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The character was a blond man by the name of Daniel Rand. At nine years old he was traveling with his parents in the Himalayas looking for a hidden city. They were attacked by wolves and his parents were killed. He was rescued by going across a suspension into the hidden city. The city was called K'un-L'un, and was in another dimension that connected to ours (via the bridge) only once every 10 years. During that time, he was raised by Lei-Kung, The Thunderer, who trained him to the ultimate degree. When he came of age, he fought a dragon, known as 'Shou-Lao The Undying'. This dragon kept its heart in an urn so that it couldn't be killed. Daniel defeated the dragon by blocking the hole in its chest with his own body, thus separating the dragon from its life force. The energy emanating from the dragon burnt a dragon tattoo into Daniel's chest. He then thrust his fist into the urn, which bestowed upon him the power of the Iron Fist.

After returning to his home dimension and going to New York, Daniel assumeed the hero identity of Iron Fist, and fought crime to help the innocent. Notable adversaries include one of the first appearances of the villain Sabretooth (who was not yet known to be affiliated with Wolverine). Daniel eventually joined with Power Man ( Luke Cage) as a part of a quasi-mercenary superhero group called Heroes For Hire ; the two characters' series were merged together into one series, Power Man and Iron Fist . Although they supposedly were only heroes for money, the running plot device of the series (which lasted for over sixty issues after the merger) was that they were always doing the right thing, which usually left them with less money rather than more. Daniel Rand assumed control of his parents' fortune, and was actually quite wealthy. This caused a lot of tension between him and Luke Cage, who was raised poor in the ghetto.

In the finale of the original Power Man and Iron Fist series, Daniel was exposed to a large amount of radiation, and consequently developed cancer. He returned to K'un-L'un so that his master could help him focus his healing powers to cure himself. On this mission, he learned that K'un-L'un had been destroyed by Chiantang the Black Dragon, the brother of the dragon that Daniel slew. Daniel feels responsible for this destruction, and his costume turns from green to red to reflect his dishonor. Meanwhile, the Heroes for Hire have become deeply connected to a young boy with incredible powers who is dying. The young boy often assumed the identity of Captain Hero, a fanciful identity as a much older super hero that was the stereotype of what most young boys would think of in a super hero, in a manner similar to Captain Marvel. Luke tried to help Daniel by tricking him into believing that he had attoned for his sins, but Daniel discovered the ruse, and the two had a very public argument. As the young boy became more sick, the two heroes put aside their differences to stay by his hospital bed. Daniel tried to use the healing powers of his iron fist to keep the boy alive, exhausting himself in the process. In the middle of the night, the boy woke up in excruciating pain. He tried to wake Daniel, who wouldn't wake up. The boy turned into his larger hero identity to try to wake Daniel, and in his fevered state punched Daniel through a cement wall trying to wake him. The boy's powers then disintegrated him. When the authorities came in, they found the boy missing and Daniel dead. Because of the public argument that they had earlier, Luke Cage was the primary suspect, and he began a life on the run. Many of the other people in the heroes' lives were assassinated during this same period of time. The series ended with Luke Cage on the run from the law.

Years later, in the 1990s Namor series, Iron Fist returned, and it was revealed that the "Iron Fist" who had died was actually a doppelgängerFor other uses of the word Doppelganger please see Doppelganger (disambiguation). Doppelganger is the German word for a ghostly double of a living person. The word comes from doppel meaning 'double' and ganger translated as 'goer'. The term has, in the ve created from the plant life of K'un-L'un. Iron Fist received a miniseries shortly afterwards, and several years later the reconciled Power Man and Iron Fist were two of the principal characters in a new Heroes for Hire series. After this series ended due to low sales, a new character, a ninjaShinobi or Ninja (, literally, "One who is concealed") were assassins, trained in the Japanese art of ninjutsu (roughly the art of stealth . Ninja, like samurai, followed their own special code of conduct, called ninpo. According to some modern practition named Junzo Muto, stole the Iron Fist powers and subsequently appeared in the Iron Fist and Wolverine miniseries. Later, in the Black PantherBlack Panther is the title given to the ruler of the Wakandans, a fictional society set in the Marvel Comics Universe. The Black Panther is entitled to the use of a heart-shaped herb that grants the user enhanced strength,agility and perceptions. The cost series, Chiantang mentally controlled Daniel Rand and restored his Iron Fist powers; Chiantang was eventually defeated. Most recently, Iron Fist received a new ongoing series.

A proposed Iron Fist movie has been in development for some time, with Ray Park in talks to star, but so far the film has failed to materialize.