title: Shang-Chi

text: In March 2021, the one-shot "The Legend of Shang-Chi" was published, by Alyssa Wong (script) and Andie Tong (art).


title: Shang-Chi

text: In September 2021, Shang-Chi starred in a miniseries made available by the Marvel Unlimited app, the miniseries was written by Alyssa Wong and illustrated by Nathan Stockman.


title: Shang-Chi

text: In July 2022, the ongoing "Shang-Chi" series was succeeded by a new ongoing series titled "Shang-Chi and the Ten Rings", with the previously solicited "Shang-Chi" #13 being retitled "Shang-Chi and the Ten Rings" #1. In October 2022, Marvel announced that Yang's run would end with the one-shot "Shang-Chi: Master of the Ten Rings", with Michael YG replacing To on art, set for a January 2023 release.


title: Shang-Chi

text: Shang-Chi was born in Henan Province, China, and is the son of Dr. Fu Manchu. Shang-Chi was trained from infancy in the martial arts by his father and his tutors. Believing his father was a benevolent humanitarian, Shang-Chi is sent on a mission to London to murder Dr. James Petrie, who his father claimed was a threat to peace. After assassinating Petrie, Shang-Chi encounters Dr. Fu Manchu's archenemy Sir Denis Nayland Smith, who tells Shang-Chi his father's true nature. Realizing Smith is telling the truth, Shang-Chi escapes from Dr. Fu Manchu's Manhattan headquarters, telling his father they are now enemies and vowing to put an end to his evil schemes.


title: Shang-Chi

text: Shang-Chi subsequently fights his adoptive brother Midnight, who was sent by their father to kill Shang-Chi for his defection, and then encounters Smith's "aide-de-camp" and MI-6 agent Black Jack Tarr, sent by Smith to apprehend Shang-Chi. After several encounters and coming to trust one another, Shang-Chi becomes an ally of Sir Denis Nayland Smith and MI-6. Together with Smith, Tarr, fellow MI-6 agents Clive Reston and Leiko Wu (his eventual love interest), and Dr. Petrie, Shang-Chi goes on many adventures and missions, usually thwarting his father's plans for world domination. Shang-Chi occasionally encounters his half-sister Fah Lo Suee, who leads her own faction of the Si-Fan but opposes her attempts to co-opt him into her own schemes to usurp their father's criminal empire.


title: Shang-Chi

text: With Smith, Tarr, Reston, Wu and Petrie, Shang-Chi forms Freelance Restorations, Ltd, an independent spy agency based in Stormhaven Castle, Scotland. After many skirmishes and battles, Shang-Chi witnesses the death of Fu Manchu. Soon after his father's death, a guilt-ridden Shang-Chi quits Freelance Restorations, severs all ties with his former allies, forsakes his life as an adventurer, and retires to a village in remote Yang-Tin, China, to live as a fisherman.


title: Shang-Chi

text: Some time later, Shang-Chi returns from China and rejoins Tarr, Reston, and Wu. They battle Argus' terrorist group that aims to cause the United States to act more aggressively against all terrorists. Argus has Wu tortured, cutting off her hand. Shang-Chi and the others rescue Wu, but Shang-Chi imbibes a dose of a slow-acting poison. He is cured by Dr. Fu Manchu's elixir vitae.


title: Shang-Chi

text: After his father is revealed to still be alive, Shang-Chi assists his old allies, who have rejoined MI-6, against Dr. Fu Manchu and his previously unknown half-brother . The mission results in his father's Hellfire weapon being destroyed and Moving Shadow's death at Dr. Fu Manchu's hand for his failure in killing Shang-Chi.


title: Shang-Chi

text: As a member of the restored Heroes for Hire, Shang-Chi puts his strength of character at the service of their teammates. Humbug, turning against the heroes, tried to double-cross both his friends and the "Earth Hive" of insects, joining the Hive. Shang-Chi refuses to kill Humbug until he finds Humbug has no qualms about torturing the Tarantula if it means less suffering for Colleen. Shang-Chi snaps his neck and leaves with the catatonic Tarantula, ashamed of becoming a soulless murderer.


title: Shang-Chi

text: Still working for MI-6, Shang-Chi collaborates with Pete Wisdom of MI-13 in facing the Welsh dragon, which has become a human crime lord. He becomes the tutor of a young Earth-616 Killraven.


title: Shang-Chi

text: In the "Shadowland" storyline, Shang-Chi is one of the heroes fighting the Hand's ninjas. He later works together with Spider-Man against Mister Negative and temporarily takes Mister Negative's powers until Shang-Chi is brought back to normal by Spider-Man.


title: Shang-Chi

text: In "Secret Avengers", Steve Rogers tracks down Shang-Chi to help turn back the Shadow Council, which has partially resurrected Shang-Chi's father and employed the Hai-Dai, a squad of assassins, to hunt Shang-Chi down. Beast reveals to Shang-Chi and the Secret Avengers Dr. Fu Manchu is really an ancient sorcerer named Zheng Zu. When Shang-Chi and Rogers meet with John Steele and the Shadow Council for the prisoner exchange, Rogers is overpowered by Steele and Shang-Chi is captured. While Zheng Zu prepares to sacrifice Shang-Chi to complete his resurrection, the Avengers and Moon Knight drop in on him and the Shadow Council. The Prince of Orphans disrupts the ritual, resulting in Zheng Zu's death and Shang-Chi's rescue. Shang-Chi subsequently joins the Secret Avengers, but leaves the team following the defeat of Arnim Zola 4.2.3.


title: Shang-Chi

text: Per the instructions of the new Madame Web, Shang-Chi is assigned to train Spider-Man in kung fu to compensate for the loss of his spider-sense, which was 'overloaded' after the wall-crawler had to transmit a strong signal on the same frequency to disable a drone army of Spider-Slayers. Under Shang-Chi's tutelage, Spider-Man develops his own martial arts style, the "Way of the Spider".


title: Shang-Chi

text: During the events of "Spider-Island", Shang-Chi and other inhabitants of Manhattan are infected by the Spider-Virus, giving him the same powers and abilities as Spider-Man. Shang-Chi is also plagued by recurring nightmares of himself as a spider attacking innocent civilians. People with spider-powers run amok in the city. When he sees Iron Fist and other heroes fighting Spider-Man impostors and Peter Parker nearby, Shang-Chi protects Parker and confirms Spider-Man's identity to the other heroes. Meanwhile, the Bride of Nine Spiders attacks and abducts her teammates in the Immortal Weapons. Shang-Chi attempts to stop the Bride of Nine Spiders from abducting Iron Fist with his newly acquired powers, but is unsuccessful.


title: Shang-Chi

text: Shang-Chi learns from Silver Sable that she has found possible locations in Manhattan for the Bride of Nine Spiders' lair. Although Shang-Chi defeats the Bride of Nine Spiders and frees Iron Fist, he discovers the real culprit: the demon Ai Apaec, who seeks to feed off the Immortal Weapons. Shang-Chi fights Ai Apeac and mutates into a spider during the battle as a result of his infection, but Iron Fist uses his chi force to cure Shang-Chi. After making sure Iron Fist and the rest of the Immortal Weapons are evacuated, Shang-Chi collapses the mansion hideout on Ai Apeac, leaving him immobilized for the Avengers to put back into custody. Shang-Chi and the Immortal Weapons arrive to join the heroes during the final stand against the Spider Queen.


title: Shang-Chi

text: During the Marvel NOW! relaunch, Shang-Chi joins the Avengers after being recruited by Captain America and Iron Man.


title: Shang-Chi

text: During the events of "Infinity", Shang-Chi and the Avengers join the Galactic Council to fight against the Builders and their crusade against all life in the universe. When several allies were captured by the enemy, Shang forms a rescue team with the Black Widow, Spider-Woman and Manifold. Wielding a pair of energy projecting gauntlets, Shang's timely intervention prevented his friends from being vaporized by an Aleph. After the Builders' defeat, the Avengers return to Earth with their new Galactic Council allies to face off against an even bigger threat back home – Thanos. Shang is sent along with the Black Widow and Manifold the infiltrate the Peak and shut down Thanos' first line of defense; however, the team is intercepted by the Black Dwarf and his guards. As Manifold returned to grab reinforcements, Shang and Natasha managed to defeat the entire security force, save the general who proved to be too much for even the Master of Kung Fu. The combined might of Gladiator, Ronan the Accuser and other Council members eventually made short work of the Black Dwarf and allows Shang and the infiltration team to complete their mission.


title: Shang-Chi

text: With the threat of both the Builders and Thanos thwarted, Shang-Chi is sent to Madripoor along with the Black Widow, the Falcon, and Wolverine to stop a full-scale riot that has broken throughout out the island nation. Shang-Chi infiltrates a temple housed by the Hand but is too late to stop the Hand's new leader, the Gorgon, from completing a ritual which raises the island out of the water up upon the head of a massive dragon. When the dragon begins to take flight, Shang-Chi quickly takes out all of the present Hand ninjas at the temple and challenges the Gorgon. Despite a valiant effort, Shang-Chi is defeated by the Gorgon, who throws Shang-Chi from the edge of the dragon's head several hundred feet above the ground. Shang-Chi is rescued by the Chinese intelligence-gathering agency S.P.E.A.R and is taken to their air-bound base, the Circle, to recuperate. Shang-Chi, along with the Avengers and S.P.E.A.R.'s superhuman response team the Ascendants, go to Shanghai to defend the city from the dragon and the Hand's forces. Using Pym Particles supplied to him by S.P.E.A.R. director Xian Zheng, Shang Chi grows to the size of a giant and defeats the dragon in combat, but not before enacting payback by tearing off the Hand's temple (with a screaming Gorgon still trapped inside) from the dragon's head and throwing it several miles away.


title: Shang-Chi

text: When the Illuminati were exposed to have tampered with the mind of Captain America and attempting to destroy worlds threatening Earth as part of the Incursions as seen in the "Time Runs Out" storyline, Shang-Chi joined a faction of the Avengers led by Sunspot. Sunspot's Avengers, having taken control over A.I.M., discovered that "Incursion points" (points where an Incursion world that is about to hit Earth can be seen) were causing a massive number of physical mutations among those who stumbled upon the locations. Sending Shang-Chi to an Incursion point in Japan, Shang-Chi was exposed to cosmic-level radiation that transformed Shang-Chi into a mutate capable of creating duplicates of himself.


