The Mandarin's rings are a set of fictional weapons appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. There are two versions of the rings in the Marvel Universe that differ in origin, design and functionality.
The Mandarin's rings were introduced in Tales of Suspense #50 (February 1964) and created by Stan Lee and Don Heck, as the signature weapons of the supervillain Mandarin. The ten rings are made from Makluan technology with each ring possessing a specific power. Later stories reveal that each ring houses the spirit of a dead alien warrior and are given upgrades to gain sentience.
In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Ten Rings are a set of ten mystical iron rings used by Xu Wenwu and his son Xu Shang-Chi, providing the namesake and emblem of Wenwu's Ten Rings organization. The Ten Rings were later integrated into the mainstream Marvel universe in Shang-Chi vol 2. #11 (April 2022) by writer Gene Luen Yang and artist Marcus To, where they are legendary weapons originating from Ta-Lo that are acquired by Shang-Chi.
The Mandarin's rings first appeared in Tales of Suspense #50 (Feb. 1964), written by Stan Lee and illustrated by Don Heck, as ten unnamed mystical rings worn by the Mandarin.[1] The rings' alien origins were revealed in Tales of Suspense #62 (Nov. 1964)
Originally given individual names that were literal descriptions of their powers, the Rings were renamed during Kieron Gillen's run on Iron Man along with the revelation that the Rings were sentient.[2]
Following the release of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021), Shang-Chi writer Gene Luen Yang began incorporating several concepts introduced in the film into the Shang-Chi mythos, with the Ten Rings weapons being introduced in Shang-Chi vol 2. #11. Unlike the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Ten Rings are unrelated to the Mandarin and originated from Ta-Lo, as opposed to the unanswered origins from the film. The Ten Rings were a central focus in the ongoing series Shang-Chi and the Ten Rings.[3]
Despite the death of the Mandarin and the introduction of the Ten Rings from the MCU into the comics, the Mandarin's rings returned in Iron Man vol 6. #20.[4]
| Mandarin's Rings | |
| Publisher: | Marvel Comics |
| Debut: | Tales of Suspense #50 |
| Debutmo: | February |
| Debutyr: | 1964 |
| Supports: | Mandarin |
| Subcat: | Marvel Comics |
| Sortkey: | Mandarin's Rings |
The man who would become the Mandarin wanders through the Valley of Spirits in China until he encounters a crashed Makluan spaceship.[5] On the ship, he uncovers 10 uniquely shaped cylinders.[6] Over the following years, the Mandarin studies Makluan science until he masters it, learning that each cylinder possesses a unique power and fashions them into rings.[7] With 10 rings, the Mandarin then becomes a conqueror and subjugates the villages around the Valley, 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. His conquests would lead him into conflict with the superhero Iron Man, his eventual archnemesis.
Seeking a means to increase his rings' power, the Mandarin learns of the legendary Eye of Yin, a talisman of power created by an ancient group of Chinese sorcerers. His attempts at acquiring the Eye lead to conflict with the Royal Family of the Inhumans, resulting in Black Bolt stripping the Mandarin of the rings and hiding them. To recover the rings, the Mandarin journeys back to the Valley of Spirits and the ruins of the Makluan starship, acquiring a Makluan headband to recover his rings. A subsequent team-up with the terminally ill Unicorn against Iron Man results in the headband exchanging his consciousness with that of the Unicorn. The Mandarin is forced to flee, desperate to separate himself from the Unicorn's dying body.[8]
The Mandarin's efforts to restoring his body brings him into conflict the Yellow Claw, another master criminal and warlord of Chinese origin, resulting in the Mandarin's apparent death.[9] However, before the Unicorn's body is destroyed, the Mandarin uses the headband's mind-transferring capacities to transfer his consciousness into his rings. When the rings are confiscated by the Yellow Claw's power-hungry servant Loc Do and activated by him, the Mandarin's consciousness enters his body, permanently driving out Loc Do's consciousness. Using his matter-rearranger ring, the Mandarin transforms Loc Do's body into a younger duplicate of his own original one.[10]
Taking the name Zhang Tong, the Mandarin starts a new criminal empire in Hong Kong and acquires the services of the Hand, permitting a single Hand agent to use one of the rings and having it automatically teleport back to the Mandarin if an agent is incapacitated; the ninja are also sworn to commit suicide if captured.. The Mandarin's agents kidnap James Rhodes and several of Tony Stark's other employees, forcing Iron Man into single combat in exchange for their lives. Iron Man defeats the Mandarin once again, and helps Stark's employees escape the Hand. The Hand ninjas are left without their weapons when their master is knocked unconscious, causing his rings to teleport back to him automatically and leaving them unarmed and unable to stop Stark's employees from fleeing.[11]
Sometime later, the Mandarin discovers that one of his rings is an elaborate counterfeit. One of his underlings had betrayed him, surrendering the ring to Chen Hsu, an ancient wizard who lived in San Francisco. Hsu, elfin in appearance but puissant in power, gives up the ring to the Mandarin, who collapses as soon as he put it on. Chen Hsu tends to him, removing the veil of confusion from his mind; soon, the Mandarin realizes that his memories had been fragmented because of the theft of the ring since the rings were still linked to his consciousness.
