Shou-Lao
Shou-Lao is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Appearing primarily in association with Iron Fist, he is the source of power for him and other holders of the name.
Publication history
Shou-Lao first appeared in Marvel Premiere #16 and was created by Len Wein, Roy Thomas, and Larry Hama.Fictional character biography
Shou-Lao is an immortal Chinese dragon who became the source of power in K'un-L'un. During a performance of the dragon riders of K'un-Lun for the entertainment of Yu-Ti, Shou-Lao went berserk and attacked the city's leader. He was killed by Quan-St'ar, who cut out the dragon's heart. Enraged at this, Yu-Ti banished Quan-St'ar from the city and revived Shou-Lao by melting his heart and placing it in a sacred cavern. Following his death, Shou-Lao is repeatedly killed and resurrected as part of a trial undergone by holders of the Iron Fist mantle to gain his power.After she is busted for training three cavemen, Fan Fei is chained up and watched as the cavemen are fed to Shou-Lou by Lei Kung. After breaking out with the hope that she will die fighting Shou-Lou, Fei punches Shou-Lou in his chest tattoo and gained his powers.
When Danny Rand is training to become Iron Fist, he defeats Shou-Lao by burning the dragon-shaped tattoo off his chest. After defeating Shou-Lao, Danny plunges his hands into the brazier containing Shou-Lao's heart, charging him with the power of Iron Fist.
During the Avengers vs. X-Men storyline, the X-Men battle the Avengers in K'un-L'un. Hope Summers and Lei Kung arrive on the back of Shou-Lao, who blasts the Phoenix Force-empowered Cyclops. Hope unleashes a combination of dragon energy, fire, and chaos magic to banish Cyclops to the Moon.
During the A.X.E.: Judgment Day event, Lin Lie is instructed to kill Shou-Lao, but refuses, and instead gains his power by having him give it willingly.
Powers and abilities
As a dragon, Shou-Lao possesses superhuman physical abilities and the ability to fly and breathe fire. Additionally, he does not age and possesses resistance to disease and the ability to camouflage himself.In other media
Television
- Shou-Lao appears in Ultimate Spider-Man, voiced by Mark Hamill via Nightmare. This version lacks wings.
- Shou-Lao makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in a flashback in the Iron Fist episode "Dragon Plays with Fire". Finn Jones, who portrays Iron Fist, stated that Shou-Lao could not be shown onscreen due to budgetary constraints and would appear in future seasons, though this never came to pass. Additionally, The Defenders reveals that the bones of Shou-Lao's species contain a substance with resurrective properties, which is used by the Hand.