Real Name: Unknown
BLACK SHADOW/WHITE SHADOW
Real Name: Unknown
Identity/Class: Mutant, Chinese citizen, deceased
Occupation: Institutionalised
Affiliations: none
Enemies: Ch'un (deceased), Hsiao (deceased), Mai, Wolverine, technically you could include himself...
Known Relatives: Unknown
Aliases: Wolverine referred to him as "Man-Mountain"
Base of Operations: An asylum in China
First Appearance: Marvel Comics Presents#38/4 (December 1989)
Powers/Abilities: This unnamed
mutant seemed capable of sustaining himself without conventional food for
long periods of time see comments, and could mentally generate multiple
energy bodies see comments at vast distances. Due to his mental
problems see comments the energy bodies, or "Shadows" represented
different aspects of the mutants personality; the Black Shadows represented
his destructive side, and the White Shadow was a reaction against his destructive
side. The energy bodies had fighting skills and agility sufficient to fight
Wolverine, plus superhuman strength (at least Class 10) and durability. Their
intangible bodies provided resistance to physical attacks, but they could
also make themselves solid at will. They could generate explosive energy
bursts capable of disintegrating their targets, and two shadows fought they
generated enough explosive energy to disintegrate an entire city block. Also
they could generate freezing cold on touch. They could also draw an opponent
into themselves, where they were presumably either frozen or disintegrated
see comments. They had a limited ability to communicate mentally,
and appeared able to mentally detect or track others.
History: (Marvel Comics Presents
#45/1(fb)) - The family of the mutant that would become Black Shadow/White
Shadow was killed by one of shadow's early manifestations. Twenty years later
it appeared while the mutant was being examined by his doctor. The doctor
was killed by the Black Shadow. The local villagers feared the mutant and
attacked him. The mutant resisted letting the Black Shadow out and was rendered
unconscious. He hoped the villagers would kill him. Instead he was taken
to an asylum and left there. Over time the mutant became hideously obese,
and whatever staff and clients had lived at the asylum all passed away
presumably Black Shadow killed them.
(Marvel Comics Presents#40/1, 41/1(fb)) - The Black Shadow made enemies of Ch'un, Hsiao and Mai. They began to hunt it, but it turned the tables and began to hunt them instead. It followed them from Pingnan to Hong Kong.
(Marvel Comics Presents#38/4(bts)) - The Black Shadow vaporised an entire city block in Hong Kong. Mrs. Linn Chow, a friend of Wolverines, was killed.
(Marvel Comics Presents#39/1, 40/1, 42/1)
- As Wolverine was investigating Linn's death, the Black Shadow reappeared
and was attacked by the Hong Kong Police. It drew one of the Police into
itself, and Logan shouted for the Police to leave. Thrusting his arm into
its body up to his elbow, Logan felt the intense cold. As the Black Shadow
continued to attack Logan, the White Shadow appeared. The two Shadows fought,
and the resultant energy release destroyed their surroundings. They disappeared.
The Black Shadow appeared in a village in China and began rampaging. Hsiao
charged at it with a pack of explosives on his back. He leapt into the Shadow,
but the resultant explosion didn't harm it's energy body. The White Shadow
appeared and gestured for Wolverine and his friends to leave. Then it began
fighting the Black Shadow again, leading to the disintegration of the immediate
area.
(Marvel Comics Presents#43/1(bts)) - At the asylum where the mutant had been left to die, the two shadows argued. The Black Shadow sensed Ch'un and Mai approaching and threatened to destroy them, causing the White Shadow to retaliate. The Black Shadow took Ch'un and Mai prisoner.
(Marvel Comics Presents#44/1, 45/1, 46/1,
47/1) - Wolverine found Ch'un and Mai chained to the rafters in the asylum.
The White Shadow warned Wolverine away before the Black Shadow arrived. Instead
Wolverine attacked the White Shadow, but his hand froze on contact. The White
Shadow threw him outside. Wolverine returned only to face the Black Shadow
this time. He leapt through the Black Shadow, reappearing frozen on the other
side and moving into the next room. Inside that room was the mutant creating
the shadows. As Wolverine studied the mutant, the Black Shadow appeared out
of its chest. While Wolverine fought the Black Shadow, the White Shadow appeared.