title: Shang-Chi

text: After capturing Crossbones for a mission, Shang-Chi is informed by Captain America about his former lover Leiko Wu's murder at the hands of Razor Fist while working undercover for MI-6 in one of London's triads. Shang-Chi travels to London for Leiko's funeral and while wondering around Chinatown, he is attacked by unknown assailants, one whom reveals that the crime lord the White Dragon was behind the murder. Shang-Chi is approached by triad clan leader and former enemy Skull-Crusher who offers him a truce; Chao Sima alleges he and Leiko became lovers while she was working undercover and had planned to defect from MI-6 for him. With help from Skull-Crusher and the newly arrived Daughters of the Dragon and the Sons of the Tiger, Shang-Chi confirms that Razor Fist was hired by the White Dragon to kill Leiko due to her involvement with his rival Skull-Crusher and discovers that the White Dragon has access to Mao Shan Pai, a powerful Chinese black magic. Shang-Chi and Skull-Crusher infiltrate the White Dragon's estate, where they discover a room displaying the decapitated heads of missing triad leaders. The two of them fight the White Dragon but are captured by Shang-Chi's brother, Midnight Sun, who reveals himself to be the true mastermind behind the White Dragon. With the Mao Shan Pai spellbook taken by the White Dragon's men, M'Nai plans to use its magic to give him power and influence over the triad clans, finally fulfilling Zheng Zu's legacy. Needing the heads of the clan leaders in order to complete the ritual, Midnight Sun beheads the White Dragon and Skull-Crusher and proceeds to cast the spell. Instead of giving him power, the spell resurrects Leiko from Chao's spilled blood. Since Skull-Crusher made her the leader of his clan before her death, Chao's death violated the ritual and resurrected Leiko to punish Midnight Sun. Shang-Chi is able to knock out Midnight Sun during their fight while Leiko brutally maims Razor Fist. Leiko uses her newfound powers to summon the dead spirits of Skull-Crusher, the White Dragon and the other dead triad leaders, who drag Midnight Sun into their realm. When Leiko attempts to execute Razor Fist, Shang-Chi pleads with his former lover to stop; while he is able to get Leiko to spare Razor Fist, he is unable to bring her back to her normal self. Black Jack Tarr (now director of MI-6) and his men raid the estate; Razor Fist and the White Dragon's men are arrested while Leiko escapes. Before leaving London, Shang-Chi leaves a photo of him and Leiko at her grave, which is later taken by Leiko after he leaves.


title: Shang-Chi

text: Shang-Chi joins several other Asian American superheroes (the Hulk (Amadeus Cho), Silk, Ms. Marvel, Jimmy Woo, and S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Jake Oh) for a fundraiser in Flushing, Queens. Later, while the group is spending the night out in Koreatown, Manhattan, they are ambushed by the alien Prince Regent Phalkan and his small army from Seknarf Seven. Shang-Chi and his allies briefly fight off the invaders before they and a large group of bystanders are teleported near Seknarf Seven, where Phalkan demands that the group offer a few people for food within a time limit. Dubbing their group "the Protectors", Woo rallies the group and bystanders into working together to escape, while Shang-Chi leads an attack with Silk and Ms. Marvel. The Protectors are eventually able to free themselves and defeat Phalkan and his forces with the help of the bystanders. The Alpha Flight Space Program arrives to rescue the Protectors and bystanders and arrest Phalkan, who Sasquatch reveals was exiled from Seknarf Seven for treason.


title: Shang-Chi

text: During the 2017 "Secret Empire" storyline, Shang-Chi is found to have been a prisoner of HYDRA in Madripoor following HYDRA's takeover of the United States. After the Hive and the Gorgon are defeated, the Tony Stark A.I. finds him and he states that he does not have the Cosmic Cube shard anymore. A flashback revealed that Emma Frost took the Cosmic Cube shard from him when he was unconscious. Shang-Chi was later seen with the Underground when they and other American superheroes are fighting HYDRA's forces in Washington, D.C.


title: Shang-Chi

text: Seeking a way to fight her ability-stealing adversary Topaz, Domino approaches Shang-Chi (who was referred to her by his Protectors teammate Amadeus Cho) at his retreat in Lantau Island for training. After a long training session, the two spend a romantic night out in Hong Kong, only to be ambushed at a night club by a large group of Shang-Chi's enemies, led by Midnight Sun and including Razor Fist, Shen Kuei, Shockwave, Death-Hand, Shadow Stalker, Tiger-Claw and others. Domino and Shang-Chi defeat them with relative ease. The two are eventually confronted by Topaz who Domino defeats using Shang-Chi's teachings. Despite Shang-Chi's pleas for mercy, Domino kills Topaz. Disappointed, Shang-Chi breaks up with Domino and dismisses her as his student.


title: Shang-Chi

text: In the 2019 "War of the Realms" storyline, after taking part in a demonstration for Jimmy Woo's Pan-Asian School for the Unusually Gifted in Mumbai, Shang-Chi and the Protectors are offered membership to Woo's Agents of Atlas. Shang-Chi and the others are suddenly alerted by the news of Malekith's invasion of Earth; most of the New Agents of Atlas head to Seoul while Ms. Marvel joins Jake Oh and the Champions in New York. Shang-Chi and the others defend Seoul from Malekith's ally Queen Sindr and her Fire Goblin forces from Muspelheim with help from the Korean heroes White Fox, Crescent, Io and Luna Snow. After Sindr threatens to summon a volcano in the middle of the city and kill millions of innocents, Brawn teleports Atlas and their new allies away from the battle, allowing Sindr to peacefully annex South Korea. Brawn eventually summons the Chinese heroes the Sword Master and Aero, Filipina heroine Wave, and the Hawaiian Goddess of Fire and Volcanoes Pele from Shanghai to help assist in the fight against Sindr. The newly summoned heroes are less than pleased for being taken out of their previous battle, but Pele quickly puts a stop to the infighting, warning the group that Sindr plans to melt the polar ice caps if they do not work together. After formulating a plan, Brawn confronts Sindr and her forces directly while Aero, Wave and Luna use Sindr's Black Bifrost to travel to the Arctic to decrease its temperature; Shang-Chi and the others are teleported to Atlas' ally the Monkey King of the Ascendants in Northern China where Shang-Chi begins training the remaining members for their final fight. As planned by Brawn, the Queen of Cinders arrives in Northern China with a captured Brawn, only to be taken by surprise by Shang-Chi and the others, who defeat Sindr with Shang-Chi's training, although Pele (who is revealed to have been M-41 Zu, a mystically enhanced Atlas android) and the Monkey King sacrifice themselves in the process. Despite given the chance to surrender, Sindr flees using the Black Bifrost, only for Shang-Chi and the others to follow her with Brawn's teleporter, where they help Captain Marvel defeat her and her remaining forces at the Great Wall of China near Beijing. Shang-Chi is later shown fighting the remaining Fire Goblins alongside Wolverine, Hawkeye, and the Warriors Three in Shanghai. After Malekith's defeat, Shang-Chi is seen with the other Agents in Shanghai looking on while the captured Fire Goblins are escorted back to Muspelheim.


title: Shang-Chi

text: Shortly after the "War of the Realms" storyline, Shang-Chi encounters the Sword Master in New York City, who is searching for his missing father. Noticing the upstart hero's inexperience and recklessness, Shang takes Lin Lie under his wing to improve his skills. While Shang-Chi and the Sword Master are continuing their training in Flushing, they are interrupted when white lights begin engulfing the city. The two, who are reunited with the other Atlas agents and Giant-Man discover the cities they were in (along with other Asian, Pacific and predominantly Asian cities outside of Asia) have been merged and connected together with portals. Tech mogul Mike Nguyen of the Big Nguyen Company reveals himself to be behind the newly merged city, "Pan", which he states for 24 hours would allow every citizen to easily explore each other's respective cities without any political and economic restrictions.


title: Shang-Chi

text: Sometime later, Shang-Chi and the Sword Master are confronted by Ares, who attempts to take Lin Lie's Fuxi sword. Shang-Chi makes a compromise to Ares: in exchange for Shang-Chi and the Sword Master helping him, Ares would help find Lin Lie's missing father. Ares accepts, explaining that his drakon son Ismenios had been abducted and that he wished to use the sword to kill Ismenios' kidnapper, who Ares believes to be another god. Using Pan Portals, the three are able to track Ismenios to a temple in Madripoor, where they encounter Davi Naka, the Mother Goddess of Madripoor. Naka reveals that Ismenios attempted to plunder Atlantis's treasure hoard during the absence of its sea serpent guardian, but was caught by Namor. Due to her duty to protect all dragons, Naka rescued Ismenios from Namor's wrath and imprisoned the young drakon in her temple for his protection and to placate the king. Naka further warns the group that despite her efforts, Namor is still outraged over the disappearance of his dragon and implores them to find her.


title: Shang-Chi

text: Amadeus later approaches Shang-Chi and tasks him with locating Jimmy Woo, who has not contacted the team since Pan's creation. Along with Crescent, Shang-Chi infiltrates Woo's office in the Pan-Asian School for the Unusually Gifted in the Mumbai sector of Pan, where he discovers a photograph of Woo and Nguyen together. Shang-Chi and Crescent discover a secret tunnel in Woo's office that takes them to the Atlas Foundation's headquarters in the Pan sector of San Francisco, where they confront Woo and the Atlas Foundation's dragon adviser Mr. Lao, who introduces himself to the Atlas agents. Concurrently, the other Agents find Atlantis' missing sea serpent imprisoned in Nguyen's personal tower, where her magical scales are being harvested to power Pan's portals. Woo and Lao order the team to immediately release her while Nguyen argues that doing so would disrupt Pan's portals. Before a decision can be made, Namor emerges from the waters off of Pan's coast to reclaim his stolen dragon, kickstarting a war between Pan and Atlantis.


title: Shang-Chi

text: In the 2020 "Atlantis Attacks" storyline, Shang-Chi and the other New Agents of Atlas are summoned by Brawn during his confrontation with Namor. Namor warns the group to return Atlantis' dragon in a day or else face the wrath of Atlantis before retreating. After the skirmish, Shang-Chi and the other New Agents are introduced to the original Agents of Atlas by Woo. When Woo sends Namora, Venus, and to Atlantis for a diplomatic mission, Brawn discretely orders Shang-Chi and the Sword Master to spy on Namora, due to her familial ties with Namor. The dragon is eventually released from captivity, but upon arriving home she unexpectedly goes berserk and attacks the underwater kingdom. Witnessing the destruction caused by the dragon, Shang-Chi relays to Amadeus that Atlantis' scientists discovered an implant embedded in the dragon's scales to be the source of her behavior and that Namor believes Amadeus to be behind the sabotage, prompting the king to resume his attack on Pan. When Amadeus is forcibly transformed into the Hulk and put under Nguyen's control with Sirena tech in a last ditch effort to destroy Atlantis, Shang-Chi is able to remove the device from Amadeus, freeing him from Nguyen's control and reverting him back into Brawn. After the conflict, Shang-Chi admonishes Woo for using the team as his pawns and subsequently quits.


title: Shang-Chi

text: Yearning for an ordinary life, Shang-Chi relocates to San Francisco's Chinatown but crosses paths with Leiko, who had rejoined MI-6. When Leiko informs him that his father's organization might be active again, they are attacked by unknown assailants but are rescued by Brother Sabre and Sister Dagger, who reveal themselves to be Shang-Chi's half-siblings. The two reveal to Shang-Chi that he has been chosen by Zheng Zu's spirit as the next Supreme Commander of the Five Weapons Society, a secret organization created by their father centuries ago; it is also revealed to Shang-Chi that the Honan retreat he was raised in was the House of the Deadly Hand, one of the Society's five houses, and that he was its designated champion, Brother Hand. Sabre and Dagger ask their half-brother to return to their family and reclaim his rightful place as leader of the Society from its illegitimate leader Sister Hammer, who usurped control from the previous Commander, Brother Staff, and sent Staff's Warriors to kill Shang-Chi to consolidate her rule. Realizing that Hammer is his long-lost full sister, Shi-Hua, Shang-Chi vows to save her from his father's cult.


