Spoilers for all works set prior to Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame are unmarked.
The Ten Rings
Logo in Iron Man
Appearances: Iron Man | Iron Man 2 | Iron Man 3 (impostors only) | All Hail the King | Ant-Man | Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings | What If…?
An international terrorist organization led by the enigmatic Mandarin. Despite the scale and scope of their activities, their motivations have remained largely a mystery, even to S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers.
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In General
- Alternate Company Equivalent: One can make the argument that they are this to the League of Shadows from DC Comics' The Dark Knight Trilogy. Both are ancient and mysterious Asia-based terrorist organizations who were instrumental in the origin stories of a wealthy superhero (The League by training Batman, the Ten Rings by kidnapping Tony Stark and forcing him to build what would become the Iron Man suit). Appropriate, since the comic book Mandarin in his modern depictions is often compared to Ra's al Ghul. Another similarity is that the Mandarin of the MCU has two children who have a complicated tie to his legacy, inviting comparision between the Mandarin's children Shang-Chi and Xialing and Ra's al Ghul's Talia and Nyssa.
- Ancient Conspiracy: It seems the Ten Rings has existed for several centuries, since at least the Middle Ages.
- Antagonist Title: The Ten Rings organization serves as the antagonist in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, as the title suggests.
- Arch-Enemy: In an interesting variation of this trope, they are this for Tony Stark. They provide support to the Big Bads of the first two films, serve as the inspiration for the Big Bad of the third film, and they are one of the main reasons why Tony Stark is Iron Man. And yet Tony never personally encounters more than a shadow of the organization.
- The Bus Came Back: After being absent for the entirety of Phase Three, the organization returns in the Phase Four movie Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.
- The Cameo:
- A member of HYDRA sporting the Ten Rings symbol tattooed on his neck appears as a minor antagonist in Ant-Man.
- Another member of the Ten Rings appears during one scene in Iron Man 2.
- Canon Immigrant: Originally an MCU creation, the Ten Rings made their comics debut as the main villains in Ironheart in 2019.
- Create Your Own Hero: They, alongside Obadiah Stane, pretty much turned Tony Stark into Iron Man.
- Demoted to Extra: Following All Hail the King the group has made no further appearance for years (besides a cameo in Ant-Man) as they were put aside for bigger plotlines involving HYDRA and the Infinity Stones. They become prominent again alongside the real Mandarin in 2021's Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. After the second stinger, it is the Ten Rings, rather than Shang-Chi, that get a "Will Return" Caption, hinting at greater plans for them now that HYDRA is out of the way.
- Equal-Opportunity Evil: While initially only Middle-Eastern members were shown,
Word of God (as well as Iron Man 2, All Hail the King and Ant-Man) makes it clear that they happily recruit from all races and ethnicities. Notably the recurring enforcer Razor Fist in the heavily Chinese Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is described as Romanian. They even recruit from other villainous organizations, with the member seen in Ant-Man also acting as a HYDRA representative.- By the end of Shang-Chi, they have become this even more. After Xialing takes over from Wenwu, they begin to recruit women into their forces.
- Expy: Based on their appearance in the Shang-Chi movie, they seem to be retrofitted as the MCU's answer to the Celestial Order of the Si-Fan, Fu Manchu's personal army. This has likely been done due to how Marvel no longer has the rights to the Fu Manchu property. Appropriate, as the Mandarin in the comics had been based off Fu Manchu since the former's inception. In addition, Fu Manchu and the Si-Fan still exist in the comics, but have since been renamed to Zheng Zu and the Five Weapons Society due to the above legal issues.
- Their depiction in the Shang-Chi movie is heavily reminiscent of how The Hand was depicted in Daredevil and The Defenders.
- Fictional Counterpart: Subverted. They initially appear to be the MCU equivalent to Al-Qaeda, but it's soon made clear that they have no ideological interest in Islam or Wahhabism of any kind.
- Foil: To The Hand. Both are Nebulous Evil Organisations that have existed for centuries, utilize a mix of martial arts, guerilla weaponry and magic, are Chinese in origin and are ran by their immortal founders. Though whereas The Hand works exclusively in the criminal underworld and utilize front-companies, espionage and gang warfare to gain money and power, the Ten Rings are a paramilitary terrorist organization that functions out in the open. Both organizations seek to invade an interdimensional, magical Chinese city strongly associated with a divine dragon, but whereas The Hand's end-goal is to claim K'un Lun and its secrets so that the Hand's high-ranking members can live forever, Wenwu only wanted access to Ta Lo out of curiosity and to conquer it, later under the belief that his wife is being held prisoner there. Furtheremore, while the Hand's leadership (the Five Fingers) has taken towards backstabbing each other (bringing in their followers into the mess), the singular leadership of Wenwu (as well as their tangential respect of his offspring, Shang-Chi and Xialing) meant there was never any contest in leadership. Wenwu, for that matter, succeeded in inspiring Undying Loyalty to all his subordinates, as the Ten Rings seem to have taken his retirement in stride up until he returned—and has no issue with Xialing taking up the reins after his death.
- Greater-Scope Villain: To all three Iron Man films, and the movie Ant-Man as well. The only times they serve as the primary threat are in the short film All Hail the King and the 2021 movie Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.
- Even though they turn out to be Disc-One Final Boss in the first movie, they still helped Obadiah Stane quite a lot in his plans, and are largely responsible for him becoming Iron Monger and for Tony Stark becoming Iron Man.
- The Ten Rings make a brief, but crucial appearance in Iron Man 2, during which one of their members provide Ivan Vanko with what he needs to go after Tony Stark.
- While they don't actually appear in the third film, they still play a major role by serving as the inspiration to Aldrich Killian in making his fake "Mandarin" ploy.
- Just like HYDRA, the Ten Rings are some of the investors interested in buying the Yellowjacket during the movie Ant-Man, with one of their members accompanying Mitchell Carson for the auction.
- The Heavy: Despite only being a major threat in the first movie, The Ten Rings organization serve as this for the Iron Man trilogy as a whole. They provide support to the Big Bads of the first two films (Iron Monger and Whiplash), and serve as the inspiration for the villains of the third.
- Mythology Gag: Originally their name and flag were just a nod to the Mandarin's signature magic power rings. Then much later, the Shang-Chi movie confirmed that the rings are real physical objects.
- Nebulous Evil Organisation: They are an evil organization whose exact goals and workings are never really explained. According to how they are described, their business is just, well, about anything evil that allows them to harness power or money.
- N.G.O. Superpower: With manpower, resources and political connections gathered and maintained across the globe by Wenwu himself over a thousand years, the Ten Rings is arguably the single most formidable shadow empire on Earth. With a word, Wenwu can reshape history to his will and shake the fate of entire nations across the world.
- No Name Given: The names of its agents in Iron Man 2 and Ant-Man are not mentioned whatsoever.
- Not Me This Time: It's revealed that they had nothing to do with the Extremis attacks engineered by Killian.
- Rogues' Gallery Transplant: With Iron Man gone, they are in odds with Shang-Chi in the 2021 film featuring him. The organization was also briefly confronted by Ant-Man during his first film.
- Setting Update: Iron Man's origin story was originally set during the Vietnam War with the villains who captured Tony Stark being Dirty Communists. The 2008 movie updates this to the War on Terror to keep it topical, but it's subverted since the Ten Rings terrorists have no religious trappings.
- Stock Wushu Weapons: In Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, modern-day Ten Rings soldiers wield shuang gou hook swords with built-in tasers. The organization's updated logo also features a crossed pair of hook swords.
