History
Warriors of Three Sovereigns[]
Lin Lie (Chinese: 林烈, Lín Liè) was a young man who lived in Shanghai, China and was born in the Year of the Tiger. One day his archeologist father gave Lie a mysterious sword and left with his brother, Feng, for Quianfengou, never to be seen again. One year later, received a mysterious package which contained a puzzle box. After solving the puzzle which revealed a red orb, Lie was attacked the deliveryman, who transformed into a demon but was saved when the sword moved on its own to attack the demon and by the arrival of Ji Shuangshuang. When Lie demanded answers, Shuangshuang stabbed him with the sword, which gave him a vision of the Huaxia defeating Chiyou in 3000 BC and revealed that the sword was the Sword of Fu Xi. Shuangshuang revealed that she and Lie were the descendants of Nü-wa and Fu Xi, respectively, and that the Sword and Chiyou's Orb had been removed from their resting place, allowing the seals containing Chiyou to weaken and unleashing his demon army. Believing Lie to be too incompetent to fight Chiyou, Shuangshuang took the Orb from him. Lie tried to chase after her but was attacked by Baron Mordo, who wanted the Sword for himself. Lie was rescued by Doctor Strange, who drove Mordo away. After Lie explained what the Sword was and the threat of Chiyou, Strange offered to take the Sword for safekeeping but relented when Lie told him of his family duty and that it was the only clue to finding his father. Strange reminded Lie that he needed to work with allies and used his magic to send him to Shuangshuang's location. Lie and Shuangshuang were able to defeat the remaining demons in the area and Shuangshuang was contacted by her grandmother, who ordered her to return to the Nü-wa estate in Gansu with Lie and the Sword. Unable to take a flight due to the Sword failing security checks at the airport and Shuangshuang's magic not being strong enough to transport them, Lie recruited his apartment roommate Ah Cheng to drive them as he had a driver's license. When the met Cheng in downtown Shanghai, the Sword moved on its own and pointed out Feng from a crowd. By the time Shuangshuang and Cheng caught up with Lie, Feng disappeared. Lie and his friends helped Ji Xiangyun and the Nü-wa Clan defend the Nü-wa mansion when it was attacked by Chiyou's demons. Afterwards, Xiangyun took Lie and Shuangshuang to the tomb containing Chiyou's body and used her magic to show memories of Chiyou's sealing and release, as well as the last moments of Lie's father before his disappearance. Lie was told by Xiangyun that he needed to start his training under Shuangshuang.[4]
Agents of Atlas[]
Sometime after his training, Lie took on the name Sword Master and embarked on his quest to find his family and fight Chiyou's demons. Lie later joined the new Agents of Atlas during the War of the Realms. He stayed with the team while continuing to look for his family.[5]
Lin Lie as Sword Master
While looking for his father, Lie encountered his Atlas teammate Shang-Chi in Flushing, who took Lie under his wing. Sword Master and Shang-Chi were confronted by Ares, who demanded Lin Lie's Sword of Fu Xi to confront the kidnapper of his son Ismenios, who Ares believed was another god. Coming to a truce, the three were able to track Ismenios to a temple in Madripoor, where they confronted his kidnapper, the Mother Goddess of Madripoor Davi Naka. Naka explained that she imprisoned Ismenios for his protection after the young drakon was caught stealing from Atlantis' treasure hoard during the absence of its sea serpent guardian. Despite Naka's attempt to placate the kingdom, King Namor was still outraged over the missing dragon.[6] Afterwards, Sword Master, Shang-Chi and Ares ate at a Madripoor Lowtown dim sum shop before the trio was visited by Jimmy Woo, who sought them out to find fellow teammate Amadeus Cho to solve a mysterious hexadecimal puzzle.[7]
During Sword Master and Shang-Chi's training, they were reunited with the New Agents of Atlas when Flushing and other Asian communities in every major city were merged into the portal city of Pan by tech mogul Mike Nguyen. Despite their suspicions of Nguyen and his hired mercenary, Isaac Ikeda, the "Protector of Pan", the New Agents of Atlas agreed to protect the city after it was besieged by Wyverns and Sea Serpents.[8] It was later revealed that Atlantis' dragon had been captured by the Big Nguyen Company, who had been harvesting her scales to power Pan's portals. Upon this discovery, an enraged Namor launched an invasion of Pan to reclaim his stolen dragon.[9]
