The Doombots are fictional robots appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics .
112-459: The Doombots are robots that are modeled after their creator Doctor Doom . They are exact replicas of the real Doctor Doom and were created to replace Doctor Doom in certain situations and were made with an advanced A.I. program which causes them to believe each is the real Doctor Doom, much in the same way as a Life Model Decoy . Doctor Doom designed two different types of replica: fighting Doombots and diplomat Doombots. They are used when Doctor Doom
224-491: A confrontation between Doom and the Hood, during which Doom's face is severely burned by a demon. After the villains' defeat, Victor retreats to the ruins of Castle Doom. A young woman named Zora Vokuvic breaks into Castle Doom, demanding to see Doctor Doom and insisting that Latveria needs its leader back amid turmoil. Initially resistant, Doom is persuaded when Zora hands him his iconic mask, prompting him to venture out and quell
336-416: A deal with them. They let him live and he got them younger and tastier victims. Rodney, the leader of the ants, stayed with Humbug after this. Following the events of the superhuman Civil War , Humbug began trying to redeem himself, and in doing so joined up with the new Heroes for Hire super-hero team. During his adventures with the team, he gains the personal attention of the villains Insecticide, and
448-485: A dimensional tear caused by Mjolnir 's fall to Earth, though he focused on rebuilding his power base instead of lifting the hammer. These events were later removed from Marvel continuity in the 2015 Secret Wars . Later, a Doombot was defeated by Reed Richards, Hank Pym , Iron Man , and She-Hulk in New York City, raising questions about Doom's involvement. In the midst of the superhero Civil War , he sends
560-535: A feat Doom admitted he could not replicate. Additionally, Doom has leveraged his scientific prowess to steal or replicate the powers of beings like the Silver Surfer , the Beyonder , and even Galactus 's world-ship. Doom often uses " Doombots ," his robot doubles, to retroactively explain his actions or erase events from his history. This device was also used to depict Kristoff Vernard believing himself to be
672-631: A group of survivors challenge Doom, and with Molecule Man's help, they restore the multiverse. Reed chooses to heal Doom's face using the Beyonder's power. In the All-New, All-Different Marvel , Doom returns to Latveria and saves Tony Stark by using a sonic attack to incapacitate a group of rebels. He tells Tony he's a new man and gives him one of the Wands of Watoomb for protection against Madame Masque. When more rebels arrive, Doom teleports Iron Man to
784-515: A guilt-ridden Doctor Doom, planning to abdicate his throne to Kristoff, is approached by Valeria, who asks for his help with her father. Noticing Doom's brain damage and memory loss from a previous battle, she offers to restore his mental faculties in exchange for assisting with the Fantastic Four, which he agrees to. Later, Doom attends Johnny Storm's funeral. Due to this agreement, Doom is recommended by Nathaniel and Valeria von Doom to join
896-532: A heavily damaged "John Doe" from a Manhattan hospital. The "John Doe" turns out to be a depowered Terrax as Doctor Doom offers to help him regain his powers. While Human Torch and Thing are fighting Terrax, Invisible Woman encounters a Doombot in the form of Doctor Doom and easily destroys it. Doctor Doom leads the Doombots into capturing Franklin Richards so that he can trade him to Mephisto in exchange for
1008-497: A helmet very similar to that of its progenitor. Humbug uses some audio tapes and a series of amplifiers to broadcast the noises of various insect species, which can incapacitate others or damage materials. Starting in his Deadpool appearance, he began to demonstrate the ability to communicate with insects. Following Heroes for Hire #9, Humbug received a massive increase in his powers, as well as an exo-suit. He has demonstrated superhuman strength, speed, agility and senses, and
1120-525: A hostage to force the Fantastic Four to travel back in time to steal Blackbeard 's enchanted treasure to help him conquer the world. However, Reed Richards tricks Doom by swapping the treasure for worthless chains. Doom then allies with the Sub-Mariner , who installs a magnetic device in the Baxter Building to pull them into space, aiming to eliminate the Fantastic Four. The Sub-Mariner returns
1232-519: A key villain in Fantastic Four throughout the 1980s, appearing in titles as Punisher , The Spectacular Spider-Man , and Excalibur . During Steven Englehart's run on Fantastic Four , Doom was exiled by his heir, Kristoff, but this storyline was left unresolved when Englehart departed. Walt Simonson 's Fantastic Four #350 controversially revealed that the Doom seen during Englehart's arc
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#17327900703881344-419: A machine to communicate with the dead, specifically his mother, but ignored Richards’ warnings about its flaws, leading to a catastrophic explosion that severely damaged his face. Unknown to Victor, Ben Grimm had sabotaged the machine. In hindsight, Grimm would privately blame himself for Doom's fall to villainy. Expelled after the incident, Victor traveled until he collapsed on a Tibetan mountainside, where he
1456-502: A magical prison, but with Doctor Strange's help, Richards succeeds, causing Doom to be dragged to Hell. Doom remained there until the 2004 "Ragnarok" storyline in Thor , where Thor's hammer, Mjolnir , provided his escape. In 2005–2006, Doctor Doom starred in the limited series Books of Doom , written by Ed Brubaker . This retelling of his origin explored the early, less-seen parts of Doom's life and questioned whether his path to dictatorship
1568-590: A message to Storm and the Black Panther , inviting an alliance between Latveria and Wakanda. In Latveria, Panther spurns the invitation, detonating an EMP that blacked out a local portion of Latveria before Doctor Doom's robots could destroy his ship. It is later revealed that Doom is working with the Red Skull on a weapon, believing it would lead him to become the Baron of Iron, despite his disagreements with
