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Master of Kung Fu (initially titled Special Marvel Edition) is a long-running series from Marvel Comics starring Shang-Chi.

Special Marvel Edition was originally a reprint-only title, republishing older stories from Journey into Mystery and Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos.

Issue #15 was its first new story, the start of a two-part tale introducing Shang-Chi, son of supervillain Fu Manchu, who had now turned against his father’s evil empire. Fu Manchu and several other characters were taken directly from Sax Rohmer’s books, for which Marvel had acquired comic adaptation rights.

The story was a hit with readers and so, from issue #17, the series was retitled Master of Kung-Fu and became a Shang-Chi solo title. The first few issues were written by Steve Englehart and illustrated by Jim Starlin, but both swiftly moved on to other projects and Doug Moench wrote the vast majority of the series.

Master of Kung Fu was set in the shared Marvel Universe but very rarely included guest stars from other Marvel titles.

The first issue of Special Marvel Edition was released in January 1971.

Issue #15, in which Shang-Chi debuted, was released 4 September 1973. Issue #17, which relaunched the series as Master of Kung-Fu, was released 15 January 1974.

The series ended with issue #125, released 15 March 1983. However, a final issue #126 was released decades later, on 8 November 2017, as part of the Marvel Legacy event.note 


Tropes appearing in Master Of Kung-Fu:

  • Accidental Murder: Shang-Chi, delirious from Fu Manchu's truth serum, perceives Sandy Chen as a hooded skeleton and strikes her dead while fighting through his father's Death Course.
  • Acquired Poison Immunity: It's eventually revealed that Fu Manchu has built up a partial immunity to his life-extending elixir vitae. His personal supply is now a different, stronger concoction than the elixir that associates like Ducharme use - so can be lethal to anyone who's not built up a tolerance. This is also Foreshadowing for his final arc, when the elixir can no longer sustain him.
  • Actually a Doombot:
    • The Dr. Petrie that Shang-Chi murders in the very first story - initially set up as a Death by Origin Story to justify his rebellion against Fu Manchu - is eventually revealed to be one of Fu Manchu's duplicates and a Secret Test.
    • In "The Phoenix Gambit” arc, Shockwave, Razor-Fist, Pavane, Shadow-Stalker, Shaka Kharn and Reston are all literally Doombots. And, fittingly, so is their master Doctor Doom.
  • Action Girl: There are two or three notable examples in the series.
    • Sandy Chen, who holds her own against Si-Fan assassins, and is later revealed to be one of Nayland-Smith's agents.
    • Leiko Wu, who’s also one of Nayland-Smith's agents, is in the same category, and may even qualify as a Suspiciously Similar Substitute (which is reinforced by narration in her first issue, noting that she reminds Shang-Chi of Sandy).
    • Mia Lessing, the KGB defector previously known as the "Dark Angel of Death" certainly qualifies. At one point she fights Shang-Chi due to a misunderstanding and actually does reasonably well.
  • Adapted Out: In the books, Dr. Petrie and his wife Karamenah had a daughter, Fleurette. She doesn't appear in the comics and is never mentioned.
  • An Arm and a Leg: Generally averted with human foes, but Shang-Chi uses a sword to neatly sever Shaka Kharn's arm.
    • All three of Carlton Velcro's Razor-Fists have this as part of their backstory. They've each lost at least one hand, then replaced it with a blade.
    • When Carlton Velcro reappears after his apparent death he's lost his right leg and right arm.
  • Androcles' Lion: When visiting Tibet in the final arc, Shang-Chi has a peaceful and respectful meeting with a Migou, a Tibetan yeti. It later intervenes to save him from Mind Control and a Psychic-Assisted Suicide.
  • Archnemesis Dad:
    • Fu Manchu’s struggle with Shang-Chi casts a shadow over the whole book. There are some other, unrelated, criminal masterminds, but they never get the same prominence.
    • This also applies to Shang-Chi's older half-sister Fah Lo Suee, although her initial motives for feuding with Fu Manchu are far less benevolent - it's largely an Enemy Civil War.
  • Argentina Is Nazi Land: Renegade Nazi Wilhelm Bucher has built a new home in South America, somewhere along the Amazon river.
  • Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy: A few antagonists veer into this. Shadow-Slasher, whose sole motivation is to prove he's a better martial artist than Shang-Chi, is probably the purest example.
  • Arrowgram: Not actually with arrows, but…
    • Shang-Chi gets one wrapped around a thrown dagger's hilt. It deliberately misses, but is immediately followed by a murder attempt. Once the assassins are defeated - and have killed themselves via Cyanide Pill - Shang-Chi reads the note. His father wishes him a happy birthday.
    • Much later in the series, Shadow-Slasher, a fanatical villain who simply wants to test his martial arts skills against the great Shang-Chi, wraps his initial challenge around a thrown dagger.
  • Arsenal Attire: A variant. Shadow-Stalker wears a double ball-and-chain flail through his topknot. Probably qualifies as an Impossibly Cool Weapon, as he seems to use them effectively without maiming himself.
  • Assassin Outclassin': A regular occurrence when Fu Manchu (and others) send their minions after Shang-Chi.
  • Avenging the Villain: In the very final arc, after Fu Manchu is believed dead, Shang-Chi visits the Tibetan monastery where his father studied. Unfortunately, the current lama and monks are mostly descended from people Fu Manchu's medicines and knowledge saved, and keen to see Shang-Chi killed in revenge.
  • Back for the Dead: Several examples in the final Fu Manchu arc.
    • Fah Lo Suee's minions Bolo and Kimba return, only to be Killed Offscreen by Shang-Chi's scarred clone.
    • Shang-Chi's old instructor Cho-Lin returns to face his pupil, but is shot dead by Fah Lo Suee.
    • Fu Manchu's concubine and assistant Ducharme is shot by Fah Lo Suee after she grabs a knife to defend her master.
