Dormammu

: "He is the Cosmic Conqueror, the Destroyer of Worlds. A being of infinite power and endless hunger, on a quest to invade every universe and bring all worlds into his Dark Dimension. And he hungers for Earth most of all."
: ―Wong[src]
Dormammu is an inter-dimensional entity who rules over the Dark Dimension and the uncle of Clea. Dormammu lent his power to Kaecilius and his Zealots, who desired immortality, in exchange for them merging the Dark Dimension with Earth. Before Dormammu could complete his plans, he was confronted by Doctor Strange, who used the Time Stone within the Eye of Agamotto to trap Dormammu in an endless time loop. Frustrated, Dormammu agreed to leave Earth alone and take the Zealots with him in exchange for being freed from the loop.
== Biography ==
=== Seeking Dominance ===
==== Deal with the Zealots ====
: "Learning of an infinite Multiverse includes learning of infinite dangers. And if I told you everything else that you don't already know, you'd run from here in terror."
: ―Ancient One to Doctor Strange[src]
Dormammu is a primordial life form that lives within the Dark Dimension. Wielding frighteningly tremendous supernatural power of apocalyptic proportions, Dormammu sought to conquer every universe of the Multiverse, as well as Earth. This gained him an enemy in Agamotto.
Dormammu's ancient essence has been altered so many times by the assimilation of other universes that his original form and his own primordial dimension are long forgotten.
To achieve the conquest of Earth, he managed to employ contact with Kaecilius, a rogue member of the Masters of the Mystic Arts who had become disillusioned with the Ancient One's ideals. The two struck up a deal, with Kaecilius agreeing to gather the necessary items to enable the Dark Dimension to come to Earth. To help ensure his success, Dormammu gave Kaecilius power from the Dark Dimension when he stole the Book of Cagliostro.
==== Meeting Doctor Strange ====
: "You will never win.""No, but I can lose again. And again, and again, and again, forever. And that makes you my prisoner.""No! Stop! Make this stop! Set me free!"
: ―Dormammu and Doctor Strange[src]
As they had planned, Kaecilius had completely destroyed two of the three Sanctums and finally with the Hong Kong Sanctum vulnerable, Dormammu was now free to do as he had always desired, to fuse the Dark Dimension with Earth and destroy it. However, Doctor Strange, a new member of the Masters of the Mystic Arts, flew into the Dark Dimension to confront him, claiming he had come to bargain for Earth's protection.
Angered at this, Dormammu quickly killed Strange by blasting him with energy, but to his confusion, Strange reappeared on the Dark Dimension surface, repeating himself. Perplexed, Dormammu killed Strange again only to have him reappear, repeating his intention. Stunned, Dormammu demanded to know what was happening; the Doctor revealed he had used the Eye of Agamotto and the Time Stone hidden inside it to create an infinite time loop.
As Strange intended to force Dormammu to relive the moment, Dormammu decided to kill Strange only to realize that it would take forever unless he agreed to his demands. Enraged, Dormammu killed Strange again, only for him to return again. Strange explained that this was the only trap Dormammu could not escape from, since the Dark Dimension was a place beyond time itself and therefore Dormammu had no power over it.
Dormammu continued to kill Strange repeatedly until he could not stand the entrapment any longer and began begging Doctor Strange to end the time loop. Strange then gave Dormammu a choice that on the condition that he would banish himself and the Zealots from Earth forever. Dormammu did this, while also turning the Zealots and Kaecilius into Mindless Ones and dragging them into the Dark Dimension to live in agony forever, and kept his own word, sealing the portal between the dimensions to never return.
== Personality ==
: "Dormammu, I’ve come to bargain.""You’ve come to die. Your world is now my world, like all worlds."
: ―Doctor Strange and Dormammu[src]
Dormammu is nothing more or less than the ultimate personification of destruction, megalomania and ruthlessness. He appears to be a being of pure and utter malevolence, seemingly focused only on his own "mission" of expanding his Dark Dimension realm and conquering all other worlds and dimensions of the Multiverse, in order to fuse them in as well, recruiting Kaecilius and the Zealots to help him do this, claiming that it would grant them everlasting peace, which they all desired, when in reality, he would transform and enslave them as Mindless Ones. Dormammu takes pleasure in causing pain and suffering, delighting at the chance of killing his enemy, Doctor Strange, until realizing that he was stuck in an endless time loop.
Despite his ruthlessness, Dormammu seems to be somewhat honorable, as seen by keeping his end of the bargain when he agreed to end his assault on Earth and never return if Doctor Strange broke the loop, realizing that Strange had tricked him into a position where only he would set the rules.