1680-688: A playable character in the Galactic Guardians set of Marvel Heroclix. The Doombots appear in Marvel's Wastelanders: Old Man Star-Lord . Doctor Doom Doctor Doom ( Dr. Victor von Doom ) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics . Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby , the character first appeared in The Fantastic Four #5 (July 1962). In his comic book appearances, Doctor Doom
1792-468: A pocket dimension called Counter-Earth, where Doom later uncovered a secret power linked to Franklin and persuaded the boy to relinquish control of the world. When Susan Richards faced complications with her second pregnancy, Johnny Storm contacted Doctor Doom for help, knowing he couldn't resist the chance to outdo Reed. Doom saved Susan's daughter and cured Johnny's inability to "flame off" by channeling Johnny's excess energy into her. Afterward, Doom named
1904-613: A rampage in the city. When the Fantastic Four and the Avengers cannot be reached to deal with the situation, Code: Blue manages to take it down with help from the Yancy Street Gang . A young boy named Billy hires Heroes for Hire to look for his missing robot Victor. Billy's robot Victor is actually a reprogrammed Doombot that has fallen under the control of the Headmen where they use it to attack Billy and Humbug . Victor
2016-528: A self-serving way. For instance, while he may not harm someone directly, he won't stop others from doing so. His sense of honor has led him to save Captain America and spare Spider-Man's life, but he refuses to attack weakened opponents, preferring that any victory over the Fantastic Four come solely from him. Despite his flaws, Doom is devoted to his subjects. When judged by the Panther God of Wakanda , it
2128-494: A special berry juice to turn the Fantastic Four against each other. However, Richards outsmarts Doom with the hallucinogenic juice, leading Doom to believe he has killed him and depart. During the 1960s, Doom attempted to recruit Spider-Man into joining forces with him, and he came into conflict with the Avengers when Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch illegally entered Latveria to find a long-lost relative of theirs. He stole
2240-526: A supervillain, Doom has diplomatic immunity – allowing him to escape legal prosecution for most of his crimes he commits outside of Latveria. Doom also has total control of the nation's natural and technological resources, along with its manpower, economy, and military. Though from the outside it seems tyrannical, it seems the Latverian people really do adore Doom, as shown with two of his apprentices, Zora Vukovic, (aka, Victorious) and Kristoff Vernard . He
2352-577: A symposium to defeat the Council of Reeds—alternate versions of Reed Richards trapped in their universe. Mister Fantastic , Victor, Valeria, and Nathaniel Richards meet with the supervillain geniuses and Uatu the Watcher about what to do with the Council of Reeds. Around this time, von Doom performed brain surgery on the Hulk to separate him from Bruce Banner, extracting the uniquely Banner elements from
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#17327900703882464-423: A technique he uses to frequently escape. However, he rarely employs this ability, as it can revert if his concentration breaks, and he is reluctant to do so due to his ego about his appearance. Doom's armor enhances his strength and durability to superhuman levels, allowing him to contend with powerful foes like Spider-Man and the Hulk, although he prefers long-range tactics against stronger opponents. The armor
2576-550: A tempestuous temper, Doom occasionally shows warmth and empathy to others; he tries to free his mother from Mephisto and treats Kristoff Vernard like his own son. Byrne gave further detail regarding Doom's scarring: Byrne introduced the idea that the accident at Empire State University only left Victor with a small scar that was exaggerated into a more disfiguring accident by Doom's own arrogance—by donning his newly forged face mask before it had fully cooled, he caused massive irreparable damage. After his debut, Doctor Doom remained
2688-490: A threat, Reed took control of Latveria to dismantle his equipment, and planned to trap them both in a pocket dimension. This backfired when the team intervened, leading Doom to transfer his spirit into Sue, Johnny, and Ben. Reed was forced to kill Johnny to stop Doom. Doom returned to Hell, and Reed later used a machine Doom had once created to travel to Heaven and restore Ben to life. Doom remained in Hell until he escaped during
2800-608: A vampire invasion, ordering border guards to maintain defenses while noting he will have new subjects to attend to. He later approaches Strange Academy students in Madripoor after the disappearance of Agatha Harkness and the Living Darkhold . At the Latverian embassy in Alberia, Doom saves Tatiana Keska from vampires, despite knowing she has grievances against him. Doctor Doom informs Doctor Strange and Clea that Blade
2912-464: A villain, Doom has also been an antihero at times, working with heroes if their goals align and only if it benefits him. Doctor Doom was ranked #4 by Wizard on its list of the 101 Greatest Villains of All Time and #3 on IGN 's list of the Top 100 Comic Book Villains of All Time. In a later article, IGN would declare Doom as Marvel's greatest villain. The character has been substantially adapted from
3024-715: A well-adjusted member of society. The man who fixed him and gave him a new human face had a problem with superheroes and other “weird” events in the Marvel Universe, which the Doombot inherited. Although he lived for decades in a small suburbs under the name Vincent Doonan, he had apparently secretly hired assassins to take out beings he considered strange, such as alien arms dealers. This led him to hire MODOK and then Gwenpool when she took over his organization. Gwen piqued his interest with her talk of her own world where such things never happen in real life, but Vincent decided she
3136-572: A woman hostage. Spider-Man turned the tables on him, by grabbing a jar containing some of his specimens: "Let the girl go, Humbug! Or these roaches die screaming!" Humbug surrendered, appalled at Spider-Man's cruelty, and was sent back to jail. Later, Humbug attended the Springdale branch of the Bar with no Name, where he bragged about the newly redesigned Tomazooma . In his very own one-shot special called "Spider-Man: Bug Stops Here", Humbug attacked
