just click on their highlighted names.)

Over time, the Mandarin recognized Chen Hsu’s theft; therefore, he confronted the old man, who then returned both the Mandarin's ring and his memory. In addition, he guided Mandarin in commanding the gigantic Makluan dragon, Fin Fang Foom. With the dragon under his command, the Mandarin easily conquered more than a third of his native land China. Iron Man and War Machine came to stop him; however, they ended up teaming up with him when Mandarin discovered that the Makluans wanted to take over Earth for themselves. The Mandarin ended up giving power to Iron Man through his rings and seemingly destoryed the Makluans. Unfortunately, this resulted in the Mandarin's hands being burned off in the process. However, through magic, the Mandarin was able to recover from his injury and grow back new reptilian-like hands. (To learn about Fin Fang Foom, click on his highlighted name above. Also, Mandarin with his reptilian hands is shown in the fifth picture posted above.)

Afterward, Mandarin went around and recovered his rings. It was then that he discovered the "Heart of Darkness" (a centuries-old orb of cosmic evil). The Mandarin, and his Avatars (super-powerd Chinese nationals), used this orb to mystically revert China to its medieval state. Eventually, Iron Man and War Machine showed up with Iron Man's Force Works and were able to break the Mandarin's power, but not before the Mandarin discovered that Tony Stark was the man inside the Iron Man armor. However, Iron Man penetrated the Mandarin’s defenses and infected him with a techno-organic virus, nullifying his Heart of Darkness's mystic bond and again rendering him amnesiac. (To learn about the highlighted team above, just click on their name. Note: Beware of the revealing outfit worn by one on the Force Works' bio page.)

Much later, Mandarin's memories returned and he set into motion plans to create a giant flying fortress called the "Dragon of Heaven" through which he planned to conquer Russia and eventually the world. When he began to invade Russia using a mercenary army, the Avengers and the Winter Guard showed up to resist them. However, the attack on Russia was just a way to lure Iron Man into action and better test him in battle. Iron Man indeed remained a worthy adversary and destroyed the Dragon of Heaven’s power source, toppling it from the sky. The Mandarin was seemingly slain in the crash. (To learn about the highlighted team above, just click on their name.)

Later, the Mandarin reappeared now with his rings assimilated into his body--burned directly into his spine. He now went by the alias "Tem Borjigin," the CEO of the Prometheus Corporation (a corporation specializing in bio-engineered weaponry). As part of his manipulations, the Mandarin provided terrorist groups with bio-weapons. Maya Hansen's death was faked so she could work on Extremis projects for him. The Mandarin planned to unleash the Extremis virus in aerosol form on the general public, which would kill most of the world's population except for a select few (about 3% of the human population) who have the genetic potential to withstand the Extremis effect. The Mandarin admitted to Hansen that even he would die in the outbreak; however, that she and those with the genetic aptitude to survive would become free from disease, and effectively immortal. In this way, the Mandarin believed he would rid the world of its evils, allowing civilization to begin renewed. Despite the Mandarin releasing the Extremis virus into the air, Iron Man was able to stop it from spreading. (Click on the highlighted names above to learn about the characters and/or item.)

More recently, it was revealed that the Mandarin was Sasha Hammer's father (daughter of Justine Hammer and granddaughter of Justin Hammer). The Mandarin freed Sashsa's boyfriend, Ezekiel Stane (son of Obadiah Stane) from prison so they could all could work together to destroy Tony Stark. (To learn about the above characters, just click on their highlighted names above.)

To learn more about Mandarin, click on the following link, http://marvel.com/universe/Mandarin.