Sword Master and the other New Agents of Atlas were summoned by Brawn during his confrontation with Namor, who warned the group to return Atlantis' dragon in a day or else face the wrath of Atlantis before retreating. Sword Master and the other New Agents were subsequently introduced to the original Agents of Atlas by Woo. When Woo sent Namora, Venus, Aero, and Wave to Atlantis for a diplomatic mission, Brawn discretely ordered Shang-Chi and Sword Master to spy on Namora, due to her familial ties with Namor. The dragon was eventually released from captivity, but upon arriving home she unexpectedly went berserk and attacked the underwater kingdom. Witnessing the destruction caused by the dragon, Shang-Chi and Sword Master relayed to Amadeus that Atlantis' scientists discovered an implant embedded in the dragon's scales to be the source of her behavior and that Namor believed Amadeus to be behind the sabotage, prompting the king to resume his attack on Pan.[10] When Amadeus was forcibly transformed into the Hulk and put under Nguyen's control with Sirena tech in a last ditch effort to destroy Atlantis, Sword Master helped Shang-Chi remove the device from Amadeus, freeing him from Nguyen's control and reverting him back into Brawn.[11]
King in Black[]
During the invasion of the symbiote god Knull on Earth, Lin Lie learned that symbiote dragons were attacking Shanghai and travelled there assuming they were minions of Chiyou. Upon learning from his Atlas teammate Aero that the symbiote dragons were servants of a different dark god, Knull, Lie was disappointed and stubbornly refused to assist in repelling the invasion, arguing that the Sword of Fu Xi had a proud will of its own and was meant to be wielded against Chiyou alone. Angered by the boy's arrogance and hubris, the Sword of Fu Xi left him for Dane Whitman, the Black Knight, who had been stranded in Shanghai after a symbiote-dragon.[12]
Attacked by a symbiote dragon, the Black Knight lapsed into a berserk state - the Sword of Fu Xi belatedly realizing he wasn't a noble warrior and attempting to return to Lie. Lin and Dane's struggle over the blade was interrupted when the symbiote-dragon latched onto them with tendrils to mentally connect them to Knull; the Sword of Fu Xi setting Dane's hand ablaze with divine flames to force him to relinquish it before returning to Lie. With Knull desiring to claim both the Ebony Blade and the Sword of Fu Xi for himself, Lie wielded the divine sword alongside Aero and the Black Knight in order to vanquish Knull's avatar.[12]
Death of Doctor Strange[]
When the death of Doctor Strange prompted legions of demons to invade parts of the world, Sword Master and Wave drove off an invasion in Cebu. Afterwards, Sword Master was sent to Seoul by Woo to assist his teammate White Fox with taking down a demonic Kumiho that had been terrorizing the South Korean countryside. While fighting the Kumiho, the Sword of Fu Xi was destroyed by a bite from the beast's jaws. When a shocked Lie wondered how that was possible, the demon claimed that the sword recognized how weak he was and proceeded to throw him into a ravine. Despite the best efforts of the Agents of Atlas and Tiger Division Lie was unable to be found, with only a shard of his sword recovered by White Fox.[13]
The New Iron Fist[]
An unconscious and gravely wounded Lin Lie was washed ashore outside K'un-Lun, just as Shou-Lao hatched from his egg. The dragon bestowed his chi onto Lie, saving his life and granting him the power and title of the Iron Fist. Lie was saved by Mei Min, who took him home to her family. With several of the Sword's shards embedded in his hands, Lie aspired to recover the remaining shards and reforge the Sword to prevent Chiyou from escaping his seal. Several months later on a Tuesday, Lie tracked down a large piece of the sword in a Chinese antique shop in Flushing, where he met his predecessor Danny Rand, who helped him recover the piece from several of Chiyou's minions. Danny attempted to ask Lie about his background but Lie brushed him off and fled through a portal to K'un-Lun in the subway.[2]
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Saved by Shou-Lao
