Doctor
Doom FAQ
Index of Questions
 ** General **
1. Why is Doctor Doom so powerful?
2. In what comics has Doctor Doom appeared?
3. Why does Doom hate Reed Richards so intensely?
4. Why does Doom hate the Thing?
5. What kind of person is Doom?
6. How badly scarred is Doom's face?
7. What do we know about Doom's armor?
8. What is Doctor Doom a Doctor of?
 ** Latveria and Personal Facts **
9. Why does Doom rule Latveria?
10. When has Doom not ruled Latveria?
11. Who was/is Kristoff?
12. Who is Boris?
13. Who is Valeria?
14. What happened to Cynthia Von Doom (Doctor Doom's
mother)?
15. Does Doom have any living relatives?
 **
Quantum Doom **
16. Why do the Fantastic Four claim to have Doom's time
machine?
17. What is the relationship between Doctor Doom and Kang?
18. Is anything known about Doom's future?
19. What's the time loop involved in the Marvel Secret Wars?
** Doom's Foes **
20. What super-villains has Doom used?
21. What super-villains has Doom created?
22. How many times has Doom possessed "the power cosmic"?
23. What was "Acts of Vengeance"?
** Doom's Own Titles **
24. What was Super-Villain Team-up about?
25. What was Doom 2099 about?
26. How did Doom end up in 2099?
27. What do we know about Doom's 2099 armor?
28. Has Doom starred in any other titles?
** Those Pesky Doombots **
29. How do Doombots work?
30. How can I distinguish a Doombot from the real Doctor
Doom?
31. Which appearances of Doctor Doom are not Doombots?
IMPORTANT NAMES AND DEFINITIONS
DOCTOR DOOM: Victor Von Doom was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby for
Marvel Comics and first appeared in Fantastic Four #5. Possessed of incredible
scientific and magical skills, Doom hides his scarred face under a metal mask
and wears a super-powered suit of armor. His primary motivations are (1): the
utter defeat of his arch-rival Reed Richards, (2) the rescue of his mother from
the clutches of Mephisto [completed in the graphic novel "Triumph and Torment"],
and (3) the conquest of the entire Earth, which he believes would be better off
under his rule.
REED RICHARDS: The leader of the Fantastic Four, and the only mind in the
Marvel Universe capable of equaling or surpassing that of Doom. Doom and Reed
are two sides of a coin, different but alike in many ways. Reed was granted a
super pliable body when his space craft was bombarded by cosmic rays (see
Fantastic Four #1).
CYNTHIA ELENA VON DOOM: The mother of Victor Von Doom, who sold her soul
to Mephisto in order to use her witchcraft to protect their gypsy tribe from
persecution, she died when Victor was still a baby. Mephisto cheated her and
held her soul captive in his realm for many years.
WERNER JOSEF VON DOOM: The father of Victor Von Doom, a gypsy healer of
some renown in the Zefiro tribe, whose talents were called upon by peasants and
nobles alike. He lost his life while protecting his young son from the
persecution of the Baron Draasen, after being unable to save the life of the
Baron's ailing wife.
LATVERIA: The tiny Balkan nation, located between Hungary and
Transylvania in a mountainous region physically separated from the rest of
Eastern Europe. It has been ruled by Doctor Doom for many years, although others
have temporarily usurped his reign. It is a simple yet prosperous nation, guided
by Doom's firm hand and benefited by his advanced technology. The natives of
Latveria treat Doctor Doom with a mixture of love, respect, and fear, and call
him "Master". Doom asks only that they be happy.
DOOMBOTS: To suit his own purposes, Doctor Doom has developed an entire
legion of robotic facsimiles of himself. These Doombots are often mistaken for
the true Doctor Doom as they even believe themselves to be Doctor Doom except in
the presence of another Doombot, or the real Doctor Doom.
THE FANTASTIC FOUR (also called the "FF"): A four-member rocket crew that
was exposed to cosmic rays and gained extraordinary powers as a result. Reed
Richards became the elastic Mr. Fantastic, his best friend and pilot Ben Grimm
became the rocky Thing, Reed's girlfriend and later wife Sue Storm became the
Invisible Woman, and Sue's younger brother Johnny Storm became the fiery Human
Torch. They banded together as a team and vowed to use their powers for the
benefit of mankind.
Answers to Questions
** General **
 1. Why is Doctor Doom so
powerful?
Doctor Doom is very possibly the most brilliant human being in the Marvel
Universe. He was created as the arch-villain for Reed Richards, who has been hailed as
the smartest man on Earth, yet Doom is more aggressively active with his genius
than is Reed. He has fashioned exotic devices that can do just about everything,
from time travel to space travel to instantaneous spatial displacement (like
beaming oneself from one place to another). His other great talent is the
ability to apparently plan for every conceivable contingency.