3248-469: Is also known to harbor fugitive supervillains within Latveria as means of protecting them from prosecution, although he only does this for villains who play a part in his schemes. After renouncing his rulership, it is likely he lost this status. Doom's primary weakness is his arrogance, which often blinds him to his own role in his failures. Layla Miller noted that he refuses to accept responsibility for
3360-439: Is an evil person, but he's not always been evil. He was [respected]...but through a flaw in his own character, he was a perfectionist." At one point in the 1970s, Kirby drew his interpretation of what Doom would look like under the mask, giving Doom only "a tiny scar on his cheek". Due to this slight imperfection, Doom hides his face not from the world, but from himself. To Kirby, this is the motivation for Doom's vengeance against
3472-508: Is nearly indestructible, shielding him from various forms of manipulation and housing advanced weaponry, including lasers, a force field generator, and lethal electric shocks. Additionally, his armor supports him with air, food, water, and energy systems for extended periods in extreme environments such as outer space . Even without the armor, Doom is a skilled hand-to-hand combatant, capable of defeating strong opponents due to his knowledge of pressure points and skill with melee weapons. As
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3584-610: Is not confident that he would win. All Doombots are programmed by Doctor Doom and include a remote shut off in case that one should rise against Doom himself. The Doombots first appear where they help to capture the Fantastic Four so that Doctor Doom can send Mister Fantastic , Human Torch , and Thing back in time to retrieve Blackbeard 's treasure while he was using Invisible Woman as a hostage. The Doombots later help Doctor Doom to capture Spider-Man , but accidentally captured Flash Thompson disguised as him. The Doombots were present when Doctor Doom empowered three criminals to be
3696-759: Is possessed by Varnae and declares they need mages to bring back the Sun, requesting the title of Sorcerer Supreme . After being temporarily granted the title, he casts a spell that removes the Darkforce surrounding Earth, which inadvertently allows vampires to walk in sunlight. However, he then betrays his promise and refuses to return the title, making Doctor Strange disappear. In the " Venom War " storyline, Doctor Doom encountered Flexo and provided him with tactics for dealing with Eddie Brock in his King in Black form. This proves useful when Flexo severely injured Eddie Brock at
3808-456: Is revealed that Doom truly wished for a utopian future where humanity thrived, albeit one where he was in power. Doctor Victor von Doom's genius in science and technology has allowed him to build numerous devices to handle enemies or acquire greater power. The most notable among them include: Humbug (comics) Buck Mitty , known as Humbug , is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics . Humbug
3920-637: Is taken into captivity for his initial killing of Lang. As the final Incursion approaches in the Secret Wars storyline, Doom usurps the power of the Beyonders with the aid of Doctor Strange and the Molecule Man. He then creates a new Battleworld from the destroyed multiverse, claiming the role of God, and rewriting history to resurrect those he killed, while taking Sue as his wife and assigning roles to Franklin and Valeria. Ultimately, Reed and
4032-547: Is the monarch of the fictional European country of Latveria whose goal is to bring order to humanity through world conquest . He serves as the archenemy of Mister Fantastic and the Fantastic Four , though he has also come into conflict with other superheroes in the Marvel Universe , including Spider-Man , Iron Man , Doctor Strange , the Black Panther , the X-Men , and the Avengers . While usually portrayed as
4144-549: The Age of Ultron storyline, Hank Pym was seen with the head of a Doombot as he starts to work on it. Pym controls it with the constant threat of releasing a micro black hole he implanted in its chest cavity. The Doombot reluctantly ends up joining Henry Pym's Avengers A.I. alongside Monica Chang, Victor Mancha and Vision . This Doombot is shown as ruler of Earth in a possible future, where it summons various Avengers from different time periods together to defeat Ultron's conquest of
4256-595: The Siege storyline, Doctor Doom initially supports Norman Osborn's attack on Asgard but later withdraws. He also stars in Doomwar written by Jonathan Maberry , where he allies with the isolationist Desturi to seize control of Wakanda. In Fantastic Four: Three , Doctor Doom seeks to be "reborn" and plans to abdicate his throne to Kristoff. Valeria von Doom visits him, notices his brain damage, and offers to restore his mental capacity in exchange for his help with Reed and
4368-650: The Future Foundation . Despite an angry attack from the Thing, Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman welcome him. Valeria learns that Kristoff Vernard is Doom's backup for restoring his memories, so they all head to Latveria, where a brain transfer machine successfully restores Doom's knowledge. Although Kristoff offers to return the throne to Doom, he declines, citing a promise to Valeria to help her defeat Mister Fantastic when needed. Doom then plans
4480-600: The Headmen . He is apparently eaten by giant insects while on a mission in Antarctica, but turns out to be alive and well along with new powers. His personality changes, however, as he becomes obsessed with serving the bugs on earth. He is advised by the insects that they must return to New York for the Hulk and his Warbound are fast approaching. In the World War Hulk series, Humbug turned on Earth's hive and
4592-750: The Miracle Man , and Namor the Sub-Mariner , Doom managed to overshadow them all and became the Fantastic Four's archnemesis . During the 1970s, Doom branched out to more Marvel titles such as Astonishing Tales , The Incredible Hulk , and Super-Villain Team-Up (1975). Beginning with issue #42, he also had appearances in Marvel Team-Up (February 1976). Doom's origin was also a feature in Astonishing Tales when his ties to
