5 Worst Things Doctor Doom Ever Did In Marvel Comics, Ranked

Doctor Doom has every right to be considered the greatest Marvel Comics villain of all time. In his ongoing crusade against the Fantastic Four, Doom has literally torn apart universes. He's a super genius with a deep knowledge of magical history and techniques, and that combination helps make Doom a bigger threat than Thanos.

There are Marvel villains who are more terrifying than Doom, but none are anywhere near as iconic. His signature mask helped him stand out from the pages of Marvel's comics, and his motivations set him apart from every other villain. Doom is also an egoist who thinks that everything would be better under his control, but his hatred for Reed Richards is what really drives him towards evil acts. Most of Doom's plots are centered on destroying Reed and, by proxy, the Fantastic Four.

No matter what Doom does in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, his comic book achievements will always remain in a league of their own. There are plenty of things to learn about Doom before seeing "Avengers: Doomsday," but once you understand his long history with the Fantastic Four, you're ready to find out about all the ways he's made a name for himself as a true super villain.

Doctor Doom has a knack for being evil at his core, even when he's technically doing the right thing. Saving the Fantastic Four goes against just about everything that Doom believes, but once he stepped in and stopped one of his mortal nemeses from dying. Doom saved Sue Richard's life in issue #54 of "Fantastic Four" Volume 3, but his help came at a pretty steep cost.

In the issue, Sue finds herself in one of the most dangerous situations of her life: labor. Sue's about-to-be-born baby causes all sorts of chaos with her powers, and unfortunately Reed isn't around to lend any of his scientific expertise. Johnny Storm goes to the only other super genius he knows for help, and Doom surprises everyone by deciding to step in.

Of course, his motives aren't altruistic. When Reed gets back to the Baxter building — after averting a world-ending plot from Senso and the Hidden One — Doom relentlessly mocks him for being unable to save his own family. In exchange for saving Sue's life, Doom demands she and Reed name the baby Valeria. After extracting his price, Doom reminds Reed that every time he looks at his family, he'll remember that his greatest enemy is the only reason they're alive.

Doctor Doom is motivated by pride, a thirst for knowledge, and a deep sympathy for the people of Latveria, but more than anything, Doom is privately (and publicly) motivated by his hatred for Reed Richards. Doom is willing to go to any lengths to torment and humiliate Reed, even if he needs to risk his own life in order to do it. During the "Unthinkable" storyline, Doom makes a deal with actual demons to increase his magical abilities in order to defeat Reed once and for all.

In issue #68, Doom makes his move, attacking the Fantastic Four with powers he gained from demons called the Haazareth Three. Doom uses his new magical abilities to cause Reed's scientific equipment to malfunction, and in the process he uses one of Reed's high-tech transporters to send Franklin to Hell.

The only reason Doom sending a child to Hell doesn't go straight to the top of our rankings is that it's unclear whether Doom intended for Franklin to get hurt during any part of this ordeal. He shows Reed visions of the boy getting tortured in Hell, but in reality the Haazareth Three just hold onto Franklin and give him a good scare. Considering Doom had previously vowed to protect Valeria from harm, he probably wouldn't have let the very young Franklin get killed by demons — for whatever that's worth.

In the lead-up to the "Unthinkable" storyline, Doctor Doom prepares himself to take up his latest battle against Reed Richards and the Fantastic Four. In the process, he commits one of the darkest acts of his lengthy comic book villain career. In "Fantastic Four" issue #67, Doom is on the hunt for Valeria — not Reed's daughter, but her namesake. It turns out that Valeria is the name of Doom's childhood sweetheart, and it seems like he's looking for a touching reunion.

When Doom finally finds Valeria, she's wary of him. She knows all about his activity as Doctor Doom, and she doesn't think that the boy she once loved still exists. Doom insists that he can change. He offers her a locket and says that if she accepts it and agrees to go with him, he'll leave his evil ways behind.

Valeria agrees to go with Doom, but his offer wasn't sincere. Doom needed to use Valeria, and his own genuine love for her, to complete a ritual. By violently sacrificing Valeria, Doom is able to add magical sigils to his armor and new powers to his repertoire. Valeria's death is a jaw-dropping moment in the comics. It's also one that continues to not sit well with some fans who think that Doom's heartless and obsessive sacrifice is so evil that it's out of character even for him.

We think we know what happens in "Avengers: Doomsday," and that's because we've read the "Secret Wars" storyline from the comics. "Secret Wars" is actually the name of two different Marvel crossover events (because comic book continuity can never be simple), but for our purposes we're talking about the 2015 series. In that run, Doctor Doom sets out on his most ambitious plan of all time, and to a certain extent, he's successful.

To make a long story short, Doom finds a way to harness the power of the Beyonders, an omnipotent race of beings that exist outside of the multiverse. With their power, Doom reshapes all of reality to his liking. He becomes All-Father Doom, with his daughter Valeria and his wife Susan at his side. Doom rules over reality with an iron fist, and most of his enemies are trapped on the Battleworld and made to fight in ritual combat.

Doom might argue that he used the power of the Beyonders to prevent the destruction of the multiverse by recreating it, but to an outside observer, Doom's real motives are obvious. He steals Reed's life and places himself at the top of a rigidly hierarchical world. In the end Marvel's many heroes team up against Doom and redo his rewriting of the multiverse, but the combined universe that emerges after "Secret Wars" is not the exactly the same one that existed before. In a way, Doom's plan really did destroy the multiverse.

The most dangerous thing a person in the Marvel comics universe can do is insult Doctor Doom's fashion sense. That likely wasn't the intended message of the 2019 "Doctor Doom" series, but it nonetheless became one of the major takeaways. In the series' 10th and final issue, Doom does something so destructive and so evil that it puts him on a completely different level than any other Marvel supervillain.

In the story, Doom finds himself on an alternate version of Earth. The new reality he's trapped in has its own versions of Victor Von Doom and Reed Richards, but these two aren't enemies. In this world, Victor and Reed were able to find a way past their differences, and the results are astounding. Since they aren't spending all of their time engaged in mortal combat, Doom and Reed have been able to use their combined genius to transform the world into a virtual utopia.

Doom is awed by what he witnesses in this new reality. He helps his alternate self prevent a catastrophe, and as the two of them talk, it really seems like Victor might convince him to return to his own universe with a new outlook.

Then Victor says that Doom needs to make peace with his own Reed and stop wearing that ridiculous armor. That comment sends Doom flying off in a rage. He uses the Ultimate Nullifier to destroy Victor's entire reality. This alternate Earth, and every other planet in existence in that universe, gets destroyed in a second, all so Doom can satisfy his ego and return to his eternal feud with Reed. Never underestimate the power of pettiness.