CALIPH DOOM
(of Earth-38191)

Real Name: Viktor Doom (see comments)

Identity/Class: Alternate reality (Earth-38191) human (Iraqi) magic user (sometime around the 10th century? - see comments)

Occupation: Caliph

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Doombots, Mephisto

Enemies: Black Cat, Exiles (Becky Barnes of Earth-86315, Blink/Clarice Ferguson of Earth-295, Captain America/Peggy Carter of Earth-86315, Iron Lad/Nathaniel Richards of Earth-18651, King/T'Challa of Earth-18136, Valkyrie of Reality-22681, Wolvie), Shahrazad, Hakeem Strange, his former wives

Known Relatives: Shahrazad (wife), numerous previous wives (deceased), unidentified mother (deceased)

Aliases: "The Commander of the Faithful," "God's Regent on Earth," "Master," "Your Majesty"

Base of Operations: Baghdad, Iraq

First Appearance: Exiles III#9 (December, 2018)

Powers/Abilities: Caliph Doom was a mystic, able to perform a variety of magical feats including generating mystic shields.

He also wore an armored costume that enhanced his durability and was equipped with energy blasters in the palms. He also possessed the mystic Eye of Solomon artifact that could cause magical pain to other beings.

He was served by a legion of mechanical Doombots.

While wearing the mystic Ring of Solomon, Caliph Doom could control the djinn Mephisto and force him to do his bidding.

Height: Unrevealed (approximately 6'2")
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 225 lbs.)
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Dark brown

History: (Exiles III#10 (fb) - BTS) - Following the death of his mother, Caliph Doom went mad and became murderous, holding other, more brutal, men at bay and keeping them from invading Iraq. Claiming he owned everything, the Caliph sought the powerful magic artifact known as the Ring of Solomon but a dozen men had brought him artifacts they claimed to be the true Ring, only for the artifacts to be proven fake and the men murdered slowly by Caliph Doom. At one point, Caliph Doom also publicly beheaded the thief father of the woman who would become the Black Cat. Over time, Caliph Doom was married many times and each time, he found the new wife "wicked" and had them killed. Eventually killing a new woman every night, he soon married Shahrazad, whom he forced to appease him by reading him stories. At some point, the reality-hopping Exile Nocturne from Earth-2182 was transported to Earth-38191 and forced into the role of Shahrazad, a swap that Caliph Doom was unable to discern.

(Exiles III#9 (fb) - BTS) - Earth-2182's Nocturne, unaware of what was fully going on, was forced to read stories to Caliph Doom.

(Exiles III#9) - When the rest of the Exiles teleported into Caliph Doom's palace to rescue their teammate Nocturne of Earth-2182, Caliph Doom appeared and accused the Exiles of trespassing, exclaiming that they would now face the righteous justice of God's regent on Earth: Caliph Doom!

(Exiles III#10) - The Exiles recognized Caliph Doom's role on Earth-38191 as a murderer but Caliph Doom exclaimed that he was righteously guided and demanded to know how the Exiles had arrived without alerting the guards that watched over every entrance. He also demanded to know who the Exiles were and where they came from. Before the group could fully explain, the mad Caliph Doom suggested they save their lies, as the only explanation had to be that his wife had used her sorcery to summon the Exiles there. Surprised at being called Caliph Doom's wife, Nocturne argued that she was not his wife but Caliph Doom, still unaware that Nocturne was not the real Shahrazad, announced that he was her husband and it was her duty under God to obey his commands. He then commanded that Nocturne would die at dawn like all of his "wicked" wives before her. When the Exiles decided Caliph Doom must be stopped, the Caliph proclaimed that he was "God's Regent on Earth" and that the Exiles would obey him or die as he fired energy blasts at the group. Earth-86315's Captain America blocked the blasts with her shield and Reality-22681's Valkyrie jumped into one-on-one physical combat with the Caliph. While Caliph Doom fought Valkyrie, his army of mechanical Doombots were unleashed and they were ordered to destroy the Exiles. Despite being swarmed by Doombots, Exiles leader Blink ordered the Exiles to converge on Doom, who erected a mystic energy shield. The Exiles proved unable to penetrate the shield and Caliph Doom used the mystic Eye of Solomon to torture Valkyrie into unconsciousness. Nearly overwhelmed, the rest of the Exiles soon teleported onto a magic flying carpet and escaped Caliph Doom's clutches.

