These Are Shang-Chi's Biggest Foes

Ever since his debut in "Special Marvel Edition" #15 in 1973, Shang-Chi's one true archenemy has always been his evil, scheming father — even though his father's exact identity has changed multiple times. 

When the "Kung Fu Craze" reached America's shores in the 70s, Marvel decided to purchase the comic book rights to Sax Rohmer's "Fu Manchu" novels and created Shang-Chi as his previously unknown son. Fu Manchu was the racist, xenophobic personification of "Yellow Peril," the Western fear that Asian immigrants would eventually wipe out "white culture" around the world. 

Marvel used the loss of the rights to Rohmer's creations as an opportunity to establish a new backstory for Shang-Chi's father that attempted to distance the villain from his racist roots. Renamed "Zheng Zhu" in 2010's "Secret Avengers" #8 the Master of Kung Fu's father was now an immortal wizard who sought to conquer the world using his vast criminal cult, the Five Weapons Society, which consisted of Zhu's Orders of the Si-Fan, the Golden Dawn, and the Hai Dai.

To fulfill his dreams of global conquest, Zu trained his son, Shang-Chi, from birth to be the ultimate warrior. But when he sent the lad on his first assassination mission, the young martial artist returned and informed his father that he would foil Zhu's plans to rule the world. 

Thus betrayed, Zhu remained Shang-Chi's biggest enemy until his death in "Master of Kung Fu #118" in 1982, though the character would make several brief returns in the years that followed. 

Originally one of Sax Rohmer's problematic "Fu Manchu" characters, Fah Lo Suee's name was changed to "Zheng Bao Yu" once Marvel lost the rights. The daughter of Zheng Zhu, Bao Yu was Shang-Chi's half-brother, and although the two both sought to defeat their father, they wanted to so for completely different reasons. While Shang-Chi wanted to bring an end to Zhu's criminal empire and the destruction it caused around the globe, Bao Yu wished to supplant their father and claim his empire for herself. 

The daughter of Zheng Zhu made the transition to the comic book panel in 1975's "Master of Kung Fu" #26 where she butted heads with Shang-Chi for the first time. It was common for the two to temporarily join forces against their father, though Shang-Chi always kept his guard up lest his devious sister finally manage to trick him into delivering their father's empire into her hands. 

For a time, she managed to gain control of MI6, causing Shang-Chi and his many spy allies to leave the agency and create an independent spy agency called "Freelance Restorations" in 1982's "Master of Kung Fu" #113 and 114. Years later in 2013's "Fearless Defenders" #8 through 12, Bao Yu was experimenting on the alien species known as the Brood in an effort to turn them into her tools of destruction, only to be stopped by Misty Knight's Defenders team. 

Originally introduced in "Master of Kung Fu" #29 in 1975, Razor-Fist would become one of Shang-Chi's most frequently recurring villains and have no less than three different criminals take up the name. The first Razor-Fist was simply an enhanced bodyguard named William Young who worked for a crime lord named Carlton Velcro. 

Young served as Velcro's assassin and enforcer as needed, and the crime lord eventually had Young's fists replaced with literal blades in order to somehow augment the villain's martial arts prowess. When Shang-Chi and the first Razor-Fist finally met in the field of battle, however, Velcro's guards accidentally shot and killed Young in "Master of Kung Fu" #31 while trying to hit Shang-Chi. 

Years later in 1981's "Master of Kung Fu" #105, Velcro decided to create two new Razor-Fists when two of his men, brothers William and Douglass Scott, each lost a hand in a car accident. Velcro replaced each of their missing hands with one of William Young's blades and had the two brothers pretend to be the same villain by taking turns serving as his new assassin. 

William ultimately dies in the same manner as his namesake when Velcro accidentally shoots and kills him as well in "Master of Kung Fu" #106, leaving Douglas Scott as the sole remaining Razor-Fist. Douglas would go on to clash with Shang-Chi several times over the years and would even come to blows with other Marvel superheroes like Hawkeye and the mutant Wolverine.

Introduced in "Master of Kung Fu" #42 in 1976, Lancaster Sneed adopted the name "Shockwave" after he used metal plates to rebuild himself in the wake of a horrific injury. He initially tried to make a living as a circus performer across the globe, but after returning to the US and creating a new exoskeletal power suit, he vowed to get his revenge on those he believed were responsible for his injuries: MI6. 