  • Bare-Handed Blade Block: Shang-Chi’s pretty good at these. He’s also very capable of breaking a blocked blade with his hands, as Razor-Fist finds out the hard way.
  • Becoming the Mask: Nayland-Smith's agent Juliette was sent to spy on Shen Kuei in Hong Kong, but eventually fell in love with him.
  • Better to Die than Be Killed: Some of Fu Manchu's servants take this view, killing themselves rather than returning to report failure. There are also some less villainous examples.
    • The Cyanide Pill option appears several times
    • One Si-Fan agent throws herself from a high window
    • Professor Chen kills himself rather than accept capture by Fu Manchu. Fu Manchu believes that this was to hide the secrets of Chen's research; Shang-Chi eventually reveals that it was because there were no secrets he could reveal under torture - the research had failed.
  • Big Bad Wannabe: Ward Sarsfield is tasked with killing or silencing Shang-Chi and his allies when they resign from MI6. With access to MI6's resources he's able to send elite brainwashed assassins after them, reactivate Mordillo's killer robots and capture most of the supporting cast. For a Non-Action Big Bad, he seems a credible threat. Then Fah Lo Suee changes sides and her lover Zaran the Weapons Master simply kills him.
  • Big Creepy-Crawlies: Not a common feature of the series, but they do turn up in some Fu Manchu arcs.
    • One of Fu Manchu's bases contains a nest of giant scorpions. Another one turns up to fight alongside Death Dealer.
    • The final Fu Manchu storyline includes a giant praying mantis.
  • Bigfoot, Sasquatch, and Yeti: In the very final arc Shang-Chi encounters a migou, a Tibetan yeti. It's a peaceful, friendly meeting that later leads to an Androcles' Lion rescue.
  • Brainwashed and Crazy:
    • Dr. Petrie is a murderous version of The Mole after he's rescued from Fu Manchu after his supposed death, shooting Nayland Smith and setting bombs in MI6 offices.
    • Eric Slaughter, the MI6 officer who becomes War-Yore, is a tragic example. As part of a project to create an elite operative, he’s brainwashed into thinking he’s multiple great historical warriors, then then he's sent to kill Shang-Chi and his allies. Despite Leiko's success with some attempts to reach him, he's shot dead by Reston before he can be deprogrammed.
    • Shockwave also falls prey to this. After he's first captured and handed over to MI6 he's reprogrammed and sent to kill Nayland Smith, Shang-Chi and their allies.
    • Samisdat's "Dawning Light" cult routinely brainwashes new recruits. Mandy Greville, sister of Nayland Smith's assistant Melissa, becomes a fervent believer and even tries to murder Black Jack Tarr in his sleep.
    • A flashback reveals that one of Fu Manchu's previous projects was to reprogram some of his Si-Fan with personalities based on Jack the Ripper. After Fah Lo Suee irritates her father he uses her lover Phillip as a prototype. Forty years later he's still roaming the world as a Long-Lived, brainwashed, Serial Killer.
  • Call-Back: A flashback story published after Shang-Chi quits MI6 shows him in Morocco confronting Tiger-Claw's gang, who are seeking a hollow elephant statue which they think contains Fu Manchu's elixir vitae. It's all for nothing - a previous story had already dealt with the lost statue, but Tiger-Claw didn't know that.
  • Came Back Wrong: Shaka Kharn is resurrected by Fu Manchu (although it's unclear how much of his old mind and memory truly remains), but suffers Rapid Aging and withers away if he doesn't regularly bathe in a Healing Vat.
  • Canon Welding: Fu Manchu, Dr. Petrie, Fah Lo Suee, Karamenah and Sir Denis Nayland Smith are all directly imported from the Sax Rohmer novels. A few other characters from the books get minor mentions as well.
  • Charles Atlas Superpower: It’s a series full of extremely dangerous martial artists, so this turns up an awful lot. Some of them boost it with gadgets (e.g. Shockwave's electric armour or Mordillo's death-hand glove), but almost every Big Bad or Dragon is a martial arts master. And with the exception of a few boosted by Psycho Serum, none have any actual superpowers.
  • Cooperation Gambit: When Shang-Chi is caught in the internal feuds of an Amazon tribe, he’s assisted by a Si-Fan assassin they've previously captured. Once the tribe is dealt with and the assassin's freed, he announces his intentions and then tries to kill Shang-Chi again.
  • Death by Adaptation:
    • Tony McKay, one of the leads in the final Fu Manchu novels, is seen in a single flashback panel in the first issue. Then he’s Killed Offscreen with a lethal injection.
    • Eventually subverted with Dr. Petrie. Shang-Chi kills him in the first issue and it’s initially played as a very significant Death by Origin Story, the trigger for Shang-Chi’s rebellion against his father. Much later it’s revealed that this was Actually a Doombot and he's still alive.
  • Death Course:
    • Black Jack Tarr’s "murder mansion", a house full of traps that’s pressed into service when Nayland-Smith and Tarr first try to defeat Shang-Chi. Exactly why Tarr has a murder mansion is another matter, especially as Shang-Chi notes that some of the traps seem to be many years old. It's revisited and turned against them in a later issue, which confirms that Tarr himself installed the traps, but never says why.
    • Fu Manchu puts Shang-Chi through one after drugging him with a Truth Serum that causes delirium, seeking the truth about Professor Chen's research. Exactly how much of it was real is left ambiguous.
    • Mordillo's island is a more whimsical but equally deadly version. Robot soldiers, toy trains and booby traps welcome Shang-Chi and Reston.
  • Death Faked for You:
    • It's eventually revealed that Carlton Velcro survived his first encounter with Shang-Chi - and that corrupt elements of MI6 kept his survival secret.
    • Fu Manchu does this for both Dr. Petrie (via a robot duplicate that's 'murdered' by Shang-Chi) and Karamenah, so that nobody realises they're now his prisoners.
