DR. DOOM'S SERVO-GUARDS
Membership: D-19, KR-7, LB-9, Unit Fifteen, Unit Five, Unit Seven, Unit Six
Purpose: To serve Dr. Doom and police Latveria
Affiliations: Dr. Doom, Dr. Doom Doppelganger, Doombots, The Editor, The Enclave, Latveria, Nathaniel Richards, Terrax (former) Stryfe, Prince Zorba
Enemies: Avengers (Captain America, Hawkeye, Iron Man, Mockingbird, Tigra, Wasp, Wonder Man), Blade, Cable, Enslavers, Fantastic Force, Fantastic Four (Human Torch, Invisible Woman, Mr. Fantastic, She-Hulk, Thing), Hercules, Hunger, Cosette LaFarge, Lyja, Alicia Masters, Eric Masterson, Mary Jane Watson-Parker, May Parker, Madelyne Pryor, Prince Rudolfo, Silver Sable, Silver Surfer, Solarman, Spider-Man, Thor, Kristoff Vernard, Wild Pack (Battlestar, Amy Chen, Crippler, Doug Powell, Raul Quentino, Silver Sable), Prince Zorba
Aliases: Doombots, Guardian Robots, Omni-Bots, Security Robots, Servo-Units
Base of Operations: Castle Doom, Doomstadt, Latveria First Appearance: Fantastic Four I#84 (March, 1969)
Powers/Abilities: The Servo-Guards are capable robot soldiers, built from easily-smashed materials, and often equipped with laser rifles. For riot control, they carry Insultato-Shields which protect them from explosive bursts, and rifles which fire heat shells. Some Servo-Guards have had weapons built into their arms, and they also possess tracking sensors. Each Servo-Guard has been programmed to comprehend and counter the abilities of the Fantastic Four in combat, and to recognize all enemies of Dr. Doom as enemies of theirs. History: (Thor I#182 (fb)) - Years ago, Dr. Doom employed his Servo-Guards to kidnap Professor Francis LaFarge and his daughter Cosette from France to force the professor to work for him in Latveria.
(Fantastic Four I#84) - When a Latverian citizen attempted to defect to the outside world in order to warn them about Dr. Doom's Killer Robots, four Servo-Guards accompanied Doom in retrieving him. Later, when the Fantastic Four entered Latveria on a mission for S.H.I.E.L.D., a squad of Servo-Guards recognized them and attacked them in the streets, managing to defeat them all and turn them over to Dr. Doom, who hypnotized them so that they would be unable to use their powers.
(Fantastic Four I#85) - As the Fantastic Four were stranded in Latveria, Doom had his Servo-Guards keep them under surveillance. Finally ready to release his Killer Robots, Doom sacrificed two of his Servo-Guards in the course of unleashing them upon the village where the Fantastic Four were being held.
(Fantastic Four I#86) - Doom's Servo-Guards fled in the path of the dozen Killer Robots Doom unleashed. (Fantastic Four I#87) - The Servo-Guards defended Castle Doom as the Fantastic Four assaulted it, but fell before their power. Ultimately, the Fantastic Four were dismissed from Latveria by Doom.
(Fantastic Four: The World's Greatest Comics Magazine#1) - Several Servo-Guards accompanied the Enclave in raiding the Baxter Building while the Fantastic Four were away. They assisted in reclaiming all of Doom's devices which the Fantastic Four had in their possession.
(Fantastic Four: The World's Greatest Comics Magazine#2) - Some Servo-Guards stood by Doom's side as he oversaw the revival of a Kree Sentry he had obtained.
(Fantastic Four: The World's Greatest Comics Magazine#11) - The Servo-Guards guarded the Silver Surfer on behalf of Dr. Doom, but the Fantastic Four came and rescued him, and fought their way through the Servo-Guards.
(Astonishing Tales#1) - The Servo-Guards brought Ramona to Doom, unwittingly playing into the hands of the rebellion led by Prince Rudulfo. The Servo-Guards later fought Rudolfo's forces, and many of them were destroyed thanks to the sophisticated weaponry Rudolfo had obtained from the Faceless One.
(Thor I#182-183) - The Servo-Guards guarded Castle Doom while Dr. Doom met with Dr. Donald Blake, who claimed to be able to help repair his face. When this turned out to be a ruse, the Servo-Guards shut him up in a dungeon. There, Blake changed into Thor, and fought off the Servo-Guards.
(Fantastic Four I#196-197) - The Servo-Guards stood guard over the Invisible Girl, Thing and Human Torch after their capture by the Invincible Man (actually a brainwashed Mr. Fantastic), but they broke free and defeated the robots, only to be brought down by Dr. Doom himself.
