Iron Fist

Daniel Rand is the son of Wendell Rand, who had, as a youth, visited the mystic city of K'un-Lun, which materialized in the Himalayas once a decade; founded roughly a million years ago by extraterrestrials, K'un-Lun was co-ruled by the aliens' descendants and powerful beings called the Dragon Kings, who were themselves subject to the godlike sorcerer Master Khan. Rand had saved the life of K'un-Lun's ruler Lord Tuan, who adopted Rand as his heir, to the resentment of Tuan's son, Yu-Ti. During his time in K'un-Lun, Rand married a woman named Shakari and fathered a daughter, Miranda Rand-K'ai. At some point, Rand won ritual combat against Davos, son of K'un-Lun's greatest warrior, Lei Kung the Thunderer, which entitled him to claim the power of Shou-Loa the Undying, a man transformed into a mystic serpent over a thousand years ago by the Dragon King Chiantang; however, although great K'un-Lun warriors had periodically wielded Shou-Lao's power as the Iron Fist, Rand declined the power. Ten years after coming to K'un-Lun, Rand was showing Shakari the restored nexus when Yu-Ti's men attacked them. Shakari was slain, and the grief-stricken Rand returned to Earth. Within a year, he became a successful businessman and married Heather Duncan. In his absence, Lord Tuan died and became ruler of Feng-Tu , abode of K'un-Lun's departed spirits, leaving Yu-Ti to rule K'un-Lun, while Lei Kung, shamed by Davos' defeat, banished his son to Earth.

When Daniel Rand was nine, at roughly the time K'un-Lun was scheduled to materialize, his father decided to bring him and Heather to K'un-Lun. Accompanied by Rand's business partner Harold Meachum, they traveled to the Himalayas, but Wendell fell from a mountain ledge; clutching the edge, he called to Meachum for help, but Meachum, hoping to control Rand's business shares, caused Wendell to plunge to his death. Shortly afterward, Heather sacrificed her life to protect Daniel from a wolf pack, and her spirit ascended to Feng-Tu. The denizens of K'un-Lun found Daniel and took him in, while a frostbite-crippled Meachum learned of Daniel's survival and spent the next decade preparing elaborate defenses against future attack.

Vowing to avenge his parents, Daniel Rand studied martial arts under Lei Kung while growing up in K'un-Lun. His closest friends were Miranda Rand-K'ai, whom he did not know was his half-sister, and a K'un-Lun boy named Conal D'hu-Tsien. At nineteen, Rand requested and earned an opportunity to win the power of the Iron Fist by confronting Shou-Lao the Undying, whose power resided within a flaming brazier. Rand slew Shou-Lao, a feat no other warrior had ever accomplished, and plunged his hands into the brazier, imbuing himself with the mystic energy of the Iron Fist. Unknown to Rand, Shou-Lao's death angered Chiantang, who sought to destroy K'un-Lun in response but was imprisoned by Master Khan. Shortly afterward, Rand fought off jealous peers with the aid of Conal and Miranda, whom Conal had taught martial arts in defiance of K'un-Lun law. Fleeing K'un-Lun, Miranda and Conal were captured by K'un-Lun's ancestral enemies, the plant-beings called the H'lythri, and presumed dead. The dimensional nexus opened on schedule, and Rand, as Iron Fist, traveled to New York, seeking vengeance on Meachum. Meachum knew of Danny's return and placed a bounty of ten thousand dollars on his head. The open contract left Rand open to attacks from other costumed menaces such as the man called Scythe. Iron Fist eventually overcame Meachum's defenses, but on seeing Meachum was an invalid, he spared the broken man.

Meachum was instead slain by the ghostly Ninja, a servant of Master Khan. Blamed for the murder, Iron Fist eventually cleared himself with the help of two private detectives he befriended, samurai-trained Colleen Wing and cyborg ex-cop Misty Knight. Nonetheless, Iron Fist often had hostile relations with his new business partners, Meachum's brother, Ward, and daughter, Joy. Iron Fist's adventures continued against the likes of the Cult of Kara-Kai, worshippers of the goddess Kali; Warhawk, a war veteran turned assassin empowered by a process similar to that of Luke Cage; and the alien robot known as the Monstroid. In the process, he learned that the Ninja was using Colleen Wing's father, Lee, as a host; Iron Fist ended this magical possession.

Soon afterward, Iron Fist fought the Steel Serpent, a master martial artist specializing in the delayed death touch. The Serpent had twice in the past been defeated by Yu-Ti in attempts to take over K'un Lun, and he fell victim to his own power during his assault on Iron Fist. Rand then encountered a woman named Jade and defended her from agents of Dhasha Khan, a demonic warrior sorcerer who had conquered Feng-Tu; however, more of Khan's agents abducted Iron Fist and Jade, whom Iron Fist learned was the embodiment of humanity's nobility, her soul bonded with the cosmic Firebird. Iron Fist was defeated by Khan's enslaved warrior, the Silver Dragon, while Khan used his mystic Soulgem to rob Jade of the Firebird, which he used to transform Earth. Iron Fist defeated the Silver Dragon and discovered she was the spirit of his mother, Heather Rand. Iron Fist then defeated Khan in battle, using the Soulgem to restore Earth and return his mother to a peaceful afterlife. Although he had fallen in love with Jade and wished she could remain mortal, he knew that humanity needed the Firebird, and he used the Soulgem to restore Jade.