Kristoff Vernard (formerly known as Kristoff von Doom and Dr. Doom) is a
fiction
Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places that are imaginary, or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent with history, fact, or plausibility. In a traditi ...
al
character
Character or Characters may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk
* ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...
appearing in
American comic book
An American comic book is a thin periodical originating in the United States, on average 32 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publication of ''Action Comics'' ...
s published by
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...
. The adoptive son of
Victor von Doom
Doctor Victor Von Doom is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, and first appeared in ''The Fantastic Four'' #5 in July 1962. The monarch of the fi ...
and biological son of
Nathaniel Richards (and half-brother of
Reed Richards
Mister Fantastic (Reed Richards) is a superhero character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is a founding member, and the leader, of the Fantastic Four. Richards has a mastery of mechanical, aerospace and ...
), and direct ancestor of
Kang the Conqueror
Kang the Conqueror (Nathaniel Richards) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is most frequently depicted as an opponent of the Avengers and the Fantastic Four. A time-traveling entity, seve ...
/
Rama-Tut/
Immortus
Immortus (; Nathaniel Richards) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is the future self of Pharaoh Rama-Tut, Scarlet Centurion, Kang the Conqueror, and Iron Lad / Kid Immortus, and a descenda ...
/
Scarlet Centurion
Kang the Conqueror (Nathaniel Richards) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is most frequently depicted as an opponent of the Avengers and the Fantastic Four. A time-traveling entity, ...
/
Iron Lad
Iron Lad (Nathaniel "Nate" Richards) is a fictional superhero character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is an adolescent version of Kang the Conqueror, armed with a bio-metal suit that responds to mental comm ...
, he has been involved mainly with the
Fantastic Four
The Fantastic Four is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team debuted in ''The Fantastic Four'' #1 ( cover dated Nov. 1961), helping usher in a new level of realism in the medium. It was the first ...
, as an enemy, ally and even short-term member.
Publication history
Kristoff first appeared in
John Byrne's "back to the basics"
Fantastic Four
The Fantastic Four is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team debuted in ''The Fantastic Four'' #1 ( cover dated Nov. 1961), helping usher in a new level of realism in the medium. It was the first ...
run in issue #247 in October 1982. Kristoff served as heir to
Doctor Doom
Doctor Victor Von Doom is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, and first appeared in ''The Fantastic Four'' #5 in July 1962. The monarch of the fi ...
, occasional ruler of Latveria, a probationary member of the Fantastic Four, and temporal adventurer alongside
Nathaniel Richards.
The character next appears in ''Fantastic Four'' #258-259 (September–October 1983) and first appears as the second Doctor Doom in ''Fantastic Four'' #278-279 (May–June 1985). After a few scattered appearances, Kristoff Vernard becomes a semi-regular cast member in ''Fantastic Four'' #400 (May 1995). He recently reappeared in FF #2, ruling Latveria in Doom's absence.
An
alternate future version appeared as an adult in the
MC2 universe, beginning in ''
A-Next
A-Next is a fictional team of superheroes, appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. It is the Marvel Comics 2 universe version of the Avengers. The team made its first appearance in '' What If?'' #105, the first comic featu ...
'' #5 (1998), followed by scattered appearances, but was only featured regularly in ''Fantastic Five'' #1-5 (September–November 2007).
Doctor Doom received an entry in the ''
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Update '89'' #2, and the ''All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z'' #12 (2007).
Fictional character biography
Heir
After being ousted as leader of
Latveria
Latveria is a fictional country appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. It is depicted within the storylines of Marvel's comic titles as an isolated European country ruled by the fictional Supreme Lord Doctor Doom, suppose ...
, Dr. Doom returned to the country with the Fantastic Four to overthrow its then-leader, Zorba. Doom met the young Kristoff and his mother. While conversing with them, Kristoff's mother was killed by one of Zorba's robots for violating curfew. Furious at the death of a woman who was standing in his presence and therefore should have been regarded as being under his protection, Doom destroyed the robot and defeated Zorba. Dr. Doom adopted Kristoff as his heir and took him to live in
Castle Doom
Doctor Victor Von Doom is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, and first appeared in ''The Fantastic Four'' #5 in July 1962. The monarch of the ficti ...