During the past months, the new Iron Fist continued hunting down the Sword's pieces while fighting Chiyou's forces across the world, with Min joining him on several occasions. After returning from an excursion in Shanghai, Lie was provoked into a fight with Yang Yi but was stopped and reprimanded by Sparrow Yu-Ti. Lie later confessed to Min that he felt unworthy of being the Iron Fist as he had not gone through the traditional steps required, but Min cheered him up by telling him the story of Wu Ao-Shi, an Iron Fist similar to Lie. Sparrow also offered some encouragement to Lie and took him under her wing to help him overcome his handicap. One day during his training, the shards in his skin started radiating energy and left Lie in excruciating pain, making him realize that the seal in Chiyou's first tomb had been destroyed.[14]
The energy from shards guided Lie back to Min's home, where he was confronted by demon minion of Chiyou, who had previously killed and disguised himself as Min's father. Having gravely wounded Min's mother, the demon demanded the Sword's other remains sealed in the Mei household but Lie, Min and Yi fought him. The demon was too powerful for three of them and subdued Min and Yi, threatening to kill them if Lie didn't hand him the shards. Lie resorted to stabbing his arms with the remaining shards, preventing the demon from stealing them and empowering him enough to mortally wound the demon. With his dying breaths, the demon told him that Lie's brother Feng destroyed the seal in the first tomb for his new master, Chiyou, and that Feng would be waiting for him at the second tomb. Shaken by the revelation, Lie immediately took a portal from K'un-Lun to Gansu with Min and Yi accompanying him. Shortly after arriving, the three encountered Fat Cobra and the Bride of Nine Spiders.[15]
Fat Cobra revealed that he and the Bride were asked by Danny Rand to track Lie down but decided to test the new Iron Fist's skills out by fighting him. Lie was able to briefly hold them off with the Shards' energy but failed to summon the Iron Fist, to which Fat Cobra denounced him as weak. Min and Yi stayed behind to fight the Immortal Weapons while Lie raced to the Second Tomb, only to find it attacked by Feng and Chiyou's demons, including a giant centipede. Lie was defeated by the centipede and was reunited with Feng, who had just defeated Shuangshuang and taken her Bands of Nü-wa.[16]
Lie fell unconscious and was greeted by Shou-Lao's spirit within his mind, who reassured him that his Sword did not abandon him and that he made the right choice by gifting Lie his power. Lie awoke inside the the Second Tomb where Feng prepared to destroy the seal. Holding the Sword's scabbard and obtained the Bands, Feng explained that he was resurrecting Chiyou so that he could use the reassembled Sword to permanently destroy him and asked for Lie's help. Lie realized Feng was lying and the two resumed fighting. Empowered by Chiyou's magic, Feng overwhelmed Lie and brought both of them to the surface, where he proceeded to attack Lie's allies. Embracing his dual identities as Sword Master and Iron Fist, Lie was able to summon the full power of Shou-Lao while generating a blade from the shards embedded in his hands, which he used to wound Feng. When Sparrow arrived with reinforcements from K'un-Lun, Feng fled through her portal, leaving the K'un-Lun citizens stranded on Earth. Danny formally introduced himself to Lie and offered to help Lie's training as Iron Fist. Lie accepted Danny's offer, but before announcing his intentions of reuniting with Shang-Chi and White Fox to show off his new skills to them.[17]
Judgement Day[]
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Receiving the mark of the Iron Fist