Following the Exiles' escape, Caliph Doom was approached by a man who claimed to have found the true Ring of Solomon and Caliph quickly sensed the mystic power of the true Ring. In true madmen fashion, Caliph still murdered his loyal servant, exclaiming that the man likely didn't realize it was the true ring and sought to cheat the Caliph. Quickly donning the Ring, Caliph was nearly overcome by its sheer power but he resigned himself to master the Ring and the one who dwelled within it: the djinn Mephisto. With the help of Mephisto, Caliph Doom soon located the Exiles and their new allies, Hakeem Strange and the Black Cat, and announced his arrival by burning their oasis to the ground. Proclaiming that he could turn them all into dust with a word, Caliph offered to spare the heroes' lives if they bowed to him but the heroes refused and Caliph Doom ordered Mephisto to obliterate them. Unable to directly harm the Exiles themselves so long as Blink held the Tallus device, Mephisto was instead ordered to summon aid to crush the Tallus. During the ensuing battle against Mephisto's creations, Blink teleported Caliph Doom's hand from his arm, removing the Ring from Doom's possession and freeing Mephisto from being bound to Doom's command. Mephisto then turned on Caliph Doom and Doom experienced a vision of his deceased mother, who urged him to find his honor. Upon learning that the only way to free his mother from Mephisto's fiery pits was to enter the pits himself, Caliph agreed to accompany Mephisto to atone for his sins but, in an effort to regain his lost honor, Doom made Nocturne (whom he still thought was his wife Shahrazad) khalifa so that she could rule in his place. Caliph Doom then explained to a confused Nocturne that many more brutal men would seek to prey on his people in his absence. Ultimately, Nocturne agreed to rule as khalifa and stay on Earth-38191 as Doom was led into the fiery pits by Mephisto.

Comments: Created by Saladin Ahmed, Javier Rodriguez and Alvaro Lopez.

Caliph Doom was constantly referred to as Doom plus Caliph is a title, so calling him "Caliph Doom" would suggest his last name was "Doom," much how it is "von Doom" on Earth-616. Additionally, his mother does call him "Viktor" in Exiles III#10 so it stands to reason that his real name on Earth-38191 is "Viktor Doom" or perhaps "Viktor von Doom," but no "von" was ever stated in his appearances.

It was never stated exactly what year the events on Earth-38191 took place. The closest we got was a note of events occurring in "medieval Baghdad" and, according to my historical research, the golden age of Baghdad as one of the largest cities in the world was anywhere between the mid-700s A.D. through around 1300 A.D. or so. Since the loan shark Moussa at one point mentions Aladdin owing him two silver dinars, which was first used in the late 7th century, it seems to fit in at least the mid-700s and Baghdad was at its height in size around the 1000s. Therefore, I placed the events a little before that, settling on an assumption of occurring sometime around the late 10th century, possibly early 11th century or even very early into the 12th.

Despite the Doombots' outfits appearing blue in the image in this profile, they were actually green in all other panels that we see them. The image included in this profile was simply the best image of the Doombots together.

Profile by Proto-Man.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Earth-38191's Caliph Doom should be distinguished from:

Doombots

The Doombots were the mechanical guardsmen and servants to Caliph Doom. Due to the perceived wickedness of his previous wives, Caliph Doom kept a small force of Doombots standing guard at the room of his wife Shahrazad and they remained there even after Earth-2182's Nocturne arrived on Earth-38191 and was forced into Shahrazad's role. When Nocturne's reality-hopping Exiles teammates teleported into Nocturne's room, Caliph Doom entered the room and was surprised at the Exiles' ability to get past his Doombots without so much as an alarm. When his demands with met by an attack from the Exiles, Caliph Doom ordered his Doombots to destroy the Exiles and the robots quickly overwhelmed the Exiles, forcing them to flee by teleporting onto a magical flying carpet and escaping out the window.
--Exiles III#10
Doom's mother