.
Second Coming of Doom
Following the apparent murder of Dr. Doom by
Terrax
Terrax the Tamer is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by artist John Byrne and writer Marv Wolfman, the character first appeared in October 1979 as a herald of cosmic entity Galactus and ...
, Doom's robots took Kristoff and brainwashed and implanted within him Doom's mental patterns and detailed memories. However, he stopped the process before all of Doom's memories could be implanted (after his intellect had been duplicated).
Now believing that he was the real Doom, Kristoff's first action was attempting to destroy the Fantastic Four by blowing up the
Baxter Building
The Baxter Building is a fictitious 35-story office building appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The building is depicted in Manhattan, and its five upper floors house the Fantastic Four's headquarters.
Publication hist ...
, a plan drawn from memories of the real Dr. Doom's plot to kill the FF while he was teamed with the
Sub-Mariner. The FF survived the explosion thanks to the force fields of
Sue Richards, something Kristoff had not anticipated because he had stopped the memory transfer at a point before Sue Richards had fully developed her force field abilities. The FF quickly traveled to Doomstadt and defeated their adversary. To the team's surprise, the armor held not Doom but a child, whom the team took with them.
Kristoff would be imprisoned in
Four Freedoms Plaza
Four Freedoms Plaza is a fictional structure appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. It is depicted as being located in the Manhattan of the Marvel Universe; it served as the replacement headquarters for the Fantastic Four ...
, the new home of the Four, following his destruction of the Baxter Building. He was still convinced that he was Doom and
Mister Fantastic
Mister Fantastic (Reed Richards) is a superhero character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is a founding member, and the leader, of the Fantastic Four. Richards has a mastery of mechanical, aerospace a ...
hoped to restore him to his normal personality. At this time the real Dr. Doom "returned from the dead".
Kristoff would free himself with the aid of a Doombot sent to kidnap
Franklin Richards, son of Mister Fantastic and the
Invisible Woman
The Invisible Woman (Susan "Sue" Storm-Richards) is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is a founding member of the Fantastic Four and was the first female superhero created by Marvel during ...
,
[''Fantastic Four Annual'' #20] by the recently resurrected Dr. Doom. Doom wanted to use Franklin as a bargaining chip for the soul of his mother which was held captive by
Mephisto
Mephisto or Mephistopheles is one of the chief demons of German literary tradition.
Mephisto or Mephistopheles may also refer to:
Film and television
* ''Méphisto'', a 1931 French film
* Mephisto (1981 film), ''Mephisto'' (1981 film), a German- ...
. Although still a child of about four or five, Franklin had powerful
psychic
A psychic is a person who claims to use extrasensory perception (ESP) to identify information hidden from the normal senses, particularly involving telepathy or clairvoyance, or who performs acts that are apparently inexplicable by natural laws, ...
powers which had enabled him to defeat Mephisto in a previous encounter. This time, Doom's power inhibitors prevented Franklin from fighting the demon, who agreed to the bargain. But at that very moment, Kristoff, in full armor, burst in with an army of Doombots and challenged Doom, whom he thought to be an impostor.
The FF, who had followed Kristoff in order to rescue Franklin, intervened and Mister Fantastic used a device of his own to enable his son to fight back against Mephisto. As the two Dooms battled, the Doombots stood by, unsure which to aid since they both claimed to be Doom and the brainscans seemed to confirm this.
The battle soon ended but Doom's mother was still not free. Her imprisonment in the nether realms was one of the few failures that Doom would admit to and he said as much to those present. The robots perceived this as doubt and a lack of confidence meaning Kristoff could only be the real ever-confident Dr. Doom. The Doombots turned on their creator and Dr. Doom was forced to flee.
Kristoff ruled Latveria as Doom
once again, where he would encounter the West Coast Avengers. To their surprise, he let them leave Latveria. He stayed the regent until the original infiltrated the Castle and uttered a codeword that reverted Kristoff to his original personality. Doom reclaimed his throne while Kristoff was sent as a decoy to battle Mr. Fantastic. He was killed and placed in stasis in a Tibetan Monastery.