Lin Lie took a flight to Seoul to meet up with White Fox. During the flight, Loki appeared before Lie and revealed his allegiance to Feng and Feng's current siege of K'un-Lun. Lie demanded Loki to take him to Feng but Loki refused, mentioning that he is only an observer and musing the outcome of the Progenitor's final judgement of humanity. The Progenitor narrated that Loki is wrong for his lack of concern for the world and for believing he is above judgement, declaring that gods shall be judged along humanity as the aircraft was suddenly destroyed. Lie and Loki safely landed but mysteriously found themselves in Asgard, where they witnessed a memory from Loki's childhood. When a young Loki caused a young Thor to trip into a frozen lake, the present day Loki refused to help, realizing that the scenario is his judgement from the Progenitor, which he believed he will fail. Duplicates of Mjolnir rained down from the sky, with one of them striking Loki and trapping him under the lake. To Loki's surprise, Lie used the aura from the Sword of Fuxi to lift Mjolnir off of him and carry him to the surface. The two then found themselves in K'un-Lun, where the Progenitor appeared as Shou-Lao and challenged Lie to take his heart to officially earn the title of Iron Fist. As Lie struggled against the dragon as he was reluctant to kill Shou-Lao, Loki refused to help until he was urged to by the Progenitor, who appeared to him as Loki's younger self. With Loki's help, Lie was able to defeat Shou-Lao but asked for Shou-Lao to give him his heart instead of taking it. Lie received the mark of the Iron Fist on his right arm and was given a positive judgement by the Progenitor, along with Loki. The two awoke back on the airplane as if nothing had happened, although the mark of the Iron Fist still remained on Lie's arm. Lie again demanded Loki take him to Feng but Loki teleported away. Lie eventually arrived in Seoul and was reunited with White Fox. He did not know Feng failed his trial.[18]
Painful Lesson[]
Following Danny Rand's suggestion, Iron Fist sought out Daredevil in Hell's Kitchen on an unknown evening to help with his training. After helping Daredevil take down some arms dealers, Lie asked to show him how to fight through his pain. Daredevil was reluctant due to the metaphysical condition of Lie's handicap, but the two were attacked by Suzy and Sissy Shui, who turned the arms dealers into demons. Lie and Daredevil retreated to a nearby rooftop but their close proximity to a water tower gave the Shui sisters an advantage with their water magic. Daredevil told Lie that pain was just part of the self-sacrifice that made them heroes and urged him to channel his rage against his enemies, prompting Lie into overcoming his pain to defeat the sisters and their demons with a single slash from his blades. Daredevil commended Lie, reassuring him that he always had that power within him and that he merely just ignited the fire in his belly. When Lie asked if the pain would return, Daredevil didn't know but told him that he needed to learn to live with it and to not let him eat him up before taking him to another place so that the two could spar.[19]
Iron Fisticuffs[]
On Danny Rand's 34th birthday, Lin Lie was ambushed by the Shocker in New York City but was immediately assisted by Danny's ward and intended successor for the Iron Fist, Pei. Due to Lie's inexperience and Pei's dislike of Lie, the two of them initially struggled against Shocker, who distracted Lie by causing a nearby building full of civilians to collapse, forcing him to briefly abandon their fight to rescue them, and repeatedly taunted Pei over her young age. Lie reassured Pei that despite no longer possessing Shou-Lou's power, the dragon still chose her to be his champion and that she was an Iron Fist for life, which softened her stance about Lie. Lie and Pei combined their powers together to defeat Shocker. Unbeknownst to both, the Shocker was hired by a Ch'i-Lin possessing Razor Fist to keep Lie and Pei distracted while it attacked Danny on his 34th birthday night. This Ch'i-Lin was the same one that attacked on his 33rd birthday. The Ch'i-Lin revealed this plan to Danny and threatened to kill Lie and Pei after he was done with him before it succeeded in killing Danny.[20]
Lie later attended Danny's funeral.[21]Attributes
Powers
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Lin Lie with the Iron Fist and Sword of Fu Xi
Divine Heritage: As the last known descendant of the Xian Fu Xi, Lin Lie can wield the Sword of Fu Xi and use its magical powers. After the sword was shattered, several of its shards became embedded within Lin Lie's hands, allowing him to use the sword's mystical energy through his fists.[2]
- Mystic Energy Manipulation: Lin Lie can generate and project the Sword's mystical energy, whose aura resembles green flames, which can be used in a variety of ways. After the sword was shattered and several of its shards became embedded in his flesh, Lin Lie can still generate and project the mystic energy of the Sword of Fu Xi through his hands.[2]