Next, Chen Hsu makes the Mandarin an offer that involves them traveling to the Valley of the Dragons. There, Chen Hsu uses a magic herb to awaken Fin Fang Foom, an ancient and powerful dragon. Under the control of Hsu, the dragon obeys the Mandarin, laying waste to an army sent by the Chinese government to stop him. Soon the Mandarin claims a third of China's territory, and the authorities sent out a call for help to Iron Man.
When Iron Man confronts the Mandarin and Fin Fang Foom, eight other dragons appear. It is revealed that many thousands of years ago, a number of aliens from the planet Kakaranathara, the fourth planet of the star Maklu, traveled to Earth to look for the conflict which was unknown in their culture and which they craved. The ship crashed, stranding them on Earth for thousands of years, after which the Mandarin found the ship and claimed their rings. Now, they demand them back, but he refuses them. Iron Man forcibly combines his power with the rings, and manages to destroy the Makluan dragons. The blast vaporizes the Mandarin's hands and renders him comatose.[12]
For months, the Mandarin lies in a state between life and death, in the care of a peasant woman who does not know who he is. Over time, his hands grow back, though they do so as reptilian claws, and the rings call to him again to reclaim them.
The Mandarin's son Temugin receives a package containing his father's severed hands, bearing all ten rings of power. Honor-bound to fulfill his father's wishes for him, Temugin challenges Iron Man in order to avenge his father's death, and he proves a deadly adversary even without the rings.[13]
After Tony Stark reveals a conspiracy for mass murder in his own ranks, Temugin appears to have forgiven Iron Man for the death of his father and to have turned to more lofty pursuits, but events indicate that the evil power of the rings has corrupted his soul.
When Temugin is contacted by Spot for a criminal venture, he uses the rings to imprison the Spot in another dimension with nothing but money. In the following issue, the Puma severs one of Temugin's hands, but despite this, he retains at least half of the rings and later possibly all of them, as Nightshade, who used the rings on his lost hand, is not seen with them at the end of the story.[14] Nevertheless, Temugin reappears without the rings, and with a cybernetic arm, as a member of the Atlas Foundation.
The Mandarin is revived in a subsequent Iron Man story arc, in which he is revealed to have been in a prison in central China for some time and is missing his hands. His rings return to him and are re-assimilated into his body by being heated and burned into his spine.[15] The Mandarin eventually resurfaces as Tem Borjigin (yet another name of Genghis Khan), now employing artificial hands.
During the Mandarin's attempts to unleash the Extremis virus on the public, Iron Man defeats the Mandarin while wearing the Silver Centurion armor by tearing five of the rings out of the Mandarin's spine, blasting him with those rings, his unibeam, and his repulsor rays at the same time and then freezing him as he is engulfed in a deadly concentrated Extremis virus, thwarting the Extremis outbreak.[16] The Mandarin survives the encounter.
