Marvel Database
Marvel Database
Marvel Database
263,708
pages
in: Characters, Single Characters, Red Eyes,
and 35 more

Shou-Lao (Earth-616)

Sign in to edit

History

Early Life[]

Shou-Lao was an immortal dragon from a dark plane of existence who became the source of power for K'un-Lun.[5]

1,000,000 BC[]

Shou-Lao in 1,000,000 BC

Shou-Lao in 1,000,000 BC

Fan Fei was brought for execution by Shou-Lao for breaking a forbidden rule of K'un-Lun: teaching their sacred traditions to cavemen. These cavemen were also brought to be executed. All of them died except Fan Fei, who killed the sacred dragon with her bare hands and claimed her title as the first Iron Fist.[4]

Quan Yaozu[]

Many years after Fan Fei killed Shou-Lao, the dragon had reincarnated and already found his way back to his home dimension. Changming, an ancient trickster, used dark arts to open a portal to Shou-Lao's dimension, allowing Shou-Lao and other dark creatures to enter K'un-Lun. Changming used the dragon to conquer K'un-Lun and terrorize the citizens. While Shou-Lao was sleeping in a cave, Quan Yaozu confronted and defeated him, gaining the power of the Iron Fist.[5]

Hyborian Age[]

During the Age of Conan, circa 10,000 BC, Shou-Lao was invoked by men of Khitai.[27]

Molten Heart[]

According to Cybelle, during a performance of the dragon riders of K'un-Lun for the entertainment of its Yu-Ti, Shou-Lao went berserk and attacked the city's leader. He was slain by Quan-St'ar, who cut out the dragon's heart. Enraged at this, Yu-Ti banished Quan-St'ar from the city and revived the dragon by melting its heart. He then placed the molten heart further inside the dragon's sacred cavern.[6] From this moment forward, in order to receive the power of the Iron Fist, each potential combatant had to defeat Shou-Lao, and then kill him by plunging their fists into its molten heart. Shou-Lao was reborn over 66 times.[25]

1878 AD[]

A Ch'i-Lin entered K'un-Lun through Kwai Jun-Fan's heart in an attempt to consume the egg of Shou-Lao.[28] Lei Kung the Thunderer and the warriors of K'un-Lun held back the beast, successfully protecting the vulnerable egg.[19]

Danny Rand[]

Facing Danny Rand

Facing Danny Rand

In modern days, Danny Rand defeated the dragon, and in the course of the battle, had the dragon-shaped scar burned on his chest. After defeating Shou-Lao, he plunged his hands into the brazier containing the dragon's molten heart seven times, and it charged him with the power of the Iron Fist.[1][29]

Immortal Iron Fist[]

Lei Kung the Thunderer assigned Davos to guard the egg that would one day hatch into the reborn Shou-Lao.[30] A Ch'i-Lin attempted to reach the egg and consume it, but was stopped by the Iron Fist. The egg of Shou-Lao hatched shortly after.[19]

Avengers vs. X-Men[]

When Cyclops and the X-Men were fighting the Avengers in K'un-Lun, Hope Summers and the Thunderer came riding upon Shou-Lao. The dragon blasted Cyclops, who was empowered by the Phoenix Force, with its fire. Unfortunately, the dragon was too young and weak to put up a fight, and its riders were forcibly dismounted by Cyclops' return attack. However, Hope was able to unleash a combination of dragon energy, fire, and chaos magic to banish Cyclops to the Moon.[31]

Iron Fist: The Living Weapon[]

Attacked by The One and Davos[]

Decapitated by The One and his undead ninjas

Decapitated by The One and his undead ninjas

Shou-Lao was on the verge of death for reasons unknown when the people of K'un-Lun held a ceremony, hosted by the new Yu-Ti, Lei Kung, to prepare for the dragon’s passing. The people of K'un-Lun planned to consume the flesh of Shou-Lao, but were interrupted by the arrival of The One and his army of undead ninjas. The One and his army rampaged through the city and decapitated Shou-Lao, killing him.[23]

Around the same time, Davos and a group of undead ninjas entered the chamber housing the egg of the next incarnation of Shou-Lao. Davos attempted to kill the Thunderer and destroy the egg, but a young monk named Pei secured the egg[23] and fled to New York.[22]

