| CELESTIAL ARCHER (Xu Tao) | BIOGRAPHY |
| Created by Grant Morrison and J.G. Jones |
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OVERVIEW
Celestial Archer is a member of the Chinese government controlled superteam called the Great Ten.
HISTORY
Xu Tao grew up in Tai'an in the Shandong province of China selling souvenirs at the foot of Mount Tai, the most sacred of the "Five Sacred Mountains". When his father refused to bribe the local police they lost their stall and eventually their house as well. In order to get by he joined a street gang but ended up getting them arrested. The gang was sprung from jail and was told to make an example of him. Fleeing onto the temple grounds at the mountain peak he was somehow swallowed up by a tree which was located upon the final resting grounds of the Taoist god known as Yi the Archer, who had descended onto Earth on a divine mission 4000 years previous where he had become mortal and died. Without an archer to draw it and give it life the Celestial Bow of Yi was dying as well and it chose Tao as its new wielder.
As soon as Tao grabbed the bow he instinctly knew how to use it and how to make the arrows perform wondrous feats. Firing an arrow towards the moon a bridge was formed that would bring him to the moon where he would meet Yi's wife, the Moon Maiden. She informed him that he was the new Celestial Archer and brought him to the home of the gods. They gave him the devine mission of inspiring his countrymen and remind them where they came from and pave the way for the gods' return.
Two years later Celestial Archer joined the Great Ten and slowly forgot about his pledge to the gods.
CHRONOLOGY
For a definitive list of appearances of Celestial Archer in chronological order click here