Qin Shi Huang

Qin Shi Huang was the first Ruler of China.

A competent fighter, Huang defeated the sorcerer Lo Pan and cursed him to live as a ghost (*Big Trouble in Little China*).

During the Warring States period, Nameless, a Qin prefect, arrived at the Qin capital city to meet the king of Qin, who had survived an attempt on his life by the assassins Sky, Falling Snow, and Broken Sword. As a result, the king has implemented extreme security measures: no visitors allowed to approach the king within 100 paces. Nameless claims that he has slain the three assassins and he displays their weapons before the king, who allows the former to approach within ten paces and tell him his story.

Nameless recounts first killing Long Sky, before traveling to meet Flying Snow and Broken Sword, who had taken refuge at a calligraphy school in the Zhao state. He tells Sword that he is there to commission a calligraphy scroll with the character for "Sword" (劍), secretly seeking to learn Sword's skill through his calligraphy. Nameless also learns that Snow and Sword, who are lovers, had gradually grown distant. Once the scroll is complete, Nameless reveals his identity and challenges Snow to a duel the next day, to avenge her secret lover Long Sky. Sword, in anger at Snow's betrayal to him, makes love to his pupil Moon, and is seen by Snow. In revenge, Snow kills Sword, followed by Moon when she attempted to seek revenge for her master. The next day, Nameless kills the emotionally unstable Snow before the Qin army, and claims her sword.

As the tale concludes, the king expresses disbelief and accuses Nameless of staging the duels with the assassins, as in the previous assassination attempt he had perceived Sword as an honourable man who would not stoop so low as to cheat on Snow. The king then suggests that what really happened was that the assassins volunteered their lives so that Nameless could gain the king's trust, which would allow Nameless, a member of the Proto-Assassins, to get close enough to the king to kill him. He then narrates his guess at what really happened.

In the king's hypothetical version of the story, Nameless had sought out Snow and Sword after staging the battle with Sky, telling them that he had acquired a special technique that would allow him to kill any target that is within ten paces. Nameless explains that he can use this technique to kill the king, but to get close enough he must present Snow's and Sword's weapons to the king. He further explains that he only needs to kill one of them in public to "prove" that he has killed both of them. Snow and Sword argue over who should be the one to die, which results in a short fight in which Snow is quicker and manages to injure Sword. Snow then proceeds to meet Nameless before the Qin army while Sword, still recovering from his wound, watches helplessly as Snow is defeated. Moon then gives Nameless her master's sword, telling him that the swords of Snow and Sword should remain together in death as they had in life.

Nameless admits that he does indeed possess the special technique the king alluded to. However, he states that the King had underestimated Sword, and tells the true story. Nameless says that the special technique, while deadly, can also be used to deal a seemingly-fatal blow that nonetheless misses all the victim's vital organs. He had used this technique on Sky, and now asked Snow and Sword to cooperate by faking a duel with him as well. He demonstrates the technique by showing that it is highly accurate as well as deadly. Snow agrees to the plan, but Sword refuses. Snow angrily accuses Sword of ruining the opportunity they had three years ago, when they had broken into the Qin palace yet Sword had refused to kill the king. She then attacks Sword, and manages to wound him with Nameless's help. The next day, Nameless "kills" Snow in front of the Qin army. Sword sends Nameless off to the Qin capital, writing the words Tianxia in the sand before leaving. Sword had not killed the king 3 years ago because he desired a unified, peaceful state, and only the king of Qin could achieve that vision.

The king, touched by the tale and by Sword's understanding of his dream to unify China, ceases to fear Nameless. He tosses his sword to Nameless and examines the scroll drawn by Sword. The king understands that it describes the ideal warrior, who, paradoxically, should have no desire to kill. When Nameless realizes the wisdom of these words, he abandons his mission and spares the king.

When Snow learns that Sword had convinced Nameless to forgo the assassination, she furiously attacks Sword and unintentionally kills him when he chooses not to defend himself so that she would understand his feelings for her. Overwhelmed with sorrow, Snow commits suicide. Urged by his court, the king reluctantly orders Nameless to be executed at the Qin palace for his assassination attempt. He understands that in order to unify the nation, he must enforce the law and use Nameless as an example. Nameless receives a hero's funeral and the king: Qin Shi Huang, becomes the first Emperor of China, also known as Han, the Dragon Emperor.

The Emperor Han had intended to conquer lands in his name, and succeeded in claiming many territories for himself with no opposition; none in China could best him in strategy or strength, as many times during his campaigns, several assassins were sent to kill him in his sleep, but the men were all defeated before they could come close to harming the Emperor.

In 211 BCE, A Meteorite crashes in China foretelling the death of Qin Shi Huang, he becomes obsessed with obtaining immortality.

Han had learned, in his desires to become immortal, of a witch that knew of the means to immortality, and so sent his trusted general and friend, Ming Guo, to bring the witch back. Once the witch, Zi Yuan by name, was brought before the Emperor, she confessed that she did not know the means of immortality, though she knew where to find it: in the monastery of Turfan.

