Ying Li (Mandarin: ćșäžœ) was the former guardian of Ta Lo, as well as the wife of Xu Wenwu, the mother of Shang-Chi and Xu Xialing, and the sister of Ying Nan.
Ying Li was born in Ta Lo village, living there together with her sister Ying Nan and a Dijiang who became her pet. Li underwent a special training to become a powerful warrior, earning the special abilities, granted to her by the Great Protector. She had sworn to protect Ta Lo from any intruder who might try to endanger the villagers or liberate the Dweller-in-Darkness. In 1996, Li stood on the guard of the entrance, when the Ten Rings attempted to enter the village and expand their power.
The Ten Rings convoy ended up falling to the trap of the bamboo maze, as Xu Wenwu remained the sole survivor, and walked to the entrance location, where Li was awaiting. When Wenwu questioned how to enter Ta Lo, Li stated that he was not welcome in the village and told him to leave, paying no attention to Wenwu's persona. Wenwu ignored Li's warnings and prepared his rings for an attack, although Li remained unimpressed by Wenwu's weapons. As he tried to launch his rings and strike Li, she used her abilities to evade or deflect any of Wenwu's attacks.
They continued fighting, as Wenwu was unable to land a single blow on Li, although both of them were visibly intrigued in each other. Wenwu then tried to launch his rings at Li, but she used her powers to catch the rings and launch them back at Wenwu, as the shockwave threw him away. Li then manipulated the air around Wenwu to catch him and let him fall into the pond. Li then disappeared from the forest and returned to Ta Lo, leaving the defeated Wenwu behind, although she kept thinking about their meeting ever since.[1]
Following their brief altercation, Xu Wenwu would frequently visit Li but not as an enemy, as he only wanted to see her. Li welcomed Wenwu and they spent a lot of time with each other, before eventually falling in love with each other. Li showed Wenwu to channel his strive for power into more calm and peaceful way, and helped him with training. Li even asked the elders of Ta Lo to let Wenwu in, so they could live together, however, the elders rejected Wenwu as an outsider who had no right to stay in Ta Lo because the sins he committed in the past could end up destroying Ta Lo. Li did not want to be separated from her beloved and made a decision to leave Ta Lo and join Wenwu at the Earth plane, abandoning her powers granted to her by the Great Protector.
Ying Li with her family
Li eventually moved to the Ten Rings Headquarters and married Wenwu, as they had two children, Xu Shang-Chi and Xu Xialing. Now living a peaceful family life with their children, Li convinced Wenwu to abandon his rings and put an end to his organizations. Li would raise her children without any regret of leaving Ta Lo behind, as Li believed that she got something better than she could ever dream of. Li told Shang-Chi and Xialing the stories about Ta Lo and how she met their father.[1]
One night, Ying told Shang-Chi and Xialing about the guardians of Ta Lo, starting with the Shishi, who protected each other. Shang-Chi likened the protection to his own protection of Xialing, who Ying then compared to the Jiu Wei Hu. Shang-Chi asked if the Jiu Wei Hu were as smart as the Qilin, so Ying explained that the Qilin were unique in that they could swim and fly but chose to protect the grass. Xialing shared her love for flying guardians, so Ying told her children about the Fenghuang. Ying made an origami figure of Morris, who she explained was always on her side. Shang-Chi suggested that he was most like the dragon, and Ying agreed, but said that Shang-Chi had a path other than becoming a dragon to follow. Shang-Chi expressed admiration for Ying's village, but Ying noted that it did not have her children as they went to sleep.[4] Ying later told her children about Ta Lo again, gifting them with the green pendants, telling that if they would lose their way, the Eyes of the Dragon would lead them back home.[1]
One day, Li would help Shang-Chi with his training, teaching him to accept both light and darkness inside of him. Suddenly, she witnessed the members of the Iron Gang entering the Ten Rings Headquarters grounds, as the leader stated that they wanted a retribution from Xu Wenwu. Li claimed that her husband was now a different man, as he decided to abandon the Ten Rings but the Iron Gang ignored her words. She then told them that whatever grudge the Iron Gang had against Wenwu, their children had nothing to do with it, so the leader allowed them to go.
Li then turned to Shang-Chi and Xu Xialing, telling them to hide inside the house, while she deals with the Iron Gang. Shang-Chi was worried since Li did not have her powers anymore, but she assured her son that he had nothing to fear. Once Shang-Chi and Xialing were in safety, Li took a fighting stance and prepared to face the Iron Gang, as more gang members would enter the grounds. In the subsequent battle, Li managed to take out numerous Iron Gang members, however, they managed to overpower Li and kill her.[1]
Legacy[]
Ying Li's shrine
"I miss my sister as much as you do, but this is not the way to honor her memory."