Doom is also a skilled sorcerer. Although he does not flaunt his mystic skills
very often (as he believes that science is of equal or greater importance), and
does not appear to be able to perform major rituals, he has been acknowledged as
powerful and quick. He learned everything known by a secret order of monks in
remote Tibet, to the point that he became their master, and he also studied for
a short time under Dr. Strange. Before those events however, Doom had access to
the possessions of his mother, who was herself a sorceress, and learned many of
her secrets when he was still a young boy. Doom also has a singular will, as
strong and determined as any mortal known. He could not be broken by the likes
of the Purple Man, Mephisto, or the Beyonder, and he also possesses the ability
to hide his thoughts from even the most skilled telepaths.
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2. In what comics has Doctor
Doom appeared?
Doom has appeared in many Marvel Comics over the past thirty plus years. Around
the time of the Acts of Vengeance in fact, Doom or his doubles the Doombots were
sighted in just about every major Marvel Comic published at the time. Check out
the Apperances page and see for yourself.
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3. Why does Doom hate Reed
Richards so intensely?
Victor Von Doom and Reed Richards first met back in their college days, at
Empire State University (ESU), located on 14th Street in New York City, although
back then it was just called "State" University. Doom was involved in a project
to create a machine that would allow his astral self to travel to Mephisto's
realm in order to locate his mother's spirit, trapped there since he was a baby.
Reed was snooping around and stumbled onto the equations Doom was using, and he
thought he saw an error. Doom caught him shuffling through his private work, and
refused to listen to him, kicking him out of the room. Doom went ahead with his
experiment and his machine exploded, scarring his face. Doom was expelled for
performing forbidden experiments. Doom has a particular weakness, which is his
tremendous ego and vanity. He partially blames Reed for the destruction of his
face. He was also in close competition with Reed throughout their time in school
together, each pushing the other to new scholastic heights. Since that time, in
order to prove himself better than Reed, he has tried to defeat the Fantastic
Four many times, yet those battles often end in a stalemate. While Doom feels
the need to overcome Reed Richards, he has also acknowledged that Reed may be
the only other man who could understand or appreciate his genius. Plus Reed is a
jerk.
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4. Why does Doom hate the Thing?
In Fantastic Four #40, Doom invaded the Baxter Building, then headquarters to
the Fantastic Four. Confident that he had prepared for all of the FF's powers,
he confronted Ben Grimm, the Thing. Grimm not only withstood Doom's assaults
(albeit with great difficulty), he actually dared to physically assault him, and
wounded Doom. Doom has never faced a personal attack so severe, and he has sworn
to destroy Grimm for that affront to his person.
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5. What kind of person is Doom?
One thing that you will quickly notice is that Doom can be both the protagonist
and the antagonist in the stories. This is because that while he has battled the
Fantastic Four and often seeks ways to increase his own power, he always
conducts himself with honor and grace. Never will Doom exploit or attack a
weakened or beaten foe, that kind of villainy is beneath him. Doom will not
tolerate insults or assaults made to his person or those under the protection of
his person. Doom honors his word fervently. Doom is fiercely independent to the
point of not asking for or accepting help in almost every instance. Doom is
usually of the philosophy that "The ends justifies the means." Any appearance of
Doom acting strangely out of character is, in all probability, actually an
appearance of a Doombot. See questions 29, 30, and 31 for more on Doombots.
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6. How badly scarred is Doom's face?
When Doom's college experiment to contact his mother's spirit failed, his face
suffered a relatively minor scar along one side. Doom felt that the scar was
completely disfiguring to the degree that he could not stand the sight of his
own face. After he traveled for some time and became the leader of the Tibetan
monks, they fashioned for him a suit of armor. Feeling that his face was already
scarred beyond repair, and in his impatience to begin his new crusade, Doom
placed the still-hot metal mask to his face. Whether or not that mask was
red-hot or just really really hot, remains a matter of debate (and revision in
the comics). Nevertheless, from that time forward his face has remained hidden.
Those who have seen Doom's face have all gasped, supposedly in horror at what
they have seen, yet Doom's face has never been revealed in a comic. All that we
see is the scarred tissue around his eyes through the eye slits of his metal
mask. There is wide speculation on whether Doom's face remains scarred, since
considering Doom's own advances in science he should have long ago been capable
of repairing his shattered countenance. However, it is quite likely that in his
obsessions, Doom no longer considers his face to be among his top priorities.
Indeed, it may be that the face of Doom, is literally and figuratively the mask
that we see! In the Autumn/Winter 1998 edition of the Jack Kirby Quarterly
(#11), a magazine devoted to the art and talent of Jack Kirby, Mr. Chris Harper
profiled the character of Doctor Doom. In the article, he states, "(Doom)
apparently cannot bear to look at his scarred face (after the lab explosion).