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4704-655: The Silver Surfer 's powers in 1967, but lost them after breaching a barrier Galactus had set for the Surfer on Earth. During the 1970s, Doctor Doom expanded into more Marvel titles, featuring a battle for the Latverian throne against Prince Rudolfo in Astonishing Tales . In August 1981, he appeared in Iron Man , where Stark thwarted Doom's time-travelling plan to enlist Morgan le Fay to defeat King Arthur 's forces with an army of revived warriors. Stranded in
4816-472: The absolute monarch of Latveria , Doctor Doom rules the country with an iron fist and has frequently used his political power for his own personal benefit. Doom has reshaped the country in his own image, renaming both the capital city Hassenstadt and Castle Sabbat to Doomstadt and Castle Doom respectively. Doom frequently monitors the citizens of Latveria from Castle Doom and uses his Doombots to maintain order within his nation. Despite his infamous reputation as
4928-551: The confrontation between the Avengers and the X-Men , Doom allies with Magneto and others against Red Skull 's Red Onslaught form. In an attempt to atone for past misdeeds, Doom absorbs the Scarlet Witch reality-altering powers and resurrects the dead Cassie Lang , whom he had accidentally killed. He subsequently makes a Faustian deal with an unspecified demon to resurrect Brother Voodoo . After returning to normal, Doom
5040-459: The " King in Black " storyline, Doctor Doom confronts Iron Man during Knull 's invasion. Iron Man is bonded with an Extremis-powered Symbiote, and they are attacked by a Symbiote-possessed Santa Claus, revealed to be Mike Dunworthy. Doom seeks to learn from Iron Man's new armor, but is turned down, leaving him to ponder whether Santa Claus could be a Sorcerer Supreme. During the " Blood Hunt " storyline, Doctor Doom puts Latveria on high alert amidst
5152-618: The 'vice' figure of medieval drama", who address the audience in monologs detailing their thoughts and ambitions. In 1976, Marvel and DC Comics collaborated on Superman vs. the Amazing Spider-Man , and seeking to replicate that success the two companies again teamed the characters in Superman and Spider-Man in 1981. Marvel editor-in-chief Jim Shooter co-wrote the story with Marv Wolfman , and recalled choosing Victor von Doom based on his iconic status: "I figured I needed
5264-470: The Aged Genghis, and after Doctor Strange relinquished the title of Sorcerer Supreme, he acknowledged Doom's potential to assume that role. This mastery of magic gives Doom a unique advantage over his intellectual rival, Reed Richards, who lacks knowledge of sorcery. The alien Ovoids inadvertently taught Doctor Doom how to psionically transfer his consciousness into another being through eye contact,
5376-527: The Baron. As Victor grew, he became a brilliant inventor, merging sorcery and technology to defend the Roma people. His exploits attracted the attention of the dean of Empire State University, who offered him a chance to study in the U.S., prompting Victor to leave his homeland and his love, Valeria, behind. Upon arriving in the United States, Victor von Doom met Reed Richards , his future rival. He built
5488-535: The Baxter Building to New York, leaving Doom stranded on an asteroid. After learning the secrets of the advanced Ovids, Doom swaps consciousnesses with Mister Fantastic but accidentally switches back, ending up trapped in Sub-Atomica when hit by a shrinking ray he intended for the Fantastic Four. Doom takes over this micro-world but is ousted by the Fantastic Four and thrown into space while trying to send them there. Saved by Rama-Tut , he returns to Earth and uses
5600-527: The Beyonder to reclaim it. When Franklin Richards was kidnapped by Onslaught , Doctor Doom joined forces with the Fantastic Four , Avengers and the X-Men to battle him in Central Park . During the fight, Doom was forced to sacrifice himself alongside others to contain Onslaught, which allowed the X-Men to destroy him. Though believed dead, Doom and the heroes were saved by Franklin, who created
5712-582: The Beyonder's power to heal Doom's face and purify his soul. Doom returns to his kingdom, saving Tony Stark from Latverian rebels and claiming to be a new man. He relinquishes his dictatorship, entrusting Tony with a Wand of Watoomb to defeat Madame Masque. When more rebels appear, he teleports Stark to the Bronx Zoo, and they later confront Madame Masque in Chicago. After discovering she's possessed, Doom helps Tony trap her in his armor and exorcises
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#17327900703885824-705: The Bronx Zoo, then to the Jackpot Club in Chicago to confront a Masque. Realizing she is demonically possessed, Doom has Tony trap her in the Iron Man armor while he exorcises the demon. He disappears before Tony regains consciousness, then later interrupts Tony's breakfast date with Amara to prove he has changed, but Tony remains distrustful and Doom leaves again. After Tony Stark's defeat by Captain Marvel in Civil War II , Doom discovers his calling to heal
5936-519: The Doombot have designed the traps that the captive X-Men members are placed in. The captive family members at Murderworld turn out to be robots that attacks the X-Men members that were sent there. When Storm becomes one with the planet, she attacks the Doombot Puppet Master later makes a doll of Doctor Doom as he controls Doctor Doom into sending his Doombots to attack the Fantastic Four. Doctor Doom later sends his Doombots to abduct
6048-521: The Doombot is taken down by Taskmaster , it releases a robotic swarm that is unleashed upon Avengers Tower . Norman Osborn finds a way to shut down the robotic swarm as Sentry destroys the Doombot. During the Infinity storyline, some Doombots are shown to work at the Latverian School of Science as teachers. There's even a female version of a Doombot that works there as well. Following
6160-592: The Doombot later attacks Heroes for Hire which results in the death of Orka . Following the Civil War storyline, a Doombot designed to look like Doctor Doom was built to appear at Stilt-Man 's funeral. During the Dark Reign storyline, Black Panther was meeting with Namor about joining the Cabal (which also consisted of Doctor Doom, Emma Frost , Hood , Loki, and Norman Osborn ). When Black Panther refused
6272-583: The Earth-hive agents revealed that Humbug had been poisoned beforehand, dooming both him and the queen's eggs. Meanwhile, mutated and dying in agony, Humbug begged Shang-Chi to mercy kill him. Shang-Chi granted his request by tearing his head off. Humbug's remains beneath New York served as material used by the Bug-Lords of the Savage Land to create their agent Macrothrax, who wore a costume with
