As
a coda to my Doctor Doom chronology, I’ve provided an overview of the
arch-villain’s robotic doppelgängers, or “Doombots,”
broken down into the three “generations” I’ve devised. With one significant
exception, this history is restricted to the robots Doctor Doom constructed in
his own image, and does not concern itself with the various impostors he has
produced over the years, such as the Thing, the Hulk, Bucky Barnes, and the
Yellow Claw. Also, Doctor Doom experimented extensively with a wide variety of other
robots, as well as androids, cyborgs, and clones, but those projects are also
beyond the scope of this essay. However, I do include the version of Doctor
Doom created out of the brainwashed boy Kristoff and an armored exo-skeleton,
as I believe he may be more similar to many of the Doombots than was previously
suspected.
This
overview also limits itself to the Doombots of the Original Marvel Universe, which include only those that appeared
between Fantastic Four #5 and #350.
Doombot
Prototype
The
first known Doombot was built to stand in for the young Victor von Doom when he
was to be executed by firing squad for his crimes against Latveria’s wealthy,
landed elite (some of whom were also high-ranking members of the military
establishment). This robot was destroyed by the hail of bullets that tore through
it as the soldiers opened fire. Naturally, they were astonished to find their
victim had been replaced by a mechanical impostor. Though this robot appeared
to speak, it is more likely that Doom was broadcasting his own voice through a
speaker hidden in the robot’s head. [Fantastic
Four Annual #2]
Rudolfo Robot
The
next robotic doppelgänger employed by Victor von Doom was not in his own
likeness, but that of Crown Prince Rudolfo. During Doctor Doom’s coronation
ceremony following his successful murder of Rudolfo’s father, King Vladimir,
Doom had this robot participate in the coronation to lend a veneer of
legitimacy to his coup. Interestingly, this robot did not speak, suggesting
that, up to this point at least, Doom had not perfected a speech-synthesizer
system. While the real Rudolfo, who was imprisoned in the dungeon, could have
been allowed to broadcast his voice through the robot’s speaker, he could not
be trusted to cooperate with Doom’s plans. Therefore, the robot had to remain
silent. [Astonishing Tales #2]
First-Generation
Doombots
The
first of the purely robotic first-generation Doombots is seen when Doctor Doom
brings the Fantastic Four back from their time-machine trip to find the
legendary pirate treasure of Blackbeard. Expecting his pawns to betray him,
Doom has the robot stand in for him at the time machine’s controls while he
remains safely in his master control room with his hostage, the Invisible Girl.
When the robot opens the treasure chest and reveals the worthless chains the FF
used to replace the Merlin Stones, the Thing attacks the robot and smashes it
to pieces. [Fantastic Four #5]
The
second of the first-generation Doombots is used to meet with Spider-Man when
Doom wants to propose a team-up against the Fantastic Four. However, Spider-Man
rejects the offer and webs up the Doombot, immobilizing it. The real Doom then
attacks Spider-Man, but the web-slinger manages to escape. This Doombot is
probably destroyed when Doctor Doom causes his hideout to self-destruct moments
later. The next day, Doom uses a third Doombot to attack Spider-Man while they are
fighting at another of Doom’s lairs. Spider-Man overcomes this robot as well,
forcing Doom to attack him directly. Doom breaks off the fight and flees when
he detects the approach of the Fantastic Four. Most likely this hideout (and
the third Doombot) is also blown to smithereens immediately following the
story. [Amazing Spider-Man #5]
The
next time a Doombot appears is when Rudolfo and his Latverian Underground storm
Doctor Doom’s castle in a bid to reclaim the throne. From the safety of his
master control room, Doom sends a Doombot out to confront Rudolfo and his men,
but they overcome the robot’s defenses and blow it to pieces. [Astonishing Tales #1]
A
Doombot is next seen confronting Shang-Chi at the Twickenham Estate in England,
next to a mock-up of the Prime Mover robot in which Shang-Chi’s friend Clive
Reston is imprisoned. After Shang-Chi overcomes robotic doppelgängers of many
of his old foes, the Doombot attacks him and is likewise smashed to pieces by
Shang-Chi’s unbeatable kung fu. [Master
of Kung Fu #60]
Several
robotic Doombots are employed to keep the Fantastic Four busy while the
second-generation Doombots restore the real Doctor Doom to his true body after
his lengthy imprisonment in the Puppet Master’s scale-model town “Liddleville.”