Stan Lee's scripts almost always play this dead straight, but Kirby - arguably
the creator of Doom - says otherwise. Doom's scarring, Jack claimed, was a small
scratch on his cheek, hardly noticeable and easily disguised . . . yet to Doom
it's an intolerable, unbearable defect on his otherwise handsome face." And in
an accompanying Jack Kirby drawing, Doom is shown removing his mask, and there
is only a small scar, barely noticeable, on Doom's right cheek. Another
supporting argument to this view was also seen in Doom 2099 # 25, where Doom's
nemesis, Margaretta Von Geisterstadt, makes a duplicate Doom from an unwilling
pawn, one Erik Czerny. In completing her programming of Czerny to believe he is
Doom, she cuts him along his cheek, declaring, "There. Just like the original."
Of course, there are any equal number of comic books which seem to point to
Doom's face being hideously scarred. So, again, it's up to the reader to decide.
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7. What do we know about Doom's
armor?
Doom's armor is packed with weaponry and defenses, most notably the energy
blasters in his gauntlets and his impenetrable force field, which has withstood
attacks from the likes of Thor. Unlike many armored villains, Doom could survive
perfectly well without his armor, even though he is almost never seen without
it. Besides his energy beams, Doom has incorporated various other weapons into
his armor over the years, some of which have been used a few times, and some of
which make only one appearance. The armor is also equipped with extraordinary
sensory equipment that allows Doom to analyze and study everything. Doom;s armor
is said to be able to lift approximately two tons. It is powered by a nuclear
energy pack.
Doom's first armor was forged by the monks in Tibet, although he has surely
remade it himself over the years. Doom has made several appearances in
Promethium armor, that he gained in Magik's realm of Limbo. There have been
minor improvements to the design and style of his armor over the years.
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8. What is Doctor Doom a Doctor of?
Well, I’ll be truthful. Doctor Doom is not really a Doctor. But, don’t get out
your malpractice forms yet. He was thrown out / quit college before he could get
his degree. Doctor Doom is easily smart enough to be called Doctor. As we have
seen in many cases, he is far superior in intellect than Dr. Reed Richards. He
helped Sue give birth to Valeria, and he has performed many other things that
only a true genius could perform. So I ask you, what’s in a name. Would a
maniacal genius by any other name be as cool? I don’t think so. Doctor Doom is
not a doctor in the literal sense, but if anyone deserves the title, it is Doom.
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** Latveria and Personal Facts **
9. Why does Doom rule
Latveria?
Doom is of gypsy lineage, whose home has always been in the region of Latveria.
Doom intended to reclaim Latveria, which was usurped from one of his ancestors
long ago, and use it as his base of operations once he returned from Tibet. Once
he was certain that he was indeed the rightful ruler of Latveria through his
blood lineage, he confronted the then ruler Prince Rudolfo and demanded that he
abdicate. Rudolfo refused and was then killed in the ensuing battle he ordered
against Doom.
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10. When has Doom not ruled
Latveria?
There have been two primary instances when Doom has not been the ruler of
Latveria. In Fantastic Four #200, after a long battle, the FF and a man named
Zorba deposed him. (Actually, Reed did in a battle that rendered Doom
catatonic). Zorba, who claimed lineage through Prince Rudolfo, became ruler of
Latveria and the FF left thinking that they had made everything wonderful.
However, Doom returns in FF #246 to reveal to them that Zorba has become a
despot and has been unable to sustain the country's prosperity under his rule.
While the FF run some interference for him, Doom returns to his castle and
eliminates Zorba, retaking Latveria.
Also, in Fantastic Four Annual #20, Doom's rule is apparently usurped by
Kristoff (this occurs after FF #305). Kristoff appeared to rule Latveria until
FF#350, when it is revealed that he had merely usurped an errant Doombot and had
done nothing to affect the true Doom in any way. For more on Kristoff, see
below. It is also noteworthy that in the year 2099, Latveria was ruled by Tiger
Wylde, a cybernetic tiger-man, until Doom returned to Latveria (from places
unknown), and reclaimed his country once more.
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11. Who was/is Kristoff?
Originally, Kristoff was a young boy that Doom took into his custody upon his
return to Latveria in FF # 247. Doom took the boy because his mother was killed
by Zorba's forces while she was under his protection. Kristoff was not much
older than Franklin, and he was schooled in Castle Doom under Doom's remarkably
gentle supervision. However, in FF # 278, Doombots enacted a contingency plan
after Doom's apparent death in FF # 260. They brainwash Kristoff to believe that
he was Doom to the extent that not even Reed Richards could later cure him.
Kristoff, always proclaiming himself to be the true Doom although everyone else
knew he was not, was held in the custody of the Fantastic Four for a short time
until he freed himself in FF Annual #20. Kristoff then "took" Latveria from a
Doombot and everyone assumed that he actually ruled it until the true Doom's
return to Latveria in FF # 350.