6384-651: The Fantastic Four's powers, Doom follows them into parallel universes to assist an alternate Reed Richards against a version of Doom who has merged with Galactus. Meanwhile, Gwenpool , unaware of Doom's reformation, tries to attack him using an AI Doombot named Vincent. Doom easily captures her but is amused by her taunts. Gwen escapes, believing Doom is still a threat, and attacks again, releasing an earlier version of Doom. Doom defeats his doppelganger to save Gwen, who realizes her mistake and hopes for reform. Later, she enlists Doom, Vincent, Doctor Strange, and Terrible Eye to help her friend Cecil regain human form. Doctor Doom
6496-477: The Fantastic Four. A humbled Doom later attends Johnny Storm's funeral, and is recommended for the Future Foundation. Leading up to Secret Wars , Doom usurps the power of the Beyonders , creating a new Battleworld where he assumes the role of God. However, Reed Richards and a group of heroes challenge Doom, and with the Molecule Man's help, they restore the multiverse. Reed ultimately uses
6608-606: The Grand Garden Arena. Doctor Doom is a polymath and inventor with genius -level intellect, renowned for creating doomsday machines and robots, particularly his Doombots, which he can control technopathically. Throughout his history, he has been depicted as one of the most intelligent humans in the Marvel Universe , notably restoring the Thing's human form—though Reed Richards also achieved this, he struggled to maintain it. However, Richards managed to process complex calculations to save Kitty Pryde from disintegration,
6720-575: The Heroes for Hire to serve the Brood queen of Hulk's Warbound, No-Name . No-Name uses him as a host for her gestating eggs. It was later revealed that Earth's hive knew that Humbug would turn on them and in fact used him as a Trojan Horse to transport their own agents into the queen's hive. These agents then shot the queen with a beam, claiming afterwards to have sterilized her. When the queen gloated that her hivelings were near hatching inside of Humbug,
6832-571: The Hulk's brain and cloning a new body for Banner, in return for a favor from the Hulk. This clone is killed soon afterward. Later, Doom is apparently killed by the Mad Celestials. With no knowledge as to how he survived, Doom awakens in the ruins of the Interdimensional Council of Reeds, where Valeria had left him a present: the full army of lobotomized Doctor Dooms from alternate realities who were previously captured by
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#17327900703886944-502: The Humbug costume to achieve his goals, by whatever means necessary. Humbug intended to begin his career by stealing a shipment of black pearls, but a group of criminals beat him to the punch, and he fled when Spider-Man showed up to take them out. He next targeted an armored car government cash transfer. While he overpowered the guards and blew open the car, he had no way to transport the large shipment, as he had previously blown out one of
7056-502: The Iron Mask , who symbolized approaching Death. It was the reason for the armor and the hood. Death is connected with armor and inhuman-like steel. Death is something without mercy and human flesh contains that element of mercy. Therefore, I had to erase it, and I did it with a mask." Kirby further described Doom as being "paranoid", wrecked by his twisted face and wanting the whole world to be like him. Kirby went on to say that "Doom
7168-435: The Life Force to resurrect her children, which ultimately overwhelmed her. With Wiccan's help, they sought to use the entity possessing Wanda to restore mutant powers, but the Young Avengers intervened, concerned about the consequences. Doom aimed to transfer this entity into himself, gaining god-like powers, but accidentally killed Cassie before Wanda and Wiccan could reclaim those powers from him. In "Fantastic Four: Three,"
7280-473: The New York Museum of Natural History to finance his research by attempting to steal a rare scarab amulet. Spider-Man, being present at the time of the robbery, confronted his old nemesis. Spider-Man eventually led Humbug to a place of the museum that was damaged by termites , and Humbug fell through the floor broken by those termites. During the fall, Humbug was knocked out upon landing on the lower-level floor. Discovering that Humbug had renewed his attack on
7392-414: The Skull's principles. At the end of the first chapter of the X-Men event " Endangered Species ", Doom is contacted by Beast to help reverse the effects of Decimation but rejects the offer, admitting he lacks talent in genetics. In Spider-Man: One More Day , Doom is approached by Spider-Man for help in saving Aunt May. Additionally, he transforms Latveria into a refugee camp for Atlanteans after
7504-406: The Terrible Trio. During his plan to drive Doctor Doom out of Latveria, Prince Rudolfo has a woman named Ramona (who resembles Doctor Doom's childhood love Valeria) be picked up by a patrolling Doombot. Following the Doomsman that Doctor Doom had created coming to life, Doctor Doom sends the Doombots to deal with Prince Rudolfo and his men. A Doombot in the form of Doctor Doom captured Arcade and
7616-461: The Ultron Anti-virus, destroys all humanity, Kree, Skulls, and Inhuman life. Only the Avenger's A.I. survive to resist him. In 12,000 A.D. they have one last battle on the carcass of Galactus . Doombot sacrifices himself when Dimitrios kills Victor Mancha, the only person he ever called "Pal", by releasing the black hole in his chest. Following Squirrel Girl 's time travel paradox, an artificially intelligent Doombot escaped from Doctor Doom and became
7728-445: The ability to communicate with any insectoid in the world and possibly beyond Earth. When the Black Cat destroyed his helmet, it was revealed that his skin had taken on an insect-like appearance. However, it was revealed that the suit itself was infested with insects from Earth's hive when the helmet sprouted legs. The bug helmet also displayed its ability to fire a laser beam, suggesting that most of Humbug's new abilities were from
