- NOTE: This article is about the incarnation of Shang-Chi from the Marvel Cinematic film series. The mainstream version can be found here: Shang-Chi (Marvel).
| “ | When my dad sent me to find the man who killed my mom... I told you I couldn't go through with it. I lied. I thought that I could change my name, start a new life, pretend like it never happened, but... she would hate the person I've become. | „ |
| ~ Shang-Chi to Katy. |
| “ | Xu Wenwu: I gave you ten years to live your life, and where did it get you? Now it's time for you to take your place by my side. Shang-Chi: That's not gonna happen. |
„ |
| ~ Shang-Chi to Xu Wenwu |
| “ | I'm nothing like you. | „ |
| ~ Shang-Chi to Xu Wenwu. |
Xu Shang-Chi, also known as Shang-Chi (Chinese: 尚氣) or Shaun, is the titular main protagonist of the 2021 Marvel Cinematic Universe film Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, and will return in the upcoming 2026 film Avengers: Doomsday.
He is the older brother of Xialing, the son of Xu Wenwu/The Mandarin and the late Ying Li, who was raised by his father to be a master assassin and heir of the Ten Rings criminal organization following the death of his mother. Wenwu trained Shang-Chi in the many arts of kung fu for years since he was a child so he could help his father in his quest to destroy the Iron Gang for their role in Ying Li's death. Upon succeeding in his mission however, Shang-Chi was horrified at the thought of becoming a crime lord like his father and ran away to the USA intending to leave his past behind and start over with a new identity.
After 10 years of living a modest life under the name "Shaun" Shang-Chi was forced to return to his previous life and confront his father to prevent him from destroying his mother's hometown, during the conflict he became the new owner of the Wenwu's ten rings of power following his father's death. Shang-Chi's possession of the Ten Rings then attracted the attention of The Avengers.
As an adult, he is portrayed by Simu Liu, who also portrays Jung Kim in Kim's Convenience and Chang in Gremlins: The Wild Batch. As a teenager, he is portrayed by Arnold Sun, an as a young child, he is portrayed by Jayden Tiyani Zhang.
Biography[]
Background[]
Xu Shang-Chi was born around the late 1990s to the warlord Xu Wenwu and his wife Ying Li, and is the older brother to Xu Xialing, who was born in the early 2000s. His father became a legend after obtaining the power of ten mysterious rings, which granted him unmatched power and immorality, as his mother was the guardian of Ta Lo with her sister Ying Nan. During his youth, Shang-Chi had a close bond with his mother, who told him stories of Wenwu's history and the legend of the Great Protector. The family remained happy until Ying Li was murdered by the Iron Gang, a group that were a past rival to Wenwu and wanted to enact revenge. Shang-Chi and his sister witnessed their mother's death, and Shang-Chi cradled his mother's corpse until their father returned home.
Shang-Chi and his family mourned the loss of Ying Li, as Wenwu decided to rebuild his organization so he could get revenge on his wife's killers. He witnessed his father murder members of the Iron Gang at a local bar in an attempt to find their leader, and was asked by him if he wanted to receive training to kill the leader of the Iron Gang. Despite being traumatized by his father's actions, Shang-Chi agreed as he wanted to avenge his mother's death. For seven years, Shang-Chi went through vigorous training under the tutelage of Death Dealer, a high ranking member of the Ten Rings, while also being cared by his father. He would be assigned by Wenwu to kill the leader of the Iron Gang when he was fourteen years old, but would regret his actions due to taking a life and feeling the weight of the criminal world his father put him in.
