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Ming the Merciless is a fictional character appearing in the Flash Gordon comic strip. When the heroic Flash Gordon and his friends land on the planet Mongo, they find it ruled by the evil Emperor Ming, a despot who quickly becomes their enemy. The capital of his empire is named "Mingo City" in his honour. In addition to his army, Ming has access to a wide variety of science fiction gadgets, ranging from rocket ships to death rays to robots. Though evil, he has his weaknesses, which include a desire to marry Flash's beautiful companion, Dale Arden. Ming's daughter Princess Aura is as evil as he is when the series begins, but is eventually reformed by her love for Flash, and later for Prince Barin of Arboria. Though he is technically an extraterrestrial, Ming strongly resembles a stereotypical Asian supervillain, and his resemblance to Dr. Fu Manchu is especially strong. "Ming" (明) is a common personal name in China, and was the name of several historical Chinese emperors, and later of an entire dynasty. The name has clear Chinese associations even for people not versed in the details of Chinese history. In later adaptations of the story, his "Oriental nature" has been downplayed out of sensitivity to criticisms of racial stereotyping. (In fact, in DC Comics' nine-issue Flash Gordon mini-series, Ming and most of the human-like denizens of Mongo were given gray skin.) In the Flash Gordon film serials, Ming was played by Charles Middleton. In the 1979 animated version of Flash Gordon, Ming's voice was provided by Alan Oppenheimer, who would later go on to voice Skeletor. In this version, Ming's vast technological arsenal is vividly displayed in the form of his vast fleet of battleships, drone rockets, armored trains, and his army of robots, the Metal Men. He also employs Mongo's race of Lizard-Women as his enforcers in the mines of Mongo, as well as guards in his harem, and the primitive Beast-Men of Mongo not only serve him, but revere him as a god. In the 1980 theatrical film, he was played by Max von Sydow. Ming served as the principal adversary in the 1980s Marvel animated series Defenders Of The Earth, fighting against other King Features characters such as The Phantom, Mandrake, Lothar, and of course Flash Gordon. In the opening episode Ming successfully captured Dale Arden Gordon and her son Rick, and tore Dale's mind from her body, prompting a vengeful Flash to pursue him back to Earth to avenge her and prevent Ming from enslaving his world. Ming's base on Earth was in the depths of Antarctica and was called Ice Station Earth; his allies in this series were Garax, leader of the "Men Of Frost", Ming's army of Ice Men, and Octon, a large tentacled battle computer. This version of Ming also included a son rather than a daughter at his side, Prince Kro-Tan; unlike Aura, he held no love for any of the Defenders and considered both them and his father hindrances to his enslavement of the galaxy. Kro-Tan came the closest to defeating his father in a five-part story where he successfully entrapped Ming and took over his forces, before Ming was released by the Defenders and took his vengeance. Ming had two carrier spacecraft in this series, one of which was his "Throne Room", his main vessel, which could launch itself from the Arctic Ocean. Ming is also portrayed as having green skin (the change to green skin was not an uncommon treatment for Asian villains to receive, and was shared by Doctor No in James Bond Jr and The Mandarin in Iron Man). In the late 1990s Flash Gordon animated series, Ming looks even more reptilian: he is a green, pointy-eared, sharp-toothed scaly alien, which cause the heroes to call him a "lizard". (Aura, meanwhile, has green skin, but is otherwise perfectly human.) In this version, Ming is more humane and even comical at times.
2007 re-imagining
In the 2007 Flash Gordon Sci Fi Channel TV series, Ming (no longer called "the Merciless") is portrayed by John Ralston as a clean-shaven, blond "benevolent dictator," who can be ruthless when crossed. Ralston's model for the character is Saddam Hussein. This version of Ming the Merciless is a media-savvy dictator, who controls the planet through his monopoly on the production of clean water—a textbook example of a hydraulic empire. He uses this control to extort wealth and obedience from the populace. He dresses in a quasi-military garb and seems to have some sort of militaristic position in addition to his role as a Water Baron. He is known as and addressed as "Benevolent Father", a name he likely came up with. His people call him Ming the Merciless, due to his harsh and often brutal rulership. Ming was also known as Ming the Merciless during his military career and rise to power. Ming justifies everything he does as maintaining order and preventing a return to the chaos Mongo was in before he took power. Ming is known to keep a large harem of willing and unwilling women that serve his needs. He is said to treat them very well by his daughter, Princess Aura, but indications are she is biased. Those slave girls who attempt to run away are sold as pleasure slaves as punishment. Ming often expresses disappointment in Aura such as when she showed interest in a person he felt beneath her station or when she did not seize power after his apparent death. He has also used her as a political tool, such as when he arranged for her to marry Barin of the Vardin in an attempt to create an alliance and further his own power. He is believed to be keeping Flash Gordon's father hostage.
