YU HUANG
Real Name: Yu Huang Shang-Ti
Identity/Class: Extradimensional (Chinese god)
Occupation: God of Heaven; former Emperor of China
Group Membership: The Xian (Gods of China);
The Council Elite / Council of Godheads
Affiliations: Jinzha, Muzha, Nezha, Qilin Riders (Jiang Li, others), Shang-Chi;
formerly Chieftain Xin
Enemies: Chaos King (Amatsu-Mikaboshi), Chieftain Xin, Desolation Wyrm, Gong Gung, Chi-Yu, Skrull Gods;
formerly Brother Sabre (Takeshi), Shang-Chi, Sister Dagger (Zheng Esme), Sister Hammer (Zheng Shi-Hua), Sister Staff (Zheng Zhilan),
Known Relatives: Yuang-Shi (father), Fu Pao (mother), Yu Qiang, Chen Yuang (brothers), Sien Tsan Mu (sister), Xi Wang Mu (wife), Ba Niang, Qi Gu Niang, Song Zi Niang, Wang Mu Niang, Meng Po Niang, Zhinu Niang (daughters), Chen Kuei (son), Er Lang (nephew), Ching-Te (foster father, deceased), Pao-Yueh (foster mother, deceased), Yen Ti (foster brother, deceased)
Aliases: Yellow Emperor, Yu-Ti, Huang Ti, Jade Emperor, August Emperor In Jade
Base of Operations: Ta-Lo;
formerly K'un-L'un Mountain
First Appearance: Thor I#301 (November, 1980)
Powers/Abilities: Yu Huang possesses greater powers than most of the Chinese Gods. He is virtually long-lived and has superhuman strength (Class 50 perhaps), stamina and resistance to injury. He also has extraordinary power to tap into and manipulate magical and cosmic energies on the level of Zeus or Odin.
Height: 6'
Weight: 325 lbs.
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Black
History:
(Chinese Myth) - There is very little known
of how Yu Huang became ruler of the Chinese Gods, as many of the stories
about him are fragmentary and often conflict with each other. He was the
son of Yuang Shi Tian Long, but was raised by mortal parents named Ching
Te and Pao Yueh, possibly to protect him from the battle between Gong
Gung, the water god, and Zhu
Rong, the fire god, for control of China and the ruling gods of
China. Gong Gung shattered Mount Buzhou and caused successive rains to
cover the world in a vast flood. Yu Huang, however, became a cup bearer
to Yuang-Shi, possibly unaware the old god was his father. When the
reign of the old god came to an end, he named Yu Huang as his successor
as Emperor of China. Yu Huang turned down the role, believing he was not
worthy, and made his mortal brother, Yen Ti, Emperor of China, as he
himself disappeared into the wilderness to attain physical perfection.
He returned years later as Huang Ti to succeed his brother as Emperor.
When Chi Yu, the war-god, stormed heaven to lead the gods, Yu Huang
defeated him and passed on the leadership of mortals to a mortal emperor
named Chuan Hsing. Yu Huang's great-grandson, Gun (also named Kun)
finally eliminated the floods created by Gong Gung by using a spell from
heaven to create dams.
(Shang-Chi and the Ten Rings#5 (fb)) - A long time ago the gods of Ta-Lo were attacked by the Desolation Wyrm. The creature breached the palace of the Jade Emperor, who hurt the Wyrm with his sword. To retaliate the Wyrm slaughtered the Jade Emperor's daughter Zhinu and threatened to do the same to the whole kingdom. The Jade Emperor despaired, but Nezha, the God of Youth, and his brothers Muzha and Jinzha defeated the Wyrm. Nezha trapped the Wyrm inside the Universe Ring.
The Jade Emperor was eventually forced to order Muzha and Jinzha to kill their brother Nezha when he fell under the influence of the trapped Desolation Wyrm. The Jade Emperor smashed the Universe Ring after Nezha's demise and scattered the twelve ring-shaped pieces across the dimensions. Over the millennia ten rings returned to Ta-Lo and the Jade Emperor put them in his armory. The location of the final two rings remained a mystery.
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(Thor I#300 (fb)) - Sometime around 1000 AD, Yu Huang met with the ruling gods of Earth's pantheons to discuss the threat of the Third Host of Celestials. With Zeus and Odin, they met the Celestials who threatened to sever the dimensional passages of their realms to Earth unless they promised not to interfere with their plans to judge humanity's worthiness. (see comments) |
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(Thor I#301) - In the wake of Ragnarok among the Norse Gods, Thor came to Yu Huang seeking a portion of the life-energies to restore the Asgardians. Believing Thor to have defeated a threat to all gods, Yu Huang graciously granted the needed energies. (Thor I#398) - Yu Huang heard the Enchantress's scream over the death of her then-lover, Heimdall. |
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(Thor II#61) - Thor was called before the Council Elite to be tested for worthiness to join them, as a replacement for Odin. Yu Huang was present at this meeting, in which Thor was judged as having failed the test.
