Captain Uni| Identity |
Daniel "Danny" Rand-Kai A.K.A. The Immortal Iron Fist
| Origin & Backstory |
1988-1998: Death of a Family
In 1988 Danny Rand-Kai was born to Heather Duncan Rand and businessman Wendell Rand-Kai, CEO of Rand-Meachum Inc. Danny's childhood was about as uneventful as the son of a billionaire's could be until the year he turned ten years old, when his father decided to take Danny, Heather and his business partner Harold Meachum with him in search of the mythical city of K'un-Lun. Meachum betrayed the Rand family, pushing Wendell off a cliff and abandoning Heather and Danny to die on the icy mountain slopes they were journeying through when they wouldn't join him in his hostile takeover of Wendell's former life. The two wandered lost through the mountains, stalked by wolves and weakened by cold and starvation. Eventually the wolves struck, and as Heather sacrificed herself to give Danny a few brief moments more to run the last thing he saw before collapsing in exhaustion was a set of shining, golden gates burning through a haze of snow.
When Daniel Rand next awoke, it was within the walls of the Eternal City of K'un-Lun. Its Immortal rulers had rescued him and taken him in, as he happened to arrive during the once-every-decade period when K'un-Lun intersects directly with the mortal plane. As an apology for failing to save Danny's mother as well, they offered to grant him any one request. It barely took Danny Rand any time at all to ask them to teach him everything they could about combat. Thus, while the world mourned the death of one of New York's most high profile philanthropists and his family, Danny Rand began his apprenticeship under Lei Kung The Thunderer.
1998-2008: Birth of an Iron Fist
The Thunderer's training was brutal if also enlightening, designed to hone mind, body and spirit into a weapon forged with an immortal lifetime of experience. Danny's fellow students made his life no easier as he was constantly isolated, mocked and attacked due to his foreign heritage and status as an outworlder. But Danny persisted, the desire for revenge on Harold Meachum lending an angry fire to his efforts that no amount of guidance from his mentors or torment from his peers could extinguish. All the while Danny and the other trainees were told stories of the legendary dragon Shou-Lao the Undying, how he eternally guards K'un-Lun, his still beating heart magically separated from his body and placed inside an enchanted brazier that forced it to beat so that he would never die. They were also told that once in each generation a worthy warrior would be chosen from among trainees like them to face Shou-Lao and attempt to claim the Dragon's power as their own to become the Iron Fist, Immortal Weapon of K'un-Lun. Danny desired this above all else, both to prove himself to those who mocked him and to better exact his revenge against Harold Meachum.
It took ten long years of nearly endless training, but finally the day arrived when a warrior would be chosen to face Shou-Lao the Undying. To the surprise of nearly everyone but himself and Lei Kung, Danny managed to defeat every other challenger and earn the right to face the Dragon. When the time came Danny entered Shou-Lao's mountaintop cave and fought the massive dragon with his bare hands. It was a grueling fight, but in the end Danny was able to grapple with Shou-Lao and cover the still-gaping chest wound which tied the great serpent to its' still beating heart with his own body. The heat of the beast's fiery blood was so intense that it branded the dragon-shaped wound of Shou-Lao into Danny's chest, but in the end he held on long enough to subdue Shou-Lao. With that done Danny plunged his fists into the Undying dragon's molten, still beating heart again and again, until it truly died. The process infused Danny with the dragon's powerful chi and enabled him to channel it through his fists. Thus The Immortal Iron Fist was born!
2008-2009: Iron Fist, Wanted Man!
Afterward it was revealed to Danny that his coming to K'un-Lun was no accident, in fact his father Wendell was the brother of the Immortal lord Yu-ti and Danny was K'un-Lun royalty. The Yu-Ti offered Danny the chance to live forever in K'un-Lun as an immortal and a prince, but he rejected life in paradise, instead returning to the mortal world to seek revenge on Harold Meachum. He was able to track Meachum down to the Rand Tower in New York and fight past innumerable traps and bodyguards, only to find Harold Meachum a broken shell of a man not only confined to a wheelchair after losing both of his legs but already driven to insanity by guilt for his past crimes. However, before Danny could decide what to do, Meachum was killed by a mysterious assailant dressed as a ninja and Iron Fist was framed as Meachum's murderer. Danny found himself at the center of a nationwide manhunt after murdering the well known billionaire. Worse yet, Harold Meachum's daughter Joy put a sizable bounty on his head and he had no real civilian identity to hide behind. Danny spent the majority of his time alternately avoiding the police, fighting bounty hunters and misinformed superheroes alike, and desperately searching for the ninja to clear his name. He eventually found out that The Ninja was a vengeful wraith of a warrior and assassin who had once fought against K'un-Lun. He had been raised from the dead by an unknown master and framed Danny to try and destroy him and leave the Eternal City defenseless. However in their final confrontation the increasingly unstable Ghost Ninja ended up gleefully confessing all of this in front of a rather large crowd during their rather flashy battle and as a result Iron Fist was cleared of all charges with minimal difficulty.
