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Name: Seven Deadly Brothers
Secret Identity: Yang Kei-Ying
Origin: Born 300 years ago in the Fujian Province of China, Yang lived in extreme poverty and joined the army just so he’d be able to eat on a regular basis. The emperor sent a force of soldiers (including Yang) to attack the famous Shaolin Temple in 1723. The grandmasters of the temple easily repelled the assault but were ultimately defeated thanks largely to a betrayal by one of their own. Amazed at the skill of the Shaolin warriors, Yang expressed his desire to become a grandmaster himself but was ridiculed by the traitor Bak Mei.
Refusing to give up, Yang travelled to a martial arts school deep in the mountains inhabited by a group of legendary masters known as the Seven Scribes of the Cloudy Satchel. Yang begged them to train him and also claimed (in an attempt to gain mercy) that while he had done bad things in his past, they were only because he’d been trying to survive poverty and following orders. However, the Scribes saw through Yang’s excuses and that he actually enjoyed violence so they placed a curse on him as judgement for his sins. He was indeed granted great martial arts skill (seven lifetimes worth of it in fact) but at the cost of having his psyche split into seven different personalities. These fragments of his mind all had different ways of thinking, were constantly in conflict with one another, and only seemed to come together harmoniously when expressing their shared love of violence (typically by getting into fights).
Yang later was able to defeat Bak Mei and what happened next over the following three centuries is unclear. In the present, Yang joined China’s government-ran superhero team the Great Ten, though he kept his true motives for doing so (to seek out new battles) to himself.
Powers/Abilities: As a result of a curse put on him by the Seven Scribes of the Cloudy Satchel, Yang Kei-Ying has the power to create six copies of himself. Each of these duplicates has its own unique way of thinking (as each contains one of Yang’s seven personalities). Also, all seven Yangs are masters of a particular style of kung fu. The curse that grants Yang his powers and skills also gives him eternal youth (despite being over 300 years old, he still bears the appearance of a man in his physical prime). Yang is an immensely talented fighter with the skill of seven kung fu masters when not divided. Unfortunately, due to the seven personalities constantly struggling for control, Yang is perpetually drawn in multiple directions at once to the point he can rarely take decisive action. As such, his immortal life is one of perpetual struggle when he’s not fighting or split into his seven selves.
Random Trivia: Yang works extremely hard to keep his and his personalities’ love of violence a secret from his teammates and superiors in the Chinese government. He also hopes that by fighting evildoers in the service of the forces of good, he’ll eventually be redeemed of his past sins and be free of his curse after. When this will happen, if ever, is unknown as he’s already been waiting since the 18th century.