title: Shang-Chi

text: Shang-Chi arrives at the House of the Deadly Staff in London, where he and Shi-Hua surprisingly have a tearful reunion. Shi-Hua explains to Shang-Chi the history of the Five Weapons Society and its five houses, which had gone through many names, including the Si-Fan, the Golden Dawn and Hai Dai; Shi-Hua reveals that she had been sent to the House of the Deadly Hammer in Russia as its Champion following their separation. Shang-Chi reveals the truth of their father's nature and attempts to convince Shi-Hua to leave the Society, but is rebuked. Mistakenly believing that Shang-Chi murdered Zheng Zu, Shi-Hua is outraged that their father's spirit would choose Shang-Chi over her to succeed him and reveals that she can only be legitimized as the Society's Supreme Commander by killing Shang-Chi. Shang-Chi realizes that his sister had poisoned him and begins to succumb to its effects. Instead of dying, Shang-Chi awakens in one of the House's laboratory, whose panicked scientists unleash a swarm of jiangshi to kill him. Shang-Chi is grievously wounded by a jiangshi and, before losing consciousness, he is rescued by Sabre and Dagger. While recuperating at the House of the Deadly Dagger in France, Shang-Chi is provided with a new ceremonial uniform and trains with Sabre and Dagger (who reveal their birth names to be Takeshi and Esme, respectively, to him) to prepare against Shi-Hua's jiangshi, which are powered by spirit energy and an "unavenged grievance". Shang-Chi notices that his wound has begun turning his flesh to resemble a jiangshi's, making him realize that he is slowly turning into one. A dilapidated spirit beckons Shang-Chi to the House's shrine room. Believing him to be his father, Shang-Chi uncovers a shrine dedicated to Zheng Zu's younger brother, Zheng Yi, and a mysterious map. The spirit reveals himself to be Yi and disappears before explaining anything else.


title: Shang-Chi

text: Guided by the map, Shang-Chi and his siblings are directed to Yi's tomb in Henan, where Yi's spirit appears to him in full flesh. Shang-Chi requests Yi's guidance in stopping Shi-Hua and her jiangshi and to heal his festering wound inflicted by the jiangshi. Instead, Yi's spirit tells Shang-Chi to stop running away from his family, otherwise he would lose his way like his father and that his wounds would lead to something greater. Yi also reveals that Zu did not steal his life essence for immortality, but willingly gave it when Zu tried to save him from dying.


title: Shang-Chi

text: When Shi-Hua and her jiangshi army attack London, Shang-Chi and his siblings arrive as back-up for Leiko and MI-6, providing them with paper amulets to purify the jiangshi. Shang-Chi begins to succumb to his wound and partially transforms into a jiangshi, allowing Shi-Hua to control his body to attack Takeshi and Esme. When Shang-Chi starts resisting, Shi-Hua plants a microchip containing her unavenged grievance on him to put him under her complete control. Instead of resisting, Shang-Chi calms himself, which transports the two to an astral plane where they witness memories of Shi-Hua's harsh upbringing by their father at the House of the Deadly Hand in Russia. Realizing that her anger is at Zheng Zu rather than Shang-Chi, Shi-Hua stops her assault, causing the jiangshi to collapse and Shang-Chi's wounds to heal. However, Shi-Hua blames Shang-Chi for robbing her of her life's purpose and flees before Leiko can apprehend her. On the day of the Lunar New Year, Shang-Chi is named the new Supreme Commander of the Five Weapons Society and with Takeshi and Esme at his side, Shang-Chi vows to keep the Society free of Zheng Zu's influence and to use it to protect all humankind. After the ceremony, Shang-Chi is visited by Zheng Zu's spirit, who congratulates him and comments that he is destined to become like him, unsettling Shang-Chi.


title: Shang-Chi

text: While Shang-Chi is still in London, Leiko approaches him on behalf of MI-6 and asks him to steal the mystical Equinox Blade from the British Museum before it could be auctioned off due to the danger the sword poses . Leiko guides Shang-Chi via earpiece through the museum's security systems, but he encounters Lady Deathstrike, who had just stolen the blade and used its power to steal the souls of the museum's guards. After a prolonged struggle and with Leiko's help, Shang-Chi knocks Deathstrike out of a window and destroys the blade, freeing the souls it consumed to return to its victims. For his trouble, Leiko treats Shang-Chi to gelato.


title: Shang-Chi

text: Shortly after taking control of the Five Weapons Society, Shang-Chi and Leiko spend vacation together in Seoul, where they witness several gas bombs detonate across the city, turning victims into trees. After helping rescue civilians from a gas explosion, they receive a broadcast of similar explosions happening in major cities worldwide. The three track the origin of one of the diffusors to an A.I.M. laboratory in London to, where they encounter scientist Jessa Chen, who claims she and other scientists are being forced against their will to create the bioweapon, named the Gelsemium Molecule. Leiko takes Chen to safety while Shang-Chi and White Fox fight A.I.M. guards; however Chen reveals herself as Doctor Gelsemium, the true mastermind behind the Gelsemium Molecule and uses her tree-like physiology to restrain Leiko before exposing her to a Molecule sample, taking her to a laboratory in the Pacific Northwest. With the helpf of Gelsemium's former co-workers who used to work for his father, Shang-Chi and White Fox find Leiko through her tracker and fight Gelsemium. After Gelsemium is defeated, Leiko is cured with an antidote which later supplied to Gelsemium's victims around the world.


title: Shang-Chi

text: Shang-Chi encounters the Ruguo Coin and is faced with an alternate version of himself who remained faithful to his father from "What If" #16 (August 1979).


title: Shang-Chi

text: During the "Enter the Phoenix" storyline, Shang-Chi is chosen by the Phoenix Force to participate in her tournament alongside many other superheroes and supervillains to decide her next host. Along with the other champions, Shang-Chi is empowered by a spark of the Phoenix's cosmic fire and wins his first match against Hyperion, who is unable to control the Phoenix's power and immediately surrenders without fighting. For his next match, Shang-Chi is pitted against Captain America, who plans to throw the match and help train Shang-Chi into controlling the Phoenix, as he believes Shang-Chi is the ideal choice for the entity's next avatar. Before Shang-Chi can land the final blow, he vows to not use his powers to take another life, causing the Phoenix to intervene and eliminate him from the tournament, giving Captain America the win.


title: Shang-Chi

text: As the new Supreme Commander of the Five Weapons Society, Shang-Chi finds himself struggling with balancing his loyalties between the superhero community and his family obligations. Sister Dagger and Brother Sabre become increasingly frustrated with the new direction Shang-Chi has for the Society while his newfound involvement with his father's criminal empire puts his superhero allies on edge. After establishing a new House of the Deadly Hand in New York City's Chinatown to serve as the Society's main headquarters, Shang-Chi is reunited with his exiled mutant half-sister Zheng Zhilan, who rejoins their family as the new Sister Staff, and his biological mother , who had been previously trapped in the Negative Zone for years. After Brother Sabre steals a Cosmic Cube from Captain America without Shang-Chi's knowledge to help his former lover Lady Iron Fan escape Captain America's custody, the Avengers, Spider-Man and Mister Fantastic confront Shang-Chi and the Society to reclaim the Cube. Shang-Chi realizes the truth when Brother Sabre discreetly uses the Cube's power to help Shang-Chi defeat Thor and relinquishes the Cube along with Takeshi as a prisoner to the Avengers. Despite Spider-Man and Jiang Li reassuring him, Shang-Chi's relationship with his siblings becomes strained while his former allies remain unconvinced of his conviction. Unbeknownst to Shang-Chi, these events are being orchestrated by Chieftain Xin, an old enemy of Zheng Zu, who conspires with Zhilan, Lady Iron Fan and former Society allies King Wild Man and the Red Dot Collective to bring an end to Shang-Chi's rule.


title: Shang-Chi

text: While spending time with his mother at the New House of the Deadly Hand, Jiang Li reveals her past to Shang-Chi, including her history as a Qilin Rider from the mystical dimension of Ta-Lo and how she met and married his father. Shang-Chi and Jiang Li are ambushed by Zhilan, Red Dot, King Wild Man, Lady Iron Fan and their henchmen; Jiang Li uses her psionic abilities to detect that they are being led by Xin, her father. Zhilan reveals that her betrayal is a ruse and helps Shang-Chi and the Society defeat the would-be assassins. Jiang Li explains to Shang-Chi the circumstances surrounding her disappearance and Xin's hatred towards Zu and his bloodline. Unfortunately, the assassins take Jiang Li hostage and escape though a portal created by Xin to Qilin Island. When Shang-Chi proves too difficult to defeat in combat, Xin resorts to creating several "taotie" from Shang-Chi's blood to hunt down anyone who possesses the bloodline of Zheng Zu. Shang-Chi rescues Takeshi and Shi-Hua when they are both attacked by "taotie" and the Qilin Riders, respectively, and reconciles with both of them. With all five of the Champions of the Five Weapons Society back together, Shang-Chi and his siblings take a makeshift portal to Ta-Lo to rescue his mother and stop his grandfather. The siblings are confronted by the Jade Emperor's guards for trespassing, with the Emperor himself arriving to capture them with his Ten Rings. While imprisoned in the Jade Palace dungeon, Zheng Zu's spirit visits Shang-Chi to convince him to take the Ten Rings to stop Xin from destroying their family. Xin, empowered by a "taotie" mask created from Shang-Chi's blood and Shi-Hua's severed hand, arrives at the dungeon to destroy the Zheng bloodline once and for all. Shang-Chi reluctantly allows his father to guide him to the Jade Emperor's vault containing the Ten Rings, donning them to save his siblings from his grandfather. When Shang-Chi tries resisting Zheng Zu's influence, Xin is able to take six of the Rings from him and defeats the Champions before heading to the House of the Deadly Hand to join the Qilin Riders in destroying the Society. Shang-Chi and his siblings are protected by the four remaining Rings, which is witnessed by the Jade Emperor, who allows Shang-Chi and the others to leave Ta-Lo to stop Xin on the condition that he returns the Ten Rings. At the House of the Deadly Hand, Shang-Chi fights Xin again but loses the remaining Ten Rings to his grandfather, who then orders the Riders to destroy New York City. With no other option, Shang-Chi gives in to Zu's influence, allowing him to reclaim all of the Rings from Xin, unlocking their full power and taking on his father's appearance and personality. Shang-Chi then uses the Rings to defeat Xin and all the Qilin Riders. Before a corrupted Shang-Chi can execute Xin, he is talked down by Jiang Li and his siblings, freeing him from Zu's influence. Shang-Chi has the Five Weapons Society repair the damage done to the city and tend to wounded civilians, revealing the Society's existence and his leadership to the public but restores his superhero allies' faith in him. Afterwards, Shang-Chi hands Xin and the Ten Rings to the Jade Emperor, who appoints Jiang Li as the new Chieftain of the Qilin Riders, forcing her to stay in Ta-Lo. Shang-Chi's siblings go their separate ways but leave on good terms with him. One month after the ordeal, Shang-Chi discovers that the Ten Rings have left Ta-Lo and arrived at the House of the Deadly Hand.