Caliph Doom's mother was very close to her son and when she died, it drove the Caliph mad with grief. While his mother's soul went into the fiery pits of the djinn Mephisto, Doom himself lost all honor and became murderous, killing a new wife nearly every night and murdering even his servants for supposed slights. After Doom later took control of Mephisto using the Ring of Solomon and subsequently lost control of the djinn, Doom's mother's soul appeared before the Caliph and asked what had happened to her son's sense of honor. His mother's words bringing him clarity and sanity, the Caliph vowed to make amends and retrieve his mother's soul from its resting place within Mephisto's fiery depths. Appointing Earth-2182's Nocturne, whom he thought was his wife Shahrazad, to rule in his place as khalifa, Doom ventured into Mephisto's pits to both account for his sins and free his mother.
--Exiles III#10
The Eye of Solomon

The Eye of Solomon was a mystic artifact used by Caliph Doom to inflict torturous magical pain on other beings. When the reality-hopping Exiles attacked him, Caliph Doom used the Eye of Solomon against Reality-22681's Valkyrie, causing so much pain that she lost consciousness.
--Exiles III#10
Mephisto

Mephisto was a large djinn that ruled over a fiery realm where certain souls went after the deaths of their physical bodies. Despite being in such a position of power, Mephisto was apparently trapped into servitude by the mystic Ring of Solomon, allowing whoever wore the Ring to command his actions. After a long time of searching, the mad Caliph Doom was brought the Ring of Solomon and he put the Ring on, binding Mephisto to Doom's very whims. Immediately seeking out and finding the reality-hopping Exiles that had earlier escaped his wrath, Doom and Mephisto burned the oasis where the Exiles were basing themselves but when Doom ordered Mephisto to destroy the Exiles, Mephisto found he could not due to Blink's possession of the Tallus device. Since Mephisto could not harm the Exiles directly so long as Blink wore the Tallus, Caliph Doom instead ordered Mephisto to summon aid that could harm the Exiles and Mephisto brought forth strange robotic creatures to battle the reality travelers. During the ensuing battle, Blink used her teleportation powers to sever Caliph Doom's hand, effectively removing the Ring of Solomon from Doom's body and freeing Mephisto from his servitude. Preparing to exact revenge on Caliph Doom for his servitude, Mephisto forced Doom to face the soul of his deceased mother then offered to help Doom save his mother's soul by bringing Doom into his fiery depths to atone for his sins. Unafraid of Mephisto, Doom agreed and Mephisto dragged Caliph Doom into his fiery pits.

Mephisto was a very powerful magical djinn, able to accomplish most anything according to the whims of his master, the wearer of the Ring of Solomon.
--Exiles III#10
The Ring of Solomon

The Ring of Solomon was a powerful magical item that housed the djinn Mephisto, who was bound to the commands of the Ring's wearer. The power-mad Caliph Doom spent some time searching for the Ring of Solomon, murdering every man who brought him a fake Ring, and he was eventually presented with the true Ring of Solomon, only to murder the man who brought it to him in a mad assumption that the man did not know it was the true Ring and sought to cheat the Caliph. Using the Ring, Caliph Doom summoned the djinn Mephisto and traveled to a nearby oasis, where the reality-hopping Exiles, who had earlier escaped the Caliph's wrath, were basing themselves. He then ordered Mephisto to summon aid against the Exiles and during the ensuing battle, the Exiles leader Blink severed Caliph Doom's hand, effectively removing the Ring from Caliph Doom's body. No longer in Caliph Doom's service due to Caliph Doom no longer wearing the Ring of Solomon, Mephisto then turned on Caliph Doom and dragged him into his fiery pits, promising to help the Caliph locate the soul of his deceased mother in exchange for Doom suffering for his sins.
--Exiles III#10
images: (without ads)
Exiles III#9, p20, splash page (Caliph Doom pointing, main image)
Exiles III#10, front cover (Caliph Doom, headshot)
Exiles III#10, p2, pan4 (Caliph Doom firing energy blasts)
Exiles III#10, p3, pan6 (Doombots)
 Exiles III#10, p17, pan1 (Doom's mother)
Exiles III#10, p4, pan5 (Eye of Solomon)
Exiles III#10, p12, splash page (Mephisto)
Exiles III#10, p10, pan5 (Ring of Solomon)

Appearances:
Exiles III#9 (December, 2018) - Saladin Ahmed (writer), Javier Rodriguez (pencils), Alvaro Lopez (inks), Sarah Brunstad (editor)
Exiles III#10 (January, 2019) - Saladin Ahmed (writer), Javier Rodriguez (pencils), Alvaro Lopez (inks), Sarah Brunstad (editor)

First posted: 06/17/2022
Last updated: 06/17/2022

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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