History
The impulsive Chiantang is the brother of the Dragon King. He is in fact a 100 ft deadly flying dragon. However, he often disguises himself as a mortal. He also has the ability to cast potent spells. An enraged Chiantang, transformed to his true dragon form, and ravaged and killed many citizens of K'un-Lun. He ruled the city for some time with terror and death.[1] He has been defeated, captured, and exiled on different occasions by the power of the mystic sword Dragonslayer.
Chiantang originally sought vengeance on K'un-Lun when a mortal seduced and debased his sister. Chiantang mystically transformed the offending mortal into an "Undying One" seemingly immortal dragon, chained him, and had his heart torn out and placed in a cauldron. Iron Fist challenged this dragon, slew him, and stole the "Heart of the Dragon" which became a part of his essence, his immortal Iron Fist. This act further enraged Chiantang, and he swore vengeance on Iron Fist for releasing this mortal from his undying, eternal torture.
Using the power of "Dragonslayer" Chiantang was defeated and banished. However, his banishment was to New York City. He quickly plotted his revenge on Cage and Daniel Rand. Unfortunately for him, he was killed by Master Khan and Colleen Wing. Khan (disguised as Tyrone King) shot Chiantang in the head while he was still in his human form. Wing decapitated Chiantang with her sword.[2]
Black Dragon was later resurrected by Nightshade, who laced his genetic code with a specialized bomb in an attempt to manipulate him into doing her bidding. Refusing to serve as Nightshade's puppet, Chiantang laid clusters of eggs underwater to create a baseline of genetic material. While waiting for the eggs to mature, he called in the favors of several gods, and stole the body of Everett K. Ross, trapping Ross in a body resembling Mephisto in an attempt to misdirect Black Panther from his trail. After Black Panther learned what happened to his friend, the Wakandan king attempted to negotiate with Chiantang- and when the Black Dragon refused to return Ross' body, he destroyed Chiantang's egg clusters with high tech depth charges in retribution. Unable to confront King T'Challa in Ross' mortal body, and unable to return to his dragon form without Nightshade's genetic bomb's antidote in his possession Chiantang was forced to find a different means of confronting the Panther. Using more divine favors, he returned Iron Fist's powers, after Junzo had previously stolen them, and used hypnotic influence to bind Danny to his service in repayment, making his former enemy the Black Dragon's Champion.[3]
Under Chiantang's orders, Rand ambushed Black Panther outside of his underwater vessel and engaged in a brutal fist fight, stretching across the streets of New York, and resulting in T'Challa taking so savage a beating that it resulted in near-fatal aneurysm. Ultimately, T'Challa was able to reverse the work Chiantang had done to Rand's chi and release him from the Dragon's service- but while the Wakandan king was distracted, Chinatang was able to regain his true form, and emerged from the ocean intending to finish the job personally.[4]
He rampaged through the city in his dragon form, ignoring attacks from T'Challa's vibranium weaponry, Iron Fist's chi, and air strikes from both Wakandan ships and the US Air Force. Further enraged by the heroes' attempts to negotiate a peace with him, Chiantang decided to spend his final moments before the genetic bomb ended his life destroying Wakanda. Ultimately, T'Challa was able to rig up some bio-implants based on scans of Chiantang's dragon form to force his transformation back into his human self- stabilizing his condition but trapping him in the guise of a mortal human, and taking him prisoner.[5]Attributes
Powers
The full extent of Chiantang's magical powers are unknown, but he has displayed the following:
- As a dragon, Chiantang can fly and breathe fire; he had also shown immunity to age and, while he can be injured by sufficient power, heals from virtually any wound. Via mystic rites, he has even recovered from being decapitated.
- Chiantang has shown the ability to shape-shift, taking on the form of human beings and even demons, his impersonation of Mephisto fooling even Dr. Strange at first.
- He has swapped minds with other beings, and kept a portion of his power from his natural form in his host's body.
- Although he is a male, Chiantang can lay eggs which hatch into dragons within a few weeks.
Weaknesses
- Reportedly, the sword Dragonslayer can -- as the name implies -- kill him, but Chiantang has disputed this claim.
Notes
- Namor, the Sub-Mariner #22 changes the name of this character to "Shiatang". It also states that Shiatang is the brother of the "Undying One". This is the beast he previously transformed into a dragon, chained, and cursed him to never die.
See Also
- 14 appearance(s) of Chiantang (Earth-616)
- 2 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Chiantang (Earth-616)
- 1 mention(s) of Chiantang (Earth-616)
- 2 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Chiantang (Earth-616)
- 3 image(s) of Chiantang (Earth-616)