HEATHER RAND

Real Name: Heather Duncan Rand

Identity/Class: Human, deceased;
    spirit formerly mutated by magic

Occupation: Former heiress

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Formerly Harold Meachum;
    former slave of Dhasha Khan

Enemies: Dhasha Khan, Harold Meachum, the wolf who would become Fera/Ferocia, and its pack;
    formerly forced to fight Iron Fist and Jade

Known Relatives: Daniel Rand (Iron Fist, son); Wendell Rand'Kai (husband), Thomas Duncan (father)

Aliases: Silver Dragon

Base of Operations: Feng-Tu Dimension

First Appearances: Marvel Premiere#15 (May, 1974)

Powers: As the Silver Dragon, Heather was a master martial artist, and possibly possessed enhanced human superhuman physical abilities. 

    Otherwise, Heather possessed the normal physical abilities of an adult woman of moderate exercise.

History:
(Deadly Hands of Kung Fu#23 (fb)) - Heather Duncan was born to one of America's most powerful merchant families, and she lived a life of contentment. At age 24 she fell in love with Wendell Rand, and they were married soon after.

(Iron First I#6 (fb) - BTS / Marvel Team-Up I#65) - Unbeknownst to Heather, Wendell was actually Wendell Rand-K'ai, a former resident of the extradimensional land of K'un-Lun.

(Deadly Hands of Kung Fu#23 (fb)) - One year after her marriage to Wendell, Heather bore him a son, Daniel.

(Iron Fist: The Living Weapon#5 (fb) - BTS) - At least according to the One robot that had bonded to Wendell Rand's corpse, Heather always loved animals.

(Iron Fist: The Living Weapon#1 (fb) - BTS) - At night before she would tuck Daniel into bed, Heather would tell him he had his father's eyes. He thought she spelled like rose petals, like baby powder in the rain. 

(Iron Fist: The Living Weapon#4 (fb) - BTS) - Daniel thought his mother was strong but had a sort of sadness; he later considered that this was like scar tissue, something that had been hurt and healed over. He also thought she always looked like she was hiding something.

(Iron Fist I#8 (fb)) - Young Danny came running home from the park, having seen a dog and asking if he could have one, too.

(Iron Fist I#8 (fb)) - Heather chided young Danny for rushing in and breaking the vase Wendell had given her.

(Deadly Hands of Kung Fu#19 (fb)) - Harold and Joy Meachum attended the eighth(?) birthday of Daniel Rand at a party held by Heather and Wendell.

(Iron Fist: The Living Weapon#2 (fb) - BTS) - It is hinted that Heather was either having or had discussed having an affair with Wendell's business partner, Harold Meachum.

(Marvel Premiere#15 (fb)) - Wendell convinced Heather to bring Daniel and join him and his business partner, Harold Meachum on an expedition to find the portal to the mystic city of K'un-Lun.

(Iron Fist: The Living Weapon#12 (fb)) - Heather stood by when Wendell excitedly showed Danny the parka he had gotten him for the trip. Danny didn't want to go, and Heather asked if he was OK; Wendell assured him that while things had been crazy lately, he promised that after this trip, everything would change. Danny asked what if he didn't want things to change, and Heather asked what had gotten into him. Wendell hugged Danny, assuring him that he loved him and that no matter what happened, they would always have this one moment they could keep with them.

(Iron Fist: The Living Weapon#1 (fb)) - While Daniel was scared, tired, and cold, Wendell encouraged him by describing the splendor of the city. With renewed enthusiasm, Daniel urged his mom onward, and Heather gave him a smile despite fearing their fate.

    Heather asked Harold to talk to Wendell, and when Wendell refused to listen to Harold's insistence that they turn back, Harold fired a flare gun in hopes of summoning back the guides. Instead, the gun's sound set off an avalanche. Wendell instructed Daniel to hold on to his mother and advised the others on how to survive the avalanche.

(Marvel Premiere I#15 (fb)) - Young Daniel slipped off of the edge of a natural bridge over a gorge, pulling his mother and father with him. The rope connecting the three broke, with Daniel and Heather rolling down the snow-packed mountainside, leaving Wendell hanging precariously off the edge. 

(Marvel Premiere I#15 (fb)) - Heather and Daniel watched as Meachum crushed Wendell's hand, forcing to fall to his death on the solid rock below. 

(Iron Fist: The Living Weapon#2 (fb) - BTS) - Heather thought she saw Harold let go of the rope, causing Wendell to fall.

(Marvel Premiere I#15 (fb)) - The exhilarated Harold then voiced his true motive of claiming their company for himself to his deceased former partner, but Heather heard this from the outcropping that had caught her and Daniel.

(Iron Fist: The Living Weapon#2 (fb)) - Harold called out to Heather, discussing how they could ration things and make it back to the camp in a day or two. Heather accused Harold of killing Wendell (specifically of letting go of the rope and killing him), which he denied, telling her she was exhausted and might have imagined things; when she persisted, he tried to explain that Wendell had brought everything on himself. He continued that they could start over, like they had talked about, but she told him to shut up, and repeatedly told Daniel to promise he would make Harold pay for what he had done to Wendell.