The older-model Doombots are quickly defeated, but their diversionary mission
is accomplished. [Fantastic Four
#246]
During
the “Acts of Vengeance” scheme, first-generation Doombots are used for an
ambush of the Punisher, to bait a trap for the Fantastic Four, and to attend
the final meeting of the villain consortium. All of these Doombots are blown up
when they have outlived their usefulness. [Punisher
#28, Fantastic Four #336, Avengers #313]
Three
fully robotic Doombots are used to infiltrate the Avengers’ Headquarters
Building during its grand-opening gala, but their nature is deduced by the
Avengers and they are quickly destroyed. [Avengers
#332–333]
Second-Generation
Doombots
The
first of the second-generation Doombots, designated Doombot A-76, is first seen
when the X-Men storm Doom’s castle in the Adirondack Mountains in an attempt to
rescue the assassin Arcade. Doombot A-76 is next seen trying to reclaim the one
Merlin Stone that Doom has managed to find from an exhibit of the crown jewels
of Latveria on loan to the United Nations. Though Doombot A-76 hopes the UNICEF
charity concert going on at the time will serve as a distraction, it brings him
into conflict with Dazzler, who is one of the performers. Doombot A-76 kidnaps
Dazzler, forcing her to search Nightmare’s Dream Dimension for a second Merlin
Stone. Unexpectedly, she succeeds in bringing back the magical gem, but then
destroys both Merlin Stones with a laser beam from her fingertips. Doombot A-76
knocks Dazzler out again, but abandons the fight and flees when he detects the
approach of the Human Torch. Doombot A-76 is doubtless among the many Doombots
who finally rescue Doctor Doom from Liddleville and return him to his true
body. However, when Doctor Doom discovers that Doombot A-76 failed to kill
Arcade for daring to strike a match on his armor, Doom forces Doombot A-76 to
self-destruct. [Uncanny X-Men
#145–147, Dazzler #3–4, Fantastic Four #246 & 258]
When
King Zorba converts Doctor Doom’s robotic Servo-Guards into a ruthless
mechanical secret police, numerous second-generation Doombots initiate a plan
to rescue the real Doctor Doom from Liddleville and restore him to his true
body. One Doombot collects the tiny “synthe-clone” containing Doom’s mind from
Liddleville, which is inside the castle in the Adirondack Mountains, while
others take over the Latverian embassy in New York City and force Zorba’s
Ambassador Leopold to arrange for all four of the Fantastic Four to deliver
Doom’s body, which they have been keeping in stasis at their Baxter Building
headquarters. While first-generation Doombots keep the FF busy, the
second-generation Doombots reunite Doom’s mind and body. They then apprise
their master of the current state of affairs in Latveria, which has fallen into
crisis under Zorba’s incompetent rule. [Fantastic
Four #246]
For
the benefit of his young ward, Kristoff, Doctor Doom orders the numerous
Doombots in his castle in Latveria to line up for inspection. When he discovers
that Doombot A-76 failed to kill Arcade for daring to strike a match on his
armor, Doctor Doom forces Doombot A-76 to self-destruct. [Fantastic Four #258]
After
imbuing the alien Tyros with an unstable form of the power cosmic, Doctor Doom
monitors Tyros’s battle with the Thing and the Human Torch from within a
massive airship concealed in an artificial cloudbank. When his sensors detect
the Invisible Girl approaching, Doom intercepts her and draws the Fantasti-Car
into his aircraft. Doom then sends a second-generation Doombot to confront her.
