History
Chieftain Xin was born into one of Ta-Lo's few communities of mortals known as the Qilin Riders who were appointed by the Xian as guardians of the stone gateway (paifang) connecting Ta-Lo to the Earth realm on Qilin Island. When Xin discovered that his daughter Jiang Li had been harboring Zheng Zu, an outsider, on Qilin Island, he ordered her to return to Ta-Lo with Zu's head. Instead, the two fled to the one place where they would be safe from Xin's wrath: the House of the Deadly Hand.[1]
A few years later, Jiang Li sent Xin a letter out of loneliness. Xin traveled to the House of the Deadly Hand and immediately confronted Zu at his personal tower, where he discovered that Zu had built a makeshift portal to Ta Lo. Realizing that Zu had been conspiring to steal Ta Lo's sacred weapons to bolster the Five Weapons Society, Xin and Jiang Li began fighting him. During the fight, the portal lost its connection to Ta Lo and Jiang Li was accidentally pushed through the gateway just as Jiang Li's and Zu's young son Shang-Chi stumbled upon the scene. Xin and Zu blamed each other for Jiang Li's presumed death and each tried to sway Shang-Chi to their side. Shang-Chi sided with his father and threw one of Zu's chemicals at his grandfather's face, permanently blinding him in his right eye. Enraged, Xin declared Shang-Chi to be as evil as his father and fled on his Qilin.[2]
Xin became so consumed by his rage towards Zu and his bloodline that he lost sight of everything, including his family. Many years later, Shang-Chi renounced his father's evil ways and assumed leadership of the Five Weapons Society after Zu's death. Xin was still convinced that Shang-Chi inherited his father's evil and began plotting his grandson's downfall. While Shang-Chi began implementing reforms to change the Society's villainous roots into a more heroic organization, Xin recruited several enemies Shang-Chi made under his rule, including King Wild Man,[3] Lady Iron Fan,[4] and Red Dot[5] to bring down Shang-Chi and the Society. Xin also secretly approached Shang-Chi's half-sister Zheng Zhilan[6] and Jiang Li (who had survived his fight with Zu by residing in the Negative Zone)[7] at the new House of the Deadly Hand for their assistance. Zhilan later joined forces with Xin after Shang-Chi handed his half-brother Takeshi over to the Avengers, which convinced both of them that Shang-Chi cared more about his Western allies than his family.[8]
When Shang-Chi and Jiang Li were attacked by Xin's allies at the New House of the Deadly Hand, Jiang Li detected her father's presence observing the battle.[1] The assault ended in failure as Zhilan revealed herself to be a triple agent and helped Shang-Chi and the Society defeat the would-be assassins, but they were able to force Shang-Chi to release them by capturing Jiang Li. Although he was enraged at their failure to kill Shang-Chi and for using his daughter as a hostage, Xin helped his allies escape by creating a portal to Qilin Island. Shang-Chi attempted to confront his grandfather, but Xin incapacitated him with a single punch and fled through the portal.[2]
Shang-Chi offered his life in exchange for Jiang Li's, which Xin accepted. When Shang-Chi and his sisters arrived at the Mauna Kea summit in Hawai'i for the exchange, Xin reneged on his promise to bring Jiang Li and proceeded to attack him and his siblings with the Qilin Riders. When Shang-Chi proved to be difficult to defeat, Xin resorted to using some of Shang-Chi's blood to create several taotie to hunt anyone in Zheng Zu's lineage before fleeing back to Ta Lo. Xin visited Jiang Li's prison at the Qilin Rider Encampment where he vented his failure to acquiring Shang-Chi's corpse for his magic. Jiang Li gloated that her son was the Master of Kung Fu, but Xin noted that she another child and proceeded to extract Jiang Li's psionic energy to infuse his Whistling Arrow to locate his granddaughter Shi-Hua.[9]