(Fantastic Four I#197) - The Servo-Guards guarded the Invisible Girl, Thing, Human Torch and Alicia Masters in Latveria as Dr. Doom prepared to transfer their powers into his clone. When Mr. Fantastic arrived to free his teammates but was defeated by Doom, the Servo-Guards set him up to have his powers transferred as well.
(Fantastic Four I#199) - When the Fantastic Four escaped Doom's prison, the Servo-Guards fought them, but were destroyed. Doom sent some of his Servo-Guards to imprison Alicia Masters, whom he had forced to mold a statue of himself so that he could plant a mind control device inside of it.
(Fantastic Four I#200) - As Doom set out to the United Nations, he had his Servo-Guards load Alicia's statue aboard his private jet. The Servo-Guards presented the statue to the United Nations in New York, and notified Doom so that he could activate the mind control device, but all of the Servo-Guards were then destroyed by the Thing, Human Torch and Invisible Girl.
(Fantastic Four I#236) - Miniature versions of the Servo-Guards (KR-7, LB-9) were used by Doom to defend the borders of Liddleville, to prevent the captured Fantastic Four from departing. They engaged the Fantastic Four as they set out from Liddleville, but despite their superior numbers, the Fantastic Four's dramatically increased powers made short work of them.
(Silver Surfer II#1) - Learning that Shalla-Bal was living in Latveria, the Silver Surfer broke into Castle Doom and destroyed a number of Servo-Guards as he searched for her.
(Fantastic Four I#247 (fb)) - While Prince Zorba ruled Latveria, the Servo-Guards obeyed his commands, and became the country's ruthless secret police.
(Fantastic Four I#247) - The Servo-Guards came upon Dr. Doom and the Fantastic Four when Doom came to retake his throne, and one of them slew the mother of Kristoff Vernard. Doom struck back at his creations alongside the Fantastic Four, and deactivated the Servo-Guards with an electro-neumonic scrambler. After Doom slew Zorba, the Servo-Guards again became loyal to him.
(Fantastic Four I#258) - Doom sent four of his Servo-Guards (Unit Five, Unit Seven, Unit Fifteen and Unit Six) to capture Terrax from his hospital bed in New York and bring him to Latveria so that Doom could use him as a pawn against the Fantastic Four. One Servo-Guard could not understand why Doom would grant Terrax so much power, but Doom revealed to it that Terrax would soon be consumed by his own power.
(Fantastic Four I#279) - The Servo-Guards defended Castle Doom when the Fantastic Four broke into it to confront Kristoff Vernard, the new Dr. Doom. Although the Servo-Guards did their best to defend the premises, they were destroyed by the Fantastic Four.
(Fantastic Four I#287) - Dr. Doom, disguised as the Invincible Man, brought the Wasp, Invisible Woman and She-Hulk into the Latverian Embassy, claiming that his wife and child were being held inside. "The Invincible Man" revealed to them that the Embassy had 50 robots on staff, and the four of them made quick work of the Servo-Guards who attacked them.
(Fantastic Four I#288) - The Human Torch and Mr. Fantastic joined She-Hulk and Wasp in battling the Servo-Guards, which they did with ease, but Dr. Doom then reappeared, now in his true identity, and defeated all four of them.
(Marvel Graphic Novel#27 - Emperor Doom) - Dr. Doom stationed an army of Servo-Guards at "Doom Island," where he prepared the Purple Man to serve as an instrument to control the entire world's population. Iron Man, Tigra, Mockingbird and Hawkeye of the Avengers raided the island before the device was activated and fought the Servo-Guards, but fell under Doom's control once the device was turned on. Later, Wonder Man, Iron Man, Hawkeye, Wasp, and Captain America, possessing free will, fought hundreds of Servo-Guards as they broke into Island Doom and ultimately destroyed Doom's device.
(Fantastic Four I#312) - A Servo-Guard stood beside Kristoff Vernard, usurper to the identity of Dr. Doom, and heard a report on the whereabouts of the true Dr. Doom.
(Dr. Strange/Dr. Doom: Triumph and Torment) - One of Doom's Servo-Guards was present when he received his summons to the Temple of the Three from the Aged Genghis, but the robot could not detect the psychic message.
(Thor I#410) - Servo-Guards loyal to Dr. Doom assisted him in designing a device which would siphon the energies of Thor's hammer Mjolnir into him, so that he could use this power to attack Kristoff Vernard. While Doom fought Vernard, Hercules, She-Hulk and Eric Masterson came to reclaim Mjolnir, and destroyed all of the Servo-Guards.