Unlike the real Doctor Doom or Doombot A-76, this Doombot is violently
misogynistic. Deducing the Doombot’s artificial nature, the Invisible Girl
destroys it with her force-field. [Fantastic
Four #259]
After
the apparent death of the real Doctor Doom during Tyros’s battle with the
Silver Surfer, one of the second-generation Doombots sends a robot to spy on
Alexander Flynn, who claims to be the son of Victor von Doom. [Beauty and the Beast #1–4]
Following
a pre-established contingency plan, Doombot B-57 collects Kristoff from his
private tutor and escorts him to a laboratory in Castle Doom. There, several
other second-generation Doombots reprogram Kristoff’s mind so he believes
himself to be the true Victor von Doom. After Kristoff-Doom blows up the Baxter
Building, the Fantastic Four come to Latveria, destroy at least seven Doombots,
and unmask Kristoff. The FF take the brainwashed boy back to America to see if
he can be restored to his right mind. [Fantastic
Four #278–279]
One
of the second-generation Doombots remains on duty at the Latverian embassy in
New York City and is present when the Invincible Man leads the Invisible Woman,
the Wasp, and the She-Hulk on an all-out assault on the embassy. While the Wasp
and the She-Hulk battle a contingent of Servo-Guards, the Invisible Woman is
able to destroy the Doombot in charge. The Invincible Man then reveals himself
to be the true Doctor Doom, having escaped death by inhabiting the body of a
bystander, Norman MacArthur, via the mind-swap technique he learned from the
alien Ovoids. [Fantastic Four #287]
Later,
after the Latverian embassy has been repaired, another second-generation
Doombot is placed on permanent duty there. When Kristoff-Doom and a
third-generation Doombot become bitter rivals, the embassy Doombot remains
loyal to Kristoff and hostile to the other one. This Doombot then deals with
the situation when two representatives of the construction firm Damage Control
come seeking payment of an overdue invoice. The inquiry exposes a member of
Doom’s embassy staff as an embezzler. When the Fantastic Four arrive on the
scene to “rescue” the Damage Control people, the Thing is forced to wonder if
they’re facing just another Doombot. [Damage
Control #2]
A
second-generation Doombot loyal to Kristoff hosts an international symposium on
robotics in Latveria, which is attended by Iron Man and his friends Ant-Man and
James Rhodes. The symposium convinces the Doombot that no other nation has
robotics technology as advanced as Latveria’s, and he amuses himself by
infecting Iron Man with a genetically engineered virus that causes electronic
systems to go haywire. Unfortunately, the virus mutates and overcomes the
Doombot’s defenses, making his own armor go out of control. Iron Man saves the
day after obtaining the antidote from Doom’s underlings, and, in gratitude, the
Doombot allows the Americans to leave with their lives. [Marvel Fanfare #44]
A
second-generation Doombot loyal to Kristoff encounters X-Men member Storm while
attacking a foreign factory that is polluting Latveria with acid rain. Together
they overcome the military force defending the installation and destroy the
factory. [Marvel Comics Presents #48]
A
second-generation Doombot loyal to Kristoff is posted at the Twickenham Estate
in England. Due to his presence in the British Isles, he is contacted by a
future incarnation of the wizard Merlin and drawn into a confrontation with
Iron Man in California. The armored adversaries are then magically transported to
the year A.D. 2093 to help the reincarnation of King Arthur protect Great Britain
from the combined threat of that era’s evil Iron Man and Doctor Doom. When they
return to the present, though, neither the Doombot nor Iron Man has any memory
of their trip to the future. Unlike the real Doctor Doom or the other
doppelgängers, this Doombot has a penchant for making smart-ass remarks. [Iron Man #249–250]
A
second-generation Doombot loyal to Kristoff is posted at Doctor Doom’s summer
residence, and one day gets drenched by a strange green liquid that falls from
the sky. Thinking a passing jet has emptied its water tanks on him, the Doombot
goes inside to shoot it down. However, he discovers that the liquid is actually
the shape-changing offspring of the Impossible Man, a notorious alien
troublemaker. Rather than try to fight the horde of obnoxious aliens, the
Doombot convinces them that they will find Iron Man to be much more
entertaining. [Impossible Man Summer
Vacation Special #1]
A
second-generation Doombot loyal to Kristoff tracks down the Black Fox after the
venerable jewel thief steals one of Doctor Doom’s mystic gems from a museum in
Monaco, where it was mistakenly included with an exhibit of Latveria’s crown
jewels. Spider-Man tries to defend the elderly thief, but the Doombot beats the
crap out of the web-slinger, repeatedly displaying superhuman strength in the
process. Spider-Man convinces the Doombot to give him 24 hours to retrieve the
stolen gem, which the Black Fox has already fenced. The next day, the Doombot
follows Spider-Man and the Black Fox to the estate of millionaire recluse
Andrew Carpathian, who is attempting to use the gem to open a portal to an
alien dimension. The Doombot drives off Carpathian and his men and reclaims the
jewel. He rewards Spider-Man and the Black Fox for their help by letting them
live. [Amazing Spider-Man #349–350]
When
the renegade third-generation Doombot storms Castle Doom in Latveria to attack
Kristoff-Doom, the numerous Doombots present join the battle. When the real
Doctor Doom then returns, he is so changed the Doombots do not recognize him.
