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Steel Serpent

Steel Serpent (Davos) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is usually depicted as an enemy of Iron Fist.

Publication history
The first, otherwise unnamed, Steel Serpent appeared in The Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #10 (1974), his only appearance, and was created by Jenny Blake Isabella and Frank McLaughlin. The second Steel Serpent, Davos, debuted in Iron Fist #1 (1975) and was created by Chris Claremont and John Byrne. == Fictional character biography ==
Fictional character biography
Davos is a native of K'un-Lun and the son of Lei Kung. A gifted student of his father, Davos was one of two candidates who earned the right to challenge for the power of the Iron Fist but was defeated by Wendell Rand, the adopted son of K'un-Lun's ruler Lord Tuan. Davos accused Tuan of unfairly favoring his son and left the city without permission to confront the dragon Shou-Lao. Failing to defeat the dragon, he returned to K'un-Lun in disgrace and was exiled to Earth. Twenty years later, Wendell's son Daniel succeeds in winning the Iron Fist power and soon afterwards returns to Earth. Davos tracks Iron Fist to New York and steals his power. Since he had not earned it fairly, the Iron Fist's power consumes Davos's body and returns to Danny. Davos is later defeated by Junzo Muto, the teenage leader of the Hand, who then absorbs the remnants of the Iron Fist from his body, resulting in his second death. The Immortal Iron Fist Davos is resurrected and granted power by the Crane Mother, promising to locate and destroy the renegade Iron Fist Orson Randall in return. His power is further enhanced after he consumes the life forces of the Crane Mother's daughters. Davos allies with Hydra against Iron Fist in a plot to build a tunnel through the K'un-Lun mountains. Davos locates Randall in an opium den in Bangkok, Thailand and reports to the Crane Mother, who sends two of her daughters to investigate. When Davos attacks Randall, Randall allows him to kill him, claiming that he will no longer have to run. Now known as the Steel Phoenix, Davos takes part in the Tournament of the Seven Heavenly Cities. Early in the tournament, he battles Tiger's Beautiful Daughter, who cuts off his left hand. Enraged, Davos forms a new hand by concentrating his chi, then nearly beats his opponent to death. The next day, the Prince of Orphans challenges Davos to a fight instead of his scheduled opponent, Fat Cobra. Davos accepts, only to be swiftly defeated by the Prince. Davos takes part in the rebellion of K'un-Lun after his father forces him to recognize the potential treachery of his allies by asking him to consider the possibility that there might another angle that he had not anticipated rather than constantly assuming that he was always right. He helped overthrow the Yu-Ti Nu-An and began a process of redeeming himself in the eyes of his peers. His father, Lei Kung the Thunderer, who has taken over leadership of K'un-Lun, charged him with guarding a dragon egg, from which Shou-Lao shall be reborn for the next Iron Fist to fight. Iron Fist: The Living Weapon Davos' redemption does not last. He forms an alliance with the One, an android who had absorbed the memories of Wendell Rand, to take over K'un-Lun. The two lead their army of cybernetic ninjas to sack K'un-Lun. While the One kills Lei-Kung, Davos attempts to take Shou-Lao's egg, blinding his adopted sister Sparrow in the process, but a young monk named Pei flees with the egg to New York City to search for Rand. Davos and his soldiers track Pei down and captures her and the hatchling, Gork. He then meets with the One at the Rand Building to turn New York into New K'un-Lun. Iron Fist and Sparrow confront Davos at the Rand Building, with Sparrow staying behind to fight her brother while Iron Fist takes on the One. Using the siphoned chi of K'un-Lun's citizens, the One attempts to open a portal to the afterlife to summon Wendell's deceased wife Heather, but instead summons the Xian fire god Zhu Rong, who attacks the city for the One's actions in upsetting the universal order. Realizing all is lost, Davos attempt to flee back to K'un-Lun, but is stopped by Sparrow and the other freed citizens. In the ensuing fight, Davos kills Gork to gain the Iron Fist for himself. Instead, Pei receives the power and swiftly defeats Davos while Iron Fist absorbs the One's chi to vanquish Zhu Rong. ''Deadly Hands of K'un-Lun'' Davos' Iron Fist powers are restored by Lin Feng and he joins Feng's campaign to revive Chiyou. He leads Feng's army in ravaging the Seven Heavenly Cities and killing the Immortal Weapons. Feng then has Davos lead the War Fists to invade New York City from a portal in K'un-Lun. Despite some resistance from Lin Lie, Feng's brother and the current Iron Fist, and Lie's friends, Davos reaches his true target: the Inhuman Tower of Wisdom which houses a portal to Attilan, but he is intercepted and defeated by Karnak. == Powers and abilities ==
Powers and abilities
The Steel Serpent is a master of the martial arts of K'un-Lun, including those practiced millennia ago. His skills rival those of Iron Fist, and he has defeated him several times in combat, though usually with the element of surprise on his side. He is very strong, fast, agile, and tough with lightning quick reflexes and reactions. He has proved capable of draining the power of the Iron Fist (the energies of Shou-Lao) from its wielder by pressing his serpentine tattoo against the wielder's dragon tattoo. On at least one occasion he retained some fragment of Shou-Lao's power after the previous holder of the Iron Fist had reclaimed his power. At his full power he has weathered assaults from Spider-Man. Davos has used his chi-absorbing abilities to absorb the life-force of other beings, including their flesh blood, allowing him to heal his body from near fatal wounds. Davos once wielded taloned gloves that were equipped with miniature flamethrowers, which he called the Serpent's Sting. Davos was granted the power of the Crane Mother, giving him similar chi-augmenting abilities as the Iron Fist. Since taking on the nom de guerre of the Steel Phoenix, Davos has been able to perform the Steel Phoenix Blow. The first time he executed this move, he created a replacement hand from chi after his original hand was just severed. After the Crane Mother cut him off from her power, Davos was gifted a cybernetic arm by the One. Made from the same technology as the One, Davos' arm is equipped with several attributes, including being able to manifest itself at will and altering its appearance. Upon entering the service of Lin Feng, Davos was granted the power of the Iron Fist again through Feng's dark magic. == In other media ==
In other media
Television Davos / Steel Serpent appears in Iron Fist, portrayed by Sacha Dhawan, while his younger self is portrayed by Shiv Pai. Video games • Steel Serpent appears as a playable character in Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2, voiced by Sacha Dhawan. == References ==
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