DARIUS FARAZ

Real Name: Darius Faraz

Identity/Class: Human

Occupation: Terrorist, consultant

Group Membership: 

Affiliations: Cat's-Paw, Jemaah Islamiyah, Mandarin, Karim Mahwash Najeeb, Spymaster (Sinclair Abbott)

Enemies: Harold "Happy" Hogan, SHIELD

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Unrevealed

First Appearance: Iron Man IV#13 (April, 2007); (identified) Iron Man IV#16 (July, 2007)

Powers/Abilities: Darius Faraz is a criminal with connections to several terrorist organizations and criminal organizations.

History:

(Iron Man IV#16 (fb) - BTS) - Najeeb had his man Darius Faraz, who worked for Najeeb through his sub-contracted company CM Security Consultants out of Cyprus under a private operation contract through the United Nations, equip another terrorist group, Cat's Paw, with biological enhancements. A few of the terrorists were genetically manipulated and interfused with weapon-controlling chips as well as bioelectric impulses that siphoned energy directly from the limbic system. They were also given bio-hard drives attached to their optic nerves, which recorded and transmitted things they saw visually. Najeeb also had Faraz initiate an in-depth search for the powerful Mandarin.

(Iron Man IV#13) - At the World Islamic Peace Coalition office in Stockholm, Sweden, Najeeb took a call that updated him on the search for the Mandarin. Finding that their leads were reaching dead ends, Najeeb encouraged hiring the Spymaster (Sinclair Abbott) to help them. Spymaster later attacked Happy Hogan to use as bait against Stark, but Hogan managed to drop Spymaster off a high rise, severely injuring both of them.

(Iron Man IV#15 (fb)) - Najeeb and his men tracked the Mandarin to the Nei Monggol Province in China, at the An Hu Po State Psychiatric Facility. They toured the facility with Dr. Chen, who denied that there was a Q-unit in the sub-basement but finally reluctantly showed them to the cell of the Mandarin. Inside the cell, the Mandarin sat surrounded by candles and reportedly had not had anything to eat or drink and had not slept in months.

(Iron Man IV#16) - Darius shot Dr. Chen, then Najeeb introduced himself to the patient and offered him his ten power rings. When the patient refused to answer Najeeb, Najeeb grew furious and ordered Darius to kill him. The patient moved unexpectedly, decapitating Najeeb's other aid. Najeeb shouted at Darius to kill the patient, but Darius killed Najeeb instead. Najeeb proclaimed loyalty to the Mandarin.

(Iron Man IV#15 (fb) - BTS) - Najeeb was reported missing to the world at large, his last known location being China.

(Iron Man IV#17 (fb)) - Darius helped the Mandarin reclaim control of his rings as the Mandarin cried out in pain.

(Iron Man IV#17 (fb) - BTS) - Darius and Mandarin abandoned the psychiatric unit, though they genetically enhanced many of the prisoners and left behind a deadly genetic weapon in Najeeb's body, as a trap for SHIELD when they investigated.

(Iron Man IV#21 (fb) - BTS) - Faraz was captured in Afghanistan. He confessed to the authorities that he'd been behind the terrorism acts, giving up names of others, but he did not give up the Mandarin.

Comments: Created by Daniel & Charles Knauf, Patrick Zircher, and Scott Hanna.

Profile by Chadman.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Darius Faraz has no known connections to

• any characters not mentioned in this profile.

images: (without ads)
Iron Man IV#16, p19, pan1 (main)