Doctor Doom

"Dr. Doom" redirects here. For other uses, see Dr. Doom (disambiguation).

Doctor Doom
File:Ff247.png Doctor Doom on the cover of Fantastic Four #247 (Oct. 1982). Art by John Byrne.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Fantastic Four #5 (July 1962).
Created by	Stan Lee Jack Kirby
In-story information
Alter ego	Victor von Doom
Team affiliations	Masters of Evil Terrible Trio The Cabal Intelligencia Future Foundation
Abilities	Genius-level intellect, powered armor, skilled scientist and sorcerer, mind transferal, technopathy

Victor von Doom (also known as Doctor Doom) is a fictional character who appears in Marvel Comics publications . Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in Fantastic Four #5 (July 1962) wearing his trademark metal mask and green cloak. The son of a gypsy witch, Doom is a recurring supervillain, arch enemy of the Fantastic Four, and leader of the fictional nation of Latveria. He is both a genius inventor and a sorcerer, and has served as a primary antagonist and occasional protagonist in the Marvel continuity since his creation. Doom's most famous opponents include the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, the Avengers, the X-Men, Punisher, Blade, Iron Man, and even Superman.

Doctor Doom has been featured in other Marvel-endorsed media such as feature films; video games; television series and merchandise such as action figures and trading cards. Doom was ranked as the 4th greatest villain by Wizard on its "100 Greatest Villains of All Time" list. IGN's list of the Top 100 Comic Book Villains of All Time ranked Doom as #3.

Publication history

Creation and development

Like many of Marvel's Silver Age characters, Doctor Doom was conceived by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby. With the Fantastic Four title performing well, Lee and Kirby were trying to dream up a "soul-stirring…super sensational new villain." Looking for a name, Lee latched onto "Doctor Doom" as "eloquent in its simplicity — magnificent in its implied menace."

File:DrDoomkirbyff2.jpg

Fantastic Four #5 (July 1962), Doctor Doom's first appearance.

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.

Jack Kirby modeled Doom after Death, with the armor standing in for that character's skeleton; "It was the reason for the armor and the hood. Death is connected with armor and the inhuman-like steel. Death is something without mercy, and human flesh contains that mercy." 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 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 Seventies, 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 the world; because others are superior due to this slight scar, Doom wants to elevate himself above them. Typical of Lee's writing characterization of Doom is his arrogance; his pride leads to 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, the Miracle Man, and Namor the Sub-Mariner, Doctor 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, starting in 1975, as well as appearances in Marvel Team-Up, beginning with issue #42 (February 1976). Doom's origin was also a feature in Astonishing Tales when his ties to the villain Mephisto were revealed.

1980s-1990s

1981 saw Marvel and DC Comics collaborate on another project. In 1976 the two companies had published Superman vs. the Amazing Spider-Man, and seeking to replicate that success the two companies again teamed the characters up, in Superman and Spider-Man. Marvel editor in chief Jim Shooter co-wrote the story alongside Marv Wolfman, and recalled choosing Doom based on his iconic status: "I figured I needed the heaviest-duty bad guy we had to offer — Doctor Doom. Their greatest hero against our greatest villain."

The same year saw John Byrne begin his six-year run writing and illustrating Fantastic Four in 1981, 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." Doom made his first appearance under Byrne's tenure with issue #236. Whereas Kirby had intimated that Doom's disfigurement was more a figment of Victor's vain personality, Byrne expressed that Doom's face was truly ravaged; only Doom's own robot slaves are allowed to see the monarch without his helmet. Byrne also emphasized other aspects of Doom's personality; despite his ruthless nature, Doom is a man of his word. However, some stories reveal he actually does not care about his devoted people of Latveria (though they think he does) or his henchmen; returning to Latveria after being temporarily deposed, Doom abandons a scheme to wrest mystical secrets from Doctor Strange in order to oversee his land's reconstruction. Though possessing a tempestuous temper, Doom also occasionally shows warmth and empathy to others; he tries to free his mother from Mephisto and treats Kristoff Vernard like his own son. Byrne also gave further detail regarding Doom's scarring; Byrne used the idea that the accident at Empire State University only left Doom with a small scar; when Doom puts on the armor forged for him when it had yet to cool, however, he truly damages his face.

