Marvel’s Shang-Chi has, thanks to the MCU, entered the mainstream and is now a very popular guy. Building on the success of the movie, the lore of Shang-Chi’s world has also become a point of interest and we at Fiction Horizon have decided to explore that lore in today’s article. We are going to compare Mandarin’s Ten Rings from the movie with the Infinity Stones and determine which set of items is more powerful.
While Mandarin’s Ten Rings are powerful and more diverse, they are simply not stronger than the Infinity Stones. The Rings are, primarily, a weapon for Mandarin and his powers, while the Infinity Stones are objects related to the very fabric of the Multiverse.
Our comparison is going to be divided into three sections. The first two are going to bring an overview of the items themselves and a comparison of their powers. Finally, we’re going to bring you a detailed analysis of the two sets of items to determine which one is more powerful of the two.
Mandarin’s Ten Rings and their powers
Mandarin’s Ten Rings are a very powerful set of weapons. These ten cylinders were parts of Makluan engineering. Each contained the soul of a long-dead legendary cosmic warrior, trapped in a fantastical state limited by its particular device. Each of these artifacts also had an A.I. in quarantine, for when the Rings were separated from their wearers.
The Rings are worn on each finger, separately, and can be used individually or as a group. You do not have to possess all of them to use them. Here is a list of the Rings and their proper order:
- Right thumb (Matter Rearranger/”Remaker”) – manipulates matter at the subatomic level;
- Right index finger (Impact Beam/”Influence”) – increases its wearer’s physical abilities such as strength and stamina;
- Middle right finger (Vortex Beam/”Spin”) – expands time around its wearer allowing it to move at very high speeds compared to normal space;
- Right ring finger (Disintegration Beam/”Spectral”) – folds the environment around its owner making it invisible. He can also fire a powerful disintegrating beam that recharges in twenty minutes;
- Right little finger (Black Light/”Nightbringer”) – can create and manipulate objects made of dark energy;
- Left little finger (Ice Blast/”Zero”) – generates cold and can create and manipulate ice;
- Left ring finger (Mento-Intensifier/”The Liar”) – creates perfect illusions;
- Left middle finger (Electro-Blast/”Lightning”) – absorbs electrostatic energy on a planetary scale and can redirect it into very powerful electrical discharges;
- Left index finger (Flame Blast/”Incandescence”) – contains the miniaturized core of a star and can generate flames and solar flares;
- Left thumb (White Light/”Daimonic”) – increases the mental abilities of its bearer to allow it to subdue the will of others.
When used, Mandarin’s Rings cause electrostatic reactions with each, which is their one known weakness. Iron Man shot the Rings with magnetic pulses to exploit this limitation in his last battle with Temugin.
The Infinity Stones and their powers
The Infinity Stones, sometimes referred to as the Infinity Gems, are six immensely powerful stones featured in stories published by Marvel Comics. Anyone who possesses all six stones and uses them at the same time – for example, with the help of the Infinity Gauntlet – becomes literally omnipotent and omniscient. In some storylines and crossovers, a seventh stone appears in addition to the original six.
The Infinity Stones play an important role in the first three phases (also collectively referred to as the “Infinity Saga”) of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), playing important roles in several films. They have also been featured in several comic book narratives.
In order to properly introduced them, we have prepared a table containing all the relevant information on them:
| Name | Original color (1972–2016) | Marvel Legacy color (2017–present) | Powers and capabilities |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mind | Blue | Yellow | Allows the user to enhance their mental and psionic abilities and access the thoughts and dreams of other beings. At full potential, when backed by the Power Gem, the Mind Gem can access all minds in existence simultaneously. The Mind Gem is also the manifestation of the universal subconscious. |
| Power | Red | Purple | Allows the user to access and manipulate all forms of energy and/or powers; i.e. enhancing their physical strength and durability; augment any superhuman ability; and boost the effects of the other five Gems. At full potential, the Power Gem grants the user omnipotence. |
| Reality | Yellow | Red | Allows the user to fulfill their wishes, even if the wish is in direct contradiction with scientific laws, and do things that would normally be impossible. At full potential, when backed by the other five Gems, the Reality Gem allows the user to alter reality on a universal scale and also create any type of alternate reality the user wishes. |
| Soul | Green | Orange | Allows the user to steal, control, manipulate, and alter living and dead souls; as well as animate the motionless. The Soul Gem also acts as a gateway to an idyllic pocket universe. At full potential, when backed by the Power Gem, the Soul Gem grants the user control over all life in the universe. |
| Space | Purple | Blue | Allows the user to exist in any location; move any object anywhere throughout reality; warp or rearrange space; teleport themselves and others; increase their speed, and alter the distance between objects contrary to the laws of physics. At full potential, when backed by the Power Gem, the Space Gem grants the user omnipresence. |
| Time | Orange | Green | Allows the user to see into the past and the future; stop, slow down, speed up or reverse the flow of time; travel through time; change the past and the future; age and de-age beings, and trap people or entire universes in unending loops of time. At full potential, when backed by the Power Gem, the Time Gem grants the user omniscience and total control over the past, present, and future. |
Mandarin’s Ten Rings vs the Infinity Stones: What is more powerful?
And now for the most important and interesting section of our article – the analysis. Here, we are going to use what we have found out about these two sets of items and analyze how all these facts would (or would not) influence their clash. Let us continue.
In terms of powers, Mandarin’s Rings are certainly more diverse and they certainly offer a more colorful set of powers to their user, making them quite powerful. But, although overpowered from a regular human point of view, they don’t really have the abilities of the infinity stones.
Namely, if you recount what we’ve told you about the Infinity Stones, you’ll see that these items really strike at the very fabric of time, space, and reality itself. They’re not just mere weapons, no, they’re tools with which one could fully shape the whole universe. In that aspect, it is quite clear how this comparison stands.
There was, really, no doubt about which set of items is more powerful in this case. Mandarin’s Rings are powerful and versatile, but they couldn’t do much against the Infinity Stones, which are probably the most powerful objects in the Multiverse. The Infinity Stones can alter and shape reality as a whole; Mandarin’s Rings can create sparkly light effects compared to that.
