Ming the Merciless

Performer:

John Ralston (Sci Fi Channel)

Charles Middleton (serials)

Max von Sydow (movie)

Ming (also known as Ming the Merciless) is the sinister tyrant of the planet Mongo.

Comic strip[]

Ming first appears in the third installment of the Flash Gordon (comic strip). In the comics, Ming has yellow skin and wears a long, red robe. He instantly takes a shine to Dale Arden, and decrees that she will be his wife.

Ming isn't named in the early installments of the comic; he's known simply as "the Emperor". He's named "Ming, the Merciless; Emperor of Mongo" in the ninth strip. ("Flash Gordon (comic strip)")

In the later Comics Ming reappears, although it isn't always entirely clear if it is Ming himself or his identical son Ming II.Ming also has another son named Kang and a grandson named Sheng. A descendant of Ming's from the far future is Ming XIII.

2013 graphic novel Flash Gordon: Zeitgeist by Eric Trautmann retells the story of Flash Gordon and Ming while adding the storyline of Ming supporting the German Nazi party with weapons and troops during World War II in order to conquer earth and use them as his regents. Merciless: The Rise of Ming by Scott Beatty tells Ming's origin story as Prince of Mongo and son of Emperor Krang.

Serials[]

Flash Gordon (1979)[]

1979s animated series New Adventures of Flash Gordon largely follows the original Sunday strips storyline while adding some more elements. Ming calls himself Emperor of the Universe and supposedly rules over many other worlds besides Mongo. He uses planet Mongo as a weapon by steering it through space like a giant spaceship, causing earthquakes and floods on attacked worlds such as earth to subdue them and install local regents loyal to him. Also, he supposedly is extremely old and had once been a servant and high-priest of the ancient god-king Gor-dan who left Mongo to conquer the universe but then mysteriously vanished and is in truth long since dead.

1980 Flash Gordon Movie[]

In the 1980 movie adaption Ming also in emperor of the Universe. He plans to destroy earth with his doomsday machine simply for amusement because he feels personally bored. He has two main lieutenants, Klytus and General Kala. Also Frigia and Arboria are not represented as realms on Mongo but different planets themselves. Ming owns a magic ring which enables him to wield immense supernatural powers, in the end of the Movie, when Flash is about to kill the wounded Ming, he turns the ring on himself and vanished. A laughter at the end of the film's credits makes it clear that Ming is not dead but has transcended the world of the Movie.

Flash Gordon: The Greatest Adventure of All[]

Defenders of the Earth[]

In 1996s Defenders of the Earth animated series Ming invades Earth and establishes himself at Ice station earth in the northern polar regions. He is aided by the artificial intelligence Octon and his robot general Garax who commands an army of Robotic ice-soldiers and Men of Ice, unfortunate humans who have been coated with artificial ice and reduced to drones. Ming also has a teenage son and daughter named Kro-Tan and Castra and a granddaughter named Astra, daughter of Princess Aura and Prince Barin who are implied to have been killed by Ming who however framed Flash Gordon for the incident.

Flash Gordon (1996 cartoon)[]

In the 1996 Flash Gordon animated series Ming is a reptiloid alien who commands a large army of robotic Rock Warriors commanded by his general Lynch. He also is aided by Queen Kayla and her Shark Men and the Pantheron mercenary Kobalt. Also, his daughter Princess Aura appears, but in a more benevolent and supporting role.

Sci Fi Channel series[]

In an interview with "EW.com", Eric Johnson described how the Ming of the "Flash Gordon (Sci Fi Channel)" series will be different from previous incarnations: "What's amazing about him is he's an incredibly good-looking, charming guy. He's very physically capable. I mean, this isn't some decrepit old despot. He's a very, very worthy adversary. Flash Gordon and Dale Arden are gonna have their hands full. If it came to blows, things wouldn't be one-sided in Flash's favor. I really like [the writers'] take on that. That was something that came up early. They thought it would be far more interesting to make Ming someone that you could understand, to have him be a very capable adversary."

Marc Stern, Sci Fi Channel's executive vice president of original programming, says that the show will take Ming "into more of a kind of Saddam Hussein, dictator type of character and play with some of those themes of control over the masses and propaganda. And he's not just this dictator in the old-school sense... I think a kind of dictator for the modern age is a little more savvy and is a little more about getting the P.R., and he's really more concerned about putting the right face on everything while he's torturing and killing people."

In the same series, once he finds out that Princess Aura knows who her mother is, he kidnaps Vestra and tortures her. When Terek leads the rebellion against him, Ming disappears in the death chamber before he can be executed.