History ComicBook / ImmortalIronFist

''The Immortal Iron Fist'' is a Creator/MarvelComics series co-written by Creator/MattFraction and Creator/EdBrubaker (and after their departure, Duane Swierczynski).

The series reveals that there have been many Iron Fists before Daniel Rand, and introduces a 'new' [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] Iron Fist, Orson Randall. In addition, there are more Immortal Weapons who represent the other mystical cities of the FarEast and also wield strange and unusual powers. Daniel discovers new secrets about his past, and must use these to confront former and new enemies.

** In ''Immortal Iron Fist'' issue 5, Danny uses several advanced martial arts techniques with millennia of history that require intense skill to perform, culminating in the comparatively mundane "Brooklyn Headbutt."

* FanService: The Immortal Weapons, with the exception of Dog Brother #1 (due to his heavy armour) tend to wear little clothing when fighting, and the clothing they do wear tends to get torn off. Fat Cobra may not be particularly attractive in a conventional way and Prince of Orphans turns to a cloud when he fights, but both Danny and Davos, as well as Tiger's Beautiful Daughter and Bride of Nine Spiders are fairly attractive people (when the latter isn't releasing the aforementioned spiders, of course), and typically the only clothing they wear is so they're ''not'' naked.

* NobleSavage: Dog Brother #1.

* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: While most of the Hydra troops fight to the death or surrender after Xao dies, a small group who were guarding Jeryn Hogarth's mom who had been taken hostage by Hydra give up and run for their lives after Misty Knight threatens to blind one, kill two and castrate the rest.

* PublicDomainCharacter: John Aman, the Prince of Orphan.
* TheQuietOne: Fongji, the Iron Fhoenix, said very little, so much so that her mentors actually thought she was mute. Even when it turns out she can speak, she doesn't say much (for a bit of meta-irony, she was created by Brian Bendis, who is known for his characters being verbose).

* LightningBruiser: Fat Cobra; taken [[IncrediblyLamePun literally]] when considering his chi as an external weapon.

The series reveals that there have been many ComicBook/IronFist's before Daniel Rand, and introduces a 'new' [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] Iron Fist, Orson Randall. In addition, there are more Immortal Weapons who represent the other mystical cities of the FarEast and also wield strange and unusual powers. Daniel discovers new secrets about his past, and must use these to confront former and new enemies.

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Immortal_Iron_Fist_Vol_1_6_2771.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:Danny Rand, the modern Iron Fist; [[RetroactiveLegacy Orson Randall]], his [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] predecessor, [[FloatingHeadSyndrome in the background]].]]

* SeriesContinuityError: A minor but jarring one. In a flashback, eight-year old Danny is seen with Franchise/SpiderMan action figure... which he could get only via time travel since he and Spidey are about the same age in-universe.

The series reveals that there have been many Iron Fists before Daniel, and introduces a 'new' [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] Iron Fist, Orson Randall. In addition, there are more Immortal Weapons who represent the other mystical cities of the FarEast and also wield strange and unusual powers. Daniel discovers new secrets about his past, and must use these to confront former and new enemies.

As well as the main story arcs, there are one shot issues that tell the tales of other bearers of the Iron Fist legacy throughout history, and there are several one shot adventures starring Orson Randall.

See [[ComicBook/IronFist here]] for more info on Iron Fist in General.

The series reveals that there have been many Iron Fists before Daniel, and introduces a 'new' [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] Iron Fist, Orson Randall. In addition, there are more Immortal Weapons who represent the other mystical cities of the far east and also wield strange and unusual powers. Daniel discovers new secrets about his past, and must use these to confront former and new enemies.

%%* HeirToTheDojo

* BilingualBonus: Chinese writing throughout the pages that always has something to do with what's going on.

* CanonImmigrant / ChannelHop: The Prince of Orphans is a 1940s Centaur Comics character, John Aman, the Amazing-Man, who had fallen into the PublicDomain. Part of why he was introduced was that Iron Fist's 1970s origin was partially inspired by John Aman's origin.

Has a characters page [[Characters/IronFist here]].

Daniel Rand is the rich multi-millionaire head of the Rand Corporation. He is also the Immortal Iron Fist, a master of Kung Fu, and defender of the ancient city of [[TheShangriLa K'un L'un]].

Originally a [[MarvelUniverse Marvel]] [[UsefulNotes/TheBronzeAgeOfComicBooks Bronze Age]] character, he was first created to cash in on the popularity of Kung Fu films. Iron Fist first appeared in ''"Marvel Premiere''" #15 (May, 1974), created by Roy Thomas and Gil Kane. He appeared as the lead in this magazine until issue #25 (October, 1975). Then was granted his first eponymous series ''"Iron Fist''", which lasted for 15 issues (November, 1975-September, 1977). Roy Thomas had two inspirations, the [[HongKongDub Hong Kong classic]] [[MartialArtsMovie martial arts movie]] ''King Boxer'' aka ''Five Fingers of Death'' (1972), which featured an "Iron Fist ceremony" and the [[KiManipulation chi enrergy]] and a Golden Age comic book character called Amazing-Man, created by Bill Everett, creator of ComicBook/SubMariner.


