History
One of the many daughters of the sorcerer and crimelord Zheng Zu, Zhilan was raised in the House of the Deadly Staff outside of London, England. When Zhilan sought to reform the Five Weapons Society, Zheng Zu ordered Brother Sabre to assassinate her for her insolence. Instead, Brother Sabre spared Zhilan and faked her death. Unbeknownst to the two half-siblings, the real reason why their father ordered Zhilan's death was due to her status as a mutant, a species that Zu believed had the potential to become a dangerous colonial threat.[2]
During her exile, Zhilan took up residence in Muckross Lake in Ireland, where she used her mutant abilities to assist the locals, earning the reputation as the "Witch of Muckross Lake". Her actions were eventually captured on social media, prompting the new Supreme Commander of the Society and her half-brother Shang-Chi to seek her out. Believing Shang-Chi, Brother Sabre, and Sister Dagger came to kill her, Zhilan attacked them; the fight was interrupted by Wolverine, who revealed Zhilan's existence as a mutant and attempted to bring her to Krakoa for her protection. After a prolonged struggle, Shang-Chi was able to clear up the misunderstanding with Wolverine and Zhilan. Realizing that Shang-Chi had implemented the same reforms that she sought for the Society, Zhilan politely turned down Wolverine's invitation to Krakoa and accepted Shang's offer to rejoin the Society as its new Sister Staff. Wolverine held off a mob of anti-mutant protestors while Zhilan escaped with her half-siblings to the House of the Deadly Hand in New York. While resting in her private quarters, Zhilan was visited by Chieftain Xin, who offered her a proposal.[2]
Sister Staff accompanied Shang-Chi and her siblings when they broke into the Baxter Building to gain access to the Negative Zone, casting a mind numbing spell to incapacitate the building's staff and guests and destroyed the H.E.R.B.I.E.s guarding Mister Fantastic's lab with her solidified music. In the Negative Zone, Sister Staff and her siblings met Jiang Li, Shang-Chi's mother, for the first time and brought her back to Earth, where they got into an altercation with the Fantastic Four. Sister Staff briefly fought against Invisible Woman before escaping with her family back to the House of the Deadly Hand.[3] Sister Staff later joined up with several former allies-turned-enemies of the Society, including King Wild Man, Lady Iron Fan and Red Dot, who were recruited by Xin where he revealed his plans to bring an end to Shang-Chi's rule.[4]
While at the House of the Deadly Sabre with her siblings, Sister Staff saw Shang-Chi get confronted by several of his superhero allies who demanded he hand over a Cosmic Cube they believed he stole and came to his aid when the confrontation turned violent. While he fought Thor, Shang-Chi realized Brother Sabre had stolen the Cube and lied to him about it, prompting him to hand Takeshi over to the heroes as a prisoner along with the Cube. Zhilan later met with Xin and informed him of the events that had transpired.[5]
Zhilan later joined Xin's allies during their assault against Shang-Chi at the New House of the Deadly Hand, revealing to all her betrayal was due to her belief that Shang-Chi cared more about his western allies than his family when he handed Brother Sabre to the Avengers.[6] However, this turned out to be a ruse and Zhilan helped Shang-Chi and the Society defeat the would-be assassins, admitting to Shang-Chi that his actions with Takeshi proved that he held to his principles above all else, earning her trust as leader. Unfortunately, the assassins took Jiang Li hostage, forcing Shang-Chi to release them and regrouping with Xin, taking a portal to Qilin Island.[1]
When Shang-Chi agreed with Xin to exchange his life for Jiang Li's, Sister Staff accompanied him and Sister Dagger to the Mauna Kea summit in Hawai'i for the exchange, where Staff promised to care for Jiang Li as her own mother after getting her back. Xin and the Qilin Riders arrived without Jiang Li and attacked the three siblings. When Shang-Chi was able to fight him off, Xin resorted to using some of Shang-Chi's blood to create three taotie before fleeing back to Ta-Lo. Sister Staff and her siblings defeated one taotie and saved Falo from the second one. While researching the taotie, the siblings realized that Xin created them to hunt anyone in Zheng Zu's lineage and that Falo was a descendant of their father. Falo attempted to make a pass at Sister Staff but was threatened by Dagger, revealing that Staff was related to him as his ancestor was her father.[7]
