The Mandarin is a superb athlete with tremendous skill in the various martial arts. Through repeated practice, he has toughened all the striking surfaces of his body, especially his hands, which are covered with thick calluses. He can even split Iron Man's magnetic-beam reinforced alloy armor with repeated blows. So great is the Mandarin's martial arts ability, that he can even survive years without food and water, apparently sustaining himself purely via his mastery of chi. The precise degree of The Mandarin's martial art powers has been the subject of multiple implied retcons by Marvel Comics. Initially, Mandarin was portrayed as being such a superhumanly skilled martial artist that he could destroy Iron Man's armor with his bare hands.[31] Later portrayals focused on his use of the rings, and implicitly retconned the Mandarin's skill to being great but no longer superhuman.[volume & issue needed] The most recent continuity has restored Mandarin's martial arts ability to its original superhuman level.[volume & issue needed]
The Mandarin is one of Marvel Earth's greatest scientific geniuses, and highly skilled in various sciences. Not only has he made himself into an expert authority on alien Makluan science, but he has also built upon this knowledge by making further discoveries based upon it.
The principal personal weapons of the Mandarin are the ten rings which he wears on the fingers of each hand. The rings' operations cannot be explained by contemporary Earth science, but it is known that they served as near-limitless power sources for the warp-drive engines of the Makluan starship of Axonn-Karr. The Mandarin learned how to convert the rings to his personal uses and to make them respond to his mental commands. The fingers on which he wears each ring, and the known functions for which he uses each ring, are given below.
Digit Left Hand Right Hand
Little finger
Ice Blast
The ring emits waves of cold which can be used to stun an opponent. The ring usually causes the air in the path of its blast to turn to ice, and can lower an object's temperature to nearly absolute zero. The gem is shaped like multiple small cylindrical capsules, colored blue-white.
Black Light
The ring can create an area of absolute blackness that seems to absorb all light used within it. Although "black light" is a term used to refer to ultraviolet radiation, the darkness created by the ring is probably a form of the "darkforce" used by Cloak, Darkstar, and the Shroud. The gem is shaped like four tiny black-blue dots, arranged in a square shape in groups of two.
Ring Finger
Mento-Intensifier
The ring magnifies the wearer's own psionic energy, allowing him to place one or more people under his mental control and to transmit orders to them mentally. Most frequently used to create illusions.
The gem is shaped like a blue diamond/tilted square.
Disintegration Beam
The ring emits a beam of energy that destroys all bonds between the atoms and molecules of the object it strikes. This ring needs twenty minutes to recharge after use. The gem is shaped like a golden square.
Middle Finger
Electro-Blast
The ring emits electricity in amounts at intensities mentally determined by the wearer. The maximum current attainable is not known. The gem is shaped like an angled green line.
Vortex Beam
The ring causes the air to move about at high speed in a vortex. The vortex can be used as an offensive weapon, as a means of levitating objects, or as a means of propelling the ring's wearer through the air. The gem is shaped like a simple blue circle.
Index Finger
Flame Blast
The ring emits infrared radiation, or heat, at intensities mentally determined by the wearer. Usually the heat produces flame through incandescing the molecules in the air in the path of the blast. The heat beam can be used to trigger chemical explosions. The maximum amount of heat it can generate is not known. The gem is shaped similarly to the ice blast ring, but with four capsules and a red color.
Impact Beam
This ring can project various forms of energy, most frequently that of fast neutrons with great concussive force. The ring has also been used to project intense sonic vibrations and to create magnetic waves to attract or repel objects. The ring may be capable of emitting other forms of energy as well, and has been used to send Iron Man slamming through a mountain. The gem is shaped like a star, colored purple (or red).
Thumb
White Light
This ring can emit various forms of energy along the electromagnetic spectrum. Has been used to create gravity powerful enough to make Iron Man bury himself by trying to walk forward. The gem is shaped like two white circles, set in gold (almost like a pair of eyes).
Matter Rearranger
This ring can rearrange the atoms and molecules of a substance, or speed up or slow down their movement, so as to produce various effects. The ring has been used to condense water vapor in the air to liquid water, to solidify gasses, to create lethal poison gas from the air, to turn a group of men to stone, to turn a man into a beetle, to turn a mountain into a rock-monster, and to make a stone hand large enough to engulf Iron Man's body erupt from the floor. The ring cannot transmute elements or rearrange the atoms and molecules of Iron Man's magnetic-beam reinforced armor. The gem is shaped like a small purple circle.