Dr. Fu Manchu was a Chinese criminal mastermind who preferred arcane means rather than guns or explosives. He employed numerous thugs, robbers, and secret societies, such as the Si-Fan. Fu Manchu armed his forces with not only hand to hand weapons, such as knives, but also strange animals or chemical weapons. He funded his plots through drug trade and human trafficking. His enemies included British police commissioner Denis Nayland Smith, and his assistant Dr. John Petrie. Petrie functioned like Dr. Watson, writing/narrating Smith’s adventures, and Smith worked like Sherlock Holmes, although not possessing the same deductive reasoning as the great detective. Smith couldn’t outsmart Fu Manchu, and only defeated him through sheer determination. Both foes begrudgingly respected each other and believed a man should stand by his words.
First Appearance The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu (UK, 1913)
First Publisher Methuen (Book)
Appearance List Mags: “The Clue of the Pigtail” in Collier’s The National Weekly (March 1, 1913, detail) [Internet Archive], etc. Novels: The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu (UK, 1913), The Insidious Dr Fu Manchu (US, 1913), The Devil Doctor (1916), The Si-Fan Mysteries (1917); Film: The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu (1923), The Further Mysteries of Dr Fu-Manchu (1924), The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu (1929), The Return of Dr. Fu Manchu (1930), Paramount on Parade (1930), Daughter of the Dragon (1931), The Mask of Fu Manchu (1932), etc.
Description Dr. Fu Manchu was a Chinese criminal mastermind who preferred arcane means rather than guns or explosives. He employed numerous thugs, robbers, and secret societies, such as the Si-Fan. Fu Manchu armed his forces with not only hand to hand weapons, such as knives, but also strange animals or chemical weapons. He funded his plots through drug trade and human trafficking. His enemies included British police commissioner Denis Nayland Smith, and his assistant Dr. John Petrie. Petrie functioned like Dr. Watson, writing/narrating Smith’s adventures, and Smith worked like Sherlock Holmes, although not possessing the same deductive reasoning as the great detective. Smith couldn’t outsmart Fu Manchu, and only defeated him through sheer determination. Both foes begrudgingly respected each other and believed a man should stand by his words.
