Dr. Doom: Selfishly seeking salvation Article by Stafffighter, 08:00 PM 14th Jul Disclaimer: The following opinions are those of the author and do not reflect the views of the other endless crew staff. In fact they all disagree with me and persecute me regularly. Quick overview: Victor Von Doom had a lot going for him. He was a man of magical lineage and scientific genius. When one mistake ruined both his reputation and his face he left college to prove himself in other ways. He still managed to become a doctor. After the accident Victor took to wearing an armored suit including a full mask and calling himself Dr. Doom. Both the name and the mask are meant towards the same effect, to be someone other than he had been before. This plays both on the mental state of the man and the world around him. The means of these two are one and the same. That being that despite reason the human eye will want to believe what is in front of it. When they saw the metal characteristics they did not see a human, they saw Dr. Doom. In this they treated him as Dr. Doom and he could himself feel like Dr. Doom. While the transformation was a dramatic one it was only the final ingredient in what Victor was to become. Victor grew up as a gypsy in the small country of Latveria. His father was a healer and his deceased mother had been a sorceress. Upon his father’s death at the hands of a local baron Victor decided to take up the dark arts his mother had and used this to take money from the rich and give it to the poor. The significance of this is that it shows him from a viewpoint of leaders with concerns over the good of their people. This was his picture of corruption and the justification he would come to use in his attempts at world domination. The fact that he had strived against said corruption is ultimately that which corrupted him. Victor was very powerful with his magic and science. This earned him the gratitude and awes of those his assisted. Even then they saw his powers as something beyond human and as he would later in life he believed what they saw in him. Thusly a single accident, a single mar in perfection had an exaggerated affect on him. Upon seeing that he was unable to live up to ideal that had been perceived in him rather than learn from his mistake he decided to gain the power to make that ideal true. As absolutes have a tendency to be beyond mortal grasp the pursuit of power would prove to be without end. This is of course the root of his villainy. One of the first things done in the identity of Dr. Doom was to displace the rulers of Latveria and take the country for his own. The interesting factor in this is that in this role he is a concerned and responsible leader. This accompanied by the fact that he regularly travels to the underworld to fight for his mothers soul indicate a man who retains a sense of goodness and honor. This acknowledges a broader scope than the minds of most villains in that after taking over the world he actually intends to do a benevolent job in running it. Where he fails is that his ever consuming lust for power distracts him from logically examining the impossibility. The clear indication is that as much as the pursuit of absolute power is very much capable of corrupting absolutely. This one selfish trait made a villain out of a man who for all other factors had done good for the world. He made the all too seductive mistake of believing his own praise, with or without the mask. Disagree? Bring it up on the forum. Suggestions? E mail me. But don’t write an essay. If I use who you suggest I’ll only say what I have to say Back to Rants