(Marvel Premiere I#15 (fb)) - Heather struck Harold in the face with a rock.

(Marvel Premiere I#15 (fb) / Iron Fist: The Living Weapon#2 (fb)) - Harold tried in vain to tell her that he loved her and had done it all for her. 

(Marvel Premiere I#15 (fb)) - Heather continued to hurl rocks at him.

(Marvel Premiere I#15 (fb) / Iron Fist: The Living Weapon#2 (fb)) - Harold warned her that he'd leave them to die in the middle of nowhere, to which she responded that she'd rather die than share the same world as him. 

(Marvel Premiere I#15 (fb)) - Heather said Daniel would either grow up to kill Harold with his own two hands, or he would die like his father. 

(Marvel Premiere I#15 (fb) / Iron Fist: The Living Weapon#2 (fb)) - Telling Heather her whole family was crazy, Harold left them there, assuming they would either die or change their minds.

(Iron Fist: The Living Weapon#2 (fb)) - When Daniel asked what they would do now, Heather told him simply, "We climb." Heather had Daniel climb in front of her, telling him to not look down or back, and she caught him when he fell. Finally, with her encouragement, they made it back to the top. Daniel asked if they were lost, and she told him they were a little turned around, but they were alive, and that was enough. When he asked if she thought his dad was alive, she said she thought he was watching over him to make sure he got somewhere safe.

(Marvel Premiere I#15 (fb)) - Since their original destination was much closer than turning back, Heather and Daniel continued their journey, keeping an eye on the wolves that followed them.

(Marvel Premiere I#15 (fb) / Iron Fist: The Living Weapon#2 (fb)) - Eventually they came to the bridge to Kun Lun, but the wolves chose that moment to charge them. Heather attempted to rush Daniel across the bridge, but knew they would never make it before the wolves reached them. She urged Daniel to keep running as she turned back and threw herself into the wolfpack, which stopped the chase to devour her. 

(Marvel Premiere I#15 (fb) / Iron Fist: The Living Weapon#2 (fb)) - Daniel made across the bridge, and then turned and watched his mother's death.

(Iron Fist: The Living Weapon#2 (fb) - BTS) - K'un-Lun archers shot out the ropes holding the bridge as the wolves rushed at Daniel, and they fell as it collapsed.

(Marvel Premiere I#15 (fb) - BTS) - Daniel entered the city of K'un-Lun and was trained to become Iron Fist.

(Iron Fist I#7 (fb) - BTS) - According to Master Khan, Yü-Ti had allowed Heather's death (having known she was coming and having not sent the archers to protect her from the wolves he knew were there).

(Deadly Hands of Kung Fu#23 (fb)) - Heather awakened in the city of Feng-Tu, the land of the dead for the people of K'un-Lun. Lord Tuan and Lady Meng attempted to explain to her why she was there, but she was stunned by the experience, and the knowledge that her husband was from another dimension, and she fled the palace. In the woodlands to which she fled, she encountered Dhasha Khan who vowed to end her grief and pain. He did so by stealing her soul into his Soulgem. Khan then transformed Heather into the form of the Silver Dragon, to his serve as his warrior-slave. The name was taken from the holiest of the symbols of K'un-Lun.

(Deadly Hands of Kung Fu#19-20, #22-23, 24 - BTS) - Dhasha Khan, seeking the soul of the Firebird in order to rule Earth, transported Jade (the human form of the Firebird) and her defender, Iron Fist to Feng-Tu. Khan blinded Iron Fist, who nonetheless defeated his warrior squadron. Khan then sent the Silver Dragon against him, and Heather was unable to stop herself from beating Iron Fist senseless, allowing Khan to steal the Firebird's soul.

    When Iron Fist and Jade sought to confront Dhasha Khan and take back the Firebird's soul, they had to cross the Bridge of Pain, which was guarded by the Silver Dragon. Heather was again compelled to battle her son, who this time finally managed to overpower her. When he removed her mask, he learned he had been fighting his own mother all along. Heather managed to resist Khan's commands to continue the battle, so Khan incinerated her body. Khan then traveled to Earth and attempted to use the power of the Firebird to remake it to his liking. Iron Fist defeated Khan, recovered the Soulgem, and allowed his mother's spirit to return to Feng-Tu, for a peaceful afterlife.

(Iron Fist / Wolverine#1-2, #4) - Heather breached the dimensional fortitude of Feng-Tu to warn Daniel about Junzo Muto's plan to bring K'un-Lun to Earth in Tokyo. Iron Fist traveled to Tokyo and was defeated and imprisoned by Muto. She convinced him not to take out his aggressions on his fellow prisoner Yü-Ti, who was still part of his family, regardless of his past actions.