Kristoff clashed with the Doombot many times in several titles during his false
reign over Latveria. he believed the Doombot to be an imposter who had somehow
usurped his adult body and trapped him in the body of a child. Kristoff was
apparently killed by Justice Peace in FF # 352 when the real Doom sneakily put
Kristoff in his place after Doom's battle with Reed through the time stream in
that issue. Kristoff later appeared in regular issues of the FF, acting as a
regular member of that team, seemingly cured of his belief that he was the true
Doom, but still possessed of Doom's intellect and a powerful suit of armor that
made his childlike body appear more adult sized. Kristoff also appeared acting
like Doom in the ruins of Castle Doom in the MC2 future in A-Next # 5.
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12. Who is Boris?
Boris is the faithful servant of Doom. He has been by Doom's side since Victor
was a young boy, and was a friend of his family before Victor's parents died. He
may be the only person living for whom Doom cares, as demonstrated in FF # 247,
when he releases Boris from Zorba's dungeon. Boris generally does not do
anything but make arrangements for Doom and keep him company. In Doom 2099 # 1,
Doom refers to Boris as "the one man I called friend." Fortune, the gypsy
administrator that Doom employs in 2099, is the great- great- granddaughter of
Boris, although her parents are not known. Boris may be the grandfather (or
father, depending on who you ask) of Valeria.
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13. Who is Valeria?
There are two Valeria's. The first Valeria is significant because Doom as a
young man, was said to be in love with her. They grew up together in the gypsy
camps, but they grew apart over the course of Doom's quest for power. She serves
as the standard "past love" of Doom's tortured life. In the "Unthinkable"
storyline, Doom uses his love for Valeria as a bargining chip to gain dark
demonic supernatural powers. He then turns her skin into his new armor....which
has got to stink.
The second Valeria is, Valeria Von Doom. Valeria is Reed and Sue's second child.
Sue had trouble with the pregnancy, and Reed was away and could not help her.
Enter the good Doctor. Doom comes and saves the day. He delivers the baby
without complication, and does it much better then Reed ever could have. The
only favor he asked was that he be able to name the child.
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 14. What happened to Cynthia Von
Doom (Doctor Doom's mother)?
Cynthia Von Doom, mother of Victor, was a sorceress of
some degree of power. In order to become more powerful, she made a pact with the
demon Mephisto. Mephisto tempted her with promises of a homeland for her gypsy
people. Upon making her pact, however, her powers ran rampant, as Mephisto had
not granted her any control over them. She was soon killed by soldiers. Mephisto
claimed her soul after cheating her and kept her in his realm.
Every midsummer's night's eve, Doom would conduct a ritual in which he would
battle the minions of Mephisto's realm for the soul of his mother, and every
year he would fail. Finally, in a contest against Dr. Strange conducted by the
Vishanti (in the Triumph and Torment graphic novel), Doom was able to ask a boon
of Strange, whereupon Doom told him of his mother's trapped soul. Strange agreed
to help and returned to Latveria with Doom. They spent some weeks in training
before launching themselves into Mephisto's realm. Through a string of feints
and attacks, they were able to give Cynthia Von Doom's soul the chance to redeem
herself and pass beyond Mephisto's realm, although Doom did so with the apparent
loss of her love. A hurt, but successful Doom returned with Strange to Latveria,
where they amicably parted company.
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15. Does Doom have any living
relatives?
Both of Doom's parents are dead. Werner Von Doom, Doom's father, died while
fleeing from a noble. As a physician, Werner Von Doom was called upon to heal
the noble's ailing wife. Von Doom realized she would die, but did everything he
could to save her. The noble threatened to kill Von Doom if he did not heal her.
Knowing his treatment would fail, Von Doom fled with the young Doom into the
freezing, snow-covered mountains nearby. He died by freezing and exhaustion, and
young Doom was left in the care of his father's long time friend Boris.
Doom had no other relatives, thus he was the last Von Doom. In the limited
series Beauty and the Beast, there is a man named Alexander Flynn who claimed to
be Doom's son, but that claim has gone unproven. Doom's daughter Valeria is a
re-appearing character in Fantastic Four, but has not made an appearance as of
late.
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** Doom in Time **
16. Why do the Fantastic Four
claim to have Doom's time machine?
The reason they claim to have is they do have it. In the Fantastic Four's first
encounter with Doom, he held Sue hostage while he sent the other three back in
time to recover the Merlin Stones from Blackbeard the Pirate. The FF cheated
Doom and caused him to retreat. After that encounter, however, Reed Richards
revealed that he constructed a duplicate of Doom's time machine (because he was
too stupid to make one himself). Reed's time machine looks much like Doom's
machine, and has been referred to many times as "Dr. Doom's time machine." The
FF may have used Reed's time machine for the first time in FF # 152, although
they use Doom's time machine again in FF # 19. Reed's time machine remains one
of the most prominent pieces of equipment in his labs. It is worth noting that
in Fantastic Four # 271, Reed discovers that his father, Nathaniel Richards, may
have invented a time platform long before Doom did, but we don't believe that
crap. (This machine is the same kind of device as we learn in Marvel Two-In-One
#100 that travelling into the past always deposits one into an alternate
reality).
