Marvel Database
Marvel Database
Marvel Database
266,587
pages
in: Characters, Confederates of the Curious (Earth-616)/Members, Freedom's Five (Earth-616)/Members,
and 39 more

Orson Randall (Earth-616)

Sign in to edit

Not sure what any of you just said, but this don't seem the time for chit-chat anyway.

—Iron Fist (Orson Randall)[source]

History

Early Life[]

Orson Randall was born in the mystical city of K'un-Lun after his father's airship crashed into the mystical 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. At some point, he faced and overcame the Challenge of the Many. Orson went on to face the Challenge of The One and bested him, earning his position as the Iron Fist. However, Yu-Ti had programmed The One to lose against Orson, thus guaranteeing Orson's position as the Iron Fist.[4] When Orson matured, he left the city, as many Iron Fists before him had.[5]

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.[6]

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.[7]

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 Book of the Iron Fist, 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.[8]

Orson Randall dressed in his Iron Fist suit

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.[9][10]

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.[10]

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.[10][2]

Avoiding the Ch'i-Lin[]

The Iron Fist Slayer Zhou Cheng attacked Randall on his 33rd birthday in 1934, tracking him by sensing the chi of Shou-Lao within him. Zhou intended to kill Randall for the Ch'i-Lin so it could use his heart to access the egg of Shou-Lao the Undying, which it sought to consume. Randall fought off Zhou and decided to mask the "scent" of his chi by drowning himself in hardline drugs.[11]

Wendell Rand[]

Still going on adventures, Randall 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 mystical K'un-Lun and the Iron Fist.[3] Randall's growing opium addiction did nothing to stem his vast fortune or his adventures, and 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 ensure they would want for nothing.[10] However, Randall was not actually dead, just lost in his addictions in Thailand.[12]

Danny Rand[]

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, Danny 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 Rand.[13]

Damnation[]

Mephisto offered Randall a chance to reclaim his soul and be resurrected if he won 24 fights within 24 hours at a tournament held at the Hotel Inferno. Randall's participation was heavily promoted by D'Kay, which attracted the attention of Rand and Fat Cobra. When Rand refused D'Kay's offer to fight for him, he chose Danny's deceased half sister Miranda as Orson's final opponent with the sole winner being rewarded salvation. Danny reluctantly agreed and D'Kay had Legion of Vengeance fight Orson, Miranda, Danny, Fat Cobra and Mo Chou. When the Legion proved to be more than a match, Orson sacrificed himself to defeat the entire Legion. Although Orson's soul ceased to exist, Miranda and Mo Chou were able to return to life thanks to his sacrifice.[14]

Undead Iron Fist[]

Instead of disappearing, Randall's soul managed to pass onto the Underworld. From the Underworld, he witnessed Danny, who had given up the Iron Fist, being attacked by the Ch'i-Lin's new host Razor Fist and tried bargaining with Osiris to return to the mortal realm to save Danny but was denied due to his past sins. When Danny was killed and arrived in the Underworld, Orson greeted him and told him that everything the Book of the Iron Fist taught them was a lie. Orson explained that Danny had a better chance to be resurrected but he would have to go after the Book's author. After revealing that Quan Yaozu had tampered with the Book to orchestrate the deaths of every Iron Fist to siphon their chi for himself, Orson took Danny to Osiris, who granted Danny's request to be brought back to life after judging his pure soul.[15] After Danny was resurrected as Ghost Fist, Orson and Osiris watched Ghost Fist undergo his task to enact vengeance upon Quan from the Underworld. When Danny was successful and returned to the Underworld, Orson congratulated him.[16]

Attributes

Power Grid[20]
:Category:Power Grid/Fighting Skills/Master: All Forms of Combat:Category:Power Grid/Energy Projection/Single Type: Short Range:Category:Power Grid/Durability/Enhanced:Category:Power Grid/Speed/Normal:Category:Power Grid/Strength/Normal:Category:Power Grid/Intelligence/Learned

Powers

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

  • Chi Manipulation: Through concentration, he can harness his chi to augment his physical and mental capabilities to peak human levels.[13]
  • 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.[10]
  • 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.[1]
  • 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.

  • Nervous System Control: He has near-complete control over his nervous system, enabling him 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.[1]

Weaknesses

Orson appears to suffer from post-traumatic stress, undergoing flashbacks to WWI during moments of stress and blacking out his actions during them.[1]

Paraphernalia

Weapons

  • Twin handguns

Notes

Trivia

  • After his death, Danny Rand named a homeless outreach program "Orson's Rage".[18]

See Also

Links and References

References

Community content is available under CC-BY-SA unless otherwise noted.
More Fandoms