- Terrorists Without a Cause: Appeared to be so up until Phase 4, but ultimately subverted. The audience was not really shown for what cause the Ten Rings organization is fighting, beyond conquest and power. Raza and his men apparently wanted to use Stark's weapons to rule their own empire and were hired by Obadiah Stane to kill Tony Stark as part of an exchange for money and weapons, but they were simply one cell in a much larger organization. Said larger organization's most significant act thus far (that we know of) has been raiding Ta Lo in Shang-Chi, but that was more of a personally motivated mission on Wenwu's part. Ying Li's narration at the beginning makes it clear that Wenwu really was motivated by a pure desire for conquest and power when he founded the Ten Rings organization. The ambiguity remains now that Xialing has taken ownership of the Ten Rings as a whole.
- Villain Team-Up: Ant-Man reveals that some members of the Ten Rings are allied with HYDRA.
- We Wait: Jackson Norriss notes that his organization has been dormant for some time.
Leadership
Xu Wenwu / The Mandarin
See his page.
Xu Xialing
Xu Xialing (徐夏令)
"If my dad won't let me into his empire, I'm gonna build my own."
Species: Human
Citizenship: Chinese-Ta Loan
Portrayed By: Meng'er Zhang, Harmonie He (teen), Elodie Fong (young)
Voiced By: Maaya Uchida (Japanese dub), Thais Duraes (Brazilian Portuguese dub)
Appearances: Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
Shang-Chi's sister, who operates an underground fight club.
- Action Girl: Like her brother, she's a gifted martial artist — she even manages to defeat Shang-Chi in their cage match (granted, he's not really trying), and it's implied that she regularly kicks ass in her cage fights. Unlike him, she's largely self-taught, as Wenwu refused to let her train alongside the men in his organization.
- Adaptation Name Change: Has her name changed from Fah Lo Suee (later Zheng Bao Yu/Cursed Lotus) to Xialing, as Fu Manchu (her and Shang-Chi's father in the comics) is legally Exiled from Continuity, with Wenwu absorbing that role in the film. Even in the comics, Fah Lo Suee was dropped, she is no longer mentioned in the miniseries Shang-Chi (2020) and the series Shang-Chi (2021), written by Gene Luen Yang, with Zheng Shi-Hua/Sister Hammer replacing her.
- Alliterative Name: Xu Xialing.
- Ambiguous Situation: In The Stinger, she's shown to have taken the throne of the Ten Rings, despite telling Shang-Chi that she was dismantling the operation. Given that it's the Ten Rings that get a "Will Return" Caption this time, her goals are quite nebulous at the moment.
- Badass Boast: Drops arguably the most badass line in Legend of the Ten Rings, which is the main quote of this folder.
- Badass Normal: Xialing is the only member of her family who does not have any special powers, but she is still an incredibly formidable martial artist.
- Blade on a Rope: She uses a dragon-scale rope dart as her weapon during the Battle of Ta Lo, given to her by her aunt Ying Nan. As the young Shang-Chi is shown to have trained in the rope dart, it is no surprise that Xialing is shown to be already proficient in it, having secretly trained herself by watching and imitating the lessons of her brother and her father's soldiers.
- Brother–Sister Team: Forms one with her older brother Shang-Chi during the climax of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, with the two working together to destroy the Dweller-in-Darkness.
- Composite Character: Is Shang-Chi's sister like the aforementioned Fah Lo Suee/Zheng Bao Yu, but is the Mandarin's daughter like Sasha Hammer (granddaughter of fellow recurring Iron Man headache Justin Hammer). Her taking control of the organization that her older brother Shang-Chi leaves unattended after his father's death, continuing its operations, also seems to make her partially inspired by Zheng Shi-Hua/Sister Hammer.
- Dark Is Not Evil: Even though Xialing runs an illegal fight club, has dark hair, and tends to wear dark-colored clothing in her adult years, she is a genuinely nice person.
- Deadpan Snarker: Xialing has developed a dry sense of humor after she ran away from home.
- Dragon Lady: Her outfit in Macau (as the ringleader of her fight club) makes her look like a more Cyberpunk version of this. She leans a bit more into the traditional aesthetic (albeit wearing a maroon tangzhang) after taking over the Ten Rings.
- Equal-Opportunity Evil: Her Fight Clubbing operation recruits both men and women, from all over the world. After taking over the Ten Rings, she throws out Wenwu's Stay in the Kitchen attitude and allows women to join their fighting forces.
- Expy: She takes a lot from Zheng Shi-Hua, aka Sister Hammer, who is Shang-Chi's sister in the comics. Both are sisters to Shang-Chi, The Unfavorite to their father, and desire control of their father's organization.
- Fight Clubbing: Runs a cage-fighting ring that runs livestreams on the dark web.
- Generation Xerox: She becomes the new leader of the Ten Rings following her father's death.
- Good Wears White: Xialing has a good heart and she wears the white dragon-scale armor left for her by her mother in Ta Lo.
- Heel–Face Turn: Starts out as an amoral criminal focused on her own Fight Clubbing empire above all else, but later joins forces with Shang-Chi to protect their mother's village from their father.
- Improbable Age: Started building her own empire at sixteen. It's lampshaded by Katy.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Cold, bitter and stern as Xialing may be, but she's a good person deep down and even returns to save Katy and her brother, despite her anger towards him. It's also clear that despite their conflicted relationship, she still loved her father Wenwu and Shang-Chi and was heartbroken by the former's death. She also wants to bring a more diverse crowd (i.e. women) into her own empire, unlike her father.
- Memento MacGuffin: The green necklace given to her by her mother is, unknown to Xialing, this, revealing a map to Ta Lo when her and Shang-Chi's identical necklace are placed in the eyes of a dragon statue.
- Metaphorically True: At the end of the movie Shang-Chi mentions while recounting the events of the movie with Katy to their friends that Xialing went to dismantle the Ten Rings instead of returning with him. In the after-credits scene, it's revealed that she actually took it over and completely overhauled it into being a mix gendered-army. She simply "dismantled" her father's vision of the group.
- Mythology Gag: The name of the Golden Daggers club owned by Xu Xialing came from a sect ruled by Zheng Bao Yu before she took over her father's organization.
- Parental Neglect: A big victim of it. When her father fell back into his Ten Rings ways and trained Shang-Chi into an assassin, looking at Xialing reminded him too much of her mother. She had to learn martial arts by watching from the sidelines.
- The Queenpin: Xialing is the founder of the Golden Daggers Club before becoming the new leader of the Ten Rings after the death of her father.
- The Runaway: Ran away from the Ten Rings at age 16, after realizing Shang-Chi was never coming back for her.
- Sci-Fi Bob Haircut: Her main hairstyle. It doesn’t stay untarnished when she fights though.
- Screw This, I'm Out of Here!: When the Ten Rings invade her base of operations, she flees through a hidden exit. She soon returns to help her brother, though.
- Self-Made Man: Built herself a criminal fight club after running away from her father. She does eventually inherit leadership of the Ten Rings though.
- Sibling Yin-Yang: With her older brother Shang-Chi. Shang-Chi is cordial and friendly while Xialing is cold and professional. He was trained to become an assassin by his father to succeed him as his heir to the Ten Rings against his own personal desire, while Xialing wanted to be trained but wasn't allowed to because of her gender, instead of teaching herself from watching the training. Although both of them left their father, Shang-Chi moved to San Francisco to have a normal life, in contrast to Xialing who went to Macau and began establishing her fight club at the age of 16 to build her own criminal empire. At the end of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Shang-Chi decides to use the Ten Rings weapons as a superhero, while Xialing replaces her father as leader of the Ten Rings organization.
- Splash of Color: It is implied, based on her old room's posters, that she had a predilection for street art before she ran away and built her own underground fight club. After taking over the Ten Rings, she seems to have taken to redecorating the old Ten Rings compound with a lot of Dragon Lady aesthetic street art and graffiti.
- Stay in the Kitchen: It's implied that Wenwu took this mentality with her, refusing to let her train with her brother and the other men in the Ten Rings. So she watched them from afar and practiced in secret.
- Tragic Keepsake: After the Iron Gang killed her mother, Xialing continues to wear the necklace that she gave her for almost two decades. The pendant of the necklace is later revealed to be a key to the map of Ta Lo's entrance.
- Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Her childhood was happy at first with two loving parents and an older brother she looked up to. Then her mother was killed, her father reverted back into a criminal warlord who can't stand even looking at her and her brother ran away without her. By the time we see her as an adult in Macau, she's a cold, ruthless enforcer of the fighting club, who's none too pleased to see her older brother or father again.
- What the Hell, Hero?: When she and Shang-Chi reunite at the cage match, she's pissed at him for running away and going into hiding without telling her his whereabouts.
- She also throws another at him after subverting Screw This, I'm Out of Here! (see above), giving Shang this bitter retort when he complains she left him and Katy to die.
"Now you know what it feels like." - You Killed My Father: Downplayed. Even though the Dweller-in-Darkness is responsible for her father's death, she is not motivated by vengeance when she and her brother work together in killing the creature.
- Younger Than They Look: Despite being Shang-Chi's younger sister, Xialing looks a bit older than him when they reunite in adulthood. Add the fact that her actress Meng'er Zhang is two years older than Simu Liu in real life, despite portraying his younger sister.
Operatives
China
Xu Shang-Chi
See his page.
Li Ching-Lin / Death Dealer
Li Ching-Lin (李清麟) / Death Dealer
Species: Human
Citizenship: Chinese
Portrayed By: Andy Le
Appearances: Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
A high-ranking warrior of the Ten Rings and a former mentor of Shang-Chi.
- Co-Dragons: With Razor Fist to Wenwu, usually appearing to personally deal with Shang-Chi and Xialing.
- Composite Character: Of the comic character Death Dealer, a villain who shares little with his film counterpart other than the costume, and Cho Lin, Shang-Chi's instructor in the comics.
- Devious Daggers: His weapon is Dual Wielded knives, and he is quite proficient in using them, even performing a Winter Soldier-esque toss and catch. He also uses explosive knives on occasion.
- Evil Mentor: Was Shang-Chi's combat instructor since the age of seven and taught him everything about killing.
- Malevolent Masked Men: Death Dealer wears a mask covering all but the eyes and is Wenwu's right-hand man.
- The Un-Reveal: We never found out what he looks like under the mask before he gets killed by the Soulsuckers.
- The Voiceless: Does not make a single sound, even when fighting.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: He has little impact on the film's events and then gets killed by a Soulsucker.
- The Worf Effect: Set up to be a dangerous threat to Shang-Chi, he's beaten in the first fight and needing saving by Wenwu, and later is the first person killed by the Soulsuckers without so much as putting up a fight.
- Would Hurt a Child: He would regularly have Shang-Chi beaten by others or from his own hand during his training, whenever he fell below Death Dealer’s expectations. This training took place from when Shang-Chi was seven to when he was fourteen.
Mattias / Razor Fist
Mattias / Razor Fist
"We are the mighty Ten Rings!"
Species: Human
Citizenship: Romanian, Chinese
Portrayed By: Florian Munteanu
Appearances: Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
An assassin of the Ten Rings with a blade in place of his right hand.
- Abled in the Adaptation: Downplayed. In the comics, both of his hands have been replaced with blades. In the film, only his right hand has been replaced, while his left hand still functions normally.
- Adaptational Name Change: In the comics, Razor Fist's real name is William Young, Douglas Scott, or William Scott. In the MCU, his name is Mattias. Douglas Scott has already appeared in the Black Panther (2018) prelude one-shot comic book.
- Adaptational Nationality: He's Romanian in the MCU, while all three of the Razor Fists in the comics are Americans.
- Adaptational Nice Guy: In the comics, Razor Fist is a sadistic, sociopathic Serial Killer who prides himself on being as depraved as a double-amputee can be. This one is a flamboyant and prideful but sane Punch-Clock Villain.
- All There in the Manual: According to his actor, he originally had a major character arc that was cut from the film portraying him as thinking of Wenwu as his stepfather since Wenwu rescued him from the streets, and wanting to defeat Shang-Chi and Xialing so that he would be acknowledged as being a true part of the family.
- Big Ego, Hidden Depths: While every moment of his screentime makes it clear that he's got an extremely high opinion of himself, he's a surprisingly clever, sensible, and level-headed Punch-Clock Villain under all that absurd swagger. Also, it is implied that he is eco-friendly due to his car being electric.
- Blade Below the Shoulder: His right hand has been replaced with a retractable blade, which he uses in battle, like when Wenwu sent him after Shang-Chi for his pendant. Later, he replaces it with one of the Ta Lo villagers' dragon scale blades.
- Boxing Battler: As fits being played by a real-life heavyweight boxer, Razor Fist's fighting style revolves almost exclusively around his fists and using jabs, crosses, and uppercuts with his blade.
- Break the Haughty: Suffers an extremely rapid example in the Final Battle. He announces that he and his men will face the Dweller's minions alone, only for one of them to kill Death Dealer and another to nearly killing him a second later. After he's rescued by Ying Nan, he sheepishly agrees to an alliance.
- The Brute: Initially set up as this in the early stages of the movie. However, he's much more successful than your usual Brute, as well as much more prominent and pragmatic for the archetype, setting him and Death Dealer up as Co-Dragons instead.
- Co-Dragons: The most prominent of Wenwu's soldiers, alongside Death Dealer. He then shares this role with Jon Jon when Xialing becomes the new leader of the Ten Rings.
- The Coats Are Off: He gets up and removes his jacket on the bus before he starts fighting Shang-Chi.
- Cool Car: His BMW in the Ten Rings compound, which features personalized numberplates (RZRFST), spiked plating on the grill like a row of teeth, and his name on the side in a graffiti-like style, and is fast enough to get past the forest's Mobile Maze.
- Dual Wielding: When fighting the Soulsuckers, he picks up an additional blade in his left hand to use along with his Blade Below the Shoulder.
- Exactly What It Says on the Tin: He has a razor for a fist, and his name is Razor Fist.
- Happily Adopted: In a deleted scene, it was revealed that Wenwu found him as an abled juggling street urchin while doing business in Romania. Impressed by his performance and being reminded of his own son, Wenwu adopted him, giving him a new home and new purpose. Additionally, Wenwu proudly admits that he treats him as though he were his own son, even standing up for him when his moniker is being made fun of.
- Hazy-Feel Turn: After his boss recklessly releases dangerous Eldritch Abominations on the world, he and the remaining Ten Rings operatives align themselves with the villagers of Ta Lo to hold them off. In The Stinger, he's shown working for Xialing, making it unclear if he'll still going to operate as a villainous minion or reform under Xialing.
- Hot Blade: Razor Fist's standard prosthetic is a heated blade before he replaces it with another that is made from dragon scales to fight off the Soulsuckers.
- Ironic Name: Xialing and Katy point this out in a deleted scene, saying the "fist" in Razor Fist doesn't make much sense, given that he uses bladed weapons than blunt weapons.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: After one of the Dweller's demons kills Death Dealer and another one nearly kills him, he quickly agrees to the offer of an alliance with Ta Lo.
- Lightning Bruiser: As one would expect due to being played by a real-life heavyweight boxer, Razor Fist is big, fast, strong, and can take quite a lot of punishments.
- Made of Iron: He walks away from a fight with Shang-Chi and a bus crash without a scratch.
- Punch-Clock Villain: He's a soldier in a criminal empire — nothing more, nothing less. He'll work for whoever's in charge, and do whatever will keep him and his men alive.
- Retractable Weapon: When he's not fighting, his blade hand can retract into its base in his wrist.
- Rice Burner: His car has huge "RAZORFIST" graffiti-like stickers on each of its sides.
- Tyke Bomb: A deleted scene reveals that Wenwu met Mattias as a boy while on business in Romania, and decided to adopt, raise, and train him to become one of the Ten Rings' deadliest members.
