Jade Dragon

Publication history

The Jade Dragon was created by Bill Mantlo and Jim Lee and his first appearance was in Alpha Flight vol. 1 #59 (June 1988).

The character subsequently appears in Alpha Flight #60-62 (July–September 1988), #64-66 (November 1988-January 1989), and X-Force Annual #3 (1988).

Jade Dragon received an entry in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Update '89 #4.

Fictional character biography

Dei Guan is an orphan, the only child of parents who were branded as intellectuals and executed during the tumultuous Cultural Revolution in China. Dei Guan was placed in a "re-education camp." There he endured incessant propaganda harangues in between long stretches of hard labor in the iron mines.

It was during one of his shifts in the iron mine that the mysterious Geomancer appeared and told Dei Guan that their ancestors believed that "dragons of jade" lived beneath the earth and lent their powers to great warriors. He then imparted to Dei Guan the power of the Jade Dragon. Using this new power, Dei Guan transformed himself into a dragon and escaped the mines. Despite the suffering he had endured, Dei Guan continued to consider himself a Chinese patriot. Therefore, he did not attempt to flee or defect. Shortly after his escape from the mines, the notorious Gang of Four who had ruled China after Mao Zedong's death was arrested. In the wake of the new political era; Dei Guan offered his services to the country by enlisting in the army.

The Jade Dragon's first battle occurred in the remote province of Danwei which borders the Soviet Union. Dei Guan was part of an army contingent ordered to sub-due a mountain temple inhabited, according to the government, by rebellious monks. The troops were prevented from advancing by an impenetrable force shield generated by the monks' minds. Unable to penetrate or destroy it with conventional weapons, the troops' commander ordered Dei Guan to transform into the Jade Dragon to destroy the shield and kill the monks. The Jade Dragon shattered the force shield with a blow from his tail, then incinerated the monks with his fiery breath. Despite his promptness in carrying out his commander's orders, the Jade Dragon regretted his actions since he believed the monks had posed no threat to the government. The commander then ordered the Jade Dragon to fly ahead to the temple and subdue any resistance. The Jade Dragon entered the temple where he defeated the adventurer, Puck, and killed the High Lama. It was with the death of the High Lama that Dei Guan's conscience finally rebelled. Thus when his commander ordered him to kill the remaining monks, not only did the Jade Dragon refuse, he attempted to drive all the soldiers out of the temple.

The Jade Dragon was prevented from quickly accomplishing this by the interference of the spirit of the High Lama. In order to help Puck, who was suffering from spiritual trauma, the High Lama offered to assist Puck on his path of enlightenment by opening a portal to any dimension he chose. Subconsciously, Puck sought out his friends and former teammates, the members of the team of adventurers called Alpha Flight. He was astonished to find them in a life and death battle against the demonic being called Dreamqueen in the otherdimensional realm of Liveworld. Alpha Flights battle against the Dreamqueen, who sought to conquer Earth, spilled over into the temple courtyard through the portal the High Lama had created. The Jade Dragon helped Alpha Flight against the Dreamqueen and her minions and helped stop her from crossing the portal.

After the portal was closed; the spirit of the High Lama transported Alpha Flight and the Jade Dragon to Canada where Dei Guan was a witness in the Canadian government's inquest of Alpha Flight. As a result of the inquest, Alpha Flight severed itself from its government connection.

Immediately afterward, the Canadian intelligence service detained Dei Guan. Under interrogation he revealed that he still considered himself a Chinese patriot and that he had absolutely no intention of defecting. But the Chinese government, believing that he had become a defector, dispatched a team of agents known as the China Force to find him, give him a final opportunity to return to China, and if he refused, to kill him.

But the China Force had unwittingly fallen under the control of the Dreamqueen, who had finally succeeded in reaching Earth. After drugging and defeating the Jade Dragon, China Force airlifted him to Edmonton, Alberta, where the Dreamqueen was. The Dreamqueen's purpose in using China Force was twofold. The first was to use it to capture the Jade Dragon and Alpha Flight and render them helpless prisoners for her to slay. The second was to assist her in wrestling from Talisman her circle of power which the Dreamqueen would then use to seize absolute control of Earth.

Ultimately, the Dreamqueen's plan to use China Force failed. Alpha Flight defeated China Force, and Laura Dean used her superhuman power to open a portal to China. Alpha Flight flung the dazed members of China Force through the portal. The Dragon followed his team back to China, determined to prove to his government that he is not a traitor.

Jade Dragon later became a member of the Chinese superhuman dissident group 3-Peace, which sought to liberate China's domestic superhumans through an alliance with the Mutant Liberation Front.

Powers and abilities

Dei Guan can transmorph himself into a Chinese dragon with fangs and claws, wings allowing flight, and fire-breathing abilities.