The motivations of Doctor Doom
Posted: 09/24/2013 Filed under: Characters, Marvel 32 CommentsFor a man with a silly supervillain name, Doctor Doom has become a multi-layered, wildly complex figure in the Marvel universe. Sure, he’s definitely a bad guy, but his motivations don’t come from desire for power, riches, or control. Those just happen to be perks. Nope, Doom knows a secret, and he’ll reveal it to us today in Doomwar #3, written by Jonathan Maberry and drawn by Scot Eaton.
So Wakanda, a relatively tiny country in Africa ruled by the superhero Black Panther, has technology and strength far beyond even our precious US of A. Many years ago, a meteorite landed in Wakanda, and luckily for everyone there, it was composed of the largest supply of vibranium in the known world. Vibranium, a metal that surpasses even admantium (the stuff infused in Wolverine’s skeleton), has the ability to absorb all vibrations and kinetic energy thrown at it — essentially making it almost impossible to break. Captain America’s shield, for instance. And as a result, Wakanda has never been conquered in thousands of years. Until Doctor Doom came along.
To access the vibranium vault, Doom not only has to bypass a whole bunch of scientific and magical locks, he has to bare his soul to the Panther God. Seriously. The same being that gives Black Panther his superpowers has to judge Doom to be absolutely pure of heart, the same Doom that has callously massacred thousands of people. Well, that’s not going to stop Doom from trying. Nothing will, really.
Doom may be one of the most powerful people on the planet. He’s a scientific genius and the second most powerful sorcerer alive. But he’s also the man who once willingly sacrificed the love of his life to gain more magical power. Good luck looking into Doom’s charred soul.
Though Doom won’t admit it, he’d probably benefit from some major therapy. If it’s a Panther God and the world’s vibranium at stake, I guess lying on that metaphorical couch makes showing that small sliver of vulnerability worth it. Look, as Doctor Doom fights for a Doom-centric future, he’s certainly not doing it for himself. I mean, he’d be in charge and everyone would obey him as a deity-type figure, but that’s only a small benefit. Y’see, a Doomworld future serves only to benefit you, the unguided primitive fool you are.
My dear readers, I present to you the only possible scenario that leads to Marvel universe utopia. A brutal, law-abiding society that answers to their righteous and justified savior. Let us bow our heads to the man who saved us from ourselves (and Skrulls, I guess).
If Doctor Doom shows the slightest greed or hatred in his motivations, he’ll be killed by a giant cat. No getting around that. But every action Doom takes, no matter how cruel or sickening, serves a single optimistic purpose. And that surprised Panther God expression above reveals more the unfortunate wisdom in Doom’s world and less of a large Mouse God or something passing by.
Surely with the world’s vibranium under Doctor Doom’s control, he wouldn’t use it for evil, right?
Read the miniseries for the exciting conclusion and the Wakanda-changing plot twist at the end. Plus Deadpool shows up in a few issues for some reason.
Arousing Grammar 
Jesus fucking christ. Dr. Doom suffers from the same bullshit delusions that Lex Luthor does: “I’M SO SMART AND AWESOME, AND ONLY I CAN SAVE MANKIND FROM ITSELF! I WOULD TOTALLY SOLVE THE WORLD’S PROBLEMS, IF IT WASN’T FOR THAT MEDDLING REED RICHARDS/SUPERMAN!”
Unfortunately, cat gods don’t seem to know that the main problem with delusional people is that they BELIEVE in these delusions, no matter how insane, evil, or destructive those delusions may be. There are a lot of people that believe that 9/11 is a government conspiracy or that Obama is a secret Muslim masterminding a plot to destroy America, but doesn’t make it true.
Also, Doom is an egotistical asshole – if that cat god couldn’t see that Doom is partially motivated by his lust to outsmart Richards and stroke his own ego, then that kitty needs to be taken to the shed out back and be put out of his misery.
Agreed! Doom is an absolute master of self-delusion. He perceives himself as this savior of humanity who is unfairly vilified & persecuted, who believes that only he understands the difficult decisions & sacrifices needed to bring peace & prosperity to the world. Yet his desire to “save” the world is not due to any real wish to help those in need, but is borne out of a self-centered conviction that humanity cannot possibly survive without him, and the desire to prove to everyone that he is right and everyone is wrong. And on numerous occasions he has demonstrated that he can be selfish, cruel, petty, and vengeful.
