Danny RandIron Fist

From Privilege to Power

After facing off against villains including the Scythe and Triple-Iron upon his return to New York, Danny Rand met Colleen Wing and her father. And Harold Meachum.

Meachum, however, was a shell of his former self. Not only had he lost his legs in the mountains a decade ago, but he also knew that Rand had made it to K?un-Lun and would soon come for vengeance. Instead of killing the man, Iron Fist walked away, only to have a mysterious ninja jump in on the action and run Meachum through with a sword.

Danny stayed with Colleen Wing and her father Professor Lee Wing while trying to find a new direction. He soon learned that he owned part of Rand-Meachum, Inc. along with Harold?s daughter Joy. Instead of diving into the corporate world, though, Danny decided to join Luke Cage and his Heroes for Hire. By this time, he?d also started an on-again, off-again relationship with former police officer Misty Knight.

Together, Power Man and Iron Fist became not only business partners, but incredibly close friends. They took on everything from illegal gambling and real-world street crime, to Super Villains like Master Khan, Constrictor, and Sabretooth. During this time, they also continued to work with allies like Misty Knight and Colleen Wing?s Daughters of the Dragon, the Sons of the Tiger, and other costumed heroes like El Aguila and White Tiger.

The first incarnation of Heroes for Hire came to an end when Danny was diagnosed with cancer and then replaced with an evil clone by the H?ylthri. Captain Hero killed the clone, but Luke Cage was framed for the crime and went on the run.

Later, Colleen Wing and Misty Knight found out that Rand was alive, even though they thought they?d seen him die when the H?ylthri clone was killed. Rand took his time away from the hero game to focus his chi on curing his cancer.

From there he fought a rejuvenated Steel Serpent, joined the Secret Defenders on a mission to stop Swarm, and restarted the Heroes for Hire under the watchful eye of Jim Hammond, the original Human Torch who worked for Oracle, the Namor-owned parent company of Rand-Meachum at that time.

Unbeknownst to the rest of the team, Danny had put a plan into motion after Onslaught that would bind K?un-Lun to Earth and set up a new world order with the Dragon Kings ruling and the Heroes for Hire acting as a version of the Round Table. However, with the heroes reborn, Iron Fist saw the error of his ways and intended to stop the union.

Before Iron Fist could do that, though, he nearly died fighting the Master. To save his life, Brother Voodoo took some soul essence from Cage, Knight, Wing, and the new White Tiger, a Heroes for Hire teammate of Danny?s who loved him. Danny then met his H?ylthri-manipulated sister Miranda and found his team dissolved after Namor sold it off to Stark-Fujikawa.

Danny lost his Iron Fist power to Junzo Muto, who kept it until Rand teamed up with Wolverine, Psylocke, Luke Cage, Sunspot, and others to stop the villains? reign. In the process, Rand died for a brief time, which halted the joining of K?un-Lun and Earth.

Danny would regain the power of the Iron Fist when the Black Dragon restored it, but also brainwashed Danny into becoming his own evil agent. After a brawl with Black Panther, T?Challa healed Danny and the pair teamed up to stop the Black Dragon?s plans to invade Wakanda. Danny also regained control of his company around this time.

Iron Fist made a habit of trying to look out for Matt Murdock, including when he?d been outed as Daredevil. Rand even wore the Daredevil costume for a time to try and make it seem like the ensuing court case had no validity. Rand joined Captain America in his fight against the Superhuman Registration Act, while still wearing Murdock?s costume. He became an important part of the plan for breaking out the Super Heroes in the 42 Negative Zone Prison by getting purposely locked up.

Captain America surrendered after the breakout proved successful, but Rand?now the Iron Fist once again?and the other heroes did not, illegally carrying on as the Secret Avengers. At one point, Danny bank-rolled the team using his company?s resources, which did not sit well with longtime friend and lawyer Jeryn Hogarth. Rand stuck around through the events of the Skrull Secret Invasion, but later left the team.

Around this time, Rand discovered some incredible facts about the Iron Fist and K?un-Lun. First, another Iron Fist, Orson Randall, still lived. Randall passed the Book of the Iron Fist on to Danny then sacrificed himself to give Danny a power boost after Davos nearly killed the older warrior.

Danny then learned that the Iron Fist acted as one of many Immortal Weapons. While the Fist served as K?un-Lun?s champion, there existed other Capital Cities of Heaven with their own champions and secret pocket dimensions.

Upon returning to his mystical city, Rand met the others: Tiger?s Beautiful Daughter from Tiger Island, Bride of Nine Spiders from Kingdom of Spiders, Fat Cobra from Peng Lai, Prince of Orphans from Z?Gambo, Dog Brother #1 from Under City, and Davos, the Steel Phoenix representing K?un Zi. Each champion represented their city in a tournament that would decide how often each city joined with Earth.

While there, Rand came to understand that Yu-Ti had become incredibly corrupt over the years. He worked along with the Thunderer and his secret army of female warriors to overthrow the old man, while also dealing with an outside plan enacted by Xao and his Hydra sect to destroy K?un-Lun. Iron Fist gathered his fellow Immortal Weapons to overthrow the unscrupulous ruler of K?un-Lun and save the city from a train filled with explosives with the help of Luke Cage, Misty Knight, and Colleen Wing.