Birth of Gork[]

Gork licking Pei's face

Gork licking Pei's face

While fleeing from Davos and his group of undead ninjas, Pei dropped down through a manhole, causing the egg of Shou-Lao to fall out of her backpack. The egg quickly hatched, giving birth to the next incarnation of Shou-Lao the Undying.[22] Pei nicknamed the young dragon "Gork" due to the sound it made.[2]

Killed by Davos[]

After the arrival of Zhu Rong to New York City, Davos urged the people of K'un-Lun to flee back to their city through the Randall Machine inside Rand Tower. Disapproving the decision of Danny Rand's allies to stay and help Danny, Davos snapped Gork's neck. This disrupted Danny's chi and left the people inside Rand Tower defenseless against Zhu Rong's attacks. As Gork's spirit left his body, the dragon saw Pei's courage and desire to protect others, and chose her to be the next Iron Fist.[32] Gork's chi then transferred to Pei, granting her a dragon-shaped scar on her back and the power of the Iron Fist.[24]

Resurrected by Pei[]

Pei, using a technique from a special chapter of the Book of the Iron Fist, resurrected Gork along with every other incarnation of Shou-Lao. Danny and Luke Cage worked together to defeat the horde of dragons.[25]

Captivity and Return[]

Following the defeat of the dragon horde, Danny kept the previous incarnation of Shou-Lao, the one directly before Gork, confined in a reinforced cage in his condo while he searched for a way to send the dragon back to K'un-Lun. The cage was constructed from high-performance, 60-centimeter-thick plexiglass fitted with soundproofing. During this time, Danny fed Shou-Lao a diet of cows and other animals.[33] Later, Danny used the Book of the Iron Fist to open a portal between New York City and K'un-Lun, bringing this incarnation of Shou-Lao back home. Riding on the dragon's back, Danny joined Shou-Lao in the battle against Choshin's forces. Ultimately, Shou-Lao devoured Choshin.[34] The fate of this incarnation of Shou-Lao is unknown, though he may have been killed by the Hierophant's forces during their attack on the heavenly cities.[35]

Heart of the Dragon[]

Gork was staying under the care of Danny and Pei when the power-hungry Hierophant launched a crusade to kill the dragons of the heavenly cities and absorb the chi in their hearts. Sent by the Hierophant, Lady Bullseye and an army of undead ninjas attempted to kill Gork in Danny's home, but Danny and his allies stopped them.[36] Later, Okoye joined the heroes in their fight against the Hierophant, during which they were attacked by the last surviving dragon besides Gork, the Ghost Dragon. In a desperate move, Pei reluctantly allowed Okoye to sacrifice Gork and claim his chi. This was followed by Danny Rand transferring his Iron Fist powers to Okoye so she could defeat the Ghost Dragon and the Hierophant. Afterwards, Quan Yin created or summoned a new egg of Shou-Lao, declaring that the reborn dragon would serve as the holy dragon of all the heavenly cities, not just K'un-Lun. Unable to return the Iron Fist power to Danny Rand, Okoye relinquished it to Shou-Lao's newly reborn egg.[37]

Gifting his chi to Lin Lie

Gifting his chi to Lin Lie

Saving Lin Lie[]

Some time later, the citizens of K'un-Lun were preparing for the annual Festival of Rebirth, a celebration of Shou-Lao's reincarnation. Unusually, the egg of Shou-Lao had still not hatched. When Sparrow, now the Yu-Ti, placed her hand on the egg, it cracked open, revealing only an empty shell, indicating that, at some point, Shou-Lao had reincarnated without emerging from his egg. Around the same time, Lin Lie, then known as Sword Master, fell off a cliff into the water below during his battle with a Kumiho. Shou-Lao bestowed his chi upon Lie, saving his life and granting him the power and title of the Iron Fist.[26]

Attributes

Powers

Weaknesses

  • If the dragon-shaped scar on Shou-Lao's chest was covered, he would not be able to draw any more chi from his disembodied heart and would eventually be defeated.[1][10]