- Verbal Backspace: When the threat of the Soulsuckers makes the people of Ta Lo offer an Enemy Mine, he begins to make a speech about they do not need help, as they are "the mighty Ten Rings." Before he's even finished, Death Dealer's soul is stolen by one of them and Razor Fist barely survives an attack from one himself. After that, quickly agrees that maybe they should work together.
Jon Jon
Jon Jon
"I always bet on Asian."
Species: Human
Citizenship: Chinese
Portrayed By: Ronny Chieng
Appearances: Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
The ringmaster of Xialing's underground fight club.
- Affably Evil: He's jovial and supportive to his fighters, but his business is still running a violent, illegal fighting club for the entertainment of criminals. He also becomes a fully-fledged member of the Ten Rings in The Stinger.
- Alliterative Name: Jon Jon.
- Canon Foreigner: Has no counterpart in the comics.
- Co-Dragons: With Razor Fist to Xialing, when he joins the Ten Rings under her leadership.
- Dirty Coward: He sells out Shang-Chi and Katy to the Ten Rings.
- Repetitive Name: Jon Jon.
- Screw This, I'm Out of Here!: When the Ten Rings attack the fight club, he leaves with Xialing, and unlike her, does not return.
Gao Lei
Gao Lei
Species: Human
Citizenship: Chinese
Portrayed By: Fernando Chien
Appearances: Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
A Ten Rings operative who confronts Shang-Chi and Katy, demanding his necklace on a bus and provoking a fight.
- Beard of Evil: He has a small, neatly trimmed beard and is a Jerkass member of a terrorist organization.
- Canon Foreigner: Doesn't have a comics counterpart or analogue.
- Destination Defenestration: He is removed from the bus fight when he is thrown out one of its windows.
- Jerkass: He's aggressive towards Shang-Chi and violently assaults Katy for trying to talk him down from a fight.
- Mooks: He and the unnamed Ten Ring members on the bus are dealt with in short order by Shang-Chi, with not a single one landing a blow.
- Punched Across the Room: When he finally provokes Shang-Chi enough to fight, his first punch knocks Gao Lei off the ground and a few feet back.
- Uncertain Doom: We never see him again after he is thrown out of the moving bus, leaving it ambiguous if he is still alive.
Afghanistan
Raza
Raza Hamidmi Al-Wazar
"Tony Stark has created the ultimate weapon: a masterpiece of death. A man with a dozen of these could rule all of Asia."
Species: Human
Citizenship: Afghan
Portrayed By: Faran Tahir
Voiced By: Óscar Flores (Latin-American Spanish dub)
Appearances: Iron Man
"Whoever holds the weapons manufactured by Stark Industries rules the world... and soon, it will be my turn."
A major commander in the Ten Rings. He was hired by Obadiah Stane to kill Tony Stark (without really knowing it was Stark to begin with). Upon finding out that they in fact had the Tony Stark in custody, Raza got greedy and ambitious. It didn't end well for him.
- Attack the Mouth: During a scene, he threatens to put a heated piece of coal inside Yinsen's mouth to make him talk.Raza: <Open your mouth.>
- Bad Boss: In a deleted scene, he shoots his second in command Abu Bakaar for allowing the prisoners to play backgammon. Granted, in the final product Abu reappears alive and well later, so this is obviously non-canon.
- Bald of Evil: This terrorist has one shiny dome.
- BFG: Arms himself with a pretty huge grenade launcher when he tries to stop Iron Man from escaping the cave.
- Big Bad Wannabe: Was clearly over his head in dealing with Tony Stark, as well as trying to negotiate with Stane. He pays with his life for the latter.
- The Cameo: In the short film All Hail the King, a photo of Raza briefly appears when Jackson Norriss shows documents about the Ten Rings.
- Canon Immigrant: He was created for the first film, although he seems to be partly inspired from Raza Longknife
, especially his name and his scarred face, and he plays the same role as the Viet Cong commander Wong-Chu in Iron Man's comics origin story. Eventually, he appeared in the 2010 Invincible Iron Man Annual as part of the Mandarin's Blatant Lies retelling of Iron Man's origin. - Chekhov's Gunman: His organization is called the Ten Rings and he expressed admiration for Genghis Khan. He's also shown wearing a prominent ruby ring, which the novelization calls the Ring of Fire. All are references to long-time Iron Man villain the Mandarin, whom he mentions obliquely as the ring's original owner in the novelization.
- Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: He is ordered by Obadiah to kill Tony in the beginning, but when he and his fellow terrorists learned their captive was Tony Stark, they keep him alive so he could build them a missile.
- Cold-Blooded Torture:
- He has Tony tortured by repeatedly drowning him in freezing water after he refused to build a Jericho Missile.
- Later, he threatens to burn Yinsen's face with heated coal to make him talk. Thankfully, Tony stops him from actually doing it.
- Come Alone: When Obadiah Stane comes to his camp, Raza agrees to lead him to the remains of Iron Man's first armor on the condition that Obadiah doesn't bring his men with him.Raza: Come. Leave your guards outside.
- Composite Character: His name and baldness are taken from Raza Longknife, while his role as Tony Stark's captor comes from Wong-Chu.
- Disc-One Final Boss: He is the main antagonist until a little after Tony escapes from the cave, specifically during Raza's meeting with Obadiah.
- The Dragon: To Obadiah Stane, to a degree as he was hired to kill Tony. However, he mistakenly thinks they are a Big Bad Duumvirate.
- Dragon with an Agenda: Wanted Stane to give him Iron Man suits so he can conquer vast amounts of Asia. He didn't get his wish.
- Evil Plan: He wants to be a modern Genghis Khan and take over Asia with state-of-the-art weapons. He believes Tony is his ticket to acheving this.
- Expy: Of Wong-Chu, the Vietnamese warlord from the comics who serves the same role as Iron Man's Starter Villain.
- Faux Affably Evil: At first, he can come across as a slightly affable villain during the scene where he pays a visit to Stark and Yinsen in their cells, telling them to relax when they put their hands on their head, and starting to talk to them casually. But then, he orders his men to hold down Yinsen and prepares to torture him...
- Feigning Intelligence: Raza isn't exactly a fool, but in the novelization Tony realizes that he makes a show of understanding his workshop better than he actually does.
- A Glass of Chianti: Serves himself a drink of alcohol during his meeting with Obadiah Stane.
- Good Scars, Evil Scars: The right side of his face was badly burnt when Tony Stark laid waste to the Ten Rings' encampment as he escaped in a prototype suit of powered armor.
- Good Smoking, Evil Smoking: He's a villain, and is seen smoking cigarettes in some scenes, making him one of the few confirmed smokers of the MCU.
- Grenade Launcher: He uses one against Iron Man during his escape, albeit it acts more like a rocket launcher.
- Horrible Judge of Character: Despite knowing that Obadiah Stane is the kind of man to have his boss assassinated in order to take his place, he fails to consider that he might turn against him once he no longer needs him. His negligence ends up causing his death.
- Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: When he tries to fire at Tony Stark (who's wearing his first, bulky Iron Man armor) with his Grenade Launcher during his escape from the cave, he somehow manages to miss his target, despite standing just a few feet from him. To be fair, Yinsen managed to warn Tony beforehand, which helped him to dodge Raza's shot.
- I Want Them Alive!: Despite Obadiah Stane's orders, Raza wanted Tony Stark to be captured alive, since he was aware of how valuable he really is, and planned to force him to build weapons for him.
- Killed Offscreen: Last time we saw him, he was paralyzed by Obadiah's device, but still alive. However, Obadiah then leaves and orders his men to eliminate all the members of the Ten Rings. Presumably, Raza was one of the victims.
- Kneel Before Zod: A variation. He orders his men to put Yinsen on his knees so he could torture him.Raza: <On his knees!>
- Made of Iron: Despite standing very close to the explosion provoked by one of Iron Man's missile, Raza manages to survive with a large scar on the right side of his face, but aside from that he doesn't seem impaired in the slightest.