title: Shang-Chi

text: Sometime before the Ten Rings return to him, Shang-Chi reunites with Jimmy Woo to take down illegal fighting rings organized by Crossfire, where unwilling participants, particularly those of color, are mentally coerced in fighting each other by Crossfire's brainwashing technology. After Crossfire and his brokers apprehended by the two with help from the Agents of Atlas, Five Weapons Society, Champions and Leiko, Shang-Chi and Jimmy reflect on their similar backgrounds and different upbringings before reconciling with each other. Shang-Chi later discovers that the Eyes of the Dragon survived their destruction and were stolen by the Inhuman criminal . Shang-Chi, Sister Dagger and Sister Staff track down the Eyes to Jersey City, New Jersey, where they prevent Kamran from using the Eyes on Ms. Marvel to sacrifice her life to prolong that his boss, the Inhuman crimelord Lineage.


title: Shang-Chi

text: Unable to access the gateways to Ta Lo, Shang-Chi has the Ten Rings sealed in a vault within the House of the Deadly Hand. Due to the final battle between Shang-Chi and Xin being televised all over the world, the Ten Rings have become public knowledge, prompting several criminal organizations into attacking the House of the Deadly Hand to claim the Rings, forcing Shang-Chi to don them again to fight them off. Shang-Chi leaves the Rings in another vault while accompanying Leiko in rescuing Clive Reston; Shang-Chi discovers the rescue mission is a ruse orchestrated by MI6 to keep him preoccupied while the Ten Rings are stolen by Black Jack Tarr and his men. When MI6 and MI13 accidentally summon an eldritch parasite called the Wyrm of Desolation with the Ten Rings, Shang-Chi saves them and reacquires the Rings, but not before admonishing his former friends for betraying him. These events are witnessed by the Xian Jinzha and Muzha, who question Shang-Chi's worthiness of wielding the Ten Rings, prompting them to host a Game of Rings to find a true Ring Keeper.


title: Shang-Chi

text: Shang-Chi and nine other fighters are summoned to the Meritorious Striving Pagoda in the Ta Lo as participants for the Game of Rings; each player is given one of the Ten Rings and forced to fight against one another in the pagoda, with the winner receiving all Ten Rings. Shang-Chi forms an alliance with and each are able to claim two Rings apiece before advancing to the pagoda's next floor. On the next floor, Shang-Chi and Shen Kuei meet Jinzha and Muzha, who reveal the history of the Ten Rings to them. Shang-Chi and Shen Keui are attacked by Leiko, who had been possessed by a spawn of the Desolation Wyrm and entered the tournament as a contestant. After Shang-Chi frees her from the Wyrmspawn, Leiko apologizes to Shang-Chi for the theft of the Ten Rings and withdraws from the tournament. However, Shen Kuei betrays Shang-Chi and steals Leiko's Ring from him as both advance to the final floor of the pagoda.


title: Shang-Chi

text: Shang-Chi's fighting skills are so great that he has been able to beat numerous superhuman opponents. Shang-Chi is classed as an athlete but he is one of the best non-superhumans in martial arts and has dedicated much of his life to the art, being referred to by some as the greatest empty-hand fighter and practitioner of kung fu alive, with even Ares acknowledging him as one of the few mortals who can hold their own against a god without the use of magic. In addition, Shang-Chi has battled superpowered foes like Ben Grimm of the Fantastic Four in hand-to-hand combat and proved a formidable opponent. Many of his physical abilities seem to stem from his mastery of chi, which often allows him to surpass physical limitations of normal athletes. He has also demonstrated the ability to dodge and catch bullets from machine guns and sniper rifles, and is able to deflect gunshots with his bracers. Shang-Chi is also highly trained in concentration and meditation, and is an expert in various hand weapons including swords, staffs, kali sticks, nunchaku, and shuriken.


title: Shang-Chi

text: Due to his martial arts prowess, Shang-Chi is a highly sought out teacher and has mentored many characters in kung fu and hand-to-hand combat. Some of Shang-Chi's most prominent students and sparring partners have included Captain America, Spider-Man, and Wolverine.


title: Shang-Chi

text: He is also very in tune with the chi emitted by all living beings, to the point where he was able to detect the psionically masked Jean Grey by sensing her energy.


title: Shang-Chi

text: During his time with the Avengers, Shang-Chi was given special equipment by Tony Stark. This included a pair of gauntlets that allowed him to focus his chi in ways that increased his strength and a pair of repulsor-powered nunchaku. Even without such equipment, his mastery of ki enables him to challenge powerful foes like the Builders or even gamma mutates.


title: Shang-Chi

text: Originally having no superpowers, Shang-Chi has temporarily gained superpowers on several occasions. During the events of "Spider-Island", he briefly gained the same powers and abilities as Spider-Man after being infected by the Spider-Virus. After mutating into a giant spider, he was cured of his infection by Iron Fist's chi, although at the cost of him losing his spider-powers. In "Avengers World" Shang-Chi briefly used Pym Particles to grow to immense size. Following exposure to the cosmic radiation from the Incursions, Shang-Chi was able to create an unlimited number of duplicates of himself.


title: Shang-Chi

text: Shortly after reuniting with his mother, Shang-Chi discovered that he inherited 's psionic abilities, allowing him to form psychic bonds with his blood relatives. These bonds allow Shang-Chi to sense their location or feel any pain that is inflicted upon them. Shang-Chi's psionic abilities also extend to his dead relatives, allowing him to communicate and interact with the spirits of his deceased uncle and father.


title: Shang-Chi

text: While adventuring in Ta-Lo, Shang-Chi acquired the heavenly Ten Rings from the Jade Emperor, granting him a variety of powers and abilities, including superhuman strength, speed, durability and stamina, as well as allowing him to fly and levitate. Shang-Chi can control the Rings telepathically which can be used in a variety of ways, including launching them as projectiles, utilizing them as platforms for transportation and generating makeshift chains to grab objects and restrain opponents. The Ten Rings can also alter their size, either shrinking down to fit Shang-Chi's wrists or enlarge themselves to ensnare a human. When Shang-Chi first wore the Ten Rings, his fear of their power corrupting him allowed Chieftain Xin to take control of the Rings away from him. However, when Shang-Chi gave in to his desire, he was able to reclaim the Ten Rings and unlock their potential, increasing his strength and abilities but giving him a similar likeness and personality of his father. Although Shang-Chi was able to completely fight off his father's influence, the Ten Rings still retained their unlocked power and loyalty to him.


title: Shang-Chi

text: In the 2015 "Secret Wars" storyline, a version of Shang-Chi resides in the wuxia-inspired K'un-Lun region of Battleworld. In this continuity, he is the exiled son of Emperor Zheng Zu, Master of the Ten Rings, a ruthless martial arts school that uses mystical powers and techniques based on the powers of the Mandarin's ten rings from the mainstream continuity. Shang-Chi is wanted for the murder of Lord Tuan, the master of the Iron Fist school, the main rivals of the Ten Rings school. A drunk vagabond, Shang-Chi is approached by Kitten to help teach her and her group of fellow outcasts who had been exiled from each of their respective schools the techniques of the Ten Rings. Ashamed by his upbringing, Shang-Chi coldly refuses and insults the group, outraging their leader, Callisto, who informs the emperor of Shang-Chi's whereabouts. The gang's hideout raided by K'un Lun's sheriff and Tuan's student Rand-K'ai, the emperor's assassin Red Sai of the Red Hand school and Ten Rings enforcer Laughing Skull but after Laughing Skull kills outcast Cy against Rand-K'ai's orders, Shang-Chi helps the group escape with the Nightbringer technique. A guilt ridden Shang-Chi agrees to take the outcasts as his pupils, dubbing their new school The Lowest Caste. Shang-Chi returns from his exile to represent the Lowest Caste for the tournament held every thirteen years to decide which participating master would be the next ruler of K'un-Lun. Zu allows Shang-Chi to participate but alters the rules so Shang-Chi would have to defeat every representative before facing him in the Thirteen Chambers. After defeating Namor, Drew, Karnak, Lady Mandarin, Ava, Creed, Spector and T'Challa in consecutive matches, Shang-Chi encounters Rand-K'ai and Red Sai in the penultimate match of the Thirteen Chambers. During the fight, Red Sai confesses that Zu had sent her to assassinate his rival Tuan but ultimately failed. To spare his lover and her students from the emperor's wrath, Shang-Chi killed Tuan; Zu implicated and exiled his son for the murder to cover his own involvement. After the truth is revealed, Red Sai and Rand-K'ai let Shang-Chi pass so that he could defeat his father. During the fight between Shang-Chi and Zheng Zu, Zu attempts to kill his son with the Spectral Touch technique, only for the move to pass through him due to Shang-Chi learning Kitten's technique to become intangible. Shang-Chi proceeds to use nine of the Ten Ring techniques against his father and ultimately defeats him with The Gorgon's Eye, which turns him into stone. With Zu's defeat, Shang-Chi becomes the new emperor of K'un-Lun.


title: Shang-Chi

text: In the alternate timeline of the "House of M" storyline, Shang-Chi never realizes his father's evil doings before his death at Magneto's hands. This causes him to become consumed with a desire for vengeance. In this reality, Shang-Chi is the head of the Dragons criminal organization, alongside Colleen Wing, the Swordsman, Mantis, and Machete. The Dragons later resolved their rivalry against Luke Cage's gang, but were eventually captured in a trap created by both the Kingpin's assassins and Thunderbird's agents. The Dragons and the Wolfpack were freed by Luke Cage, in which Shang-Chi's gang join the Avengers in their battle against the Brotherhood.


title: Shang-Chi

text: In this simian version of the Marvel Universe, Shang-Chi and his father work as a subversive organization, trying to get the local sentients to work in peace and not in animalistic domination. The Avengers (Ape-vengers) murder him for this 'weak-minded' sentiment.


title: Shang-Chi

text: In the Marvel Zombies continuity, Shang-Chi is turned into a zombie during a multi-hero effort to rescue surviving civilians. In a mid-Manhattan battle, detailed in "Ultimate Fantastic Four" #23, he and dozens of other zombie-heroes attempt to consume the last batch of humans. These humans are defended by that universe's Magneto and the Ultimate Fantastic Four. During a successful rescue attempt, Thing sends Shang-Chi flying through the air with one punch. Shang-Chi is then seen attacking Magneto once again, but he is cut in half by the Master of Magnetism. A different Shang-Chi appears in "Marvel Zombies Return" in an alternate universe where he is unaffected by the zombie outbreak. The zombie Wolverine finds him in an underground fight club, engaging with other infamous martial artists. The flesh-hungry mutant slashes him to death.


title: Shang-Chi

text: In the Ultimate Marvel universe, Shang-Chi first appeared in "Ultimate Marvel Team-Up" #15. He is the son of an international crime lord. Trained from birth to become a living weapon, he became the world's greatest martial artist and being a noble spirit, he eventually came to renounce his father's empire. Seeking to get away from his father's reach, he emigrated to New York where he worked as a floor sweeper at Wu's Fish Market in Chinatown. Feeling that the denizens of New York's Chinatown needed someone to protect them, he and his friend Danny Rand were drawn into the gang war between the Kingpin and Hammerhead after the latter targeted him to win over the Chinatown gangs to his cause. The conflict climaxed when Shang-Chi, Danny Rand, Spider-Man, the Black Cat, the Moon Knight and Elektra ambushed Hammerhead's penthouse, where a battle royale ensued. It ended with an unconscious Elektra, Hammerhead and Moon Knight. The gang members were then arrested by the police.


