Junzo Muto (Earth-616)

History

Little is known of the early years of the martial arts prodigy known as Junzo Muto; what is known is that he showed a natural affinity for the martial arts in all its forms from a very young age. Whether it was his genius or his childlike innocence which brought him to the attention of family friend Hiromitsu is unknown but unbeknownst to him, his parents were killed by Hiromitsu who recruited him in the service of a splinter cell of the world class assassin guild known as the Hand.^{[citation needed]}

As the years progressed, he blossomed into a cold and ruthless assassin who learned martial arts quickly and developed an appetite for power second only to his mentor Hiromitsu. He soon surpassed his sensei and even those with more combat experience than himself; soon he became undisputed leader of the Hand. Under the guidance of Hiromitsu, he gained insight on the mystical city of K'un-Lun and their warrior Daniel Rand, the Iron Fist.

His ambitions came to fruition when he decided to gain the power he so desired by placing all the players on the field. The first signal to the world that the Hand had a new leader was when he had martial artist Masahiko assassinated. Incidentally, this was one of the sensei’s of the New Warriors leader Night Thrasher. By the time Night Thrasher realized The Hand was behind the death, he discovered that the Steel Serpent had been defeated in battle by the Hand's new leader and what power the Serpent had was stolen by the victor. Impressed by the power he had obtained, he sent the Hand to locate Iron Fist. The Hand swiftly retrieved Danny Rand, who was then defeated by Junzo in single combat, brimming with power; he was prevented from killing Rand when the New Warriors arrived. He engaged Night Thrasher and his team in combat and would have won if the New Warriors had not retrieved Rand and beat a hasty retreat. Impressed by his defeat of his adversaries, he ordered his uncle Hiromitsu and the Hand to call him “Iron Fist”.^{[citation needed]}

Attributes

Powers

The only ability Junzo has shown as being inherent is absorption. In his meetings with Iron Fist, Steel Serpent, and Hiromitsu, he easily stole their power through absorption. It was never revealed whether this was something he learnt, but it seems to be his only natural power. He is also exceptionally fast; his speed easily surpasses Danny Rand as commented by his uncle Yü-Ti.^{[citation needed]}

After stealing the power of the Iron Fist, he gained the ability to summon and focus his chi (or natural energy) and enhance his natural abilities to extraordinary levels. His strength, speed, stamina, durability, agility, reflexes, and senses can all be astronomically intensified, making his already formidable martial arts skills even more so. The ultimate expression of this focus is the ability to concentrate his body's natural energies into his hand, manifesting as a supernatural glow around his clenched fist, making his fist "like unto a thing of iron." So concentrated, this "iron fist" can smash into its target with superhuman hardness and impact, while his hand becomes impervious to pain and injury. However, the feat of summoning the power required left Rand physically and mentally drained, but Junzo was able to use this ability for extended periods of time and even repeatedly.

Other applications of the Iron Fist power include the ability to focus chi energy inward to heal oneself or outward to heal others of injury, as well as being able to telepathically fuse his consciousness temporarily with another person and meld with that person's mind. While Junzo has not been seen using these abilities, they are within his power.

Other users of the Iron Fist have demonstrated applications including hypnosis and channeling his chi energy into projectile weapons to increase their destructive capacity, enhanced resistance to injury, including resilience to poison gas, a greatly slowed aging process and even invulnerability.

Even without the Iron Fist, Junzo is a world class master martial artist, having defeated Iron Fist at all of their meetings as well as Night Thrasher and Steel Serpent, he is easily one of the most skilled practitioners of unarmed combat in the Marvel Universe.^{[citation needed]}

By killing his uncle Hiromitsu, he has gained magical abilities of teleportation and elemental control.

Abilities

Master of the martial arts

Links and References

References