- Enhanced Punch: Lin Lie's strikes from his hands are much stronger when encased in the sword's aura and are still effective against Chiyou's demons.[2]
- Weapon Infusion: Lin Lie can channel the energy of the shards in his hands into weapons such as swords, increasing their cutting power and destructibility.[14]
- Blade Generation: From the shards embedded in his forearms, Lin Lie can generate blades of the Sword of Fu Xi that protrude from his right hand.[17]
Chi Augmentation: After being saved by the chi of Shou-Lao the Undying, Lin Lie was bestowed the power of the Iron Fist, gaining the ability to augment his physical and mental capabilities to superhuman levels:
- Iron Fist Punch: Like every Iron Fist before him, Lin Lie is able to summon his chi and focus it into his hands, drawing upon the superhuman energy derived from the heart of Shou-Lao and make his fists inhumanly powerful.[2]
- Chi Enhanced Healing: Lin Lie can use chi to to heal his wounds. While he can use his chi to ease the pain from the shards in his skin, he cannot completely heal it, and sometimes the chi makes the pain worse.[14]
Abilities
Expert Swordsman: Lin Lie is an expert swordsman, being able to use his skills to defeat Chiyou's demons, fire goblins,[5] wyverns,[23] and symbiote dragons.[12] While not perfect, Lin Lie's swordsmanship has helped him hold his own against powerful and experienced warriors such as Ares[24] and the Black Knight.[12]
Expert Martial Artist: Due to his training under Shang-Chi,[25] Crescent,[14] White Fox[14] and Sparrow,[14] Lin Lie is an expert martial artist in less than a year of his debut. He is at least proficient in Bajiquan,[2] Wing Chun,[2] and K'un-Lun's martial arts,[2] but not a master of a single discipline.[14]
Skilled Acrobat: Lin Lie is an extremely skilled acrobat.[2]
Multilingual: Lin Lie could read ancient Chinese, in addition speak Mandarin,[26][27] Korean, and English.[2]
Master Enigmatologist: Lin Lie is exceptionally good at puzzles.[26] At eleven years old, he could attempt lockpicking his home door.[15]Weaknesses
Chronic Pain: Due to the shards of the Sword of Fu Xi being embedded in his arms, Lin Lie suffers from constant pain and agony.[2] With some guidance from Daredevil, Lin Lie learned how to mitigate the pain in his hands.[19]
Paraphernalia
Weapons
Notes
- As the Iron Fist, Lin Lie is "untraditional." He became the Iron Fist without taking out the heart of Shou-Lao and thus did not possess the mark of the Iron Fist at first. Eventually, instead of defeating Shou-Lao, he was given the Iron Fist mark by a Celestial called the Progenitor.[18]
See Also
- 48 appearance(s) of Lin Lie (Earth-616)
- 1 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Lin Lie (Earth-616)
- 3 minor appearance(s) of Lin Lie (Earth-616)
- 2 mention(s) of Lin Lie (Earth-616)
- 84 image(s) of Lin Lie (Earth-616)
- 11 quotation(s) by or about Lin Lie (Earth-616)
- 1 item(s) used/owned by Lin Lie (Earth-616)
Links and References
References
- ↑ Timeless #1
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 Iron Fist (Vol. 6) #1
- ↑ Warriors of Three Sovereigns #2
- ↑ Warriors of Three Sovereigns #1–12
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 War of the Realms: New Agents of Atlas #1
- ↑ Sword Master #1–6
- ↑ Incoming #1
- ↑ Agents of Atlas (Vol. 3) #1–3
- ↑ Agents of Atlas (Vol. 3) #5
- ↑ Atlantis Attacks #1–2
- ↑ Atlantis Attacks #5
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 King in Black: Black Knight #1
- ↑ Death of Doctor Strange: White Fox #1
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 14.5 14.6 Iron Fist (Vol. 6) #2
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Iron Fist (Vol. 6) #3
- ↑ Iron Fist (Vol. 6) #4
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 Iron Fist (Vol. 6) #5
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 A.X.E.: Iron Fist #1
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 Daredevil (Vol. 7) #11
- ↑ Iron Fist 50th Anniversary Special #1
- ↑ Power Man: Timeless #1
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 Sword Master #8
- ↑ Agents of Atlas (Vol. 3) #1
- ↑ Sword Master #3
- ↑ Sword Master #1
- ↑ 26.0 26.1 Warriors of Three Sovereigns #1
- ↑ War of the Realms: New Agents of Atlas #2
- ↑ Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game: The Cataclysm of Kang