The Mandarin
AKA: Gene Khan
First Appearance: Tales of Suspense 50
Presumed Killed In: Iron Man 70, 275, 311, and probably several other issues I'm just too young to remember.
What's His Problem? Originally, the Mandarin was cross because the rise of the Communist powers in his native China meant all of his considerable personal wealth and land got confiscated by the government. More recently, he's been cross at all technology, blaming his reliance on science for his numerous defeats at the hands of lesser beings.
Powers: The Mandarin has mastered the science of the alien race known as Makluans. In addition, he possesses 10 Makluan rings, each of which performs a specific function (emitting ice or flame blasts, permitting mental domination, facilitating teleportation, et cetera). He's so attached to the rings it's easy to forget that he's a master of the martial arts capable of physically standing up to the likes of Wolverine. After deciding that his various failures were a punishment for deserting the ways of his ancestors, the Mandarin turned to the mystical arts, using the alien artifact known as The Heart of Darkness as a focusing point for his magicks.
Favorite Quote: "There is no god here -- but me." (Force Works 6. Pretty much sums up his whole philosophy in life!)
Heroes He Keeps Running Into: Although primarily associated with Iron Man, Mandy's dreams of global conflict have brought him into conflict with the Avengers, Captain America, the X-Men, the Hulk and even the Inhumans. He has also had to deal with the group formerly known as Force Works and War Machine.
People Who Think He's Not So Bad: After his near destruction of Hong Kong during the Hands of the Mandarin storyline that ran through Force Works, War Machine and Iron Man, no one's talking to poor ol' Mandy. He always seems to be able to find mindless sycophants when he needs 'em, though.
Most Despicable Act: Well, let's see; the Mandarin has tried to shoot Iron Man into space tied to a rocket (it was the wrong Iron Man, but he didn't know that), almost had Iron Man cut his own throat (a different wrong Iron Man, but the intent was there), and destroyed Hong Kong after mercilessly torturing Iron Man and War Machine. And those were on days when he was in a good mood!
Mandarin Mug Shots!
Mandarin Sound Bytes!
From Iron Man: The Animated Series. All sounds in .wav format. I was able to salvage some of the quotes below, but I did find a couple that represents the Mandarin.
"Will Iron Man escape the clutches of the Mandarin?"
"Iron Man can not be killed--but the man inside can! Find me the name of that man..."
"Iron Man, the time has come for you to feel the great power of the Mandarin." from the 1960s Iron Man TV show from Marvel Super Heroes
"The cavern was actually a petrified hulk of an immense alien space craft which had crashed eons ago." from the 1990s animated series - season 1
"Like the great Genghis Khan who purged Asia of corrupting influences, I will solve our crisis by eliminating any and all technology from this endangered planet. . . .hand this power over to me!" from the 1990s animated series - season 2
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