After Byrne's departure Doctor Doom continued to be a major villain in Fantastic Four, and as the 1980s continued Doom appeared in other comics such as Punisher, The Spectacular Spider-Man, and Excalibur. Under Fantastic Four writer Steven Englehart, Doom became exiled from Latveria by his heir Kristoff, who was brainwashed into thinking he was Doom. Doom would spend most of his time in exile planning his return, but Englehart left the title before he could resolve the storyline. This storyline ultimately ended with the controversial Fantastic Four #350, where writer Walt Simonson had the Doom who had been seen in the book during the Englehart run being revealed to be a Doombot and the real Doom, in a newly redesigned armor, returning to claim his country from his usurper. Simonson's retcon stated that Doom's last real appearance was in the famous "Battle of Baxter Building" though with occasional trips back home, though Doom was shown to be unaware of certain major changes at the time to the Fantastic Four. An urban legend states that Simonson drew up a list of official stories which featured the real Doom and those which did not but this plotline was dropped and never mentioned again by later writers, who ignored Simonson's declaration as subterfuge Doom stated for the sake of blaming past failures on Doombots.

Modern depictions

In 2003, Doom was the sole villain in the Fantastic Four story arc "Unthinkable", in which Doom imprisons Franklin Richards in Hell and captures Valeria Richards and succeeds in catching the Fantastic Four. Writer Mark Waid sought to redefine Doom's character in a way that had not been seen before. In Waid's reinterpretation (very controversial for many fans), Doom hates Richards for knowing at his core he was right when Doom was wrong. Waid was also convinced that the "truism that Victor Von Doom is, despite his villainy, a noble man" (as suggested in both Lee's and Byrne's run) "is absolute crap. [...] A man [Doom] whose entire motivating force is jealousy is ridiculously petty, not grandly noble. Yes, Doom is regal, and yes, whenever possible, Doom likes to act as if he possesses great moral character, because to him that's what great men have... — but when I hear Doom say it 'does not suit him to' do this-and-such, what I hear is, 'it has nothing to do with my hatred for Reed Richards, so it's not worth my time.'" Waid also stated that Doom "would tear the head off a newborn baby and eat it like an apple while his mother watched if it would somehow prove he were smarter than Reed."

Waid punctuated this reinterpretation of Doom during his "Unthinkable" saga (Vol 2 #66-70 & Vol 1 (restart) #500) as an absolute sadist by having Von Doom ruthlessly murder Valeria, his first love and granddaughter to his long serving faithful retainer Boris. He subsequently attempted to prove his superiority to Reed by giving him the chance to find his way out of a prison that could only be escaped by mastering magic, in the belief that Reed would fail to do so, but with the aid of the astral projection of Doctor Strange Reed learned to master magic by accepting that he could not understand it. This fight resulted in Doom being trapped in Hell until the events of Ragnarok, Thor's hammer Mjolnir falling through dimensions and giving Doom a way out of Hell when it was lost after Thor's apparent 'death'.

In 2005 and 2006, Doom was featured in his own limited series, Books of Doom, a retelling of the origin story by Ed Brubaker. In an interview, Brubaker said the series was a way to elaborate on the earlier portions of Doom's life which had not been seen often in the comics. The series also set out to determine if Doom's path from troubled child to dictator was fated or Doom's own faults led to his corruption — in essence, a nature versus nurture question. Brubaker's version of Doom was heavily influenced by the original Lee/Kirby version; responding to a question if he would show Doom's face, Brubaker stated "following Kirby's example, I think it's better not to show it."

The Mighty Avengers invaded Latveria, Doom's nation, due to his involvement in creating a chemical bomb that would infect people with the symbiote (Although it was recently revealed that this attack was actually set up by Kristoff Vernard to put Doom out of the picture prior to Kristoff's future attempt at a coup). Due to Ultron's interference, the bomb was dropped on Manhattan, but the Mighty Avengers are able to stop the effects on the people. The Mighty Avengers proceed to invade Latveria. During the invasion, the Sentry, Iron Man, and Doom are sent to the past thanks to Doom’s time platform. Eventually, the trio breaks into the Baxter Building and make use of a confiscated time machine to return to the present era, the Sentry taking advantage of the fact he will soon be forgotten by the world to easily defeat the Thing. Doom transports himself to Morgana's castle to summon up a magical army and captures the Avengers, but they free themselves and he is arrested for terrorist crimes against humanity after a brief struggle that culminated with the Sentry tearing off Doom's mask.

