Origins The Five Weapons Society was created during the
Qing dynasty to protect
China by the Sorcerer Brothers
Zheng Zu and Zheng Yi and their five disciples, the Deadly Warriors. Zu based the Deadly Warrior's names and the Society's structure off the Five Sets of Heavenly Weapons of
Ta-Lo: One Hammer (Hammer), Two Swords (Sabre), Nine Daggers (Dagger), Three Staffs (Staff) and
Ten Rings (Hand). On one such mission, the Sorcerer Brothers and the Deadly Warriors protected the
Tianjin Prefecture from
Fin Fang Foom. The
Ancient One, a fellow sorcerer and friend, provided the brothers the Eyes of the Dragon, a pair of stones that granted longevity and vigor while requiring the sacrifice of another. By 1860, the brothers had aged decades beyond their natural lifespans through the use of longevity spells and outlived the original Deadly Warriors, but had grown weaker as a result. During the
Second Opium War, the Society fought against
British forces, but were defeated by
Dormammu and the
Mindless Ones summoned by the British sorcerer Baron Harkness, resulting in the deaths of the era's Deadly Warriors. Zu attempted to use the Eyes of the Dragon to save the fatally wounded Yi at the cost of his own life, but not wanting to rule the Society alone, Yi reversed the spell, granting Zu immortality and restoring his youth, giving him the power to defeat the combined British forces. In the following years, each of the five Houses became supplemented with scores of Warriors, with the best ones being named the Champion of their house. Several of Zu's children would be raised in each of the Houses, with five of them each emerging as Champion. Zu turned the Society into a criminal empire, adopting the moniker
Fu Manchu and renaming the Society as the
Celestial Order of the Si-Fan.
Celestial Order of the Si-Fan Fu Manchu's son Shang-Chi was raised from infancy to be the Society's ultimate warrior. During his upbringing, Shang-Chi was unaware of the Si-Fan's true name or goals, nor the fact that he was the designated Champion of the House of the Deadly Hand. After discovering his father's evil nature, Shang-Chi defects from the Si-Fan, sparking a years long conflict with his father's criminal empire. At one point, Fu Manchu unites the Si-Fan with various groups like the
Dacoits,
Thugees,
Knights Templar, and
Hashashins into a single organization named the
Order of the Golden Dawn. The Golden Dawn's attempt to start World War III is thwarted by Shang-Chi and his allies. He became a
tong leader using the name
Wang Yu-Seng. The
Kingpin takes control of his own faction of the Si-Fan in
Hong Kong and provides them cybernetics. Shang-Chi joins forces with the
X-Men and
Elektra against the Kingpin's Si-Fan. Fu Manchu eventually resurfaces and employed
Zaran (Zhou Man She) to retrieve a chemical from
A.I.M. and later directed him to kill Shang-Chi for him. He sent his dacoits to aid Zaran against Shang-Chi and the
Marvel Knights. Although they succeeded in destroying the building that Shang-Chi was in, Zaran failed to slay him. Later retakes control of the Si-Fan but his plot to deploy his Hellfire Weapon is thwarted once again by his son and his allies, at that time it was known as
Comte de Saint Germain or
Ghost.
Celestial Order of the Hai-Dai Sometime after Fu Manchu's next death,
Steve Rogers tracks down Shang-Chi after the
Shadow Council resurrects Shang-Chi's father and employs the Si-Fan, now called the
Celestial Order of the Hai-Dai, Shang-Chi discovers with the
Secret Avengers his father's real identity as Zheng Zu. Shang-Chi is eventually captured by the Hai-Dai and taken to the Shadow Council and Zu, who plans to sacrifice Shang-Chi with the Eyes of the Dragon to complete his resurrection. The Shadow Council and Zu are thwarted when the
Prince of Orphans disrupts the ritual and kills Zu, resulting in his permanent death. The reveal of Zu's true identity results Fah Lo Suee's real identity,
Zheng Bao Yu being revealed as well. Now in full control of the Hai-Dai, Bao Yu resumes her father's long-forgotten experiment of bio-engineering
Brood eggs as weapons, which she uses to carry out hits in New York's
Chinatown. The plot is uncovered by
Misty Knight and
Annabelle Riggs of the
Fearless Defenders with help from
Elsa Bloodstone; the three track Bao Yu and the Hai-Dai assassins and scientists to an underground laboratory. With the help of No-Name of the Brood, the Fearless Defenders defeat the Hai-Dai and destroy the experiments, forcing Bao Yu to teleport away from her lair.
