IRON FIST

 

IRON FIST

Real Name: Daniel Thomas Rand'Kai

First Appearance: Marvel Premiere (Vol. 1) #15, May 1974

Powers: Danny Rand developed the power of the Iron Fist by plunging his hand into the molten heart of a dragon named Shou-Lao the Undying. Having spent half his life training himself in the martial arts discipline of his adopted home, the extradimensional city of K'un-Lun, Iron Fist possesses peak human physical capabilities and fighting skills. The power of Shou-Lao's chi runs through him, and Danny is capable of summoning his chi energy to boost his natural abilities even further, augmenting his strength, speed, agility, endurance, and reflexes to near-superhuman levels. He can also direct his chi for healing purposes. Through intense concentration, he can "will" himself or another person he touches to recover more rapidly from physical injuries, poisons, viruses or disease. Iron Fist has a little used power called "the mindmeld", in which he can enter into a link with another person that causes them to completely share their thoughts, memories, and emotions with each other. This act is considered extremely violating, and one of his best friends, Colleen Wing, likened it to being mentally raped. He only used the power on her in order to break through intense brainwashing she had been subjected to. At times, he has absorbed energy directed at himself and channeled it to augment his own power. Under certain circumstances, he can even focus his chi to create nexus points between dimensions. Finally, Danny has the ability to concentrate his chi into his fist, hardening it so that it becomes 'like onto a thing of iron'. The iron fist is tremendously resistant to pain and injury, and allows him to strike blows with the force of a cannon shell. Any excessive use of his chi can drain Iron Fist, and he must rest for a time before exerting it again.

Danny's chi used to deplete much faster than it does now, leaving him exhausted after no more than two or three uses of the Iron Fist. However, after his power was mystically stolen from him, and then returned through the power of the Black Dragon, Danny's chi recuperates at a much faster rate than before. He can charge either or both his fists with the chi of Shou-Lao for extended periods of time.

Later, Iron Fist learned more about his 66 predecessors through Orson Randall and the Book of the Iron Fist. The chi of Shou-Lao has been used in many variety of ways over time by different Immortal Weapons, and Danny has started learning some of these methods. He has developed enhanced levels of awareness that allow him to sense the presence of people from a distance and identify them. The mechanism is unclear: Either his natural senses have been enhanced or he has developed a psychic perception like the ability to sense chi. His overall speed and reflexes have been greatly enhanced, so much so that he can grab a speeding bullet out of mid-air using the power of the Iron Fist. His healing abilities have increased as well -- he can fight off pain or poison through mild concentration, and can enter a light meditative trance to rapidly accelerate his recuperative powers. A few minutes concentration can leave him fully rested and refreshed with all his injuries, where previously he would have required several hours. Danny can cast his hands in a hypnotic gesture that makes people susceptible to his influence, and can infuse physical objects with his chi, increasing their destructive power.

 

Iron Fist is an exceptional athlete, acrobat, and hand-to-hand combatant. He is a master of all of K'un-Lun's martial arts and many of Earth's, and has trained in the use of all martial arts weapons. His fighting maneuvers include the burning chi thunderfoot, burning dove chop, drunken wasp sting, golden star gouge, good fortune thunder kick, gouge of the forlorn, palm of forty sorrows, screaming eagle slap, strike of the silkworm's tooth and tiger scratch. He has near-complete control over his nervous system, enabling him to deaden himself to pain.

LUKE CAGE

 

LUKE CAGE

Real Name: Carl Lucas (Legally changed to "Luke Cage")

First Appearance: Luke Cage, Hero For Hire (Vol. 1) #1, June 1972

Powers: Luke Cage underwent an experimental process while in prison which involved submerging him in a high-frequency electric field conducted by an organic chemical liquid. The process was designed as a chemical method to promote human cell regeneration as an aid against disease and aging. Cage's treatment was accelerated past its intent, inducing a body-wide mutagenic enhancement. Despite possessing normal height and proportions, Cage now weighs over 400 lbs, as his entire body is now composed of a much denser and sturdier form of carbon matter. Cage has Superhuman Class 25 strength and can punch through barriers as thick as four-inch steel plate. His skin is steel-hard and his muscles and bone tissue super-dense. He can withstand conventional handgun fire at a range of four feet and cannot be cut by the sharpest of blades, although in the event of required surgery his skin can be lacerated by an overpowered medical laser. He can withstand up to one-ton impacts or blasts of 150 pounds of TNT without serious injury, and is impervious to temperature extremes and electrical shocks. His recovery time from injury or trauma is usually one-third that of an ordinary human. His skin is virtually impervious to penetration or damage from anything weaker than Adamantium, and his internal structure is equally resistant to all forms of assault or injury.

Luke Cage is a self-taught combatant with years of street-fighting experience, and a superb athlete despite his great height and weight. He is self-educated in the law and fluent in several languages. He owns a leather jacket which, like his skin, is virtually impervious to damage; however, he wears it infrequently and is customarily left with shredded clothing in the wake of his adventures.

MISTY KNIGHT

 

MISTY KNIGHT

Real Name: Mercedes Kelly Knight

First Appearance: Marvel Team-Up (Vol. 1) #1, March 1972 (as unnamed woman); Marvel Premiere (Vol. 1) #21, March 1975 (as Misty Knight)

Powers: Mercedes “Misty” Knight was a police lieutenant with the New York City Police Department who lost her right arm while trying to dispose of a bomb. Her arm was amputated and replaced with a bionic steel arm originally designed by Stark International, but improvements and updates have been provided by Forge, Rand Enterprises and other contractors.

The original bionic arm was intended as a prosthetic, not a weapon. As a result, its primary feature was its ability to appear like a normal flesh-and-blood arm without alerting others. Beneath a synthetic layer of flesh, the arm was made out of metal and therefore stronger than a normal arm. However, practical matters prevented it from giving Misty true super-strength. Only Misty's arm was bionic: While it could lift and support immense weight, her spine and legs could not. Trying to lift more weight than she could normally would crush her still human physiology under the pressure. Misty Knight's bionic arm did have a vice-like grip, though, able to crush steel, and she could deliver powerful, piledriver-like blows of force.

Years later, Misty began using a more ostentatious bionic arm, no longer trying to hide its artificial nature but incorporating more features into it. This new arm was comprised of Antarctic Vibranium encased in a layer of diamond alloy. This not only made the arm virtually impervious, it also allowed Misty to selectively deploy the metal-melting properties of the Anti-Metal by retracting the diamond casing. This enabled her to liquefy metal in close quarters when she wished. Misty could also generate magnetic fields. She could not, however, manipulate magnetism with skill, only generate it. As a result, she worked best deploying her magnetism for brute force effects like repelling anything metal nearby, or attracting metal objects in close. Anything more selective or delicate would require some concentration and chance. The arm was controlled using a neural-cybernetic interface between Misty's brain and the arm. Retractable cyberjacks enabled Misty to extend this interface to other electronic systems, using her arm to override digital locks, hack into computer systems, etc. Other one-time features seen include a force beam, freeze beam, and a form of short-range anti-gravity thrust.

Misty Knight is an excellent marksman with conventional weapons and has superb detective skills. She is a good athlete with considerable knowledge of martial arts.