    After Iron Fist and the other heroes defeated Muto and sent K'un-Lun back to its own realm, Daniel was on death's door and appeared in Feng-Tu. However, Heather and Wendell, reunited in Feng-Tu, told him it was not yet his time and sent him back to Earth. As he left, they told him how proud of him they were.

(Iron Fist: The Living Weapon#4 (fb)) - Heather, or perhaps (likely) just a dream or vision, visited Daniel, chiding him for having looked back to watch her die at the wolves' hands. She then warned Daniel that "he" was coming back and that she had come back to remind him of what he needed to survive the coming struggle.

(Iron Fist: The Living Weapon#8) - Iron Fist traveled to Diyu, the Chinese realm of the dead, where he defeated the underlord Yama and then communed with the soul of Heather, who seemed to be reliving being chased by wolves. As he apparently wore the flesh of the wolf-form Yama had taken, she was initially apalled at what he had become, but she calmed when he took on his appearance as a child before returning to his adult self, explaining that he had grown up and was not a boy anymore.

    While he sought to free her from the realm of the dead, she told him that she should have left Wendell and taken Danny with her, as Wendell had left them long before, and she hated him for it. She further noted that she had looked elsewhere for what she needed, waiting for Wendell to come back.

    She explained to him that she went with Wendell on the trip because she thought that maybe if he found the city, maybe he could find his connection to his family again. When he urged her to come with him before the wolves who had been chasing her regrouped, she clarified that it was not them that were keeping her there.

    Revealing chains about her wrists, she told Danny that she had bound him to vengeance, pointing him at Harold and pulling the trigger. "I chained you to darkness, but...you've always held the keys."

    When Daniel blamed K'un-Lun for not having had their archers slay the wolves because they wanted them for themselves, Heather asked if he could finally forgive her and finally let go. She kissed him on the forehead, and the chains around her wrists broke apart. As she departed peacefully with the wolves into the light, Heather told Danny that his father was once a good man like him, and also like him, he had trouble letting go of things. She asked him to find a way to forgive his father, too, and she encouraged him to become the potential <presumably to be a loving being> that they once had as a family.

(Iron Fist: The Living Weapon#8 - BTS) - Danny then returned to the Foo's base in the Himalayas.

(Iron Fist: The Living Weapon#10 - BTS) - Accessing the power of Iron Fist and various others he had captured, including Gork, a youthful reincarnation of Shou-Lao, the One -- which believed itself to be Wendell Rand -- powered the Randall Gate, opening a portal between the living and the dead. However, while the One wished to be "reunited" with Heather Rand, it instead unleashed and was confronted by the fiery god Zhu-Rong.

 10, 12

 Diyu, the Chinese realm of the dead, where he would have to search through 18 levels (including the Chamber of Tongues, the Chamber of Scissors, the Forest of Copper Columns) for peace and clarity, until the Yama (wolf-headed demonic underlord) granted him permission to leave; Rand defeated the Yama, then communed with the soul of his mother, Heather Rand, who invited him to finally let her rest in peace and live life on his own terms.

Comments: Created by Roy Thomas and Gil Kane.
    Silver Dragon created by Chris Claremont and Rudy Nebres.

    There are extensive discussions regarding the history of Wendell Rand in his profile. I'm working on an update for that one.

    I believe the idea that Heather had been having an affair with Harold Meachum was knew to the Iron Fist: The Living Weapon series by Kaare Kyle Andrews.

    I need to go back through the earlier appearances and get digital images (and more of them), but I'm lacking time to do that now.

Clarifications:

• any other "Silver" or "Dragon" character

images:
Iron Fist: The Living Weapon#1, pg. 2, panel 6 (forcing a smile for Danny);
    `#8, pg. 15, panel 1 (face in profile; Diyu);
          panel 4 (face, hugging Danny in the form of his younger self);
    #12, pg. 20, panel 6 (with Wendell and Danny just before the trip)

Appearances:
Marvel Premiere#15 (May, 1974)
Deadly Hands of Kung Fu#19 (December, 1975)
Deadly Hands of Kung Fu#20-24 (January-May, 1976)
Iron Fist I#7 (September, 1976)
Iron Fist/Wolverine#1-2 (November-December, 2000)
Iron Fist/Wolverine#4 (February, 2001)
Iron Fist: The Living Weapon#1 (June, 2014) - Kaare Kyle Andrews (writer and editor), Jake Thomas (editor)
Iron Fist: The Living Weapon#4-5 (September-October, 2014) - Kaare Kyle Andrews (writer and artist), Jake Thomas (editor)
Iron Fist: The Living Weapon#8 (March, 2015) - Kaare Kyle Andrews (writer and editor), Jake Thomas (editor)
Iron Fist: The Living Weapon#10 (May, 2015) - Kaare Kyle Andrews (writer and editor), Jake Thomas (editor)
Iron Fist: The Living Weapon#12 (July, 2015) - Kaare Kyle Andrews (writer and editor), Jake Thomas (editor)

First posted: 09/29/2001
Last updated: 02/18/2025

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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