In the wake of Onslaught, while the FF were supposedly dead, the government
under the auspices of the evil Bastion, confiscated all of the advanced
technical equipment in the Fantastic Four's headquarters, prior to it being
occupied (and later blown up) by the Thunderbolts. Supposedly, Doom's time
platform was also among that equipment. Nevertheless, Doom has made very sparse
use of his time machine himself.
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 17. What is the relationship between
Doctor Doom and Kang?
In a very early meeting between Doctor Doom and Kang the Conqueror, the two
speculated that they may in some way be related. This has led to wide spread
speculation that Kang might be a time-divergent Doom, or one of Doom's
descendents. However, it has later been shown that there is NO relationship
between the two. Kang is a descendent of Nathaniel Richards through one of
Reed's brothers in an alternate timeline that Nathaniel brought from war to
peace. Bored with that peaceful existence, Kang used Nathaniel's time machine to
become Rama-Tut and do all of the other villainous things he has done over the
years.
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18. Is anything known about Doom's
future?
There are several alternate future timelines that have been told of Victor Von
Doom. The first, in Iron Man # 249 and # 250, Doom encounters a future version
of himself that has become more metal than man, and is weak and pathetic. Doom
destroys his future self, vowing never to become such a disgrace. It seems
unlikely that this future will even remotely come to pass.
In the year 2099, Doom appears as he is today. In the history of that book, Doom
mysteriously vanished at some point 50 to 100 years prior, and no one knows how
or why. In 2099, he retakes Latveria and rules it again, as well as other
nations of the 2099 universe including the United States!
Also, for reference sake, Doom's fate in the convoluted "Days of Future Past"
timeline is unknown (see past issues of the X- books). It has been revealed,
however, that the Sentinels controlling North America and viciously slaughtering
all mutants were developed by the technology of Reed Richards. Doom does appear
also in the alternate time future of the X-books "Age of Apocalypse". In AOA,
Victor Von Doom is seen with a scarred face, but no armor or mask, and uses his
technology to defend the European nations from Apocalypse.
In the MC2 title previously mentioned, A-Next, which is also an alternate Earth,
it is revealed that there was some war between Atlantis and Latveria, and in his
rage over some loss to his kingdom, Prince Namor and Doctor Doom fought an
horrific battle, that resulted in the destruction of Castle Doom. In the
aftermath of that war, Doctor Doom disappeared, and Namor sulked off to years of
self-imposed exile.
In Universe X Doom is in the land of dead super-heroes, but Universe X is yet to
be an accepted future.
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19. What's the time loop involved in
the Marvel Secret Wars?
In Secret Wars I, the very powerful Beyonder gathered heroes and villains and
put them on a planet he created called Battleworld, to fight it out, supposedly
so he could see which would prevail, good or evil. This occurs around the time
of FF # 265, while Doom was presumed dead just five issues earlier, and in fact,
his body was seen destroyed. Doom had used the Ovoid mind transfer technique to
transfer his mind into the body of one Norman McArthur, innocent bystander to
the battle between the Silver Surfer and Terrax the Terrible. Therefore, the
Beyonder was unable to locate Doom and so pulled him into the Secret War from
some point in the future, since he wanted Doom to participate in the Secret War.
During the Secret War, Doom fought and seemingly defeated The Beyonder, stealing
his godlike powers by using power stolen from Galactus and his own indomitable
will. The heroes and villains were returned to the Earth following the
conclusion of the Secret War, and The Beyonder later followed, curious about
these being. However when The Beyonder encountered Doom in the body of Norman
McArthur, he remembered his treatment at Doom's hands (even though Doom himself
did not remember the incident). The Beyonder threatened to destroy Doom until
Reed explained that in his time, Doom had not yet participated in the Beyonder's
"Secret War". Tricked into believing that he could not survive the destruction
of history, the Beyonder instead sent Doom on his way to the Secret War in FF #
288(which is a good thing for the Beyonder, bacause Doom would have punked him
down a second time). The FF and the Beyonder both departed before Doom returned
from the Secret War, in his own body, moments later.
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** Doom's Foes **
20. What super-villains has
Doom used?
Doom likes to triumph over others who arrogantly proclaim their power,
especially others who have battled the Fantastic Four. Over the years, and
particularly in Super-Villain Team-Up, Doctor Doom has used a number of other
villains to suit his own purposes. They include: The Fantastic Four, Namor, the
Red Skull, Magneto, the Purple Man, the Puppet Master, Dormammu, Ultron, the
Wrecker and the Wrecking Crew, the Absorbing Man, the Enchantress, the Molecule
Man, the Kingpin, Doctor Octopus, Terrax, Kang, Mr. Jip, and any others who mess
with Doom.
