Type: Divergent Earth
Environment: Earth-like
Usual means of access: Presumably vibrational attunement
Dominant Life Form: Demons, humans, mutants
Significant Inhabitants: Ancient One, the Avengers (Captain America, Giant-Man, Iron Man, Thor, Wasp), Baron Karl Amadeus Mordo, Daredevil, Doctor Stephen Strange, Doombots, Dormammu, the Fantastic Four (Human Torch, Invisible Girl, Mister Fantastic, the Thing), Mephisto, Merlin, Spider-Man, Cynthia von Doom, Victor von Doom, the X-Men (Angel, Beast, Cyclops)
Significant Locations: The Himalayas; New York City, New York
First Appearance: What If? II#52 (August, 1993)
History:
(What If? II#52) - Following the hardships of his life and
his expulsion from college due to the a backfired experiment that left a
small scar on his face, Victor traveled to the Himalayas, where he met with
the sorcerer known as the Ancient One. Upon meeting the Ancient One, Doom
demanded to learn the Ancient One's secrets. The Ancient One claimed that
he would never entrust his secrets to Doom, who was brash and impudent. Doom
angrily exclaimed that no one was more deserving of the knowledge than he,
and the Ancient One promptly cast a spell that revealed Doom's life story.
The Ancient One decided that he might be able to light the spark of nobility
in Doom and agreed to train him as his apprentice on the condition that he
learn to call him "master." Doom agreed, so long as the Ancient One agreed
to aid him in freeing his mother's soul from the Netherrealm. Unknown to
Doom at the time, Karl Mordo was secretly watching as Doom arrived at the temple.
In the weeks that followed, Doom learned spells that took Mordo months to master, and Mordo's jealousy of Doom soon grew into hatred and fear. Eventually, Mordo's hatred grew to the point where he attacked "Doom." Unfortunately, Mordo's spells did not affect "Doom" and shocked, Mordo announced that Doom could not possibly shrug off his most powerful spells. "Doom" then revealed itself to be a robotic creation of the real Victor von Doom. The robot grabbed Mordo by the neck and injected a Nanite bomb into his skull that would explode upon Doom's command or if Doom were to perish. After Doom's confrontation with Mordo, the Ancient One commended Doom on using the "ruse" of the "nannite bomb," as Doom thought to himself that the Ancient One was completely ignorant in the ways of science.
Some time later, a man named Stephen Strange arrived at the Himalayan temple begging for the Ancient One's help in healing his injured hands. Doom informed Strange that his injury was none of his concern, but the Ancient One whispered that if Doom was capable of helping Strange with his problems, then his training under the Ancient One would be complete. In order to take care of Strange's problem quickly, Doom had Strange follow him to his workshop, from where the Ancient One soon heard a scream. The Ancient One demanded to know what had happened, to which Doom explained that he had cut off Strange's hands and replaced them with a pair of robotic hands that would allow Strange to perform operations with superhuman accuracy. As Strange left the temple, the Ancient One monologued that Victor von Doom had failed to see Strange's true problem in his heart and soul. Deciding to take care of his side of his bargain with Doom, the Ancient One brought Victor the Cloak of Levitation and the Eye of Agamotto. The Ancient One was soon shocked to see that Victor von Doom in a suit of armor of his own design, claiming that he was now prepared, both scientifically and magically.
The Ancient One quickly cast his dimension-traversing spell, and both he and Doom soon confronted Mephisto himself. Mephisto distracted Victor by showing him his mother's soul. As Doom ran off to save his mother, Mephisto attacked the Ancient One, seeing him as easy prey now that his forces were divided. During his battle with Mephisto, the Ancient One looked over to see Victor about to be attacked by demon and turned to save the life of his apprentice. With the Ancient One distracted, Mephisto saw his opportunity and killed the Ancient One's physical body, while the dread Dormammu watched from the Dark Dimension. Mephisto then turned his attention towards Victor von Doom, but the Ancient One's astral form soon rose from his body and escaped from Hell, taking Cynthia von Doom's soul with him. Doom also took his leave while Mephisto was distracted and returned to the Himalayan temple of the Ancient One.
When Doom returned without the Ancient One, Mordo worriedly announced that Mephisto had already prepared his revenge and informed Doom that the skies had just erupted in fire. Doom corrected Mordo, explaining that the skies were not erupting in hellfire, but the Flames of Faltine instead. Realizing that Dormammu was attempting to merge the Dark Dimension with Earth, Doom jumped into battle with Dormammu himself. While in battle, Doom projected his astral form into the Baxter Building in order to gain the aid of his old college acquaintance, Reed Richards, now Mister Fantastic of the Fantastic Four. He explained to the Fantastic Four the situation and how he had transported Dormammu's portal to the Dark Dimension to New York, where he had hoped that its superhuman population would help keep the demons at bay. He also proposed to the Fantastic Four that they help him in defeating Dormammu by acting as his agents. The Fantastic Four agreed and Doom transported them to the time of Blackbeard the pirate. Once in the past, Doom explained that they needed to obtain Blackbeard's treasure, which housed the Obsidian Stone that once belonged to Merlin. Using the Obsidian Stone to back his own mystic power, Doom hoped that he could defeat Dormammu. Once they found the treasure by defeating the pirates aboard Blackbeard's ship, the Thing gained the trust and respect of the pirates onboard. As the other members of the Fantastic Four left for the present, the Thing decided to stay in the pirate era where he was not treated as a freak or a monster.
