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The recent release of the book "Marvel Studios' The Marvel Cinematic Universe: An Official Timeline" requires a lot of analysis. Members of WikiProject:Timeline team are working on editing pages in response to the information revealed in the book. If you wish to contribute, please do not immediately edit these pages, and instead visit the Timeline Discussion.

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"What you just saw... That is your legacy, Stark. Your life's work in the hands of those murderers. Is that how you want to go out? Is this the last act of defiance of the great Tony Stark? Or are you going to do something about it?"
―Ho Yinsen to Tony Stark[src]

Doctor Ho Yinsen was a renowned scientist and surgeon, hailing from the village of Gulmira. After his family was killed during a surge in local terrorist activity, Yinsen was abducted and held captive by the Ten Rings in Afghanistan. When Tony Stark was also kidnapped, Yinsen was charged with attending to Stark's medical needs after Stark was brought in injured from an explosive.

After several months in captivity, Yinsen helped Stark escape the cave by developing a specialized suit of armor, but willingly sacrificed himself in the process to the terrorists, telling Stark not to waste his life before he died.

Biography

Early Life

Ho Yinsen was an Afghan man from the small village of Gulmira. Eventually, he became a scientist after graduating from Cambridge University and started to work in Europe.[2]

Meeting Tony Stark

"Mr. Stark, Ho Yinsen."
"Ah, I finally met a man called 'Ho'."
―Ho Yinsen and Tony Stark[src]
Ho Yinsen 1

Ho Yinsen introduces himself to Tony Stark

Ho Yinsen met Tony Stark on New Year's Eve in 1999 at Bern 2000 in Bern, Switzerland, after Stark delivered a lecture, while very drunk, on integrated circuits. Yinsen tried to introduce Stark and Maya Hansen to Wu, but Stark drunkenly brushed him off to focus his attention of Hansen, joking that he had finally met a man named Ho.[3]

Captured by the Ten Rings

Saving Tony Stark

YinsenTonyTenRings

Yinsen works as translator for the Ten Rings

"What the hell did you do to me?"
"What I did? What I did is to save your life. I removed all the shrapnel I could, but there's a lot left."
Tony Stark and Ho Yinsen[src]

Ten years later, Ho Yinsen was captured by the Ten Rings, a terrorist group in Afghanistan. When the Ten Rings brought in Tony Stark, injured from an explosive used in their ambush, they charged Yinsen with keeping Stark alive. A skilled and resourceful field surgeon, Yinsen removed much of the shrapnel from Stark's body and helped keep him alive long enough to build an electromagnet piece in his chest to keep the remaining shrapnel from entering his heart.[2]

Partners in Captivity

TonywithHoYinsen-IM

Yinsen building the Mark I with Tony Stark

"What could it generate?"
"If my math is right, and it always is, three gigajoules per second."
"That could run your heart for 50 lifetimes."
"Yeah. Or something big for 15 minutes."
―Ho Yinsen and Tony Stark[src]

Under captivity, Tony Stark and Ho Yinsen were ordered by the Ten Rings to build a Jericho missile, or they would be killed. However, Stark refused and was tortured. Yinsen managed to motivate him and both men acknowledged that they would be murdered either way and instead focused on an escape plan. Stark revealed to Yinsen that he would use the parts that the Ten Rings gave them and build a weaponized suit of armor which he would use to kill the terrorists and return Yinsen to his family.[2]

Escape and Death

Stark and Yinsen

Yinsen fits Tony Stark into the Mark I Armor

"This was always the plan, Stark."
"Come on, you're going to go see your family. Get up."
"My family is dead. I'm going to see them now, Stark. It's okay, I want this. I want this."
"Thank you for saving me."
"Don't waste it. Don't waste your life."
―Ho Yinsen and Tony Stark[src]

Ho Yinsen helped Tony Stark keep the Mark I Armor he was making a secret from Raza and assisted in its creation. When Stark asked about Yinsen's family, Yinsen merely noted that he would see them when he left the Ten Rings Base. Yinsen also pointed out that Stark's legacy was his weapons being used by the Ten Rings and suggests that he should rectify this.

Ho Yinsen

Yinsen gives Tony Stark advice before dying

During the escape the terrorists were alerted to their plan, seeing there was no way they could power up the suit while defending themselves simultaneously, Yinsen sacrificed himself by taking a gun and attacking the terrorists, thereby giving Stark time to power up the suit. He was shot and mortally wounded when he ran around a corner only to be shot by dozens of terrorists. When Stark found Yinsen, mortally wounded, he reassured Stark that his demise had always been the plan as his family was dead and that he wished to be reunited with them. With his dying breath, Yinsen asked Stark not to waste the rest of his life.[2]

Legacy

Thanks to Ho Yinsen's sacrifice, Tony Stark was able to escape and once back to the United States, he discontinued Stark Industries' mass weapon production line despite that it costed him the company's stock market to plummet, much to Obadiah Stane's chagrin. After discovering that Stane was the one responsible of his kidnapping and defeating him, Stark swore himself to become a crimefighter, donning on the identity of Iron Man, for which he designed similar armors to the one he and Yinsen designed on Afghanistan.[2]

Despite meeting Ho Yinsen for a short time, Stark never forgot his advice and dedicated the rest of his life to become less egotistical and become more selfless and heroic. As the years passed by, Stark came to start a family of his own just like Yinsen once did. This eventually culminated when Stark sacrificed himself to stop Thanos from destroying the universe in 2023, finally giving up his life like Yinsen did for him in the past.[4]

Personality

"Why should I do anything? They're going to kill me, you. Either way I'll probably be dead in a week."
"Well then, this is a very important week for you, isn't it?"
Tony Stark and Ho Yinsen[src]

Ho Yinsen was a humble family man who was in many ways the polar opposite to Tony Stark. Quiet, unassuming and willing to sacrifice himself to save Stark, before passing away, Yinsen acknowledged that he was at peace by knowing that he would see his family again and told Stark to no longer waste his life nor the chance he had been given to redeem himself.

Abilities

"That is an electromagnet. Hooked up to a car battery. And it's keeping the shrapnel from entering your heart."
―Ho Yinsen to Tony Stark[src]
  • Master Engineer: Yinsen managed to help Tony Stark create the first Iron Man armor.
"Why do you think you're still alive, huh?"
―Ho Yinsen to Tony Stark[src]
  • Expert Physician: Yinsen was considered a renown surgeon and was able to keep Tony Stark alive when he had shrapnel digging into his heart.
"How many languages do you speak?"
"A lot."
Tony Stark and Ho Yinsen[src]
  • Multilingualism: Yinsen was capable of speaking in his native Dari, as well as English. He also proclaimed to know a number of other languages and knew a little Hungarian as well.

Facilities

Relationships

Allies

Enemies

Trivia

  • In the comics, Ho Yinsen was a physicist and engineer from Timbetpal, greatly admired by Tony Stark.

References

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External Links

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