Who is Mandarin? Know more about him

The Mandarin is a fictional supervillain appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is considered to be the archenemy of Iron Man. The character was created by Stan Lee and designed by Don Heck, making his debut in Tales of Suspense #50 in February 1964. The Mandarin is described as being born in China to a wealthy Chinese father and an English aristocratic mother, both of whom died when he was very young. 

He is shown to be a megalomaniac, attempting to conquer the world on several occasions, yet at the same time possessing a strong sense of honor. Read on to know more about who many consider to be Iron Man’s arch nemesis.

DEBUT AND ORIGIN IN THE COMICS 

As mentioned earlier, the Mandarin made his debut in the February 1964 issue of Tales of Suspense #50 , written by Stan Lee and illustrated by Don Heck. The Mandarin's father was one of the wealthiest men in China prior to the communist revolution, in addition to being a descendant of Genghis Khan. His late mother was an English noblewoman. They both died soon after his birth, leading to the boy who would go on to become the Mandarin to be raised by his paternal aunt. The aunt held much hatred against the world and raised him with pretty much the same attitude. Every last bit of the family fortune was spent obsessively training the Mandarin in science and combat, with the result that he had gone broke by adulthood. Subsequently, not having the wealth to pay the taxes on his ancestral home, the Mandarin was evicted by the government. The boy would go on to become a fugitive, as the communist revolution saw its rise.

While on the run, the Mandarin explores the forbidden Valley of Spirits, which had not seen another person set foot on it for centuries. There, he finds the skeleton and starship of Axonn-Karr, an intelligent dragon-like alien from the planet Maklu IV, who had come to Earth centuries ago and died. Over the course of the next few years, the Mandarin was able to study Makluan science to a level where he was able to master it. He also learns how to use the 10 rings that he found within the starship which would go on to become his major source of power. The Mandarin then becomes a conqueror, and starts to bring the villages around the Valley under control, and through his advanced science, rapidly becomes a power that not even the Chinese army can successfully challenge. He then embarks on a long series of attempts to achieve world domination. 

The Mandarin sees technology as the best possible means to achieve his goals. Over the years, he frequently attempted to turn the weapons and computers of various nations against them, among which was the sabotage and theft of American missiles and spy planes built by Tony Stark. In order to restore public confidence in his workmanship, Stark puts on his Iron Man armor and flies to China to investigate. This would see Iron Man soon becoming the Mandarin's principal foe against his plans for world domination.

POWERS

In the comics, the Mandarin is shown to be a genius scientist and a skilled martial artist. However, as mentioned before his primary sources of power are 10 rings that he adapted from the alien technology of the crashed spaceship at the Valley of Spirits. Each of the rings has a different power and is worn on a specific finger. In addition, the Mandarin is also a superb athlete with tremendous skill in the various martial arts, due to the training received by him during his life with his aunt. Through repeated practice, he has been able to toughen all the striking surfaces of his body, especially his hands. He can even split Iron Man's magnetic-beam reinforced alloy armor with repeated blows. The Mandarin has honed his martial arts ability to such a level, that he can even survive years without food and water, apparently sustaining himself purely via his mastery of chi. In the early issues featuring him, the Mandarin was portrayed as being such a superhumanly skilled martial artist that he could destroy Iron Man's armor with his bare hands. 

APPEARANCE IN THE MCU 

The Mandarin makes his MCU debut in Iron Man 3 in promotional material. But it is revealed that he is actually a terrorist persona portrayed by British character actor Trevor Slattery as the idealized image of Aldrich Killian. The actual Mandarin is set to appear in Shang ChI: Legend of the Ten Rings, which would see him being the father of Shang- Chi.

Mandarin in Iron Man 3

Mandarin in Shang Chi

This article is contributed by Pranav