Orson Randall (Earth-616)

Orson Randall was born in the mythical city of K'un-Lun after his father's airship crashed into the mythical city during one of its periodic materializations on the Earthly plane. He was adopted as a member of the city; trained by the Thunderer, educated by Yu-Ti, and eventually defeated Shou-Lao when he was seventeen to become the city's champion, the Immortal Iron Fist. When he matured, he left the city as many Iron Fists before him had.^[2]

World War I[]

During WWI he joined a group of heroes who fought together as the Freedom's Five. The team consisted of Phantom Eagle, Union Jack, Crimson Cavalier (Jean-Luc Batroc), and a new Sir Steel (Ned Chapel). Together the heroes battled the Martians.^[3]

The fighting in WWI affected Randall deeply. After the war ended he stayed in France, and sometime before 1926 he began his addiction to drugs as a way to escape from the memories.^[4]

Tournament of the Heavenly Cities[]

In 1933, he was recalled for the Tournament of Heavenly Cities. Upon his return, however, he refused to fight in the tournament, having been changed by seeing too much blood and violence in his time out of the city. When confronted by his would-be opponents, attempting to strip him of his station, he lashed out, killing the champion of K'un-Zi. With no other options left to him he took the written History of the Iron Fists, containing the knowledge and kung-fu of the Iron Fists that came before and readable only by Iron Fists, and fled the city to New York.^[5]

Orson Randall (Earth-616) from Immortal Iron Fist Vol 1 4 001 — Orson Randall dressed in his Iron Fist suit

Lei-Kung was dispatched to find Randall, but taking pity on him, reported back that he was deceased. Believed to be dead, Randall spent the next few years of his life--alongside his "biographer" Ernst Erskine--having adventures.^[6]^[7]

Confederates of the Curious[]

Orson created the Confederates of the Curious to function as a prototype for later superheroic teams such as the Invaders and Avengers. The first by Randall’s side was Lucky Pierre (Ernst Erskine), or L.P. as Orson referred to him often. L.P. was there when Orson faced the Lightning Lords of Nepal and their mistress, the Bride of Nine Spiders. After what could have been their last venture together, Orson and L.P. began to recruit others, misfits just as the two of them, and suddenly, their adventures turned into missions.^[7]

Each member of the team had their roles to play, and all were at the peak of their game. The Contessa played an integral part in a later task to retrieve Orson’s Last Will and Testament from the Nine-Fold Daughters of Xao. Then as Randall was hunted by the Prince of Orphans, it was Shadu the Shady that was the first to be alerted to the Prince’s presence, and it was Chores MacGillicuddy that put his life on the line to save Randall from that very same menace after escaping imprisonment by the Cowgirls from Hell. It was after that battle that Orson dissolved the group because he did not want his friends to pay for his crimes.

Eventually Randall and the Prince of Orphans were able to get past their differences, around the time of WWII when the Prince learned his people had been lying to him.^[7]^[1]

Wendell Rand[]

It was during these adventures he met and adopted as a ward a young Wendell Rand and began both training him to fight and filling his head with stories of the mythical K'un-Lun and the Iron Fist.^[8] Randall's growing opium addiction did nothing to stem his vast fortune or his adventures, sometime after the 1960s he was believed to have "died" and the majority of his fortune was willed to Wendell Rand, while also being shared with his former comrades to insure they would want for nothing.^[7]

Randall was not actually dead, just lost in his addictions in Thailand. As the next Tournament of Heavenly Cities neared Davos, the Steel Serpent sought him out to kill him, which only caused him to fly to New York. In New York, when he used his Iron Fist powers during a battle, Daniel Rand felt great pain. Rand attempted to track him down, but failed, only to find him back in his office. The older Iron Fist filled in the younger on their histories between battles with Hydra and Davos, during the latter Randall sacrificed himself to transfer his power to Daniel Rand.^[9]

Attributes

Power Grid^[13]

Powers

Plunging his fists into the molten heart of Shou-Lao the Undying gave Randall the power of the Iron Fist, which include:

