The Fantastic Four are one of the greatest superhero teams ever. Dubbed Marvel’s First Family, they paved the way for Marvel Comics. The success of the Fantastic Four comics allowed Marvel to continue expanding its universe and create many characters we all know and love today. Reed Richards, Sue Storm, Ben Grimm and Johnny Storm would face all kinds of bad guys. From the Mole Man to Skrulls, the FF prevailed time and again. Fantastic Four readers adored their stories and all the adventures the superhero-explorers undertook.
Though while the heroes were unlike anything before, part of the Fantastic Four’s success was owed to their most iconic villain, Doctor Victor von Doom. The nemesis of Reed Richards and then the Fantastic Four as a whole, Doctor Doom would endeavor to bring the team and the world to their knees. Constantly questing for limitless power and fueled by contempt and indignation towards the rest of the world, Doom firmly believed no one could or should equal him in intelligence and power. Thanks to the myriad of abilities and powers Doom possess, he’s cemented himself as one of Marvel Comics’ most dangerous, powerful, and iconic bad guys. Today at CBR we’re looking at 15 powers you likely didn’t know Doctor Doom possessed.
TIME TRAVEL
Doctor Doom is a man of many talents — traveling through time is one of them. You have lesser men who only dream of the possibility of journeying through time and space. Doom is no lesser man and chose to make a time machine; that’s the sort of thing he decides to do when he gets up in the morning. Constructing what would be his infamous time platform, Doctor Doom could use the device to travel to any point in history. He’d typically use the time platform to steal technological doodads from Iron Man, but his schemes typically wouldn’t work out.
In later years, Doom didn’t require the time platform to send other people hurtling through time. After Morgana le Fay attacked Doom in his home, Victor would later travel through time and then use some of his sorcery to send her to prehistoric times.
RESISTANCE TO TELEPATHIC CONTROL
Doctor Doom is a man of ridiculous willpower and has used this to perform radical feats. On the opposite end of the spectrum you have Zebediah Killgrave, aka the Purple Man, who wields the ability to subjugate anyone to his will by means of telepathic control. Few can resist this power and Purple Man has used it to horrible ends.
In David Michelinie and Bob Hall’s Emperor Doom, Doctor Doom captures Purple Man. Doom realizes Killgrave is wasting his potential in committing petty crimes; Doom wants to rule the world. Doom imprisons Killgrave inside a crystal conduit and uses Purple Man’s power like a chemical gas. When Purple Man challenges Doom’s right to his power, Doom lowers all his defenses and dares Killgrave to control him. Try as he might, Purple Man cannot, Doom’s will and resistance to telepathic control too strong.
COSMIC POWER
Doctor Doom thirsts for power and back in the early days of Fantastic Four comics, there was nothing mightier than the Power Cosmic. After witnessing the Silver Surfer’s strength Doom knew he had to steal it for himself. In Fantastic Four #57, Doom manipulates the Silver Surfer, causing the cosmic being to lower his defenses long enough so that Doom can use a device he created to steal the Surfer’s power. Becoming one of the most powerful beings on the planet, Doom’s power is second to none.
Though he initially defeats the Fantastic Four, Reed Richards is eventually able to come up with away to beat the cosmic tyrant. He would’ve stayed supreme if not for his vanity. Doom has also used objects like the Cosmic Cube, two Infinity Gauntlets, and the Makluan Rings to acquire cosmic level abilities. Each of these times Doom’s powers became incalculable.
TELEPORTATION
While other heroes and villains usually have to travel via conventional means like walking, running, or flying, Doom ignores the conventional laws of physics, having mastered teleportation. In recent years, teleporting has becoming one of Doom’s trump cards and most intimidating abilities. He doesn’t require super science to perform the feat; rather, he uses his mastery of magic and teleports with minimal effort. The idea that Doctor Doom can appear right next to you and then disappear just as quickly leaves many heroes and villains alike extremely uncomfortable.
His teleportation even allows him to break through magical barriers, force fields, and nearly any kind of defense imaginable. Dissimilar from heroes like Nightcrawler, Doom doesn’t have to see where he’s going in order to teleport; he just envisions where he wants to go and ends up there. Oh, and he can travel between dimensions. Good luck locking him up.
