Yu-Ti

For the god in Chinese mythology, see Jade Emperor.

Dragon Lord
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Marvel Premiere #15 (May 1974)
Created by	Roy Thomas (writer) Gil Kane (artist)
In-story information
Alter ego	Nu-An
Species	Human
Notable aliases	Yu-Ti, Dragon Lord
Abilities	Immortality Hand-to-hand combat

Yu-Ti is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.

Publication history

The Dragon Lord Yu-Ti first appeared in Marvel Premiere #15 (May 1974), and was created by Roy Thomas and Gil Kane. The character subsequently appears in Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #10 (March 1975), Marvel Premiere #22 (June 1975), Master of Kung Fu Annual #1 (1976), Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #21 (February 1976), Iron Fist #6-7 (August–September 1976), Marvel Team-Up #64 (December 1977), Power Man and Iron Fist #74-75 (October–November 1981), and Immortal Iron Fist #4-8 (May–October 2007), and #10-14 (December 2007-June 2008).

Fictional character biography

The Yu-Ti Lord Tuan dwelt with his son Nu-An in the shining tower in the realm of K'un-L'un with which they can observe the peace in their realm and also watch other dimensions using the emerald known as the Great Crystal. Lord Tuan and Nu-An went wandering outside the city and encountered Shou-Lao who tried to attack them. A man from Earth named Wendell Rand suddenly arrived on K'un-L'un and drove Shou-Lao away with a rifle.^[1]

Tuan adopted Wendell Rand as his son and took him into his house. Nu-An was present as the new Yu-Ti where he puts his arms around Wendell Rand showing him preference over Davos.^[2]

Wendell and Shakirah/Shakiri fell in love and got married (Wendell also fathered a daughter named Miranda Rand^[3][4]). This ended up earning Wendell the enmity of the next Yu-Ti who was also in love with Shakirah.^[1][4]

Nu-An helped Wendell into preparing his uniform as he was got ready to fight Davos and earn the right to make a challenge to Shou-Lao. Nu-An watched silently as Davos accused Lord Tuan of favoritism when he declared Wendell the winner. Nu-An also stood silently as Lord Tuan exiled Davos from K'un-L'un because he challenged Shou-Lao without his permission.^[5]

Nu-An, Tu-An and Lei Kung watched as Wendell Rand went off to fight Shou-Lao.^[6]

Ten years following Wendell rescuing Lord Tuan and Nu-An, Wendell returned to Earth as Nu-An watched.^[1]

As the Steel Serpent, Davos went to K'un-L'un two separate times for its appearance every ten years on Earth. Both of these times, Davos has challenged Nu-An and lost.^[7]

Lord Tuan died and then became the first of the Yama Kings of Feng-Tu, and his son Nu-An became the new Yu-Ti.^[8]

Nu-An later welcomed a 10-Year-Old Danny Rand to K'un-L'un allowing him to stay there as a reward, and expressed his grief over Danny's parents. When Nu-An told Danny that he can have whatever he wanted, Danny told Nu-An that he wanted revenge. Nu-An told Danny that revenge is the one thing he can't give to Danny. He did offer to have Danny trained in the arts of Kung Fu.^[9]

When a Tibetan monk arrived in K'un-L'un, Nu-An showed him Danny Rand as he trained with Lei Kung.^[10]

Nu-An spoke to Danny and told him that he would need to learn strategy because the greatest martial artists can be overcome by an opponent who can anticipate their moves.^[8]

After learning many skills from Lei Kung, Danny Rand appeared before Nu-An who states that the training he had is not enough for him. In order to obtain the "Iron Fist" power, Danny took up Nu-An's offer which involved him slaying Shou-Lao.^[9][11]