title: Shang-Chi

text: The martial arts warrior disguised himself as a costumed criminal in order to take down the Kingpin. The Kingpin discovered his plan and threatened to kill the hero, but he was rescued by Daredevil, who then recruited him as a part of his team to take down the Kingpin. After the Kingpin's identity is leaked to the New York Police Department, Shang-Chi and the team disbanded and went their separate ways.


title: Shang-Chi

text: Shang-Chi appears in , as a hero in its Secret Wars Volume 2 expansion and as a "Heroes for Hire" villain in its Civil War expansion.


title: Jesy Nelson

text: Jessica Louise "Jesy" Nelson (born 14 June 1991) is an English singer who rose to prominence as a member of the girl group Little Mix from 2011 to 2020, one of the world's best-selling girl groups. With Little Mix, she released six studio albums and achieved five number-one singles on the UK Singles Chart.


title: Jesy Nelson

text: Nelson auditioned as a solo act for the eighth series of "The X Factor," and successfully made it through to bootcamp stage, before being eliminated. Following her elimination, she was placed into a group with three other contestants to form the girl group Little Mix, making history by becoming the first group to win the British version of the series. In 2019, Nelson featured in a BBC documentary based on her experiences with body image and online bullying, titled "Jesy Nelson: Odd One Out."


title: Jesy Nelson

text: Since leaving Little Mix, Nelson signed to American label Republic Records and was formerly signed to Polydor Records in 2021 but left a year later due to creative differences. In October 2021, she released her debut single "Boyz", featuring rapper Nicki Minaj, which debuted and peaked at number four on the UK Singles Chart.


title: Jesy Nelson

text: Jessica Louise Nelson was born in Romford, East London, on 14 June 1991, to John Nelson, a businessman, and Janis Nelson, a police community support officer. Her parents separated when she was five. She is the second youngest of four children with an older sister Jade, an older brother Jonathan and a younger brother Joseph.


title: Jesy Nelson

text: Nelson attended Jo Richardson Community School and Abbs Cross Academy and Arts College in Hornchurch, London. She also attended the Sylvia Young and Yvonne Rhodes Theatre Schools. Prior to auditioning for "The X Factor", Nelson worked as a barmaid in Dagenham. In 2020, Nelson said that, as a child, she had small roles as an extra in "About a Boy" (2002) and "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" (2005).


title: Jesy Nelson

text: Her first audition was "Bust Your Windows" by Jazmine Sullivan, and successfully auditioned as a soloist for the eighth series of the UK version of "The X Factor" in front of judges Louis Walsh, Gary Barlow, Tulisa Contostavlos and Kelly Rowland, but failed the first challenge of the "bootcamp" section to progress through to the Girls category (solo females aged 16–24). Nelson and Perrie Edwards were put in a group called "Faux Pas" while Jade Thirlwall and Leigh-Anne Pinnock were to be put in a group named "Orion". Both groups, however, failed to progress. A later decision by the judges recalled two members from each group to form the four-piece group Rhythmix, sending them through to the "judges' houses" section. They eventually reached the live shows and were mentored by Tulisa Contostavlos. On 28 October 2011, it was announced that the band's new name would be Little Mix. On 11 December 2011, Little Mix were announced as the winners, making them the first band ever to win the British version of the show.


title: Jesy Nelson

text: After winning the show, Little Mix signed a record deal with Syco Music, owned by Simon Cowell. Since joining Little Mix, Nelson has faced cyber-bullying and struggled to cope during her time on "The X Factor". Nelson released six albums with the group; "DNA" (2012), "Salute" (2013), "Get Weird" (2015), "Glory Days" (2016), "LM5" (2018) and "Confetti" (2020) The last of which was released a month before she left the group.


title: Jesy Nelson

text: Nelson released her documentary on BBC Three in 2019, titled "Jesy Nelson: Odd One Out." The documentary was based on her experiences with body image and online bullying. It was BBC Three's top factual title since the channel moved online and on BBC One it was watched by 3.3 million viewers. The documentary won the Factual Entertainment Award at the 25th National Television Awards.


title: Jesy Nelson

text: In December 2020, she announced her departure from the group due to prolonged issues with her mental health. She said: "I find the constant pressure of being in a girl group and living up to expectations very hard."


title: Jesy Nelson

text: In May 2021, she announced that she had signed a record deal with Polydor Records and that she is releasing solo music later in the year. In early August, Nelson wiped her Instagram account in anticipation of her solo debut, titled "Boyz", which she confirmed US rapper Nicki Minaj featured on.


title: Jesy Nelson

text: On 29 July 2022, it was announced that Nelson had split from Polydor Records, amid "creative differences" fourteen months after signing with them.


title: Jesy Nelson

text: It was revealed in December 2022 that Nelson had filmed the video to her next single, titled "Cried Out".


title: Jesy Nelson

text: Nelson has said that being bullied at school may have contributed to her suffering from stress-induced alopecia as a teenager. In her BBC documentary "Odd One Out", Nelson was vocal about her struggle with body image. She said she would starve herself before TV performances or video shoots, then later binge eat. She said that abuse from online trolls on Twitter drove her to attempt suicide in 2013, stating: "I felt that I physically couldn't tolerate the pain any more."


title: Jesy Nelson

text: In 2014, Nelson began dating Rixton lead singer, Jake Roche. The couple became engaged on 19 July 2015, but broke up in November 2016. She had a brief relationship with Chris Clark in 2017, followed by a 16-month relationship with musician Harry James that ended in November 2018. In January 2019, Nelson began dating "Love Island" contestant Chris Hughes. In April 2020, Nelson and Hughes broke up due to personal reasons. Four months later, she announced that she was in a relationship with actor Sean Sagar.


title: Jesy Nelson

text: Nelson has 15 tattoos, including a quote on her upper right arm: "Music is the strongest form of magic".


title: Jesy Nelson

text: In June 2018, Nelson posted an image of herself on Instagram wearing her hair in dreadlocks. The photo was later deleted after she was criticised over accusations of cultural appropriation. In May 2021, Nelson was accused of "blackfishing" (a form of cultural appropriation). Her name trended on Twitter after some users realised that she is white, having previously believed that Nelson was a woman of colour. A BuzzFeed article documented how Nelson had changed her physical appearance since joining Little Mix. The article suggested that darkening her skin tone and increasing her lip size had led Nelson to become racially ambiguous, also noting how her skin tone has frequently appeared darker than that of former colleagues Pinnock and Thirlwall, both of whom are women of colour. In 2021, after the release of "Boyz", Nelson faced criticism online for her appearance in the music video, with comments on her accent and darkened skin. This led to further accusations of blackfishing.


title: Jesy Nelson

text: In November 2020, Little Mix's publicist stated that Nelson would take an extended break from the pop group for "private medical reasons". On 14 December 2020, Nelson announced her departure from Little Mix due to struggles with her mental health.


title: Jesy Nelson

text: In August 2021, Nelson spoke in an interview about her time on "The X Factor" and criticised the show for the lack of support she received after being subjected to online trolling. In the interview she spoke about the eating disorder she had developed through extreme dieting during her time with Little Mix, and the panic attacks she would experience.


title: Jesy Nelson

text: In 2019, Nelson spoke about her experiences with body image and the impact of online bullying on her life and mental health. Before Little Mix's 2020 studio album "Confetti" was released, Nelson took some time out of the group's promotion schedule, citing a private medical matter. On 14 December 2020, she announced she was leaving the group due to the impact on her mental health. In a statement, she said: "I find the constant pressure of being in a girl group and living up to expectations very hard."


title: Jesy Nelson

text: In August 2021, Nelson told "The Guardian" that since her first appearance on "The X Factor" with Little Mix she had been trolled about her physical appearance on social media. Although the group supported Nelson's frailties, she said that "The X Factor" should pair a therapist or psychologist with the coaches. Nelson underwent therapy, where she was told she had an eating disorder.


title: Jesy Nelson

text: Nelson said that she was often dressed differently from the other three members of Little Mix because her body shape did not lend itself to the outfits. After the COVID-19 pandemic and the decision to shoot the video for "Sweet Melody" she had gained weight and did not feel fit for filming, deciding to go on a drastic diet without getting results. After she was hospitalised, her mother told the other members that she had to leave the group. She said that some backstage people associated with Little Mix were glad to see her go.


title: Wakanda

text: Wakanda () is a fictional country appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Wakanda has been depicted as being in East Africa. It is located in sub-Saharan Africa, and is home to the superhero Black Panther. Wakanda first appeared in "Fantastic Four" #52 (July 1966), and was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.


title: Wakanda

text: Wakanda has appeared in comics and various media adaptations, such as in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, where it is depicted as the most technologically advanced nation on the planet.


title: Wakanda

text: Some sources place Wakanda just north of Tanzania and exactly at Rwanda, while others such as "Marvel Atlas" #2 show it at the north end of Lake Turkana, in between South Sudan, Uganda, Kenya and Ethiopia (and surrounded by fictional countries like Azania, Canaan, and Narobia).


title: Wakanda

text: Director Ryan Coogler stated that his depiction of Wakanda in the 2018 film "Black Panther" was inspired by the Southern African Kingdom of Lesotho.


title: Wakanda

text: In recent stories by writer Ta-Nehisi Coates, Wakanda is located on Lake Victoria, near fellow fictional nations Mohannda, Canaan, Azania, and Niganda. This places these nations mostly in what in real life is the eastern half of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.


title: Wakanda

text: Birnin Zana is located within Wakanda. It is considered by some to be a smart city. In Birnin Zana, pedestrians walk along commerce-filled streets that are car-free except for the occasional appearance of (buslike) shuttles. The whole is quite similar to the woonerf concept, an approach to public space design which started in the Netherlands in the 1970s. Maglev trains are seen zipping above and around the city. The Wakandan buildings incorporate some traditional African elements (i.e. thatched roofs and hanging gardens) on some of the tallest structures.


title: Wakanda

text: Before the emergence of the Wakandan nation, mystic beings known as Originators were expelled from the region by the humans and the Orisha, the pantheon of Wakanda consisting of Thoth, Ptah, Mujaji, Kokou and Bast, the Panther Goddess.


title: Wakanda

text: In the distant past, a massive meteorite made up of the element vibranium crashed in Wakanda. The meteorite was named Mena Ngai. It was unearthed a generation before the events of the present day. T'Challa, the previous Black Panther and brother to the current Black Panther, Shuri, is the son of T'Chaka, the Black Panther before him and a descendant of Olumo Bashenga. Knowing that others would attempt to manipulate and dominate Wakanda for this rare and valuable resource, T'Chaka conceals his country from the outside world. He sells off minute amounts of the valuable vibranium while surreptitiously sending the country's best scholars to study abroad, consequently turning Wakanda into one of the world's most technologically advanced nations. Eventually, however, the explorer Ulysses Klaue finds his way to Wakanda and covers up his work on a vibranium-powered, sound-based weapon. When exposed, Klaue kills T'Chaka, only to see his "sound blaster" turned on him by a grieving teenaged T'Challa. Klaue's right hand is destroyed, and he and his men flee.


