The Marvel villain the Mandarin, is finally getting proper live-action recognition, thanks to him being at the center of the proceedings in the latest MCU movie, Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings. Unlike in the comics, the Mandarin is also Shang-Chi's father in the movie, introducing a whole new dynamic.
In the comics, the Mandarin's story has been told in dozens of issues, making him one of the most influential Marvel antagonists of all time. Ever since he first appeared in 1964's Tales of Suspense #50 (created by Stan Lee and designed by Don Heck), the villain has committed plenty of heinous acts, both in his home country and out of it.
He Attempted To Destroy China's Entire Rice Crop
The Mandarin has always been one of Iron Man's best foes in the comics and in Iron Man #179, the James Rhodes version of the hero stopped him again. This was after The Mandarin attempted to get rid of China's entire rice crop in order to cause nationwide starvation and force the Chinese government to invade other nations. This would then result in World War III.
The Mandarin enjoys living in unstable societies, and if he had managed to cause World War III, there would have been less government interference in his criminal activities, since war would have been the main priority. The move also pointed to his lack of conscience. He didn't care that a whole nation was going to starve. What mattered to him was his goal of world domination.
He Kidnapped A Hollywood Director And Forced Him To Make A Movie About His Life
Eager to be seen as a legend, The Mandarin kidnapped Hollywood director Jun Shin in The Invincible Iron Man Annual #1 and forced him to make a movie about him. The director discovered that his tale of being born of an English noblewoman mother was false and that he was in fact the son of an opium den escort. When the director chose to tell the actual truth, the Mandarin murdered him.
A lot of villains care about their public image. They always aim to be seen as upstanding citizens and this explains why the Mandarin went to such great lengths to get a movie made about himself. Villains often make decisions they regret too and the Mandarin's murder of the director haunted him too as he realized there was no other way he would ever make himself appealing to the public.
He Infiltrated The US Government
The Mandarin got into the center of the U.S. government in Iron Man: Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. #28, thanks to his role as CEO of the bio-engineered weapons company, Prometheus. Once in the government, he used Tony Stark's former lover Maya Hansen to create an army of soldiers enhanced with the artificial biotech virus, Extremis.
At times, the Mandarin's motivations have been good, and this was one of such cases. His intention was to infect most of the human race with Extremis, as it had a projected 97.5% fatality. The surviving humans would then be immune to disease forever. Though the outcome was good, sacrificing 97.5% of the population was extreme. Luckily, Iron-Man saved the day.
He Gained Control Of Iron Man's Mind
After Tony Stark wiped his mind to protect classified S.H.I.E.L.D information from H.A.M.M.E.R. in The Invincible Iron Man #500, the Mandarin grabbed the opportunity and took over his mind. He then took him to Mandarin City, forcing him to create 10 Titanomechs (host bodies for his 10 rings).
The Mandarin's rings work just fine the way they are, but they have overwhelmed him at times, and this explains his need to create artificial bodies for them. In the event that he got captured, the rings would be safe too. But as is the norm, Iron-Man always finds a way to get past his schemes. Teaming up with fellow hostages to stop The Mandarin was an expected twist.
He Worked With Baron Zemo To Create A New Corrupt Nation
Baron Zemo became popular after his appearance in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier but in the comics, he is very active. In Punisher (vol. 12) #1, he made the Mandarin the face of Bagalia, a HYDRA-occupied territory that Zemo wanted to be an independent nation. The Mandarin thus began lobbying in the United Nations.
Independence is important to villains, and that was the goal here. Zemo and The Mandarin were aiming to make Bagalia independent so that they would have their own country where they could devise as many evil schemes as they wished without outside interference. It was a smart plan, only that the Mandarin got killed before it materialized.
He Tried To Destroy The Word's Metals Using Vibranium
In Iron Man Annual #5, the Mandarin's goal was to convert Wakanda's Great Vibranium Mound of Wakanda into the isotopic Type II Vibranium, which could destroy the molecular cohesion of every metal. This way, gold and other precious metals would be useless. Every item made from metals would also collapse.
It was yet another move by The Mandarin to create anarchy and reduce the world's population. Many Marvel villains have this particular mindset, believing a world with fewer people would function better. However, achieving it is not so easy, which explains why only Thanos has come close so far.
He Murdered Axonn-Karr
Among the things only Marvel comic fans know about the ten rings is that the Mandarin killed the Makluan alien explorer Axonn-Karr to get them. As a fugitive during the Communist Revolution in Invincible Iron Man #522, the Mandarin found himself on the wreckage of a spaceship in the Valley of Spirits where he committed the murder.
It was a sad moment because Axonn-Karr had pleaded with the Mandarin not to kill him. However, the Mandarin would never have become a super-villain if he didn't do that. It's by killing Axonn-Karr and taking the cylinders that he got to acquire the ten rings. These rings would prove beneficial to him for the rest of his life.
He Destroyed Tony Stark's Home
In Tales of Suspense #62, one of the Iron Man comics that MCU fans will totally love, the Mandarin set up a weapons-enhanced satellite in outer space and used it to destroy Tony Stark's mansion. Everyone believed that Iron-Man had been killed but he survived to go and confront the villain.
It was the Mandarin's earliest attempt to kill Iron-Man and there was a solid motivation behind it. Iron-Man was now working with the CIA and this frightened The Mandarin. The villain was just starting out hence he didn't want his reign to be cut short too quickly. Taking out Iron-Man was his best bet at achieving longevity.
He Created The "Hate Rays."
Running out of ways to defeat The Avengers, The Mandarin constructed a device capable of channeling "hate-rays" from outer space to Earth in Avengers Annual #1. These rays caused everyone on Earth to attack the person next to them.
It wasn't a well-thought-out move, since The Mandarin's aim was for the Avengers to turn against each other, hence making themselves weaker, but instead, even his own allies began fighting each other. The villain was thus forced to shelve the plan and think of something better. Unfortunately, he has never quite managed to come up with a better way to defeat The Avengers.
He Attempted To Prolong The Vietnam War
Though Shang-Chi and Iron-Man have been the Mandarin's main foes over the years, he has faced off against other Marvel heroes on a one-on-one level too. In Captain America #125, Steve Rogers stopped him as he tried to kill soldiers from both sides in order to increase the conflict and prolong the war. This way, he'd continue to do business with corrupt generals.
Apart from world domination, money tends to be the other major motivating factor among comic book antagonists. His actions in the comic issue once again highlighted why people like The Mandarin need chaos to survive. Chaos leads to the rise of more like-minded individuals while peace makes evil people isolated.