Alternative versions of Doctor Doom

Alternate versions of Doctor Doom
Publisher Marvel Comics
First appearance Fantastic Four #5 (July 1962)
Created by Stan Lee
Jack Kirby
See also Doctor Doom in other media

This is a list of alternative versions of Doctor Doom from Marvel Comics' Multiverse.

In mainstream comic continuity

Alternative universe depictions

1602

Main article: Marvel 1602

In Neil Gaiman's alternative-universe tale, Marvel 1602, Dr. Doom is "Count Otto von Doom", also known as "Otto the Handsome". A mastermind genius of physics and even genetics, Von Doom keeps the Four of the Fantastick imprisoned in his castle, continually tapping Richard Reed for knowledge. The Four eventually escape during an attack on Doom's castle by the other heroes of the time, which also leads to the scarring of his face.

Otto von Doom returns in 1602: The Fantastick Four, in which he plans to visit a city beyond the edge of the world, believing they have knowledge that could restore his face. He kidnaps William Shakespeare to record these events.

2099

Main article: Doom 2099

Doom (Victor Von Doom) is a Marvel Comics anti-hero featured in the Marvel 2099 comic book Doom 2099. The character is based on Doctor Doom, created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. The comic was written by John Francis Moore for its first two years and by Warren Ellis for its third.

Age of Apocalypse

Main article: Age of Apocalypse

In the Age of Apocalypse, Victor von Doom is an agent of the Human High Council and the Head of Security. His facial scar is the result of a mutant uprising in Latveria. Like his 616 counterpart, Von Doom remains a ruthless and ambitious man, though he does not express his counterpart's goal to rule the world.

The End

Cover for Fantastic Four: The End #1. Art by Alan Davis.

In Alan Davis' mini-series, Fantastic Four: The End, Dr. Doom appears as a four-armed cyborg with little of his humanity left. Doom breaks during the "mutant wars" and is now a killing machine, focused on the deaths of the Fantastic Four. He engages in final battle with the Four and is killed in an explosion when his powers react with those of Franklin and Valeria Richards. Doom is later revealed alive and conquers the Negative Zone after killing Annihilus and obtaining his power rod and immortality.

The Last Fantastic Four Story

Dr. Doom is seen trying to destroy the Adjudicator, however he and his robotic planes are shown to disintegrate and he is last seen cheering the Fantastic Four (even though he will find a way to destroy them). How he survived remains unknown.

House of M

Main article: House of M

In the recent House of M continuity, Doom is still the ruler of Latveria, but his mother is still alive, he is married to Valeria, and he has adopted Kristoff. Reed Richards's test flight still encounters cosmic radiation, but rather than empowering Reed, Sue and John Jameson, who went up instead of Johnny Storm, are killed by the cosmic radiation. Ben Grimm survives, but his intelligence appears to be reduced. This inspires Doom to create a Four of his own (The Fearsome Four), consisting of himself, the It (Grimm), the Invincible Woman (Valeria), and the Inhuman Torch (Kristoff). Due to Doom's arrogance and his brutality towards Grimm, the It betrays the team; Valeria and Kristoff are killed, his mother is kidnapped, and Doom is left broken, but preparing his revenge. He genetically mutates himself to study and advance technologies and mysticism to better himself to be perfect, and transforms his skin into liquid metal and can form weapons from his hands.

Mini-Marvels

Doctor Doom makes shortly cameos in Mini-Marvels. In the "Classic Mini Marvels" section, there's a short story about him in which he tries to read Marvel's comics. He can be seen in "Civil Guards" as one of the doctors that are experimenting with Spider-Man's body. The Avengers also have a photo of Doom in their house, as shown in "World War Hulk".

