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Lao Ban is an animal-born mutant cyborg bear crime boss. He is the primary antagonist of the first story arc of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Nightwatcher.
History[]
Lao Ban was an ordinary bear missing an eye and two partial paws on his right side, from the Himalayas who was brought to a zoo in New York City. He was one of the mutagen bomb victims and later was operated on by Jasper Barlow, enhancing him with cybernetic parts. He later also made a deal with Hieronymus Hale to bolster the latter's anti-mutant agenda in exchange for power and equipment.
Lao Ban used his position to force other mutants to work for him, both promoting his own plans as well as Hale's in that they were often forced to engage in criminal activity. Jennika became aware of Lao Ban through Eliza Leonetti, who he was providing with cancer treatment in exchange for selling drugs for him. Nightwatcher #3
Following a lead from Eliza, Jenny tracked down Callum O'Toole, another mutant in his employ, and began interrogating him. They were interrupted, however, by a bounty hunter hired by Hale, Ysengrin. After a lot of running and fighting, Callum ended up agreeing to go with Ysengrin willingly so that he would leave Jenny alone. Jenny used Callum's information to find Lao Ban's lair and was ambushed by his henchmen. Nightwatcher #4
Lao Ban had extracted information from Eliza and allowed Jennika to find him so he could judge her worth as a potential replacement for Callum. However, he found her not just lacking for his needs, but worthless overall and continued to beat her, all the while espousing his views on supremacy of the most powerful. Jennika activated the intelligence within the Nightwatcher armor and utilized its power, overpowering Lao Ban and his henchmen and tying them up. Nightwatcher #5
Jennika held Lao Ban in a cage while she pursued the Nightwatcher Armor, which had divorced itself from her and gone off on its own, struggling to make its way through the world with its limited intelligence and experience. Lao Ban taunted her every chance he got, hoping to get under her skin and provoke her into doing something foolish. Nightwatcher #6
Notes and trivia[]
- Lǎobǎn (老板) is Mandarin for a boss, usually a respectful term for a business owner. This may suggest that he is from a Tibetan area of the Himalayas.
- As Lao Ban is not a human-born mutant victim of the mutagen bomb, it is unknown how he acquired his intelligence, which normally requires the psychotropic compound.