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21. What super-villains has Doom
created?
Besides the various other villains in encounters with
them, Doom has also created a few super-villains. Hundreds of robots and
androids have come out of his lab, and some have gone berserk, most notably the
Doomsman. Doom was also responsible for the creation of Darkoth (from Ben
Grimm's old friend Desmond Pitt), and Volcana and Titania (during the Secret
War). At one point, Doom healed and revitalized Terrax the Tamer to use against
the Fantastic Four. Doom's schemes were also responsible for Kristoff, who
battled many heroes before becoming a good guy later on. Most recently he
created Lancer, but she is not really a villain.
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22. How many times has Doom
possessed "the power cosmic"?
There have been several times when Doom has usurped the power of a cosmic being
and absorbed in into himself. The first time was in Fantastic Four # 57, when he
stole the power of the Silver Surfer. He was defeated only when he flew into the
barrier that kept the Surfer trapped on Earth, allowing the Surfer to regain his
power when Doom was repelled.
In Secret Wars # 10, Doom absorbs some of the power of Galactus, and then the
Beyonder, perhaps becoming more powerful than he has ever been at any other
time. He used the technology of Galactus' worldship to achieve that goal.
However, Doom lost his grip on reality and was finally defeated by Captain
America and the Beyonder. Finally, in Fantastic Four # 375, Doom absorbs the
power of the rogue Watcher, Aron, which he uses to battle the Fantastic Four.
Doom loses his power through a device that Reed creates to defeat him (lucky
shot).
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23. What was "Acts of Vengeance"?
Doom participated slightly in a crossover series of Marvel Comics call "Acts of
Vengeance", which, if nothing else, caused a lot of Doombots to appear in a lot
of Marvel titles. The basic premise was that the evil Norse God, Loki, had
developed a scheme to eliminate the do-gooders of Earth by having them fight
foes that they had never encountered before. Doom was supposedly one of the six
core villains recruited by Loki to serve this scheme. "Doom" appeared regularly
in the Avengers, Punisher, and Spectacular Spider-Man at this time, with cameos
in several other titles. However, the other core villains discovered that the
Doom with whom they had been dealing was merely a Doombot, and not Doctor Doom
at all. In the Fantastic Four, Doom uses a Doombot and an army of inept villains
to demonstrate the foolishness of the entire Acts of Vengeance.
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** Doom's Own Titles **
24. What was Super-Villain
Team-up about?
Super-Villain Team-up, or SVTU, was a comic book series that featured Doctor
Doom every month. It showed him as he sought to consolidate his power in
Latveria and expand it across the world, usually seeking to use other
super-powered individuals as his lackeys. He had a long-running and often
contentious alliance with Namor, the Sub-Mariner that began back in FF # 6, and
continued throughout the series, during which the two monarchs helped each other
achieve certain goals. The series had seventeen issues and two giant-sized
specials.
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 25. What was Doom 2099 about?
In one future timeline, Doom mysteriously disappeared somewhere between 50 to
100 years prior to 2099. When he returns in 2099, at the ruined remains of
Castle Doom, he cannot remember what has happened to him, other than the "time"
was later than he had anticipated. His face has also been restored, and he
appears to be a younger man than he remembers (during one memory episode, he
recalls being old, and sick). A confused Doom, with a severely underpowered
armor (as evidenced by his lack of any kind of force field), is easily
dispatched by the ruler of Latveria, a merciless cyborg named Tiger Wylde, and
left for dead. However, Doom is rescued by the remains of his gypsy people, and
gathers a small band of revolutionaries around him to rebuild his armor and
retake his country. He continues to broaden his power in the Marvel World of
2099, a kind of dystopian future where the super-heroes of our world are
unknown, and the real rulers are the CEO's of the Mega-corporations that control
business and congress. Doom eventually overthrows the government of the US, and
declares himself President of the USA! However, his reign is short lived as he
runs afoul of a super secret sect within the Mega-Corps that uses forbidden
technology to attack both the White House and Doom's own Latveria with tragic
results. Doom escapes however, and eventually exacts his revenge upon his foes.
After that, however, the series takes a turn for the worse, following the
untimely firing of Joey Cavalieri as EIC of the 2099 line, the walk-out of a
number of regular artists and writers, and the debacle that was 2099:World of
Tomorrow. Taken as a whole, this series was one of if not the best of the 2099
books, with beautifully detailed art by Pat Broderick, and solid storytelling
and top notch characterization by John Francis Moore and Warren Ellis. Doom 2099
lasted 44 regular issues, and Doom 2099 also appeared in some of the other 2099
titles and specials.
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26. How did Doom end up in the year
2099?