Shang-Chi decided to escape from his father and managed to move to the United States, where he would change his name to "Shaun" and start a new life. In San Francisco, Shang-Chi enrolled himself in school and befriended Katy Chen, who would become one his closest friends and supporters when he dealt with bullying. The two survived the snap, a universal incident in which the mad titan Thanos wiped out half of the universe to reduce population, but it would be undone in 2023. After graduating from high school, Shang-Chi and Katy would get jobs as valet workers, but didn't enjoy the job much due to feeling the tedium of doing the same thing over and over. Though Shang-Chi kept his past a secret from his friends, he would remain in top condition and wouldn't know that he was being tracked by the Ten Rings.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings[]
While traveling around San Francisco through a bus, Shang-Chi was confronted by Ten Rings members Razor Fist and Gao Lei for his pendant, leading him to fight them off and being dubbed the "Bus Buy" on social media. Despite defeating the assailants, he realized that they had stolen the pendant, which had previously belonged to his late mother. Having revealed his martial arts skills to Katy, Shang-Chi decided to reveal most of his origins to her while they traveled to Macau to find his sister since she had given him a postcard. Reaching to an underground club called the Golden Daggers, Shang-Chi and Katy witnessed the sorcerer Wong and the Abomination fighting in the ring before he was put into the ring himself due to being recognized as the "Bus Boy". He was confronted by his sister, who easily defeated him in the ring due to the former not wanting to fight her.
After the fight, Shang-Chi spoke with Xialing on the postcard she sent him, only to learn that the two were tricked by the Ten Rings into their trap. When Ten Rings assassins arrived to the club, Shang-Chi and the group attempt to escape, but are forced to fight off the assassins and Death Dealer. Shang-Chi was nearly killed during his fight against his former mentor, but was stopped by his father, who had arrived with a captured Xialing and Katy. Taken to a compound in China, Shang-Chi and Xialing learned from Wenwu that their mother was the mystical protector of Ta-Lo and he believed she was imprisoned there. The siblings disagreed with their father's belief and intentions on trying to break the seal of Ta-Lo, leading to them and Katy being imprisoned as Wenwu left with his men.
The trio encountered Trevor Slattery, an actor who impersonated the Mandarin years ago, and revealed that Wenwu decided to have him imprison instead of killed. With the assistance of Trevor and the Ta-Lo dijiang Morris, Shang-Chi managed to escape from the prison and reach the dimension. After convincing the villagers of Ta-Lo to not harm him and his allies, Shang-Chi met with his aunt Ying Nan, who gave him further training to fight against his father. Additionally, Ying-Nan informed Shang-Chi that Wenwu thinks he is hearing his wife's voice leading him to the dimension, but it's actually the soul eater Dweller-In-Darkness who wants the Mandarin to free him. Shang-Chi later participated in the battle against the Ten Rings, and fought his father while trying to explain to him about the Dweller-In-Darkness.
Shang-Chi was defeated by Wenwu and fell into the lake where he countered the Great Protector, a mystical dragon that guarded Ta-Lo against Dweller. The dragon brought Shang-Chi to the surface so he could battle Wenwu again, where he gained control of five of the ten rings. He defeated his father in combat, but refused to kill him since the Dweller-In-Darkness and the soul eaters were freed from their prison. Wenwu gave Shang-Chi the rest of the rings and sacrificed himself to the Dweller, and Shang-Chi used the rings to defeat the soul eater with the Great Protector and Xialing. Once the battle was over, Shang-Chi decided to leave the rings as Xialing took leadership over the Ten Rings organization. Returning home with Katy, the two encountered Wong, who took them to the New York Sanctum to research the ten rings with former Avengers Bruce Banner and Carol Danvers. Shang-Chi and Katy were welcomed to the "circus" by Banner, and Wong informed the two that the rings were emitting a signal to somewhere.
Personality[]
Shang-Chi is a compassionate individual, as he cared deeply for his family and friends, such as refusing to kill his father during their battle despite Wenwu's villainy. Due to his past, Shang-Chi was afraid to acknowledge his experience due to being only a child at the time. After eliminating his target, Shang-Chi felt deep regret and decided to run away from the Ten Rings, but always felt that he couldn't escape his "father's shadow". He would accept who he was after defeating the Dweller-in-Darkness, and accepting the ten rings once they were passed to him by his father.