(Thor II#65) - The Council Elite discussed Thor's continued violation of noninterference on Earth and how to deal with them. In the end they did nothing because the Consortium of Nations were already putting together a plan to deal with Asgard.
(Incredible Hercules#116, 133 (fb)) - Yu Huang was part of the Council that met with Hercules, Athena and Amadeus Cho to discuss the threat posed by the Skrull Gods.
(Heroic Age: Prince of Power#1) - The Council met to discuss who would be the greatest hero of the heroic age. Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor were proposed by some, and Athena told them with certainty that it was Amadeus Cho.
(Heroic Age: Prince of Power#2) - When Vali Halfling of the Pantheon extinguished the Promethean Flame that granted Olympians their immortality, Athena screamed in pain; she was comforted by Izanagi. Threatened by Vali's threat to attain everything he needed to gain full omniscience, all Council members returned to their respective realms.
(Chaos War#1) - The Council of Godheads summoned Hercules and Amadeus Cho before them to judge them on Hercules' recent empowerment and actions in preparation for the arrival of the Chaos King (Amatsu-Mikaboshi). Overwhelmed by his new power and outraged that the Godheads didn't use their power to do anything, Hercules attacked them, battering them about until Thor arrived and convinced Hercules to get himself under control.
(Chaos War#3) - Hercules foolishly brought the Chaos King, who was hiding his essence inside Zeus, to the Council of Godheads. They all fell victim to the Chaos King, who gained entrance to their realms through the council's chamber.
(Journey into Mystery I#627) - Yu Huang was at a Council meeting when Zeus and Odin got into a heated argument.
SECRET WARS III HAPPENED
(Shang-Chi II#11) - The Jade Emperor easily defeated Shang-Chi and his half-siblings Sister Hammer, Sister Dagger, Sister Staff and Brother Sabre with the Ten Rings after they teleported to Ta-Lo in search for Chieftain Xin and his daughter Jiang Li, Shang-Chi's mother. The Jade Emperor angrily ordered his soldiers to bring Xin before him because he attracted invaders to his realm instead of doing his job and keeping them out.
The Jade Emperor chewed out Chieftain Xin for failing at his job to guard the gateway between Ta-Lo and Earth and allow five Earthlings to enter Ta-Lo without permission. Xin offered to take care of the five invaders, but the Jade Emperor instead ordered to imprison Xin alongside them. Xin angrily put Taotie Masks on himself and his Qilin and assaulted the Jade Emperor and his guards with the enhanced strength granted to them by the masks. He wouldn't allow the Jade Emperor to take away his revenge on Zheng Zu's imprisoned children.
(Shang-Chi II#12) - Shang-Chi stole the Jade Emperor's Ten Rings, but failed to defeat Xin, who took six of the rings in the process before departing for Earth to exact his revenge on the remaining children of Zheng Zu after seemingly murdering Shang-Chi and his siblings in the prison. The Jade Emperor was surprised that Shang-Chi could even wear the rings without being destroyed by them. After Shang-Chi revealed that six of the rings were stolen by his grandfather Xin, the Jade Emperor gave Shang-Chi the task to return all ten rings and Xin to him and only then the Jade Emperor would decide the fate of Shang-Chi and his siblings. The Jade Emperor opened a portal for Shang-Chi and his siblings to return to Earth and gave them Qilin to ride into battle against Xin and his Qilin Riders.
Shang-Chi and Jiang Li brought Xin and the Ten Rings to the Jade Emperor in Ta-Lo and he showed mercy to Shang-Chi and his siblings. The Jade Emperor then appointed Jiang Li the new chieftain of the Qilin Riders. Soon after the Ten Rings returned to Shang-Chi on Earth.
(Shang-Chi and the Ten Rings#6 - BTS) - The gods saw Shang-Chi struggle with the burden of carrying the Ten Rings and tried to relieve him of them, but Shang-Chi's mother Jiang Li convinced the Jade Emperor to allow Jinzha and Muzha to test Shang-Chi against other potential ring-keepers from Earth in a contest.
(Shang-Chi and the Ten Rings#6) - Shang-Chi won the contest and the Jade Emperor revealed to Shang-Chi that Earth needed a ring-keeper like him in the near future because of a great danger approaching Earth. He was glad that Shang-Chi was a worthy ring-keeper that kept to his principles because the Jade Emperor was still haunted to this day by his decision to have Nezha killed to protect Ta-Lo from the Desolation Wyrm.
Comments: Adapted by Mark Gruenwald, Ralph Macchio and Keith Pollard.
The character pictured in the Council of Godheads in
Thor#300 is not identified. He does look significantly different from Yu
Haung as pictured and identified in Thor#301 (and What If II#38).
However, the flashback in Thor#300 takes place over 1000 years ago. In
addition, it may well be that some of the characters have different
forms, such as a battle form and a form for ruling and/or diplomacy (or
perhaps different forms for inside and outside their own realms). The
characters in Thor#300 are identified as "Sky-Fathers All", which would
make Yu Huang the appropriate character.
Alternatively, he could have sent another representative in his stead.
If that's the case then Yu Huang would be behind the scenes in that
issue--Snood.