2009-present: A New Life
With help from a penitent Joy Meachum, Daniel Rand was able to prove his identity as the boy who vanished into the mountains many years ago and take back his father's company though he was mainly put in charge of public relations and Rand Incorporated's numerous charitable organizations. With vengeance long out of his reach Iron Fist decided to put his training to good use instead, becoming one of New York's many street-level heroes, though his duties as the Immortal Weapon of K'un-Lun also bound him to a world of martial arts and mysticism. Now as 2010 begins Daniel Rand-Kai is living a new life with new friends and new enemies, all while serving as a bridge for two very different worlds.
| Attributes |
Martial Arts-First and foremost Daniel Rand-Kai is one of the greatest martial artists on Earth, taught by masters with an immortal lifetime of experience with methods that would seem impossible to ordinary men. He is a master of all of the martial arts of K'un-Lun and many of the martial arts of Earth, including styles of fighting that have been unknown to most mortals for thousands of years. More mundanely he is a master of Ninjutsu, Jujitsu, Aikido, all forms of Shaolin Kung Fu, Karate, Judo, Boxing and even informal street-fighting techniques. He has complete mastery of nearly all martial arts weaponry and weapon styles, and is skilled enough at pressure point techniques to effectively use them against superhuman opponents and even beings whose physiology is completely inhuman.
Chi Manipulation and Augmentation-Thanks to his training in K'un-Lun, Danny is able to manipulate his chi to enhance his strength, speed, reflexes, durability, endurance, agility and senses to superhuman levels, although doing this usually takes some concentration and leaves him greatly drained afterward.
Chi of Shou-Lao-Thanks to plunging his fists into the molten heart of the legendary dragon Shou-Lao the Undying, Danny can call upon the dragon's immense and powerful chi and focus it into his fist. While this is primarily used for his signature Iron Fist ability, Danny has occasionally been able to utilize the Chi of Shou-Lao to heal himself and others in times of great desperation and it may have other functions as well, unknown to him. Danny's main usage is focusing the Chi of Shou Lao into his hands in order to make them practically invulnerable and capable of striking with massive concussive force. Although "Becoming like a thing of Iron" is how it was phrased in ancient K'un-Lun, the Iron Fist technique is capable of easily shattering or shredding through iron, steel and much harder and denser substances with relative ease. What's more, Danny can focus more of Shou-Lao's chi into his fists for stronger strikes and has yet to reach his maximum power with the Iron Fist.
Meditation and Body Control-Thanks to meditative exercises learned in K'un-Lun Danny is able to exercise complete mastery over his body, enabling him to control his breathing and heartbeat well enough to slow them to a state indistinguishable from death, deaden himself to all pain, greatly slow the effects of drugs and toxins on his body, go days without sleep and adapt himself to a wide variety of environments with relative ease.
Peak-Human conditioning-Danny's incredibly intensive training in K'un-Lun means that his body is trained and conditioned to the peak potential of an unassisted human, making him just short of a Steve Rogers-level of physically fit even without the use of his chi.
Acrobatics-As part of his training in K'un-Lun, Danny was honed into a highly skilled acrobat, enabling him to maneuver through environments as diverse as the mountainous slopes outside K'un-Lun, the twisted jungles of the H'ylthri and the urban sprawl of New York city with equal ease, speed and grace.
Stealth-Though not as skilled as some, Danny's mastery of ninjutsu includes training in the arts of concealment, deception and stealth.
Multi-Lingual-Danny is fluent in numerous languages and dialects used throughout China, as well as American English and Japanese.
Some Knowledge of the Occult-For someone who professes to totally lack any interest in or aptitude for magic Daniel Rand-Kai possesses a surprising amount of knowledge regarding the mystic arts, supernatural lore and arcane secrets mankind is typically not meant to know. However, Danny himself will swear-up-and-down that he's hardly an expert in such matters, instead insisting that growing up in the high society of K'un-Lun necessitates a basic understanding of such things.
| Character Notes |
| Character Goals |
I want to successfully weave Iron Fist into the Maximum Comics universe while also drawing on his lore to create stories that are well-crafted and self-aware while staying true to the character's Wuxia and Kung-Fu B-Movie influences in a way that's fun to write and to read. Overall I want to collaborate with everyone to have a fun time, make something cool and expand the Maximum Comics universe for the better, especially where its' martial artists are concerned.
