Doctor Doom - Fictional Character Biography

Fictional Character Biography

Victor von Doom was born decades ago to a tribe of Latverian gypsies under the rule of an unnamed nobleman called the Baron. Victor's mother was a witch named Cynthia Von Doom who died by Mephisto's hand while Doom was young. Victor's father, Werner, was the leader of the tribe and a renowned medicine man who kept his wife's sorceress life quiet in order to protect Victor from a similar fate. Soon after Cynthia's death, the Baron's wife grew incurably ill from cancer and Werner was called to the capitol to heal her. When she succumbed to illness, the Baron labeled Werner a murderer and called for his death. Werner escaped with young Victor, having realized the night before the woman would die. He goes on to die of exposure on the mountainside, cradling the boy in a final embrace and giving him his garments to keep him warm. Victor survived and, on return to the gypsy camp, discovered his mother's occult instruments and swore revenge on the Baron. Victor grew into a headstrong and brilliant man, combining sorcery and technology to create fantastic devices to keep the Baron's men at bay and protect the gypsies. His exploits attracted the attention of the dean of Empire State University, who sent someone to the camp. Offered the chance to study in the United States, Doom chooses to leave his homeland and his love, Valeria, behind. Once in the United States, Victor met fellow student and future nemesis Reed Richards, who was intended to be his roommate, but Doom disliked him and asked for another roommate. After a time, Victor constructed a machine intended to communicate with the dead. Though Richards tried to warn him about a flaw in the machine, seeing his calculations were a few decimals off, Victor continued on with disastrous results. The machine violently failed and the resulting explosion seemingly severely damaged his face. Expelled after the accident, Victor traveled the world until he collapsed on a Tibetan mountainside. Rescued by a clan of monks, Victor quickly mastered the monks' disciplines as well as the monks themselves. Victor then forged himself a suit of armor, complete with a scowling mask, and took the name Doctor Doom. As Doom, he would go on to menace those he felt responsible for his accident—primarily, Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four. He succeeded in taking over Latveria, taking an interest in the welfare of the Roma.

In his first appearance, Doom travels back in time to steal the enchanted treasure of Blackbeard and conquer the world, but he is fooled by Reed Richards, who swaps the treasure with worthless chains. Returning to Earth after learning the secrets of an advanced alien race, Doom exchanges consciousnesses with Mr. Fantastic; Richards, inhabiting Doom's body, switches the two back, and Doom ends up trapped in a micro-world. Doom takes over the micro-world and returns before being thrown into space. Doom is saved by Rama-Tut, and he returns to Earth to destroy the Fantastic Four by turning each member against the other using a special berry juice. Richards outwits Doom by using the hallucinogenic juice against the villain. Doom, believing he has killed Richards in a test of willpower, departs certain of his victory and superior intelligence.

During the 1960s, Doom tricks Spider-Man into joining forces with him, and he also menaces the Avengers when Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch travel to Latveria to find a long-lost relative. He steals the Silver Surfer's powers in 1967, but he loses them after breaching a barrier Galactus set for the Surfer on Earth.

During the 1970s, Doom branched out to more Marvel titles, with a battle between Doom and Prince Rudolfo over control of Latveria being featured in Astonishing Tales. Doom also attempts to use the Hulk as his slave during two issues of The Incredible Hulk. The character also made several appearances in the story arcs of Super-Villain Team-Up, starting in 1975, as well as appearances in Marvel Team-Up, beginning with issue #42 (February 1976). In August 1981, Doctor Doom also made an appearance in Iron Man when the two travel to Camelot where Stark thwarted Doom's attempt to solicit the aide of Morgan le Fay and Doom swore deadly vengeance for that interference, which had to be indefinitely delayed in the interest of returning to the present day.

During John Bryne's run in the 1980s, Doom attempts to steal cosmic powers on Terrax, but Doom's body is destroyed in the resulting fight between Terrax and the Silver Surfer. Doom survives by transferring his consciousness to another human, and is returned to his original body by the Beyonder.

In the 2000s, Doom rediscovered his mystical heritage, using his powers in an attempt to destroy the Fantastic Four after making a deal with a group of demons called the Hazarath Three, but later is consigned to a hell dimension after Richards manages to trick him into rejecting the idea that the demons aided him. He escapes and attempts to claim Thor's mystical hammer Mjolnir for himself, after the rift the hammer created as it fell to Earth following the destruction of Asgard allowed him to escape. The plot fails due to his inability to lift the hammer, and Doom returns to Latveria to rule once again.

