John Aman is a fighter, a hero, a weapon. He has been a soldier, a hunter, a champion. He will forever be known as the immortal Prince of Orphans.
Immortal Weapon
Little is known about the mysterious Prince of Orphans except he has been alive for an undetermined number of years and prefers to stay off the grid. He has seen action in World War II, where he met and allied with Captain America (Steve Rogers) on several missions and also knows another heroic soldier, and possibly Captain America's predecessor, John Steele, but it is unrevealed if they met in World War II or World War I. He took part in an ancient tournament between the Seven Capital Cities of Heaven where seven champions fight to see whose city has the right to manifest on Earth once every decade while the losing cities only appear once every five decades, and the Prince of Orphans has been a champion for at least the past eighty years.
Honorable Warrior
The Prince of Orphans was by ordered by his former masters to hunt Iron Fist (Orson Randall) and reclaim seven stolen coins belonging to the Seven Capital Cities of Heaven. Tracking him to the establishment known as the 53rd Card, Aman collided with Orson and his allies, the Confederates of the Curious, but was met with disappointment as the group escaped his grasp. He had a second chance to procure the coins a short while later, but a brave maneuver by a young boy named Wendell Rand saved Orson's life and kept Aman from retrieving the coins. Sometime later in a western town, Aman recruited the aid of a group of female cowgirls to force Orson into showing his face again. These Cowgirls from Hell captured one of the Confederates, and Orson and his friends came to the rescue. A shootout ensued, and Aman seriously injured Chores MacGillicuddy but claimed his intentions were not evil and proved himself by allowing Orson to heal the man. The Prince of Orphans took his leave but left a warning that any who battled by Orson's side from that day forward would be considered an enemy. The Confederates were disbanded, and only Orson and Wendell traveled together afterwards.
Persistent Hunter
The Prince of Orphans did not give up his pursuit of the coins. It took some time, but he tracked Orson by following a vibrating trail the coins emitted, leading him to the castle of Doctor Frankenstein. Wendell had been shot prior and needed emergency surgery, and Orson went to a man he thought was an ally. The doctor agreed to save Wendell's life, however, Frankenstein ordered his monster to attack Randall, and before he knew what happened Orson was on the operating table next to his ward. Frankenstein planned to implant his brain into Orson’s able body, but the Prince of Orphans entered Frankenstein's current body in his green mist form, killing the insane doctor from within. He then assisted Orson in saving Wendell's life as the now docile monster looked on. Aman recovered the coins, but he also wanted to take Wendell from Orson too – not for evil purposes, but to heal him and ensure Orson stayed alone forever. Orson agreed but told Aman to question how the coins got out of the cities, not blindly follow orders and hunt down those answers just as he hard as he hunted Orson.
Reconciliation
The Prince of Orphans contacted Orson years later at a time his father was terminally ill. Orson went to his friends the Contessa and Lucky Pierre for help, and they uncovered how Aman was working with Hydra and planned to trap Orson when he visited his father. Aman moved the dying man to his jungle kingdom in Z'Gambo and convinced Orson to accompany him there. He told Orson this was not an act of wickedness, but it only seemed that way because of their past experiences. He merely needed vital information Orson's father possessed to reveal a possible conspiracy concerning the mystical Seven Capital Cities of Heaven. Aman spoke with Orson’s father and discovered the man built a dimensional doorway between each of the cities and Earth, allowing the citizens to travel back and forth as they wished without being held to the constraints of the arcane clockwork of Heaven - only traveling to Earth when a city entered the Earth's plane of existence every decade or so. In exchange, all of Orson's father's work had been fully funded. The Prince of Orphans knew he had been lied to by his masters and vowed revenge. Aman received the symbol of Lei Kung, the Thunderer, and Orson told Aman to wear the mark somewhere on his person, and when the time came to find his successor. Aman and Orson parted as uneasy allies, but now their cause to stop the conspirators of the seven cities was one in the same.
Fight!