During Dark Reign when Norman Osborn is in charge, Doom is released and sent back to Latveria. However, Morgana le Fay engages him in a magical battle, which he is losing until the Dark Avengers rescue him. He then magically rebuilds his kingdom.

The character is also featured in Siege storyline and is the lead antagonist in the five issue mini-series Doomwar written by Jonathan Maberry.

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 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.

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 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 sorcerous 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 realised the night before the women would die, only 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. Offered the chance to study in America, Doom choose to leave his homeland and his love, Valeria, behind. Once in America, Victor met fellow student and future nemesis Reed Richards, who was intended to be his roomate, but Doom disliked him and asked for another roomate. 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 Tibet 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 suceeded in taking over Latveria, taking an interest in the welfare of the Roma.

Powers and abilities

See also: Doctor Doom's devices

File:Doomcosmicpower.jpg

Doctor Doom steals the Silver Surfer's powers in Fantastic Four #57 (1966). Art by Jack Kirby.

Doctor Doom is a polymath scientific genius, depicted constructing numerous devices in order to defeat his foes or gain more power, including a time machine, a device to imbue people with superpowers, and numerous robots; Doom's calculating and strategic nature leads him to use "Doombots," exact mechanical replicas of the real Doctor Doom, for many missions, typically those where he fears defeat. Sometimes the Doombots even believe themselves to be Doctor Doom. The character has also used his scientific talents to steal or replicate the power of other beings such as the Silver Surfer, or in one case the Beyonder. Doctor Doom also possesses considerable mystical capabilities due to teachings from Tibetan monks, and tutoring from his lover Morgan Le Fey. He is capable of energy projection, creating protective shields, and summoning hordes of demonic creatures. The alien Ovoids taught Doom the process of psionically transferring his consciousness into another nearby being through a simple eye contact, as well as showing him other forms of technology which Doom uses to escape from incarcerations and to avoid getting killed, however if his concentration is broken it can transfer his mind back. Doom can exert technopathic control over certain machines, most notably, the Doombots. In addition, Doom has a remarkably strong will, as demonstrated in the graphic novel, Emperor Doom when he dared his prisoner, the mind controlling Purple Man, to attempt to control him and he successfully resists. Also, without his armor he proved himself to be a skilled bare-handed fighter, capable of killing someone and even a lion with a single hit.

Doom's armor augments his natural physical strength to superhuman levels and is highly resistant to harm, at one point even surviving heat levels equal to that of the sun. Doom's armor has been shown to hold its own against Iron Man's. In addition, the armor can generate a defensive force field and a lethal electric shock killing anyone who might come in contact with Doom. The armor is self-supporting, equipped with internal stores and recycling systems for air, food, water, and energy, allowing the wearer to survive lengthy periods of exposure underwater or in outer space.

As the absolute monarch of Latveria, Dr. Doom has diplomatic immunity and total control of the nation's natural and technological resources, as well as its manpower, economy, and military.

In Fantastic Four 566-569 Doctor Doom received a significant power upgrade. He was thrown back in time (perhaps about 50 million years) by the Marquis of Death. Doom then fought through time and space to get back to present to seek revenge on the Marquis of Death. Doom stated, as he killed the Marquis, he had rebuilt every molecule of his being and increased his power all to destroy the Marquis. In later issues this seems to have been ignored however, with writers treating Doctor Doom the way they have always before in terms of power (Although it may be that he had to expend his power to destroy the Marquis).

Doom is known for the frequent plot device wherein it is revealed the his actions were actually those of a "Doombot", one of Doom's many robot doubles, either working on his behalf or as a result of rogue artificial intelligence.