DIVINE MIGHT
Perhaps the greatest force that drives Doctor Doom is his quest for godly power. It doesn’t necessarily matter to him where or from whom he gets it, he just believes it’s his birthright to rule over all he surveys, which occasionally includes all of creation.
Twice Doom has succeeded in promoting himself to godhood. In both the original Secret Wars, and Jonathan Hickman’s 2015’s Secret Wars, Doom discovered ways to take advantage of and manipulate the Beyonder(s), the crazy powerful cosmic presence. In the original Secret Wars, Doom nearly dies battling the Beyonder, but absorbs his powers and becomes all-powerful. 2015’s Secret Wars, Doom goes a step further. This time Doom is able to retain the Beyonder’s power and become the emperor god of the entire Marvel multiverse, keeping reality from crumbling through sheer force of will.
MIND TRANSFERENCE
Doctor Doom bows to no man, god, or even death. Victor likely believes he’s the greatest individual in all of creation and such a treasure does not deserve to be extinguished. Of all the impressive feats Doctor Doom has committed, one of the most impressive was cheating death. Death is beneath him and if you need further evidence, than check out Jim Valentino’s Guardians of the Galaxy run in the early ‘90s.
In it, Doctor Doom reveals that he is alive and (reasonably) well in the year 3000 A.D. His consciousness has survived, thanks to Doom learning the Ovoid Mind Transfer, and putting his mind into the adamantium skeleton of Wolverine. Not to worry, he’s mellowed and has become something of a hero. Furthermore, he was also locked in his armor, and spotting a young man nearby, transferred his conscious into the fellow’s body, allowing him to escape.
HYPNOTISM
Hypnotism is rarely a power used these days. Generally, folks with power prefer mind control. Doom has no qualms with using both. One of Victor’s lesser-known powers is his ability to completely hypnotize his opponents. Sure, he can enforce his will upon others to such a degree that it mirrors hypnotism, but Doom has mastered the art itself.
Additionally, if for whatever reason Doom can’t muster up the concentration required, he can use the Instant Hypnotism Impulser. It’s a small device in the left gauntlet of his armor that does exactly what it sounds like. It disrupts an individual’s sense of balance and can convince foes to fight one another, rather than him. It’s a pretty nifty device that Doom keeps on hand at most times.
SORCERY
While Doctor Doom might have originally begun as a technologically based opponent for the Fantastic Four, both he and his creators decided he needed a power upgrade. Doom initially learned sorcery by traveling to the Himalayas. Then thanks to his ability to time travel, Doom learned a great deal from the witch Morgan Le Fay. Yet it is Doctor Strange, ironically enough, that further instructed Doom on magic.
In the story Doctor Doom and Doctor Strange: Triumph and Torment, a mystical Genghis puts out a call only those attuned to the magic arts can hear. Doom and other sorcerers arrive. From there, Doom uses his built-in armor systems to learn from the surrounding sorcerers and copy the techniques of Doctor Strange and the others. There was also that time his master sent him to the dawn of creation and Doom spent millions of years honing his magical abilities.
GENIUS-LEVEL INTELLECT
Doctor Doom often considers himself the smartest man on the planet, and for good reason. If it weren’t for the likes of Reed Richards constantly outsmarting him, using his arrogance as a weapon, Doom would be unstoppable. Doom might have giant castles, time machines, and incredibly powerful high tech suits of armor, but none of that would matter without his massive intellect. Doctor Doom’s greatest weapon is his intelligence and what he chooses to use it for.
Unlike Mr. Fantastic, Doom cured Ben Grimm of his Thing form and he’s created artificial intelligences. Doom specializes in physics, robotics, genetics, cybernetics, and time travel, and he’s also a master strategist, politician, and natural born leader. By way of his intellect he’s defeated the likes of the Silver Surfer, the Hulk, and even outwitted beings like the Beyonder and Bastet, the Panther God that Black Panther gets his powers from.
FORCE FIELDS
Every so often, much to his chagrin, Doom will come across an opponent that is mightier than him. Thanks to his armor, Doctor Doom is able to withstand incredible punishment and keep coming back for more. One of the features Doom’s built into his armor are extreme protective and countermeasures for nearly every eventuality.
Force fields are one of Doom’s defensive specialties. He has all kinds of different force fields built into his armor. He has force fields that can electrify on contact, and he has force fields that can withstand an onslaught from even the Hulk. If for some reason his armor’s defenses aren’t enough, Doom can magically summon protective fields to shield him. These barriers are powerful enough to block attacks from some of the strongest heroes and villains.
SUMMONING DEMONS
Doom is more than just an adept sorcerer. By now, that should be plenty clear. Nearly on par with Doctor Strange, and in some ways even greater than the Sorcerer Supreme, one of Doom’s many, and favorite powers is to summon demons whenever he wants. When most people summon demons, it’s usually a whole ordeal involving Faustian deals and lots of misery. When Doctor Doom summons demons, it’s the monsters who are afraid to incur Doom’s wrath.
Though Doctor Doom has an entire country at his beck and call, and can even send out his mechanical Doombots to fight in his stead, he can summon demons too through the usage of black magic. Doom is smart enough to know what tools to use for certain battles, and magical foes require magical solutions. Occasionally, Doom simply delights in overwhelming his enemies with monsters to make them scream in terror.
INDOMITABLE WILL
Few beings have the willpower akin to Doctor Doom. While willpower itself might not appear like a fancy super power, try saying that to a Green Lantern. Doom is fueled by the belief that he is the greatest and is so resolute in his thinking, that his willpower is downright frightening. With simple willpower, he’s resisted the Purple Man’s mind controlling powers, but it’s also allowed him to withstand incredible amounts of pain.
While trapped in Hell, he spent unearthly time being tortured by demons. Yet the whole time Doom never uttered a single utterance of pain, refusing to be diminished. He’s literally imposed his will on other people and creatures, acting as a form of mind control. Additionally, he’s held his corporeal form together with pure psychic energy, and he’s even intimidated Emma Frost, claiming she can’t read his mind — she agreed.
TECHNOPATHY
Doctor Doom typically thinks himself above leaping onto the field of battle and cracking skulls. Granted, he’s been known to take a hands on approach in dealing with adversaries, woe are they, but Victor is a big believer in delegating tasks. When he doesn’t feel like summoning demons from the depths of the underworld to attack his enemies, he’ll generally send out an army of Doombots. When he uses these instruments of destruction to do his bidding, Doom exercises his technopathic abilities.
Doom doesn’t need to remotely control his mechanical henchmen; he can simply control them with his brain. Doom’s technopathy isn’t reserved solely for his Doombots, but can be used to control many other machines too. It is definitely one of Doom’s oddest powers.
POSSESSION
Doom boasts a great many powers. Thanks to the combination of magic, technology, and his strength of will, there’s little he cannot accomplish. Possessing people is not one of those things. On multiple occasions, Doom has mind-controlled people with nothing more than his superior will. In fact, he’s also done the same to skyscraper-sized monsters with minimal effort. With regards to true possession, this ability mimics his power to transfer his consciousness.
That said, if Doom somehow forgot he had the ability to use the Ovoid Mind Transfer, he could (and he has) fall back on technology. In Daredevil #37, he does just that. After capturing Daredevil, the Man Without Fear, Doom uses a body transfer device to switch bodies with Daredevil. Doom then goes out and does a better job at being Daredevil than the superhero himself.
THE INFINITY GAUNTLET AND ALL ITS POWERS
The Infinity Gauntlet is arguably the mightiest weapon in all of Marvel Comics. By itself, the Gauntlet is relatively harmless, but once you bring the Infinity Stones into the equation, you’re now dealing with a weapon that can turn the wielder into the universe itself.
In a battle against the Mad Celestials, involving Doom teaming up with the Interdimensional Council of Reeds (a bunch of Reed Richards from across the multiverse), he was seemingly destroyed. He wasn’t and discovered the Infinity Gauntlets from two universes left behind by two separate Reeds. With this power, Doom ventured to the universe that one of his Infinity Gauntlets belonged to and used it to restore life. Additionally, he applied this power to separate magic and science, and created new life forms over which he ruled.