| Sample Post |
Daniel "Danny" Rand-Kai A.K.A. The Immortal Iron Fist
| Origin & Backstory |
1988-1998: Death of a Family
In 1988 Danny Rand-Kai was born to Heather Duncan Rand and businessman Wendell Rand-Kai, CEO of Rand-Meachum Inc. Danny's childhood was about as uneventful as the son of a billionaire's could be until the year he turned ten years old, when his father decided to take Danny, Heather and his business partner Harold Meachum with him in search of the mythical city of K'un-Lun. Meachum betrayed the Rand family, pushing Wendell off a cliff and abandoning Heather and Danny to die on the icy mountain slopes they were journeying through when they wouldn't join him in his hostile takeover of Wendell's former life. The two wandered lost through the mountains, stalked by wolves and weakened by cold and starvation. Eventually the wolves struck, and as Heather sacrificed herself to give Danny a few brief moments more to run the last thing he saw before collapsing in exhaustion was a set of shining, golden gates burning through a haze of snow.
When Daniel Rand next awoke, it was within the walls of the Eternal City of K'un-Lun. Its Immortal rulers had rescued him and taken him in, as he happened to arrive during the once-every-decade period when K'un-Lun intersects directly with the mortal plane. As an apology for failing to save Danny's mother as well, they offered to grant him any one request. It barely took Danny Rand any time at all to ask them to teach him everything they could about combat. Thus, while the world mourned the death of one of New York's most high profile philanthropists and his family, Danny Rand began his apprenticeship under Lei Kung The Thunderer.
1998-2008: Birth of an Iron Fist
The Thunderer's training was brutal if also enlightening, designed to hone mind, body and spirit into a weapon forged with an immortal lifetime of experience. Danny's fellow students made his life no easier as he was constantly isolated, mocked and attacked due to his foreign heritage and status as an outworlder. But Danny persisted, the desire for revenge on Harold Meachum lending an angry fire to his efforts that no amount of guidance from his mentors or torment from his peers could extinguish. All the while Danny and the other trainees were told stories of the legendary dragon Shou-Lao the Undying, how he eternally guards K'un-Lun, his still beating heart magically separated from his body and placed inside an enchanted brazier that forced it to beat so that he would never die. They were also told that once in each generation a worthy warrior would be chosen from among trainees like them to face Shou-Lao and attempt to claim the Dragon's power as their own to become the Iron Fist, Immortal Weapon of K'un-Lun. Danny desired this above all else, both to prove himself to those who mocked him and to better exact his revenge against Harold Meachum.
It took ten long years of nearly endless training, but finally the day arrived when a warrior would be chosen to face Shou-Lao the Undying. To the surprise of nearly everyone but himself and Lei Kung, Danny managed to defeat every other challenger and earn the right to face the Dragon. When the time came Danny entered Shou-Lao's mountaintop cave and fought the massive dragon with his bare hands. It was a grueling fight, but in the end Danny was able to grapple with Shou-Lao and cover the still-gaping chest wound which tied the great serpent to its' still beating heart with his own body. The heat of the beast's fiery blood was so intense that it branded the dragon-shaped wound of Shou-Lao into Danny's chest, but in the end he held on long enough to subdue Shou-Lao. With that done Danny plunged his fists into the Undying dragon's molten, still beating heart again and again, until it truly died. The process infused Danny with the dragon's powerful chi and enabled him to channel it through his fists. Thus The Immortal Iron Fist was born!
2008-2009: Iron Fist, Wanted Man!
Afterward it was revealed to Danny that his coming to K'un-Lun was no accident, in fact his father Wendell was the brother of the Immortal lord Yu-ti and Danny was K'un-Lun royalty. The Yu-Ti offered Danny the chance to live forever in K'un-Lun as an immortal and a prince, but he rejected life in paradise, instead returning to the mortal world to seek revenge on Harold Meachum. He was able to track Meachum down to the Rand Tower in New York and fight past innumerable traps and bodyguards, only to find Harold Meachum a broken shell of a man not only confined to a wheelchair after losing both of his legs but already driven to insanity by guilt for his past crimes. However, before Danny could decide what to do, Meachum was killed by a mysterious assailant dressed as a ninja and Iron Fist was framed as Meachum's murderer. Danny found himself at the center of a nationwide manhunt after murdering the well known billionaire. Worse yet, Harold Meachum's daughter Joy put a sizable bounty on his head and he had no real civilian identity to hide behind. Danny spent the majority of his time alternately avoiding the police, fighting bounty hunters and misinformed superheroes alike, and desperately searching for the ninja to clear his name. He eventually found out that The Ninja was a vengeful wraith of a warrior and assassin who had once fought against K'un-Lun. He had been raised from the dead by an unknown master and framed Danny to try and destroy him and leave the Eternal City defenseless. However in their final confrontation the increasingly unstable Ghost Ninja ended up gleefully confessing all of this in front of a rather large crowd during their rather flashy battle and as a result Iron Fist was cleared of all charges with minimal difficulty.