In What If II#38, Yu Huang's name was erroneously spelled as Hu-Yuang.
In Chinese Mythology, Ta-Lo was located or accessed at the top of Mount K'un-L'un in Western China. In the Marvel Universe, K'un-L'un is the home of a colony of aliens, the native race of Iron Fist. Many of their names have been borrowed from Chinese Myth: Lei Kung (god of thunder), Fu Hsi (god of earth), Shu Hu (god of lightning) and Shou Lao (god of immortality). Possibly they represented the Chinese Gods on Earth just as the Eternals posed as the Olympians on Earth.
According to Shang-Chi II#8 Zheng Zu planned to invade Ta-Lo and steal the Ten Rings, one of the legendary Five Sets of Heavenly Weapons (which inspired the Five Weapons Society, created alongside his brother Zheng Yi) from the Jade Emperor. While attempting to invade Ta-Lo, he was attacked by pirates and was rescued by Jiang Li of the Qilin Riders, a community of mortals from Ta-Lo. He did not tell her that he planned to invade Ta-Lo and got married, but her father, Chieftan Xin, was against it. After Li's father invaded Earth, she was trapped in the Negative Zone. Since there is no defined origin for the Ten Rings in the MCU, Yang decided to draw inspiration from mythology. The Ten Rings are originally Nezha's Universal Ring, it was initially divided into 12 parts, but only ten rings remained. In the MCU, it shows a connection between the Ten Rings and the bangles worn by Kamala Khan.
--Quiof Thrul
Thanks to Quiof Thrul and Ron Fredricks for the new and additional images.
Profile by Will Uchtman. Updates by Markus Raymond.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Yu Huang should not be confused with:
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Earth-9260 (What If II#38) - In an alternate reality, the counterpart of Yu Huang met with that world's Zeus, Buluku, Izanagi, Quetzalcoatl, Osiris and the demon Mephisto to discuss Seth's threat to their prospective realms. --What If II#38 |
images: (without ads)
Shang-Chi II#11, p5, pan1 (Jade Emperor in armor, main)
Thor II#61, p6, pan4 (head shot)
Thor I#300, p12, pan1 (Yu Huang [1000 AD, see comments])
Thor I#301, p13, pan3 (Yu Huang)
Thor I#301, p13, pan4 (Yu Huang bestows life-energies to Thor's hammer)
Shang-Chi II#12, p7, pan3 (Jade Emperor in robes)
What If II#38, p10 (Earth-9260)
Appearances:
Thor I#300 (October, 1980) - Mark Gruenwald & Ralph Macchio (writers), Keith Pollard (pencils), Gene Day (inks), Jim Salicrup (editor)
Thor I#301 (November, 1980) - Mark Gruenwald & Ralph Macchio (writers), Keith Pollard (pencils), Chic Stone (inks), Jim Salicrup (editor)
Thor I#398 (December, 1988) - Tom DeFalco (writer), Ron Frenz (pencils), Don Heck (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)
What If II#38 (June, 1992) - Roy Thomas & R.J.M. Lofficier (writers), Marshall Rogers & M.C. Wyman (pencils), Sam Delarosa with Rod Ramos (inks), Craig Anderson (editor)
Thor II#61 (May, 2003) - Dan Jurgens (writer), Ben & Ray Lai (artists), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Thor II#65 (August, 2003) - Dan Jurgens (writer), Ben & Ray Lai (artists), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Incredible Hercules#116 (June, 2008) - Greg Pak & Fred Van Lente (writers), Rafa Sandoval (pencils), Roger Bonet (inks), Mark Paniccia (editor)
Incredible Hercules#133 (November, 2009) - Greg Pak & Fred Van Lente (writers), Rodney Buchemi (artist), Mark Paniccia (editor)
Heroic Age: Prince of Power#1 (July, 2010) - Greg Pak & Fred Van Lente (writers), Reilly Brown (pencils), Terry Pallot with Jason Paz (inks), Mark Paniccia (editor)
Heroic Age: Prince of Power#2 (August, 2010) - Greg Pak & Fred Van Lente (writers), Reilly Brown (pencils), Terry Pallot (inks), Mark Paniccia (editor)
Chaos War#1 (December, 2010) - Greg Pak & Fred Van Lente (writers), Khoi Pham (pencils), Tom Palmer (inks), Jordan D. White (assistant editor), Mark Paniccia (senior editor)
Chaos War#3 (January, 2011) - Greg Pak & Fred Van Lente (writers), Khoi Pham (pencils), Tom Palmer (inks), Jordan D. White (assistant editor), Mark Paniccia (editor)
Journey into Mystery I#627 (November, 2011) - Kieron Gillen (writer), Richard Elson (artist), John Denning (assistant editor), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Shang-Chi II#11-12 (June-July, 2022) - Gene Luen Yang (writer), Marcus To (artist), Darren Shan (editor)
Shang-Chi and the Ten Rings#5-6 (January-February, 2023) - Gene Luen Yang (writer), Marcus To (artist), Darren Shan (editor)
First posted: 07/27/2002
Last updated: 07/06/2025
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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