Sister Staff traveled with her siblings to the Vault where they saved Takeshi from the third taotie. When Shang-Chi received a vision of Shi-Hua getting attacked by Xin, he freed Brother Sabre from the Vault's guardsmen despite Sister Staff's reminder of staying true to his principles, and the four traveled to British Columbia to rescue Sister Hammer after she was left for dead by Xin. The five Champions of the Five Weapons Society took a constructed gateway from the New House of the Deadly hand to Ta Lo to rescue Jiang Li and to stop Xin.[8] Shortly after arriving in Ta Lo, the siblings were confronted by the Jade Emperor's guards for trespassing, which escalated to a brawl. The Jade Emperor arrived and used the Ten Rings to capture the siblings and had the sent to his dungeon. Under the influence of a Taotie Mask, Xin attacked the siblings in the dungeon to destroy Zu's bloodline once and for all. Shang-Chi took the Emperor's Ten Rings from their vault to save his family from his grandfather.[9]
Empowered by the Rings, Shang-Chi initially gained the upper hand against Xin but began resisting their power when Zu attempted to influence his thoughts, allowing Xin to claim the Ten Rings, which he used to bury Shang-Chi and his siblings underneath the dungeon. However, four the Rings remained with Shang-Chi, which Shang-Chi used to protect them from rubble and to dig themselves out of the dungeon, only to be confronted by the Jade Emperor and his guards. The Emperor tasked Shang-Chi and his siblings with apprehending Xin and recovering the Ten Rings. Revealing that Xin was attacking the House of the Deadly Hand with the Qilin Riders and that Jiang Li was helping defend it with the Warriors of the Deadly Hand, the Emperor provided Shang-Chi and the others with Qilin to return to Earth. At the Society headquarters, Shang-Chi confronted his grandfather again, but lost the remaining Rings to Xin, who then ordered the Riders to destroy New York City. Shang-Chi gave in to his dark desires, reclaiming all of the Ten Rings from Xin and unlocking their full potential but also gave him the appearance 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. Before a corrupted Shang-Chi could cut off Xin's hand for what he did to Sister Hammer, Sister Staff, their siblings and Jiang Li talked him down, freeing him from Zu's influence and sparing Xin. After the Society repaired the damage done to the city and Xin and the Ten Rings were taken back to Ta Lo, Zhilan returned to the House of the Deadly Staff.[10]
Sister Staff reunited with Shang-Chi, Sister Dagger and Brother Sabre, who was released early from prison, for a mission to prevent a gang of disgruntled Society members from resurrecting their father. When Brother Sabre was amenable to the idea of bringing Zheng Zu back, Sister Staff reprimanded him. The four arrived at the ritual site at a history museum in China, where the loyalist's leader revealed his plans to summon Zheng Zu at the height of his power from the past by using Falo as a sacrifice. During the fight, Sister Staff attempted to destroy Zheng Zu's remains but was stopped by Brother Sabre and the two argued with over it; the distraction allowed a portal to open, forcing Shang-Chi to jump through and close it but left him trapped in early 19th century China. Sister Staff and her siblings were able to defeat the traitors and reopen the portal to rescue their brother. Since Shang-Chi's experience in the past got him to realize Zu was once good and honorable, Zhilan agreed to save their father's bones and had them buried next to Zheng Yi's grave. The siblings gave him full funeral rites and to honor the good man he once was and vowed to uphold his old legacy.[11]Attributes
Powers
- Sound Solidification: Zhilan possesses the mutant ability to transform music into solidified energy. The sounds generated from Zhilan's flute transform into green colored tendrils that she can command at will, which are strong enough to restrain gargantuan monsters such as the Muckie.[2] However, the energy created by Zhilan is not strong enough to restrain Mjolnir when it was thrown at her by Thor.[5]
- Magic: In addition to her mutant abilities, Zhilan is capable of sorcery and magic, including casting mind numbing spells.[3]
Abilities
- Martial Arts: Highly trained assassin and martial artist with a proficiency in staves. Zhilan is also a talented musician and uses her musical talent in conjunction with her mutant abilities.
- Bilingual:: Zhilan is fluent in English and Ancient Mandarin.
Paraphernalia
Weapons
See Also
Links and References
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Shang-Chi (Vol. 2) #8
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Shang-Chi (Vol. 2) #3
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Shang-Chi (Vol. 2) #4
- ↑ Shang-Chi (Vol. 2) #5
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Shang-Chi (Vol. 2) #6
- ↑ Shang-Chi (Vol. 2) #7
- ↑ Shang-Chi (Vol. 2) #9
- ↑ Shang-Chi (Vol. 2) #10
- ↑ Shang-Chi (Vol. 2) #11
- ↑ Shang-Chi (Vol. 2) #12
- ↑ Shang-Chi: Master of the Ten Rings #1