Born to poor Romas in the small European nation of Latveria, Victor Von Doom lost his mother to a soldier’s anger, and not long after lost his father to a king’s revenge. Alone, the young Victor discovered his mother’s trove of mystical artifacts and set himself on a path of darkness when he realized her spirit was subject to a demon she’d bargained with. His incredible scientific acumen won him a scholarship at America’s State University in New York, and he left his native country seeking knowledge with which to salve his wounded soul.
During his time in New York, Von Doom met another scientific prodigy, Reed Richards, and the two formed an immediate rivalry. When the Latverian student secretly experimented with a device of his own creation to bridge the gap between dimensions, only for it to literally blow up in his face, he found himself expelled, with only small scars on his face in return. Loathing his marred good looks and furious at fate’s fickle finger, Von Doom made his way to Tibet to allow his anger an outlet. There, he dominated a circle of monks and after learning their secrets directed them to forge him a suit of armor and an iron mask to hide his face from the world forever.
As Doctor Doom, he returned to Latveria, overthrew its monarch, and renamed its capital Doomstadt while further developing his command of science through robotics, weaponry, and even time travel. Secure in his rulership and with formidable forces at his command, Von Doom set out to conquer the globe, as well as rescue his mother’s soul, and prove himself superior to Reed Richards, the only man he’d ever met who might equal his own scientific genius.
Since his first suit of armor fashioned by Tibetan monks, Doctor Doom has continued to augment and accessorize his infamous accoutrements over the years. The titanium armor provides basic protection from attack and the elements, many times bolstered by a personal force field generator as well as other forms of shielding. On various occasions, the suit could also produce blasts of concussive force through its gauntlets, and allow the doctor the power of flight through a miniaturized propulsion system.
Doom’s unparalleled sophistication in robotics has allowed him to surround himself and the kingdom of Latveria with a multitude of cybernetic servants, including everything from near-mindless guards to autonomous robot duplicates of himself known as “Doombots.” These duplicates have become a mainstay of the doctor’s schemes, many times fooling his enemies into believing they dealt directly with Doom himself for long periods of time.
The doctor’s genius also extends to weaponry of all kinds and sizes, making Latveria one of the most heavily shielded nations on Earth. He has also conquered the problem of time travel through a “time-platform,” as well as the ability to cross into other planes of existence through the use of devices. Beyond his scientific operations, Doom also claims one of the most thorough libraries of magic spells and artifacts on the planet and the skill to use them to maximum effect. In fact, he has brought sorcery to a level that rivals or even exceeds his scientific knowledge.
Victor Von Doom’s ponderous ego spares little room for others in his heart, yet a chosen few have somehow been graced with his favor in his life, if not exactly what one would call true friendship.
A Latverian Roma named Boris promised his best friend, Doom’s father, to take care of young Victor as the elder Von Doom lay dying. Since that time, Boris has served the doctor loyally over the years, perhaps providing his master with a touchstone to his late parents. In return, Doom has always kept him close at hand, watching over him just as the old man watches over the doctor.
A young orphan called Kristoff was brought into Doom’s graces when his mother died in Doom’s presence. The doctor secured him in his castle and began to groom him as an heir, and at one point even imprinted the boy’s brain with his own memories. Kristoff then believed he was Doctor Doom and for a time treated his master as an imposter and usurper until his mind reverted to its natural state. Later, after being revived from a death-like stasis, Doom graciously allowed the young man to leave Latveria to attempt to live his own life.
When Sue Richards, the Fantastic Four’s Invisible Woman, entered into a dangerous labor to her pregnancy, Doom was approached to lend his advanced technology to aid in the unborn child’s delivery. As a reward for his services, he demanded he be allowed to name the child, and when the request was honored by Sue, Doom called the girl Valeria after a long-lost love from his younger days. A child genius, Valeria Richards so impressed the doctor he placed a spell on her to make her his familiar, and when he later constructed a new reality from shards of multiple universes, he refashioned Valeria as his own daughter.
The enemies of Doctor Doom could be said to include nearly everyone on the planet he dreams of ruling, but a special small number of them hold a cold spot in his icy heart as direct adversaries.
Chief among these persons stands Reed Richards, Mr. Fantastic. He and Doom took an instant dislike to each other from the moment they met as university students, and from there their rivalry and enmity increased exponentially. Richards opposes everything Doom may conceive of, and the doctor refuses to accept the Fantastic Four’s leader as a fellow genius, let alone an equal. Over the years they’ve clashed repeatedly in violent struggles as well as games of one-upmanship, though of course Richards sees it as stopping the growth of evil, and Doom views it as natural superiority rising to the top.