They attack him as well, but Doom deactivates them all with the touch of a
button, causing their memory-cores to self-destruct. [Fantastic Four #350]
Doom-II
As
part of a pre-established contingency plan following the apparent death of the
real Doctor Doom, Kristoff is placed in a “remembrancer” device, which
overwrites his memories and personality with Victor von Doom’s own. However,
Kristoff orders the process to be ended prematurely, leaving him without the
benefit of most of Doom’s experience. Nevertheless, he believes himself to be
the real Doctor Doom, and the Doombots all recognize him as their master.
Donning an armored exo-skeleton that makes him appear to be an adult,
Kristoff-Doom or Doom-II sets out to destroy the Fantastic Four. For several
months, he sneaks probes into the Baxter Building to make subtle and selective
adjustments to the Fantastic Four’s equipment. Finally, he is ready to make his
move and hauls the entire Baxter Building into orbit and blows it up. The
Fantastic Four survive, however, and confront him at his castle in Latveria.
After destroying several Doombots, the FF unmask Doom-II and are shocked to
find Kristoff. They decide to take the brainwashed boy back to America to see
if his mental programming can be reversed. [Fantastic
Four #278–279]
Though
they are unable to return Kristoff to his right mind, the Fantastic Four
eventually allow him to escape from their headquarters so they can follow him
back to Castle Doom, hoping to thus bypass the castle’s defenses. However,
Doom-II immediately dons his armored exo-skeleton and reasserts control over
the Doombots. Finding a renegade Doombot (Doom-III) in the castle, Doom-II
attacks him. The Doombots are initially incapable of determining which “Doctor
Doom” they should obey, but they soon settle on Doom-II. Finding himself vastly
outnumbered, Doom-III flees the castle, declaring war on Doom-II. [Fantastic Four Annual #20]
When
Doom-III surfaces near the Latverian embassy in New York City, Doom-II sends an
army of mercenaries after him. However, the mercenaries are driven off by the
Fantastic Four, the Black Panther, and X-Factor, and Doom-III escapes. [Fantastic Four #312]
Doom-II
decides that he must have been trapped in Kristoff’s body by the Ovoid
mind-swap technique, and the impostor Doom-III must therefore be inhabiting his
real body. He captures the West Coast Avengers and attempts to enlist them in
his war against the impostor, but he is forced to release them by the Egyptian
god Khonshu. [West Coast Avengers
#35]
Sometime
later, Doom-III activates a time-displacement bubble around Castle Doom, but
Doom-II overcomes its effects, having anticipated such a tactic. During their
ensuing fight, Doom-II manages to shake Doom-III’s conviction that he is the
true Doctor Doom, thus postponing their final confrontation. [Thor #410]
Doom-II
begins selling chemical weapons to small-time dictators across the globe. He
then captures the Punisher when the infamous vigilante breaks into Castle Doom.
Doom-II tries to recruit him to assassinate Doom-III, but the Punisher starts a
fire in the castle’s art gallery, using it to cover his escape. Doom-II vows to
destroy the Punisher for his effrontery. [Punisher
#28–29]
When
Doom-III finally storms Castle Doom in Latveria, Doom-II fights him until the
real Doctor Doom suddenly appears. After destroying Doom-III, Doctor Doom says
the code-word that breaks Kristoff’s mental programming, ending his belief that
he is Victor von Doom. [Fantastic Four
#350]
Doom-III
When
Doctor Doom learns that the Beyonder has come to earth, he creates a new “third-generation”
Doombot to stand in for him while he flees into the past via his time machine.
However, unknown to Doom, an error in this Doombot’s mental programming will
cause him to believe himself to be the true Doctor Doom, even in the presence
of his master or the other Doombots. This is the most “pure” Doombot yet
constructed, and is, in essence, a perfect copy of Victor von Doom. Thus, I
refer to him as Doom-III.
Doom-III
is first seen when Cloak and Dagger come to Latveria on the trail of some drug
smugglers. Doom-III is attempting to neutralize the nuclear weapons of all
other nations so that Latveria will be the sole remaining nuclear power, but
Cloak and Dagger trick him into destroying his particle-beam projector during
their battle. [Cloak and Dagger v.2
#10]
Doom-III
then invites the X-Men to come to Latveria where he can use his molecular
reintegrator to save the life of their teammate Shadowcat, whose phasing power
has gone haywire. The Fantastic Four intervene, though, and Mister Fantastic is
instrumental in making the process work after Magneto compromises the delicate
systems. Afterwards, Doom-III magnanimously hosts a banquet for his guests to
celebrate their success, and is satisfied that the X-Men are in his debt. [Fantastic Four vs. the X-Men #1–4]
Learning
that the Human Torch and Alicia Masters are getting married, Doom-III calls a
temporary truce and has a crate of flowers delivered to the chapel in time for
the ceremony. Sometime later, he invites Magneto to Castle Doom for a meeting
of the minds. [Fantastic Four #300, X-Factor Annual #4]
On
Midsummer’s Eve, Doom-III kidnaps Franklin Richards, conjures up Mephisto, and
offers to exchange Franklin for the soul of Cynthia von Doom. However,
Kristoff-Doom (Doom-II) attacks him before the deal can be struck, and while
they are fighting, Mister Fantastic rescues Franklin from Mephisto’s realm.