MC2

Main article: Fantastic Five

In the Fantastic Five series, Doom is revealed to be held captive by the Sub-Mariner for ten years, after the destruction of Atlantis. Doom manages to escape, and uses the same device he once employed to imbue Terrax with the Power Cosmic on his Doombots- unable to use it on himself as his human body would be destroyed from the strain-, and attempts to take over the world. Taking advantage of Doom's desire to prove himself superior, Reed Richards challenges Doom to a psychic duel, using a device that will send the loser's mind to the Crossroads of Infinity. The two are so evenly matched that both are sent to the Crossroads - although Namor notes that it is possible that Reed sacrificed himself to try to save Doom - leaving their bodies as empty shells, although Reed's teammates note that there is always a possibility that the two shall return so long as their bodies remain alive.

Iron Man

In an alternative future set in 2093, where a reborn King Arthur rules a renewed Camelot aided by Merlin, Doom and Iron Man are drawn to the future to oppose a plan to destroy most of Earth's population. While Iron Man confronts his descendant- wielding Excalibur in order to even the odds against his foe's upgraded armor- Doom meets his future double, who relies on technology to extend his lifespan and has allied with the future Iron Man in order to use his mobility to complete his plan. Doom rejects his future self by pointing out that he would never do such a thing, for even if he seeks power, he always watches the cost of it, and knows that nothing he seeks could be worth such an affront to his dignity. He then kills the older Doom.[1]

Marvel Zombies vs. The Army Of Darkness

In more of an anti-hero role, the Earth-2149 version of Doom is still ruler of Latveria. Doom has fortified his castle to defend against the superheroes and refuses help from Nick Fury, and takes in refugees for the purpose of repopulating the planet once the situation is resolved. To the disgust of his allies, it is revealed Doom has only chosen the hardiest breeding stock of the Latverian survivors, there are no elderly people or children.[2] He creates a makeshift portal that will allow escape into other dimensions, should the zombie plague doom the planet. Doom, and his "Doombot Ultron was evilly 'forced' to slay their 'allies', the mutant Dazzler and zombie Enchantress, that is, when a zombie prisoner, the Enchantress, infects her. He is later attacked and infected by the zombified Marvel superheroes, namely Reed Richards. Earlier, Doom is appalled and shocked by Richards' sudden decision to infect himself and his teammates. Shortly before he turns, a "dying" Doom heroically uses his portal to allow the refugees escape to another reality. Despite his defenses, a zombie super-army breaks through. With only himself and Ash Williams remaining, he reveals he has been infected by the virus, and cannot go through the portal himself. Though tempted to eat Ash, he resists, as he considers Ash to have allowed him revenge against Reed Richards, allowing the man to escape, even giving him the ability to choose one of many realities. As Ash escapes through it, Doom ultimately destroys the device, trapped with the zombies. Having witnessed Doom save the refugees by using his portal for their escape, the zombified Thing suddenly attacked Doom.

He is later seen in New York, as a zombie who attempts to devour Galactus before engaging in battle with the zombified superheroes. Meanwhile, Doom sent Ultron to help Machine Man and Jocasta in Marvel Zombies 3 in flashback. Ultimately, Zombie Doom was blasted apart by zombie Giant Man, "killing" him. Shocked, Ultron teleported himself away from the dimension. [3]

Amalgam Comics

In the Amalgam Comics community, Dr. Doom was combined with DC's Doomsday to create Dr. Doomsday.

Mutant X

In the Mutant X universe, Doom is a superhero and leader of his own super-team.

Earth-X

In the dystopian future of Earth-X, Doctor Doom has killed the Invisible Woman and the Human Torch, but died in the process. Reed Richards took his place as ruler of Latveria and also wears his armor.

Old Man Logan

In the alternative Wolverine centric future where the supervillains of the Marvel universe finally won and divided America up amongst themselves. Doom has his own area of land called New Latveria. He is seen for only a few panels dressed in all grey standing atop a cliff watching a now old Logan and Hawkeye driving the spider buggy built by the Human Torch. It is believed that Clyde Wyncham has taken on the role of Doom.[4]

The Avengers: United They Stand

Doctor Doom appeared in #4 of the spin-off comic from the TV series, where he attempted to execute the Avengers and Black Knight.