Supreme Commander Shang-Chi After Zu's death at the hands of the Prince of Orphans, leadership of the Five Weapons Society passes onto one of his sons, Brother Staff, who shifts the Society's goals to monetary gain, including drug dealing. Dissatisfied with this direction, Zu's daughter Sister Hammer usurps control of the Society from Staff. Despite Zheng Zu's spirit naming Shang-Chi as his successor, Hammer names herself Supreme Commander of the Society. While the Warriors of the Deadly Staff and Hammer pledge their loyalty to her, the remaining House Champions Brother Sabre and
Sister Dagger seek out Shang-Chi for him to reclaim his rightful place as the legitimate ruler. The two tell him of the Society's true name and history and his role as the Champion To bolster her forces, Hammer revives her father's experiments with
jiangshi, eventually raising an undead army to attack
London. With the combined efforts of Shang-Chi, the loyal Society members and
Leiko Wu, the jiangshi army was destroyed and Hammer flees from the Society. Shang-Chi is subsequently named Supreme Commander and vows to return the Society to its nobler roots. As the new Supreme Commander, Shang-Chi works diligently to undo Zheng Zu's evil influence over the Society, including shutting down a rogue drug ring still loyal to his father in
New York City. When a
Cosmic Cube is up for bid in
Macau, Shang-Chi and Brother Sabre attend the auction as representatives of the Society to prevent the Cube from being purchased by the other attending criminal organizations. Due to the disappearance of the original House of the Deadly Hand following Zheng Zu's death, Shang-Chi has a new House of the Deadly Hand built in
New York City's
Chinatown, which also serves as the main headquarters for the Society. Shang-Chi is also able to convince his exiled
mutant half-sister Zheng Zhilan into rejoining the Society as its new Sister Staff. Despite Shang-Chi's efforts to reform the Society, several of his superhero allies became wary of his involvement with his father's criminal empire. After the Cosmic Cube Shang-Chi acquired from Macau and gave to
Captain America was revealed to be a fake, the
Avengers become convinced that Shang-Chi has embraced his father's evil ways. The Avengers,
Spider-Man and
Mister Fantastic confront Shang-Chi, leading to a battle with the Society. When it was revealed that Brother Sabre had stolen the Cube without Shang-Chi's knowledge, Shang-Chi hands him to the Avengers and returns the Cube. Unbeknownst to Shang-Chi, several enemies Shang-Chi made under the reformed Five Weapons Society are recruited by Chieftain Xin, who holds a grudge against Zheng Zu and his bloodline ever since Zu attempted to steal sacred weapons from
Ta-Lo to bolster the Society in the past. Believing Shang-Chi to be just as corrupt as his father, Xin dispatches his allies to assassinate his grandson, but are thwarted by the Society. However, Xin resorts to kidnapping his daughter and Shang-Chi's mother
Jiang Li. Jiang Li was able to escape her imprisonment and flees to the House of the Deadly Hand to warn the Society of an attack from Xin's Qilin Riders, who are with
taotie masks. The Society then engages in battle with the Riders to defend their headquarters. Several Society members disgruntled with Shang-Chi's rule recover Zheng Zu's remains and attempt to use them as part of a ritual to summon a younger version of Zheng Zu from the past to take over the Society. The ritual is thwarted by Shang-Chi and the House Champions but Shang-Chi is temporarily sent back in time to the
First Opium War where he encounters younger versions of Zheng Zu and Zheng Yi and that era's Deadly Warriors.
Gang War The Five Weapons Society is one of the many criminal organizations involved in the "
Gang War" storyline after the assassination attempt on
Tombstone leaves a power vacuum within New York's criminal underworld. Due to the close proximities of their territories, Chinatown and
Two Bridges, the Society intervenes in the turf war between
Mister Negative and
Lady Yulan. Struggling between his commitment to New York's superheroes, maintaining the loyalty of the Society's battle hungry warriors and prioritizing Chinatown's safety, Shang-Chi minimalizes Society's activities as much as possible in the Gang War. Spider-Man confronts Shang-Chi for his involvement with the other crime lords, but Shang-Chi explains that he is only doing so to protect Chinatown's citizens and reassures Spider-Man that he would keep the Society confined to Chinatown. Throughout the rest of the Gang War, Shang-Chi has his soldiers distribute supplies and set up defensive barriers throughout Chinatown instead of deploying them for combat in the other territories. While mos of the Society follows through with Shang-Chi's orders, several members led by Captain Feng believe that Shang-Chi's actions are weakening the Society and stage a coup against him, which Shang-Chi easily fights off. Although Shang-Chi is able to keep Chinatown safe by manipulating the Society's biggest enemies into fighting each other,
Mayor Luke Cage is angered that Shang-Chi broke his promise to keep the Society further out of the war and that his efforts to consolidate his power have riled up the city's supervillains; Cage gathers Spider-Man,
Danny Rand,
She-Hulk and Tombstone to confront Shang-Chi and the Society at their headquarters. Despite the Society's victories in the Gang War, their territories were somehow usurped by
Madame Masque and later by Tombstone, along with all of the other territories within New York's criminal underworld, after the end of the Gang War.
Thunderbolts Shang-Chi is recruited by
Bucky Barnes into his new
Thunderbolts team to eliminate the
Red Skull and his enterprises. Using the codename Gamemaster, Shang-Chi and Barnes travel to
Hong Kong to intercept
U.S. Agent and
American Kaiju, who were tricked by the Red Skull's spies within the
United States Army into destroying the Skull's remaining secret base to cover his escape. When Red Skull remotely forces American Kaiju to rampage in the city, Shang-Chi orders the Five Weapons Society to protect citizens and provides Barnes with the mystical Ring of
Kuafu, allowing Barnes to grow into the size of a giant to subdue American Kaiju. == Other versions ==