  • Death Trap: Lots of them. As well as spiked pits and other common options, special mention goes to the giant hourglass that Mordillo imprisons Leiko Wu within.
  • Deprogram: Petrie goes through this after his Brainwashed and Crazy control is revealed. It initially leaves him quoting the recorded phrases from the deprogramming sessions verbatim, in a slightly disturbing way, though.
  • Detonation Moon: One of Fu Manchu's grandest World Domination plans involves a series of nuclear explosions on the surface of the moon, which will wrench it out of orbit and cause massive devastation on Earth.
  • Distinguished Gentleman's Pipe: Nayland Smith, Reston and Fu Manchu all smoke pipes. Although it's strongly implied that Fu Manchu's contains something more esoteric than simple tobacco.
  • Doomsday Device: Mordillo’s solar-chute, which focuses sunlight in the ozone layer to incinerate its targets. He never manages to get the precision targeting technology he was after, but it can still cause plenty of indiscriminate mass destruction.
  • Double Agent: It's very much a spy action series, so variations on this appear numerous times.
    • It’s eventually revealed that Fu Manchu's assistant and concubine Ducharme has been Nayland Smith’s Deep Cover Agent for 40 years. And then it’s revealed that she's always been loyal to Fu Manchu, and has been using the role to spy on Nayland Smith and MI6.
    • Sir Herbert Griswold, head of MI6's Swiss operations, is also the bomb-maker Tarrant, who's been working with Fah Lo Suee.
    • Rufus Carter's ex-boss in the CIA, Nick Blair, is taking money from Libya to sabotage an Israeli arms shipment.
    • The KGB assassin and defector known as Dark Angel isn't a double-agent (and her first action after defecting is to reveal that a Ministry of Defence official, Winston Markam, is)… but she's almost immediately replaced by an actual KGB double agent disguised via Surgical Impersonation. Fortunately, Shang-Chi realises and rescues the real Dark Angel before it's too late.
  • Drama-Preserving Handicap:
    • Shang-Chi's been travelling and fasting for ten days when Nayland Smith asks him to get an immediate train to Rome and rescue a defector. He can’t find any food on the train and is delirious and starting to hallucinate when he fights the costumed assassin Sata.
    • In the first storyline that pits Shang-Chi against Zaran, their final fight is when Shang-Chi's succumbing to fever and influenza, drifting away into a trance and hallucinating. He still wins.
  • Dressing as the Enemy: Shang-Chi occasionally dresses as one of his father's minions. In one story he even replaces one of Fu Manchu's robed and hooded lieutenants and attends a meeting of the elite Council of Seven.
  • Drugged Lipstick: One of Fah Lo Suee's tactics. She kills Robert Greville this way.
  • Easily Forgiven: Most of the cast are still wary of Fah Lo Suee after her Heel–Face Turn and recruitment by MI6, but Melissa Greville ends up working for her. In her first appearance, Fah Lo Suee hypnotised and murdered Melissa's cousin Robert, but Melissa doesn’t seem concerned about that.
  • Enemy Civil War: Fah Lo Suee attempts to seize control of the Si-Fan from Fu Manchu. She's initially a credible threat to him, but her bid later collapses abruptly and she's forced to surrender to MI6.
  • Evil Doppelgänger: The final Fu Manchu storyline reveals that he's cloned Shang-Chi.
  • Evil vs. Evil: Fu Manchu's Si-Fan go to war with Wilhelm Bucher's Fourth Reich Nazis.
  • Expy: In an early issue, Shang-Chi encounters Lu Sun, an expy of Kwai Chang Caine from Kung Fu (1972) - the character who had originally inspired Marvel's creation of Shang-Chi. Lu Sun rescues him and they discuss internal conflict and the futility of vengeance before parting ways. Reportedly, Marvel's management were so concerned about the character resembling actor David Carradine that the art was hastily redrawn to add a moustache.
  • Fake Arm Disarm: If one of Shang-Chi's foes has an artificial arm, this is extremely likely to happen.
    • Shang-Chi shatters one of Razor-Fist’s blades when they first fight.
    • When Carlton Velcro returns as a cyborg, Shang-Chi severs his artificial arm.
    • The pirate Kogar’s weapon-arm is smashed by a piece of flying shrapnel.
  • False Flag Operation: A flashback shows a team of British agents trying to capture Shang-Chi when he was still a young boy. Fu Manchu rescues him and kills them, but Shang-Chi eventually realises that they were actually his father's minions and the whole thing was staged to make him think of the British as enemies.
  • Fourth Reich: Wilhelm Bucher's gang of Nazis refer to themselves this way.
  • The Freakshow: Moon Sun's travelling Circus of Magic. How much of it's actually real and how much is allegorical is another question, though.
  • Gambit Pileup: In one story, Nayland-Smith, Shang-Chi and Tarr cross the Atlantic on a liner which supposedly also carries a British agent with secret information. Three different factions send teams to find the agent, there is no incognito British agent after all (Nayland-Smith has the information himself) and the information turns out to be false anyway.
  • The Ghost: A couple of examples relating to characters from the original Fu Manchu novels.
    • Shan Greville. It's mentioned that he's still alive - his son and two of his nieces do appear (he even arranges to help his nieces move house). However, he's never seen himself - not even in flashbacks to the 1930s adventures of Petrie and Nayland Smith.
    • Rima Greville is a less prominent example than her husband, but still mentioned now and then. Again, she never appears in flashbacks or present-day stories.
  • Heel–Face Turn: After Fah Lo Suee surrenders to MI6, she becomes first a consultant and, later, part of the agency's senior leadership. Despite Good Is Not Nice and various shades of grey, she stays loyal to them until the end of the series.
  • Hero with Bad Publicity: Shang-Chi is this in the early stories, when he's still being hunted for Dr. Petrie's murder.