7840-446: The accident that scarred his face, instead blaming Reed Richards. While Doom typically views himself as superior, he occasionally listens to heroes like Mister Fantastic when it benefits him. Even when allied with others, he often seeks personal gain, as seen when he attempted to steal Thanos’ Infinity Gauntlet during a confrontation with the Titan. Doom adheres to a strict code of honor, keeping his word but often interpreting promises in
7952-436: The android body he used to monitor them. During John Byrne's 1980s run, Doctor Doom attempted to steal Terrax the Tamer 's cosmic powers, leading to a fight that destroyed his body. He survived by transferring his consciousness to another human and was later restored to his original body by the Beyonder . On Battleworld, Doom briefly succeeded in stealing the Beyonder's power, but it was too vast for him to control, allowing
8064-497: The art department had been relocated, when he blasted into the women's locker room. Embarrassed, he fled the scene. Regrouping, he broke into the physics building, to steal some of the super-conductive ceramics. The noise of his assault drew Spider-Man, who again turned Humbug's power back on him, this time blasting him out through a window. Spider-Man's web saved Mitty but Humbug distracted him by blowing up some cop cars. Spider-Man tracked Humbug to his old entomology lab, where he took
8176-427: The baby "Valeria" and plotted to make her his familiar, seeking to sacrifice his long-lost love for magical powers equivalent to years of sorcery study. With this power, he trapped Franklin in Hell, immobilized Doctor Strange, and neutralized the Fantastic Four. However, Reed freed Doctor Strange's astral self, allowing them to outsmart Doom and provoke his demonic benefactors to take him to Hell. To eliminate Doom as
8288-560: The character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) films The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025), Avengers: Doomsday (2026), and Avengers: Secret Wars (2027). Like many of Marvel's Silver Age characters, Doom was conceived by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby . With the Fantastic Four title performing well, Lee and Kirby were trying to dream up a "soul-stirring...super sensational new villain" for
8400-493: The civil war, vowing to restore the nation with his own strength. Doctor Doom is framed for the destruction of the Antlion space station by Symkarian rebels and is killed while on the run, only to be sent back to Earth by Death as her "greatest servant." After fending off assassins including Taskmaster and MODOK , he sends Reed Richards his solution to the black hole threatening Earth and sets off to regain his power. During
8512-502: The comics into several forms of media, including television series , video games , and merchandise such as action figures and trading cards . Most notably, Doctor Doom has been portrayed in licensed Fantastic Four live-action feature films by Joseph Culp in Roger Corman 's unreleased 1994 film , Julian McMahon in the 2005 film and its 2007 sequel , and Toby Kebbell in the 2015 film . Robert Downey Jr. will portray
8624-579: The council, along with two Infinity Gauntlets from alternate universes. With these resources, Doom created the Parliament of Doom, an interdimensional council charged with maintaining peace across the multiverse. He later returned to again rule Latveria, upon ruling the council for a millennium. An ill-fated excursion into the alternate universe of the one of Infinity Gauntlets resulted in Reed and Nathaniel Richards rescuing Doom from his own council. During
8736-424: The current version of Squirrel Girl to examine him for her computer class, though the lesson is interrupted as she and Gwen go to Hell to save her brother from Mephisto. After Doom sent an army of Doombots to attack Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur she confiscated one of the heads and re-purposed it to running her lair when she was away. So far it has done so by making flawed robotic copies of her to fill in while she
8848-496: The demon. He then vanishes before Tony wakes up. Doom later interrupts Tony's breakfast with Amara, trying to prove he has changed, but Tony remains distrustful. Following Stark's coma caused by Captain Marvel , Doom takes up the Iron Man mantle, faces Mephisto disguised as the Maker , joins the Avengers , and eventually conceives a child with Dr. Amara Perera. When Ben Grimm and Johnny Storm seek their teammates to restore
8960-585: The destruction of their kingdom, and allies with Loki to manipulate his brother into unwittingly releasing his Asgardian allies. Doctor Doom later defends Latveria against the Mighty Avengers after it is revealed that one of his satellites carried the 'Venom Virus' released in New York City, a result of hacking by one of Doom's enemies. During a battle with Iron Man and the Sentry , the time travel mechanism in his armor overloads, trapping them all in
9072-409: The families of the X-Men so that the X-Men can come after Arcade. This caused the X-Men's Team 1 (consisting of Angel , Colossus , Nightcrawler , Storm , and Wolverine ) to go after Doctor Doom while Banshee , Havok , Iceman , and Polaris head to Murderworld to rescue the captive parents. This turned out to be a trap for Team 1 since the Doombot is actually in an alliance with Arcade. Arcade and
9184-429: The hands of Mephisto when Victor was young. His father, Werner von Doom, a renowned medicine man, kept her sorcery a secret to protect Victor. After Cynthia's death, the Baron's wife fell ill, and when Werner failed to save her, he was labeled a murderer and forced to flee with young Victor. Werner ultimately died of exposure on a mountainside, leaving Victor to discover his mother's occult instruments and swear revenge on
9296-508: The heaviest-duty bad guy we had to offer — Doctor Doom. Their greatest hero against our greatest villain." In 1981 John Byrne began his six-year run writing and illustrating Fantastic Four , sparking a "second golden age " for the title but also attempting to "turn the clock back [...] get back and see fresh what it was that made the book great at its inception." Doctor Doom made his first appearance under Byrne's tenure with issue #236. Whereas Kirby had intimated that Doom's disfigurement
9408-401: The loss of his secret identity. He, along with Spider-man Miles Morales and Gwen's friend The Terrible Eye were recently revealed to have possibly time travelled to her first Christmas as part of a conspiracy to get Gwen's brother Teddy Poole to trap her before can she ruin their lives. More recently Gwenpool decided to make a name for herself as a hero by taking down Dr. Doom, unaware that he