On many occasions, Doom's only real weakness has been shown to be his arrogance, Layla Miller once reflecting that Doom is incapable of accepting that he himself might be the reason for his failures. While his high opinion of himself is generally accurate, possessing sufficient resources to stand up to virtually every hero and villain in the Marvel Universe and walk away despite their greater powers, he is notably generally unable to accept when others may have a better understanding of a situation than he does- although he has been noted to have enough respect for heroes such as Reed Richards or the Thing to at least listen to their recommendations about threats that he himself has not encountered rather than dismiss them instantly-, and even when forced to team up with others to defeat a greater threat Doom has been shown to be willing to try and gain a personal advantage when the more expedient course of action would be to stick to the plan and try for greater rewards later, such as when he tried to steal the Infinity Gauntlet from Thanos during the heroes' initial assault against the Titan rather than adhere to Adam Warlock's plan of attack and attempt to acquire the Gauntlet later.

Doom adheres to a strict code of honor at all times, so much so that it is accepted by nearly every character in the Marvel Universe that he always keeps his word, no matter what the cost to himself or his plans may be. It is also understood that Doom will keep his exact word, which may or may not be beneficial to the person to whom he has given his promise. For example, Doom may swear that he will not harm an individual, but that only means he will not personally harm that person, it does not mean he will prevent others from harming that person. If someone saves his life, Doom will set aside any personal gain or goal in order to repay that debt. He once saved Captain America from drowning, despite the fact that Captain America had thwarted his plans many times in the past, because Captain America had earlier saved his life. On another occasion he thanked Spider-Man for saving him from terrorists attacking him in an airport by allowing him to leave despite Spider-Man subsequently insulting him. His code of honor also means that he will not attack a respected opponent who is weakened or at a severe disadvantage, as he regards any victory resulting from such circumstances as hollow and meaningless. He has even on several occasions battled opponents who were intent on killing the Fantastic Four, for no other reason than the fact that he does not want the ultimate defeat of the Fantastic Four to come from anyone's hands but his own.

Other versions

Main article: Alternative versions of Doctor Doom

Doctor Doom's status as one of the Fantastic Four's greatest villains has led to his appearance in many of Marvel's alternate universes and spinoffs, in which the character's history, circumstances and behavior vary from the mainstream setting.

In other media

Doctor Doom has been included in almost every media adaptation of the Fantastic Four franchise, including film, television, and computer and video games.

Television

• Dr. Doom's first animated appearance was in 1966 on the Sub-Mariner's segment of The Marvel Super Heroes.

• Doom subsequently appeared in several episodes of Hanna-Barbera's Fantastic Four series from 1967, where he was voiced by Joseph Sirola.

• In 1978, Dr. Doom appeared in two episodes of DePatie-Freleng Enterprises' The New Fantastic Four voiced by John Stephenson.

• Perhaps most significantly, Dr. Doom appeared in no less than six episodes of the 1981 Spider-Man series produced by Marvel Productions. Voiced by Ralph James (with heavy modulation akin to Darth Vader), the latter five episodes, written by Larry Parr, comprised a complete story arc, and four of them were at one point edited together into an animated feature. He was also the only villain other than Kingpin to appear in more than one episode.

• In The Fantastic Four (1994–1996), he was voiced by John Vernon and Neil Ross in season one and by Simon Templeman in season two. In "Mask of Doom," he captured the Fantastic Four and forced Mister Fantastic, Human Torch, and the Thing to go back in time and obtain an object for him. In "Silver Surfer and the Return of Galactus," he steals the Silver Surfer's powers and tries to steal Galactus' powers, only to be thwarted by the planet devourer himself. In "And a Blind Man Shall Lead Them," he struck at a powerless FF and had his hand crushed by the Thing. In "Nightmare in Green," he directed the Hulk to attack the team. In "Doomsday," he again acquired the Power Cosmic in the series finale. Once again, he tries to go after Galactus only to hit the barrier that prevents the Silver Surfer from leaving Earth.

• Simon Templeman reprised his role for guest appearances in two episodes of The Incredible Hulk (1996–1997), in which Doom held Washington, D.C. captive, only to be defeated by She-Hulk, whom he later attempted to claim revenge upon. With his appearance on this show, it can be assumed that Doom survived the fate he met on the Fantastic Four series, if both shows are to be considered within the same continuity.