In the present day, Doom was still battling Dormammu as New York's heroes battled his demon hordes. Mister Fantastic soon threw the Obsidian Stone to Doom, who pulled Dormammu and the entire Dark Dimension inside the Stone. The spell to trap Dormammu put incredible strain on Doom, who collapsed. Later, as New York's heroes waited for the outcome of Doom's surgery, Iron Man informed them that his "employer" Tony Stark would give Doom the best surgeon money could buy. Before he could continue, Doctor Stephen Strange came out into the waiting room and told the heroes that he could not save Doom. With his last bits of life, Doom told Dr. Strange that his death had been prepared for. As Strange turned around, he saw two Doombots, who grabbed Strange and entered a portal back to the Himalayan temple of the Ancient One. Strange looked over to see Baron Mordo's deceased body on the ground. The two Doombots then took Strange back to Doom's workshop where they used his body with a robotic head as Doom's new body. As Strange's newly robotic head protested, the Doombots began to download Doom's memories into the new body.
Comments: Created by Dan Slott, Manny Galan, and Mark Stegbauer.
This reality diverged from the events seen first in a flashback in Fantastic Four I#5 (July, 1962).
One thing of note: This reality was officially designated Earth-938 in the Marvel Encyclopedia Vol. 6: Fantastic Four. -Proto-Man
Clarifications:
No known connection to:
THE ANCIENT ONE
The Ancient One was Earth's Sorcerer Supreme, like his Earth-616 counterpart. Victor von Doom came to him, hoping to enlist his aid in retrieving his mother's soul from Hell. The Ancient One agreed to teach Doom in hopes of igniting the spark of nobility in him. Realizing that he had failed when Doom failed to realize the troubled heart and soul of Doctor Stephen Strange, the Ancient One sought to end his partnership with Doom quickly by going through with his end of the bargain. Both the Ancient One and Doom soon arrived in Hell to battle Mephisto and retrieve the soul of Cynthia von Doom. While battling Mephisto, the Ancient One's physical body was destroyed as he attempted to save Victor from a demon. His physical body killed, the Ancient One continued to exist in astral form and managed to retrieve Cynthia's soul as he passed on in the afterlife.
--What If? II#52 (#52d,
BARON MORDO
Baron Karl Amadeus Mordo was the Ancient One's original apprentice until Victor von Doom arrived. Growing jealous of Doom, Baron Mordo attempted to attack him, but found that the Doom he was attacking was actually a robot. The real Doom soon arrived and ordered the robot to inject a Nanite bomb into Mordo's skull, set to explode on Doom's command or if Doom were to die. Mordo lived in fear for the remainder of his days until Doom was killed fighting Dormammu. When Doom died, the Nanite bomb exploded, killing Mordo.
--What If? II#52 (#52d,
DOCTOR STEPHEN
STRANGE
Doctor Strange was surgeon driven to alcoholism after he had injured his hands, preventing him from continuing his life as a doctor. He came to the Ancient One seeking help and the Ancient One informed Victor von Doom that if he was able to solve Dr. Strange's problems then his training would be complete. Doom cut off Strange's hands and replaced them with those of a robot, giving Strange the use of his hands back. Strange then left and returned to his medical career. When Doom was injured battling Dormammu, Iron Man hired Doctor Strange to be Doom's surgeon. Strange secretly refused to help Doom, telling the heroes that the damage was too extensive, as a way of paying Doom back for cutting off his hands. With Doom's last words, two Doombots appeared through a portal and kidnapped Strange. They took him back to Doom's workshop, where they decapitated him and replaced his head with a robotic head. The last thing Strange said was "NO!" before his brain patterns were erased and replaced with the downloaded memories of Victor von Doom.
--What If? II#52
THE THING
Ben Grimm was rock-like monster, similar to his Earth-616 until he met Victor von Doom, Sorceror Supreme. With the Fantastic Four, the Thing agreed to aid Doom in his defeat of Dormammu by traveling into the past to retrieve the Obsidian Stone from Blackbeard's treasure. When he defeated the pirates, the Thing won the respect of the pirates themselves and he decided to stay in the past, where he was not treated as a monster or freak.
--What If? II#52
VICTOR VON DOOM
After being injured when an experiment backfired on him, Victor von Doom decided to dedicate his life to freeing his mother's soul from Hell. He travelled to the Himalayas to enlist the aid of the Ancient One, who agreed to help Doom in hopes of teaching him nobility. As time passed, the Ancient One was also sought out by Dr. Stephen Strange who wanted help in healing his injured hands. Doom cut off Strange's hands and replaced them with robotic hands, allowing Strange to return to his medical career. Seeing that Doom had failed to see Strange's true problems, the Ancient One decided to help Doom rescue his mother's soul so that he fulfill his agreement to Doom. During their ensuing battle with Mephisto, the Ancient One's physical body was killed, but as his astral body ascended, he took Cynthia von Doom's soul with him. With his mother saved, Doom returned to Earth, only to find that Dormammu was trying to merge the Dark Dimension with Earth. Doom quickly jumped into battle against Dormammu, while sending his astral self to summon the aid of the Fantastic Four by sending them to the time of Blackbeard to retrieve the Obsidian Stone. When the FF returned, Doom used the Obsidian Stone to trap Dormammu but the strain caused him to collapse. Iron Man enlisted the help of the surgeon, Dr. Strange, who allowed Doom to die as payback for cutting off his hands. As Doom perished, two Doombots kidnapped Dr. Strange and decapitated him, replacing his head with a robotic head. The Doombots then downloaded Victor's memories into the new body.
--What If? II#52
images: (not counting ads)
What If? II#52, front cover (Doom lording over the Fantastic Four, main pic)
p5, pan2 (Baron Mordo)
p11, pan4 (Ancient One)
p14, pan1 (Victor von Doom)
p17, pan3 (Thing)
p26, pan5 (Dr. Stephen Strange)
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Last Updated: 06/30/05
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