Shou-Lao

Shou-Lao (alternatively spelled Shao-Lao) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.

Publication history

Shou-Lao first appeared in Marvel Premiere #16 and was created by Len Wein, Roy Thomas, and Larry Hama.

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 atttacked 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.^[1]

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 ^[2]

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.^[3]

Powers and abilities

Shou-Lao has dragon abilities like being able to breathe fire. He can also strike at lightning-fast speeds.

In other media

Television

• Shou-Lao appears in the Ultimate Spider-Man episode "Strange Days," voiced by Mark Hamill.

References

External links

• Shou-Lao at Marvel Wiki
• Shou-Lao at Comic Vine