• Tom Kane took over the character for a three-part guest spot in the final season of Spider-Man (1994–1998), reimagining Doom's role in the Secret Wars. In the third part of the episode, Doom turned part of the alien world he was on into "New Latveria" after overthrowing Doctor Octopus and renaming Octavia to New Latveria. However, he did not use his ruling powers to oppress, and allowed the aliens in his country to live in peace and harmony, protecting them from the other villains. He even kidnapped the Thing only to cure him of his deformity, turning him back to Ben Grimm, and healed his own face as an afterthought. With Ben's cooperation, he then stole the powers of the Beyonder, and with this newfound power, Doctor Doom sent the other villains back to Earth and almost killed the superheroes that Ben fought along with. However, the Thing turned Doom's weapon on him, and the powers of the Beyonder were returned to the mystic figure himself. Doom was then returned to Earth with no memory of these events (as well as, presumably, his scarred face), along with every other villain and superhero apart from Spider-Man.

• Doctor Doom is the most recurring antagonist in Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes voiced by Paul Dobson. In the pilot, "Doomsday", he is revealed to have diplomatic immunity as a head of state, which means the American police cannot place him under arrest. In one episode where in one of his experiments his mind gets put into Reed Richards, and vice versa, more is revealed about Doom's life and ruling attitude. Doom (with Richards' mind) is now considerably more polite and respectful of others. Reed also commands the Doombots to destroy themselves as "word of Doom is law", and releases the face mask. Though the viewer is not shown Doom's face, when Reed and Doom return to their proper bodies, Richards tells Doom that Doom's insecurity, in particular about his personal appearance, is his greatest adversary.

• Doctor Doom appears as the primary antagonist in the first season of The Super Hero Squad Show voiced by Charlie Adler. He is after the Infinity Sword and has enlisted a number of villains to help him obtain it.

• Doctor Doom will appear in the upcoming second season of the show Iron Man: Armored Adventures.

• Doctor Doom is confirmed to appear in The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes. He was already mentioned in "Breakout Part 1" when Iron Man talks to Pepper Potts saying "guess who I just ticked off this morning? Here's a hint: his name rhymes with "Boom". Lucia von Bardas had a cameo.

Parodies

• In the South Park episode "Krazy Kripples", Dr. Doom has a brief cameo as part of a version of the Legion of Doom led by Christopher Reeve which includes David Blaine, Saddam Hussein, Osama bin Laden, Professor Chaos, and General Disarray. He is also parodied as Professor Chaos.

• In the comic series Peter Porker, the Spectacular Spider-Ham, the title character's main villain is the would-be world conqueror Ducktor Doom, a duck parody of Doctor Doom.

• In the Duck Dodgers episode "Enemy Yours," the armor that Duck Dodgers wears as the Evil Lord Destructocon is similar to Doctor Doom's armor.

• In the animated series, The Venture Brothers, the character of Baron Underbheit is based on Doctor Doom.

• Julian McMahon voices Doctor Doom in the Robot Chicken episode "Monstourage." When he attacks the city, he attacks a hydrant that douses the Human Torch only to be bound by Mister Fantastic. When Vic Mackey kills Doctor Doom by shooting him in the eye, he claimed that Doctor Doom was resisting arrest.

• In World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Smackdown, the Cody Rhodes "undashing" character appears to be a tribute to Dr. Doom in both his look and mannerisms. Cody Rhodes dons a protective mask; and on occasion, Cody would wear a hood just like Dr. Doom.

Film

• Doctor Doom is the main antagonist from the unreleased film based on the Fantastic Four, which was produced by Roger Corman in 1994. In it, Doom (portrayed by Joseph Culp) was a college classmate of Reed Richards, who was nearly killed in an accident when both he and Reed try to capture the power of a comet called Colossus.
• Doctor Doom the main antagonist in the 2005 film Fantastic Four played by Julian McMahon. In the film Doctor Doom seems to be more based on his Ultimate counterpart.
• Doctor Doom returns as a villain in the sequel Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer with McMahon reprising the role.

Video games

Doctor Doom faces off against Magneto in the 1995 fighting game Marvel Super Heroes.

• Doctor Doom has appeared in several video games. He was the final boss in the 1989 computer game Spider-Man and Captain America in Doctor Doom's Revenge.