Powers and Abilities[]
Powers[]
- Aerokinesis: Shang-Chi is skilled in manipulating air due to inheriting his mother's powers.
- Ten Rings Empowerment: Having obtained the Ten Rings from his battle with Wenwu, Shang-Chi gained the power to master the rings. When used by Shang-Chi, the rings glow golden rather than blue like when used by his father.
- Superhuman Strength: The rings enhance Shang-Chi's physical strength proportional to how many rings he's carrying at once.
- Superhuman Durability: Shang-Chi was capable of surviving attacks from Wenwu's ten rings.
- Superhuman Speed: He was capable of running at fast speeds, being able to defeat the Dweller-in-Darkness during the final fight.
- Superhuman Stamina: Due to the empowerment of the rings, Shang-Chi's stamina was increased, allowing him to fight at long lengths without being fatigued.
- Superhuman Agility: The rings could allow the wearer to gain more agility than originally, as Shang-Chi was capable of leaping farther than before.
- Energy Manipulation: Shang-Chi can control the energy of the rings for a variety of purposes such as throwing them as projectiles which then return to him, have the rings hover in the air to use them as platforms, extend the rings as chains to use them as an energy lasso, etc. By combining his abilities inherited from his mother with the power of the rings, Shang-Chi was able to use all 10 rings at once to create an energy blast powerful enough to kill the Dweller-in-Darkness.
- Longevity: The rings prevent their owner from aging, making Shang-Chi near-immortal as he is unable to die from natural means.
Abilities[]
- Master Martial Artist: Having received training the Ten Rings, Shang-Chi is a master combatant and martial artist, being able to hold his own against his former mentor, Death Dealer, and later his father, Wenwu after receiving more training while in Ta Lo.
- Staff Mastery: After receiving training from his aunt, Shang-Chi was skilled in staff combat, capable of battling his father who was empowered with the ten rings.
- Knife Mastery: Due to his training from the Ten Rings, Shang-Chi is skilled with using knives, such as disarming Death Dealer during their first fight.
- Master Acrobat: Shang-Chi is a master acrobat, being a skilled gymnast that outmatches any known athletes. When fighting his opponents, Shang-Chi utilized his athleticism to dodge attacks from Razor Fist and the Mandarin.
- Multilingualism: He is fluent in his native Chinese, but can also speak four other languages, such as English.
Equipment[]
Weapons[]
- Dragon Scale Staff: Shang-Chi received the staff from his aunt to train him in staff combat, and to fight against the Ten Rings to protect Ta-Lo.
- Ten Rings: A set of ten mysterious arm bands, Shang-Chi obtained the Ten Rings after proving his worth after beating Wenwu in battle.
Other Equipment[]
- Dragon Scale Armor: Armor made from dragon scale, Shang-Chi received it from his aunt to use during the final battle against Wenwu and later the Dweller-in-Darkness.
Relationships[]
Family[]
Allies[]
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Enemies[]
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Quotes[]
| “ | Xu Wenwu: Son, it's time for you to take your place by my side. Shang-Chi: That's not gonna happen. |
„ |
| ~ Xu Wenwu and Shang-Chi. |
| “ | You're just a criminal, who murders people. | „ |
| ~ Shang-Chi to Xu Wenwu. |
| “ | Is this what you wanted? | „ |
| ~ Shang-Chi. |
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Before Simu Liu was cast, Ludi Lin, Steven Yeun, Mike Moh, Alex Landi, Lewis Tan and Ross Butler were all being considered for the role of Shang-Chi.
- The character was considered to appear in 2012s The Avengers alongside the Mandarin, but the studio decided not to.
- In the comics, Shang-Chi is the son of Fu Manchu (now called Zheng Zu), and his name meant the "rising and advancing of the spirit". Shang-Chi became known for being the master of kung fu as well as being a member of the Avengers.
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