Combat Colin

Doctor Doom made a, presumably non-canon, appearance in Marvel UK's Combat Colin strip. A superheroes convention is attacked by the robotic Steamroller Man. After Combat Colin and his sidekick Semi-Automatic Steve defeats the robot, its controller is revealed to be Doctor Doom, who explains that after years of being defeated by American superheroes he thought (wrongly) he could stand a chance against some incompetent Brits. The final panel shows Doom back in his lair, surrounded by newspaper cuttings detailing his past defeats and wondering how he would do in a fight with Thomas the Tank Engine.[5]

Ultimate Marvel

Ultimate Doctor Doom

In the Ultimate Marvel universe, Doctor Doom is Victor van Damme, a direct descendant of Vlad Tepes Dracula. Victor is introduced as part of the Baxter Building, a government think-tank of young geniuses, which counts among its students Reed Richards and Susan Storm. He works to help Reed Richards develop a teleporter to the "N-Zone," but reprograms its coordinates without telling anyone. This causes the accident that gave the Ultimate Fantastic Four their powers, though Victor maintains that the original Richards programming was so bad that even he couldn't fix it, and that it was this that led to the accident. Van Damme is caught in the same accident, and his flesh was changed into a metallic hide (with a somewhat reduced ability to perceive tactile sensations and pain), clawed hands, his legs transmogrified into demonic goat-hooved legs, and he re-appeared on Earth in Copenhagen. Initially, he assumes that he himself was the only one who had been transformed by the accident. Reed speculates this to be the result of Doom's own arrogance causing him to assume that only he was 'worthy' of such a transformation. Doom denounces Reed as a 'freak' during their initial confrontation when he finally learns what Reed's powers are.

For a time, he is the charismatic leader of a small micronation called "Free State", "Freezone", or "The Keep", a Permanent Autonomous Zone located in Copenhagen, Denmark, where citizens lived without rent in a shanty town under squatter's rights, and were given free comforts and necessities in exchange for loyalty to Van Damme. There, a dragon tattoo was given to new settlers, incorporating microfibers that interfaced with the brain and acting as a mind control device. However, the Fantastic Four eventually freed them from Doom's control during their first battle, and all subsequently left, although they were unable to imprison Doom due to his diplomatic immunity as a result of his citizenship.

During the Namor fiasco, the mother of Sue and Johnny Storm returned to New York. After the adventure, it was revealed that she possesses a similar dragon tattoo.

After the collapse of the Keep, Van Damme returned to Latveria, and in six months turned the country around. Latveria went from being a Third World nation to the ninth-richest country in the world. While seemingly happy, the citizens of Latveria are bearers of Doom's Dragon tattoos. He is revered by the citizens, who refer to him as "the good doctor".

In the same story arc, he switches bodies with Reed Richards in order to gain a life he felt was rightfully his, though leaving Reed with the wealth and control of Latveria; in his own form of honor, he felt this made him better than Reed, who he blamed for sullying his reputation with his claims that Doom's calculations were the ones at fault. This turned out to be part of his scheme to gain recognition by doing what Reed couldn't do — specifically, saving Johnny Storm's life from an alien parasite that he himself had summoned. Reed, having studied Doom's magical texts, returns to New York to battle the concurrent threat of the zombie Fantastic Four from an alternative universe, and absorbs the parasite, but it attempts to possess his mind. Reed defeats the zombie Fantastic Four and is willing to lose himself in the dimensions to erase the zombie threat, but Doom switches their bodies back and does so himself. His last request is to be remembered as the one who saved the world. However this was not granted.

He has since reappeared in issue six of Ultimate Power, a crossover between the "Ultimate Universe" and the universe of the revamped Squadron Supreme, seemingly intent on taking over the Supremeverse. In issue eight it is revealed to be simply a Doombot (the first seen in the Ultimate Marvel continuity). The real Dr. Doom is later seen in Ultimates 3 as the one controlling Ultron. Yet it was never explained how he escaped the zombie universe alive. It is noted however, that, starting in Frightful and through his "Ultimate Power" and "Ultimates 3" appearances, his 'goat legs' are not present and he resembles his regular 616 counterpart. As to why his former look has been abandoned is yet to be revealed.