- Mutilation Interrogation: He tries to interrogate Yinsen by threatening to burn his face with a piece of heated coal. Fortunately, Tony manages to convince him not to do it, as he needs him as an assistant.
- Not in My Contract: Obadiah Stane hired him to commit an assassination, but Raza didn't know the target was someone as important as Tony Stark. When he realizes it, he decides to capture him alive instead and sends a demand video to Stane to complain to him that he wasn’t paid enough to kill such a valuable target.
- "Not So Different" Remark: He tries to convince Obadiah Stane that they should continue to work together by telling him they have something in common, they both share the same hatred of Tony Stark and want to take revenge on him. It doesn't work.
- An Offer You Can't Refuse: He tries to force Tony Stark to construct a Jericho Missile for him, and makes it very clear that he will be tortured and killed if he refuses.
- Out-Gambitted: By Obadiah Stane. Their meeting resulted in his death.
- Pragmatic Villainy: He recognizes there is more value to keeping Tony alive than killing him, either to get more money from Stane or to have Tony build weapons for him.
- Rule of Three: He asks Yinsen three times to tell him the truth about what's really going on, raising his voice more and more each time.Raza: <Tell me the truth. Tell me the truth! TELL ME THE TRUTH!!>
- South Asian Terrorists: Leads the "Ten Rings" out of Afghanistan.
- Spotting the Thread: At one point, he sees Tony Stark using a mechanical leg in the surveillance video, which makes him understand that his prisoners are hiding something from him. Later, he also notices that Tony is no longer visible on the screen (he was inside his first armor), making him realize there is something wrong.
- Starter Villain: He's the first notable villain confronted by Iron Man. In a sense, he also serves as this to the MCU as a whole.
- Suddenly Shouting: When interrogating Yinsen, he first asks him to tell the truth by speaking in a normal voice, but since his prisoner keeps giving him the same unsatisfying answer, Raza ends up shouting at him.Raza: <Tell me the truth.>
Yinsen: <He's building Jericho.>
Raza: <TELL ME THE TRUTH!> - Surrounded by Idiots: He's apparently the only member of the Ten Rings to notice that there is something suspicious with Tony's construction of the Jericho Missile. While his men realized it looked different from their pictures, they simply shrugged it off.
- Take Over the World: As he explains to Tony Stark and later to Obadiah Stane, he's planning to conquer all of Asia and then the entire world with the help of Stark weapons.Raza: Today, whoever holds the latest Stark weapons, rules the world... and soon, it will be my turn.
- Too Dumb to Live: He underestimates Stane's treachery, and is promptly disposed of.
- Two-Faced: Due to having been hit by the explosion of one of Iron Man’s missiles, he has a huge scar on the right-side of his face, while the other side looks perfectly fine.
- Villainous Valour: Say what you will about this guy, but he is willing to fight Iron Man by himself, only armed with a grenade launcher. Even though the first Iron Man's armor wasn't as powerful as most of the following ones, that still takes some serious guts.
- Wants a Prize for Basic Decency: Apparently, he's expecting Yinsen's gratitude and even loyalty simply because he didn't kill him.Raza: <I let you live. This is how you repay me?>
- We Have Ways of Making You Talk: Says something like this when preparing to torture Yinsen.Raza: <You think I'm a fool? I'll get the truth.>
- Wicked Cultured: Raza has a strong knowledge of history, which inspires his ambition. He also has a sophisticated manner of speaking, even in the tensest situations.
- You Have 48 Hours: After losing patience, he gives Tony and Yinsen 24 hours to finish the construction of the Jericho Missile.Raza: You have until tomorrow, to assemble my missile.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Once Stane has the original Mark I armor, he is disposed of.
- You Will Be Spared: He captures Tony and Yinsen alive rather than killing them in order to force them to build a Jericho Missile, and pretends that he will let them leave unharmed once they have finished. He is obviously lying, though.
Abu Bakaar
Abu Bakaar
Species: Human
Citizenship: Afghan
Portrayed By: Sayed Badreya
Appearances: Iron Man
A high ranking member of the Ten Rings, who's eager for Stark to assemble them a Jericho missile.
- Barrier-Busting Blow: He's victim of one during the battle against Iron Man in Gulmira. After hiding behind a wall to call for reinforcements, Iron Man punches through the wall, grabs him and pulls him out into the open.
- Beard of Evil: He's got a beard and he's evil.
- Blatant Lies: Tells Tony that once he completes the Jericho missile, he will let him go. Tony immediately recognizes this as a lie, which Yinsen confirms.
- Declarative Finger: Does this in a deleted scene when he tells Yinsen and Tony that he was a champion of backgammon in his town. Yinsen mocks him by doing the same thing when translating what he said to Tony.
- Dirty Coward: In Gulmira, he may act tough when dealing with defenseless villagers, but as soon as Iron Man shows up, he hides away while letting his henchmen do the fighting, showing his cowardly nature.
- Do with Him as You Will: After Tony saves the villagers Abu and his men were terrorizing, he throws him to them so they can have revenge.Iron Man: He's all yours.
- The Dragon: He is implied to be Raza's Number Two minion. He is the one charged to act as the main contact for Tony Stark and Yinsen, and during the attack of Gulmira he's clearly the one giving orders.
- Evil Is Petty: In addition to keeping Tony prisoner and making him build a missile, he also forces him to wash his clothes. However, Tony's lived such a pampered life that he has no idea how and botches the job.
- Faux Affably Evil: Once Tony wakes up in the cave, Abu greets him in an almost friendly manner, and even tells him he's honored by his presence. However, when Tony says he refuses to build the Jericho, Abu drops the act and sends him to be tortured.
- Go-Karting with Bowser: In a deleted scene, Abu enters the cell to check Tony and Yinsen's progress, and, seeing them playing backgammon, makes Yinsen's move for him. He turns out to be pretty good at the game.
- Hidden Depths: According to a deleted scene, he used to be a champion of backgammon in his native town. He's still quite good at playing it in present day.
- Insistent Terminology: When Yinsen translates what he said to Tony in a deleted scene and says that Abu is from "some small town", Abu insists that it was a "big town", not a small one.
- Kick the Dog: During the attack on Gulmira, he brutally beats an innocent man in front of his family before ordering his henchmen to execute him, for little reason except showing how much of an asshole he is.
- Kick Them While They Are Down: After putting a villager of Gulmira to the ground, he starts kicking him repeatedly, then he attempts to have him killed.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Iron Man leaves him at the mercy of the villagers he has been tormenting so that they could take revenge on him.
- Milking the Giant Cow: He often makes grand gestures with his hands when he's speaking, especially in his first scene. This might be because he's aware that Tony Stark doesn't understand his language.
- Mouth of Sauron: Raza doesn't seem to directly speak to Tony Stark before a few months of captivity or so, therefore Abu is the one who does the talking on his behalf, notably by explaining to Tony the terms of their deal.
- Non-Action Guy: He's pretty much the only member of the Ten Rings who's never seen wielding a weapon at any point during the first movie (except during the shooting of the video of their demands). In Gulmira, Abu merely gives orders around, but doesn't seem to participate directly in the killings and abductions. When Iron Man shows up, he doesn't even try to fight and simply hides away to call for reinforcements, unlike the rest of his henchmen.
- Oh, Crap!: Two in a row. First when he sees Iron Man's arm punching through a wall to catch him, then when he's thrown in front of the villagers of Gulmira and they start approaching towards him. The look on his face is priceless.
- Released to Elsewhere: He promises that he will set Tony free after he has finished building the Jericho missile for them. Subverted in that neither Tony nor Yinsen believe him for a second.Yinsen: When you're done, he will set you free.
Tony: No, he won't.
Yinsen: No, he won't. - South Asian Terrorists: A high-ranking member of the "Ten Rings" out of Afghanistan.