• He appeared as the main antagonist and second-to-last boss in Sega's 1991 Spider-Man arcade game.

• Later, he was featured as a boss character in the Capcom fighting game Marvel Super Heroes, who only became playable after the game was beaten once and a code was entered. He returned as a selectable character in Marvel vs. Capcom 2. He is particularly notorious for the so-called Strider/Doom trap in the latter game. He also appeared in Marvel Super Heroes: War of the Gems for the Super NES.

• He appeared in the game based upon the 2005 Fantastic 4 movie voiced by Julian McMahon.

• He is an exclusive character for the PSP version of Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects.

• He was confirmed to be a playable character in Marvel Nemesis 2: Fall of the Imperfects, until the game was canceled.

• In the special edition of Ultimate Spider-Man, the player will view concept art that shows the Beetle presenting the Sandman vial to Doctor Doom after Beetle has evaded Spider-Man.

• Doctor Doom is the primary antagonist of Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, voiced by Clive Revill. Spider-Woman and Black Panther have special dialogue with him. In the game, he attempts (and succeeds) in stealing the power of Odin. To do this, he forms a new Masters of Evil and makes a pact with Mephisto to obtain his Twilight Sword. It was mentioned that Doctor Doom corrupted Medusa when she was looking for the Ultimate Nullifier on Muir Island. While the players were obtaining the Muonic Inducer and the M'Kraan Crystal, Doctor Doom defeated every hero that tried to stop him and discovered that Odin's powers allowed him to corrupt the defeated heroes (such as Psylocke, Hulk, Cyclops, Professor X, Magneto, Beast, Gambit, Colossus, Emma Frost, and the Punisher, in the Doom's Day cutscene) into his dark superhero army, and then used it to corrupt Earth. It was also discovered that he can use the powers of Odin to create evil clones of superheroes out of nothingness resulting in the creations of Dark Captain America, Dark Spider-Man, Dark Iron Man, Dark Thor, and the Dark Fantastic Four and corrupted Colossus, Cyclops and Psylocke. At the end of the game, once Doom is defeated, Odin's powers are returned and he strikes Doom with a bolt of lightning, leaving only the villain's mask. Thor later states Doom is in the possession of Odin along with Loki (the reason as to which Odin is "occupied" as Thor put it.) Doom is a playable character downloadable for owners of the Xbox 360 version of the game. If the player uses Doctor Doom and challenges himself in the last level, the game takes a strange but interesting turn. The Doctor Doom that is fought is, in reality, a Doctor Doom from a future in which Ragnarök has occurred, and all the gods of Asgard are dead. Doctor Doom, in an attempt to remedy this, travels to the present to usurp the power of Odin, and in the process, forms the Masters of Evil. However, the Doom from the present notices the presence of Doombots uncontrolled by himself, suspecting Reed Richards or Tony Stark. It is only until he meets his future self that he realizes that it is necessary to defeat the future Doom to keep the world from being destroyed, even though he is not without reluctance of relinquishing command over the power of Odin. This gives a complex and positive vision about the character and shows his high sense of honor.

• Doctor Doom appears in the Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer video game voiced by Gideon Emery. He plays a bigger role in the game than in the film as after he acquires the Surfer's powers, he intends to use them to fight Galactus and save Earth (though he only does this so he can conquer it afterwards). Unlike the film, he builds a machine to strip Galactus of most of his cosmic power for himself, but the F4 use his machine against him to defeat him.

• A statue of Doctor Doom is seen in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2. When the player asks Thor on how Asgard is doing if one speaks to him after the Latverian mission, Thor mentions that he and Loki are still being punished by Odin. Though it is said Doom is dead. Doom is also mentioned as one of the villains who could control the nanite-infected humans, despite the fact he is considered deceased. A dossier on Doom can be found in Latveria.

• Doctor Doom appears in the Marvel Super Hero Squad video game voiced by Charlie Adler. Regular, Ultimate, and Professor versions of Doom appear.

• Doctor Doom appears as a playable character in Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds. He is one of the key characters in the game's plot, in which he joins forces with Albert Wesker (from Resident Evil) to unite the Marvel and Capcom worlds so he can conquer both. Paul Dobson reprises his role from World's Greatest Heroes.