title: Wakanda

text: Wakanda has an unusually high rate of mutation due to the dangerously mutagenic properties of the Vibranium Mound. A large number of these Wakandan Mutates are working for Erik Killmonger.


title: Wakanda

text: Vibranium radiation has permeated much of Wakanda's flora and fauna, including the Heart-Shaped Herb eaten by members of the Black Panther Tribe (although T'Challa once allowed a dying Spider-Man to eat it in the hope that it would help him deal with ) and the flesh of the White Gorilla eaten by the members of the White Gorilla Tribe.


title: Wakanda

text: In the 2008 "Secret Invasion" storyline, Skrull forces led by Commander K'vvvr invade Wakanda and engage Black Panther and his forces. Due to heavy resistance to the deployment of technological developments, both sides are forced to fight with swords and spears. The Wakandan forces voluntarily wear panther masks; this prevents the Skrulls from focusing attacks on their leader. Despite losses, the Wakandans defeat the Skrulls. They kill every single one, including K'vvvr, and send their ship back, packed with the bodies. A warning against invading Wakanda is left written on the wall of the ship's control center.


title: Wakanda

text: While under the cosmic power of the Phoenix Force, Namor attacks Wakanda for hiding the Avengers and destroys much of the country with a tidal wave. After the attack, all mutants (particularly those who were siding with Phoenix controlled mutants) are banned from entering Wakanda as stated by Black Panther. Some students from the Jean Grey school are attacked by the Wakandan people; the students barely flee with the help of Storm.


title: Wakanda

text: When Hydra manipulates a sentient cosmic cube named Kobik into unknowingly replacing the real Captain America's Steve Roger with his Hydra counterpart, then enact their Secret Empire, Wakanda is under a threat to be taken over by the rise of terrorist group across the universe, with its king T'Challa getting captured and forced to surrender, until all heroes and some villains who rebel against Hydra finally find a way to get both Kobik and the real Steve Rogers back, while rescuing both T'Challa and the rest of both captured and manipulated heroes. Once Hydra's empire has been undone, Wakanda expanded its legacy to form an intergalactic empire on Planet Bast, while also revoking the mutant ban in their country, such as allowing Storm to visit and help anytime. The empire, now encompassing five galaxies, arises after a mission that sought the origin of Mena Ngai, the meteorite that brought the vibranium to Wakanda.


title: Wakanda

text: Wakanda contains a number of religious sects originating from various places in Africa, the Pantheon of Wakanda is known as "The Orisha." Orisha is a Yoruba word meaning spirit or deity. Bast the Panther Goddess, Thoth, god of the moon and wisdom, and Ptah, the Shaper, are Heliopolitan deities, who left ancient Egypt at the time of the pharaohs. Kokou is a warrior orisha from Benin. Mujaji is a rain goddess of the Lobedu people of South Africa. Other deities are worshiped in Wakanda, such as Sekhmet and Sobek, other Helipolitan deities, and the gorilla gods Ghekre and Ngi, worshiped by the Jabari tribe. The mutant Ororo Munroe (aka Storm), ex-wife of T'Challa and former queen of Wakanda, is called Hadari-Yao ("Walker of Clouds" in ancient Alkamite), a goddess who preserves the balance of natural things.


title: Wakanda

text: Bast the Panther Goddess, based on Bast the ancient Egyptian deity, is the primary deity of Wakanda. After the vibranium meteor fell, a number of Wakandans were painfully mutated into "demon spirits" and began attacking their fellow Wakandans.


title: Wakanda

text: T'Challa's ancestor Olumo Bashenga began to close the vibranium mound to outsiders. He formed a religious order that guarded the mound and fought to keep the "demon spirits" from spreading across the kingdom. As the ceremonial and religious role, he took the title of Black Panther as chief of the Panther Tribe. As part of the cult's ceremonies, a Black Panther is entitled to the use of a heart-shaped herb. The herb enhances the physical attributes of the person who consumes it to near-superhuman levels, in a similar manner to the super-soldier serum.


title: Wakanda

text: The tribe that would become the Jabari worshiped Ngi, who was responsible for creating Gorilla-Man. Ngi was based on the Yaounde deity of the same name. Currently, the Jabari tribe worship the gorilla god Ghekre, based on the Baoulé deity of the same name. Wakanda evolved from a hunter-warrior society, and was traditionally ruled by its greatest warrior. The dominant Black Panther Cult outlawed the rival White Gorilla Cult's worship in Wakanda. M'Baku (Man-Ape) of the Jabari tribe is one of Wakanda's greatest warriors, second only to T'Challa, the Black Panther himself. While T'Challa, king of Wakanda, is on a several month leave of absence from Wakanda, the ambitious M'Baku plots to usurp the throne. M'Baku flouts T'Challa's edicts and revives the White Gorilla Cult, killing one of the rare white gorillas living in the jungles near Wakanda. M'Baku bathes in the gorilla's blood and eats its flesh which "mystically" confers the gorilla's great strength upon M'Baku. He tries to defeat T'Challa in combat, hoping to take over the country, but is beaten and banished from Wakanda. According to the 2018 film, the White Gorilla cult, known in the film as the Jabari (or the Mountain Tribe), revere the monkey god Hanuman.


title: Wakanda

text: Sekhmet the Lion Goddess, based on the deity of the same name, could possess the form of any human worshipers or the bodies of those sanctified and sacrificed by her worshipers, she transformed these subjects into human avatars of herself. She has a number of other powers, some of which she has demonstrated. Sekhmet could grow in size, move at rapid speeds, teleport herself and others, and alter her specific density. The Lion goddess possessed superhuman strength and durability, and she was immortal. She can manipulate the minds of the weak-willed.


title: Wakanda

text: Little is known of the history of the Lion Goddess. She had apparently lost many worshipers over the years to the Cult of the Panther God, despite the fact that Sekhmet physically manifested before its followers, and the Panther God only appears to its priests.


title: Wakanda

text: Sobek the Crocodile God, based on the deity of the same name, appears to be an ancient and somewhat neglected Wakandan deity.


title: Wakanda

text: There are several theories about the etymology of Wakanda. The name may be inspired by a Siouan god called Wakanda, Wakonda, or Waconda; or Wakandas, a fictional African tribe from Edgar Rice Burroughs' novel "The Man-Eater", written in 1915 but published posthumously in 1957; or the Kenyan Kamba ethnic group, also called Akamba or Wakamba; or the word "kanda", which means "family" in Kikongo.


title: Wakanda

text: In the comics, Wakanda has three official languages: Wakandan, Yoruba and Hausa. In the Marvel Cinematic Universe characters from Wakanda are portrayed speaking the South African Xhosa language. The Jabari Tribe are portrayed speaking a dialect similar to Igbo from Nigeria.


title: Wakanda

text: In the 2018 film "Black Panther", the Wakandan language is depicted as being written in a Wakandan writing system based on the Nsibidi writing system; the Wakandan writing system was created for the film by production designer Hannah Beachler.


title: Wakanda

text: In the comics, Wakanda is the foremost military power on Marvel Earth. The Wakandan Army is the country's main ground forces, while the Wakandan Navy oversees naval operations. The Wakandan Air Guard is the nation's air force, which includes pilots wearing powerful suits of combat armor. In order to ensure peace and stability in Wakanda, the Black Panther picked Dora Milaje ("adored ones") from rival tribes to serve as his personal guard and ceremonial wives-in-training. Wakanda has its own intelligence system known as the N'Charu Silema; a spy network that worked across the globe to maintain the nation's secrecy. It was considered as good as the Mossad and certainly better than the CIA and MI6. later, P.R.I.D.E. (Princess Regent Intelligence Division Executives) was developed as the nation's protection agency. Wakanda is one of the few Earth-616 civilizations who have contingency plans for dealing with Galactus, "The Devourer of Worlds".


title: Wakanda

text: In December 2019, it was discovered that the US Department of Agriculture's website listed Wakanda as a free-trade partner, with a list of traded goods which included ducks, donkeys and dairy cows. The USDA claimed the fictional country had been added to the list "by accident during a staff test" and removed it soon after the public became aware of it.


title: Wakanda

text: The Wakandan capital city, Birnin Zana, could offer an alternative for what future cities could be like in Africa. There are already many smart city initiatives being worked out in Africa, with many ecocities emerging across the continent.


title: Wakanda

text: Senegalese-American singer Akon announced plans to build "Akon City", a solar-powered "real-life" Wakanda on 2,000 acres of coastal land in Senegal inspired by Birnin Zana. He first shared his concept for a futuristic, technologically advanced city in 2018 and said it would welcome members of the African diaspora. "The Washington Post" reported that the project had secured $4 billion of the $6 billion investment necessary to build Akon City.


title: Wakanda

text: Technology writers have also compared Wakandan principles to those expressed in African technology research. Anti-colonial AI, for example, has been described as "in keeping with Wakandan principles" by developing technology for benevolent purposes. It also seeks "to avoid algorithmic exploitation and algorithmic oppression" in artificial intelligence.


title: Wakanda

text: The Wakanda name has also been adopted in small businesses. One example is Wakanda Place, an African and multicultural bar in Adelaide, South Australia. Entertainment at the bar includes DJs who play music from Africa and the African diaspora.


title: Wakanda

text: Wakanda appears in media set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Inhabitants from this version of the country speak in the Xhosa language, as T'Challa's actor Chadwick Boseman developed using a "regional accent based on where Wakanda would be. He did great research on the very cultural aspects of the character. Even though it's a fictional culture, [he figured] out ways to tether it into real African culture." Additionally, it is located at the northern end of Lake Turkana, at a fictional point bordering Ethiopia, South Sudan, Uganda, and Kenya. In real life, this area is actually a disputed border region known as the Ilemi Triangle, claimed by each of these countries. This follows the location of the country in the comics according to "Marvel Atlas #2".


title: Wakanda

text: The film "Black Panther" further established that, in keeping with this map location, it is a landlocked country in the central mountains far from the coasts. Impassable mountains and jungles around its borders have helped Wakanda isolate itself from outsiders. Internally, Wakanda consists of lush river valleys, mountain ranges rich in natural resources, and a fabulous capital city that integrates space-age technology with traditional designs.


title: Wakanda

text: Wakanda consists of five tribes, four of which are united under the rule of the first Black Panther 10,000 years ago. As in the comics, the four tribes (The River tribe, the Mining tribe, the Merchant tribe, and the Border tribe) worship Bast, the panther god, amongst others, and also have a strong spiritual tradition of ancestor worship.