  • Hired to Hunt Yourself: Played with. Nayland-Smith tasks one of his agents in South America, Raymond Strawn, with tracking down a disfigured renegade Nazi, Wilhelm Bucher. Strawn is Bucher, disguised by a Latex Perfection mask. But Nayland-Smith already knows that, so is trying to Feed the Mole and catch Fu Manchu as well.
  • Hypnotic Eyes:
    • Fah Lo Suee often uses this ability. The ancient ‘ruby eyes' gemstones she acquires boost it even further, to the point where she can launch a full Enemy Civil War against Fu Manchu, with speculation that she'll now be able to hypnotise him as well. Although Shang-Chi destroys them before she gets an opportunity to test that.
    • Fu Manchu also has a hypnotic stare, but it's much less commonly used - Black Jack Tarr is near-fatally caught off guard by it when the two come face to face.
    • In the final arc, Shang-Chi meets the holy lama Thugben Sung, current leader of the Tibetan monastery that first trained Fu Manchu. His own hypnotic gaze is boosted by special incense and some actual Telepathy, making it powerful enough to induce a Psychic-Assisted Suicide.
  • Identical Twin ID Tag: Shang-Chi's clone has a scar on one cheek. Shang-Chi improvises a fake version at one point and impersonates him.
  • Immortality Immorality: At one point Nayland Smith realises that a statue seized from one of Fu Manchu's lairs contains some of the elixir vitae that extends his life. Shang-Chi persuades him that it would be immoral to use such a thing himself.
  • I Never Said It Was Poison: Kogar murders Cat's brother and attempts to frame Shang-Chi, but reveals a little too much about the bomb that was used. Cat spots the mistake immediately.
  • Informed Ability: In the Sax Rohmer books, Dr. Petrie is an extremely talented chemist. The comics do mention this, but it's a skill he never uses. Even when he's Brainwashed and Crazy and setting bombs, he relies on demolitions expert Tarrant to supply them.
  • Karmic Death:
    • Wilhelm Bucher falls into his own missile silo and tries to cling to the head of a swastika-emblazoned nuclear missile, but can't get a grip. He slides down past the swastika, then falls to his death.
    • Not only does Mordillo fall to his death from his own flying doomsday device, the solar-chute, he falls through its energy beam. All that hits the ground is a scorched skeleton.
    • The sorcerer Quan-St'ar falls backwards after Iron Fist punches him, landing in the deadly magical mists spewing from his power source, the 'Globe of Eternity', which Shang-Chi has just shattered.
    • The KGB assassin Ghost-Maker tries to assassinate the Queen of the United Kingdom using the 'acid rain' super weapon. He misjudges it, the weather shifts direction and he's the only victim of his own weapon, Stripped to the Bone by the storm.
  • Killer Gorilla:
    • Fu Manchu uses one as a guard in the first story. He increased its intelligence to see if he could then exploit that intelligence to send it violently insane. The experiment was successful.
    • A much later story, at a point when Fu Manchu is believed dead, shows one of the last remaining Si-Fan in New York living in a deserted base, with a trained gorilla stealing supplies for him.
  • Killer Robot:
    • Mordillo tends to use these as assassins and guards. After his death, his assistant Brynocki does the same.
    • The house with Black Jack Tarr's Death Course includes robot knights.
    • One arc involves Doctor Doom and many of the antagonists are, in the most literal way, Actually a Doombot.
  • Latex Perfection:
    • Nayland-Smith's agent in the Amazon, Raymond Strawn, who's actually The Mole, is a disfigured renegade Nazi in an amazingly realistic mask.
    • Moon Sun's daughter Tiko has a maimed, monstrous face, but appears as a beautiful woman due to her mask and wig. As with the rest of Moon Sun's circus, it's unclear if she's actually real, though.
  • Life Drinker: In his final storyline, Fu Manchu finds that his elixir vitae is failing him due to his Acquired Poison Immunity, so he's facing Rapid Aging and death. He finds a way to reactivate it by ingesting his children's blood.
  • Long-Lived: Quite a few characters, all due to the elixir first discovered by Fu Manchu's ancestor Shaka Kharn.
    • Fu Manchu, Fah Lo Suee and Ducharme have extended their lifespan via the elixir vitae.
    • Korain, who once worked for Fu Manchu, has stolen a supply and done the same.
    • Karamenah, Dr. Petrie's wife was kidnapped by Fu Manchu many years ago and has been kept young by the elixir.
    • Fah Lo Suee's Brainwashed and Crazy lover Phillip has been given a supply, and is still a youthful Serial Killer drifting through the world.
    • Mara Ling was paid in elixir for acquiescing to Fu Manchu’s demands for one night (although she lied to her husband, claiming that she stole it). She's sure that the nameless Si-Fan assassin who's been hunting them for decades has also been kept youthful by the elixir.
  • Love-Interest Traitor:
    • When Leiko Wu is first introduced, she’s dating fellow agent Simon Bretnor. Unfortunately, Bretnor is The Mole - a cover identity for the assassin Mordillo, who’s only using Leiko to get information.
    • Shen Kuei, the Cat, is initially in a relationship with Juliette. Then he discovers that she's one of Nayland-Smith's agents, sent to spy on him. She reveals that she's long-since Become The Mask, but then stabs herself as a show of loyalty.
  • Love Triangle: Shang-Chi and Leiko are a couple for most of the run, but it doesn't always go smoothly and they both have other love interests as well.
    • Leiko Wu is a love interest for Clive Reston, Shang-Chi and Cat at various times, which creates some tension between them. Not least because Clive and Shang-Chi both make a mess of things at certain points, causing her to reconsider her decisions.
    • Shang-Chi himself has been involved with Juliette as well as Leiko.
    • Reston's been involved with Melissa Greville as well as Leiko. By the end of the series he's dating Mia Lessing.
    • Cat has been involved with Juliette, Pavane and Leiko.
    • Juliette was initially involved with Cat, then with Shang-Chi and Skull-Crusher, before reuniting with Cat.