2009-present: A New Life
With help from a penitent Joy Meachum, Daniel Rand was able to prove his identity as the boy who vanished into the mountains many years ago and take back his father's company though he was mainly put in charge of public relations and Rand Incorporated's numerous charitable organizations. With vengeance long out of his reach Iron Fist decided to put his training to good use instead, becoming one of New York's many street-level heroes, though his duties as the Immortal Weapon of K'un-Lun also bound him to a world of martial arts and mysticism. Now as 2010 begins Daniel Rand-Kai is living a new life with new friends and new enemies, all while serving as a bridge for two very different worlds.
| Attributes |
Martial Arts-First and foremost Daniel Rand-Kai is one of the greatest martial artists on Earth, taught by masters with an immortal lifetime of experience with methods that would seem impossible to ordinary men. He is a master of all of the martial arts of K'un-Lun and many of the martial arts of Earth, including styles of fighting that have been unknown to most mortals for thousands of years. More mundanely he is a master of Ninjutsu, Jujitsu, Aikido, all forms of Shaolin Kung Fu, Karate, Judo, Boxing and even informal street-fighting techniques. He has complete mastery of nearly all martial arts weaponry and weapon styles, and is skilled enough at pressure point techniques to effectively use them against superhuman opponents and even beings whose physiology is completely inhuman.
Chi Manipulation and Augmentation-Thanks to his training in K'un-Lun, Danny is able to manipulate his chi to enhance his strength, speed, reflexes, durability, endurance, agility and senses to superhuman levels, although doing this usually takes some concentration and leaves him greatly drained afterward.
Chi of Shou-Lao-Thanks to plunging his fists into the molten heart of the legendary dragon Shou-Lao the Undying, Danny can call upon the dragon's immense and powerful chi and focus it into his fist. While this is primarily used for his signature Iron Fist ability, Danny has occasionally been able to utilize the Chi of Shou-Lao to heal himself and others in times of great desperation and it may have other functions as well, unknown to him. Danny's main usage is focusing the Chi of Shou Lao into his hands in order to make them practically invulnerable and capable of striking with massive concussive force. Although "Becoming like a thing of Iron" is how it was phrased in ancient K'un-Lun, the Iron Fist technique is capable of easily shattering or shredding through iron, steel and much harder and denser substances with relative ease. What's more, Danny can focus more of Shou-Lao's chi into his fists for stronger strikes and has yet to reach his maximum power with the Iron Fist.
Meditation and Body Control-Thanks to meditative exercises learned in K'un-Lun Danny is able to exercise complete mastery over his body, enabling him to control his breathing and heartbeat well enough to slow them to a state indistinguishable from death, deaden himself to all pain, greatly slow the effects of drugs and toxins on his body, go days without sleep and adapt himself to a wide variety of environments with relative ease.
Peak-Human conditioning-Danny's incredibly intensive training in K'un-Lun means that his body is trained and conditioned to the peak potential of an unassisted human, making him just short of a Steve Rogers-level of physically fit even without the use of his chi.
Acrobatics-As part of his training in K'un-Lun, Danny was honed into a highly skilled acrobat, enabling him to maneuver through environments as diverse as the mountainous slopes outside K'un-Lun, the twisted jungles of the H'ylthri and the urban sprawl of New York city with equal ease, speed and grace.
Stealth-Though not as skilled as some, Danny's mastery of ninjutsu includes training in the arts of concealment, deception and stealth.
Multi-Lingual-Danny is fluent in numerous languages and dialects used throughout China, as well as American English and Japanese.
Some Knowledge of the Occult-For someone who professes to totally lack any interest in or aptitude for magic Daniel Rand-Kai possesses a surprising amount of knowledge regarding the mystic arts, supernatural lore and arcane secrets mankind is typically not meant to know. However, Danny himself will swear-up-and-down that he's hardly an expert in such matters, instead insisting that growing up in the high society of K'un-Lun necessitates a basic understanding of such things.
| Character Notes |
| Character Goals |
I want to successfully weave Iron Fist into the Maximum Comics universe while also drawing on his lore to create stories that are well-crafted and self-aware while staying true to the character's Wuxia and Kung-Fu B-Movie influences in a way that's fun to write and to read. Overall I want to collaborate with everyone to have a fun time, make something cool and expand the Maximum Comics universe for the better, especially where its' martial artists are concerned.
| Sample Post |