title: Wakanda

text: The lords of each tribe sit on the king's council, and after the Mountain tribe assists T'Challa in his overthrow of the usurper, Erik "Killmonger" Stevens, M'Baku is also granted a seat on the council in recognition of his loyalty. The four main tribes speak a version of the Xhosa language while the Jabari speak an Igbo dialect. The opening animated sequence to "Black Panther" explains Wakanda was aware that the outside world was becoming increasingly chaotic throughout various historical events that affected Africa, such as the Atlantic slave trade, the colonization of Africa by European powers, World War I, and World War II. The Black Panthers of the past, however, were devoted to defending their own country and did not interfere, instead choosing to hide Wakanda from the world - fearing that if they became involved and revealed themselves, it would eventually lead to outsiders trying to invade Wakanda. Instead, Wakanda passes itself off as a small, poor Third World nation of humble herdsmen, using an advanced holographic projection shroud around its borders to hide the advanced technological civilization within. A core tension of the film's narrative is that the new Black Panther, T'Challa, is torn between his loyalty to hide and defend Wakanda as its king, and his own conscience to help the faltering world beyond its borders. Later in the film, Killmonger arrives to try and seize the throne - sharing T'Challa's desire to end Wakanda's isolationism, but by conquering the outside world using Wakanda's advanced technologies and weapons instead. Ultimately, T'Challa defeats Killmonger and decides to reveal Wakanda's true nature to the world during an address at the United Nations. The film's popularity led to a trend among athletes and celebrities around the world to throw up "Wakanda Forever" salutes after their victories. Director Ryan Coogler stated that his depiction of Wakanda was inspired by the southern African kingdom of Lesotho. Basotho blankets also became more known as a result of the film and its basis on Lesotho.


title: The Smurfs

text: The Smurfs (; ) is a Belgian comic franchise centered on a fictional colony of small, blue, humanoid creatures who live in mushroom-shaped houses in the forest. "The Smurfs" was first created and introduced as a series of comic characters by the Belgian comics artist Peyo (the pen name of Pierre Culliford) in 1958, wherein they were known as "Les Schtroumpfs". There are more than 100 Smurf characters, and their names are based on adjectives that emphasise their characteristics, such as "Jokey Smurf", who likes to play practical jokes on his fellow Smurfs. "Smurfette" was the first female Smurf to be introduced in the series. The Smurfs wear Phrygian caps, which came to represent freedom during the modern era.


title: The Smurfs

text: The word "smurf" is the original Dutch translation of the French "schtroumpf", which, according to Peyo, is a word he invented during a meal with fellow cartoonist André Franquin when he could not remember the word "salt".


title: The Smurfs

text: "The Smurfs" franchise began as a comic and expanded into advertising, films, TV series, ice capades, video games, theme parks, and toys.


title: The Smurfs

text: At the time he came up with the idea for the Smurfs, Peyo was the creator, artist, and writer of the Franco-Belgian comics series titled (translated to English as "Johan and Peewit"), set in Europe during the Middle Ages and including elements of sword-and-sorcery. Johan serves as a brave young page to the king, and Peewit (called Pirlouit (pronounced Peer-loo-ee) in the original French version.) functions as his faithful, if boastful and cheating, midget sidekick. In 1958, "Spirou" magazine started to publish the story ("The Flute with Six Holes"). The adventure involved them recovering a magic flute, which required some sorcery by the wizard Homnibus. In this manner, they met a tiny, blue-skinned humanoid in white clothing called a "Schtroumpf", followed by his numerous peers who looked just like him, with an elderly leader who wore red clothing and had a white beard. Their first full appearance was published in "Spirou" on October 23, 1958. The characters proved to be a huge success, and the first independent Smurf stories appeared in "Spirou" in 1959, together with the first merchandising. The Smurfs shared more adventures with Johan and Pirlouit, got their own series and all subsequent publications of the original story were retitled (also the title of the movie version of the story).


title: The Smurfs

text: With the commercial success of the Smurfs came the merchandising empire of Smurf miniatures, models, games, and toys. Entire collecting clubs have devoted themselves to collecting PVC Smurfs and Smurf merchandise.


title: The Smurfs

text: "Schtroumpf" () is pronounced like the German word "" meaning "sock". However, according to Peyo, the original author of the Smurfs comic strip, the term and the accompanying language of the Smurfs came during a meal he had with his colleague and friend André Franquin at the Belgian Coast. Having momentarily forgotten the word "salt", Peyo asked him (in French) to pass the "schtroumpf". Franquin jokingly replied, "Here's the "Schtroumpf"—when you are done "schtroumpfing", "schtroumpf" it back..." and the two spent the rest of that weekend speaking in ""schtroumpf" language". The name was later translated into Dutch as Smurf, which was adopted in English.


title: The Smurfs

text: Both the comics and cartoons have been translated in many languages. In most cases, the original name "Schtroumpf" is replaced by a new term. The most common are variations on the Dutch translation "Smurf", while other names are indicative of their gnome-like appearance.


title: The Smurfs

text: In English, they were briefly named "the goblins" in the book "Dilly Duckling and the Goblins" (1973) before being renamed "the Smurfs".


title: The Smurfs

text: In Spanish, they are called "Pitufos", a term invented by Miguel Agustí who was the head of the Spanish magazine "Strong" which first published the cartoon in Spanish. According to Agustí, he was walking around Barcelona while trying to come up a name for the cartoon. He came across a sculpture of the Ox of Patufet and was inspired by the word Patufet. From Patufet he derived the non-existent word Pitufo. The name later spread to most Spanish-language versions of the cartoon.


title: The Smurfs

text: The storylines tend to be simple tales of bold adventure. The cast has a simple structure as well: almost all the characters look essentially alike—mostly male (a few female Smurfs have appeared: Smurfette, Sassette, and Nanny Smurf), short ("three apples high"), with blue skin, white trousers with a hole for their short tails, white hat in the style of a Phrygian cap, and sometimes some additional accessory that identifies a personality (for example, "Handy Smurf" wears overalls instead of the standard trousers, a brimmed hat, and a pencil above his ear). Smurfs can walk and run, but often move by skipping on both feet. They love to eat sarsaparilla (a species of "Smilax") leaves, whose berries the Smurfs naturally call "smurfberries". The smurfberries appear only in the cartoon; in the original comics, the Smurfs only eat the leaves from the sarsaparilla.


title: The Smurfs

text: The Smurfs fulfill simple archetypes of everyday people: "Lazy Smurf", "Grouchy Smurf", "Brainy Smurf", and so on. All Smurfs, with the exception of Papa, Baby, Smurfette, Nanny and Grandpa, are said to be 100 years old. There were originally 99 Smurfs, but this number increased as new Smurf characters appeared, such as Sassette and Nanny. All of the original Smurfs were male; later female additions are Smurfette and Sassette. Smurfette was Gargamel's creation, while Sassette was created by the Smurflings.


title: The Smurfs

text: A characteristic of the Smurf language is the frequent use of the undefinable word "smurf" and its derivatives in a variety of meanings. The Smurfs frequently replace both nouns and verbs in everyday speech with the word "smurf": "We're going "smurfing" on the River Smurf today." When used as a verb, "to smurf" typically means "to make", "to be", "to like", or "to do".


title: The Smurfs

text: Humans have found that replacing ordinary words with the term "smurf" at random is not enough: in one adventure, Peewit explains to some other humans that the statement "I'm smurfing to the smurf" means "I'm going to the wood", but a Smurf corrects him by saying that the proper statement would be "I'm smurfing to the smurf"; whereas what Peewit said was "I'm warbling to the dawn". So "I'm smurfing to the smurf" is not the same as "I'm smurfing to the smurf".


title: The Smurfs

text: In the animated series, only some words (or a portion of the word) are replaced with the word "smurf". Context offers a reliable understanding of this speech pattern, but common vocabulary includes remarking that something is "just smurfy" or in some cases, "smurftastic".


title: The Smurfs

text: In (see "Smurf Versus Smurf"), published in Belgium in 1972, it was revealed that the smurf village was divided between North and South, and that the Smurfs on either side had different ideas as to how the term "smurf" should be used: for instance, the Northern Smurfs called a certain object a "bottle smurfer", while the Southern Smurfs called it a "smurf opener". This story is considered a parody on the still ongoing (language war) between French- and Dutch-speaking communities in Belgium.


title: The Smurfs

text: When they first appeared in 1958, the Smurfs lived in a part of the world called (French for "the Cursed Land"). To reach it required magic or travelling through dense forests, deep marshes, a scorching desert and a high mountain range. The Smurfs themselves use storks in order to travel long distances, such as to the kingdom where Johan and Pirlouit live, and keep up-to-date with events in the outside world.


title: The Smurfs

text: In the stories, the Smurf village is made up of mushroom-like houses of different shapes and sizes in a desolate and rocky land with just a few trees. However, in the Smurf series itself, the mushroom-like houses are more similar to one another and are located in a clearing in the middle of a deep forest with grass, a river, and vegetation. Humans such as Gargamel are shown to live nearby, though it is almost impossible for an outsider to find the Smurf village except when led by a Smurf.


title: The Smurfs

text: The Smurfs' community generally takes the form of a cooperative, sharing, and kind environment based on the principle that each Smurf has something they are good at, and thus contributes it to Smurf society as they can. In return, each Smurf appears to be given their necessities of life, from housing and clothes to food without using any money in exchange.


title: The Smurfs

text: Papa Smurf is the leader of the community. Other Smurfs are generally named after their personality disposition, much like Disney's Seven Dwarfs; for example, Brainy, Greedy, Vanity, Lazy, Clumsy, Hefty, Jokey, Dreamy, Grouchy, or their profession, for example, Poet, Actor, Handy, Harmony, Farmer, Clockwork, Painter, Tailor, Miner, Architect, Reporter, Timber, Barber and Doctor Smurf. The first female Smurf, Smurfette, was created by Gargamel to lure the other Smurfs. Papa Smurf then changed her into what we see today. The non-Smurf characters who would appear later would include their enemies: the wizard Gargamel, his cat Azrael, an ugly witch Hogatha, and Gargamel's godfather Balthazar; and their friends: the page Johan and his young friend Peewit, and the wizard Homnibus. There are 105 Smurfs.


title: The Smurfs

text: Since the first appearance of the Smurfs in in 1958, 39 Smurf comics volumes have been created, 16 of them by Peyo, the others by his studio. Originally, the Smurf stories appeared in "Spirou" magazine with reprints in many different magazines, but after Peyo left the publisher Dupuis, many comics were first published in dedicated Smurf magazines, which existed in French, Dutch, German and Turkish. A number of short stories and one page gags have been collected into comic books next to the regular series of 39. English translations have been published in the U.S. by the graphic novel publisher Papercutz as well as a mini series published by Marvel Comics in the mid-1980s.


title: The Smurfs

text: In 1965, a black-and-white 87-minute animated film called was released in theatres in Belgium. It consisted of five short cartoons made in the previous years for broadcasting on Walloon TV. German copies and copies with Dutch subtitles are known to exist. The stories were based on existing Smurf stories like "The Black Smurfs" and "The Smurfs and the Egg", and were created by writer Maurice Rosy and artist Eddy Ryssack from the small Dupuis animation studios. In total, ten animated shorts were created between 1961 and 1967, the first series in black and white and the later ones in colour.


title: The Smurfs

text: In 1976, (an adaptation of the original "Johan et Pirlouit" story) was released. Michel Legrand provided the musical score to the film. The film would be released in the United States in 1983 (after the animated series became popular there) in an English language dubbed version titled "The Smurfs and the Magic Flute". A few more full-length Smurf films were made, most notably "The Baby Smurf" and "Here are the Smurfs".</ref> created from episodes of the Hanna-Barbera television cartoon series.


