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In Netflix's Daredevil, there is an old Asian woman, Madam Gao. If I remember correctly, she claims at one point that Mandarin is her native tongue, but later goes on to revel she's not from China. She's from a place "much further". Where is she from? Is it possible, given the technology we've seen from aliens in the MCU, that she could be an alien, possibly from the same realm as Hogun (Vanaheim)?

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    Good point, I think she’s the only native Mandarin speaker we’ve seen in the show. You might even say she’s The Mandarin! Apr 29, 2015 at 8:24

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As of yet, this is unclear.

However, the most common theory is that Madame Gao is really Crane Mother, introduced in the The Iron Fist comics.

crane mother

In the comics, she is the ruler of K'un Zi, one of the Seven Capital Cities of Heaven.

It is also possible that the MCU version may be from K'un Lun (also one of the Seven Capital Cities of Heaven), which would tie back to The Iron Fist, setting up a nice link between the shows.

The Seven Capital Cities of Heaven are all located somewhere in the Himalayas.

Of note, the symbol on the heroin baggies is the mark of Steel Serpent, another resident of K'un Lun, and another character from The Iron Fist. Crane Mother and Steel Serpent have worked together in the comics.

heroin baggie

steel serpent

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    She definitely doesn't seem human - or at least, NORMAL human. She barely touched Daredevil on the chest and knocked him 15 feet away.
    – Omegacron
    Apr 22, 2015 at 18:24
  • Yeah, part of me was like "wtf?!", the rest of me really wasn't surprised. When she attacked him, I knew something HAD to be up.
    – PiousVenom
    Apr 23, 2015 at 13:36
  • Her Kung Fu is strong. Jan 20, 2016 at 4:20
  • I don’t know the first thing about the Marvel universe or Daredevil, but do you have any idea why the Chinese writing on the guy on the right in the first picture (with “Cobra” in red) is a seemingly random mixture of simplified and traditional characters, seal script, and what looks like Japanese—with the lower half of it all looking like it’s upside down to boot? Jan 20, 2016 at 4:55

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