Life After Doom
Nathaniel Richards revived Kristoff along with Boris, Doom's former guardian, who was actually the
Tomorrow Man
Zarrko, the Tomorrow Man is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is most commonly associated with Thor.
Publication history
Zarrko was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, and first appeare ...
in disguise. The former dictator returned with Richards and the Invisible Woman, where he became a closely monitored member of the Fantastic Four, and close friends with
Cassandra Lang
Cassandra "Cassie" Lang is a fictional Character (arts), character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The daughter of Ant-Man (Scott Lang), Scott Lang, the character first appeared in ''Marvel Premiere'' #47 (April 1979) ...
, daughter of
Ant-Man (Scott Lang)
Ant-Man (Scott Lang) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by David Michelinie, Bob Layton and John Byrne, Scott Lang first appeared in '' The Avengers'' #181 (March 1979) and in ''Ma ...
who had also joined the team following the "death" of Mister Fantastic. He eventually took his leave from the group to go with Nathaniel Richards. He was reunited with Doom when the alternate future offspring of
Franklin Richards and
Rachel Summers
Rachel Anne Summers (also known as Rachel Grey) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Chris Claremont and artist/co-plotter John Byrne (comics), John Byrne.
In h ...
called
Hyperstorm
This article lists Marvel characters beginning with the letter "H", with a brief description introducing each one.
Hala the Accuser
Gabrielle Haller
Gabrielle Haller was a catatonic Holocaust survivor who awoke from the disorder after Charle ...
, attacked the Fantastic Four where he chose to help them instead of attacking them at their weakest. The group defeated Hyperstorm.
Following the Onslaught saga, Kristoff and Nathaniel tried to collect the now-missing FF's equipment located in the
Negative Zone
The Negative Zone is a fictional setting, an antimatter universe appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The location is depicted in various publications from Marvel, most frequently in ''Fantastic Four'' and '' Captain Mar ...
. They then returned to Latveria, Kristoff with hopes of assuming the throne once again, but they were met with resistance by the
Dreadknight
Dreadknight (Bram Velsing) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.
Publication history
The character first appeared in '' Iron Man'' #101 (Aug. 1977) and was created by writer Bill Mantlo and penciller G ...
and found Doombots in charge. The duo were then tricked by
S.H.I.E.L.D.
S.H.I.E.L.D. is a fictional espionage, special law enforcement, and counter-terrorism agency appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in ''Strange Tales'' #135 (August 1965), it often deals ...
into defeating them.
Kristoff and Nathaniel were later displaced by
Stryfe
Stryfe is a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, most commonly in association with the superhero team X-Force. He is a clone of Cable.
Publication history
The character was created by Louise Simo ...
after his ship crashed into Castle Doom.
Nathaniel Richards has hinted that he is Kristoff's father, which gives something of an irony that Doctor Doom chose, as his heir, the half-brother of his most hated rival.
At the start of ''Fantastic Four: Three'', Doom was making plans to abdicate his throne and give it to Kristoff, who is referred to as living in "exile".
Kristoff was then revealed to be the villain in the ''Spider-Man/Fantastic Four'' miniseries, setting up an elaborate plan to depose Doom and take his place- such as setting up a riot at the Latverian embassy in the past so that he could read some books of magic that Doom had lost in the present, acquiring samples of the
Venom
Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a sti ...
symbiote in order to create a 'symbiote bomb' that he could secretly 'sell' to Doom to take him out of the picture- culminating in him seeking the aid of
Spider-Man
Spider-Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in the anthology comic book '' Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in the ...
and the Fantastic Four to help in his final plan, regarding them as Doom's greatest enemies. Spider-Man was an 'honorary' member of the FF as he is invariably the first person the team turns to when they require either general outside assistance or just someone to socialise with. Although Kristoff attacks them when they turn him down, claiming that they were willing to just 'forget' him after the Onslaught incident, Spider-Man and the Thing discover an old family photo album which includes pictures of Kristoff's time with the team, the Thing explaining that they have actually never stopped trying to find Kristoff but had long ago run out of ideas about where to actively look. Their original search had failed because Kristoff was hiding away in training. Despite this, Kristoff rejects the team and departs in anger, swearing to destroy Doom himself.