Sales started to flag in the late 70s, until someone had the great idea to team him up with another low-selling series, [[ComicBook/LukeCageHeroForHire Luke Cage: Power Man]], as part of Luke's ComicBook/HeroesForHire agency. The amalgamated series' popularity far outstripped both its predecessors. It was written by Creator/ChrisClaremont, Mary Jo Duffy, Creator/KurtBusiek and [[Creator/ChristopherPriestComics Christopher Priest]], who notoriously finished his run by [[ComicBookDeath killing Danny.]] Needless to say, he didn't stay dead -- in fact it was Priest who brought him back. Since then he's had an important role during the Marvel ComicBook/CivilWar, and even joined the ComicBook/NewAvengers. Despite this, he's never really risen beyond B-list status.

The character got a new lease on life with the launch of ''The Immortal Iron Fist'', co-written by Creator/MattFraction and Creator/EdBrubaker (and after their departure, Duane Swierczynski). The series reveals that there have been many Iron Fists before Daniel, and introduces a 'new' [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] Iron Fist, Orson Randall. In addition, there are more Immortal Weapons who represent the other mystical cities of the far east and also wield strange and unusual powers. Daniel discovers new secrets about his past, and must use these to confront former and new enemies.

Due to the success of the Immortal Iron Fist series, Iron Fist and his supporting characters have had a surge of popularity, earning cameos and roles in other Marvel comics, video games, and cartoons. Iron Fist has appeared in ''VideoGame/MarvelUltimateAlliance 2'', ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperHeroSquadShow'', ''VideoGame/UltimateMarvelVsCapcom3'', ''VideoGame/MarvelAvengersAlliance'', ''VideoGame/MarvelPuzzleQuest'', ''VideoGame/MarvelContestOfChampions'', ''WesternAnimation/TheAvengersEarthsMightiestHeroes'', ''Anime/MarvelDiskWarsTheAvengers'', the ''VideoGame/DisneyInfinity'' series, and the ''WesternAnimation/{{Ultimate Spider-Man}}'' animated series, where he is a main character. He even got his own series on Netflix, ''Series/IronFist2017'', tying in with the larger Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse. He is played by Creator/FinnJones of ''Series/GameOfThrones'' fame.

!!Comics featuring Iron Fist provide examples of:

* AwesomeButImpractical: The Iron Fist ability, at least initially. It was too powerful to use on a standard {{mook}} as it'll kill him, and left Danny weakened after using his chi. He's gotten better that it doesn't drain him like it used to.

%%* BashBrothers: Cage and Iron Fist.

* BrainsAndBrawn: When he works with [[ComicBook/LukeCageHeroForHire Luke Cage]], he's the brains to Cage's brawn. Ironic given how clueless Danny can be when it comes to almost anything other than martial arts.
* BrainwashedAndCrazy: During the "Return of the Dragon" storyline, Danny was corrupted and forced to fight the ComicBook/BlackPanther. He nearly killed him, but was beaten when the Panther used a radio earpiece to undo the brainwashing.

* CharlesAtlasSuperpower: Yes, he can use the chi of the dragon Shou-Lao, but his martial arts skills are all his own, learned by studying in K'un-Lun most of his life.

* ConvenientlyAnOrphan: Iron Fist loses both of his parents at the age of nine, while on his way to K'un-Lun.
* CostumeCopyCat: During ''Civil War'', Iron Fist pretended to be Daredevil while Matt Murdock was in prison.
* CrimefightingWithCash: Zigzagged. Danny's millions have nothing to do with his skills, but on occasion (especially during ''Civil War'' and its aftermath), his main contribution to a team is financial.
** He also paid for the Avengers Mansion so the New Avengers can base themselves there -- note, it cost only ''one dollar'', but still.
** After his return from K'un L'un, his recruitment pitch to Luke Cage was to find out how many street-level problems could be solved by throwing bundles of cash at them.

* DarkerAndEdgier: The Living Weapon series.
* DeadpanSnarker: While he has his spiritual side and does like to maintain "oneness", he wouldn't be a Marvel superhero if he didn't have an occasional smartass remark leave his lips.

* EnhancedPunch: Iron Fist's sole superpower (at first) is to charge his fist [[KiManipulation with chi]] to make it "like unto a thing of iron." While he eventually gets more powers to go along with his CharlesAtlasSuperpower, he's [[FightsLikeANormal generally just a skilled martial artist with an occasional super powered punch]].