- Surrounded by Idiots: During the raid in Gulmira, he complains that all of his henchmen are incompetent after one of them lets a villager escape from his grasp and embrace his son.Abu: <You're all incompetent!>
- That Wasn't a Request: After Tony Stark is captured, Abu asks him to build a Jericho Missile, but Tony refuses... cut to him being mercilessly tortured, making it clear that his captors won't accept "no" as an answer.
- Throw 'Em to the Wolves: His final fate. After disposing of his henchmen, Iron Man throws him to a crowd of villagers he had been terrorizing, who start closing in on him.
- Uncertain Doom: In his last scene, Abu is left by Iron Man at the mercy of the villagers of Gulmira, who have very good reasons to be angry at him. While his fate was probably unpleasant, it's unknown if he was actually killed or not.
- Would Hurt a Child: In Gulmira, he violently grabs a child who was hugging his father and throws him away.
- You Have Failed Me: Raza kills him in a deleted scene for letting Tony and Yinsen play. However, this is non-canon, as Abu shows up in a later scene.
Ahmed and Omar
Ahmed and Omar
Ahmed (top) and Omar (bottom).
Species: Humans
Citizenship: Afghans
Portrayed By: Ahmed Ahmed (Ahmed) and Fahim Fazli (Omar)
Appearances: Iron Man
Two members of the Ten Rings who are often seen accompanying Abu Bakaar and Raza.
- All There in the Manual: Their names are only given in the credits.
- Beard of Evil: Both of them are bearded members of a terrorist organization.
- Bilingual Bonus: Much like Abu Bakaar, their few lines of dialogue are in Arabic.
- Character Death: They are both executed by Obadiah Stane's henchmen alongside other members of the Ten Rings.
- The Danza: Ahmed is notably one of the few characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe who have the same name of the actor portraying them (Ahmed Ahmed).
- Only One Name: They are merely known as "Ahmed" and "Omar".
- South Asian Terrorists: Like most members of the Ten Rings from the first Iron Man film, they are terrorists from Afghanistan.
- Surveillance Station Slacker: When charged of the surveillance of Tony Stark and Yinsen, Abu Bakaar notices that what they are building doesn't look anything like their picture of Jericho Missiles, but Ahmed dismisses it as simply being a modified version.
Raza's followers
Species: Humans
Appearances: Iron Man
The other members of the Ten Rings working for Raza in Afghanistan.
- Artistic License – Gun Safety: Zig-zagged. They show very good trigger discipline while lounging around their base, but appalling trigger discipline during the video transmission of their demands.
- Attack! Attack... Retreat! Retreat!: After hearing an explosion, a few terrorists charge into Tony and Yinsen's cell... only to promptly flee in terror when Yinsen starts Firing in the Air a Lot.
- Bag of Kidnapping: They put a bag on Tony's head after capturing him, and again when they get him out of the cave to show him their camp.
- Bizarre and Improbable Ballistics: During Tony's escape, one of the Ten Rings members fires a handgun at his Iron Man armor, only for the shot to bounce off and kill him. It is quite clear that the bullet could not possibly have deflected at that angle. Maybe the bullet ricocheted off Iron Man into the cave wall, and then off the cave wall into him?
- Bloodless Carnage: Even though Iron Man kills dozens of them in rather brutal ways throughout the film, there is never any blood splatter whatsoever.
- Blown Across the Room: Many of them get blown a few feet backwards by Iron Man's repulsor blasts, with a single blast having enough power to partially demolish a brick wall when the victim collides. Since the repulsors were originally meant to be flight stabilizers, it does make sense.
- Boom, Headshot!: Somehow, one of the Ten Rings members manages to do this to himself when he tries to shoot Iron Man and his bullet ricochets off the armor.
- Bottomless Magazines: Many of them fire quite a lot of bullets at various points during the film, but they are never seen reloading even once.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Even with their automatic weapons and their tank, it's ridiculously easy for Iron Man to crush nearly all the terrorists during their battle in Gulmira, thanks to his new upgraded armor.
- Curb Stomp Cushion: While they fail to stop him, they still get some good shots at Iron Man during his escape from the cave. They actually end up damaging his armor, and even disable his right leg and drive him to his knees by shooting at some vulnerable parts before he uses his rockets to fly away.
- Death by Cameo: Tom Morello, of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave, plays a member of the organization. He's the very first person to be killed by Iron Man.
- The Enemy Weapons Are Better: They primarily use American weapons manufactured by Stark Industries, as they are the most effective ones. Tony Stark is outraged when he realizes that his weapons are in the hands of terrorists.
- Failed a Spot Check: Tony Stark managed to construct his first Iron Man armor right under their noses, without any of them noticing, even though they were constantly monitoring his work.
- Equal-Opportunity Evil: According to Yinsen, this terrorist group includes members from all over Central Asia, Middle East, Russia, Hungary and Balkans.
- Five Rounds Rapid: Many of them try to bring down Iron Man with their rifles and guns, to no avail.
- Good Guns, Bad Guns: They almost exclusively use Western guns. They're referred to as made by Stark International. This is used to illustrate how Stark can't bother himself at first over his tech falling into the wrong hands.
- Gory Discretion Shot: In their last scene, all the surviving terrorists are held at gunpoint by Obadiah Stane's henchmen. Stane then orders all of them to be executed, but the camera moves away just before we see their death.
- The Guards Must Be Crazy: They leave their two prisoners alone in their cell most of the time, with a large supply of weapons and explosives, which allowed them to build the first Iron Man armor. Aside from Raza, no one seemed to get suspicious. When Tony uses the armor to escape, the Ten Rings members don't do a particularly good job at stopping him either, even though the armor has some vulnerable spots. Had they simply left a few guards in the cell to keep an eye on their prisoners in the first place, this wouldn't have happened.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: One of the Ten Rings members tries for a head shot while Tony Stark's first armor is momentarily stuck... but he's killed when his bullet ricochets off Tony's helmet.
- Human Shield: When confronted to Iron Man in Gulmira, a few Ten Rings members decide to grab some villagers and hold them at gunpoint. Unfortunately for them, Tony designed his armor with such a situation in mind, and promptly uses his targeting system to shoot them all without touching the hostages at all.
- Improbable Aiming Skills: In Gulmira, some members of the Ten Rings manage to hit Iron Man in mid-air with their tank, while he was flying at high speed. Those who are using normal firearms are also pretty sharp, though it doesn't really help against Iron Man's armor.
- Insecurity Camera: While they use security cameras to monitor Tony's construction of the Jericho missile, no one (except Raza) realizes he's actually building something else before it's too late. At least, when one of the cameras is destroyed by an explosion, Raza immediately understand something is wrong and sends his men in Tony's cell.
- Join or Die: This is how the Ten Rings recruits. They attack villages and either kill or capture the men. Then, they take their women and children to an unknown location where they're used as collateral. The men are asked to join them, with their families' lives, as well as their own, on their line if they refuse. This is Truth in Television for many terrorist groups and militaristic regimes.
- Killed Mid-Sentence: During the battle of Gulmira, Iron Man proceeds to take down most of the Ten Rings terrorists until he is stopped by a small group holding hostages at gunpoint while screaming at him in their native tongue. Iron Man shuts them all up by shooting all the terrorists simultaneously.
- Kill It with Fire: Many of them are burned alive by Iron Man's flamethrowers right after his escape from the cave.
- Macross Missile Massacre: Shortly after Tony's escape, they eventually get their hands on some Jericho Missiles thanks to Obadiah Stane. They are notably seen using a few missiles to wreak havoc during their attack of Gulmira.
- Man on Fire: Some terrorists are set on fire when Iron Man starts burning down their camp.
- Mooks: They serve as Raza's army of evil soldiers who are mostly there to be killed in mass by the hero. In fact, they are the very first example of this trope in all the entire franchise.