Notes

  • Shou-Lao's history as a performing dragon as recounted in Master of Kung Fu Annual #1 has most likely been effectively retconned. In later comics, this part of Shou-Lou's lore is ignored and overwritten.[4][5]
  • Shou-Lao's dragon-shaped scar on his chest was left as a result of the removal of his heart.[39] Afterwards, when a person fought Shou-Lao and pressed against this scar, they were burned by it. The resulting mark on their own body appeared as a mirror image, facing left.[40][41][13]
    • The dragon's scar typically had the head facing right, but it was sometimes mistakenly depicted in reverse.[21][10][31]
  • Shou-Lao appeared to possess the ability to alter his appearance upon being reborn. He was most often depicted as a serpent-like dragon without wings or limbs.[1][38] However, some incarnations were shown to have wings and/or limbs,[31][2] whereas others combined a serpent-like body with short, stout claws.[26][42]
  • When Shou-Lao died or was about to die of natural causes (such as times when there was no need for a new Iron Fist, and thus no need to kill the dragon), the citizens of K'un-Lun would consume the beast and feed on its chi. Shou-Lao's chi was also infused into the rivers of K'un-Lun, giving nourishment to the Tree of Immortality and its fruit, which granted immortality to those who consumed it.[23]
  • Danny Rand claimed there were 66 incarnations of Shou-Lao (not including Gork),[25] based on the 66 Iron Fists before him.[20][43] Despite this claim, there must be more than 66 incarnations of Shou-Lao due to the existence of incarnations who lived and died before the birth of a new Iron Fist.[23]
    • Additionally, a Ch'i-Lin said that 66 Iron Fists died before Danny, making him the 67th Iron Fist. This would suggest at least 67 incarnations of Shou-Lao before Gork.[43] However, this statement comes with a caveat: the Ch'i-Lin was likely exaggerating, given that not every Iron Fist before Danny has died, such as Quan Yaozu[44] and Resourceful Snake.[8]

Trivia

See Also

Links and References

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Marvel Premiere #16
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Iron Fist: The Living Weapon #6
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Iron Fist: Heart of the Dragon #6
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Avengers (Vol. 8) #13
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Immortal Iron Fist #23
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 Master of Kung Fu Annual #1
  7. ↑ Iron Fist (Vol. 6) #2
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Iron Fist (Vol. 5) #3
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Iron Fist (Vol. 5) #5
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 Immortal Iron Fist #24
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Mighty Thor (Vol. 2) #7
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Immortal Iron Fist #1
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 Immortal Iron Fist #7
  14. ↑ Iron Fist (Vol. 5) #75
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 New Avengers (Vol. 2) #26
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Immortal Iron Fist #3
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 Immortal Iron Fist #17
  18. ↑ Avengers (Vol. 8) #50
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 19.3 Immortal Iron Fist #20
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Immortal Iron Fist #4
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 Immortal Iron Fist #11
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 22.3 22.4 Iron Fist: The Living Weapon #5
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 23.3 23.4 Iron Fist: The Living Weapon #2
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 Iron Fist: The Living Weapon #11
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 25.2 25.3 Iron Fist: The Living Weapon #12
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 26.2 Iron Fist (Vol. 6) #1
  27. ↑ Savage Sword of Conan #192 ; The Cape of Dark Dreams - Skull on the Seas Part III
  28. ↑ Immortal Iron Fist #18
  29. ↑ Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #15
  30. ↑ Immortal Iron Fist #14
  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 31.2 31.3 31.4 Avengers vs. X-Men #10
  32. ↑ Iron Fist 50th Anniversary Special #1 Iron Fisticuffs
  33. ↑ Iron Fist (Vol. 5) #73
  34. ↑ Iron Fist (Vol. 5) #77
  35. ↑ Iron Fist: Heart of the Dragon
  36. ↑ Iron Fist: Heart of the Dragon #1
  37. ↑ Iron Fist: Heart of the Dragon (Vol. 5)–6
  38. ↑ 38.0 38.1 Immortal Iron Fist #23–24
  39. ↑ Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #10
  40. ↑ Marvel Premiere #15
  41. ↑ Uncanny Origins #14
  42. ↑ A.X.E.: Iron Fist #1
  43. ↑ 43.0 43.1 Iron Fist 50th Anniversary Special #1 Happy Birthday, Danny
  44. ↑ Immortal Iron Fist #26
Community content is available under CC-BY-SA unless otherwise noted.
More Fandoms