Fin Fang Foom

Fin Fang Foom
Fin Fang Foom's first appearance in Strange Tales #89 (Oct. 1961) Art by Jack Kirby.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Strange Tales #89 (October 1961)
Created by	Stan Lee Jack Kirby
In-story information
Alter ego	Fin Fang Foom
Species	Makluan/Axonn-Karr
Team affiliations	Dragon Lords of Kakaranathara Fin Fang Four Beyond Reason Spiritual Fellowship
Notable aliases	He Whose Limbs Shatter Mountains and Whose Back Scrapes the Sun The Sleeping Dragon
Abilities	Superhuman strength and durability Acid mist breath Shape-shifting Telepathy Flight Master martial artist

Fin Fang Foom is an extraterrestrial dragon that appears in the fictional Marvel Universe, typically as an opponent of Iron Man.

Publication history

The character first appeared in Strange Tales #89 (Oct. 1961), and was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby; Stan Lee's inspiration for Foom's name was apparently the title of the film Chu Chin Chow.

Fictional character biography

Although once believed to be a native of the Valley of the Sleeping Dragon in China, the creature later known as Fin Fang Foom is an alien being from the world of Kakaranathara (also known as Maklu IV) in the Maklu system of the Greater Magellanic Cloud. The alien and several other members of his race originally depart from their peaceful homeworld with the intention of conquering other planets. The alien, as a member of the starship's crew, serves as the navigator. The alien dragons land on Earth in ancient China, and the crew used their natural shapeshifting powers to mimic human form, intent on entering and studying human society before beginning their conquest. The alien navigator was the exception, and acting as reserve is placed in a tomb and given a herb that places him in a catatonic state.

The alien is briefly awakened in the 8th Century, where he is given the name Fin Fang Foom and called a "dragon" due to his species' resemblance to mythological Asian dragons, and returns to sleep with a second application of the herb. Foom sleeps until the modern age, when he is deliberately awakened by teenager Chan Liuchow, whose homeland is under threat from invading forces of Communist China. Liuchow taunts Foom with the threat of the herb, and goads the dragon into chasing him straight into the Communist camp, which Foom decimates. Liuchow subsequently leads him back into his tomb, where the herb returns Foom to his sleep. At some point, the sleeping Fin Fang Foom is captured by the Elder of the Universe known as the Collector, and imprisoned in his subterranean collection of monsters. When the Mole Man attacks the facility, Foom and the other monsters escape and are later captured by the recently-formed Fantastic Four and deposited on Monster Isle. Foom, however, has no desire to serve the Mole Man (who uses the island as a base) and leaves, returning to China and hibernation.

Modern age

Sometime later, a scientist known as Doctor Vault manages to mentally control the dragon and attack Vault's foe It the Living Colossus. Resisting the control, Foom instead aids the Colossus against an alien invasion - intent on preserving the planet for the dragon's own race to conquer at a later date. Vault's mind control briefly forces Foom to battle the Colossus; Foom overpowers his opponent with martial arts before freeing his mind and returning to hibernation yet again.

Years later, Fin Fang Foom is again roused from his slumber when his body is possessed by the demon Aan Taanu. Combating a group of occult adventurers (including an older Chan Liuchow, now a Professor) known as The Legion of Night in New York, Taanu is exorcised from Foom's body, and the confused Foom once again returns to hibernation.

At some point in the modern age, the Makluan vessel is found by a man who steals ten sophisticated rings from it, and eventually becomes the supervillain the Mandarin.

Years later, the Mandarin is directed to the Valley of the Sleeping Dragon by the captain of the vessel - in human guise - and finds and wakes Fin Fang Foom, using the dragon to threaten the Chinese government. Foom helps the Mandarin take control of one third of China. He is then revealed as an alien of Kakaranathara, and with fellow alien "Chen Hsu," he begins to summon his fellow "dragons" who had been disguised as humans for centuries. When the other Makluans shed their human forms to begin their conquest, the Mandarin realizes he is being used and joins forces with Iron Man and War Machine to defeat the dragons, the battle ending with their apparent annihilation.

Although Fin Fang Foom's body is destroyed, his spirit survives and bonds itself to a small dragon statue, which was stolen from a curio shop by teenager Billy Yuan at Foom's mental urging. Using Yuan's body as a conduit for his power, Foom summons thousands of lizards from the sewers beneath New York, merging them with Yuan's body to recreate his own form. Iron Man, however, defeats Foom once again, with assistance from the last remnants of Yuan's mind. Due to several legal complications, however, the defeated dragon is sent to Monster Isle again, where he and several other monsters go on to briefly battle the dimensionally-displaced Justice League of America.

Tired of the constant defeats and with the other members of the Makluan crew dead, Foom decides to reform and becomes a follower of Buddhism. He enters into a rehabilitation program, which sees himself and three other monsters - the robot Elektro, the giant ape Gorgilla, and the alien Googam - shrunk down to human size, hypnotically stripped of their powers, and allowed to enter human society. Taking up a job as head chef in a Chinese restaurant within the Baxter Building, Foom teams up with the other monsters to defeat the size-changing warlord Tim Boo Ba as the "Fin Fang Four."

Foom later appears as a pawn of the Beyond Corporation©, and while having reverted back to original size, lacks any real intelligence. Foom is eventually defeated by Aaron Stack, who allows himself to be swallowed by the dragon and then eviscerates it internally. "Fin Fang Four" writer Roger Langridge notes that if given the opportunity to do a further Fin Fang Foom story, he would explain that the Beyond Corporation's Foom was merely a clone of Foom made when intelligence agency S.H.I.E.L.D. took a sample of his DNA years ago.

Fin Fang Foom later reappears, still in shrunken form, and begrudgingly aids Wong - the servant of Doctor Strange - in defeating a force of HYDRA agents.

There have also been two imitations of Fin Fang Foom. On the first occasion the Midgard Serpent imitated Foom to try and fool the Thunder God Thor, while the second involved the villain Nightmare morphing a creature called a Mindless One into a copy of Foom to battle the Hulk. Thor also claims at one point to have killed the true Fin Fang Foom in battle, and uses his bones to build a tomb in the realm of Asgard. The character Howard the Duck also has dreams of playing cards with the Thing, Man-Thing, Bigfoot, Frankenstein's Monster, and Foom.

Fin Fang Foom later returns and encounters Iron Man in Las Vegas.

Powers and abilities

Fin Fang Foom possesses super strength, the ability to fly via his wings at supersonic speeds, and can spew combustible acid mist from his mouth ("breathe fire"). Foom is also extremely durable and can regenerate at a rapid rate. By entering into long periods of hibernation, Foom has managed to survive for centuries. He possesses a gifted intellect, can communicate telepathically, and has access to advanced alien technology.

Other versions

Earth-2992

Fin Fang Foom was shown fighting the League of Losers.

Other media

Television

• Fin Fang Foom was a recurring villain in the Iron Man TV series voiced by Neil Ross.

Movies

• A version of Fin Fang Foom appears in the animated feature The Invincible Iron Man.

Video games

• Fin Fang Foom appears as one of the first bosses in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance voiced by James Sie.

References

• Fin Fang Foom at the Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe
• Fin Fang Foom at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)

External links

• Fin Fang Foom at the Marvel Database
• Template:Imdb character