- Mook Horror Show:
- From their point of view, Tony's escape from the cave in a huge, unstoppable suit of powered armor is played out quite a bit like a monster movie, especially the armor's debut; the lights go out, and a nightmarish, hulking metal thing looms behind one of the terrorists.
- To a lesser extent, this also applies to the battle of Gulmira, in which Iron Man brutally kills all the terrorists with his new upgraded armor.
- "Open!" Says Me: At one point, some villagers of Gulmira try to hide inside their house, but a terrorist opens the door by kicking it and shoots everyone inside.
- Punched Across the Room: After landing in the middle of Gulmira, the first thing Iron Man does is to punch the closest member of the Ten Rings, sending him flying a few meters up until he crashes against a nearby wall. Played more realistically than most examples of this trope, as we can actually hear the sounds of his breaking bones, making it clear that it was fatal.
- Put Down Your Gun and Step Away: Some of the terrorists try to do this when Iron Man attacks them in Gulmira. They take several civilians as hostages in order to force him to lower his weapons, which appears to work at first. However, the armored hero then turns out to have shoulder-mounted guns with a precise targetting system, and manages to shoot all the terrorists simultaneously while leaving the civilians unharmed.
- Rape, Pillage, and Burn: What they did to Gulmira. They kill or capture the men, take the women and children as hostages, loot their resources and blow up some houses.
- Screaming Warrior: Some of them scream while shooting at Iron Man during his escape of the cave.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: When Tony uses his first armor to escape from the cave, several Ten Rings members choose to flee for their lives rather than face the armored hero.
- Shooting Superman: Zig-zagged.
- Throughout Tony Stark's escape, the terrorists try to shoot at his armor, to no effect. One guy gets the brilliant idea to fire a pistol at his helmet while he has his hand stuck in a wall, but the bullet deflects and kills him instead. When Tony arrives in the camp outside, another group of guys tries doing the exact same thing, without more success. However, one of them finally has the presence of mind to use a fixed machine gun, and succeeds in causing some damage to the armor. Others start shooting at him again, and eventually Tony is overwhelmed by their unrelenting gunfire and gets the right leg of his armor disabled, forcing him to fly away with his rockets.
- During the battle in Gulmira, the terrorists quickly realize that their weapons have absolutely no effect on Iron Man's armor, and turn their guns on their civilian hostages.
- Shoot the Hostage Taker: Happens to several terrorists in Gulmira. When confrontated to Iron Man, they try to use the villagers as human shields to force him to stand down. Unfortunately for them, he has some form of shoulder-mounted guns that can target and take them all down at once before they can harm their hostages.
- Sound-Only Death:
- During Tony's escape from the cave, some Ten Rings members try to stop him by closing a metal door on his way. However, one of the members isn't fast enough and gets trapped on the wrong side when they close the door. While we don't actually see Iron Man killing him, we hear his screams from behind the door.
- In addition, we don't see Obadiah Stane's henchmen executing the remaining members of the Ten Rings, but we hear the gunshots.
- South Asian Terrorists: All of them. They are a Ten Rings cell operating in Afghanistan.
- Tae Kwon Door: One of the members gets crushed when Iron Man smashes a metallic door inside the cave.
- Take a Moment to Catch Your Death: When a group of terrorists comes to his unlit cell, Iron Man loudly kills one of them, causing the others to start shooting everywhere. Once they're done, they look at each other satisfied, but Iron Man suddenly shows up in front of them and kills all of them one by one.
- Tanks for Nothing: A Downplayed example. In Gulmira, the Ten Rings try to use a tank against Iron Man and it does succeed in knocking him out of the sky with a shell. However, Iron Man easily avoids the tank's next volley and launches his own mini-missile at it. He then turns away from the tank to begin his Unflinching Walk as the tank explodes.
- Tank Goodness: Their tank is still the weapon that inflicted the most damage to Iron Man during the battle of Gulmira. Not only was it able to accurately knock him out of the sky with a shell, it also scuffs up his armor (there's a deleted scene that showed how bad the damage was).
- Too Dumb to Live: One member tries to charge at Iron Man during his escape, only to be violently punched against a wall and very likely killed. What was he expecting?
- Torture Technician: Two members are charged of torturing Tony by drowning him repeatedly when he refuses to build a Jericho Missile.
- Throw Down the Bomblet: During their raid on Gulmira, some of the Ten Rings members throw grenades in houses to kill the people inside instead of using firearms.
- Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?: In Gulmira, one of the terrorist is ordered by Abu Bakaar to execute a man in front of his family. Rather than simply shooting him immediately, he asks the man to look at him in the eyes first, for some reason. This leaves enough time for Iron Man to show up and kill the terrorist with a solid punch before he could execute his target.
- Would Hit a Girl: They murder and capture many women during their sack of Gulmira. In addition, one of the military they killed in the opening scene was a woman.
- Would Hurt a Child: The children aren't spared when they attack Gulmira, with many of them getting captured, probably to be used as hostages or to be trained to become Child Soldiers.
- You Are Already Dead: After firing a dinky missile at one of the Ten Rings' tanks, Iron Man starts walking away. Said tank explodes a few seconds later.
Russia
Ten Rings Gangster
Ten Rings Gangster
Species: Human
Citizenship: Russian
Portrayed By: Ali Khan
Appearances: Iron Man 2
A member of the Ten Rings installed in Russia. He helps Ivan Vanko to travel to Monaco to confront Iron Man by providing him with false documents.
- All There in the Manual: The fact that he's a member of the Ten Rings organization isn't made clear within the film itself, but Word of God confirmed it and the credits referred to him as "Ten Rings Gangster".
- Call-Back: In the first Iron Man, it was briefly mentioned by Yinsen that some Ten Rings members are speaking Russian. In the second film, it's revealed that they actually have agents operating in Russia.
- Friend in the Black Market: He serves as one to Ivan Vanko. He provides him with a forged identity card and travel documents to Monaco.
- Karma Houdini: Despite being a criminal who helped Ivan Vanko in his Evil Plan, nothing bad ever happens to him. After giving Vanko the false papers he needed, he's never seen again.
- No Name Given: He isn't named in the film. He's only referred as "Ten Rings Gangster" in the credits.
- Revenge: While not explicitly stated, it's very likely that his reason for helping Vanko in his crusade against Iron Man is to take revenge on the superhero for all the trouble he has caused to his organization.
- Small Role, Big Impact: He only appears during one short scene, but he's the one who provided Ivan Vanko with what he needed to go after Tony Stark. Without him, Vanko probably wouldn't have been able to leave Russia, and the majority of the movie would have been very different.
United States
Jackson Norriss
Jackson Norriss
"You're right, and for that sin you'll soon suffer horribly with a hole in your body for every ring of our faith."
Species: Human
Citizenship: American
Portrayed By: Scoot McNairy
Appearances: All Hail the King
"My name is Jackson Norriss. Today will be the most important of my career: my final interview with the most infamous man in America. A man that the world thought was a terrorist called the Mandarin, but is now alleged to be nothing but an actor. Thus far, the subject has been evasive and apparently oblivious to the point of my work. In fact, he seems oblivious to pretty much everything, except his own growing celebrity status, because now the whole world knows his name..."
A member of the Ten Rings posing as documentary filmmaker to get close to Trevor Slattery at Seagate Prison.
- Adaptational Villainy: In the comics, he's a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent turned reporter and an ally of the Defenders. In the MCU, he's an operative of the Ten Rings. However, see Decomposite Character.
- Ambiguous Situation: Another reporter called "Jackson Norris" (different actor) appears in the viral marketing for Civil War. Is he meant to be the same Ten Rings operative, still undercover? Was "double-S" stealing the real Norris' identity? Is it an amazing coincidence? Who knows?
- The Bad Guy Wins: He serves as the main antagonist of All Hail the King, and was sent by the Mandarin to break Trevor Slattery out of prison and capture him. Despite Herman's best efforts, he succeeds in fulfilling his mission almost without a hitch.
