Is Doctor Doom the most versatile supervillain in terms of story potential?

[Hybrid]

I feel like the best thing about Doctor Doom is his unmatched versatility as a character. He's the Fantastic Four's greatest nemesis, and has the biggest rivalry in all of comics with Reed Richards. Yet, he doesn't have to be an FF villain. Doom has tangled with many heroes throughout the MU, in very different stories, while the FF were nowhere in sight. Even better, none of this diminishes his role as the FF's greatest enemy or Reed's fiercest rival.

Seriously, you can make an excellent story out of...

• Doom vs. Avengers
• Doom vs. Strange
• Doom vs. Thor
• Doom vs. Black Panther
• Doom vs. Iron Man
• Doom vs. X-Men
• Doom vs. Hulk
• Doom vs. Spider-Man
• Doom vs. Captain America
• Doom vs. Everyone

And so on. He's just got that kind of style and charisma to him that makes it work no matter what story he's in. I think the versatility is due to the facets of his personality and style. He can be a criminal mastermind, a powerful sorcerer, a mad scientist, a political figure, a greater scope villain, an uneasy ally, and so on, and it's believable because all elements are well-developed and explored.

Are there any other villains who have this level of versatility to them as characters?

That's what I wonder since many villains fit a specific niche, but not Doom. What do you think?

[JudicatorPrime]

Yes and no. In some ways Doom is antithetical to good character writing. Try assigning all of his attributes and personality traits to a hero and most of the readership would reject him as a plausible character. But the boogeyman has to encapsulate all of our fears. Doom has to be the ultimate villain, hence the many facets. I think Thanos is right there, too.

[Sutekh]

Versatile in one respect, limited depending on the nature of the character though. There's less logical reason why he'd show up facing down the Heroes for Hire or Daughters of the Dragon, for instance, because what on earth would they be fighting about? And, due to his gravitas, it doesn't make much sense that he'd be facing off with the Power Pack or the Runaways or some other team of kids, because he's way outside their pay grade, and he's either got to come up with some Doomsy reason to let them live because 'it's beneath him to play fisticuffs with children' or whatever, or he ends up looking like a chump because Squirrel Girl or Gwenpool or some other 'fun' character gets to make everyone look like a chump as part of her super-power of Plot Armor.

He's kind of 'too big' for some stories. And for that reason, I think he's best used sparingly. (And he's not the only one. There's a lot of 'big names' that I feel like Marvel trots out *way* too commonly, and kind of cheapens by having them eventually rack up a string of failures in too short a time period, until everyone just sort of yawns and says, 'Oh look, it's Thanos with his twelfth attempt this decade to destroy all creation. Been there. Done that. A lot.')

[Iron Maiden]

Yes and no. In some ways Doom is antithetical to good character writing. Try assigning all of his attributes and personality traits to a hero and most of the readership would reject him as a plausible character. But the boogeyman has to encapsulate all of our fears. Doom has to be the ultimate villain, hence the many facets. I think Thanos is right there, too.

I have to disagree about Thanos and for the same reasons Sutekh mentions. He should only be used sparingly because it takes so much effort to thwart whatever his plans are, assuming he gets possession of some all powerful artifact like the Infinity Gauntlet again.

As for Doom, I don't think his attributes are all that overdone. To many part of his appeal is because he is a human with no special powers granted to him by an accident with cosmic rays, not a genetic mutation etc which makes him a far more interesting character.

Sometimes his plans take years to come to fruition. Like Doctor Strange, he has spent years studying the mystic arts only Doom started much younger and has acquired a vast library of arcana, many of which Strange would consider sources of forbidden knowledge. There are no half measures with Doom...if he is going to acquire a skill he's going to strive to be a master in that field. It's part of his getting back at a world that looked at his family and fellow Roma as worthless and inferior.

[xcoijoi]

If they could restrict Doom storylines to writers who respect that Doom is a terrestrial, and sometimes a cosmic threat, then sure.

And if the writers remember that he's also a Head of State, then he could be attractive as a foe to even SpiderMan at times.

But too many times, they make Victor look like complete novice. And yes, I know he has an ego and is capable of hubris. But he should have evolved past those kinds of mistakes, long ago.

And as a Head of State AND an egomanic at times, he should never be bowing down to Black Panther or anyone else. Part of the essence of Victor's character, at least for me, is a certain degree of Magesty. Whatever evil intentions he demonstrates, he's earned the right to be the rightful leader of a country.

[ARkadelphia]

Super Adaptoid

[K7P5V]

Are there any other villains who have this level of versatility to them as characters?

Doom is unbeatable. But, these three could be a challenge:

Baron Zemo





Thanos





Otto Octavius