The Thing supposedly killed Victor in his Latverian home as retribution for Doom's causing the events of Ultimatum, however in Ultimate FF #5 he revealed that while in the zombie universe he had Sue and Johnny Storm's mother in disguise ruling in his absence. This was who The Thing unknowingly killed .

Interestingly, the Ultimate version of Reed Richards appears to for all intents and purposes have taken over the role of Doctor Doom - down to his facial scarring. This may have been done to show how similar the two really are.

More recently, the Parliament of Doom (an organization constituted by numerous Doctor Dooms of alternative universes lead by the Victor von Doom of Earth-616) fought the Fantastic Four in an alternative past of Earth-616, being one of the Doctor Dooms present very similar to Ultimate Doctor Doom, with features such as goat-hooved legs. It is yet unknown if that Doctor Doom is in fact from the Ultimate Universe or an alternative version of that reality.[6]

Following the events of Cataclysm, Phil Coulson and Danny Ketch reveal that the real Victor (who once again has his goat-hooved legs) was being held captive by S.H.I.E.L.D. before it disbanded. He is released and forced to join the Future Foundation alongside Invisible Woman, Falcon, and Tony Stark.[7] In subsequent issues, Victor reveals that the "Doom" who was killed by the Thing was actual Mary Storm posing as him.

When the time-displaced young X-Men are transferred into the Ultimate Marvel universe by accident, Doom captures and brainwashes the younger Beast to serve him, requiring the displaced X-Men to join forces with the new Ultimate Spider-Man and the Ultimate Marvel X-Men to rescue him.

Later on, it is revealed that Doom has teamed up with Hydra to "save" the world from corrupt governments. He captures Miles Morales and Jessica Drew, hoping to exploit their DNA to create an army of super soldiers. The All-New Ultimates come to rescue him, but Miles escapes with a power he wasn't aware he had, defeating Doctor Doom and all of Hydra single-handedly, before the sky turns red and the image of another Earth appears in the sky.[8]

Powers and abilities

Ultimate Doom is a scientific genius, though unlike Richards he approaches science as an art rather than as a system. While the Fantastic Four's powers are compared to the four classical Greek elements, Doom has attained the power of one of the additional Chinese elements, metal - his body is almost completely solid metal, possessing no discrete internal organs, somewhat similar to Colossus (though Doom cannot switch back to a flesh-and-blood form). In his first post-transformation encounter with the Fantastic Four, he expelled the remains of his internal organs as a poisonous gas. He can grow and fling porcupine-like volleys of metal spikes from his forearms, and also possesses a regenerative power, but he cannot heal any wound caused by his own body. Thus, the scar Reed made on Doom's face remains, because it was done with one of his own spikes. Doom exhibits super strength as well, as he is able to break the arms off the zombie version of Ben Grimm.[9] The creature Doom summoned selected his body as the most powerful it could find, passing up Thor and Thing.

The Ultimate Universe's Doom is also an accomplished sorcerer. Richards discovers that Johnny did not get the life form inside him from the Negative Zone. Rather, Victor "summoned" the creature inside Johnny. Later, Doom used sorcery to exchange minds with Richards. He proved powerful enough to fight with the Zombie Galacti and survive.[9]

Originally, in Ultimate Marvel Team-Up, Doom (visually identical to his normal Marvel self) was presented as President and "his holiness" of a theocratical Latveria. The country was said to be impoverished and starving, and Doom had declared a holy war (though without any open conflict) on the United States.[10][11] This would be ignored and retconned away in later Ultimate Marvel titles.