As Xu Wenwu returned to the Ten Rings Headquarters, he saw the body of his wife, surrounded by the members of the Iron Gang. Devastated by the loss of his wife, Wenwu blamed himself for becoming too weak and failing to protect his family, so he had sworn to get his revenge. Wenwu revived the Ten Rings and waged war against the Iron Gang, eliminating every single member he could get to. Wenwu had Shang-Chi underwent a ruthless training from the Death Dealer and become a powerful warrior, as Wenwu sent him to kill the Iron Gang Leader. Shang-Chi completed his mission and took the leader's life, however, he decided to distance from his father who would become more and more obssessed with revenge.
Taking advantage of Wenwu's loss, the Dweller-in-Darkness manipulated him with Li's voice to liberate himself from the Dark Gate. The Dweller would impersonate Li and convince him that she was not dead, and the Ta Lo elders trapped her spirit, begging Wenwu to rescue her. Wenwu took it upon himself to find a way to reach Ta Lo and tracked down Shang-Chi and Xu Xialing to get the elders to liberate his wife at any cost. Shang-Chi and Xialing saw that his father was becoming more and more delusioned, they joined forces with the Ta Lo Armed Forces to stop the Ten Rings, but regardless, Wenwu managed to destroy the gates and liberate the Soul Eaters, leading to a battle for Ta Lo.[1]
Personality[]
Ying Li was a calm, kind, and loving mother to Shang-Chi and Xu Xialing, and wife to Xu Wenwu. She would often tell her son stories of his father and how he and she met. Before meeting Wenwu, she was the guardian of the Ta Lo Village which she was a rather dutiful, strong, and fearless person which her sister, Ying Nan and her husband admired her.
During the duel between her and Wenwu, she displays a playful side of herself as joking about Wenwu using the rings to fight her and smiling at him during their fight. Though she and Wenwu were enemies, they did have a mutual attraction to each other before genuinely falling in love. She loved her husband very much as she decided to leave the village, get married, and having his children. Ying Li was the only person Wenwu ever loved and her influence made him to become a better man before her death.
Great Protector Empowerment: As being the former guardian of Ta Lo, Ying Li bonded with the Great Protector and gained access to a portion of her powers, enhancing several of her physical attributes including her strength, durability, speed, agility, stamina and reflexes, as well as being able to freely manipulate air.
Superhuman Strength: As the guardian of Ta Lo, Ying Li had superior strength than average humans, being able to fight on par with Wenwu, the owner of the Ten Rings.
Superhuman Durability: As the guardian of Ta Lo, Ying Li had superior durability than average humans.
Superhuman Speed: As the guardian of Ta Lo, Ying Li had superior speed than average humans.
Superhuman Agility: As the guardian of Ta Lo, Ying Li had gained far greater agility, equilibrium, flexibility, dexterity, balance, and body coordination than any normal human being.
Superhuman Stamina: As the guardian of Ta Lo, Ying Li had stamina was enhanced by her bonding with the Great Protector, allowing her to exert herself at peak capacity for long periods of time without tiring or showing any sign of fatigue.
Superhuman Reflexes: As the guardian of Ta Lo, Ying Li had gained incredible reflexes after bonding with the Great Protector. She was able to react and dodge objects travelling at high speeds, much quicker than any normal human being. This also enhanced her reaction time.
Air Manipulation: Through bonding with the Great Protector, Ying Li was able to freely manipulate air.
Force-Field Generation: Ying Li was able to create a barrier of air in order to evade attacks from her opponents.
Air Blasts: Ying Li was able to generate powerful air blasts against her opponents.
Hurricane Generation: Ying Li was able to use the Great Protector's blessing to cause small but intense storms with high wind speeds.
As being the former guardian of Ta Lo, Ying Li was extensively trained in martial arts. Her fighting style was balanced by Tai Chi[5] that involved powerful pushes, strikes, blocks, and kicks with Baguazhang.[6] She was able to overwhelm Xu Wenwu, a warlord with centuries of experiences in combat and her eventual husband.
Originally, in the comics the mother of Shang-Chi was an American woman who Fu Manchu selected to be the mother of his perfect heir. This was eventually retconned by Gene Luen Yang after the introduction of Ying Li in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with the reveal of Jiang Li as the mother of both Shang-Chi and Sister Hammer in the comics.
In the comics, the Mandarin was betrothed to a woman named Mei Ling, who sacrificed herself to save Iron Man's love interest Janice Cord.
In Marvel's official cast announcement in December 2020, Michelle Yeoh and Fala Chen's characters were named Jiang Nan and Jiang Li respectively.[7] The "Jiang" family name was also featured in merchandise for Ying Li,[8] as well as promotional material, and for the comic book counterpart of the character.