In "The Future" storyline, the Mandarin kidnaps Stark and brings him to Mandarin City to develop ten Titanomechs, which Mandarin plans to use as host bodies for each of his ten rings, which he reveals are actually vessels for the souls of ten alien beings. In truth, the Mandarin serves these beings and is planning to "resurrect" them in this fashion.[17]
Tony forms an alliance with others that the Mandarin has imprisoned, including Zeke Stane, Whirlwind, Blizzard, and the Living Laser. In a rebellion against the Mandarin, Stark manages to alert his staff at Stark Resilient to find him and manages to destroy the Titanomechs. In the ensuing battle, the Mandarin is apparently killed by Stane, much to the dismay of Iron Man.[18]
In the Marvel NOW! relaunch the Mandarin's rings manage to escape from S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Weapon Vault Omega, with the Liar Ring staying behind to create the illusion that the rings were still there. Each of the rings search for new hosts with the purpose of "saving Earth from Tony Stark", using persuasive language and mind control to bend them towards their cause against Iron Man. Each one of them is codenamed, from Mandarin-One to Mandarin-Ten:
However, after the Dark Elf Malekith the Accursed beheads Mandarin-One and Mandarin-Nine, as well as cutting off the hands of Mandarin-Seven, the remaining six Mandarins join forces just in time to attack Malekith while Iron Man was also mounting an assault on the Dark Elves. With Malekith defeated, the Mandarins initially contemplate continuing to work together due to Kumar's influence, but after Tony and Arno are able to use the recovered Remaker, Spectral, Incandescence and Lightning Rings to form a Master Ring that could control the others, as well as convincing Burns to help them, most of the remaining Mandarins are defeated in a final assault; the only one to escape is the Mole Man, who concludes that the rings are more trouble than they are worth.
With all ten rings now in custody, Iron Man realizes the recovered Recorder 451's corpse from deep space was transmitting an alien frequency that had upgraded the rings to become sentient. Iron Man hands nine of the rings to the Rigellians while Arno gifts the Incandescence Ring back to Burns.
The Mandarin mysteriously reappears with all of his ten rings in his Tem Borjigen alias when Baron Zemo selects him as the public face of the HYDRA-occupied Bagalia in his shared plot with Dario Agger and the Roxxon Energy Corporation to have the United Nations recognize Bagalia as an independent nation. As part of his revenge on HYDRA for manipulating him during the "Secret Empire" storyline, the Punisher finds the Mandarin making a speech at the United Nations and fires a special bullet. Despite using his rings to slow down the bullet while trying to deflect it, the Mandarin is struck in the head and killed with the bullet, which is witnessed by Baron Zemo and everyone watching his speech.[27]
The Mandarin's rings fall into the possession of Source Control, a black market network specializing in high-grade technology and weapons. Former Stark Industries employee and current Source Control operative Vic Martinelli steals the rings and attempts to contact Tony Stark for help, but is murdered by fellow operative, the Titanium Man, who recovers the rings.[28] [29] After defeating the Titanium Man, Iron Man and War Machine track the rings at Source Control's headquarters in Macau, where they are confronted by Source Control's leader Spymaster and his henchmen Force and Cobalt Man, who possesses the Mandarin's rings.[30] Cobalt Man is revealed to be Ironheart in disguise, who then proceeds to use the rings to defeat Source Control. Stark reluctantly allows Williams to keep the Mandarin's rings to study them and utilize their powers for good.[31]
Despite her earlier promise not to do so, Riri begins wearing the rings and utilizes them along with her armor, much to Stark's dismay.[32] [33] While traveling through space with Forge, Ironheart is confronted by a Makluan dragon, who warns her that the Makluan sprits sealed in each of the Mandarin's rings will eventually corrupt her. During a dispute with some treacherous dwarves on Nidavellir, Riri uses the Mandarin's rings to restrain them but briefly takes on dark and sinister persona, similar to the Mandarin. Realizing that the warnings about the Mandarin's rings were true, Riri allows Forge to use one of his machines to scatter the rings throughout the galaxy.[33] [34]
The rings' operations cannot be explained by contemporary Earth science, but it is known that they served as near-limitless power sources for the warp-drive engines of the Makluan starship of Axonn-Karr. The Mandarin learned how to convert the rings to his personal uses and to make them respond to his mental commands. The fingers on which he wears each ring, and the known functions for which he uses each ring, are given below.
As of writer Kieron Gillen's tenure on Iron Man, new names have been revealed for some rings which the rings—apparently sentient—use to identify one another. Capable of speech and inter-communication via telepathy, the rings demonstrate personality traits and are even capable of mocking and humiliating the Nightbringer ring for failing to find a host at the same time as its fellows.[23] The sentience was later revealed to be a temporary power-up caused by contact with the Recorder 451.
| Digit | Left hand | Right hand | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Little finger |
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| |
| Ring finger |
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| Middle finger |
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| Index finger |
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| Thumb |
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| Ten Rings | |
| Publisher: | Marvel Comics |
| Type: | Iron rings |
| Weapon: | y |
| Artifact: | first |
| Multitype: | y |
| Supports: | Shang-Chi |
| Subcat: | Marvel Comics |
| Sortkey: | Ten Rings |
The Ten Rings are a set of ten mystical iron rings that are one of the Five Sets of Heavenly Weapons of Ta-Lo, along with the One Hammer, Two Swords, Three Staffs and Nine Daggers.