Later, a Doombot was taken down by Reed Richards, Henry Pym, Iron Man, She-Hulk and others in New York City. Whether or not it was sent by Doom himself remains to be seen, as does his role in the overall conflict. Doom was not invited to the wedding of Storm and the Black Panther. However, he did send a present: an invitation to form an alliance with Latveria, using the Civil War currently going on among the hero community as a reason to quite possibly forge an alliance between their two countries. When Black Panther, on a diplomatic mission to other countries with Storm, did show up in Latveria, he presented them with a real present, and extended another invitation to form an alliance with Black Panther. He demonstrated behavior very uncharacteristic of him, however, which may or may not become a plot point later. Panther spurned the invitation, detonating an EMP that blacked out a local portion of Latveria before Doom's robots could destroy his ship. Later on, Doctor Doom is then shown collaborating with the Red Skull on a weapon which will only "be the beginning" of Captain America's suffering. Doctor Doom gave the Red Skull the weapon because the Red Skull gave Victor pieces of technology from an old German castle. The castle was owned by a "Baron of Iron" centuries prior, who had used his technological genius to protect himself and his people. The map the Red Skull used to find the castle bore a picture of Doctor Doom. Doctor Doom states that the technology the Red Skull gave him is more advanced than what he currently has, and that he will become the Baron of Iron in his future. The Red Skull is currently in the process of reverse-engineering Doom's weapon for multiple uses, rather than the single use Doom agreed to.

At the end of the first chapter of the X-Men event Endangered Species, Doctor Doom is among the supervillain geniuses that Beast contacts to help him reverse the effects of Decimation. He spurns Beast by stating that genetics do not number among his talents.

In Spider-Man: One More Day, Doctor Doom was among those that Spider-Man contacts to help save Aunt May.

Doctor Doom also makes Latveria into a refugee camp for the Atlanteans following the destruction of their underwater kingdom as well as becoming allies with Loki in his plot to manipulate Thor into unwittingly release his Asgardian enemies.

Doctor Doom later defends Latveria from the Mighty Avengers, following a revelation that it was one of Doctor Doom's satellites that carried the 'Venom Virus' released in New York City. In a battle with Iron Man and the Sentry, the time travel mechanism within his armor overloads, trapping Doom and his opponents at some point in the past. Doctor Doom continues a relationship with Morgan le Fay using his time machine. He and Iron Man managed to get back to the present, but Doctor Doom has left Iron Man in his exploding castle. Despite this, Doctor Doom ended up incarcerated at The Raft.

During the Secret Invasion storyline, Doctor Doom was among the villains who escaped the Raft when a virus was uploaded into its systems by the Skrulls.

In the aftermath of the Secret Invasion, Doctor Doom is a member of the Dark Illuminati alongside Norman Osborne, Emma Frost, Namor, Loki's female form, and Hood. At the end of this meeting, Namor and Doctor Doom are seen having a discussion of their own plans that have all ready been set in motion.

Doom soon allies himself with the isolationist group known as the Desturi, to take control of Wakanda. He attacked and wounded T'Challa, the current Black Panther, maiming him enough to prevent him from holding the mantle again. Doom's main objective was to secure Wakanda's store of vibranium, which he could mystically enhance to make himself unstoppable. Doom was also a part of the supervillain group known as the Intelligencia, but was betrayed when they captured him to complete their plan. With the help of Bruce Banner, he escaped, and returned to Latveria. He appears to have been damaged by this experiences.

At the start of the Siege storyline, Doctor Doom is with the Cabal discussing the current problems with the X-Men and both Avengers teams. Doom demands that Osborn at once reverse his course of action against his ally Namor, to which Osborn refuses, saying that he and Emma Frost had "crossed the line" with him. Doom, loathing Thor and the Asgardians all the more due to his recent defeat at their hands, claims that he will support Osborn's "madness" should Namor be returned to him, but Osborn refuses. Osborn's mysterious ally, the Void, violently attacks Doctor Doom, and an apparently amused Loki tells the Hood that he should go, as there is nothing here for either of them, which the Hood, now loyal to Loki due to his hand in the restoration of his mystical abilities, agrees. However, it is revealed that "Doom" is actually an upgraded Doombot, which releases swarms of Doombot nanites against the Cabal, tearing down Avengers Tower and forcing its denizens, such as the Dark Avengers, to evacuate. Osborn is rescued by the Sentry, who destroys the body. When Osborn contacts Doom, Doom tells him not to ever strike him again or he is willing to go further.