  • Man on Fire:
    • The villain Death Dealer falls prey to this - when fighting Shang-Chi in a burning building he discovers that his costume is Made of Incendium.
    • After the assassin Satma is dosed with a Psycho Serum that'll kill him in agony after a few minutes, he sets himself on fire, then runs into a gunpowder store.
  • Master of Illusion: Shang-Chi's final opponent, in the very last issue of the series, is a nameless Noh master who has illusion technology built into his costume.
  • Menacing Museum: At one point Fu Manchu arranges an ambush that animates or resurrects the Cavemen in a museum display. Exactly how is left unclear.
  • Mind-Control Device: Fu Manchu and Fah Lo Suee both use "mimosa gas" to control their foes. Small doses render people passive, larger doses allow outright mind control.
  • Mind Screw: Shang-Chi's journey with Moon Sun and his Circus of Magic. Characters and surroundings shift, death is temporary and the antagonists - Darkstrider and his ninjas - might actually be the same beings as Moon Sun and his caged mysteries. At the end, Shang-Chi's left alone, far from the city, with no trace of the circus. Did it happen? Or Was It a Dream?
  • Misfortune Cookie: Shang-Chi gets one in a Chinese restaurant, warning that someone nearby will try to kill him. The restaurant is a front for his father's Si-Fan assassins and the cookie's immediately followed by a murder attempt.
  • Monster of the Week: Initially plays out this way, with the exception of Fu Manchu and Fah Lo Suee. Most of the villains who face Shang-Chi in early stories are dead by the end of the story, even though Shang-Chi himself avoids killing.
    • Notably, Razor-Fist and Midnight, two of the more iconic Shang-Chi villains, both die this way in their first appearance. Razor-Fist is eventually replaced by a Legacy Character later in the run, whereas Midnight is reused in other titles as a dead spirit, but only resurrected over a decade later.
  • Monumental Damage: With a bit of Smash the Symbol thrown in. Fu Manchu leaves Nayland-Smith and Tarr tied up in a mountain cave next to a large bomb. Shang-Chi rescues them and removes the bomb before realising that they’re inside Mount Rushmore.
  • Mood Whiplash:
    • Any story involving Brynocki and Mordillo’s island has a much wackier tone, with Brynocki himself being a Large Ham and killer robots in a wide range of whimsical shapes.
    • The Giant-Size Master of Kung Fu issue with Iron Fist is very different in tone to the rest of the series. Mystical other-dimensional cities, magic portals and an evil magician as their enemy.
  • Mugging the Monster: Happens to Shang-Chi more than once, as street gangs assume an unarmed foreigner is going to be an easy target.
    • The first time this happens to him, in Central Park, they actually have to stop and explain what a mugger is. It still goes badly for them.
    • On a larger scale, one issue features a gang of art thieves who decide to rob Stormhaven Castle - the new headquarters of "Freelance Restorations" - during Nayland Smith's dinner party. They swiftly find themselves out of their league.
  • Murder by Mistake: Assassins with missile weapons have a bad habit of missing Shang-Chi with surprise attacks and killing (or at least injuring) innocent bystanders.
    • Korain's katana is thrown out of his hands when his heart fails during an attempt to kill Shang-Chi, impaling his employer's girlfriend Diana.
    • A blind man begging in the street is shot dead while talking to Shang-Chi, as a sniper's first shot hits the wrong target.
    • A religious evangelist talking to Shang-Chi in Times Square is killed by a thrown knife that hits the wrong target.
  • Mushroom Samba: In "The Phoenix Gambit" in issues 59 and 60, Shang-Chi is drugged and goes on a bizarre adventure to Latveria to confront Doctor Doom. He is repeatedly confronted by foes and friends who turn out to be robots, and he has strange dreams of his father and the world being overwhelmed by another ice age. Throughout the story the drugs in his system make him uncertain as to how much anything going on is actually real.
  • Naked First Impression: When Shang-Chi's first shown the London flat that MI5 has arranged for him, he and Reston find Leiko Wu soaking in the bath.
  • Napoleon Delusion: MI6 agent Eric Slaughter is deliberately brainwashed into this as part of the “War-Yore” project. He believes he's Robin Hood, Attila the Hun, the Red Baron, the Black Ninja and St. George, flitting between personalities (and changing weaponry) as he fights.
  • Narrator: Shang-Chi is, relatively speaking, The Quiet One - and he prefers not to talk to foes during fights. Stories often compensate for this by adding his narration instead.
  • Neuro-Vault: The only records of the British solar warfare research, "Project Ultra-Violet", have been buried in Leiko's subconscious via hypnotism. But after Mordillo kills the hypnotist, Norris Putnam, there's no longer any way to retrieve them.
  • Noble Demon:
    • Played straight with several villains, who insist that their duels should be a fair fight.
    • Eventually averted with Fu Manchu himself. He abandons his previous honor and dignity in the final arc, when Rapid Aging starts to truly threaten him. He’s last seen as in a burning, collapsing building, down on hands and knees and lapping his son’s blood from a floor strewn with broken glass. All in a last, futile attempt to regain his youth.
  • No Celebrities Were Harmed: Fast-talking taxi driver Rufus T. Hackstabber is clearly based on Groucho Marx.
  • No Man Should Have This Power:
    • Shang-Chi destroys plans for a neutron bomb rather than delivering them to the British government. And his rival Cat, who should have delivered them to China, decides to help.
    • A similar situation occurs in a later story. MI6 send Leiko to retrieve a World War II secret which may make an orbital energy weapon practical. She ends up allying with Cat to destroy it instead.
  • No Name Given:
    • Shang-Chi’s American mother appears briefly in a couple of stories, but is never named.
    • The antagonist of the final issue, a Master of Illusion in a Noh mask, is never named.