When the Eldritch parasite called the Wyrm of Desolation attacked the realm of Ta-Lo during prehistory, the Xian deity Nezha sealed the Wyrm in a pocket dimension with his Universe Ring (乾坤圈). Within its prison, the Wyrm corrupted Nezha into attacking Ta-Lo and Earth, prompting the other Taoist Gods into killing him. As a precaution against the Wyrm, the Jade Emperor broke the Universe Ring into twelve separate ones and scattered them across several dimensions, although ten of them returned to Ta-Lo.[35] The Emperor kept the Ten Rings as his personal weapons and sealed away from his throne room when not in use due their destructive power.[36]
When Shang-Chi and his siblings travel to Ta-Lo to rescue his mother Jiang Li and stop his grandfather Chieftain Xin's plot to destroy the Zheng bloodline, the Jade Emperor restrains them with the Ten Rings for trespassing. Xin's treachery is revealed, prompting him to don a taotie mask to overpower the Emperor and his guards before attacking Shang-Chi's siblings. Shang-Chi reluctantly allows Zheng Zu's spirit to guide him to the Ten Rings to defeat his grandfather. Shang-Chi dons the Ten Rings but resists their dark influence, allowing Xin to take six of the Rings and flee to the House of the Deadly Hand in Chinatown, Manhattan to destroy the Five Weapons Society. Intrigued that Shang-Chi could wield the Ten Rings, the Jade Emperor tasks him and his siblings with apprehending Xin and recovering the remaining Rings. Shang-Chi fights Xin but loses the remaining Rings to Xin, who orders his Qilin Riders to destroy New York City. With no other option, Shang-Chi gives in to his dark desires, allowing him to reclaim all of the Ten Rings from Xin, unlocking their full potential and taking on his father's appearance and personality. Shang-Chi then uses the Ten Rings to defeat Xin and all the Qilin Riders. Before a corrupted Shang-Chi can execute Xin, he is talked down by Jiang Li and his siblings, freeing him from Zu's influence. Afterwards, Shang-Chi hands Xin and the Ten Rings to the Jade Emperor. One month later, the Ten Rings appear to Shang-Chi at the House of the Deadly Hand, presumably sent to him by the Jade Emperor.[37]
Unable to access the gateways to Ta Lo, Shang-Chi has the Ten Rings sealed in a vault within the House of the Deadly Hand. Due to the final battle between Shang-Chi and Xin being televised all over the world, the Ten Rings have become public knowledge, prompting several criminal organizations into attacking the House of the Deadly Hand to claim the Rings, forcing Shang-Chi to don them again to fight them off.[38] Not wanting to be tempted by the Rings again, Shang-Chi has them moved to a more secure vault. Distrusting the Five Weapons Society with safeguarding the Ten Rings, Shang-Chi's allies from MI6 hatch a plan to keep Shang-Chi distracted while the Rings are taken by Black Jack Tarr.[39] When MI6's and MI13's tampering nearly causes the Ten Rings to summon the Desolation Wyrm, Shang-Chi uses them to save them and takes the Rings back from his former friends. These events are witnessed by Nezha's brothers, Jinzha and Muzha, who question Shang-Chi's worthiness of wielding the Ten Rings, prompting them to host a Game of Rings to find a true Ring Keeper.[40]
Shang-Chi and nine other fighters are summoned to the Meritorious Striving Pagoda in Ta-Lo as participants for the Game of Rings; each player is given one of the Ten Rings and forced to fight against one another in the pagoda, with the winner receiving all Ten Rings.[41] After Shang-Chi wins the tournament, the Jade Emperor arrives to congratulate Shang-Chi, revealing that he had sent the Ten Rings to him. Foretold of a dark prophecy warning of a threat to Earth that could only be stopped by an Earthly Ring-Keeper, the Emperor believed Shang-Chi to be this champion and at Jiang Li's urging had Jinzha and Muzha host the Game of Rings to confirm Shang-Chi's worthiness of wielding the Ten Rings.[42]
During the "Gang War", several treacherous Society members launch a failed coup against Shang-Chi but the group's sorcerers are able to trap the Ten Rings in a magic seal, preventing Shang-Chi from accessing them as the war intensifies.[43] Shang-Chi reclaims the Ten Rings after tricking the turncoats into releasing them.[44]
Much like their MCU counterpart, the Ten Rings grant their user superhuman strength, durability, speed and stamina. They can be controlled telepathically in a variety of ways, including being launched as projectiles, utilized as platforms for transportation and forming makeshift chains to grab objects or restrain opponents. The color of the Ten Rings' aura varies with the user, with the Jade Emperor's being green, Shang-Chi's being orange-red and Xin's being purple.