(Solarman#2)- As Ben Tucker, Solarman drove up to Doctor Doom's Beverly Hills Mansion to ostensibly interview Doctor Doom for his school paper. Blue-colored Servobots stopped him. Tucker was thrown in the "guest room" by a Servobot. Solarman battled more of Doctor Doom's Servobots before he had to leave due to the encroachment of night.
(Silver Surfer: The Enslavers) - The Servo-Guards with Dr. Doom were overcome alongside him by the Enslavers as they sought to use Earth's superhuman population to power the Enslaver Mrrungo-Mu.
(Fantastic Four I#358/2) - The Editor turned Hoskous, a servant of Doom, over to the Servo-Guards to have his memory cleansed for having met him.
(Silver Sable and her Wild Pack#4-5) - While Dr. Doom was away from Latveria, his doppelganger constructed by the Magus assumed command of the country, and Doom's robots -- including the Servo-Guards -- could not tell that he was not their master. When Silver Sable came to Castle Doom, the Servo-Guards killed her coachman, and later pursued her through the castle alongside the Doom doppelganger and other Doombots. When Sable's Wild Pack came to her rescue, the Servo-Guards fought them as well, but when the Doom doppelganger was frozen in time by the efforts of Galactus, the Servo-Guards shut down, having no orders to receive.
(Fantastic Four I#374) - Doom had his Servo-Guards dress him in his new suit of armor which empowered him with energies stolen from Aron the Rogue Watcher.
(Fantastic Four I#379) - One of the Servo-Guards informed Doom that his Operation: Space Probe venture, which had been undertaken by Dr. Gittelsohn, had made contact with an alien life-form. Later, a Servo-Guard informed Doom that the Fantastic Four's Pogo Plane had entered Latverian air space, and Doom ordered it shot down.
(Fantastic Four I#380) - Two Servo-Guards, assigned to soldiers Gustave and Jerrold, recovered the Thing from the wreckage of the Pogo Plane and turned him over to Dr. Doom. A third Servo-Guard informed Doom of the Thing's capture. Later, the two Servo-Guards set out with Jerrold and Gustave to find the alien life-form Doom had contacted, but the entity-- the Hunger-- destroyed both Servo-Guards.
(Fantastic Four I#382) - Following the apparent deaths of Mr. Fantastic and Dr. Doom after their battle with the Hunger, the Fantastic Four, Psi-Lord and Lyja invaded Castle Doom, hoping to find evidence that Mr. Fantastic was still alive. An army of Servo-Guards opposed them, but they easily blasted their way through them and stole Doom's Matter Transferrence Platform. After their departure, the time traveler Nathaniel Richards arrived and activated a program which placed the Servo-Guards under his control. He then assumed control of Latveria itself.
(Fantastic Four I#386) - Nathaniel began to impersonate Doom both by himself and with the use of his Doombots, supported by the Servo-Guards.
(Fantastic Four I#387) - The Servo-Guards stood by as Nathaniel made telepathic contact with Psi-Lord.
(Fantastic Four I#393) - The Servo-Guards stood by as the Invisible Woman battled Nathaniel, who was disguised as Dr. Doom at the time.
(Fantastic Four I#394) - As the Invisible Woman prepared to join Nathaniel in searching for Kristoff Vernard, one of the Servo-Guards informed her that Nathaniel was ready. She threw the robot an old Fantastic Four uniform that she had worn, and instructed it to destroy it.
(Fantastic Four I#395) - The Servo-Guards helped Nathaniel remove his Dr. Doom armor, and assisted him in donning his Warlord armor.
(Fantastic Four I#396) - When the Invisible Woman became impatient with Nathaniel for not sharing information, she held him in one of her force fields. Four Servo-Guards responded by closing in to attack her, but she destroyed all of them with a single assault. Nathaniel had his other Servo-Guards stand down and vaccuum up the remains of the four who were destroyed.
(Fantastic Force#7) - The Servo-Guards were assaulted by the Fantastic Force when they came to Castle Doom seeking Nathaniel, and fell easily before their power.
(Fantastic Four I#401) - Servo-Guard D-19 outfitted Nathaniel with his vibro-vest as he set off to investigate the actions of Maximus during "Atlantis Rising."
(Fantastic Four I#405) - The Servo-Guards tended to Nathaniel's needs as he continued to rule over Latveria, providing him with food and drink.
(Captain America I#453) - When Captain America entered Latveria, he was beset by two Servo-Guards almost immediately, and brought directly to Dr. Doom.