It has been revealed that the Scarlet Witch seen in Wundagore Mountain is actually a Doombot which apparently means that the real one has been captured by Doom sometime after the House of M event. It is revealed that Wanda's enhanced powers were a result of her and Doctor Doom's combined attempt to channel the Life Force in order to resurrect her children. This proves to be too much for Wanda to contain and it overtook her. With Wiccan and Doctor Doom's help, they seek to use the entity that is possessing Wanda to restore mutantkinds' powers. This is stopped by the Young Avengers (who are concerned at the fall-out that would ensue if the powerless mutants are suddenly repowered) only to find out Doom's real plan: to transfer the entity into his own body and gaining Wanda's god-like powers for himself. Doctor Doom becomes omnipotent with powers surpassing those of beings as the Beyonder or the Cosmic Cube. The Young Avengers confront him, but Doctor Doom kills Cassie just before Wanda and Wiccan stole his new-found powers.

At the start of the story arc Fantastic Four: Three, Doctor Doom felt that he needed to be "reborn" and was making plans to abdicate his throne and give it to Kristoff when Valeria teleported to his room unexpectedly asking for his assistance to help her father. Valeria quickly notices that Doctor Doom has suffered brain damage and makes a deal with him to restore his mental capacities if he helps Reed and the Fantastic Four. Doom agrees to her proposition. Later, Doctor Doom appears among those in attendance at Johnny Storm's funeral.

Due to the agreement, Doctor Doom was recommended by Nathaniel and Valeria Richards to be a member of the Future Foundation. Objecting, Thing attacks Doom out of anger, but the fight was stopped by Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman, who welcomes Doctor Doom to their group. When Valeria asks Doctor Doom if he has a backup for restoring his memories, he reveals that Kristoff Vernard is his backup. Afterward, Mr. Fantastic, Spider-Man, Nathaniel, Valeria, and Doctor Doom head to Latveria to meet with Kristoff and request his help. Mister Fantastic sets up a brain transfer machine in order to help restore Doctor Doom's memories and knowledge, which is successful. When Kristoff wants to return the throne to him, Doctor Doom states that it is not time yet because of a promise he made to Valeria. When Mister Fantastic asks what promise Doctor Doom made to Valeria, Doctor Doom states that he made a promise to help defeat Mister Fantastic. Doctor Doom decides to hold a symposium on how to finally defeat Reed Richards. The Thing and the evolved Moloids give an invitation to the High Evolutionary. Dragon Man and Alex Power give an invitation to Diablo. Upon receiving an invitation from Spider-Man, Mad Thinker is convinced to take part in the event. Bentley 23 even gives an invitation to his creator, the Wizard, along with two A.I.M. lieutenants. However, it is subsequently revealed that the 'Richards' they have been invited to defeat are actually members of the "Council of Reeds" (alternate versions of Reed who were trapped in this universe by Valeria a while back, possessing Reed's intellect while lacking his conscience). While Spider-Man and Invisible Woman make sandwiches for the kids, Mister Fantastic, Doctor Doom, Valeria, and Nathaniel Richards meet with the supervillain geniuses and Uatu the Watcher about what to do with the Council of Reeds.

The child members of the Future Foundation use the panic room system to teleport themselves the top of the Baxter Building to near Latveria where they help Nathaniel Richards, Kristoff Vernard, Alpha-Reed Richards, and Doctor Doom to rebuild the Bridge so that the Alpha-Reed Richards can return home. The Mad Celestials from Earth-4280 try to enter Earth through the Bridge in order to destroy it. Doctor Doom and Alpha-Reed Richards tried to stop them although Alpha-Reed Richards was killed using the Ultimate Nullifier while Doctor Doom was apparently killed by the Mad Celestials.

Doctor Doom managed to return to his Earth and Latveria. Unbeknownst to Doctor Doom, Lucia von Bardas and Red Ghost plan to use KGB super-spies (which had been previously in suspended animation) in a plot to kill Doctor Doom.