Unlike the MCU version, the comics Ten Rings allow their user to fly. While the MCU Ten Rings grant their user superhuman longevity, it is not mentioned if the comics version possesses this ability. While both versions of the Ten Rings can alter their size to accommodate their user's wrists, the Ten Rings in the comics can enlarge themselves to be big enough to ensnare a human. The Ten Rings can also merge themselves into a single ring and can create portals to other dimensions.[40] The Ten Rings can also be used to empower their wielder's weapons and control them telepathically.[41]
As noted by the Jade Emperor, normal mortals cannot wield the Ten Rings without perishing, surmising that Shang-Chi's Ta-Lo ancestry allows him to wield them. When attempted to be worn by those deemed unworthy, the Ten Rings will move on their own to seriously injure or even kill the attempted wielder.[38] However, several mortals such as Black Jack Tarr have been shown to be able to physically interact with the Rings without any ill effects.[39]
The Ten Rings also possess a dark influence that can corrupt its user. In order to unleash the Ten Rings' true power, Shang-Chi gave in to his dark desires to do so, which greatly augmented his powers and abilities but also gave him the likeness and personality of his evil father. Although Shang-Chi was able to fight off his father's influence, the Ten Rings retained their unlocked power and loyalty to him.
In the House of M reality, the Mandarin was a long-dead Chinese warlord famous for his supernatural rings. The rings (still bonded to the Mandarin's mummified hands) were apparently uncovered by Shang-Chi and his gang, but this was revealed to be a trap set by the Kingpin.[45]
In Secret Wars, the members of the Ten Rings school have the ability to use ten mystical martial arts techniques based on the abilities of the Mandarin's Rings from the mainstream continuity:
While most of the Ten Rings can only use a handful of the techniques, only their master Emperor Zheng Zu can use all ten techniques while his son Shang-Chi can use nine.[46]
During the Infinity Wars storyline, where the Marvel universe's lifeforms are reduced by half and combined, the Ten-Realm Rings are the signature weapons of Malekith (a fusion of Malekith and the Mandarin).[47] The Ten-Realm Rings are similar to the Mandarin's Rings, with each Ring possessing a unique power and originating from each of the Ten Realms:
Odin-power beam. Based on the Spectral Ring.
Punch ray. Based on the Influence Ring.
Frost ray. Based on the Zero Ring.
White light blast. Based on the Daimonic Ring.
Mist of illusion. Based on The Liar Ring.
Black light blast. Based on the Nightbringer Ring.
Flame blast. Based on the Incandescence Ring.
Super-speed aura. Based on the Spin Ring.
Electric blast. Based on the Lightning Ring.
Matter-building beam. Based on the Remaker Ring.
| Ten Rings | |
| Lbl21: | Used by |
| Lbl22: | Creators |
| Lbl23: | Made of |
| First: | Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021) |
The Mandarin's rings appear in media set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), in which they are known as the Ten Rings. They are depicted as iron rings wielded by Xu Wenwu, and later his son Shang-Chi. The Ten Rings grant their user enhanced strength and longevity, emit concussive energy blasts, and can be telepathically controlled as projectiles and tendrils.[48] The appearance of the aura projected by the rings varies on the user, with Wenwu's resembling violent blue lightning and Shang-Chi's resembling graceful orange flames in order to reflect their distinct personalities.[49]
The Mandarin appears in The Invincible Iron Man, voiced by Fred Tatasciore. This version is an ancient ruler of a vicious Chinese dynasty who used five rings, supernatural means, and two dragon Guardians, Fin Fang Foom and Zhen Ji Xang, to subjugate his people. He was defeated after losing his rings, which were scattered around the globe to prevent him from taking over the world. By the present day, his descendant Li-Mei gathers the rings and uses their power, allowing him to project his spirit through her. However, he is eventually defeated by Iron Man.
In the Secret Wars Volume 2 for, there is an adaptation of Battleworld version of Zheng Zu as Emperor of K'un-Lun and the Ten Rings school, the emperor's name is spelled Zheng Zhu.