At one point, Doom loses part of his intelligence during "Fall of the Hulks". In turn, he calls in Vernard from exile to rule Latveria for him while he advises in the shadows. With the help of the Fantastic Four, Doom regains his full intelligence by transporting a part of Doom's backup memories that are contained in Vernard's head.
He is subsequently living in Latveria with Doctor Doom, who continues to groom him to be his heir.
For a point, Vernard and Valeria seem to both be living in Latveria at the same time.
Kristoff Vernard assists his father in preparing for the events of Secret Wars, including having dinner with Reed (in an attempt to gather information), fighting off an incursion, having dinner with Namor, and observing Doom's preparations.
Kristoff Vernard then hired
She-Hulk
She-Hulk (Jennifer "Jen" Walters) is a fictional Character (arts), character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist John Buscema, she first appeared in ''The Savage She-Hulk'' #1 (cov ...
as his lawyer to apply for political asylum in the United States, but end up facing a small army of Doombots. After defeating the Doombots, She-Hulk succeeds in granting him political asylum only for Doctor Doom to break into the courthouse and kidnap him. She-Hulk then goes to Latveria to rescue Kristoff only for him and Doctor Doom to have a pep-talk, where he expresses his desire to follow his own path in life. After the talk, Doom allows Kristoff and She-Hulk to leave Latveria.
Later on, after Doom is momentarily deposed from his throne, Kristoff is summoned back among others to test his loyalty to Doom. He passed immediately, but was then told to "never call
imfather again".
Vernard may have been present during the confrontation against Ionela Novothy, the Symkarian "ringleader" of the coup against Doom. When the war concluded and Symkaria was annexed into Latveria, Doom installed Kristoff as governor of what is now the southern region of Latveria.
Powers and abilities
Kristoff Vernard has no superpowers but he's a skilled scientist and magician. He has also worn a suit of armor that grants him some degree of superhuman strength and durability, flight and energy projection.
Other versions
Franklin Richards: Son of a Genius
In the non-canonical humor comic ''Franklin Richards: Son of a Genius'', Kristoff is depicted as a foreign exchange classmate of Franklin's from Latveria making him roughly the same age as him. He shows total admiration for Doctor Doom and much like his idol shows some disdain for the son of his archenemy. Franklin appears to be oblivious to Kristoff's antagonism and believes that he is his genuine friend.
House of M
Kristoff was a member of Doom's Fearsome Four, as the Inhuman Torch. In the crafted world, Kristoff was the adopted son of Valeria and Doom, and thanks to the cosmic experimentation of his adoptive father, had the abilities of Johnny Storm.
MC2
In the
MC2 universe, Kristoff appears as an ally of the
A-Next
A-Next is a fictional team of superheroes, appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. It is the Marvel Comics 2 universe version of the Avengers. The team made its first appearance in '' What If?'' #105, the first comic featu ...
and the
Fantastic Five. He uses the name "Doom" and has requested membership in the Fantastic Five. He is later shown to have indeed gained membership. His costume is a combination of his old mask and a green version of the F5 uniform.
In other media
Video games
* In the Heroes and Villains expansion pack for ''
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance'', Kristoff Vernard is an alternate costume for Doctor Doom.
Notes
John Byrne revealed his original plans for Kristoff, stating "I intended Doom to return to Latvaria and absolutely FREAK OUT when he discovered what his robots had done to Kristoff. Basically -- he'd need a whole lot of new robots by the time he calmed down. And then he would devote a whole lot of time and energy to restoring Kristoff. (I had not decided if he would be successful. Part of my brain wanted him to realize he needed the help of the other smartest guy on the planet -- and there was no way he could ever go there!")
See also
*
Doctor Doom
Doctor Victor Von Doom is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, and first appeared in ''The Fantastic Four'' #5 in July 1962. The monarch of the fi ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vernard, Kristoff
Marvel Comics supervillains
Marvel Comics superheroes
Marvel Comics male supervillains
Marvel Comics male superheroes
Marvel Comics 2
Latverians
Characters created by John Byrne (comics)
Comics characters introduced in 1982
Doctor Doom
Marvel Comics scientists
Superheroes who are adopted
Marvel Comics characters who use magic
Fantastic Four