Alongside the Dragon Kings, Nu-An asked Iron Fist if he felt he was ready for a challenge to be proven worthy of joining with the company of the immortals.^[9] Alongside the Dragon Kings, Nu-An oversaw Iron Fist overcome the Challenge of the Many. Nu-An did advise Danny to take a pause before he takes on the Challenge of the One. Iron Fist stated that he was ready and ended up facing his opponent Shu-Hu. One member of the Dragon Kings indicated his doubt in Iron Fist as Nu-An remained silent as Iron Fist manages to defeat Shu-Hu. After the victory, Nu-An congratulated Iron Fist and offered him the right to make a choice between immortality or death.^[12]

Nu-An brought Iron Fist to the Tree of Immortality where Nu-An reminds him of the connection involving K'un-L'un and Earth that happens one day in every ten years, when the next day would be that day. Nu-An tells Iron Fist that he can either eat the fruit from the Tree of Immortality and live amongst K'un-L'un's inhabitants or go through the gates to Earth where he won't be able to return. Although Nu-An encouraged Iron Fist to eat the fruit, Iron Fist states that he still has a score to settle with Harold Meachum. Upon hearing Iron Fist's choice, Nu-An quotes "I know more than you can ever imagine Daniel. For Wendell Rand was not only your father, he was my brother." Nu-An was present when Iron Fist left for Earth the next morning.^[9]

Lei Kung later uses Nu-An's great crystal to observe Iron Fist's battle between Steel Serpent which ended in the seemingly death of Steel Serpent. Nu-An offers his sympathy to Lei Kung. Nu-An stated that Iron Fist has no plans to take over K'un-L'un.^[5]

Master Khan utilized the Jade Tiger so that he could return to K'un-L'un with Power Man and Iron Fist hot on his trail. As Power Man and Iron Fist reach K'un-L'un, the archers there fired on Power Man and Iron Fist until Lei Kung told them to stand down and welcomed his former student and his ally into the city. Nu-An invited Power Man and Iron Fist to dinner where Nu-An explains the duel threats of both the H'ylthri as well as the wolves and proclaimed that Iron Fist would lead them to victory when they needed him. Iron Fist agreed to this under the condition that Nu-An tells him about his father. Lei Kung convinced Nu-An that it's time to tell him what he knows about the Rand family. After the story was told, Lei Kung mentioned that maybe Wendell has been returning to K'un-L'un to reclaim the throne that would have been rightfully his until Lord Tuan's death. Nu-An silenced Lei Kung and left. The next morning, Nu-An gave a lengthy speech to inspire the warriors of K'un-L'un telling them to fight bravely against the H'ylthri. Following the victory, one of Nu-An's agents hit Iron Fist from behind and tied him to the Great Crystal as part of a sacrifice to Master Khan. Nu-An told Iron Fist how Master Khan was truly the god that the people of K'un-L'un worshipped and provided with blood sacrifices. Nu-An mentioned that Shou-Lao was the vessel for the sacrifices until Iron Fist had slayed him. As Nu-An raises the sacrificial blade in preparation for Iron Fist's sacrifice, Power Man and Lei Kung arrived to rescue Iron Fist. Power Man managed to shatter the sacrificial blade, knock aside Nu-An, and free Iron Fist. When Nu-An called for Master Khan for help, Master Khan summoned a ninja while Nu-An commanded his warriors to make an attack. Power Man and Iron Fist fought and defeated their enemies and made Master Khan open a portal that leads back to Earth. Nu-An was angered that Master Khan let Power Man and Iron Fist go back to Earth because he had promised they would die. Master Khan silenced him stating that they spoke of his presumption later. Nu-An was helpless as Iron Fist then shattered the Great Crystal which was responsible for creating the portals linking Earth and K'un-L'un every ten years.^[1]

Master Khan and Nu-An fled K'un-L'un when Chiantang attacked and destroyed the city after learning about the death of Shou-Lao.^[11]

