Shou-Lao (alternatively spelled Shao-Lao) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.
Video Shou-Lao
Publication history
Shou-Lao first appeared in Marvel Premiere #16 and was created by Len Wein, Roy Thomas, and Larry Hama.
Maps Shou-Lao
Fictional character biography
Shou-Lao is an immortal Chinese dragon who became the source of power in K'un-L'un. During a performance of the dragon riders of K'un-Lun for the entertainment of its Yu-Ti, Shou-Lao went berserk and attacked the city's leader. He was slain by Quan-St'ar who cut out the dragon's heart. Enraged at this, Yu-Ti banished Quan-St'ar from the city and revived Shou-Lao by melting his heart and placing it in a sacred cavern. Following this incident, those who became Iron Fist had to accomplish the final test of defeating Shou-Lao in order to absorb part of his power. This was done over 66 times.
When Danny Rand was becoming the next Iron Fist, he defeated Shou-Lao by burning the dragon-shaped tattoo off his chest. After defeating Shou-Lao, Danny Rand plunged his hands into the brazier containing Shou-Lao's immortal heart and it charged him with the power of the Iron Fist.
During the Avengers vs. X-Men storyline, the X-Men fought the Avengers in K'un-L'un when Hope Summer and Lei-Kung arrive on the back of Shou-Lao who blasted the Phoenix Force-empowered Cyclops. Unfortunately, Shou-Lao was far too young to put up a fight and its riders were dislodged. However, Hope was able to unleash a combination of dragon energy, fire, and chaos magic to banish Cyclops to the Moon.
Powers and abilities
Shou-Lao has dragon abilities like being able to breathe fire. He can also strike at lightning-fast speeds. In addition, he is immune to diseases.
In other media
- Shou-Lao appears in the Ultimate Spider-Man episode "Strange," voiced by Mark Hamill. Nightmare makes Iron Fist relive his fierce fight against Shou-Lao. With the help of Spider-Man, Iron Fist breaks Nightmare's illusion by defeating Shou-Lao.
- Shou-Lao is featured in Iron Fist. He briefly appears in "Dragon Plays with Fire," during one of the flashbacks explaining how the titular character received his powers, where his glowing red eyes can be seen. Finn Jones, who portrays Iron Fist in the Netflix series Iron Fist, stated that Shou-Lao will be explained and referenced during the first season after which the character will be more greatly explored in future seasons. In addition, Finn stated they couldn't show Shou-Lao onscreen due to budgetary constraints. In his own words, Finn stated "I'd love to have the budget for these shows to have a full-on Game of Thrones style dragon. But unfortunately you know, we have budget restraints. That's the nature of the show."
- The Defenders miniseries reveals that the bones of Shao-Lao's kind contain a substance that can bring people back from the dead. The Hand has been using it ever since they were banished from K'un-L'un centuries ago, but eventually have run out of it. This causes them to seek access to remains of another dragon, buried deep underneath the Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan, which retroactively explains their goals in both first and second season of Daredevil. The Hand used Midland Circle Financial as a cover for their activity to harness the substance from the dragon bones beneath Hell's Kitchen.
References
External links
- Shou-Lao at Marvel Wiki
- Shou-Lao at Comic Vine
- Shou-Lao at Marvel Appendix
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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