Since all the second-generation Doombots are loyal to Kristoff, Doom-III
realizes he is vastly outnumbered and abandons the fight, declaring war on
Kristoff. He takes refuge in Wakanda as a guest of the Black Panther, providing
him with his robotics expertise in return. However, the Black Panther decides
not to get involved in Doom-III’s rivalry with Kristoff, agreeing only to grant
him safe passage to the United States. The Fantastic Four accompany them, and
upon their arrival in New York City, the FF, the Black Panther, and X-Factor
protect Doom-III from a gang of mercenaries sent by Kristoff. Doom-III tries to
force the heroes to attack the Latverian embassy, but they foil his plan. With
nowhere to turn, Doom-III goes into hiding, establishing a secret base of
operations on the city’s waterfront. [Fantastic
Four #305, Fantastic Four Annual
#20, Fantastic Four #311–312]
Doom-III
soon receives a tip from Quicksilver, who has his own grudge against Kristoff, that
the Fantastic Four are planning a trip into the Negative Zone to search for
either the Beyonder or a race of Beyonders. Thus, Doom-III plots to accompany
them and attempt to steal the Beyonder’s power. Knowing the Molecule Man is the
primary threat to his scheme, Doom-III tracks him down and tries to kill him.
He then goes to Four Freedoms Plaza to convince the Fantastic Four to let him
join their mission to the Negative Zone. Though they reject his offer, Doom-III
manages to make his own way into the Negative Zone, where he waits until
Blastaar has nearly defeated the FF. Doom-III comes to their rescue, and the FF
reluctantly agree to an alliance. Doom-III then leads the FF into the dimension
where the Beyonder has taken up residence. Doom-III’s plans are upset by the
intervention of the Molecule Man, the Shaper of Worlds, and Kubik, though he
does manage to regain Victor von Doom’s missing memories when the Beyonder and
the Molecule Man merge into a brand-new Cosmic Cube. [Fantastic Four Annual #21, Fantastic
Four #318–319]
Believing
the Molecule Man would not surrender his life without allotting some share of
his cosmic power to his girlfriend, Volcana, Doom-III places her under
surveillance. He then goes to Las Vegas to recruit the Hulk for his war against
Kristoff, goading the Hulk into a grudge match with the Thing. [Fantastic Four Annual #23, Fantastic Four #320, Hulk #349–350]
Doom-III
manages to capture Thor’s enchanted hammer, Mjolnir, and uses it to power a
time-distortion device that creates a bubble of frozen time around Castle Doom.
Upon entering the castle, however, Doom-III discovers that Kristoff has
anticipated such a tactic and has devised a means to counteract it. Doom-III
and Kristoff renew their battle, but when Doom-III gets the upper hand,
Kristoff is able to talk his way out of it. The time-bubble collapses suddenly
and Doom-III is forced to flee Latveria once again. A few days later, a
mysterious man meets with Doom-III at his waterfront hideout in New York and
proposes an enemy-swapping scheme code-named “Acts of Vengeance.” [Thor #409–410]
Believing
the scheme lacks merit, Doom-III attempts to prove this to his co-conspirators,
Magneto and the Wizard, by recruiting various third-rate villains to attack the
Avengers, Power Pack, and the Hulk. Later, as the Kingpin is recruited to join
the villain consortium, they are informed that the Trapster has failed to
destroy Spider-Man. However, Doom-III is intrigued by reports of Spider-Man’s
new cosmic powers, so he sends Titania to battle the wall-crawler. During their
fight, Doom-III analyzes the strange energies Spider-Man is wielding. He
continues his analysis when the Wizard subsequently calls in the Brothers Grimm.