Han had sent his general and the sorceress to Turfan to find the formula to become immortal, though Ming Guo and Zi Yuan had, while in Turfan, fallen in love, to the Emperor's displeasure and defied his command that no man touch her. Zi Yuan had returned from Turfan with the Oracle Bones, a packet of ancient spells and enchantments that contained the secrets of immortality, and cast the spell to grant the Emperor his desire in Sanskrit, a language that the Emperor did not know: as punishment, Han ordered Ming Guo to be drawn and quartered by four horses. Han told Zi Yuan that if she agreed to become his queen, Ming would be spared, but Zi Yuan knew that the Emperor would never keep his word: the Emperor indifferently responded that she was right, and had Ming killed regardless.

That moment, Han attempted to stab Zi Yuan with his dagger, and stabbed her, to which Zi Yuan cast a spell on the Emperor that transformed all his troops, horses, and eventually the Emperor himself into terracotta statues as she escaped.

In his demise, the Emperor was entombed in an elaborate terracotta tomb, shaped to resemble a carriage with horses, but the Emperor's body was interred in one of the terracotta figures rather than the area for his body, in which was stored the corpse of a eunuch; the resulting coffin was interred in a chamber in which resided the Emperor's prized possessions and was even adorned with the Emperor's favoured concubines, all mummified with him *(The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor).*

## **Revival**

This would not be the end for the emperor, however, as centuries later, explorers had visited his tomb, looking for it, among them Sir Colin Bembridge, who was killed in the tomb entrance by a booby trap in the 1800's. Years later, in 1947 A.D, the rising archaeologist Alex O'Connell, along with his own professor, Roger Wilson, visited the Emperor's tomb in China. Many of the diggers accompanying them were killed by the booby traps but Alex himself managed to reach the tomb, finding the Emperor's elaborately-crafted coffin, which was then brought back to Shanghai.

Han's tomb was made into a new exhibit in the Shanghai Museum due to open the following day, and it was within the museum that Roger Wilson accompanied Alex O'Connell's parents Rick and Evelyn O'Connell in a preview of the tomb, where he revealed his duplicity: Roger Wilson was a double agent working for a rogue branch of the Chinese army and intended to bring Emperor Han back to life so as to restore China to its former glory. Within the museum, an artifact in the possession of Evelyn, the Eye of Shangri-La, was brought forward, producing a small amount of elixir that was splashed onto the Emperor's remains.

He was revived, but the curse was still on him, and whenever a piece of stone was chipped away from him, it would always grow back, essentially temporarily making him a living terracotta statue. He enlisted the help of General Yang who was acting on the aid of Professor Roger Wilson who tried to hitch a ride with the emperor on his chariot. But the emperor casually beheaded him with a red hot hand. While he was pursued by O'Connell, his wife Evelyn, and her brother Jonathan, O'Connell's son Alex and an immortal named Lin were clinging onto his chariot without his knowledge.

O'Connell and Jonathan eventually fire a large fireworks cannon toward the emperor. It fails, as the emperor merely just kicks the head out of harms way, and it hits a passing trolley instead. Eventually, he finds out about Alex and Lin. Lin is shot by Yang, but is uninjured. Alex and Lin, still clinging onto the chariot, are then split off by Yang, and the emperor promptly ices up the road so they can't follow. They all fail to catch the emperor.

He eventually advances to the gate of Shangri-La, where a fierce battle takes place. He casually stops some TNT set to blow up a tower needed to point the way to Shangri-La. He places the Eye on the tower and mortally wounds O'Connell just after Alex throws an explosive charge set to blow on some part of the mountain. An avalanche ensues. The emperor stops it at first, but then Lin tries to kill him with her cursed dagger, and the momentary distraction renders him unable to stop the avalanche, and he is knocked down out of the gate.

He gets out of the snow to find Yang trying to climb away. He asks where he was going, and Yang promptly comes back. The emperor eventually finds his way to Shangri-La and immerses himself in the pool of eternal life (but not before he breaks his stone shell off). He emerges invigorated, and he transforms into a hideous three-headed dragon and kidnaps Lin. Yang rides on his back and they all go back to where he was dug up.

While there, he raises up his terracotta army, which then proceeds to attack an undead army raised by Zi Yuan, who survived and became an immortal. Zi Yuan sacrificed her and Lin's immortality to raise the army. She confronts the emperor and has a brief swordfight with him before she lets herself get stabbed to get back the cursed dagger, and she finally dies moments later.

Eventually, he decides to stop the army himself, by negating Zi Yuan's spell. He is stopped by Alex and his father, who survived, but Alex is casually knocked out. O'Connell then challenges the emperor to a fair fight, without his sword and powers, which he agrees to.

At first, the emperor has the upper hand, and kicks Rick against the wall. Rick finds a half of the dragon dagger (broken earlier) with a division sign next to it. He realizes this is Alex's way of telling him the plan they had made earlier "Divide and Conquer" He grabs it up and proceeds to fight the emperor with all his might. He is about to plunge his half into the emperors heart, when Han twists his arm. Luckily at that moment Alex stabs him in the back with the other half of the dagger, allowing Rick to push his half in. The two halves connect and melt together in his heart, allowing Rick to pull out a full dagger. Han promptly bursts lava out of his eyes and chest, and explodes, turning his army back to sand for good and possibly taking them to the Underworld.