• Doctor Doom will appear in the Marvel Super Hero Squad: The Infinity Gauntlet video game.

Toys

Action Figures

Doctor Doom appeared in the Marvel Secret Wars line of toys, in 1984, with cloak and tunic redesigned based on the comic book. The Secret Wars line of action figures came with a shield with interchangeable art inserts that changed when tilted from one side to the next. The Doctor Doom toy also included a pistol and a rifle. In addition to those accessories, there was also a Doom Cycle, a Doom Chopper, and a Doom Tower/Fortress released concurrently.

Doctor Doom with power driven weapons was part of the Marvel Superheroes line, released by Toy Biz in 1993. Toy Biz also released Dr. Doom with shooting arm action as part of the Fantastic Four collection in 1994. The same figure was released as part of the Marvel Universe line. A deluxe edition Dr Doom, ten inches tall, was released by Toy Biz in 1994. Also in that line were the Human Torch, Silver Surfer, War Machine, Mandarin, and Iron Man. Die-cast Metal Dr Doom appeared from Toy Biz in different versions and combinations in 1995. Toy Biz released Famous Covers Dr Doom in 1998, an 8-inch ulta poseable toy doll with cloth tunic and cape.

Toy Biz released Marvel Legends Dr Doom in Series II, and Series VIII in 2002 and 2004 respectively. Both versions included a castle rampart that could be used as a wall mounted display stand, and a comic book (a reprint of Fantastic Four #247, a classic John Byrne tale). There were versions released in Canada that had a variant gold bordered comic book and were labeled in French and English. There were different versions also released where the face under the removable mask was not horribly scarred, and one where the face was scarred all over. The Series VIII version was a Doombot, and was packaged with a reprint of a Spider-Man comic under the Marvel Age banner. The face under the mask of the Doombot was a robot face.

A Marvel Legends Icons Series Doctor Doom 12-inch figure was released in 2006.

Several versions of Doctor Doom have appeared in Marvel Heroclix from WizKids, including an Ultimate Dr Doom, Dr Doom in leather armor, Kristoff Vernard as Doom, Classic Doctor Doom, Doom 2099, and Secret Wars Dr Doom. There is a Doctor Doom in the Clobberin' Time set, and Dr Doom appeared as part of a Heroclix starter set with the four members of the Fantastic Four and two Doombots in 2008.

Dr. Doom has appeared as part of Marvel Comics Minimates sets, including a Secret Wars Doom, and a Doctor Doom with golden chalice. There is also a version of Doctor Doom with a pistol, and a Doctor Doom without a mask. The latest sets were released in 2009.

A Kubrick Doctor Doom from Medicom was a chase item in Series I in 2002.

There is a Mighty Muggs Dr Doom released in 2009. There is also a Bobble Head Dr Doom.

Doctor Doom is the Black King in a chess set released by Marvel toys.

Marvel Superhero Squad toys include Dr Doom, packaged in the first series with the Invisible Woman. The second wave of figures packaged Doctor Doom with Reptil and appeared in 2009. There was also a Battle for Doom's Castle package released with a third version of Doctor Doom. A fourth version of Doctor Doom was released from Hasbro with and Iron Man and The Mayor as a special edition at the San Diego International Comic Convention in 2010. The SDCC Doctor Doom was featured in a red robe, alligator slippers, and holding a mug of tea and a newspaper.

Several Doctor Doom action figures were released from Toy Biz for Marvel in conjunction with the first Fantastic Film in 2005. Those included Dr Doom with traffic Light and Mask, Two-Faced Dr Doom with light and sound rocket launcher, and Electric Power Dr Doom with lightning bolt blast. For the second movie tie-in (Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer), there was a Slashing Action Dr Doom released in 2007. In addition, there were two versions of Dr Doom that appeared as toys with the Burger King movie promotion. There is also a Marvel Studios 12-inch version of the movie Dr Doom, one with an unmasked face modeled after actor Julian McMahon, who plays Doctor Doom in both movies.

Two versions of Dr Doom appear in the Figure Factory series, a Doom with a hood and one without, released in 2005.