* EvilCostumeSwitch: In the last year or so of ''Power Man and Iron Fist'', Danny switched to a red costume after his guilt temporarily turned him evil. Though this Danny was later {{Retcon}}ned into being a doppelganger, the evil red costume made a return during a ''Black Panther'' storyline where Iron Fist was {{Brainwashed}} by Chiantang and forced to fight the titular hero.

* FightsLikeANormal: Especially early on, when using the Iron Fist tired him out much quicker.

* FullyAbsorbedFinale: The original ''Power Man and Iron Fist'' series ended with Danny being beaten to death by Captain Hero, and Luke going on the run after being framed for the murder. This was resolved years later in a ''[[ComicBook/SubMariner Namor]]'' story arc, where it was established that the whole thing was an elaborate ruse concocted by Master Khan.

* TheGreatestStyle: He trained in the mystical K'unlunquan martial arts, which enables KiManipulation and other superhuman abilities. He is also a master of many other martial art styles.

* HeirToTheDojo
* HeterosexualLifePartners: Cage and Iron Fist.

* KiManipulation: The titular "Iron Fist" and countless more.

* TheLawOfPowerProportionateToEffort: PlayedWith. He used to summon his Iron Fist in a very conservative manner due to the stress it caused. That limit has since been removed, however, [[PowerCreepPowerSeep because it made him rather useless after he began teaming up with stronger superheroes.]]
* LegacyImmortality: This is why Iron Fist is immortal; it is the position that will never die, not its occupant. This also applies to the other Immortal Weapons, hence their collective name.

* MadeOfIron: Danny, as you'd expect from someone with the name ''Iron'' Fist. One issue of the 2017 ''Defenders'' series has his neck snapped by Diamondback. Properly snapped and everything, without a fake-out. And then the next issue has Danny get right up again and beat the ever-lasting crud out of Diamondback.
* {{Mentors}}: Of many different kinds.
* MightyWhitey: Largely played down in the more recent series (with the advent of the other Immortal Weapons and previous Iron Fists, all of whom are Asian), though introducing one of the previous Iron Fists, only to declare him ''another'' white guy who out-mastered the masters of K'un-Lun did raise a few eyebrows. This reaches a boiling point as it's hardly deconstructed in other stories where many villainous or rogue factions of K'un-Lun hate the fact their treasured chi and sacred city protector status as the Iron Fist belongs to some irresponsible white outworlder and how his tendency to leave K'un-Lun unprotected to go and play a superhero in America often causes catastrophe to the ancient city, [[VillainHasAPoint which Danny himself admits is a valid complaint.]]

* MysticalHighCollar: Wore one until recently.

* ObstructiveBureaucrat: In Bendis' run of ''New Avengers'', ComicBook/IronMan and the Mighty Avengers confront Danny about his activities with the New Avengers as Iron Fist, which are illegal due to the SuperRegistrationAct. Danny's lawyer, Jeryn Hogarth, points out to Iron Man that Danny is already a registered hero, having registered his fists as lethal weapons. He also points out that, even though everyone seems to know Danny is Iron Fist, no one can technically prove it, except through very unconstitutional means that Tony doesn't want anyone to know about. Jeryn is a pretty pudgy, normal guy, basically telling off some of the most powerful heroes on Earth, and manages to piss off Ms. Marvel.

* PowerGlows: The power of the Iron Fist causes much glowing.

* RaceLift: Averted to much debate in the Netflix series after the casting of Finn Jones (best known as Ser Loras Tyrell in Series/GameOfThrones).
* {{Retcon}}: The Brubaker / Fraction run established there was only one female Iron Fist before Danny. In 2012, ''New Avengers'' revealed there was one more, about five hundred years ago.

* RoguesGalleryTransplant: One of Danny's early enemies was Sabretooth. As in "Wolverine's arch-nemesis, Sabretooth".
* SaltAndPepper: Iron Fist and Luke Cage.

* TheShangriLa: K'un-Lun.
* ShotgunWedding: Very narrowly averted -- [[spoiler:Misty Knight goes to tell Danny she's pregnant, but he proposes marriage to her before she can tell him. She then checks to make sure he hadn't already worked it out]].
* SinglePowerSuperheroes: At least initially, his only power was "punch stuff." Since obtaining the Book of the Iron Fist, he's learned a JediMindTrick, and it turns out that Iron Fists can empower any projectiles.

* StrawMisogynist: During the Fraction/Brubacker run, an easy way to tell when a character is bad is how misogynist they were. Notable examples being Davos and Nu-An, who are both very vocal in their disregard for women, and act extremely abusive towards women they hold power over. This also seems to be somewhat common with the previous Yu-Ti, as it's said there's only been one previous female Iron Fist, and women are specifically banned from training in any martial arts, until the Army of Thunder's revolution.

* TrainingFromHell: How Danny was trained. Seems to be Lei Kung the Thunderer's standard MO.