9520-464: The museum, the mercenary known as Deadpool was hired by unknown parties to prevent it. Deadpool eventually caught up with Humbug, but one of Humbug's insect buddies warned him of the attack. Humbug fired sonic blasts at Deadpool, causing the mercenary to go both deaf and mute. Furious, Deadpool chased Humbug into a woman's dorm. Deadpool then tried to determine Humbug's secret identity, and nearly killed two innocent men, before figuring out that entomology
9632-536: The offer, he is attacked by Doctor Doom and the Doombots. Doctor Doom later refits the Doombots to attack Donald Blake . Thor later fights a Doombot before he takes on Doctor Doom in a pilotable robot that is modeled after the Destroyer . During the Siege storyline, Doctor Doom uses a Doombot to attend a meeting of the Cabal and speaks through it to demand that Norman Osborn ceases his campaign against Namor. When
9744-524: The onset of " Dark Reign ," Doctor Doom joined the Cabal with Norman Osborn , Emma Frost , Namor , Loki 's female form, and the Hood , seeking revenge for his tarnished reputation. Soon after, he allies with the isolationist Desturi to seize control of Wakanda. Doom severely injures T'Challa, the Black Panther, aiming to take Wakanda's vibranium for his own enhancement. However, T'Challa destroys
9856-575: The past due to this interference, Doom vowed revenge, but he had to postpone it to return to the present day. Doctor Doom later allies with the Puppet Master to trap the Fantastic Four in the miniature city of "Liddleville," using cybernetic copies of their bodies. However, he sabotages the plan to disrupt Reed's focus, but the Puppet Master ultimately aids the FF in escaping, trapping Doom in
9968-571: The past; Doom continues his relationship with Morgan le Fay using his time machine. Although he and Iron Man eventually return to the present, Doom leaves Iron Man in his exploding castle and is falsely incarcerated at The Raft. He later escapes the Raft in the " Secret Invasion " storyline, thanks to a virus was uploaded into the prison's systems by the Skrulls . After the Secret Invasion and
10080-402: The real Doom for a time. In addition to being a genius scientist and inventor, Doom is a powerful sorcerer, initially trained by Tibetan monks and later enhanced by his lover, Morgan le Fay . He possesses abilities such as energy absorption, lightning manipulation, dimensional travel, healing, and summoning demonic creatures. Doom placed second in a magic tournament held by the ancient sorcerer
10192-614: The robot to infiltrate in enemy fortresses. The pieces are sent through a different way, and the head builds the body in minutes. Doombots can be set to self-destruct whenever they are in risk of being captured or defeated, or at Doom's whim. There were different models of the Doombots: The Doombots were considered to appear in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer . A Doombot appears as
10304-445: The series. Looking for a name, Lee latched onto "Doctor Doom" as "eloquent in its simplicity — magnificent in its implied menace." Due to the rush to publish, the character was not given a full origin story until Fantastic Four Annual #2, two years after his debut. In a 1987 interview, Kirby commented on Doctor Doom's design. "Dr. Doom was the classic conception of Death , of approaching Death. I saw Dr. Doom as The Man in
10416-604: The soul of his mother Cynthia Von Doom . During the Acts of Vengeance storyline, a Doombot was used by Doctor Doom to serve as his proxy at the time when Loki has gathered some criminal masterminds to help in his plot. The Doombot sent The Assembly of Evil to attack the Avengers at a press conference only for them to take on She-Hulk and Cloak and Dagger . Silver Sable and the Wild Pack fought Doombots that were working for an Imposter Doctor Doom. A Doombot later goes on
10528-464: The supervillain group Intelligencia but is betrayed and captured during their plan. He escapes with Bruce Banner's help and returns to Latveria, seemingly damaged by the experience. At the start of the " Siege " storyline, Doom, working with the Cabal, demands that Osborn reverse his actions against Namor, but Osborn refuses. After a violent attack by the Void, it's revealed that the "Doctor Doom" present
10640-496: The tires, to prevent them from escaping. At this time, Spider-Man came on the scene and, after a short struggle, turned Humbug's sonics back on himself, destroying his equipment. The cops then took him away. Mitty's sentence was commuted to time served, and he was released from prison. He renewed his awesome entomological onslaught, now dedicated to punishing ESU for their betrayal. He first tried to steal some rare paintings from their art department to finance his research, but found that
10752-483: The vibranium stockpile, believing his people can survive without it. In Fantastic Four #566-569, written by Mark Millar , Doctor Doom receives a power upgrade after being thrown back in time by the Marquis of Death. He fights through time to seek revenge, claiming to have rebuilt himself to destroy the Marquis. However, later issues ignore this arc, suggesting it was merely a dream of Valeria von Doom. Doom then joins
10864-772: The villain Mephisto were revealed. In the book Superhero: The Secret Origin of a Genre , Peter Coogan writes that Doom's original appearance was representative of a change in the portrayal of "mad scientists" to full-fledged villains, often with upgraded powers. These supervillains are genre-crossing villains who exist in adventures "in a world in which the ordinary laws of nature are slightly suspended"; characters such as Professor Moriarty , Count Dracula , Auric Goldfinger , Hannibal Lecter , Joker , Lex Luthor , and Darth Vader , also fit this description. Sanderson also found traces of William Shakespeare 's characters Richard III and Iago in Doom; all of them "are descended from
10976-445: The world before taking control itself. However, the Avengers are able to defeat Doom's armies by rescuing the forces of Asgard from imprisonment, followed by Vision convincing the Doombot to explore its own identity and acknowledge Doom's more positive traits rather than just blindly following the original Victor von Doom's example and cheapening his legacy by letting another define his path. In another possible future, Dimitrios, born from