When Junzo Muto from the Hand kidnapped Misty Knight, Iron Fist came to Japan which triggered a transfer from K'un-L'un to Earth.^[13] The Dragon Kings told Nu-An that Junzo Muto's trainer Hiromotsu actually killed Junzo's parents. Junzo Muto confronted Nu-An and the Dragon Kings and told them that they are now his to command. Nu-An had the Dragon Kings change into a dragon to attack Junzo only for Hiromatsu to cast a spell that made them freeze in place and then cast a spell that made the Dragon Lords obey Junzo's every command. Of course Junzo kept Nu-An alive since he held some secrets to K'un-L'un. Iron Fist was knocked unconscious by a Dragon Lord and thrown into the cell where Nu-An is held. When Junzo and Hiromatsu visited Iron Fist and Nu-An in their cell, Nu-An told Junzo that Hiromatsu was the one who killed his parents causing Junzo to kill Hiromatsu and usurp his powers.^[14] Iron Fist and Nu-An remained in their cell together. The spirits of Heather Duncan Rand made an appearance to Iron Fist to remind him he still has a family. While apparently talking to nothing, Iron Fist recounted their deaths as Iron Fist blames Nu-An who states that blood is thicker than water. Wolverine arrived to free Iron Fist, and he chose to let Nu-An come with. Wolverine, Iron Fist, and Misty Knight defended Nu-An from various attacks from the Hand assassins.^[15] While Wolverine and Misty Knight fought the Hand, Iron Fist let Nu-An impale him with a spear in order to get K'un-L'un back to its dimension. Misty Knight then punched Nu-An as K'un-L'un and the Dragon Lords disappeared from Earth. The spirits of Wendell Rand, Heather Duncan Rand, and several other spirits from Feng-Tu resurrected Iron Fist after that.^[16]

Centuries ago as seen in the Avengers vs. X-Men storyline, Nu-An had a recurring dream associating a red-haired girl with the Phoenix and a dragon. He later finds a matching red-haired girl named Fongji in the streets of K'un-L'un and has her trained as the Iron Fist. In the present as Lei Kung reads this account, Nu-An tells him that those records have been sealed until the Phoenix returns and now he must teach Iron Fist what to do.^[17] Nu-An asks for Leonardo da Vinci to come to K'un-L'un in order to help protecting the world against the Phoenix's arrival. Meanwhile, Fongji is submitted to a hard trainment, eventually manifesting the Phoenix powers. Nu-An orders her to battle the dragon Shao-Lao as established by the ritual of the Iron Fist. Fongji is successful in her test and becomes the Iron Fist, shortly before Da Vinci sees the Phoenix coming towards Earth.^[18]

Powers and abilities

Nu-An has some degree of combat skills, but he shows minimal skills. Apparently, he is immune to aging due to him eating a fruit from the Tree of Immortality.

In other media

Yü-Ti (notable spelling difference) appears in the second season of Iron Fist played by James Saito. In flashback, he alongside Lei Kung and Priya watch Danny Rand and Davos fight for the right to face Shou-Lao. When Danny turns the tide against Davos and tries to get him to yield, Yü-Ti watched as Lei Kung stopped the fight by declaring that Danny will be the one to face Shao-Lao.^[19]

References

1. Power Man and Iron Fist #75
2. The Immortal Iron Fist #11
3. Iron Fist #2
4. Iron Fist #6
5. Marvel Team-Up #64
6. The Immortal Iron Fist #12
7. Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #10
8. Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #21
9. Marvel Premiere #16
10. Marvel Premier #18
11. Power Man and Iron Fist #119
12. Marvel Premiere #15
13. Iron Fist: Wolverine #1
14. Iron Fist: Wolverine #2
15. Iron Fist: Wolverine #3
16. Iron Fist: Wolverine #4
17. New Avengers (vol. 2) #25
18. New Avengers (vol. 2) #26
19. Talalay, Rachel (director); Jon Worley (writer) (September 7, 2018). "The City's Not for Burning". Marvel's Iron Fist. Season 2. Episode 2. Netflix.

External links

• Dragon Lord (Nu-An) Yu-Ti at The Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe