Doctor Doom

Victor von Doom is a fictional character that appears in publications published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in Fantastic Four #5 (July 1962). A recurring supervillain, he is the archenemy of the Fantastic Four and also the leader of the nation of Latveria. Doom is both a genius inventor and a sorcerer, and has fought numerous other superheroes in his various plots for power and/or revenge over the years. A frequent plot device is to reveal at a story's end that the heroes were actually fighting one of Doom's many robot doubles, either working on his behalf, or a Doombot gone rogue impersonating him.

The character of Doctor Doom has featured in other Marvel-endorsed products such as feature films; video games; television series and merchandise such as action figures and trading cards.

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."

Due to the rush to publish, the character was not given a full origin story in his debut Lee established Doom's origins as the son of gypsies, born decades ago in Latveria when it was ruled by an unnamed nobleman called the Baron. Doom's mother was a witch, a fact his father tried to hide from the young boy; when his father is killed by the Baron's men unjustly, Doom discovers his mother's occult instruments and swears revenge on the Baron. Doom grows into a headstrong and brilliant man, who attracts the attention of the dean of Empire State University. Expelled after the accident, Doom travels the world, eventually being found by a clan of monks in Tibet. Mastering the monks' disciplines, he becomes their master and forges himself a suit of armor, complete with a mask that can only be removed by him. Doom then returns to menace those he feels are responsible for his accident — including Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four.