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- "Shēngcún"
- —Yao Fei recites his mantra to Oliver Queen[src]
Yao Fei Gulong[1] (姚飞古龙 Yáo Fēi Gǔlóng) (died May 2008) was a master archer and martial artist. He was also the father of Mei and the late Shado, and was one of the former mentors (in fact the first) and good friend of Oliver Queen. Yao Fei did his best to always protect and look out for his friends Oliver, Slade Wilson and his daughter Shado. He was a prisoner on the island of Lian Yu. He was believed to be extremely dangerous by the Chinese government, a fact proven true as only people too dangerous to society and too hard to hold prisoner, are sent to the nearly inhospitable island. It was later revealed by his daughter that the Chinese military forced him to be their scapegoat in massacring innocent people, and that he was sent to the island for crimes he did not commit. He was a student of Talia al Ghul.
Edward Fyers attempted to make Yao Fei his scapegoat by forcing him to film a confession for shooting down Ferris Air Flight 637 by threatening to kill Oliver, Slade, and Shado, in order to get him to cooperate. However he managed to slip Oliver a knife which allowed him to free himself and his companions. After Yao Fei filmed the tape, Fyers killed him with a shot to the head. His death was later avenged by Oliver, who killed Fyers with an arrow to save Shado after preventing the plane from being shot down.
Biography
Earlier life
Slade Wilson finds Yao Fei.
Yao Fei Gulong was a general in the People's Liberation Army of China. At some point, he was trained by Talia al Ghul.[1] Yao Fei had twin daughters, Shado and Mei.
Several years prior to 2007, the Chinese military massacred a large number of people, and Yao Fei was forcibly chosen as a scapegoat to take the blame. As a result, he was sentenced to exile on Lian Yu for the rest of his life.[2]
Time on Lian Yu
Yao Fei soon became a prisoner of Edward Fyers, who wanted him to be the face of a war-related plan.[2] About a year after being captured by Edward, Slade was put in a cell with him. Slade helped Yao Fei to escape from their cell. The two went to go find Slade's partner, Bill, only to find out that he had joined with Edward. The two men then escaped Edward's camp together. While it isn't known what exactly happened after that, Yao Fei and Slade made plans to escape the island together on a supply plane.[3]
One day, Yao Fei came across Oliver Queen, whom he shot in the side using a bow and arrow.[4]
Yao Fei, who appeared to be attacking Oliver, was actually helping him. He took him to his hideout at a cave to care for Oliver until he awoke. Oliver questioned him about why he had been shot, with Yao Fei only responding that it was for his protection and proceeded to remove the arrow from Oliver's chest. While Yao Fei slept, Oliver ran off and was later found trapped in a net. After scolding Oliver, he freed him from the net and warned Oliver that "they" would kill him, running off with Oliver following.[5]
Yao Fei arrives at the hideout to see Oliver looking at a photo of Laurel. He brought a cage with a bird and put it beside Oliver, saying "shengcún" repeatedly. When Oliver asks what it means, Yao Fei repeats himself without explaining and walks off.
During a flashback, Yao Fei is shown sitting by a fire at the hideout, toasting a bird's leg on a stick. Oliver awakes and attempts to grab at the stick, but Yao Fei single-handedly throws him aside. Yao Fei then hints at Oliver to kill the bird, but Oliver refuses and claims he has never killed anything. Yao Fei responds again by saying "shengcún". The flashback continues with Oliver begging Yao Fei for food, eventually realizing that he is to kill the bird. Yao Fei watches as Oliver proceeds to apologize and kill it. While he eats it, Yao Fei approaches saying "shengcún". Oliver mistakes the word to mean "bird", but Yao Fei tells Oliver that it means "survive." Oliver is surprised to learn Yao Fei speaks English, as he spoke only Mandarin throughout their stay together in the cave even though Oliver did not understand. Although he began to speak English to Oliver, he feigned a lack of proficiency in the language until he joined Edward's army.