Full details on what exactly happened to Doom were never revealed. He returned
to Latveria in 2099 drained and powerless, raggedly standing upon the exact
location of the ruins of Castle Doom, in a city now called simply Antikva
Vilago, or "old village". His memory of what happened is completely gone,
although he does remember other details of his past such as his conflicts with
the Fantastic Four. Later on, he remembers the decline of the age of Heroes, and
he remembers killing Reed Richards. He also remembers growing old, and a tragedy
of some kind of war that isn't explained. It is explained that he had his memory
tampered with at some time, but whether or not he is the Doctor Doom is never
revealed.
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27. What do we know about Doom's
2099 armor?
Doom changed his armor style from the original old style, to a mostly silver
with a blue cape, to the "Presidential Armor" with a red cape and sometimes
silver vest, to a blue and gold trim with a green cape, and back to his old
style green cape and tunic at the end of his appearances in 2099: WoT! That's
more costume changes than he's done in his entire 30 year career in Marvel
Comics! However, the original 2099 armor (as appeared in Doom 2099 #1) was given
specs in the Marvel Handbook. We are told that he wears an adamantium-lanxide
body armor over cybermesh circuitry enabling tactile interface with nanotech
(microscopic, self-replicating machines injected into his bloodstream). The
nanites provide a bio-mechanical interface between Doom and his armor. The armor
and the nanotechnology were constructed at a remote PIXEL research facility he
later destroyed, with the help of Dr. Celia Quiñones. The armor has phasing
capabilities, gauntlet blasters, flight via an integral rocket pack, and various
special and personal weapons as yet unidentified. The armor weighs about 190
lbs., and is presumably as powerful in terms of physical strength augmentation
as his original (which provides super human speed, stamina, durability and
agility).
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28. Has Doom starred in any other
titles?
Yes, Doom was also one of the subjects of the comic Astonishing Tales from
issues one through eight, where he shared the title with Ka-Zar. He has also
supported issues of Marvel Super Heroes and Marvel Fanfare. He was the major
antagonist of the series The Fantastic Four Vs The X-men. He is the subject of
at least two graphic novels, including "Emperor Doom" and "Triumph and Torment".
In Emperor Doom, Doctor Doom takes control of the world by using the power of
the Purple Man. In this story, Doom makes the world incredibly prosperous,
peaceful, and just, but in the end gives it all up because ruling the world
without challenge was boring. In "Triumph and Torment", Dr.'s Strange and Doom
team up to seek the release of Doom's mother from the realm of the demon
Mephisto.
An interesting side note, is that after the story in Emperor Doom, it is quite
possible that Doom is not interested in immediately resuming control of the
world anytime soon. His recent pursuits seem to be along the lines of research,
exploration, and enhancement of his personal power. Contrary to some
speculation, Triumph and Torment has also probably occurred inside of current
continuity, as Dr. Strange letters column once said the story takes place
"fifteen minutes after Doom regains Latveria". Plus, there have been some
drastic changes to the character of Dr. Strange in his own title, making him to
be a very different person than he is in this graphic novel. Therefore, one of
Doom's primary motivating factors, that is the desire to free his mother's soul
from Mephisto's realm, has apparently been resolved. Doom has also just starred
in Heroes:Reborn Doomsday among other, and a Doom 3 issue mini-series(which is
one of his greatest stories of all time)
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** Doombots **
 29. How do Doombots work?
Doctor Doom is a renowned master of robotics, having designed and created
hundreds of robots and robot doubles of himself even while still a teen in
Latveria. Since becoming Doctor Doom, he has created legions of Doombots who
cannot be distinguished from his true self. Some Doombots can pass some of the
most sophisticated means of detection, while others seem to serve merely as
cannon fodder to keep the heroes at bay while the real Doctor Doom completes his
plans in safety. There are some that "think", and whose thoughts can be
psionically scanned. These Doombots believe themselves to actually "be" Doctor
Doom, except in the presence of other Doombots and the Master himself. Some
Doombots even have a face under their masks, and some may even be able to
duplicate Doom's aura. In Fantastic Four Annual # 20, a Doombot managed to
complete a mystic summoning ritual that brought Mephisto to Castle Doom. There
seems to be no limit to the degree to which a Doombot could imitate Doom.
In addition, there are at least two occasions where Doombots have developed an
artificial sentience of their own. The Doombot of FF Annual # 20 believed itself
to be Doom, even in the presence of other Doombots, and carried on an extensive
battle with Kristoff (who also believed himself to be Doom at the time). This
robot was eventually destroyed by the true Doctor Doom. Also, in issues # 2 - 5
of the latest Deathlok series, a Doombot becomes sentient, and eventually goes
so far as to declare it would attempt to survive in society before it was
destroyed by Ultron.
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30. How can I distinguish a
Doombot from the real Doctor Doom?
One possible answer to this it that the *true* Doctor Doom is all of those
appearances of Doom that you like, or that you feel are in true character, while
all those that you dislike or seem out of character, must then be Doombots.