Marvel Selects Dr Doom, with Dr Doom sitting on a thone with flags and optional chalice hand and holster with gun was released in 2005 from Diamond Select Toys and Toy Biz.

Marvel Legends Showdown Dr Doom booster pack was part of assortment 2 released in 2005. It was part of a game that included playing cards, from Toy Biz International.

Marvel Legends Dr Doom was part of the build a figure collection, one of 8 figures needed to build Ronan the Accuser series, released by Hasbro in 2007. The Doctor Doom figure included the cape for Ronan.

Additional toys include Titanium series die-cast Doctor Doom, Micro Machines, released in 2006, has a brown platform that the figure stands on, appearing to be firing weapons from a gold and silver gauntlet. A Marvel Legends Titanium Doctor Doom stands on a round platform like the floor of a castle, and gestures as if daring fools to attack.

Doctor Doom is included in the tiny Handful of Heroes toys released in 2010. There are other smaller PVC versions of Doctor Doom, including one holding a chalice, one pointing to the sky, and a mini-manga type Dr Doom. Two of these were manufactured in Spain, possibly without license. There is also a rubber painted Dr Doom from Brazil.

Doctor Doom was also released under the Marvel Universe line as not a one, but a two-pack along with the Absorbing Man. His only accessory was a pistol. He also came with Secret Wars #10.

Vehicles

For vehicles, there is a Doctor Doom Hummer from Maisto, a Doctor Doom Corvette track car from Carrera in 2005, and an appropriate Doctor Doom Ambulance Ultimate Marvel die-cast collection car in 2002. An older version Dr Doom driver has Doctor Doom sticking his head out of the sunroof of a buggy-like plastic car. There is also a Buddy L Doctor Doom race car.

American hip hop artist Kool Keith released two albums, First Come, First Served and Dr. Dooom 2, under the alias "Dr. Dooom". Although the spelling is different, the influence comes from Dr. Doom.

The Acacia Strain used the title Dr. Doom on its 2008 album, Continent.

Dr. Doom is mentioned in the song "Super Villain" by Powerman 5000.

Cultural impact

In the book Superhero: The Secret Origin of a Genre, Peter Coogan writes that Doctor Doom's appearance was representative of a change in the portrayal of "mad scientists" to full-fledged villains, often with upgraded powers. Doom is also emblematic of a specific subset of supervillain, which comic book critic Peter Sanderson describes as a "megavillain". 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, and Darth Vader, also fit this description. Sanderson also found traces of William Shakespeare’s characters Richard III and Iago in Doctor Doom; all of them "are descended from the 'vice' figure of medieval drama", who address the audience in monologues detailing their thoughts and ambitions.

Described as "iconic", Doom is one of the most well-received supervillains of the Marvel universe, as well as one of the most recurring; in his constant battles with heroes and other villains, Doom has appeared more times than any other villain. The comics site Panels of Awesome ranked Doom as the number one villain in their listing of the top ten villains in comics; Wizard Magazine went a step further by declaring Doom the fourth greatest villain of all time.

Comic Book Resources ranks Doom as their fourth favorite Marvel character. Journalist Brent Ecenbarger cited him being able to "stand up against entities like Mephisto, the Beyonder, and Galactus and often come out on top", as well as the tragedy of any "other number of circumstances could have led to Doom being a savior, but as it is, instead he remains Marvel’s greatest villain." Fellow journalist Jason Stanhope called his "master[ing] of sorcery and technology an unusual combination", and also felt "his inner sense of nobility sets him apart from lesser villains, in a similar manner to Magneto." Doom has also been favorably regarded by those who wrote for the character; Stan Lee declared Doom his favorite villain, saying "[Doom] could come to the United States and he could do almost anything, and we could not arrest him because he has diplomatic immunity. Also, he wants to rule the world and if you think about it, wanting to rule the world is not a crime." Mark Waid echoed Lee's assessment of the character, stating that Doom "[has] got a great look, a great visual design [and] a dynamite origin."

A ride called Doctor Doom's Fearfall is located at Islands of Adventure in the Universal Orlando Resort.

External links

• Doctor Doom at the Marvel Universe Wiki
• Doctor Doom at the Comic Book Database