Having stopped the immediate threat to K?un-Lun, Danny and most of the other Immortal Weapons decided to remain on Earth and investigate Xao?s claims of a mysterious Eighth City. Before that, Rand started selling off his company to focus on philanthropic efforts like inner-city dojos for kids. He also faced Ch?i-lin, who killed nearly every previous Iron Fist who had made it to their 33rd birthday. He reteamed with the Immortal Weapons and went to the Eighth City, which had been turned into a prison colony centuries ago. There, Danny fought the ancient Iron Fist, Quan Yaozu.

By this point, Danny and Misty Knight rekindled their relationship and Misty believed she was pregnant; but this turned out to be a false alarm manifested by Danny?s chi. The news led to them parting ways and Rand began dating Joy Meachum.

Iron Fist rejoined the Avengers after the heroes finally put a stop to Norman Osborn?s Dark Reign after the Siege on Asgard. While serving with the team, Danny found himself sucked into the realm of Agamotto, where the mystical entity made Danny its champion, giving him a new white and yellow costume in the process.

Iron Fist then stood by the demon-possessed Daredevil and took a new chi-based hero, Power Man (Vic Alvarez), under his wing.

Later, Iron Fist worked with his fellow Immortal Weapons to close a gateway to the Eighth City. After the conflict, Doctor Strange noted that Rand has also become an Immortal Weapon of Agamotto. Danny then worked with Strange and the Defenders to save reality. He also brought the young mutant Hope and other heroes to K?un-Lun when the Avengers fought Phoenix-possessed members of the X-Men.

Upon discovering that K?un-Lun had been destroyed, Lei Kung had been killed, and Sparrow the new Thunderer had been blinded, Danny faced the One, a training robot that had gained sentience and combined itself with the remains of Rand?s dead father Wendell. It worked with Davos to destroy the mystic city and obtain the dragon egg. But a young monk named Pei stole the egg, giving Danny enough time to regain his strength, commune with his mother, and then finally put a stop the One?s plan to bring Heather Rand back to the mortal plane.

Instead, the One unleashed a giant fire demon on Earth. To combat this evil, Danny joined with the One as well as the Rand building to form a giant chi-channeling armor to stop the flaming deity. That fell apart when Davos killed the latest incarnation of Sha-Lao, but Danny kept on fighting and ultimately won. Sparrow then returned to K?un-Lun to act as Yu-Ti, leaving Danny back on Earth where meetings would be unpredictable because of the destruction of the Randall Gate. Before leaving, Sparrow also told Danny that Pei, the most recent Iron Fist, would be his to train as her Thunderer.

All throughout this adventure, Danny met and fell in love with a woman named Brenda, who was Harold Meachum?s illegitimate daughter. She vowed to kill the last of the Rands, but fell in love with her target after growing to care for Pei as well. Still, she couldn?t bring herself to stay with him and left before Pei explained that all of the dragons had been brought back to life.

After the reality-altering events of Secret Wars, Iron Fist reunited with Power Man to take on their old office manager Jennie Royce, who had been taken over by the Supersoul Stone after meeting Black Mariah in prison. As Jennie attacked her former bosses, Mariah stepped in to talk her back down.

Luke and Danny stuck together through the events of the second Super Hero Civil War, during which Danny was locked up and Captain Marvel tried to take Luke down for attempting to break him out of jail. In the ensuing ruckus, several prisoners escaped. Danny and Luke then dedicated themselves to clearing the innocent. This proved to be difficult, given that ex-Runaway Alex Wilder had been working on rebuilding the criminal organization called the Pride, a plan that not only messed with police records, but also brought Hell to Harlem.

Though still friends, Danny and Luke decided to go their separate ways. Rand spent some time traveling the world looking for a challenge in underground street fights and finally found one when the mysterious stranger Choshin invited him to the island of Liu-Shi. Built around seven different masters with different styles, the island sought kung fu legitimacy by testing its greatest champions against the Iron Fist in the Trial of the Seven Masters. Rand agreed to participate both for the challenge and the opportunity to replace some of his missing chi with that of the masters he defeated.

After being framed for the death of his guide, Danny learned the true history of Liu-Shi: that it was populated by citizens of K?un-Lun who left in disgust at Yu-Ti?s corruption. The council intended to defeat the Iron Fist and grant that power to one of their own in order to regain their status as a heavenly city. At the end of the trials, Danny faced the original One, the second-best warrior in ancient K?un-Lun who tested the Iron Fists. Before Danny faced his own test, Yu-Ti had driven the One out and replaced him with a robot that he could more easily control. Even after being shot with arrows by Choshin, Danny emerged victorious and left the island.

Since then, Danny has teamed up with Shang-Chi to take on a death cult and had a run in with Sabretooth. Back in New York City, Diamondback wanted revenge on Power Man and Iron Fist. so he attacked Luke?s wife Jessica Jones. Together with Daredevil, the former Heroes for Hire sought to take down the villain. Jessica also got in on the action after recovering.

During the events of Hydra?s attempt to form a Secret Empire, Danny and the new Defenders happened to be in New York City when Baron Zemo put a Darkhold dome around the island, keeping all of those heroes trapped along with the regular people.

Whether he?s fighting on his own or with his friends, Danny Rand continues to use his Iron Fist abilities to help the most people possible.