KING VLADIMIR

Real Name: Vladimir Vassily Gonereo Tristian Mangegi Fortunov

Identity/Class: Human

Occupation: Former king of Latveria

Group Membership: Former king of Latveria

Affiliations: Baron Strucker (Wolfgang von Strucker), Johann Shmidt; formerly allied with Russia, served by numerous soldiers, etc.

Enemies: Lucas Cross, Doctor Doom (Victor von Doom), Cynthia von Doom, Werner von Doom

Known Relatives: Unidentified wife/baroness (deceased), Rudolfo (son), Zorba (son, deceased), unidentified son (illegitimate, Dimitri's father) Dimitri Fortunov (grandson)

Aliases: Baron of Sabbat, Baron of Haasen, Baron of Krozi

Base of Operations: Formerly the royal castle in Haasenstadt, Latveria

First Appearance: Fantastic Four Annual I#2 (1964);
    see comments for clarifications on identification

Powers/Abilities: Vladimir had no superhuman powers, nor did he demonstrate any particular skills, though he remained remarkably vital in his old age.

History:

(Books of Doom#6 (fb)) - No one had breached Castle Haasen in 400 years.

(Astonishing Tales: Dominic Fortune#4 (fb) - BTS) <Before 1937> - Baron of Sabbat made a deal with Baron Strucker. As long as Latveria provided the Third Reich with their occult technology Latveria would be left alone by the Nazis.

(Astonishing Tales: Dominic Fortune#4) <1937> - Tristian tended to his sick, pregnant wife in his castle and promised to find a cure for her ailments even if it meant to to deal with Austrian physicians or Gypsy healers. He received a message from Berlin to detain Dominic Fortune and Amanda MacLain until SS Gruppenführer Johann Shmidt arrived in Latveria.

(Astonishing Tales: Dominic Fortune#4 - BTS) - Despite giving a call to Andrea MacLain's broker in Latveria to learn where Fortune and Amanda were staying, they escaped Johann Shmidt with the aid of Gypsy Werner von Doom.

(X-Force I#64) <1941> - The ruler of Latveria, the Baron chose to willingly allow Baron Strucker to construct his Sturmfanger device in his Castle, in hopes of staving off a Nazi invasion of Latveria. Though Strucker insisted that Germany and Latveria were allies, Tristian wisely chose not to fully trust him. However, his skepticism also led Strucker to order Tristian's death. This was overheard by Tristian's time-traveling grandson, Dimitri Fortunov, who warned him of Strucker's intentions. Dimitri's allies, X-Force stopped the assassination attempt and destroyed the Sturmfanger machine, after which they returned to the modern era.

(X-Force I#63 (fb) - BTS) - Vladimir had an illegitimate son who then fathered Dimitri Fortunov.

(Blade III#6 (fb) - BTS) - The Baron ordered Lucas Cross thrown in prison, and his men captured and imprisoned Cross.

(Blade III#2 - BTS) - Cynthia von Doom was held in the same prison as Lucas Cross

(Astonishing Tales#8/2 (fb) - BTS / Marvel Graphic Novel: Dr. Strange and Dr. Doom: Triumph and Torment (fb)) - Unlike her husband, the peaceful healer Werner, Cynthia von Doom refused to accept the Baron (the future King Vladimir)'s condemnation and harassment of the Zefiro.

(Astonishing Tales#8/2 (fb) - BTS / Marvel Graphic Novel: Dr. Strange and Dr. Doom: Triumph and Torment (fb) - BTS / Books of Doom#1 (fb) - BTS) - One Midsummer's Eve Cynthia cast a spell which summoned Mephisto, who offered her the power to avenge her people and give them the homeland they deserved. Though she realized that the price was her soul, she agreed to the pact. That night she stormed into a local tavern and confronted the Baron's guardsmen, telling them that the Baron had until dusk tomorrow to repay her people for the crimes committed against them in her name, or else she would level his castle stone by stone. When the guardsmen taunted her, she fired a magical bolt that slew one of them, but then the other guardsmen fell to the ground, dying, as well. Soon the night was filled with wails and lamentations; not a single child in the village would survive the night, and Cynthia sensed that the spell she'd unleashed was the cause; Mephisto had granted her power, but not control.
    Cynthia desperately tried to renounce the pact and the power, and she failed to hear the dying guardsman who staggered after her and ran her through with his sword. Mortally wounded, she ran from the village and deep into the woods.
    Knowing that no gypsy in the region would be safe if the Baron learned what happened, Werner buried Cynthia in an unmarked grave.

(Fantastic Four Annual#2 (fb) / Books of Doom#1 (fb) - BTS) - While Baron of the region in which the Zefiro lived (at the foot of the Latverian Alps), Vladimir's wife took ill. He sent his soldiers to bring the Zefiro healer Werner von Doom to save her life. Werner examined the Baroness and then explained that her illness was hopeless (she was riddled with cancer), beyond his power to save her. The Baron accused Vladimir of lying and instructed him to use his magic potions to save her or her would forfeit his own life. After Werner had done everything he could, the Baron sent him back to his camp and instructed him to pray that he had been successful. Knowing the Baroness would not survive the night, Werner took his son, Victor, and fled into the wilderness.
    The next morning, the Baroness was dead, and the enraged Baron insisted Werner would pay with his life. The Baron sent his troops to pursue Werner, who soon died from exposure in the frigid wilderness.   

