Steel Serpent
Steel Serpent is a male comic character who features in Marvel Comics.
Contents |
Biography
Origin
Davos was a male inhabitant of the mystical city of K'un-Lun where he was the first born son of the Thunderer Lei Kung. From a young age, he trained in martial arts and came to believe that he was destined for greatness by becoming the city's champion that was the line of the Iron Fist. (Marvel Team-Up v1 #64) During his training, he was there when the young Wendell Rand came to K'un-Lun and was accepted to train under Lei Kung. During that time, he met Davos with the two training together. (Immortal Iron Fist v1 #8) By adulthood, the pair still trained with one another with Davos being among the only people sitting by Wendell to eat as he was entertained by his stories of the wider world such as those of New York. (Immortal Iron Fist v1 #9) The two became the final candidates for the right to challenge the Shou-Lao the Undying and thus faced each other in single combat. Davos was defeated but did not yield with the Yu-Ti Lord Tuan deciding that Wendell was the winner of the match. This caused Davos to accuse the city's ruler of favouring his adoptive son Wendell Rand leading to him being commanded to return to the tower for meditation for shaming him. However, the young warrior decided to travel outside the city in the night into the caves of Shou-Lao in order to confront the dragon. He challenged the beast and attempted to lay claim to the power but whilst holding onto the dragon he was burnt leading to him letting go in pain. Shou-Lao then looked at Davos with contempt and departed leaving him in the snow-covered mountain weeping as he failed in his attempt at becoming the Iron Fist. Lei Kung arrived and took his son back with him where he was reprimanded for his actions with him being banished to Earth the next time the city manifested on the mortal plane with this sentence being for an eternity due to the sacrilege made by Davos. On the same day, Wendell had also departed K'un-Lun for reasons fo his own and over the next 20 years Davos nursed his anger at what he believed to be the one responsible for his fall from grace. He came to learn that both Lord Tuan and Wendell had died though the later had sired a son named Daniel Rand who won the tournament to become the city's Iron Fist. Upon learning of this, Davos decided to seek the young warrior out in order to claim the power in his possession. (Marvel Team-Up v1 #64)
Steel Serpent
Crane Mother was responsible for bringing Davos back and she empowered him as her agent with him being dispatched to kill Orson Randall. Davos utilised his fathers journals as a means of finding the missing Iron Fist. With two Crane Daughters, they managed to find their quarry who was hiding and using opium in Bangkok in Thailand. (Immortal Iron Fist v1 #1) He later travelled to the corporate headquarters of Wai-Go Industries in America that were allied with him and who he dispatched to capture Randall. It was there he was informed that the agents had failed and he punished one of the survivors by killing him brutally. (Immortal Iron Fist v1 #3) He notified Crane Mother to send him more of his Crane Daughters to support him on his mission where they arrived in large numbers and warned Davos that they would consume him if he failed on his task. They along with Steel Serpent were later at the scene to ambush both Danny Rand and Orson Randall. (Immortal Iron Fist v1 #5) His forces battled the two Iron Fists where Davos had the Crane Daughters sacrifice themselves to empower his Chi allowing him to a massive strike that devastated the room. The Steel Serpent then managed to land a fatal blow on Orson Randall but before he died he passed his chi to Danny Rand who was able to fight Davos to a standstill. Davos then departed with the remaining Crane Daughters but promised that he would get his revenge against Iron Fist in the coming Tournament of Heaven. (Immortal Iron Fist v1 #6)
During the time of the tournament, he served as the new Immortal Weapon of K'un-Zi where he was regarded as the Master of the Cranes. (Immortal Iron Fist v1 #8) His match saw him face off against Tiger's Beautiful Daughter where he snapped in a rage after her taunt with him mercilessly beating her to the point of death until his father the Thunderer called an end to the match. This led to Davos being declared the victor of the match where he took sadistic pleasure at his foes defeat and his fathering begging him to stop. (Immortal Iron Fist v1 #11) He proceeded into the second round whereby the victors of the first matches battled one another. Davos was set to watch Prince of Orphans battle Fat Cobra but the former requested a change in the line-up. He instead asked to fight Davos with the Steel Phoenix accepting the challenge where he intended to show no mercy. However, despite his viciousness, he was easily defeated by the older Prince of Orphans who intended to teach the young warrior a lesson about having a code and thus sought to humble him for his prior treatment of Tiger's Beautiful Daughter. The Steel Phoenix was beaten into unconsciousness where he yielded the match with the Prince of Orphans declared the victor of the match. (Immortal Iron Fist v1 #12)