Yao Fei went on to tell Oliver that a bird will not be the last thing he would kill if he wanted to survive on the island. He held up Laurel's photo while telling Oliver to forget her, adding that he would not survive if all he did was stare at her photo.[6]
The next morning, Yao Fei shot a rabbit with an arrow and pointed at it, saying "dinner," telling Oliver to pick up the body. Oliver did not want to, asking if he could use the bow instead. Yao Fei, bemused, gave Oliver the bow and asked him to shoot an arrow at a tree. Oliver missed his target, prompting Yao Fei to tell him that he would die badly. Following this, he told Oliver to retrieve the rabbit. On his way over, Oliver was captured by soldiers. Not wanting Oliver to reveal his whereabouts, Yao Fei went to the soldiers' camp and arrived at the tent just in time to stop Billy Wintergreen from killing Oliver. Immediately upon entering, Yao Fei threw down Edward and another soldier and then quickly shot an arrow at Oliver's tied hands to free him. Yao Fei then shot another arrow at Billy, which he easily caught. Yao Fei and Billy immediately engaged in combat with Yao Fei using his bow as a melee weapon against Bill's sword. Yao was able to get Billy on the ground with a punch, giving him time to escape with Oliver. Yao Fei took Oliver back to the cave, revealing that he was surprised that Oliver did not break under torture. He handed Oliver a pack of herbs and left. Before Oliver could follow him, Yao Fei caused an avalanche at the mouth of the cave to prevent him from leaving in order to keep him safe.[7]
Yao Fei later returned and unsealed the cave, surprised Oliver had survived. He put down some provisions for Oliver, later bringing in a prisoner - Edward Fyers. To meet up with Edward's men, the three of them trekked through the forest. During this time, Edward explained to Oliver what Lian Yu actually was and what it had been used for. As Yao Fei asked Edward to radio his troops to bring a plane, he mocked that Yao Fei was unable to see how incredibly easy it was to capture him. Edward Fyers' men, including Billy Wintergreen, emerged from the woods. Yao Fei promptly engaged in combat with him and was soon overwhelmed, being forced to surrender.[8]
Soon after, Oliver was able to steal the suit of one of Edward's men in order to attempt to rescue Yao Fei. As he entered the camp, he met with Yao Fei who was masked and unknown to Oliver. He was soon knocked out by Edward's men and woke up in a cage. Outside the cage was Edward, who revealed the identity of the mystery soldier: none other than Yao Fei himself, who had allegedly been working for Edward the entire time.[9]
After this, Yao Fei brought Oliver to a fighting ring. Under Edward Fyers' orders, Yao Fei beat Oliver and used a moved that would make it appear as if he had killed Oliver. They took Oliver's body to a river where Yao Fei stepped up to the ledge, slipped a map in to Oliver's jacket, and pushed him in to the water.[10]
Sometime later, Edward requested Yao Fei's help to train new recruits in archery. He later met Oliver in a tent. Oliver tried to reason with Yao Fei, but Yao Fei knocked him out before Edward could see them conversing. For handing Oliver to Edward, Yao Fei was later given five minutes with his imprisoned daughter, Shado.[11]
Yao Fei, still with Edward, met up with Oliver and Slade Wilson. Edward threatened to kill Yao Fei's daughter if they did not comply with his wishes. He promptly requested she be killed, leading to a major fight. In the crossfire, Yao Fei was shot and they were forced to leave him behind by his request.[12]
As Oliver, Shado, and Slade, began to talk in the crashed plane, Yao Fei arrived. His daughter hugged him, and he was questioned as to how he escaped. He blankly replied that he didn't, and the plane was quickly surrounded by Edward Fyers' men.[13]
After the three were captured, they were taken back to Edward's camp. As a means for bargaining, Edward would kill them if Yao Fei did not record the footage for him to send to the Chinese government that would make it seem as if Yao Fei was to blame for the Ferris Air bombings. No longer having a use for Yao Fei after the recording was completed, Edward promptly shot him in the head and killed him.
Hallucination
Oliver saw Yao Fei as a hallucination on his last day on the island.
Personality
Yao Fei Gulong was a man of honor and good morals, he was kind, caring, and a loving father. The only reason he was helping Edward Fyers was because he threatened to kill his daughter Shado, if he did not cooperate. Yao Fei was also intelligent and calculating. He knew the moment Fyers no longer had any further use for him, Fyers would not only kill him but Shado, Oliver Queen and Slade Wilson as well.