title: The Smurfs

text: Sony Pictures announced plans to begin a trilogy of live-action/computer-animated Smurf films, with the first film released on July 29, 2011; the project had been in various stages of development since 2003. In June 2008, it was announced that Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation had acquired film rights from Lafig Belgium. Jordan Kerner produced the film, with the screenwriters including "Shrek 2" and "Shrek the Third" screenwriters J. David Stem and David N. Weiss. The film stars Jonathan Winters as Papa Smurf, Katy Perry as Smurfette, George Lopez as Grouchy Smurf, Gary Basaraba as Hefty Smurf, John Oliver as Vanity Smurf, Alan Cumming as Gutsy Smurf, Paul Reubens as Jokey Smurf, Hank Azaria as Gargamel, Neil Patrick Harris as Patrick Winslow and Jayma Mays as Grace Winslow, a couple in New York who help the Smurfs get back to their village. It was suggested that Quentin Tarantino would play Brainy Smurf, but this "didn't work out" so Fred Armisen voices Brainy instead. A CGI/traditionally animated mini-film, titled "", was released on December 2, 2011, on "The Smurfs" DVD and Blu-ray. A sequel to "The Smurfs", titled "The Smurfs 2", was released on July 31, 2013. A fully animated "Smurfs" reboot film, "", was released on April 7, 2017, with Demi Lovato starring as Smurfette.


title: The Smurfs

text: At CinemaCon on August 25, 2021, it was announced that a new Smurfs movie is in the works. The movie will be a musical and it is planned for a 2024 release for Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon. In August 2022, Paramount Pictures announced that the movie was pushed back to February 14, 2025, in favor to "Sonic the Hedgehog 3".


title: The Smurfs

text: The Smurfs secured their place in North American pop culture in 1981, when the Saturday morning cartoon series "The Smurfs", produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions in association with SEPP International S.à.r.l., aired on NBC from September 12, 1981, to December 2, 1989 (reruns until August 25, 1990). The show continued to air on the USA network until 1993, and on Cartoon Network until 2003. "The Smurfs" is still broadcast on the Boomerang channel throughout the United States. The show became a major success for NBC, spawning spin-off television specials on an almost yearly basis. "The Smurfs" was nominated multiple times for Daytime Emmy awards, and won Outstanding Children's Entertainment Series in 1982–1983. "The Smurfs" television show enjoyed continued success until 1990, when, after nearly a decade of success, NBC cancelled it due to decreasing ratings and plans to extend their "Today" morning show franchise to create a Saturday edition, although they did not do so until 1992, two years later. The decreased ratings were the result of the network changing the format of the show, resulting in the final season featuring regular time travel with only a few Smurfs.


title: The Smurfs

text: In the TV series, many classical masterpieces are used as background music during the episodes, among them Franz Schubert's Unfinished Symphony (Symphony No. 8 in B minor), Edvard Grieg's "Peer Gynt" and Modest Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition".


title: The Smurfs

text: "The Smurfs" was named the 97th best animated series by IGN. It has been called "kiddie cocaine" for people growing up during the 1980s.


title: The Smurfs

text: On August 31, 2017, it was announced that IMPS and Dupuis Audiovisuel would be working on the new Smurfs TV series with CGI animation. The series was scheduled for 2020 but postponed to 2021. It is co produced by Ketnet (Flanders), TF1 (France), KiKa (Germany), OUFTIVI (Wallonia), Peyo Productions, and Dupuis Audiovisuel (the TV branch of the comics publisher). It shows new stories, not adaptations of comics or other older stories. Nickelodeon picked up the series for a 2021 release in the United States.


title: The Smurfs

text: On February 26, 2008, Warner Home Video released Season 1 Volume 1 on DVD, containing the first 19 episodes. On October 7, 2008, Warner Bros. released Season 1 Volume 2 on DVD, containing the remaining 20 episodes from season 1. Though Warner Bros. has decided to discontinue the season sets and release single-disc volume sets instead, they are reportedly still following the correct order of episodes.


title: The Smurfs

text: Magna Home Entertainment in Australia has released a 9-disc 50th Anniversary Collection, containing a total of 52 episodes. In September 2009, a Smurfette-themed collection containing 25 episodes was made available followed by the "Papa Smurf Collection" in December 2009 containing 26 themed episodes.


title: The Smurfs

text: In July 2010, both the Smurfette and Papa Smurf Collection were included in a special 'Favourites Collection'. Also releasing at the same time was the Smurfs very first feature film (produced in 1975), "The Smurfs and the Magic Flute", available for the first time on DVD, in Australia.


title: The Smurfs

text: November 3, 2010, witnessed the release of two "Just Smurfy" collections, each featuring episodes not yet released on DVD to the Australian market. December 3, 2010 saw the 3rd collection hit the market. A fourth Just Smurfy set was planned for release on March 2, 2011.


title: The Smurfs

text: Magna Home Entertainment in Australia have released Season 1 and Season 2 on August 24, 2011. Season 3 and Season 4 was released on October 5, 2011. A limited edition "Ultimate Collection 1", which features the first five seasons, was released on August 24, 2011. An "Ultimate Collection 2", which features Season 6 to Season 9, was released on November 2, 2011.


title: The Smurfs

text: The show is being released on DVD in the UK through a joint conjunction with Arrow Films and Fabulous Films Ltd. The complete 1st season was released in a four-disc box set on July 5, 2010. Season 2 was released on September 6, 2010, Seasons 3, 4 and 5 were released on July 1, 2013, and the original Smurfs feature film, "The Smurfs and The Magic Flute", was released on DVD and Blu-ray on October 11, 2010.


title: The Smurfs

text: Papa Smurf, Hefty Smurf, and Brainy Smurf appeared in the cartoon crossover "Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue" along with Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck (from the Looney Tunes franchise), Huey, Dewey and Louie (from "DuckTales"), Winnie the Pooh and Tigger, Garfield, Alvin and the Chipmunks, the Muppet Babies (Kermit, Piggy and Gonzo respectively), Slimer (from "The Real Ghostbusters"), ALF, and Michelangelo (from "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles"). Smurfette appeared on the promotional poster, but never appeared in the actual film.


title: The Smurfs

text: From 1959 until the end of the 1960s, Dupuis produced Smurf figurines. But the best known and most widely available Smurf figurines are those made by Schleich, a German toy company. Most of the Smurf figurines given away as promotional material (e.g. by National Garages in the 1970s and McDonald's in the 1990s) are also made by Schleich. New Smurf figures continue to appear; in fact, only in two years since 1969 (1991 and 1998) have no new Smurfs entered the market. Schleich currently produces 8 to 12 new figurines a year. Over 300 million of them have been sold so far.


title: The Smurfs

text: Other Smurf figurines have been created for advertising purposes, e.g. worldwide for McDonald's and Kinder Surprise, or nationally for e.g. Albert Heijn in the Netherlands, and Delhaize in Belgium. Special Smurf comics were often created for advertising campaigns. This started in the 1960s for Kwatta and Kellogg's, and later for companies like BP in the UK and Australia, or Benco (a Dutch chocolate drink). These comics were often only part of a larger campaign, e.g. the Benco comics were accompanied by a TV ad.


title: The Smurfs

text: A Smurf balloon/float/Falloon (which is half float, half balloon) continues to be presented in holiday parades such as Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.


title: The Smurfs

text: Smurfs had two cereals in the 1980s made by Post Cereals: Smurf-Berry Crunch cereal and Smurfs Magic Berries. Both had animated commercials on Saturday morning. Two Smurfs pastas, made by Chef Boyardee and DelVerde, were made in the 1980s as well. Also Libby's and Heinz came out with Smurf-A-Getti canned pasta for the American and Canadian market.


title: The Smurfs

text: The Smurfs had a commercial in the 1980s for the Mexican snack cake company Marinela Submarinos with a rare version of Smurfette () dressed in a red dress and her hair done in pigtails.


title: The Smurfs

text: Over the decades, many singles and albums of Smurf music have been released in different countries and languages, sometimes very successfully, with millions of copies sold. The best known is the single "The Smurf Song" and its accompanying album, created by Dutch musician Pierre Kartner who sang under the alias Father Abraham, which reached the #1 position in 16 countries. Worldwide, more than 10 million CDs with Smurf music have been sold between 2005 and 2007 alone.


title: The Smurfs

text: In 1989, I.M.P.S and R-Tek Music, International created "", released by Quality Special Products in Canada and the United States and Dino Music in Australia. It was also released in parts of Europe. The Album came out on LP, CD and cassette. The LP featured 20 tracks (The Canadian CD and cassette had 16, the American CD had 10). The songs were covers of popular songs like "Surfin' U.S.A.", "Kokomo", "The Lion Sleeps Tonight", and "I Think We're Alone Now", as well as two original songs.


title: The Smurfs

text: For several years, the Smurfs were the children's act in the Ice Capades travelling ice show. After they were retired from that function, the Smurf suits from the show were issued to Ice Capades Chalets, the show's subsidiary chain of ice rinks, lasting until the show was sold to a group of investors led by Dorothy Hamill. The Chalets were sold to Recreation World. The Smurfette suit in particular had a somewhat different hairstyle from what was portrayed in the Hanna-Barbera cartoons.


title: The Smurfs

text: In 1984, the Smurfs began appearing in North American theme parks owned by Kings Entertainment Corporation. Each park featured a Smurf attraction and Smurf walk-around figures. Canada's Wonderland had an entire Smurf village to walk through, ending with Gargamel's Castle. "The Smurfs' Enchanted Voyage" was located in Kings Island. Kings Dominion has "Smurf Mountain". California's Great America featured a pint-sized steel coaster, "The Blue Streak". Carowinds had an artificial island that was named Smurf Island that had a Smurf village—including toadstool houses which could be entered. Hanna–Barbera Land had a Smurf district.


title: The Smurfs

text: In 1989, in the French region of Lorraine, the Sorépark group opened a complete Smurfpark, named Big Bang Schtroumpf. In 1991, the park was bought by the successful Belgian Walibi Group and renamed Walibi Schtroumpf with new attractions. After the Walibi Group was acquired by Six Flags, the park was named Walibi Lorraine, and all the Smurfs references in the park were removed in 2003.


title: The Smurfs

text: Comics Station, Motiongate Dubai, Movie Animation Park Studios, and Dream Island feature Smurf sections.


title: The Smurfs

text: The Smurfs have appeared in video games made for most major game consoles (including Nintendo's NES, Super NES, and Game Boy systems, Atari 2600, ColecoVision, Sega's Game Gear, Master System, Mega Drive and Mega CD systems, and the original Sony PlayStation) and for the PC. In 2010, the Smurfs expanded into the world of apps for Android, the iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch with the game "Smurf Village".


title: The Smurfs

text: In 2005, an advertisement featuring The Smurfs was aired in Belgium in which the Smurf village is annihilated by warplanes. Designed as a UNICEF advertisement, and with the approval of the family of the Smurfs' late creator Peyo, the 25-second episode was shown on the national television after the 9 p.m. timeslot to avoid children having to see it. It was the keystone in a fund-raising campaign by UNICEF's Belgian arm to raise money for the rehabilitation of former child soldiers in Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo—both former Belgian colonies.