The tournament at the Heart of Heaven was a contest waged between the champions of the Seven Capital Cities of Heaven, and the Prince of Orphans was to begin the second round against Fat Cobra. However, the Prince chose to challenge another, Davos, because of his unmitigated brutality against Tiger’s Beautiful Daughter in the last match of round one. Fat Cobra gladly stepped aside, and Davos eagerly accepted. The Prince of Orphans, being a far superior fighter, completely decimated his opponent in front of the crowd. Aman went so far as to issue a warning to Davos and the others present stating that the tournament is a test of skills and not a place to enact murder. That night, at the dinner ceremonies, the Prince of Orphans decided to sit alone and ignore the invitation of Dog Brother #1 and Iron Fist (Danny Rand) to join the other fighters at their table. Later still, he visited Iron Fist in his room and identified himself as John Aman, an ally of Orson Randall and Lei Kung, the Thunderer.
United We Stand
Aman approached the other Immortal Weapons of the tournament and asked them to join him in quelling a revolution. All except for Davos agreed once they realized their worlds were also in danger of being destroyed. The Immortal Weapons stood by his side as they confronted the terrorist organization known as Hydra. The battle was fierce but Hydra was defeated, and Aman, along with the other Immortal Weapons of the Seven Capital Cities, decided to stay on Earth and investigate claims of an eighth city. He was working out of Rand, Inc., but when an assassin threatened Iron Fist’s life, Aman willingly put his own priorities aside to help his friend. Zhou Cheng, also known as the one who kills the Iron Fist, turned out to be a benefit in disguise for it was in his apartment that Aman found a map to lead them to The Eighth City. Iron Fist led the Immortal Weapons to the gateway leading to the city. Upon entering the portal, Aman, despite his formidable powers, was captured along with the rest. He was kept in a weakened state for days until he and the other Weapons devised a way to break out of this prison. All made it back to Earth after a hard fought battle against the ruler of the Eighth City, Quan Yaozu, and his army.
Ghostly Battle
The Prince of Orphans went to an ancient temple in China guarded by a two-thousand year old dragon that originally came from K'un-Lun. Feeling it was not his right to kill the beast, he searched for Iron Fist, the Immortal Weapon of that fabled city. He explained to Iron Fist the dragon had become old and feeble both of sight and mind and should the dragon fail in her duties, an army of the dead would wreak havoc on Earth. The Loyal Ten Thousand were the warriors that helped to unite China, but were tricked into the temple and sealed in with magic. The Prince of Orphans wished to convince the army to move on to the afterlife before their overwhelming need for vengeance caused them to take their anger out on innocent lives. He attempted to speak to the spirit of General Sheng, leader of the Loyal Ten Thousand, but the general would hear nothing of it. Sheng awoke the rest of his army and they ventured out into the world. Aman knew he had to pursue them, but in his mist form the dead warriors could potentially harm or kill him. Still, he had to challenge ten thousand warriors alone because he was the only one who could. He fought his way through the ranks to General Sheng and was left with no choice but to kill his enemy. When the general passed, the Prince of Orphans was able to persuade the soldiers to travel into the land of the dead.
Let the Dead Lie
When several underground temples in Shanghai were attacked by the legendary Hai-Dai, the Prince of Orphans reunited with Rogers to put an end to the violence. The attacks were meant to uncover a scroll containing information about the Eyes of the Dragon, two magic gems able to bring someone back from the dead. Aman was tasked to find Shang-Chi once it was determined Shang's undead father, Zheng Zu, was trying to return to power. Zu was working with the Shadow Council and needed the blood of a relative for the ritual to succeed, but Rogers’ Secret Avengers refused to let that happen. Aman was also surprised to find John Steele was working with the enemy too but had more pressing concerns after the Council kidnapped Shang. Rogers' Avengers raided the Council's camp in an effort to disrupt the ritual, but it was the Prince of Orphans who managed to get close enough to Zu, destroy the Eyes of the Dragon and shatter Zu's petrified body, sending him back to the grave. Steele was captured during the raid, and Aman helped subdue him during an escape attempt.