When it appeared he was checking to see if his daughter was fine after Fyers shot her in the shoulder, he was actually secretly giving both her and Oliver knives. He did this to enable them not only to free themselves and prevent Fyers from killing them, but also stop Fyers from shooting down a Ferris Air jet, so that his death would not be in vain.
Abilities
- Peak of human physical condition: Yao Fei was in top physical condition for a man of his age. He was able to go up against a physically stronger Billy Wintergreen.
- Master survivor: Yao Fei had the skills of a great survivor, having lived on Lian Yu for years and even taught Oliver Queen how to survive.
- Master hand-to-hand combatant/Martial artist: Yao Fei displayed high levels of proficiency in unarmed combat and martial arts, his style mainly incorporates wing chun, eskrima and jiujitsu as evidenced by his fights with Billy Wintergreen. He was skilled enough to defeat Billy in their first confrontation in the series and was only defeated in their second and final confrontation due to Billy having aid from Edward Fyers's mercenaries. Yao Fei's combat skills surpasses that of his daughter, Shado.
- Master archer: Yao Fei was an exceptonal archer, he used his superb archery skills to survive Lian Yu for a few years and killed several of Edward Fyers' mercenaries and even his best ones with it. His archery skill can only be matched by Oliver Queen, albeit the latter is assumed to have already surpassed Yao Fei in this skill.
- Bilingual: As a native Chinese, Yao Fei spoke Mandarin fluently, in addition to English.
Equipment
- Carbon Fiber Longbow: Yao Fei's signature weapon of choice; a carbon fiber longbow. He has frequently demonstrated his mastery of this weapon. He also used it as an improvised quarterstaff. It was unknown if this bow was in his possession during his time in the Chinese military, or if it came into his possession after he was sent to Lian Yu. The bow is made from carbon fiber and was most likely designed by Yao Fei himself.
- Hunting arrows: Yao Fei was very proficient in using arrows, combined with his Carbon Fiber Long Bow. When Edward Fyers first saw him with it, he thought he looked ridiculous. This was until Yao Fei took out three of his best men with it.
- Quiver: Yao Fei used his quiver to carry his arrows, similar to Oliver's quiver.
- Knife: Yao Fei possesses a knife, which he used to cut the ropes that were trapping Oliver.
- Green hood: Usually worn down, it is unknown how Yao Fei got it. Yao Fei's green hood came into his daughter Shado's possession after his death. After her death Oliver wore it to honor their memory. Oliver later received a green suit with the hood Yao Fei wore from Talia al Ghul, who trained Yao Fei and later finished training Oliver in combat to become the Starling City vigilante.
Appearances
Arrow
Season 1
Season 2
Season 3
Season 4Season 5
Season 6
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Comics
Arrow
- "Wintergreen"
- "Hunters" (mentioned)
- "Shado of the Past"
Trivia
- Yao Fei was Oliver Queen's first mentor and gave the latter the first of his many scars.
- Yao Fei introduced Oliver to archery, which would become his signature skill.
- Oliver confirmed to John Diggle that Yao Fei trained him on Lian Yu.[14] Since most of Oliver's training with Yao Fei was minimal, it's possible it was done offscreen.
- Both Yao Fei and his daughter, Shado, were killed with a gunshot to the head and buried next to each other at Robert Queen's gravesite.
Behind the scenes
- In the DC comics universe, Yao Fei is a superhero known as Accomplished Perfect Physician and a member of the Great Ten, a team of Chinese superheroes. There is also another member of that team that is known as the Celestial Archer, who is a master archer like Yao Fei in Arrow.
- The Arrowverse version of Yao Fei seems to combine the abilities of both Great Ten members.
Gallery
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Second Chances"
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Unfinished Business"
- ↑ "Wintergreen"
- ↑ "Honor Thy Father"
- ↑ "Lone Gunmen"
- ↑ "An Innocent Man"
- ↑ "Damaged"
- ↑ "Year's End"
- ↑ "Trust but Verify"
- ↑ "Vertigo"
- ↑ "The Odyssey"
- ↑ "Salvation"
- ↑ "Home Invasion"
- ↑ "Legacies"