Fu Manchu

The Insidious Doctor Fu Manchu:

https://jackandjohn.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/fu-manchu.jpg

In the past, of course, he was known as Qing Fu, a prince of the Qing dynasty in China, one responsible for many of the darker and more shadowy actions under the aegis of that regime, including, it would seem, the sad deaths of Lin Tsao's parents (and the bounty that has been placed on Lin himself; Fu even tried to buy him from Kim Kwon-sung, but shockingly Kim refused). In 1911, the Qing Dynasty fell, and Prince Qing Fu became plain old Dr. Fu Manchu, relocating to Europe with his loyalists and retainers; but at the same time, he took as a jocular pseudonym the name of "Mr. Ming", and Mr. Ming swiftly became the single most powerful criminal on the continent.

(But shhh. Lin doesn't know Mr. Ming is Dr. Fu Manchu yet! ;) )

This rapid rise was not so inexplicable. Fu Manchu had many advantages. For one, he was brilliant, patient and charismatic, a natural-born leader both feared and loved by his subordinates. For another, he kept a great deal of his already-considerable wealth. He also proved able to exploit the ethnic sentiment of the growing Chinese settlements in various major European cities, though startlingly, he then managed to expand beyond them to other isolated Asian groups and finally to local criminals as well. With regards to the latter, he lucked out in that he acquired some of the White Scorpion's old confederates, and with them, many of his secrets, contacts and products. But perhaps the most important advantage he had was his own staff. As a prince, Fu ran what amounted to a private intelligence network; he kept this and used the information it possessed for self-enrichment. But he also had a number of particularly valued minions with considerable capabilities of their own, covering violence (Pierre Wang and Mr. Pangu), subterfuge, technology and magic (Mr. Gou). With their help, muscling in wherever he needed or wanted to was easy.

His organisation is sometimes referred to as the Ming Empire. Internally it is also known as the Western Barbarians Department, or sometimes the Si-Fan.

Before the Great War, "Mr. Ming" had associated with Masque and the Shadow Federation (without actually joining them), doubtless using them for his own purposes, whether they amounted to merely carving up the criminal influence pie or some loftier agenda. He maintained a presence in Saint Haven, helping his associates by smuggling in everything they needed for their revolution, but when the Centurions arrived to put a stop to it, Ming rapidly pulled out, leaving only a handful of minions to cover his tracks. The Shadow Federation's destruction had ended up playing in his favour anyway, as it left more influence for him; however, two enemies emerged shortly after that. One was Lin Tsao, the boy who got away, though he was little more than a very persistent nuisance (though admittedly quite deadly, to the unimportant and expendable minions and catspaws that were sent his way). The other was Schwarzmeer, a competitor who had annoyingly repeated and outdone Ming's prior feat of abruptly infiltrating and taking over existing organisations, and then had the bull-headed tactlessness to go directly after some of Ming's latest vassals without so much as politely explaining his grievances and asking for permission. This both angered and confused Fu, causing him to suspect that maybe, just maybe, this new actor was not playing the same game as he was. Nonetheless, he gave as good as he got, even if the inexplicable treachery of some newer talents meant that the outcomes in certain exchanges were not as positive as he might have had reason to hope at first. Noticing the seeming connection between Schwarzmeer and Entente governments, Ming began to cooperate more closely with the Germans out of spite, though his precise relationship with them remained, as ever, purely business for him.

According to Adam Vinter, "Mr. Ming" is either a Shadow Centurion or close enough as to make no practical difference. Given his secretiveness and apparent power and experience, it is entirely possible that he is indeed the former, and in that case he will have been born on 31st of December in the year 1800. Then again, he may just be an exceptional individual short of being a Centurion himself.