Doom-III decides that he must find a way to harness Spider-Man’s new powers for
himself. [Cloak and Dagger v.3 #9, Power Pack #53, Hulk #363, Peter Parker the
Spectacular Spider-Man #158–159, Web
of Spider-Man #59, Amazing Spider-Man
#327]
After
the Mandarin is recruited into the villain consortium, Doom-III sends an army
of robots to destroy the Avengers’ current headquarters, the floating
artificial island Hydrobase. He also plants a device on the roof of Four
Freedoms Plaza to induce more third-rate villains to stage futile attacks on
the Fantastic Four. When the Red Skull is recruited to join their scheme,
Doom-III begins to realize that his co-conspirators spend more time arguing
than planning effective strategies. However, he continues to associate with
them only to further his plot to steal Spider-Man’s cosmic powers. [Avengers #311–312, Fantastic Four #334, Captain
America #365–366, Wolverine #19, Web of Spider-Man #60]
Doom-III
makes a bet with the Kingpin that he will be able to kill the Kingpin’s most
persistent nemesis, the Punisher, in one week. However, the Punisher proves to
be surprisingly resourceful and forces Doom-III to back off by stealing a treasured
portrait of Werner and Cynthia von Doom from Castle Doom itself. To prove that
he could have the Punisher killed anytime he wanted to, the Kingpin then hires
the mutant-hunting vigilante Bushwacker to take the Punisher out. Doom-III is
amused when the Punisher kills Bushwacker instead. Doom-III also finds the time
to create Ultron-13, a synthesis of all the previous models, which he sends to
kill Daredevil. He also receives a false report from the deranged Typhoid Mary
about how she destroyed Power Pack. [Punisher
#28–29, Punisher War Journal #12–13, Daredevil #275, Power Pack #53]
After
setting a trap for the Fantastic Four using the Super-Adaptoid, Doom-III modifies
the TESS-One robot to be able to absorb some of Spider-Man’s cosmic energies
and sends it to battle the web-slinger. Spider-Man blows the robot to
smithereens with relative ease, but Doom-III is able to retrieve the robot’s
head to use in a device to allow him to tap into the source of Spider-Man’s new
powers. However, the device fails unaccountably, and Doom-III realizes it must
have been sabotaged by one of his co-conspirators. Fed up with the villain
consortium, Doom-III sends a robotic first-generation Doombot to take his place
at their meetings. When he decides to terminate his association with the
splintering group, Doom-III causes his robot doppelgänger to self-destruct. He
soon learns that the mysterious organizer of the group was none other than
Loki, the Asgardian god of mischief. [Fantastic
Four #336, Peter Parker the
Spectacular Spider-Man #160, Web of
Spider-Man #61, Avengers #313, West Coast Avengers #55]
Doom-III
strikes a bargain with the ancient sorcerer known as Mister Jip to hand over a
grimoire in Doom-III’s possession in exchange for a helpless Dagger, whom
Doom-III thinks will make a perfect power source for the latest weapon he has
created for his war against Kristoff. Although Doom-III makes all the
arrangements, Mister Jip fails to fulfill his part of the bargain. Doom-III
then monitors Volcana when she finally manifests her cosmic legacy from the
Molecule Man. Having made a thorough analysis, Doom-III begins to plan how to
take advantage of this opportunity without alerting the Shaper of Worlds or
Kubik. [Cloak and Dagger v.3 #12–13, Fantastic Four Annual #23]
After
seeing Thor and Sersi discussing interdimensional travel on a TV news
broadcast, Doom-III hatches a plan to infiltrate the Avengers’ new headquarters
building. He constructs three modular Doombots, which are able to pass through
small gaps in the building’s security perimeter and reassemble themselves once
inside. Thus, Doom-III is able to crash the gala reception being held to mark
the building’s grand opening. Through his Doombots, Doom-III offers to reveal
how he compromised the team’s security in exchange for the secret of interdimensional
travel, which he intends to use to rescue his mother. However, the Avengers
figure it out on their own, so they are not interested in making any deals with
Doctor Doom. [Avengers #331–333]
Doom-III
stages a final all-out assault on Castle Doom in Latveria, but his battle with
Kristoff is interrupted by a third Doctor Doom wearing shiny promethium armor.
Doom-III attacks this interloper as another impostor, but is easily destroyed
by his foe’s superior force. [Fantastic
Four #350]
When
destroying Doom-III, the real Doctor Doom is careful to preserve the head for
further study, for he is curious what made this Doombot so different from the
others. It is likely Doom was able to subsequently retrieve all the unique
memories from this Doombot’s brain and gain the benefit of his experience.