Chi Augmentation: Through concentration, he can harness his chi to augment his physical and mental capabilities to peak human levels.
Peak Human Strength: Iron Fists possess the normal physical strength of a person their particular age, height, and build that engage in intense regular exercise. Ordinarily, they can lift about 300 lbs. While not superhuman, they can be almost as strong as it is possible for a human to be without being classified as superhuman and lift about 750 lbs with supreme effort.
Peak Human Speed: Iron Fists are capable of running and moving at speeds greater than even the finest Olympic level sprinters, reaching speeds of about 35 miles per hour at times.
Peak Human Stamina: The musculature of an Iron Fist musculature is enhanced to generate less fatigue toxins than the musculature of most human beings. They can exert themself physically at peak capacity for about an hour before fatigue begins to impair them.
Peak Human Agility: An Iron Fists natural agility, balance, and bodily coordination are superior to those of any Olympic level athlete that has ever competed.
Peak Human Reflexes: The reaction time of an Iron Fist is superior to that of any Olympic level athlete that has ever competed.
Peak Human Durability: The tissues of an Iron Fist's body are harder than those of most humans. While they are still vulnerable to physical injury, they are able to withstand far more physical trauma than most other humans.
Chi Enhanced Healing: An Iron Fist can focus their chi for the purposes of healing damage taken more efficiently than most humans. They are also capable of channeling this energy into other people, allowing them to heal others. Orson was able to continue keeping multiple people alive and healthy, who he had healed in the past, even at a distance which granted them extended lifespans until his death.^[7]
Mind Meld: Iron Fists can use their power to temporarily fuse their consciousness with another person, resulting in a sharing of knowledge, emotions, and memories.
- Hypnotism: Randall is able to focus his chi through his hands while he moves them rhythmically in the Hypnotic Fist Technique, placing people into suggestible states.^[10]
Environmental Adaptation: The entire body of an Iron Fist is oriented to combat, enabling them to adapt to any environment with minimal exposure.
Gun-fu: Adapting the techniques of Wu Ao-Shi, Pirate Queen of Pinghai Bai--herself an Iron Fist--to modern times, Orson Randall wields twin handguns from which he fires "lightning from god."
History of the Iron Fist:' With the knowledge contained inside the History of the Iron Fist book, the wealth of knowledge and techniques at a current Iron Fists disposal is nearly limitless.

Abilities

One must be an exceptional athlete, acrobat, and hand-to-hand combatant to even attempt to become an Iron Fist.

Master Martial Artist: They are masters of all K'un-Lun martial arts and many of Earth's, trained in the use of virtually all martial arts weapons.

Nervous System Control: They have near-complete control over their nervous system, enabling them to deaden himself to pain.

Marksmanship: Randall is skilled in the use of firearms, often using twin handguns in battle and uniquely channeling his chi to use as powerful ammo.

Multilingual: In addition to English, Randall also speaks Chinese, French, and German.^[10]

Weaknesses

Orson appears to suffer from post traumatic stress, undergoing flashbacks to WWI during moments of stress and blacking out his actions during them^[10]

Paraphernalia

Weapons

Twin handguns

Trivia

After his death, Danny Rand named a homeless outreach program "Orson's Rage".^[11]

Links and References

Orson Randall on Marvel.com

References

[Immortal_Iron_Fist_Orson_Randall_and_the_Green_Mist_of_Death_Vol_1_1-1] 1.0 ^1.1 Immortal Iron Fist: Orson Randall and the Green Mist of Death #1

[Immortal_Iron_Fist_Vol_1_4-2] Immortal Iron Fist #4

[All-New_Invaders_Vol_1_12-3] All-New Invaders #12

[Immortal_Iron_Fist_Vol_1_2-3-4] Immortal Iron Fist #2–3

[Immortal_Iron_Fist_Vol_1_5-5] Immortal Iron Fist #5

[Immortal_Iron_Fist_Vol_1_5-6-6] Immortal Iron Fist #5–6

[Immortal_Iron_Fist_Annual_Vol_1_1-7] 7.0 ^7.1 ^7.2 ^7.3 ^7.4 Immortal Iron Fist Annual #1

[Immortal_Iron_Fist_Vol_1_6-8] Immortal Iron Fist #6

[Immortal_Iron_Fist_Vol_1_1-6-9] Immortal Iron Fist #1–6

[Immortal_Iron_Fist_Vol_1_2-10] 10.0 ^10.1 ^10.2 Immortal Iron Fist #2

[Immortal_Iron_Fist_Vol_1_16-11] Immortal Iron Fist #16

[12] Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z Update #3

[13] Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z Update Vol 1 3

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