Overview
Personality and attributes
In appearance, Davos was a male human of Asian descent who possessed the disciplined and hardened features of a lifelong warrior from the mystical city of K'un-Lun. (Iron Fist v1 #1) Whilst serving K'un-Zi, he came to be known as the Steel Phoenix after he became their Immortal Weapon. (Immortal Iron Fist v1 #11)
Davos was defined by a consuming and toxic sense of entitlement that transformed his discipline into a weapon of pure resentment. He operated under the unshakable belief that the power of the Iron Fist was his birthright, viewing Danny Rand not as a legitimate successor, but as an unworthy thief who had stolen a legacy that belonged solely to a son of K'un-Lun. This arrogance manifested as a cold, predatory patience; he did not merely wish to defeat his rival, but sought to 'reclaim' what he felt was stolen, even if it meant utilizing underhanded tactics that contradicted the very martial arts honor he claimed to uphold. His personality was stripped of any true monastic peace, replaced instead by a bitter obsession that drove him to prioritize the acquisition of power over his own spiritual well-being, leading him to believe that his superior heritage justified any act of violence or betrayal. (Marvel Team-Up v1 #63)
It was said that Davos desired ultimate power and eternal life. (Immortal Iron Fist v1 #6)
Powers and abilities
He was defined by a stern, focused visage and a physical frame that represented the absolute pinnacle of human martial arts conditioning, standing as a powerful and agile combatant capable of extraordinary athletic feats. His body shape was lean and densely muscled, honed through decades of ascetic training and brutal conditioning that allowed him to strike with lethal force and move with preternatural speed. This formidable physique was typically draped in traditional K'un-Lunan monastic attire, consisting of a simple, dark-coloured martial arts tunic and loose trousers that afforded him a full range of motion during combat. While he did not yet possess the glowing brand of his rival, his mastery of inner energy afforded him the ability to focus his natural life force into his strikes, granting him superhuman striking power and the capacity to shatter solid objects with his bare hands. This internal discipline made him a peerless master of unarmed combat, capable of challenging the most elite warriors on Earth through sheer technical perfection and a cold, unwavering will to win. (Iron Fist v1 #1)
Among the techniques he knew included Foothammer Thunder Strike and the devastating Steel Phoenix Blow (First Execution). Davos was skilled enough in chi manipulation to regrow lost limbs. (Immortal Iron Fist v1 #11)
Notes
- The character was initially unnamed where he was created by Tony Isabella and Frank McLaughlin with him making his first appearance in Deadly Hands of Kung Fu v1 #10 (March, 1975).
- He was later identified as Davos who was named by Chris Claremont and John Byrne with this occurring in Iron Fist v1 #1 (November, 1975).
- The character was then given the name of Steel Serpent in Immortal Iron Fist v1 #1 (January, 2007).
In other media
Television
- In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Steel Serpent appeared a number of times in the shared continuity setting:
- In Daredevil, the character did not appear but rather the Steel Serpent was referenced in the live-action Netflix television series with it being a brand of heroin being sold by Madame Gao.
- In Iron Fist, Davos was referenced in the live-action Netflix television series with Danny Rand mentioning that he was his friend and was portrayed by actor Sacha Dhawan. It was established that he was the son of Lei Kung with his mother being Priya who was strict on him as she wanted him to become the Iron Fist but came to believe that him losing the position to Danny Rand showed that he was weak.
Appearances
- Deadly Hands of Kung Fu v1:
- Iron Fist v1:
- Marvel Team-Up v1:
- Immortal Iron Fist v1:
- Iron Fist: Living Weapon v1:
External Links
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