Fu Manchu

The mystery of Dr. Fu Manchu, cover of the first edition (1913).

Fu Manchu (Chinese: 傅满洲 Fù Mǎnzhōu) is a fictional character created by crime and mystery novel writer Sax Rohmer, who made his first appearance in 1913. He is a Chinese supervillain who hates Western civilization and the white race. In all the novels in which he appears, he is pursued, defeated, and his plans thwarted by the English investigator Sir Denis Nayland Smith, along with his companion, Dr. Petrie.

The character has since been depicted numerous times in film, television, radio, and comics, becoming the epitome of the evil criminal mastermind and mad scientist, as well as the oriental supervillain.

Characters

Dr. Fu Manchu

A faithful description of its appearance can be found in chapter II of the novel El demonio amarillo, published in Spanish in 1935:

Imagine a classical figure of Chinese Mandarin; a man of high stature; thin, of recite members, feline in his attitudes and movements, with an intercession like that of Shakespeare and a face of truly satanic expression. From his shaved skull he hangs the traditional coleta of the children of the "Celeste Empire". His eyes have the magnetic glow of the eyes of the panther.

Of noble origin and belonging to the imperial family (from which he separated after the Boxer Rebellion), he appears endowed with practically unlimited financial means and a large number of henchmen, ninjas and other warriors and oriental sects at his command; A great evil genius with extensive knowledge of poisons (he frequently uses deadly animals such as snakes, spiders, and scorpions), he is able to devise complicated modern (early 20th century) devices to try to destroy Western civilization.

The murderous plans of supervillain Dr. Fu Manchu are characterized by extensive use of arcane methods; he disdains firearms or explosives, preferring the use of criminal minions such as dacoits, thugs, or members of other secret societies as his agents (usually armed with knives) or the use of &# 34;pythons and cobras... fungi and my little allies, the bacilli... my black spiders" and other peculiar animals or natural chemical weapons. He has great respect for the truth (indeed, his word is sacred), and uses torture and other gruesome tactics to get rid of his enemies.

Dr. Fu Manchu is described as a mysterious villain as he rarely appears onstage. He always sends his minions to commit crimes for him. In the novel The Insidious Dr Fu-Manchu , he sends a beautiful young woman to the crime scene to check that the victim is dead. He also sends a dacoit to attack Sir Denis Nayland Smith and Dr. Petrie.

In the novel Fu Manchu's Bride (Fu Manchu's Bride; 1933), Dr. Fu Manchu claims to have doctorates from four Western universities, while in Emperor Fu Manchu (1959), he states that he attended Heidelberg University, the Sorbonne, and the University of Edinburgh (in the film The Mask of Fu Manchu However, he proudly states, "I'm a PhD from Edinburgh, JD from Christ's College, MD from Harvard. My friends, out of courtesy, call me 'Doctor' #39;"). At the time of their first meeting (1911), Dr. Petrie believed that Dr. Fu Manchu was over 70 years old. That would mean that he would have studied the first doctorate from him in the 1860s or 1870s.

According to Cay Van Ash, Rohmer's biographer and former assistant who became the first writer to continue the series after Rohmer's death, "Fu Manchu" it was a title of honor, referring to the 'warlike Manchus'. Van Ash speculates that Dr. Fu Manchu was a member of the Chinese imperial family that supported the losing side in the Boxer Rebellion. In the early books (1913-1917) Dr. Fu Manchu is an agent of a Chinese tong (a type of society or organization of Chinese emigrants), known as the Si-Fan, and acts as the mastermind behind a wave of assassinations targeting Westerners living in China. In later books, (1931-1959) he has taken control of the Si-Fan , which has gone from being a simple Chinese tong to becoming a international criminal organization under his leadership. In addition to trying to take over the world and restore China to its former glory (Dr. Fu Manchu's main goals all along), the Si-Fan is now also trying to remove fascist dictators and stop the spread of communism all over the world for their leader's own selfish reasons. Dr. Fu Manchu knows that both fascism and communism represent major obstacles to his plans for world domination. The Si-Fan finances itself largely through criminal activities, especially drug and human trafficking. Dr. Fu Manchu has extended his already considerable lifespan through the use of the elixir of life, a formula he has spent decades trying to perfect.

Sir Denis Nayland Smith and Dr Petrie

Against Dr. Fu Manchu are Sir Denis Nayland Smith and, in the first three books, Dr. Petrie. Petrie narrates the first three novels (later ones are narrated by other characters allied with Smith until the end of the series). Smith continues the fight, fighting Dr. Fu Manchu more through luck and dogged determination than intellectual brilliance, except in extreme cases. Smith and Dr. Fu Manchu grudgingly respect each other, as they both believe in one's duty to keep one's word, even with an enemy.

In the first three books, Smith works for the Imperial Indian Police as a police commissioner in Burma who has been given a roving commission that allows him to exercise authority over any group that might help him in his mission. When Rohmer revived the series in 1931, Smith had been knighted for his efforts to defeat Fu Manchu, and was a former deputy commissioner at Scotland Yard. He later accepts a position with MI6. In several books he is assigned a special mission with the FBI.

Origin

By his own account, Sax Rohmer, without any prior knowledge and understanding of Chinese culture, decided to start the Dr. Fu Manchu series after his Ouija board dictated the letters C-H-I-N-A-M-A-N (meaning "Chinese") when he asked what his fortune would do. During this time period, the notion of the yellow peril was spreading in North American society. The image of the "orientals" invading Western nations became the basis of Rohmer's commercial success, being able to sell 20 million copies in his lifetime.