== Powers and Abilities ==
=== Powers ===
* Dark Dimension Magic: As the absolute ruler of the Dark Dimension, Dormammu has absolute control over its magic and the dimension itself, with the actual dimension warping to form his face and even form other body parts, such as a hand. He uses the dimension's power as a weapon, using it to constantly kill Doctor Strange over and over again, either with energy blasts or by manipulating the very ground he stood on, when the latter trapped him in an infinite time loop using the Time Stone. His influence also stretched beyond the confines of his realm to those who used his power, such as the Zealots, which caused their deformities. He was also able to rapidly turn his followers into decayed, fossil like figures with glowing red symbols of the Dark Dimension on their heads, before making them fly up into the Dark Dimension. Dormammu has the power to consume entire dimensions.
** Superhuman Strength: Dormammu possesses immeasurable levels of strength due to his size and spacial warping abilities, shown when he manifested a colossal hand to easily crush Doctor Strange as if he were an insect.
** Immortality: The Dark Dimension is a timeless entity, thereby resulting in Dormammu being a primordial immortal, with the Ancient One describing him as a precursor to time itself.
** Power Bestowal: Dormammu bestowed mystical powers to Kaecilius and his Zealots from the Dark Dimension, making them powerful enough to challenge the strength of the Ancient One herself. They notably gained the ability to fold space without being inside the Mirror Dimension, which allowed them to form Space Shards. However, his bond to his followers also allowed him to absorb them into his Dark Dimension at will, turning them into Mindless Ones.
** Magical Energy Manipulation: Dormammu could use mystical cosmic energies for powerful energy blasts to constantly killed Doctor Strange, albeit with less than successful results. He also summoned tentacle-like entities from the ground to kill Strange, as well as summoning shards of matter to impale him.
** Telekinesis: Dormammu used telekinesis in order to throw a moon-like ball of matter at Doctor Strange, which killed him.
=== Abilities ===
: "Dormammu deceives you. You have no idea of what he truly is. His eternal life is not paradise, but torment."
: ―The Ancient One to Kaecilius[src]
* Master Tactician: Dormammu was able to manipulate Kaecilius and the other Zealots into doing his bidding by deceiving them all with peace without end, which they all desired. However, once his goal would have been completed, he planned to turn them into Mindless Ones.
== Relationships ==
=== Family ===
* Clea - Niece
=== Allies ===
* Mindless Ones - Subordinates
* Zealots - Disciples
** Kaecilius
** Lucian Aster †
** Blonde Zealot
** Brunette Zealot
** Tall Zealot †
** Hugh Goodbody †	
=== Enemies ===
* Masters of the Mystic Arts
** Agamotto †
** Ancient One †
** Stephen Strange/Doctor Strange - Victim (in the time loops)
** Wong
* Karl Mordo
== Trivia ==
* In the comics, Dormammu was a Faltine sorcerer who left his original dimension and became the ruler of the Dark Dimension. He once enlisted Baron Mordo as a servant to fight the Doctor Strange. He and Odin play chess to determine the fate of the Universe, but the games end in a stalemate to maintain the balance between Chaos and Order.
* It was Benedict Cumberbatch's idea to perform motion-capture for Dormammu, as he felt that the character should be an evil reflection of Doctor Strange.
== Behind the Scenes ==
* Benedict Cumberbatch was only credited for portraying Doctor Strange in the film. The fact that he also portrayed Dormammu was revealed by Scott Derrickson in an interview with IGN. Cumberbatch's voice was blended with another actor's, to make it harder to tell it was him. The director said he was unable to recall who the other actor was, only that he was also British.
* The producers of Doctor Strange asked Tony Todd to do a recording session for Dormammu, because they wanted another voice as an alternative to Cumberbatch, but they went back to their original choice eventually.
* Dormammu had a cameo originally written for Avengers: Endgame, appearing in Hong Kong during a sequence where the Ancient One would show Bruce Banner what could happen if all the Infinity Stones were removed from her reality.
== References ==
The Marvel Cinematic Universe Wiki has a collection of images and media related to Dormammu.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe Wiki has a collection of quotes related to Dormammu.
# ↑ Jump up to:1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Doctor Strange
# ↑ Marvel Studios Visual Dictionary
# ↑ Marvel Studios: Character Encyclopedia
# ↑ The Empire Spoiler Special Film Podcast/Empire Spoiler Specials: Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness Interview Special ft. Richie Palmer & Michael Waldron
# ↑ Jump up to:5.0 5.1 13 COOLEST DOCTOR STRANGE EASTER EGGS, REFERENCES, AND TRIVIA PAGE 2 OF 2 at IGN
# ↑ Doctor Strange: 12 revelations from director Scott Derrickson at Empire
# ↑ BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH PLAYS A SECOND MARVEL CHARACTER IN DOCTOR STRANGE at IGN Latam
# ↑ GENRE VET TONY TODD TALKS HIS CAREER, ZOOM AND RETURNING TO THEATER CBR.com
# ↑ Avengers: Endgame script by Stephen McFeely and Christopher Markus
== External Links ==
* Dormammu on Marvel Database
* Dormammu on Wikipedia
* Dormammu on Marvel Website