Warlock

On the original Counter Earth, Victor Von Doom is a genius, but not a villain. He appears in the original Warlock series. Von Doom's armor is now represented only by the metallic mask and the green hood/cape is gone. He is referred to as "the most famous egghead in the country",[12] the "like spirit-brother"[13] of Reed Richards, and "a man as dedicated to counter-Earth's survival as Earth's Von Doom is to its enslavement".[14]

He and Reed Richards are mentioned in passing in Marvel Premiere #2 and Adam Warlock #2 as scientists without any sort of super-powers. In Adam Warlock #6, it is told how Von Doom and Richards had been room-mates, friends and lab partners in college. After Von Doom's disfiguring accident, Richards emotional support prevented him from becoming a villain. When Richards and his three companions hijacked a spaceship in order to be the first humans in space, Von Doom unsuccessfully attempted to talk him out of it. Though all of the counter "fantastic four" were exposed to cosmic radiation, it was only Richards that was affected due to the interference of Man-Beast though the effects only became apparent ten years later when he became the Brute due to "latent cosmic radiation - and a mysterious guiding hand".

In Adam Warlock #5-7, Victor Von Doom worked at the Livermore Valley Lab in California where he works on "Earth-Corer-1", a vehicle designed to tunnel into the Earth. He warned the president of a massive earthquake that would be caused by a nuclear bomb test. The resulting earthquake accidentally activated "Antipersonnel missiles, nicknamed deathbirds" [12] which began killing people indiscriminately, but Von Doom was able to destroy them with Adam Warlocks help using one of his inventions called the "deactivator". He dies while helping Adam Warlock stop the Brute from absorbing all of counter-Earth's geothermal energy.

What If?

In What If Doctor Doom had become a Hero?, Victor heeds Reed Richards warnings that his machine to contact his mother is dangerous, and with Reed's help corrects the device's faults and learns of his mother's plight in Hell. As in the real world he seeks the hidden sect of monks, but now becomes a force for good known simply as Doom. He frees his mother from Hell, by magic and then liberates Latveria from Count Ruffalo, marrying his beloved Valeria shortly afterwards. However, the evil demon Mephisto, enraged at losing the soul of Doom's mother, traps the monarch's entire nation in a glass ball, saying he will free them if to replace his mother's soul, Doom chooses to give either Valeria's or his own. Doom agonises over this choice, but his ambition and pride are still stronger than his love and he chooses Valeria. Though still a force for good in the years to come, Doom spends each Midsummer's Eve (as he did for his mother's soul in the regular universe) battling demons in exchange for Valeria's soul.[15]

In What If Doctor Doom Were Sorcerer Supreme? A young Victor Von Doom does not stay with the hidden sect of monks in the Himalayas but continues on to find the Ancient One. The Ancient One immediately sees Doom's vast potential and hopes that by taking him on as a student he can teach Doom humility and channel his talent away from evil. Doom's fellow student, Mordo, is threatened by Doom's vastly superior talent and plans to kill off the competition. Doom easily turns the table on Mordo and plants a small bomb in his skull as insurance against further treachery. The Ancient One fears that Doom is growing into a dangerous power and so decides to conclude their relationship by taking Doom to the Mephisto's realm to rescue Doom's mother. Later Doom dies and transfers his memories into Doctor Strange (in this universe he is only a surgeon).[16]

In What if Doctor Doom had Become the Thing?, Recounting his college days, Doom again listens to Reed when he tells him of the flaw in his machine and becomes Reed's friend after this, but in this reality he is simply using Reed to further his own goals. During the construction of Reed's rocket, Doom notices the flaw in the shielding, but tells no-one, instead creating armor to protect himself. However, the armor actually absorbs and amplifies the cosmic rays, turning Doom into the Thing. Donning a cloth covering and the mask of his armor, he tries to kill Reed, believing him to be at fault. During the fight, Doom causes Ben Grimm (who never became Reed's test pilot and joined the army to assist in the Gamma Bomb Project, preventing Rick Jones from entering the test site) to be outside during the gamma bomb malfunctioning. The ensuing radiation exposure turns Ben into a hulk-like being who, calling himself "Grimm", beats back Doom, forcing him to flee.[17]