11088-440: The world, reflecting on his dissatisfaction as a God. Inspired by Stark, he establishes Stark's legacy, fights for his brand of justice as the third Iron Man , and later conflicts with Mephisto disguised as Maker . Doom joins the Avengers and conceives a child with Dr. Amara Perera, prompting a group of villains led by the Hood to target him. The final battle occurs when the Hood tries to take over Stark Industries, leading to
11200-460: The world; because others are superior due to this slight scar, Doom wants to elevate himself above them. Stan Lee's writing typically showed Doom's arrogance as his constant downfall, and how his pride leads to von Doom's disfigurement at the hands of his own machine, and to the failures of many of his schemes. While the Fantastic Four had fought various villains such as the Mole Man , Skrulls ,
11312-624: Was a robotic imposter, with the real Doom returning in new armor to reclaim Latveria. Simonson's retcon suggested the last true appearance of Doom was in the "Battle of the Baxter Building," but later writers often disregarded his interpretations, leading to further revisions of Doom's character and history. Mark Waid began to redefine Doctor Doom in the 2003 "Unthinkable" storyline ( Fantastic Four vol. 3, #66-70 and #500), where Doom forsakes technology for mysticism. He kills his first love, Valeria, to gain powers from demons and imprisons Franklin Richards in Hell. Doom challenges Reed Richards to escape
11424-464: Was actually a Doombot, which releases nanites that destroy Avengers Tower and force evacuations. The real Doom warns Osborn not to strike him again, threatening further consequences. It's revealed that the Scarlet Witch at Wundagore Mountain is a Doombot, indicating that the real Wanda was captured by Doom after the House of M event. Wanda's enhanced powers resulted from her and Doom's attempt to channel
11536-471: Was fated or due to personal faults—a nature versus nurture debate. Brubaker's portrayal was influenced by the original Lee/Kirby version, and he chose not to show Doom's face, following Kirby's example. In Spiderman/Fantastic Four Volume #4, the Mighty Avengers invaded Doom's kingdom of Latveria due to his involvement in a chemical bomb plot, which was actually orchestrated by Kristoff Vernard. In
11648-579: Was featured in his first solo series in 2019. Doom is framed for a Moon space station explosion he had warned about, while also experiencing random encounters with rival supervillain Kang the Conqueror due to a theorized quantum entanglement. Victor von Doom was born in Latveria to a tribe of Romani people under the rule of an unnamed nobleman, the Baron. His mother, the witch Cynthia von Doom, died at
11760-488: Was more a figment of Victor's vain personality, Byrne decided that Doom's face was truly ravaged: only Doom's own robot slaves are allowed to see the monarch without his helmet. Byrne emphasized other aspects of Doom's personality; despite his ruthless nature, Victor von Doom is a man of honor. Returning to Latveria after being temporarily deposed, Doctor Doom abandons a scheme to wrest mystical secrets from Doctor Strange in order to oversee his land's reconstruction. Despite
11872-406: Was off planet. The Doombots are heavily armored robots that are resistant to mental, emotional, and illusion attacks. All Doombots can shoot lightning from their gauntlets similar to Doctor Doom's attack. The Doombots sport jetpacks which can enable them to fly. There are small mechanic limbs and tools in the head of every Doombot that allows them to re-construct the rest of the body. This allows
11984-502: Was originally a supervillain but later became a superhero and a member of the Heroes for Hire . Humbug first appeared in Web of Spider-Man #19 (Oct 1986). Buck Mitty was the senior entomology professor at Empire State University until his funding was cut off. Desperate to prove the value of the insect world, as well as to gain enough wealth to continue his research, Mitty designed
12096-425: Was outed as a Doombot and given full credit for defeating the evil aliens, ruining his idealistic small town lifestyle. Vincent has various weaponry, the ability to fly, anti-paranormal defense systems, artificial intelligence, and a red switch which will turn back on his Victor Von Doom personality if used. Gwen and her companions have repeatedly seen him on TV being touted as both a superhero and philanthropist since
12208-494: Was rescued by monks . Mastering their disciplines, he forged an iron mask that permanently bonded to his skin, adopting the identity of Doctor Doom. As Doom, he sought revenge on those he held responsible for his accident, particularly Reed Richards, and successfully led a revolution to take over Latveria, focusing on the welfare of the Roma. In his first appearance, Doctor Doom captures the Invisible Girl , using her as
12320-413: Was the study of insects, and thus making the connection between Mitty and Humbug. He then attacked Humbug in his lab, doused him with honey, and then hurled a jar of South American fire ants on him. Humbug tried in vain to blast off the fire ants as they devoured him, and after a few minutes, Deadpool declared Humbug to be dead. However, while the outer layer of Humbug's skin was eaten by the ants, he made
12432-542: Was trying to be a hero himself. She used Vincent to track him down and while she was briefly imprisoned, Doom (whom Gwen thought was "Warmachine in a hoodie") and Vincent met. Although Vincent still does not like his creator, Doom told Vincent that he was very proud of the person the AI Doom-bot had become. Vincent helped Doom, Dr. Strange, and Terrible Eye perform a spell to return Gwen's sidekick Cecil to his human form and make his new monster body friendly. He later allows
12544-407: Was weirder than the aliens and other "threats" and needed to die above all else as soon as he heard more about her world. He attempted to kill her, teaming up with the aliens he sent her to kill in the first place and kidnapping Gwen's co-workers and friends as hostages. He was ultimately beaten when Gwen threatened to blow up his neighbors if he did not turn on the aliens. Due to a misunderstanding, he
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