  • Not Me This Time: When a misaimed assassination attempt kills a street preacher who's talking to Shang-Chi, he decides to seek vengeance and fights his way through to his villainous father. At which point Fu Manchu clarifies that the killer wasn’t one of his assassins - he was working for Fah Lo Suee.
  • Offing the Offspring:
    • Fu Manchu tries to kill Shang-Chi on many occasions, with a few attempts to kill his daughter Fah Lo Suee as well (and the implication that there were many more attempts during their Enemy Civil War). That said, he's never successful and, at least in Shang-Chi's case, sometimes seemed conflicted about it. Some of this may be Bond Villain Stupidity, but there are certainly cases where he could simply have killed his son. Later in the series, when his Noble Demon approach starts to fall away, he's very clearly trying to kill them both.
    • Shang-Chi's mother returns in the final arc, sending more Si-Fan assassins after him. It seems this is partly an Avenging the Villain plan after Fu Manchu's apparent death, but also partly motivated by the fact that, unlike many of his inner circle, she's not Long-Lived - the elixir was withheld from her because of her rebellious son, for which she blames Shang-Chi.
  • Off with His Head!: Shang-Chi decapitates the resurrected Shaka Kharn, but by that point he's largely dead anyway, having missed his Healing Vat session and withered to a skeleton. Notably, his body stays standing once the head's removed.
  • The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: Gangster Marston successfully captures Shang-Chi and is going to execute him. At which point Fu Manchu's Si-Fan assassins arrive and slaughter Marston's men. Fu Manchu then kills Marston himself, while explaining this trope. After which he departs, leaving Shang-Chi unharmed.
  • Out of Focus: As the "Freelance Restorations" supporting cast grows, some of them get relatively little attention.
    • Lyman Leeks is part of the 'Freelance Restorations' supporting cast and sometimes appears in Stormhaven Castle scenes, but plays a very small role after his initial arc.
    • Mrs. Haversham remains in the background of 'Freelance Restorations', and often isn't seen at all.
    • After his reveal as The Mole and subsequent Deprogramming, Dr. Petrie plays a very small role in the rest of the series. Initially, this is explained away as recovery time, but it soon becomes the status quo.
  • Paid Harem: Carlton Velcro is one of the world's richest men, a drug dealer and criminal mastermind with a luxury Mediterranean mansion. He’s basically a Bond villain. So it’s no surprise that his mansion is also full of scantily-clad beautiful women.
  • Painting the Medium: The maze in Fu Manchu's Death Course is a Splash Panel drawn as a top-down view, just as you'd see in a puzzle book, with fallen assassins scattered throughout and Shang-Chi's narration winding through the path he took. Readers need to rotate the comic to keep the words the right way up.
  • Parrying Bullets: Shang-Chi's resurrected ancestor, Shaka Kharn, is able to block one of Reston's shots - and does so with the edge, not the flat, of the blade.
  • Patricide: Initially played with, then played straight.
    • Despite their feud, Shang-Chi is very reluctant to kill his father. After a while he's forced to try - shooting Fu Manchu before he can detonate a series of bombs - and eventually he comes to the conclusion that Fu Manchu must be killed.
    • Fah Lo Suee is trying to depose Fu Manchu when she's introduced, but her early appearance don’t clearly state whether she wants to capture or kill him. Like her brother, her views are pretty clear towards the end of the series.
  • Playing the Victim Card: Shang-Chi's childhood friend Shoh Teng was a Si-Fan apprentice who was forced into helping Fu Manchu run a False Flag Operation on young Shang-Chi, then vanished. He's now a renegade who's scared of both Shang-Chi and the Si-Fan. Or so it seems - he's still a loyal Si-Fan assassin after all, and just using the story to catch Shang-Chi off-guard.
  • Plot-Triggering Death: Shang-Chi's assassination of Dr. Petrie reveals the truth about Fu Manchu and completely changes his life. Even if it's later revealed that "Petrie" was Actually a Doombot.
  • Poisoned Weapons: Tiger-Claw's Wolverine Claws are a notable example.
  • Politically Incorrect Hero:
    • Black Jack Tarr has some racist views towards Chinese people, apparently acquired when he was in British-ruled Hong Kong. Even when he realises Shang-Chi is an ally, some of his language and opinions towards him remain problematic.
    • Downplayed with Shang-Chi himself. He's aware that his upbringing left him with some chauvinistic views and is trying to move past them. He's mostly done so, but there are a couple of occasions where he underestimates women and immediately apologises or berates himself afterwards, realising what's happened.
  • Prophetic Names: Played for laughs and lampshaded with Dr. Mel Prasis, villain of the final (2017) issue. Both Shang-Chi and the doctor's ninja minions comment on it.
  • Psychic-Assisted Suicide: In the very final arc, after Fu Manchu's apparent death, Shang-Chi visits the Tibetan monastery where his father trained. The lama, Thugben Sung, uses telepathy and hypnotic drugs to command Shang-Chi to climb the mountain and jump to his death. He follows the order, and is only saved by the intervention of a friendly Tibetan yeti.
  • Psycho Serum:
    • Fu Manchu's assassin Satma is given a version that grants Super-Speed for a few minutes, then kills the user in agony. He kills himself to end the pain before it reaches that point.
    • Fu Manchu's own elixir of life seems to qualify. Samurai assassin Korain uses it repeatedly to restore his youth and strength, but it takes a toll and kills him with sudden heart failure. Another renegade, Han Sung, also dies after drinking it.
  • Put on a Bus: Mandy Greville decides that the castle is too dangerous for her blind students, so leaves to set up a school elsewhere.
  • The Quiet One: Shang-Chi himself, although his narration tends to be fairly verbose. He doesn’t quite understand why so many of his allies feel the need to talk (or, worse, quip) during battle.
    Iron Fist: Trouble, Shang-Chi!
    Shang-Chi: Yes.
    Iron Fist: Anyone ever tell you that you talk too much?
    Shang-Chi: No.