If power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely, then a world ruled by Doom would be a nightmare. As the monarch of just one single country, he has already demonstrated that he is a ruthless tyrant. Given control of the entire globe, his power unchecked, he would no doubt become an absolute monster. Doom would stamp out all free will, to the point that humanity would be reduced to mindless drones. Yes, there would be no war, no sickness, no poverty. But humanity would no longer possess the sentience to appreciate any of this. Order would come at the highest of prices.
“As the monarch of just one single country, he has already demonstrated that he is a ruthless tyrant.”
The people of Latveria loves him. Several times have this been demonstrated. Fantastic Four went there to attack the Monarch but the people plead them not to. When Doom took Latveria back from Zorba the people praised him. Doom IS the bringer of utopia, but since he is considered a “villain” he will never truly rule, but always be stopped by “heroes”. Shame…
“HUUUUURRRRR OMG DOOM IS DELUSIONAL”
He LITERALLY saw thousands of futures and understood his rule was the only one that survived. A freakin’ immortal god that knows MORE than Doom agrees with him. It’s like complaining Ozzy was wrong because “huurrr he thinks he’s smart”.
What? No. Dr.Doom sure you believes that and may be delusional, but the cat god looked into the future himself and confirmed that what Dr.Doom saw was correct. Dr. Doom isn’t delusional in this case.
What? No. Dr.Doom, sure, he may believe that and may be delusional, but the cat god looked into the future himself and confirmed that what Dr.Doom saw was correct. Dr. Doom isn’t delusional in this case.
Yes, but you’re forgetting something – both Doom and the cat god have looked into the future. Thousands of different futures, and only one utopia. Compared to the real world, Doom actually has the justification for his deeds.
That’s not a utopia though, that’s a dystopia. I guarantee very few people would be happy in that world. Seems better than no mankind, sure, but it would still be a shitty place.
Exactly, which means he’s not delusional. He’s in fact seen the future. His actions are justified.
you’re conveniently ignoring the fact that the cat god, Bast, looked into the million pathways of the future and also saw that only Doom’s future was without evil, hurt, etc.
Doom IS a monster, and a tyrant, and cruel and selfish. But the Panther God doesn’t care about that. It wasn’t fooled by his delusions, it didn’t fall for a trick or a lie. It looked into the future too, and it saw the same thing. It saw that whatever the future holds is far worse than anything Doom would do… that must be one hell of a story and one I hope they would come back to, but it looks like Marvel is putting all things Wakandan or Black Panther related on a back burner. Also, when the Fantastic Four recently became the FF or Future Foundation, they had Spider-Man join, and one other new member… oh yeah, it was Doom (he got to wear a white tunic over his armor to fly the team colors), so maybe despite being a mass murdering tyrant Doom isn’t so bad. That, or Reed Richards is a total douche nozzle, like I always believed he was. Richards is the biggest sack-lunch in Marvel. I seriously think that if the other heroes didn’t need to borrow his lab and toys now and then no one would even talk to the guy. But that is just my opinion.:)
literally one of the worst most FORCED storylines in recent comic book history.. all so Marvel could legitimately kick Wakandas ass up and down the street
the people running Marvel are a disgrace
Stan Lee was a fucking saint. And Jack Kirby’s an underappreciated genius. Go back to the basement you damn DC troll.
People hating on Doom. Hes as smart as Reed, has the power cosmic, hes skilled in the mystical arts, has a time machine, and owns his own country. Doom is one of the best villain/anti-heroes out there.
Doom could’ve used the time machine to do what he wants. Yet he chooses not to. He could use his mystical powers in ways that only a few people can counter, yet he chooses not to. Doom is holding himself back. He’s like Vlad the Impaler, the real deal himself. He does what he believes is right.
Doom is a hero.
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[…] EDIT: Here’s the comic excerpt […]
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Doom is amazing.
… and yet all present here who DARE slander Doom have nothing more to offer than sophomoric, prepubescent lip service. Your jobs where you ask daily, “… you want fries with that?” don’t quantify your level (or lack) of intellect, to speak.
Period.
Ever.
The true pity is that this legendary fictional character has more going on in its legendary fictional life than you do in your lack-luster real ones, so you vent your frustration at having to endure your failed, meaningless existences here, slinging arm-chair psycho-babble.
Jealousy, envy & hate are laced throughout your entire diatribes. Living in your parents attic (or over the garage [apples oranges]), going through a jar of Vaseline & a box of Kleenex a day, all the while dreaming & saving for that gender reassignment operation in South America must be really stressful, but please, don’t take it out on Doom.