Once again it tried to convince Wolverine to leave. The Black Shadow tried
to blast Wolverine and one of its blasts hit Ch'un instead. It threatened
to kill Mai next. Wolverine attacked the Black Shadow, but was backhanded
across the room. The Shadow's continued to fight each other, and the White
Shadow tried to end their existence's by killing the mutant that had created
them. Although the Black Shadow prevented this, Wolverine stepped in and
tried to help. The mutant created more Black Shadows to defend itself, and
eventually the White Shadow was overpowered. Wolverine fought his way through
the Black Shadows to the mutant. Seeing Wolverines claws, it threw itself
onto them. The Black Shadows slowly began to fade away until only one remained.
Eventually the final shadow exploded, destroying the asylum.
Comments: Created by Marv Wolfman and John Buscema
As I said in the powers section, the mutant seemed to be capable of going without food. It had supposedly been many months since he had been left at the asylum, and his body was not only overgrown with moss and vines (suggesting he had not moved in a long time!) but incredibly obese. Also, it's not entirely clear what happened to those who where drawn inside the Shadows body. While I assume the energies within either froze or disintegrated them, perhaps that was how the mutant "fed". In fact Black Shadow said of Mai: "Meat can be rendered. Then sweetened to the taste. The woman is next. Then, at last, you will follow as a feast well deserved." though he may not have meant it literally.
Furthermore, he could generate multiple shadows. The most seen was six black shadows and one white. However the extra Black Shadows were only generated when Wolverine approached the mutant, and as such it was a response to a threat. It is entirely possible the mutant could've learnt to generate more shadows (both white and black).
Wolverine diagnosed the mutant as having schizophrenia. Well, Wolverine may be the best at what he does, but what he does best obviously isn't diagnosing mental illnesses! I suspected he may be confusing it with multiple personality disorder so I asked around...
Kyle Smith: You're right: schizophrenia, a severe psychotic disorder characterized by hallucinations and delusions, is commonly misidentified as multiple personality disorder, now known as disassociative identity disorder. Disassociative Identity Disorder (DID) was previously distinguished as a neurosis but now falls under the category of disassociatives, disorders where the normal integration of consciousness, identity, or memory is temporarily and suddenly altered. Several professionals have discounted and contested its existence, but then again there are certain scholars who claim that mental illness does not exist at all since it is a social construction.
The White Shadow believed that if the shadows hadn't destroyed each other they would've grown more and more powerful and eventually caused the destruction of the planet. It would be interesting to see alternate version's of the character to find out if his beliefs were accurate...
CLARIFICATIONS:
Black Shadow/White Shadow have no known connection to:
Ch'un has no known connection to:
Hsiao has no known connections to:
Mrs Linn Chow has no known connection to:
Ch'un was a city based school teacher until the Black Shadow slaughtered most of his pupil in front of his eyes. He joined Hsiao and Mai in their hunt for Black Shadow. They met Wolverine in Hong Kong, and it was Ch'un who alerted them when Black Shadow reappeared. After Hsiao's death, he and Mai travelled to the asylum without Wolverine, despite Ch'un's reluctance to leave him behind. He and Mai where captured by the Black Shadow. He was later hit by a blast of energy meant for Wolverine.
-- Marvel Comics Presents#39/1 (40/1-45/1)
Hsiao was a country farmer whose land was destroyed, and his grandparents killed by the Black Shadow. He was the strong guy of the group. When Mai introduced him to Wolverine he challenged him and then punched him in the face. In return Wolverine sprained his hand. Later on he sacrificed his life in an attempt to stop Black Shadow with explosives..
-- Marvel Comics Presents#39/1 (40/1-42/1)
Mai was a young Chinese woman
who worked in the hospital when the mutant was admitted. Her husband and
child where killed by black shadow. She joined Ch'un and Hsiao in hunting
the monster. When Wolverine was mistaken by Hong Kong Police for a looter
in the wake of Black Shadow's attack, Mai helped him escape them. They joined
forces to stop Black Shadow. After Hsiao's death she and Ch'un headed for
the Asylum without Wolverine. They were captured by Black Shadow. Mai was
saved by Wolverine. He stayed with her a couple of days to make sure she
was ok.
--Marvel Comics Presents#39/1 (38/4(bts), 40/1-47/1)
The Chow Family
Linn Chow approached Wolverine, whilst he was using his Patch identity, about how her children had been taken to Hong Kong by her husband, Peter. Although Peter had hurt her and she was scared to go find her children, Patch encouraged her. She approached her lawyer and travelled to Hong Kong. Sadly she was killed by Black Shadow. Patch still retrieved her children from Peter and returned them to their grandparents in Madripoor.
-- Marvel Comics Presents#40(fb)
Linn Chow
Peter Chow
The Chow Kid's
Linn Chows Parents
plus kids
by Changeling
Last updated: 10/01/03
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel
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