In What If: Secret Wars, Doom is made aware of the Beyonder's survival by the Enchantress and kills him. He returns to Earth and defeats various threats to his power such as the Inhumans, Eternals and the remaining superheroes, with Tony Stark and Dr. Strange being the last opponents. He establishes a "paradise" on Earth by eliminating global warming, poverty, war and providing a device for unlimited energy. Next, he deals with cosmic threats and defeats the united forces of the Skrull, Kree, Shi'ar, Technarchy, Badoon and Brood. While in space, he obtains the Infinity Gems by defeating the Elders of the Universe. He uses them to release his mother's soul from Mephisto's captivity. Eventually, he comes in conflict with the Celestials, but defeats them after a 407-year-long battle. Earth has suffered from the conflict and Doom uses his remaining power to restore it. He rejoins humanity to aid and guide them to become a powerful force, introducing himself as simply "Victor" rather than Doom.[18]

In What If: Iron Man: Demon in an Armor, Tony Stark is Doom's college roommate rather than Reed Richards, inspiring Doom to develop a machine that allows him to transfer his mind into Stark's body while leaving Stark trapped in his body with no memory of his past. While Doom uses Stark's connections and company to establish himself, the amnesic Stark- believing himself to be Doom- works to rebuild his life, creating his own company and forming his own reputation from the ground up. This culminates in a confrontation between the two wearing early versions of their respective armours- Doom having developed a green-and-silver Iron Man armour while Stark has created Doom's costume with gold and a red cloak-, during which Doom reveals the truth about their switch, only for Stark to reject the offer to switch back because Doom has destroyed the name of Tony Stark while Doctor von Doom has developed an honourable reputation.

Earth-111

In this reality, visited by Ben Grimm while attempting to recover the coordinates of the Ultimate Nullifer, divided between the subconscious minds of four alternative Johnny Storms, Doom was the leader of the 'Challengers of Doom' consisting of himself, Reed Richard, Sue Storm, and the Hulk-, with Latveria having been destroyed in an unspecified past disaster and Doom relocating to New York to become a hero.[19] When Galactus came to Earth and landed in Russia, Doom dismissed it as a hoax, prompting Grimm to note that this Doom was more arrogant than the version he knew as the Doom of Earth-616 was at least willing to listen to even his enemies if the situation was serious enough rather than dismiss their views as automatically irrelevant.[20]

Earth-1191

Unlike most Dooms this version is portrayed as an old, senile man with delusions of retaining his old authority and physique- seen by Layla Miller as a natural 'evolution' of Doom's inability to accept that he might be the reason for his failures-, although with periods of lucidity in which, while physically decrepit, he is still as smart and devious (and in turn, dangerous) as ever. Currently he's been taken in by Layla Miller and Madrox who hope that he can aid them in traveling back to their present.[21] After finding and reactivating a time machine provided by the future X-Men, Doom, while in another lucid moment, betrays them, ordering the time travelling "Cortex" to use his abilities to "Destroy all the mutants".[22] Doom also is able to take control of the heavily cyberized Cyclops though his cybernetic implants, forcing Cyclops' daughter Ruby to take him down. After this battle, Doom vanishes.[23]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Iron Man #250
  2. ↑ Marvel Zombies vs. The Army of Darkness #4
  3. ↑ Marvel Zombies #1 - 5(2003)
  4. ↑ http://marvel.com/catalog/?id=12981
  5. ↑ Transformers UK #270-271
  6. ↑ Fraction, Matt (w). "Nativity" Fantastic Four v4, 9 (June 2013), Marvel Comics
  7. ↑ Ultimate FF #1
  8. ↑ Miles Morales: Ultimate Spider-Man #12
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Ultimate Fantastic Four #30-31
  10. ↑ Ultimate Marvel Team-Up #4
  11. ↑ Ultimate Marvel Team-Up #14
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Adam Warlock #5
  13. ↑ Adam Warlock #6
  14. ↑ Adam Warlock #7
  15. ↑ What If Vol 1 #22
  16. ↑ What If Vol 2 #52
  17. ↑ What If Doctor Doom Had Become the Thing? #1
  18. ↑ What If: Secret Wars #1
  19. ↑ Fantastic Four vol. 2 #47
  20. ↑ Fantastic Four vol. 2 #48
  21. ↑ X-Factor #47
  22. ↑ X-Factor #49
  23. ↑ X-Factor #50

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