Xin used the Whistling Arrow to track Shi-Hua in British Columbia and attacked her along with a couple Qilin Riders. During the fight, Xin managed to cut off Shi-Hua's right hand but failed to kill her when she proved too resilient. Despite needing her corpse to complete his ritual, Xin settled on using Shi-Hua's severed hand instead and left through a portal not before firing a final shot from his bow and leaving his granddaughter for dead.[10]
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Chieftain Xin empowered by a Taotie Mask and the Ten Rings
With Shi-Hua's hand, Xin was able to create several Taotie Masks for himself and the Qilin Riders. Xin was subsequently summoned by the Jade Emperor to explain the presence of Shang-Chi and his siblings in Ta Lo, who accused Xin of treachery. Xin left with his Qilin Junjie to speak with the Emperor but ordered his men to invade the House of the Deadly Hand to destroy the Society. In the Jade Palace, the Jade Emperor lambasted Xin for breaking his oath to protect the gateway between Earth and Ta Lo and ordered him to be thrown in the dungeon. Instead, Xin donned his mask and overpowered the Emperor and his guards. Xin made his way to the dungeon where Zu's children were imprisoned to destroy the Zheng lineage once and for all. In order to protect his family, Shang-Chi took the Emperor's Ten Rings from their vault to fight his empowered grandfather.[11]
Xin was initially overwhelmed by the Ten Rings, but when Shang-Chi hesitated to embrace their power, Xin was able to claim the Rings from him, which he used to defeat the Champions by burying beneath the dungeon. Although only six of the Rings returned to him, Xin made haste to escape from the recovered Emperor and to join the Qilin Riders in destroying the House of the Deadly Hand, where he was confronted Jiang Li. Shang-Chi and his siblings were able to catch up to Xin with Qilin provided by the Jade Emperor. Xin and Shang-Chi fought once again, but Xin was able to claim the remaining Rings from his grandson and ordered his men to destroy New York City. With no options left, Shang-Chi gave in to his dark desires, allowing him to claim the Ten Rings from Xin and unlock their full potential, which also gave him the likeness and personality of Zheng Zu. Shang-Chi used the Ten Rings to easily defeat Xin and the Qilin Riders, destroying their masks in the process. As Shang-Chi prepared to cut off Xin's left hand as revenge for what he did to Shi-Hua, he was talked down by his family, freeing him from Zu's influence and sparing Xin. Xin was taken back to Ta Lo by Shang-Chi and Jiang Li to face justice for his crimes and was replaced by his daughter by the Jade Emperor as the new Chieftain of the Qilin Riders.[12]Attributes
Powers
Telepathy: Xin is blessed by the Xian with the ability to psionically link with the qilin native to Ta-Lo.[1]
Sorcery: Xin is knowledgeable in magic.[9]
- Portal Creation: Through sorcery, Xin can manifest portals between any two places on Earth.[2]
Abilities
Expert Horseman: As a Qilin Rider, Xin is an expert horseman and capable of riding the mythical qilin into battle.[1]
Expert Archer: As a Qilin Rider, Xin was gifted with innate archery abilities by the Xian.[1]
Expert Swordsman: Xin is shown to be proficient in swordplay.[1]
Expert Martial Artist: Xin is shown to be highly proficient in martial arts.[2]Paraphernalia
Equipment
Weapons
Wields a jian, or Chinese double-edged straight sword as well as bows and arrows.
Transportation
See Also
- 12 appearance(s) of Xin (Earth-616)
- 1 minor appearance(s) of Xin (Earth-616)
- 1 mention(s) of Xin (Earth-616)
- 9 image(s) of Xin (Earth-616)
- 1 item(s) used/owned by Xin (Earth-616)
Links and References
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Shang-Chi (Vol. 2) #7
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Shang-Chi (Vol. 2) #8
- ↑ Shang-Chi (Vol. 2) #1
- ↑ Shang-Chi (Vol. 2) #2
- ↑ Shang-Chi (Vol. 2) #5
- ↑ Shang-Chi (Vol. 2) #3
- ↑ Shang-Chi (Vol. 2) #4
- ↑ Shang-Chi (Vol. 2) #6
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Shang-Chi (Vol. 2) #9
- ↑ Shang-Chi (Vol. 2) #10
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 Shang-Chi (Vol. 2) #11
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 12.5 12.6 12.7 12.8 Shang-Chi (Vol. 2) #12