Shockwave attacked MI6 and used his "Shockwave Armor" to give Shang-Chi a run for his money. The armor granted Sneed an incredible amount of protection, gave him a slight boost in speed, strength, and agility, and equipped him with jet-powered flight, laser canons, and, rather appropriately, shockwave emitters. The high-tech gadgetry almost made the villain a challenge for Shang-Chi in "Master of Kung Fu" #43 through 45, but the hero quickly put him down and discovered that he was actually the nephew of Sir Dennis Nayland Smith. 

Smith was one of Shang-Chi's most trusted allies and was his main point of contact with MI6, and the discovery of Shockwave's identity was a surprise to both of them. Sneed had worked with his uncle in MI6 until one day, on a routine mission in Africa, Sneed suffered the injuries that affected his mental state, forcing him to leave MI6 and become the villainous Shockwave. 

Grigori Sovchenko was introduced in 1982's "Master of Kung Fu" #110. Thanks to his father's position as a high-ranking member of the KGB, Grigori was chosen to join a rare "exchange program" between China and Russia, during which two of the most skilled Chinese martial artists would trade places with one Russian for a period of 15 years. 

Master of the "Naked Kill" fighting style, Grigori was the most dangerous man in all of Russia by the time the two Chinese assassins returned home. After killing several top spies throughout Russia without raising suspicion, Grigori adopted the name "The Ghost Maker" and officially joined the KGB, though he soon declared himself a free agent. 

Ghost Maker came into conflict with Shang-Chi and MI6 during the Russian agent's attempted assassination of Queen Elizabeth II. Though usually the assured victor in any fight, Shang-Chi was shocked to discover that he could not beat the Ghost Maker in combat and was narrowly defeated a number of times as the master of kung fu attempted to stop the assassin. Eventually Ghost Maker made a mistake, however, and accidentally doused himself in the acid he had meant to use on the queen, subsequently dying in "Master of Kung Fu" #111.

A good villain rarely stays down, however, and Grigori was eventually resurrected by the Hand in 1994's Daredevil Annual #10 and sent to kill Elektra. With Daredevil and Shang-Chi's help, Elektra defeats the assassin by stabbing him in the head, killing him once again. 

The main villain of the "Shang-Chi: Master of Kung Fu" adult comic book miniseries, Moving Shadow was yet another son of Zheng Zhu who sought to defeat Shang-Chi and thus replace him at their father's side. Introduced in the series' first issue in 2002, Moving Shadow would prove to be a challenging foe for his heroic brother. 

Like Shang-Chi, Moving Shadow was trained in the ways of Martial Arts from birth, but unlike the master of kung fu, Shadow completely embraced his father's evil ways and vowed to serve him with absolute loyalty. Moving Shadow did not even question Zhu's order to kill his own brother, and attacked the hero the first chance he got. 

Ultimately, however, Shang-Chi once again proved himself to be the better fighter and defeated his half-brother without killing him. Utterly beaten and left in disgrace, Moving Shadow returned to Zheng Zhu, but the cold-blooded villain murdered his son for his failure. 

In "Master of Kung Fu" #61, Shang-Chi fought a Triad assassin named Chao Sima who operated under the codename of "Skull-Crusher" due to his signature weapons: steel balls bound to his wrists via long chains. Hired to kill Shang-Chi, the pair would come to blows multiple times over the years, and Shang-Chi always emerged the victor. Years later, their relationship radically changed in when Leiko Wu fell in love with Chao Sima before being murdered by a villain known only as the "White Dragon."

Though White Dragon originally debuted in 1978's "Amazing Spider Man" #184, he wouldn't battle Shang-Chi until 2014's "Deadly Hands of Kung Fu" #2 and 3, when Chao Sima approached the Master of Kung Fu and asked for his help in avenging Leiko Wu's murder. Though he initially distrusted the former villain, Shang-Chi agreed to help Skull-Crusher, and the duo infiltrated the White Dragon's castle, where they discovered a secret ritual led by none other than a resurrected Midnight Sun, Shang-Chi's adoptive brother, that would grant the villain untold power. 

Midnight Sun's willing servant, the White Dragon held off Shang-Chi and Skull-Crusher until the ceremony is nearly over, at which point he kills both himself and Skull-Crusher in order to complete the ritual. Chao Sima had gotten the upper hand, however, and made sure that the ceremony didn't grant Midnight Sun power but instead resurrected his beloved Leiko, who cast Sun into the underworld, making White Dragon's sacrifice meaningless.