| HistoryText | - The man orignally named Eugene Borjigin was born to the parents of Tem Borjigin and Amanda "Mandy" Brock. The marriage was only done for political and financial reasons however, as Tem had deeply embittered feelings towards the west and was thus disgusted with the notion that he had to marry an Englishwoman, in spite of her weatlh. Both being forced into it by their families. Tem was a resident of Hong Kong, and that's where the family resided. His mother decided to name their son Eugene after her deceased brother. Tem was both an unfaithful husband and a harsh father. Giving his son a quasi-militaristic lifestyle and pressured him into becoming a scholar, a martial artist, and a scientist from a young age. Science in particular being a fascination of his, and from the time he was young wanted to be able to use it to help the world. His mother however showed him greater compassion until her untimely departure when Gene was ten years old and thus his father had even greater influence on his life. Tem had Gene convinced that she had abandoned the both of them, when he had in fact had her killed. As he grew up, Gene became well versed in Chinse history. Including the Imperial days, as well as several past warlods including Sun Tzu and the great Genghis Khan. A man whom Tem claimed to be a descendant of.
Home life wasn't the only place that was hard for Gene. Because of the fact that he had a mixed heritage of being half Chinese and half English, he had a hard time fitting in with his peers of both races. However, he did feel a great sense of pride and superiority in the heritage his father said he posessed. Saying that having the blood of Khan was a sign that they were destined to rule, and thus Gene believed that one day he would show the world his greatness and be respected for it.
He eventually was introduced to a secret society that his father was a member of when he came of age to begin college. An international terrorist organization known as the Ten Rings led by a man named Wong Chu. An ancient society that started back in ancient China under the command of a mysterious warlord known as Axonn-Karr, a man who by this point in history was considered no more than a legend. Legend had it that he was a powerful sorcerer, who wielded weapons of great destruction that were said to have magical properties. In particular, he was famed for having a set of ten magic rings, each with its own specific special power.
Over the course of the years since his mother died Gene's embracing of his interest in art began to wane. Though things changed when he met a beautiful fellow student named Mei Ling in college. He first met Mei when he found her sketching a picture in the park, she caught him looking at the piece and they began to talk and hit it off instantly. Quickly having a strong romance. Gene became conflicted since he had always sought his father's approval as well as the fact that he actually had some belief in their ideals and thus felt obligated to join the Ten Rings. However during his time with Mei, he thought that perhaps all he wanted was truly a normal life and thus turned down full initiation into the Ten Rings after he and Mei got engaged.
Mei was very strong in spirit, and was a staunch believer in rights activism and non-vilence. Gene wanted her to stay out of it for her own safety, but she couldn't help but refuse. However in the April of 1989, a member of the Communist party who was a liberal reformer named Hu Yaobang was deposed after losing a power struggle with hardliners over the direction of Chinese economic and political reforms. University students who marched and gathered in Tiananmen Square to mourn Hu also voiced grievances against inflation, limited career prospects, and corruption of the party elite. They called for government accountability, freedom of the press, freedom of speech, and the restoration of workers' control over industry. At the height of the protests, about a million people assembled in the Square. Mei Ling herself was one of those students. Eventually after failed attempts at negotiation between party members and the student leader, violence broke out in the square. Gene eventually heard about it on TV, and realized that that was where Mei was and tried to rush to the squre to get her out of there. But by the time he arrived, several of the students were already dead or injured. While surveying the horrific scene Gene eventually came across Mei's lifeless body and fell to his knees in tears, and held her in his arms. Lying next to her were other students who were close friends to both her and Gene as well. She was one of the few people who truly loved and accepted him. Two soldiers were passing by while surveying the scene and shouted and Gene to get onto his feet and leave. Gene didn't reply, but anger entered his eyes as he rose. He turned to them, and with the martial arts skills he had been taught since he was a young child dispatched the two soldiers with great ease. He vowed revenge for all the horrors he saw in the square that day, and then fled from China.
As he began to travel the world, he changed his name to Zhang Khan, naturally the surname being a homage to his ancestor. His first name being chosen in an attempt to help hid his bi-racial heritage. Feeling ashamed of the Western half of his family history because of the deeply rooted hatred towards the west his father had instilled inside of him as a child. Though he would continue to have conflicting feelings towards his long lost mother. It was then that he continued to mentor himself in the arts of combat, science, and magic.
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