Say, do you wipe the asses of the Fantastic Four… or just lick them clean?
If any of you haters were to be reborn as a fictional character, you’d be so base as to be beneath, even unworthy, of wiping up the fecal leavings from Patrick Star’s butt!
So step off, STFU, and steer clear of grown-ups conversations.
To all present who side with Doom, bravo/brava.
Calm down.
It seems totally legit to demean and humiliate people while discussing a FICTIONAL character from comic-books. I mean, that totally gives you the upper hand, no doubt. This is clearly a grown-ups conversation about important issues and matters, so please, anyone here who’s not intended on talking about a fictional character that inhabits a fictional world written by some dude who just wants to meet his deadline, please, PLEASE leave the room right now, because five years ago “It was, is and will always be” needed some space to jerk off all over his Doctor Doom’s poster.
Now, back on topic. The article is great, but most people seem to have lost track of what is obvious here: this shitty story was written by a person that clearly is not the smartest writer in the room. And that shitty excuse for Doom to steal all the Vibranium is nothing else but a weak and worn out plot cliché. He saw ten thousand futures, you say? He knows what’s going to happen, you say? It’s destiny, you say? It’s bullshit, that’s what it is. A lame attempt at smart thinking, because the writer just didn’t know how the fuck to get out of this tricky situation he found himself cornered in. “Let’s just pretend Doom knows what’s going to happen so Bast will believe him and the plot can happen. Why bother ourselves with the actual implications of this so-called utopia. Why bother with the actual understating of the human condition and the reasons humanity created the world we live in now. WHY THINK AT ALL.”
We now know what Doomworld—AKA Secret Wars 2015—would look like, so I’m kinda cheating, you may say. I mean, we all know that plot line ended in disaster. But my point is, let’s stop pretending we’re having serious discussions about comic-books or pop culture in general, and let’s start treating this matters as what they actually are: entertainment. Pure, bland, comfy, and satisfying entertainment meant to be an escape, not life itself.
Doctor Doom is neither good nor bad, he’s not a villain and he’s not a hero, he’s not a tyrant nor a savior. He’s an idea in the mind of countless writers at Marvel, eternally changing and adapting to whatever story they come up with at the House of Ideas. He’s nothing more, and that makes everyone right and everyone wrong, because the character will always adjust to whoever’s vision of him. And instead of discussing about THAT, you’re all spitting “facts” that one day will be inevitably outdated, just to support your love or dislike of the character.
And yes, I’m writing a comment on an article posted seven years ago, because there’s a pandemic going on and I have nothing else to do at two and a half in the morning.
So Doom is the only hope for the human race and the planet. Captain superfascist to save the day?
Perhaps Doom sees any future which is not similar to todays environment as a disaster. Humanity in any other form is seen by him as a monstrosity which can only be “saved” by his iron rule. Every species needs to evolve to survive – if it becomes static it is perilously close to being the same as dying.
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There is no right or wrong in this kind of scenario… quite frankly Doom has every right to think himself a hero, and anybody else. His actions are logical and sound, and I would, I think, act the same in his place. I mean, what is the suffering of a finite amount of people, large as they are, compared to the vastness of a infinity of peace. They in the end are immeasurably small. I can understand Dooms actions, even agree with them. However, considering that this is indeed I comic, out of those million possibility’s Victor and that Cat saw undoubtable none were the inevitably happy ending to the Universe they inhabit. But realistically Victor is acting in the most selfless, pure, good will actions he can. Actually he is acting out on the only action he can in order to remain good in pure.
This… seems awfully convenient for Doom. Also, hasn’t he been after Richards for years because he refuses to believe he made a mistake?
I’m only going to say this once:
Doom-World will be a place free of famine, war, disease and poverty.
It will also be an oppressive dystopia devoid of freedom.. What’s that you say? Ends justify the means?
A world ruled by Doom is a world without junk food, action movies, video games, comic-books and porn.
Read that again, No. Porn. Forever.
Side with Black Panther, he supports your freedom to eat pizza, watch movies, play video games and to jerk off.
No porn? Sign me up.
Where does Doom say no fun, no junk food, no video games, no movies, no porn?
He only says there will be rules and breaking those rules will be met with swift death.
Not saying that the fear of ever breaking a rule wouldn’t be in itself a terrifying manner to live.
Just confused on where you are drawing your conclusions. Especially about the porn.