- Battle Strip: Shortly before grabbing his gun and starting to shoot at everyone, he takes off his jacket and puts it on a chair.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: At first, he seems to be nothing more than a harmless documentary filmmaker. Turns out he's a dangerous killer working for a terrorist organization.
- Combat Pragmatist: When fighting the unarmed Herman, he's shown to be willing to use anything at his disposal to take down his opponent. First he tries to shoot him, then he seizes his baton to pummel him, and finally he snatches a pen to stab him to death.
- The Comically Serious: He spends his screen time trying to put up with Trevor's shenanigans and keep a straight face at the same time. He's completely dumbfounded when he realizes that Trevor didn't research the Mandarin or the Ten Rings despite impersonating the former.
- Crazy-Prepared: In addition of having a gun hidden in his video camera, he also has other emergency weapons like a baton in the tripod just in case he gets disarmed.
- Decomposite Character: There's also a Jackson Norris, with a single "S" and also a reporter, that appeared in the WHiH Newsfront viral marketing videos.
- Even Evil Has Standards: He’s visibly put off by Trevor’s self-centered behavior and refusal to take responsibility for his life.
- False Reassurance: When Trevor says he doesn't want to die, Norriss tells him that he's not there to kill him, but only to break him out of jail. At first, Trevor is relieved. However, Norriss then reveals that he's actually planning to bring him to the real Mandarin, so that he could punish him himself.
- Gadget Watches: His watch can serve as a Walkie-Talkie, as seen when he uses it to contact his accomplices of the Ten Rings to let them know that he succeeded in capturing Trevor Slattery.
- The Heavy: He's technically the primary villain of the short, but he's acting under the orders of The Mandarin.
- Improvised Weapon: During his fight against Herman, he eventually uses a pen to kill his opponent.
- Intrepid Reporter: He uses the cover of a filmmaker trying to get a story on a convicted criminal.
- It's Personal: He is as upset that Trevor Slattery didn't research the Mandarin and the Ten Rings as he is that Trevor stole the real Mandarin's title. He's also upset that Trevor is nonchalant about the existence of the Ten Rings, despite their centuries of history.
- Karma Houdini: Even though he shot several guards, brutally killed Herman and captured Trevor Slattery so he could be punished by the Mandarin, as far as we know he got away scot-free.
- Lawman Baton: Turns out one of the tripod's legs of his videocamera contains a hidden baton. Norriss pulls it out during his fight against Herman and uses it to beat him up repeatedly.
- Nerves of Steel: Doesn't even flinch when Trevor Slattery points a gun on his head and threatens to shoot him.
- The Pen Is Mightier: After failing to put him down with a gun and a baton, he ends up killing Herman by taking his pen and stabbing him in the neck with it.
- Prepare to Die: Says something like this to Trevor Slattery during the interview.Trevor Slattery: It's not the Mandarin people will remember, it's the name, Trevor Slattery. It's the brand of Trev.
Jackson Norriss: You're right. And for that sin you will soon suffer horribly with a hole in your body for every ring of our faith. - Scaramanga Special:
- He manages to get a pistol into the prison by hiding its components as parts of his video camera. During the interview, he activates a function of the camera that assembles the weapon pieces by pieces, then makes it pops out of the tape deck.
- Also, he has a baton concealed as a leg of his camera's tripod.
- Shoe Phone: As it turns out, many special gadgets are installed in Jackson Norriss's filmmaker equipment, such as a gun inside his camera video, a baton in his tripod, and a phone in his wristwatch.
- Sleeves Are for Wimps: He rolls up his sleeves before taking his gun and shooting at the guards, showing the Ten Rings tattoo on his arm.
- Stronger Than They Look: He doesn't have a particularly impressive build, yet he's capable of overpowering Herman, a guy pretty much twice his size.
- Tattooed Crook: He has the symbol of his organization tattooed on his right arm.
- They Look Just Like Everyone Else!: Looks like a perfectly normal guy on the surface. Is actually a formidable assassin and a member of an infamous terrorist organization.
- This Is Unforgivable!: He makes it clear that he considers Trevor Slattery's impersonation of the Mandarin to be an unforgivable sin that deserves the most horrible sentence possible.
- Wham Line: At first, the short film appears to be simply about some filmmaker named Jackson Norriss trying to make a documentary about Trevor Slattery. But then, the guy reveals that he's not what he seems to be with this line:
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Despite Trevor reappearing in Shang-Chi, Jackson does not and no mention is made of him by either Trevor or Wenwu.
- You Killed My Father: A variation. He kills Trevor's butler Herman, with whom he was pretty good friend. This infuriates him enough to pick up a gun and threaten to shoot Norriss.Trevor Slattery: You. You killed my butler!
- You Wouldn't Shoot Me: Says this to Trevor Slattery when he tries to point a gun at him. He turns out to be right.Jackson Norriss: You're not capable of pulling that trigger, Mr. Slattery.
The HYDRA Buyer
HYDRA Buyer
Species: Human
Citizenship: American
Portrayed By: Rod Hallett
Appearances: Ant-Man
A member of the Ten Rings also affiliated with HYDRA. He accompanies Mitchell Carson during his purchase of the Yellowjacket suit, and gets confronted to Ant-Man.
- Beard of Evil: Has a small beard, and is a member of not one but two terrorist organizations.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: During their brief fight in the Pym Technologies building, Ant-Man defeats him in a few seconds with only two blows.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: If you pause at the right moments, you can glimpse his tattoo of the Ten Rings symbol on his neck. It's even more visible in a deleted scene.
- Killed Offscreen: Possibly. See Uncertain Doom below.
- Mooks: He's one of the numerous henchmen of Darren Cross and Mitchell Carson who get defeated by the protagonists during the fight in the Pym Technologies building. Interestingly, he's a Mook who's working for both the Ten Rings and HYDRA.
- No Name Given: His name is never revealed in the film. Even in the credits, he's only referred as "Hydra Buyer".
- Tap on the Head: Ant-Man ends up knocking him out with a solid punch in the head.
- Tattooed Crook: Just like Jackson Norriss, he has a tattoo of his organization symbol, albeit on the neck rather than the arm.
- Uncertain Doom: Last time we saw him, he was knocked out by Ant-Man inside the Pym Industries building. It's unknown if he woke up and managed to escape the destruction of the building that happens a few minutes later, or if he was Killed Offscreen.
- Villain Team-Up: A one-man version of the trope. He's a member of the Ten Rings organization who joined HYDRA, and works alongside them.
- The Voiceless: He never says a single word in any of his scenes.
- Would Hit a Girl: Has no qualms about drawing his gun at Hope when she tries to stop Cross from killing her father.
Australia
Richard Frampton
Richard Frampton
Species: Human
Citizenship: Australian
Portrayed By: N/A
Appearances: The Avengers Prelude: Black Widow Strikes one-shot comic
The owner and CEO of Sojourn Enterprises and a member of the Ten Rings..
- Beard of Evil: He's a terrorist with a white beard.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: The CEO of a Sojourn International, a transport multinational.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: He's killed by the same Jericho missile he tried to use to instigate war in the Korean peninsula
Associates
Obadiah Stane
Ivan Vanko
Darren Cross
See his page.
Mitchell Carson
See HYDRA Leadership.
Sofia
Sofia
Species: Human
Citizenship: Russian
Portrayed By: N/A
Appearances: The Avengers Prelude: Black Widow Strikes one-shot comic
An assassin and mercenary that seeks to replace Natasha Romanoff as the Black Widow.
- The Dragon: To Richard Frampton
- Klingon Promotion: She seeks to kill Natasha Romanoff to take her mantle.
- Known Only by Their Nickname: Sofia is not her actual birth name.
- Psycho for Hire: She grew up to become one.
- Sex Slave: As a teenager she was kidnapped by a sex slavery ring.
