First appearing in the MCU in Iron Man 3, the villainous Mandarin has a very long history in the Marvel Comics Universe. One giant surprise to fans everywhere was the reveal of neither Trevor Slattery or Aldridge Killian being the true Mandarin. The Marvel One-Shot: All Hail The King, teased the arrival of the true Mandarin all the way back in February of 2014.
At long last, the one and only Mandarin is set to appear in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Played by the phenomenal actor Tony Leung Chiu-wai, the Mandarin is sure to set the MCU ablaze when goes up against Shang-Chi. Finally getting his due on the big screen, the Mandarin is sure to rise to become of the MCU's greatest villains.
10 Rough Childhood
While his true name is unknown to this very day, the events of his childhood are not. Born in the village of Habuquan in Inner Mongolia, the boy who would one day become the Mandarin faced obstacles in his life from the very beginning. His father's identity is unknown but his mother was a British prostitute that gave birth to him in an opium den.
From there he was forced into working manual labor from the time he could walk. As the years went on his mother died and he murdered the man he believed to be his father. After this, he engaged in a life of crime and became a member of the criminal underworld. When he tells his origin story it is full of lies, including one where he claims to be of noble blood. Through the sacrifice of a group of dedicated filmmakers, the truth was discovered in Invincible Iron Man Annual # 1 in 2010.
9 Ten Rings Of Power
Other than his mind and brutal values, the Mandarin's greatest weapons are the Ten Rings of Power. Discovered inside a cave in the Valley of Spirits, the Mandarin stole ten ring-looking objects of power from a dying alien. He used studied these rings and realized that each of them had a distinct power.
In addition to this power, when one wears all Ten Rings at once they can commune with the spirits trapped inside. The Mandarin made it his life's mission to free these spirits and mold the world into what he wanted it to be. Throughout the years, even more truth about the rings has been uncovered.
8 Mandarin City
With the power of the Ten Rings, the Mandarin embarked on a massive mission of conquest. He began to conquer village after village in China. At one point in time, not even the Chinese Army could stop his ever-growing sphere of influence and power.
Eventually, he decided to begin the path to forming his own kingdom and acquired the land known as Mandarin Island. This Island resides off the coast of China and is fairly large. It also contains advanced technology and a decent-sized population that was loyal to the Mandarin. Currently, the island belongs to the very man that has defeated him on a few occasions: Tony Stark.
7 Eye Of Yin
Feeling the power of the Ten Rings was not enough, the Mandarin hunted down the legendary weapon known as the Eye of Yin. This ancient weapon was created by Chinese sorcerers and had the power to bend reality. Also, it could be used as a teleportation device.
Even if an item was on another Continent, the Eye of Yin could transport it in a second. The Mandarin's quest for this weapon brought him into conflict with the Inhumans. He managed to defeat them all except for Black Bolt, their leader.
6 Heart Of Darkness
The Mandarin has always had an unhealthy obsession with the brutal conquerors and mass murders of the ancient world. For instance, due to his own claims, many believed he was a direct descendent of Genghis Khan. He yearned for a world free of technology that would be easy to conquer.
To make this dream a reality he used the magical orb known as the Heart of Darkness which turned back time and returned China to its medieval days. This incredibly powerful device had been passed through many hands over its 20,000-year existence yet none mastered it like the Mandarin. If not for a smart move by James Rhodes aka War Machine, the Mandarin would have accomplished one of his life-long goals.
5 Dragon Of Heaven
The loss of the Heart of Darkness set the Mandarin back for quite a few years. He had been left in an amnesiac state and became a lowly janitor for Stark Enterprises in Hong Kong. This brutal fate was almost permanent if not for his iron will. His memories eventually returned and with it an epiphany: the feudal brutality of yesteryear was replaced by the corporate cruelness of modern times.
Using his powerful flying battle station known as the Dragon of Heaven, he set out to first conquer Russia then the rest of the world. Iron Man narrowly stopped him, but he came close once again to having entire nations bow at his feet.
4 Temujin
For a number of years, the Mandarin was assumed to have died in the destruction of the Dragon of Heaven. In the wake of his "death", his monk son Temujin decided to have his revenge against Tony Stark. Having a complete mastery of multiple Martial Arts styles and the peace of mind to control the Ten Rings of Power easily, he summarily defeated Iron Man.
It was only after looking at all the pain and devastation he caused that he decided to spare Tony's life. Temujin went on to become something of a hero, even working with Jimmy Woo's Agents of Atlas.
3 Extremis
Tony Stark's world changed forever when the Extremis Virus entered his life. Not only did he manage to successfully subdue and use it, he discovered that his friend Maya Hansen had betrayed him. She was the mastermind behind the entire Extremis fiasco.
After faking her death, the Mandarin recruited her to provide him with a means of releasing the virus on a global scale. After another battle with Iron Man, the Mandarin escaped and began to enact his most devious scheme.
2 The Destruction Of Stark Resilient
The Mandarin bided his time and attacked Tony Stark at one of his most vulnerable moments. Tony's life at the time was just starting to congeal into some kind of happy and fulfilled existence after all the hardships of Civil War, the Death of Captain America, a brief time as Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., and being named one of the most wanted men in the world.
He founded a new tech company, Stark Resilient, that was aimed towards making the world a better place. At this time, the Mandarin began to plant the seeds of Tony's destruction by infiltrating his company, messing with its products, and teaming up with a few of his other villains.
All this stress made Tony vulnerable and his company went up in smoke. He lost friends, loved ones, and his livelihood all in one fell swoop. The Mandarin succeeded in bringing Tony to his lowest point and he would have finished him if not for the actions of Tony's friends.
1 The Creation Of Iron Man
Whenever the Mandarin begins to enact one of his plans, Tony Stark arrives to stop him. No matter the plan or how well thought out it may be, the Mandarin seems to continually be bested by Tony. Yet, his greatest mistake was in the role he played in the very creation of Iron Man.
The Mandarin was behind the people that kidnapped Tony Stark and forced him to work in a cave for months. This led to Tony meeting Professor Ho Yinsen, the man that inspired him to never give up and create the first version of the Iron Man armor. The Mandarin created his own nemesis, a fact that he no doubt thinks of every time one of his plans fails.