Doctor Doom is undoubtedly one of the greatest and most complex villains in Marvel Comics. As the ruler of Latveria and the archenemy of the Fantastic Four, Doom is driven by his overwhelming ambition and quest for power. However, in pursuing his goals, Doom has committed some truly heinous acts with little regard for human life or morality.
From assassinations to full-scale invasions, Doom will stop at nothing to elevate himself to godhood. While he believes everything he does is for the greater good of Latveria and humanity, many of Doom’s actions are simply cruel and unjustified. Here are ten of the worst things Doctor Doom has done in the comics.
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10. Attacked Wakanda For Vibranium
In his constant quest for more power and resources, Doom decided the vibranium stores of Wakanda would help further his plans for domination. Rather than a peaceful negotiation, Doom allied himself with a Wakandan militant group called the Desturi to launch an invasion of Wakanda.
Doom’s forces overwhelmed Wakanda’s defenses and he made off with a huge cache of vibranium. This vibranium would be used to enhance Doom’s existing powers and weapons. Only the efforts of Black Panther and other heroes prevented even greater destruction from Doom’s aggressive raid on Wakanda.
9. Doctor Doom Ruled Latveria With An Iron Fist
As ruler of Latveria, Doom maintains absolute authority over the small European nation. While he has brought stability and advancement to Latveria, it is an oppressive dictatorship with Doom as its “benevolent” yet detached leader. Doom enforces extremely strict laws and his punishments for disobedience are incredibly harsh.
Dissent is not tolerated and Doom closely monitors all aspects of Latverian society. Any hint of rebellion is met with ruthless suppression, establishing Doom as more of a tyrant than a true leader to his people.
8. Tried To Use Scarlet Witch’s Powers
Never one to ignore an opportunity to gain greater power and control, Doom sought to take advantage of Scarlet Witch’s chaos magic abilities. When Wanda loses her memory in the mini-series “Children’s Crusade,” Doom manipulates her into thinking they were in love and planned to marry.
In reality, Doom only wanted to harness and master the Life Force using Wanda, which would have made him functionally omnipotent. Thankfully his plans were foiled but it showed Doom’s willingness to use and endanger others.
7. Killed Doctor Strange
In the Secret Wars storyline, Doctor Strange was briefly an ally of Doom during the incursions destroying the multiverse. However, when some heroes tried escaping Doom’s new world of Battleworld, Strange helped them get away.
Doom, in a fit of ego and rage, eliminated his former friend with magic for this perceived betrayal. The callous killing of someone who had been an ally just moments ago displays Doom’s lack of loyalty and willingness to destroy even comrades.
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6. Conquering Earth Multiple Times
Using an array of technological and magical means, Doom has achieved ultimate power and control over the Earth on several occasions. Through manipulation of the psychic villain Purple Man or during Secret Wars when he remade the world in his image, Doom has demonstrated his ability to dominate the entire planet.
While these conquests were temporary, they show Doom’s grand ambition knows no limits and he will stop at nothing to achieve complete global supremacy.
5. Erased Citizens’ Memories On Battleworld
After saving remnants of the multiverse to form his world of Battleworld, Doom wiped the memories of all its inhabitants. He took away any recollections people had of family, friends or their old lives.
Being the dictator that he is, Doom could not tolerate people remembering a world or lives that did not revolve entirely around himself. This mental erasure of identity denied citizens their free will and pasts for Doom’s own selfish impulses.
4. Experimented On Asgardian Refugees
In a warped act of “hospitality,” Doom offered shelter to Asgardians after their world was destroyed. However, it was just a ruse as Doom then abducted some refugees to use as test subjects.
He subjected the Asgardians to cruel experiments and physiological augmentation against their will. Doom mutilated his supposed guests, even transforming some into cyborgs, displaying a total disregard for life and ethics in his mad scientific pursuits.
3. Sent Franklin Richards To Hell
To gain the ability to send Reed Richards’ son, Franklin, to literal Hell, Doom sacrificed the woman he loved, Valeria. This traumatized the child Franklin and was one of Doom’s most sadistic acts of psychological torture against his enemy.
Dooming an innocent like Franklin to eternal damnation, all while murdering his own lover, cemented Doom as a villain willing to cross any line no matter who gets hurt.
2. Took Reed’s Place In Secret Wars
After Battleworld, Doctor Doom took things to a disturbing new level by inserting himself into Reed Richards’ life. With the world now his to shape, Doom became the de facto leader of the Fantastic Four and married Sue Storm.
He arrogantly attempted to replace Reed completely, even fathering children with Sue, the ultimate betrayal. Doom’s twisted grab at power knew no bounds, showing a complete lack of basic human decency.
1. Killed His Love Interest For Magic
As noted, to gain the ability to torment Franklin Richards, Doom first had to sacrifice the woman he loved named Valeria. Displaying an utter lack of empathy even for those closest to him, Doom killed his own love interest simply to achieve more dark sorcery.
There could be no lower or more heinous act, cementing Doom as the ruthless villain willing to destroy all in his path, regardless of past connections or relationships. His crimes against humanity truly know no bounds as one of the most cold-hearted villains in all of fiction. Doom will stop at nothing to gain supremacy, no matter the cost in innocent lives.
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