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Dr. Fu Manchu is a Fictional Character , an Evil Genius of Chinese origin, first featured in a series of novels by Birmingham author Sax Rohmer (real name Arthur Sarsfield Ward) during the early years of the 20th Century . :"Imagine a person, tall, lean and feline, high-shouldered, with a brow like Shakespeare and a face like Satan , a close-shaven skull, and long, magnetic eyes of the true cat-green. Invest him with all the cruel cunning of an entire Eastern race, accumulated in one giant intellect, with all the resources of science past and present... Imagine that awful being, and you have a mental picture of Dr. Fu-Manchu, the Yellow Peril incarnate in one man."—''The Insidious Dr. Fu Manchu'' A Master Criminal , Fu Manchu works for the overthrow of Western civilization or the "White race." His murderous plots are marked by the extensive use of apparently Asian methods; he disdains guns or explosives, preferring Dacoits , Phansigars , and members of other secret societies as his agents armed with knives, or using " Python s and Hamadryad s... Fungi and my tiny allies, the Bacilli ... my black spiders" and other peculiar animals or natural chemical weapons. The most prominent of his agents is the "seductively lovely" Karamaneh. Fu Manchu's daughter, Fah Lo Suee, is a devious mastermind in her own right, plotting to take control of the Si-Fan from her father and making things difficult for him. Opposing Fu Manchu are Commissioner Sir Denis Nayland Smith and Dr. Petrie. They are in the Holmes and Watson tradition, with Dr. Petrie narrating the stories while Nayland Smith carries the fight, combating Fu Manchu more by doggedness and determination rather than any intellectual brilliance (except in extremis). Nayland Smith and Fu Manchu have grudging respect for each other, as each is from the old school where a man keeps his word even to an enemy. According to Cay Van Ash (a friend and biographer of Sax Rohmer, who wrote his own authorized pastiches ''Ten years beyond Baker Street'' and ''The Fires of Fu Manchu'') "Fu Manchu" was a title of honor, which meant "the Warlike Manchu ." It was thought that the character had been a member of the Imperial family who backed the losing side in the Boxer Rebellion . In the earliest books, Fu Manchu is an assassin sent on missions by the Si-Fan, but he quickly rises to become head of that dreaded secret society. At first, the Si-Fan's goal is to throw the Europeans out of Asia; later, the group attempts to intervene more generally in world politics, while funding itself by more ordinary crime. The character of Fu Manchu has become controversial as an example of . BOOKS
TV, SERIALS, AND FEATURE FILMS Fu Manchu has appeared as a villainous character in several Motion Pictures and Cliffhanger Serial s over the years, and even a Television Series , '' The Adventures Of Fu Manchu '' ( 1956 ). There were a number made around 1930 including '' The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu '' ( 1929 ) and '' The Return Of Dr. Fu Manchu '' ( 1930 ). '' The Mask Of Fu Manchu '' ( 1932 ), featuring Boris Karloff , is considered the best of those produced in the 1930s . In 1940 , Republic Studios released '' Drums Of Fu Manchu '', a 15-episode serial considered to be one of the best the studio ever made which was later released as a feature film in 1943. The name was revived in a series starring Christopher Lee in the 1960s with '' The Face Of Fu Manchu '' ( 1965 ), '' The Brides Of Fu Manchu '' ( 1966 ), '' The Vengeance Of Fu Manchu '' ( 1967 ), '' The Brain Of Fu Manchu '' ( 1968 ), and finally '' The Castle Of Fu Manchu '' ( 1969 ). His last major film appearance was '' The Fiendish Plot Of Dr. Fu Manchu '', a 1980 Parody starring Peter Sellers as Fu. IN OTHER MEDIA
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