Editorial trajectory

Exhibition "Fu Manchu Life Book"in Buenos Aires.

The first novel in the Fu Manchu saga published in Spain was the titled The Golden Scorpion (The Golden Scorpion, 1929), followed by The Demon yellow (The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu, 1935) and El diabolico doctor (The Devil Doctor, 1935).

The character has been used by other authors as a villain in their works: an example is the novel Sherlock Holmes vs. Fu Manchu (original title: Ten Years Beyond Baker Street) by the writer Cay Van Ash (1984), Rohmer's friend and biographer.

Appearances in other media

Fu was initially transposed into comics in a black-and-white daily strip designed by Leo O'Mealia, from 1931 to 1933. The strip was an adaptation of Rohmer's first two novels and a part of the third.. Copyrights are credited to "Sax Rohmer and The Bell Syndicate, Inc."

In the first films Boris Karloff was the protagonist: The mask of Fu Manchu (The mask of Fu Manchu, 1932).

Fu Manchu made his first appearance in a comic book entry in Detective Comics #1. 17, to continue, as one of the various anthological series, up to n. 28. These were reprints of the strips designed by Leo O'Mealia.

In 1940, the Chicago Tribune published an adaptation of the serial The Drums of Fu-Manchu, initially a photo novel, but later illustrated by an unidentified artist.

For an original story of the comic book character, it would have been necessary to wait until 1951, with The Mask of Dr. Fu Manchu for Wally Wood published by Avon.

In 1943, the serial Los Tambores de Fu-Manchú was adapted into a comic by José Grau Hernández in 1943.

A strip was published by the French newspaper Le Parisien libéré from 1962 to 1973, by the writer Juliette Benzoni and by the designer Robert Bressy.

From the publication of Special Marvel Edition nº15 (1973) he began to appear in Marvel Comics. In said comic, where Sir Denis Nayland Smith also made his debut, his son Shang- Chi, who would star in several Marvel series in which the presence of Fu Manchu as his son's enemy would be recurring. Doctor Petrie would also appear less frequently. Following Marvel's loss of rights to publish Sax Rohmer's characters, Fu Manchu has continued to appear under other names. In a Black Panther story, published in 2005, he is called "Mr. Han", apparently a pun based on the name of the main villain in Enter the Dragon. In Secret Avengers #6-10, writer Ed Brubaker officially impersonated the whole thing through a plot in which a group of agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. resurrected a zombified version of Fu Manchu only to find out that "Fu Manchu" it was just an alias; Shang-Chi's father was actually Zheng Zu, an ancient Chinese sorcerer who discovered the secret of immortality. Fah Lo Suee was later renamed Zheng Bao Yu.

In the most modern film versions it has been the British actor Christopher Lee who has lent him his face and imposing height: The return of Fu Manchu (The face of Fu Manchu, 1965), Fu Manchu and the kiss of death (The blood of Fu Manchu, 1968) or The castle of Fu Manchu (1969).

A character composed of Fu Manchu and the Mandarin, named Xu Wenwu, appears in the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase Four film Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, played by Tony Leung. The character was previously mentioned in the Iron Man trilogy and All Hail the King.

Cultural Impact

The style of facial hair associated with the Fu Manchu in the film adaptations is known as the Fu Manchu mustache. The "Fu Manchu" is defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as a "long, narrow mustache whose ends are pointed and descend to the chin", although Rohmers writings describe the character without such ornament.

Before the creation of Fu Manchu, the Chinese were often portrayed in the Western media as victims. Fu Manchu marked a new era in which the Chinese were portrayed as perpetrators of crimes and threats to Western society as a whole. Rohmer's villain is portrayed as the mastermind of a 'yellow races' plot.; that threaten the existence of "the entire white race," and his narrator opines, "No white man, I sincerely believe, appreciates the impassive cruelty of the Chinese."

The character of Dr. Fu Manchu became, for some, a stereotype embodying the "yellow peril.". For others, Fu Manchu became the most notorious personification of Western perspectives on the Chinese, and became the model for other villains of contemporary "Yellow Peril' thrillers; these villains often had characteristics consistent with xenophobic stereotypes which coincided with a significant increase in Chinese emigration to Western countries.

After World War II, the Fu Manchu-inspired stereotype became increasingly the subject of satire. Fred Fu Manchu, a 'famous Chinese bamboo saxophonist', was a recurring character on The Goon Show, a 1950s British radio comedy show. He appeared in the episode & # 34; The terrible revenge of Fred Fu Manchu & # 34; in 1955 (billed as "Fred Fu Manchu and His Bamboo Saxophone"), and made minor appearances in other episodes (including "China Story", "The Siege of Fort Night& #34;, and in "The Lost Emperor" as "Doctor Fred Fu Manchu, oriental tattoo artist"). The character was created and played by comedian Spike Milligan, who used it to mock the xenophobic attitudes that had led to the character's creation. The character was also parodied in a later radio sitcom, Round the Horne, as Dr. Chu In Ginsberg MA (failed), played by Kenneth Williams.

Dr. Fu Manchu was parodied as Dr. Wu in the action-comedy film Black Dynamite (2009), in which the executor of an evil plan against African-Americans is an insidious kung fu master with mustache.