    Iron Fist: I didn't think so.
  • Rapid Aging:
    • Shang-Chi's childhood tutor, Han Sung, sought to become Long-Lived by stealing Fu Manchu's elixir vitae. Instead, Fu Manchu imprisons him and subjects him to experiments that accelerate his aging.
    • Later stories reveal that Fah Lo Suee and Fu Manchu himself will also age rapidly if they can't get a supply of the elixir vitae.
  • Resign in Protest: In keeping with the series' cynical view of intelligence agencies, this happens on several occasions.
    • Shang-Chi, Leiko Wu, Black Jack Tarr and Clive Rsston all quit MI6 after concerns about Nayland Smith's obsession with defeating Fu Manchu and too many lies and morally grey missions from the leadership.
    • Nayland Smith himself isn’t far behind them, prompting some Resignations Not Accepted repercussions.
    • Melissa Greville effectively follows Nayland Smith out the door, although (unlike the others) she eventually returns and starts working for Fah Lo Suee.
    • Rufus Carter quits the CIA at the end of his first appearance, fed up of the lies and dubious schemes.
  • Robot Buddy: A villainous version. Mordillo's sidekick and loyal companion is the cute robot Brynocki.
  • Secret Test: When it's eventually revealed that Dr. Petrie is still alive, Fu Manchu reveals that Shang-Chi's original mission to assassinate him was intended as a test.
  • Serial Killer: Fah Lo Suee's lover Phillip fell victim to one of Fu Manchu's experiments, becoming a Long-Lived and Brainwashed and Crazy serial killed patterned on Jack the Ripper. By the time he's stopped, he's been murdering people across the world for decades.
  • Sherlock Scan: Downplayed, but when Shang-Chi first meets Danny Rand he can tell he's another great martial art master purely from the way he moves, before learning that he's Iron Fist.
  • "Shaggy Dog" Story: Iron Fist's first guest appearance has elements of this. He turns up to seek Shang-Chi's help in finding Colleen Wing, but they get sidetracked by the arrival of sorcerer Quan-St'ar, who's hunting Iron Fist. They get kidnapped and imprisoned in another dimension, escape, and eventually deal with Quan-St'ar. Then Iron Fist promptly leaves again, having decided that he should probably go find Colleen alone.
  • Shout-Out:
    • There are many, many comments implying that Clive Reston's father is James Bond, and his great-uncle Sherlock Holmes. But neither is directly named.
    • Leiko and Shang-Chi enjoy listening to Fleetwood Mac.
    • Black Jack Tarr buys a Frank Frazetta poster to liven up his hotel room and becomes quite a fan in later issues.
      Tarr: Never was much one for art, but... ...lord, that's bloody powerful.
    • Double-crossing freelance spy Vienna is used to set up a Punny Name reference to the Ultravox song of the same name:
      Mr. Bess: [examining a fake code book] Eh? The code... this means nothing to me! Ohhh... Vienna!
  • Sinister Spy Agency:
    • Unsurprisingly, the KGB and the Chinese security service are portrayed this way.
    • MI6 gradually becomes this. It becomes clear that they've lied to Shang-Chi about some things and, eventually, when Shang-Chi, Nayland Smith and their allies resign from the agency, they try to silence them via murder or brainwashing.
    • Surprisingly downplayed with the security service of communist Yugoslavia (not directly named, but presumably the UDBA). They apparently thought Soviet agitator Samisdat's terror plans would provoke reprisals against all communist countries, so had started taking steps to deal with him.
  • Sins of Our Fathers: A variant. Doctor Doom tries to kill Shang-Chi in "The Phoenix Gambit", but claims this is only because he was hoping to match wits with Fu Manchu ("I have always wondered how I would fare against him"). As his father is "no longer available", Shang-Chi will just have to substitute.
  • Soft Water: Played straight. At the end of "The Phoenix Gambit", Shang-Chi and Reston take a very long drop from Doom's flying castle into the River Thames. They're fine.
  • Staking the Loved One: Fah Lo Suee ends up having to shoot her former lover Phillip. Fu Manchu's experimentation has left him as a Long-Lived, Brain Washed And Crazy killer who's been imitating Jack the Ripper for decades.
  • Sticky Fingers: While Fah Lo Suee is impassively watching her minions battle Shang-Chi he’s able to whirl past her and steal the mystic gems she wears as earrings. She doesn’t immediately notice.
  • Strike Me Down: Downplayed a couple of times.
    • On one occasion, after a misdirected but effective Roaring Rampage of Revenge, Shang-Chi comes face to face with his father. Fu Manchu explains how saddened and lonely he is now that Shang-Chi's betrayed him, mentions that Fah Lo Suee has launched a Enemy Civil War against him, then suggests that Shang-Chi should end it all by killing him. Shang-Chi wrestles with his feelings, but leaves his father unharmed and departs.
    • After Shen Kuei's first duel with Shang-Chi is ended by his Love-Interest Traitor Juliette stabbing herself, he turns his back on Shang-Chi to carry her away, leaving a knife in easy reach and saying that this is Shang-Chi's opportunity to kill him, if he wishes. Shang-Chi declines.
  • Superman Stays Out of Gotham: There are very few guest appearances from other Marvel heroes - only Man-Thing and Iron Fist, plus a single-panel cameo by Luke Cage. The only pre-existing villain is Doctor Doom, who's revealed as the surprise Big Bad of one short arc.
  • Super-Soldier: The Russian terrorist Samisdat's Syn ("Synergon”) agents are chemically enhanced, stronger and faster than normal humans. On the other hand, the process seems to unsettle their minds and introduce some level of self-doubt.
  • Supervillain Lair:
    • Fu Manchu has many of them, as you might expect. One is a perfectly innocuous New York building with a grand interior in the style of an ancient Chinese palace. Another is a hidden hi-tech city buried beneath an arctic mountain.