Certainly if a Doom is destroyed by the hero of the comic without much effort
and far before the end of the book, then it must have been a Doombot, and hold
your breath for the real Doom to appear.
However, there are certain appearances that have been revealed to be Doombots
much later, some of which are clever explanations and others which appear to be
nothing more than blatant manipulations.
In Fantastic Four # 350, the man who presents himself as the true Victor Von
Doom implies that a majority of his appearances have been Doombots, while he has
been gallivanting about the time stream doing who knows what for the last 30
years!
Here are some general guidelines to help prove that you are dealing with the
true Doom and not an imitation, although there are bound to be exceptions to
these (see first rule above). You are most likely seeing the real Doom if (a)
Doom is using complex magic; (b) Doom is utilizing anything similar to the Ovoid
mind transfer process he learned way back in FF #10; (c) Doom undergoes a
genetic scan -- although he has cloned himself at least twice --; and lastly (d)
Doom is well written, in character, competent, and/or doing something that is
connected to his past that is not repetitive of something he's done before. More
on this in the next question.
It should also be noted that Doom has used the Ovoids' mind transfer process at
least three times that we know of. First, in FF # 10, he swapped bodies with
Reed Richards. Then, in FF # 260, he used the same process to escape imminent
death and swap bodies with Norman McArthur. The last time was in FF # 407 where
Doom switched his mind into that of the Tomorrow Man to escape Hyperstorm's
trap. The Ovoids are a race of aliens that have rarely been seen, although they
briefly appeared in the Sensational She-Hulk # 47 - 49, where She-Hulk was the
victim of the only other time the Ovoids' process had been used in comics. Doom
managed to learn of this skill when the Ovoids rescued him from floating in
outer space at the end of FF # 6.
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31. Which appearances of
Doctor Doom are not Doombots?
There are a number of instances where we can be fairly sure that the appearances
we see are the true Doctor Doom, and not a Doombot. Many of Doom's appearances
outside of his own titles and the Fantastic Four can be suspected to be a
Doombot (mostly because of reason (d) above). Within the Fantastic Four, it is
reasonable to assume the following:
All Doom appearances through FF # 60 are indeed the true Doctor Doom. Issue #
5 is the first appearance of Doctor Doom, but we know that he uses a Doombot for
the first time in one point in that issue. In Issue # 6, Doom begins his
longtime alliance/rivalry with Namor, which has been referred to in other
appearances of the true Doctor Doom. In FF #10, Doom uses the Ovoid mind
transfer process to swap bodies with Reed, so that is undoubtedly the true Doom.
Issue # 16 & 17 involve Doom in the microverse after he was sent there at the
end of issue # 10. Doom has a battle of wills with Reed in # 23, which ties into
the storylines of #'s 39, 40, and 43, which are proven to be the true Doom based
upon what he says upon his return in FF # 350 (which retcons a few things). The
storyline of 57 - 60 involves Doom getting his first taste of the power cosmic,
and is surely an appearance of the true Doom based upon his later actions.
Fantastic Four Annual # 2, continuing the origin of Doctor Doom, along with
Incredible Hulk # 155 and Marvel Super-Heroes # 20, are certainly the true
Doctor Doom.
Most likely FF # 196 - 200 and FF Annual # 15 involve the true Doom,
considering he cloned himself and was later rendered catatonic, later to be
revived when his body is stolen back to Latveria. Therefore, FF 246 and 247 must
also be the true Doom, as that involves Doom retaking Latveria from Zorba.
In FF # 258 - 260, Doom's body is destroyed, and in # 287 - 288, it is
restored by the Beyonder. These along with Doom in Secret Wars I (where he
gained the power of Galactus, was dissected by the Beyonder, and then gained the
Beyonder's power in turn) must be the true Doom.
Doom in FF # 350 and # 352 are the real Doom, as that appearance serves to
retcon a number of other appearances, and keeps in line with a number of other
known true appearances of Doom. In these issues, Doom returns after a long leave
of absences, and one might speculate that he was away exploring and seeking to
gain power as in cases of his appearances in Excalibur and the Infinity War.
Fantastic Four Volume 3: 25,31,32 and Doom 1-3 are the real Doom. Doom’s armor
is taken away, and placed on Reed Richards. Doom is transported to Doomworld
where he is naked, so this must be the true Doom.
All other appearances of Doctor Doom in the Fantastic Four cannot decisively be
proven to be the true Doom. It is worth noting that any Doom trying to reclaim
Latveria from Kristoff is probably a Doombot, as well as any appearance where
Doom explodes. All appearances of Doctor Doom in his own titles and graphic
novels are probably the true Doom as well, for purposes of those stories if
nothing else.
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This FAQ originally posted by Mickey McCarter, but updated to
current standards by yours truly, Ambassador Curt.
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