(Fantastic Four Annual#2 (fb) - BTS / Books of Doom#1 (fb) - BTS) - In the following years, Victor would grow to use advanced technology to dupe and taunt the wealthy nobleman, government, and military of Latveria. Cornered by one of the soldiers, the young Victor rushed forward and strangled him. Soon after, Victor departed for America to study at State University and design weapons for the U.S. government.

(Books of Doom#3 (fb) - BTS) - After Victor von Doom fled from the U.S.A. following his accident and his destruction of his military projects, the Baron sought to capture von Doom to gain favor with the U.S. government. His troops harassed the Zefiro in hopes of learning Victor's location.

(Books of Doom#4 (fb) - BTS) - Vladimir became king of all Latveria.

(X-Force I#64 (fb) - BTS) - Some of the Zefiro believed the castle was haunted by the souls of every innocent  Baron Sabbat had put to death.

(Books of Doom#5 (fb) - BTS) - Vladimir allied with Russia who supplied him with weapons, etc.

(Books of Doom#4 (fb) - BTS) - After studying with and eventually becoming master of the Tibetan monks known as the Wise Ones over five years, Victor von Doom was enraged to learn of Vladimir's ascension. Soon after, von Doom insisted he be referred to as Doctor Doom, and soon after that he designed a suit of armor and then returned to Latveria to plot his revenge.

(Books of Doom#5 (fb) - BTS) - Doom slaughtered several of Vladimir's soldiers and freed their prisoners, telling them to spread the word that the days of Vladimir were soon coming to an end. While Doom could have flown to Vladimir's castle, overpowered the guards, and slain Vladimir, Doom wished his fame to spread throughout the land, for the peasants to see him as their hero and savior, and for Vladimir to fear his approach and his revolution. Doom established a base in the bowels of an old abandoned castle over looking the village that had been abandoned after the children had all died from his mother's spell. Doom and the monk Larin began construction of robots, after which Doom reunited with the Zefiro, making them his agents. Within days, riders had made their way throughout the land, spreading Doom's messages. In the secrecy of the abandoned village below, Doom's army began to gather itself.
    As Doom's strength grew in numbers, so grew the frequency of his assaults on the King's men. Each legion was led by Doom's robots, and they began driving the King's men from villages and towns. With each victory, more of the downtrodden rallied to Doom's side.

Books of Doom#5) - One of Doom's agents came to Vladimir's castle, delivering a package from Doom. Vladimir had the man taken out back and shot. Doom's device projected Doom's image, which offered Vladimir one last chance to live by surrendering, and it also confirmed that Dr. Doom was the same von Doom whose father Vladimir had condemned to death years before. Vladimir refused, shattering the device, and Doom was pleased to have the chance to utterly defeat Vladimir. Doom ordered one of his bots to destroy the Russian supply line. Doom then spoke to his troops, announcing that tomorrow would begin their final march to victory.

(Books of Doom#6 (fb)) - Doom led his army to march towards Vladimir's castle, during which time a number of captured royal soldiers revealed that they wished to join Doom against the King.
    As Doom's army approached, Vladimir raged out how many had joined him. The leader of Vladimir's troops assured him that they would do everything they could to hold the revolutionaries at bay, but that their supply routes from the Russians has been cut off, and that they would receive no reinforcements; still since they had the high ground they might prevail. Vladimir reiterated that no man had breached the walls of his castle in 400 years, but his military leader reminded him that Doom was no mere man, and that his weapons were unlike anything that had yet tested his fortress. Realizing the reality of the situation, Vladimir had his sons Rudolfo and Zorba taken away by his two fastest horsemen to escape Doom.
    As the forces of Doom arrived, Vladimir's military leader order his troops to attack, but the troops not only refused, but they actually cleared a path to allow Doom's forces to enter the castle without a fight. Vladimir ran screaming, but Doom flew in, confronted him, and then choked Vladimir to death.
    Vladimir's military leader kneeled before Doom, acknowledging him as his leader.
    Vladimir's castle was razed that week by his robots.
    The town of Cynthia von Doom's downfall was made the new capital city. The modest castle where Doom had begun his revolution became Castle Doom, and Doom was crowned monarch of Latveria.

Comments: Created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Chic Stone.

