Doctor Doom is a fan favorite. He regularly jumps between playing an egomaniac supervillain to becoming the savior of the universe (while still carrying a gigantic ego). Either way, he still one of the most powerful beings in the Marvel Universe.
Doctor Doom Origins
In Books of Doom 2005, Victor Von Doom tells his origins to an interviewer and explains that he started from humble beginnings in a tribe within Latveria. His mother Cynthia Von Doom was a powerful witch who was captured by the demon Mephisto, and Victor Von Doom has spent every year since trying to win her back from the hellish realm without success.
After his Mother’s disappearance, he spends his adolescence mastering the art of sorcery pulling on the different tools left by his mother and he blends this with his knowledge of science, becoming a master of both worlds.
He goes on to attend Empire State University where he meets Reed Richard (Mr. Fantastic) and Ben Grimm (The Thing) for the first time. During his time at College, he attempts to create a machine that allows him to communicate to the dead and hopefully reach his mother. But despite not listening to Reed’s advice, Doom miscalculates some of the equations and the machine explodes, causing the accident that scars Victor’s face.
He leaves the college and ends up eventually living in a monastery at the top of a mountain where he learns the disciplines of martial arts, meditation, and other levels of mysticism.
It is through the unique blend of mastering both science and sorcery/mysticism that makes Doctor Doom such a powerful being. One that could even rival beings like Thanos and Galactus!
Doctor Doom’s Sorcery Skills
After training and mastering Sorcery from Morgan La Fey and a group of Tibetan monks. Doom can summon natural abilities such including the projection, absorption, and manipulation of energy. This allows him to create consistent force fields around himself, teleport, and occasionally manipulate the weather. He also uses psionic abilities to be able to project his consciousness inside other beings.
Doctor Dooms Intelligence
Doom is easily one of the most intelligent humans within the entire Marvel Universe. He has a genius-level IQ and was able to cure Ben Grimm’s appearance even when Reed Richards couldn’t. The only thing deadlier than his intelligence however is his hunger for more. Despite only being a mere mortal, during The Secret Wars storyline, we see Doom actually use his intellect to steal The Beyonders powers, allowing him to become God Emperor Doom and simply manifest any of his thoughts into reality.
Is Doctor Doom a Villain?
Despite him originally being written as a supervillain to rival The Fantastic Four, there are sides to Doom that make him more of an anti-hero than a villain. In Doomwar, we see that Doctor Doom has started a war against Black Panther and the Wakandans in order to break into their Vibranium Vault. However one of the protective mechanisms in place is to face Bast, the great panther god who is able to look inside your soul and source your deepest intentions. It’s only when Doom passes Bast’s test that it is revealed that in all the infinite possibilities of Earth’s future. There is only one version of Earth that is able to survive and flourish - A world lead by the rule of Doom (Doomworld).
In Infamous Iron Man, we see Victor Von Doom return to Earth after living like a god in the Secret Wars 2015. He explains to Dr. Amara Perera that he realizes that even as God, he wasn’t happy or fulfilled, and so the highest calling would be to serve and do good for the world by taking over the position of Iron Man.
Doctor Dooms Suit and Weapons
Similar to Iron Mans Suit, Doctor Doom’s tech armor gives him near invulnerability, super strength, flight and allows him to shoot force blasts from his gauntlet. He is also able to command an army of Doombots which enemies often mistake for the real Doom.
Related: How Did Spider-Man Get His Powers?