Though once allies for a short moment in time, Doctor Doom and Namor the Sub-Mariner represent monarchs of their respective corners of the world, and also two egos who find said world too small for both of them to exist side-by-side.
Doom also denies the scientific genius of Tony Stark, better known to the world as the Invincible Iron Man, a man who he has watched and competed against for years in combat, but also on the world stage of advanced technology in the realm of weaponry and armor.
BATTLEWORLD
When the multiverse finally perished in the final incursion between Earth-616 and Earth-1610, Doom used the power of the Beyonders to salvage the remains of several realities and build a patchwork planet named Battleworld, which was ruled under his iron fist, with the help of Stephen Strange, who was Battleworld's sheriff. Molecule Man continued empowering God Emperor Doom, and remained hidden in a chamber. During the early days of this planet, Doom encountered an alternate version of the Fantastic Four, one in which Reed Richards didn't exist. Their Sue Storm fell in love with Victor, and they had two children, Franklin and Valeria.
As eight years went by, Doom and Strange managed to twist the memories of their inhabitants, to the point they would no longer remember what had existed before Battleworld. Even though he was an omnipotent ruler, Victor ultimately felt he was failing his duty as a god, he thought he wasn't capable of properly inspiring his people, and even though Battleworld was the perfect world he wanted, he considered himself its only flaw.
The relative monotony of Doom's reign was interrupted with the discovery of an empty vessel in the domain known as Utopolis, a life raft that had been built by the survivors of Earth-1610, the villainous Maker and the Cabal. The vessel kept them in suspended animation for the eight years that passed, and had allowed them to survive the end of the multiverse and end up on Battleworld.
Sheriff Strange recognized the design of the raft, which was that of a similar vessel he had found three years earlier and had kept hidden in his Isle of Agamotto. When Strange investigated the vessel of his proprietary, he freed its occupants, the survivors of Earth-616, among which were Mr. Fantastic, Namor and Black Panther.
After being informed of the nature of Battleworld and its ruler, the survivors of Earth-616 helped Sheriff Strange confront the Maker and the Cabal, who had been finally pinned down by Battleworld's police force, the Thor Corps. Doom remained unwilling to take part in the conflict, until he saw Mr. Fantastic in the scene, which is when he immediately teleported to Utopolis, and stopped the fray, demanding the newcomers to recognize his authority. To prevent Doom from prejudicially acting upon the interlopers, Stephen used his magic to teleport them away. Following the disappearance of the Cabal and the heroes from Earth-616, Doom confronted Strange for disobeying him, and ultimately killed him after Stephen accused him of being afraid of Richards.
Doom later commanded Valeria and the department of science of Battleworld, the Foundation, to find the interlopers, pinning Strange's murder on them. Three weeks later, Battleworld was in disarray, with disorder having escalated into open rebellion in several domains, with somebody called "the Prophet" forming an army against Doom. The Prophet, who was later revealed to be none other than the Cabal's Maximus the Mad, and his army marched forward to Castle Doom. Some of Doom's allies started fighting against him, namely the Thor Corps, who had been convinced to fight against their god by the Thor survivor of Earth-616.
When he decided to step into the fight, Doom was confronted by Black Panther and Namor, with the former having acquired an Infinity Gauntlet from Sheriff Strange's sanctuary. After a battle that took them through the different planes of reality, Doom bested Black Panther, but he soon realized the fight was a distraction. He teleported to Molecule Man's chamber, which had been found by Mister Fantastic. The Molecule Man partially stripped Doom from his power in order to allow a fair fight. During the furious confrontation, Doom accused Richards of believing he could've done better had he had Doom's power, and when Reed conceded he did, so did Doom. On the grounds that both agreed, Molecule Man gave Doom's power to Reed, destroying Battleworld in the process.
With the power he had received from Molecule Man, and with help from his revived family, Mister Fantastic began to restore the Multiverse, including Earth-616. After accepting that Doom was going to eternally resent him, Reed decided to alter Victor's memories so he believed he was dead, on the hopes that Victor could become a better man if he no longer pursued ultimate power and believed his biggest rival was gone. In addition to altering Victor's memories, Reed cured him of his scars before returning him to Latveria.