(Spiderman and the Incredible Hulk: Rampage) - AIM and Hydra attacked Latveria and faced Doom's Servo-Guards. (Tales of the Marvel Universe#1) - When Kristoff Vernard and Nathaniel Richards returned to Latveria following Doom's apparent death battling Onslaught, they found that a malfunctioning Doombot had risen to power, and it was supported by the Servo-Guards. Kristoff cut a quick swath through the Servo-Guards, and set off to oppose the Doombot.
(Spider-Man Unlimited I#16) - When Silver Sable arrived in Latveria with Spider-Man to oust the Dreadknight on behalf of the Zefiro, the presence of Spider-Man activated two of the Servo-Guard's attack functions, as they recognized him as a threat. Silver Sable assisted Spider-Man in bringing down the robots.
(Cable II#63) - After Stryfe assumed control of Castle Doom, he unleashed an army of Doombots and Servo-Guards on Cable and Madelyne Pryor when they came there to rescue Nate Grey from Stryfe. Cable and Pryor easily destroyed the robots.
(Amazing Spider-Man II#15) - When Spider-Man invaded Latveria and assisted a band of freedom fighters, the Servo-Guards joined with various other models of robots (including a Doombot) to fight him.
(JLA/Avengers#1) - Doom's Servo-Guards stood at his side forcing crowds of Latverians to worship Doom while the heroes Green Lantern and Aquaman passed through Latveria in their exploration of Earth-616. Green Lantern wanted to help the Latverians, but Aquaman convinced him to press on.
(Fantastic Four III#503) - Following Doom's capture by the Haazareth, his Servo-Guards began to transport his devices out of Castle Doom and through a teleportation matrix so that Doom would be able to recover his materials, but they were interrupted by the Fantastic Four and prevented from going any further.
(Fantastic Four III#505-506) - Mr. Fantastic reprogrammed some of the Servo-Guards to obey his commands, and sent them to break up a meeting of the resistance which had formed against the Fantastic Four. In addition to capturing the resistance members, they also fought the Thing and Human Torch, defeating them. Reed then unleashed the Servo-Guards on the resistance to make a "public example" of them, but the rest of the Fantastic Four saved the resistance and destroyed the Servo-Guards, winning the adulation of the resistance-- which had been Reed's plan all along.
(Marvel Knights Spider-Man#20) - When Spider-Man invaded Castle Doom to make use of Doom's time machine alongside Mary Jane Watson-Parker and May Parker, they encountered a number of Servo-Guards, and Spider-Man's illness made him unable to protect his relatives, but because the two women were garbed in suits of Iron Man armor, they were able to destroy the Servo-Guards.
(Blade III#2) - Servo-Guards attempted to block Blade when he invaded Castle Doom, but Blade destroyed them.
Comments: Created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Joe Sinnott.
In Fantastic Four I#86-87, the Servo-Guards are a little out-of-character-- they fear losing their "lives" and fail to address Doom properly and are punished for it. Apparently, Stan mistook them for henchmen, having forgotten he'd established them as robots.
Doom has many other kinds of robots guarding his castle (such as those seen in Super-Villain Team-Up #6, Micronauts I#41, X-Force I#63 or Fantastic Four III#30), but this entry covers only the Servo-Guards, who have a distinctive appearance.
There are probably more appearances of the Servo-Guards that I'm unaware of. If you can identify them, drop me a line!
Thanks to Per Degaton for the Solarman#2 and Spider-Man & the Incredible Hulk: Rampage novel summary!
by
The Latverian Embassy, New York
Liddleville
Miniature versions of the Servo-Guards were used to defend Liddleville.
--It's also possible that some of them actually were
henchman. Perhaps Doom initially placed some real people there to keep on eye on
the citizens or in case the robots malfunctioned or something.--Snood
CLARIFICATIONS:
The Servo-Guards should not be confused with:
On Earth-982, Dr. Doom employed many of his Servo-Guards to enforce Latveria while he possessed the Power Cosmic. Many of the Servo-Guards fought the Fantastic Five and their allies Grim, Rad, Torus Storm, Kristoff Vernard and Sharon Ventura as they opposed and ultimately defeated Doom.
--Fantastic Five II#5
Images taken from:
Fantastic Four I#236, page 28, panel 2
Fantastic Four I#85, page 16, panel 3
Fantastic Four I#85, page 17, panel 2
Earth-982- Fantastic Five II#5, page 12 (not counting ads), panel 3
First Posted: 03/28/2004
Last updated: 10/15/2007
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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