Tong

The Tong Triad is the Mandarin's personal criminal empire. It is enemies with the Maggia crime syndicate.

History
The Tong was formed by Xin Zhang, stepfather of Gene Khan. After Gene took back his ring and imprisoned Zhang, he takes his place as their master without their knowledge thanks to the Mandarin armor. Now leading the Tong as he could, Gene starts making strikes directly against the Maggia and their leader, Count Nefaria.

When he hears that the Maggia is expanding into Tong territory, he attempts to discuss peace with Count Nefaria in Pepper, Interrupted. But when Pepper gets caught in the middle, he tries to save her, by luring Iron Man with a display of the power of his rings. However, when he is busy fighting Black Knight, he changes back to Gene Khan and saves her himself. This ordeal causes the Tong to doubt their master's identity.

In Don't Worry, Be Happy, Maggia henchmen, Killer Shrike and Unicorn, try to steal money from a Tong treasury building. When they see the Mandarin fighting against the Tong soldiers, it confirms the rumors that their master is an impostor.

In the season finale, The Tong eventually find Zhang and free him from his prison. They turn on and capture Gene Khan, as well as Tony Stark and Pepper Potts, and destroys the place that contained the Armory. They travel to the fifth temple, and Zhang coerces Tony and Gene to face its test for him, or else he will eliminate Pepper. When they were inside the temple, Pepper says that the giant dragon statue will come to life and eat them all. After the test has began, the Tong soldiers run toward the choppers to escape, but most of the helicopters were destroyed or disabled by War Machine.

Equipment
The Tong wear ninja-like suit uniforms, with some of the higher ranked having yellow-colored patches on their suits. When they are fighting, they attack with shuriken weapons. They have helicopters for transportation.

Trivia

 * It is unknown what happened to the Tong after the first season ended. They no longer serve Gene and are nowhere to be seen in Mandarin's lair.