• Doom was given the crown by Rudolfo (or a robot posing as Rudolfo under Doom's control), as shown in Astonishing Tales#2.
• Rudolfo is referred to as the late king by Zorba in Fantastic Four I#198.
• The OHotMU Deluxe Edition revealed that Doom took the crown from King Vladimir.
• In X-Force#63+64, Dimitri Fortunov claims to be the grandson of the Baron deposed by Doom, and his grandfather is shown to be Baron Sabbat, a.k.a. Tristian Mangegi Fortunov.
• An issue of Doom 2099 says that Doom took Latveria from a Baron Vassily Gonereo Krozi.
• Then there's that TSR roleplaying module, that states that the ruling family was Haasen, who ruled for 600 years before being overthrown by Doom
   

King Vladimir is the same as Tristian Mangegi Fortunov, who also goes by Baron Sabbat and possibly Baron Krozi and Baron Haasen.

• To show how this can easily be the case, lets take a quote from Wikpedia about Charles, Prince of Wales:
      "The Prince's full title is: His Royal Highness Charles Philip Arthur George, Prince of Wales, Knight of the Garter, Knight of the Thistle, Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Bath, Member of the Order of Merit, Knight of the Order of Australia, Member of the Queen's Service Order, Privy Counsellor, Aide-de-Campe to Her Majesty, Duke of Cornwall, Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Chester, Earl of Carrick, Baron of Renfrew, Lord of the Isles and Prince and Great Steward of Scotland. He is correctly referred to as HRH The Prince of Wales (or in Scotland, HRH The Prince Charles, Duke of Rothesay). Though the term is commonly used, he ceased to be styled Prince Charles (and technically should not be described as such) following the accession of his mother to the throne in 1952, becoming Duke of Cornwall instead. "
      So he can theoretically be called: Charles Philip Arthur George Mountbatten-Windsor (his actual birth name), HRH, His Royal Highness Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, Duke Rothesay, Duke Cornwall, Earl Chester, Earl Carrick, Baron Renfrew, etc.
      If and when he ascends to the throne, he would become King Charles (not sure what number), of the King of England, the King of Scotland, the King of Great Britain, the King of Australia, the King of Jamaica, King of Antigua and Barbuda, King of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, King of Belize, etc. (You should see the list of countries the current Queen USED to be counted as the Queen of!)
• Vladimir Vassily Gonereo Tristian Mangegi Fortunov, Baron of Sabbat, Baron of Haasen, Baron of Krozi.
• Vladimir was the king/baron that ordered the death of Werner von Doom. Doom slew Vladimir upon returning to Latveria, as vengeance for Werner's death. Rudolfo, the son of Vladimir, was apparently captured and imprisoned by Doom, who used a robot in the form of Rudolfo to officially hand over power to Doom.
• Zorba almost certainly was speaking of Rudolfo as the rightful king, rather than the literal king of Latveria.
• This would make Vladimir quite old, but also consider this further info:
• We're not certain exactly how long after damaging his face Doom returned to Latveria and took over (over 5 years).
  --Similarly, we don't know how long that was before Doom first encountered the Fantastic Four, so very early in the modern era. At minimum it was 10-12 years ago, and it may have even been twenty years or more ago that Doom took over power in Latveria.
  --Given that, Vladimir/Tristian--who looked quite young when seen in 1941 (maybe only 18-25 years old), would only have been 61-78 years old. Even with the sliding timescale, that is certainly credible for at least another 20-40 years!
• Dimitri would be the grandson of Vladimir, who may have had an affair quite late in life, and his illegitimate son would have been passed over for ascension to the throne. This would make Dimitri the partial nephew of Zorba and Rudolfo. It seems unlikely that Dimitri would have been the son of either of these, who had legitimate claims to the throne
• As Vladimir was also the Baron of Haasen, then the TSR module could have been true, too.
• This has since been confirmed as true in the Fantastic Four Encyclopedia and the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Fantastic Four 2005: Dr. Doom entry.

Thanks to Dennis Giansante for providing the color scan for the image from Fantastic Four Annual#2.

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
No KNOWN connections to:

• others Kings or Barons or Vladimirs

images: (without ads)
Fantastic Four Annual#2, p3, panel 7
Books of Doom#6, p8, panel 3 (full body)
        p10 (face as King)
X-Force I#64, p7, panel 3 (Baron Sabbat)

Appearances:
Fantastic Four Annual#2 (1964)
Marvel Graphic Novel: Dr. Strange and Dr. Doom: Triumph and Torment (1989)
X-Force I#64 (March, 1997) - by John Francis Moore (writer), Anthony Castrillo & Mark Pajarillo (pencilers), Jon Holdredge & Marlo Alquiza (inkers), Bob Harris (editor)
Books of Doom#1-6 (January-June 2006) - by Ed Brubaker (writer), Pablo Raimondi (penciler), Mark Farmer (inker), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Blade III#2 (December, 2006) - by Marc Guggenheim (writer), Howard Chaykin (artist), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Blade III#6 (April, 2007) - by Marc Guggenheim (writer), Howard Chaykin (artist), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Astonishing Tales: Dominic Fortune#4 (September, 2009) - Dean Motter (writer), Greg Scott (artist), Michael Horwitz (editor)

First Posted: 09/13/2006
Last updated: 04/03/2016

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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