    • Carlton Velcro has a luxurious Mediterranean estate, including underwater tunnels, a panther enclosure and a luxury mansion with a Paid Harem and retractable floors (in "each and every room") to drop people into the panther pit. And a secret base with a private army and nuclear missiles underneath it all.
    • Mordillo has a private island with a castle, a pyramid, an army of robot minions and a Death Course.
    • The pirate Kogar has a huge base in a grotto behind a Hong Kong waterfall. He even describes it as a city.
    • Soviet agent Samisdat's island includes quarters for the brainwashed cult members, a mansion and an extensive underground complex with a satellite launch facility.
  • Surgical Impersonation: KGB defector Dark Angel is kidnapped and replaced with a Double Agent who's disguised this way. Shang-Chi swiftly notices the switch, though.
  • Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Downplayed, but as an attractive Asian Action Girl working for Nayland-Smith and MI5, Leiko Wu's initially pretty similar to Sandy Chen, who was teased as a love interest but immediately killed off. Shang-Chi even thinks "she reminds me of... Sandy..." on the first page of Leiko's introduction.
  • Take Over the World: Fu Manchu and Fah Lo Suee both have this as a long-term goal, but it's often more prominent for some other villains.
    • Wilhelm Bucher's nuclear-armed Fourth Reich is aiming toward this.
    • The alliance between Carlton Velcro and Mordillo initially has a similar plan, using Velcro's private army and nuclear missiles. Or at least that was Velcro's understanding - Mordillo's true aims were a little different.
    • The long arc that leads up to issue #50 sees Fu Manchu plot to destroy the moon, wreaking havoc on Earth. Most of humanity will die, but inland China will be less impacted than most other areas. And Fu Manchu will, of course, lead the survivors and rebuild the world.
  • Tampering with Food and Drink: Discussed. A Chinese restaurant that Shang-Chi visits is a front for his father's Si-Fan assassins. The waiter who served Shang-Chi is later part of an attempt to murder him, and mentions that he persuaded his colleagues not to poison the meal, as a "more personal" execution was required.
  • Telepathy: In the final arc, after Fu Manchu is believed dead, Shang-Chi visits the Tibetan monastery where his father trained and discovers that its lama, Thugben Sung, can communicate this way.
  • Truth Serum:
    • Fu-Manchu doses Shang-Chi with one, which he's unable to resist. Side effects include delirious hallucinations.
    • Nayland Smith uses one on captured Si-Fan assassins.
  • Underestimating Badassery: This goes both ways in Shang-Chi’s first clash with Pavane. Shang-Chi underestimates her because she’s a woman, at which point she promptly knocks him to the floor. Once he's up again, she underestimates just how dangerous he is up close, and he knocks her out with a single blow.
  • Villain: Exit, Stage Left: Fu Manchu is a master of this, but usually exits in a dignified fashion. Sometimes there are hidden doors, hatches or lifts. Sometimes it's practically Offscreen Teleportation as soon as the heroes are distracted.
  • We Can Rule Together:
    • Fah Lo Suee tries to persuade Shang-Chi to join her rebellion against their father. He declines.
    • After an unexpected Enemy Mine alliance Shadow-Stalker points out that, together, he and Shang-Chi could probably seize control of the Si-Fan and defeat both Fu Manchu and Fah Lo Suee. Shang-Chi's not interested, but they go their separate ways peacefully, if not amicably.
  • What the Hell, Hero?: Shang-Chi gives a pretty blunt speech to Nayland Smith before quitting MI6. And then Reston, Wu and Tarr all quit as well.
    Shang-Chi: Forget it, Smith. I am tired of "intelligence". Tired of doing whatever you and your faceless "superiors" say, simply because you say it. Tired of following orders issued by one side when the other side may be no worse. You condone this government’s decision to destroy all of China in retaliation to the actions of one man! You engaged in this latest mission for one reason only, Smith - not to save the world or to stop evil, but to kill my father. You used us to finish a 40-year battle you were unable to finish by yourself. Now you wish to continue using us - in your future meaningless battles - empty battles - battles to casually occupy the remaining years of your life - to appease your "superiors" without second thought - without asking any embarrassing or "disloyal” questions concerning motive and justification!
  • Whole Episode Flashback:
    • One issue is devoted to a flashback story starring Shang-Chi and M’Nai, four years in the past, when M'Nai is falsely accused of stealing from Fu Manchu and Shang-Chi is tasked with bringing him to justice.
    • Another, published just after Shang-Chi quits MI6 but set over a year earlier, sees him reunited with Hackstabber and facing Tiger-Claw in Morocco.
  • Wicked Toymaker: Mordillo, who has a whole island full of robot toys and deathtraps.
  • Wolverine Claws: A few of Shang-Chi's foes use these.
    • Tiger-Claw wears gloves with finger claws. They’re also Poisoned Weapons.
    • Fu Manchu's South American "Leopard Cult” Si-Fan wear gloves with long claws attached to the back of their hand.
    • One of Samisdat's enhanced Syn agents wears gloves with claws mounted on the back of the hand.
  • Wounded Gazelle Gambit: A bystander is injured by a shuriken when Shang-Chi's fighting two of Fu Manchu's assassins. He helps her get home, then realises it was staged and she's actually the third assassin.
  • Wrestler of Beasts: Amongst other things, Shang-Chi’s wrestled an alligator, survived a pit full of vipers, fought a captive shark in its pool and fought off a jaguar in the Amazon jungle.
  • You Have Failed Me: Fu Manchu is unforgiving to underlings who fail. Many of them opt for a Cyanide Pill or other Better to Die than Be Killed options rather than reporting back.
    • Satma, a Dacoit assassin, does report back to Fu Manchu after his failure. When Shang-Chi is later captured, Satma is selected to beat him to death - under the influence of a dose of Psycho Serum that will give him Super-Speed for nine minutes before killing him in agony.

Alternative Title(s): Shang Chi Master Of Kung Fu

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